Annex 047: Keeping it Together

The same dream. The same shapeless fearless nightmare. A duelist had been somewhere and then not. His mind could not handle being stretched thin across two sides. Was this what happened the first time? Was this why he lost his memories, because he traveled to another point in time? Was it going to happen again then? He was unconscious right now, he would forget everything as soon as he woke up. Emily, Eric, Cassius, Adamant, Phoebe, Iria, Zach, Dom.. Alice. In just a month he had met so many people, he would lose them all over again. They knew him now, that was a small comfort. Th world knew the name 'Uno'.

No! That wouldn't be enough! It couldn't end this way after everything he had learned! Uno had to keep thinking, keep remembering what happened to get him to this point. He was there, in the ruined amphitheater. He stood in the former hallway, envisioning the past he wanted to live through again. The pendulum jewel met his calls, getting stronger. It lit up, and dragged him back into that limbo outside of time. Uno did not move from his spot but he did move from his time. The jewel would guide him through the void, he would avoid what was around. There was no great eye or gathering of shadows, there was just the feeling of standing on solid ground while the rest flowed backwards like a declining river. Was that what it was? It was hard to physically describe or look at. He did not need the vague parts. What mattered was that he would get back to his friends. He saw them in his last few moments of consciousness. They'd keep him safe. He had to pay them back, he would NOT forget them. He wouldn't!

"There!" He held on; every memory stayed. Uno opened his eyes, rose from his bed and recognized the world he was in. "I..hm?" Rather, he recognized most of it. He'd never actually seen this room before. It wasn't part of the main infirmary, it looked more like the inside of a fancy hotel. He did recognize the people at the door though, even if they were not the welcome he'd like liked.. "Oh." Men and women of Dreamworld security were guarding the exit. "He's awake?" Luckily they were not the only ones to greet the timetraveler. "Alice?" Alice and Emily stood outside the room. Zach, who was there too, allowed them passage. "Uno? Did you hit your head again? Does it hurt anywhere? Do you remember my name? It;s Alice! A-L-I-C-E! Please tell me you remember! It's okay if you don't but.." One sister was wrecked with anxiety. "Sis. I think he remembers." The other had already assessed the situation accurately. "You are Uno, right?" She could tell from the way he reacted to her sister that he was familiar with her.

"I am." He answered, happily. "Aaaahhh. Hahaha! I am so.. You came back, again!" Alice immediately wrapped her arms around Uno to hug him. "Oof. Careful, careful. My head does hurt." Uno might have avoided amnesia, but that hit against the floor left plenty of physical pain to enjoy. "Uno.. how are you? Last time I saw you, you were not this 'calm'." Emily tried to bring up that subject as delicately as possible. "Oh, that." She was talking about the frenzy he could snap out of before. "I'm not angry anymore. That was not me back then, I think. That's how it feels now. But I suppose this is why you have all these guards here, right?" Uno stared at Zach and raised his arm. There was no dueldisk on that arm anymore. "Officially yes. The master did not know if you would ever come back. He just wanted to be on the safer side of sorry. He would have told your friends. You will also get your cards and dueldisk back as soon as we are done analyzing them." They let Uno keep his pendulum, that was a sort of kindness.

"I'm just glad that he is back. I was worried you would miss all the fun!" Alice chimed excitedly. "Missed the fun? What did I miss? Wait.. how long was I gone?" Uno realized he had no idea how far back he traveled. He could have been a week or month off for all he knew. Nobody looked any older though and it also sounded like the tournament was still going on. "Your absence was noted for 25 hours and approximately 12 minutes. We were curious of course. Where did you go for that time, Uno?" Only Uno could answer that question. Zach was very interested, too interested. "I can't say. That part I forgot." Uno did not want to tell them. Sure he probably would not believe him anyway, but an account of the future seemed like a thing you kept to yourself. Could he tell his friends? Maybe when they were alone., away from all the cameras and listening devices. "Well, that is a pity." Zach did not press the point any further, thankfully. "I will leave 'getting reacquainted' to you two." He bowed and vacated the room. Now they had the time to give Uno the latest news.

...

"Ah. Come in Iria. I did not expect a report this soon, but I love to hear it!" Dom merrily hailed his disciple as she entered his office. "The analysis on his deck has not come in yet sir. This is about his dueldisk." Iria unfortunately could only give him half of the report for now. "The dueldisk you say?" Dom was still listening intently. "Yes. We found no direct evidence of a device that would allow Uno to create his cards. We could fully dismantle the device, but that might make it inoperable. There is that and.." She paused. "And?" Dom tilted his dome. "There is a discrepancy in its logs. There is data in there that does not correspond with anything on our network. The data is scrambled, it could just be an error in the system caused by the phenomenon that displaced him from this theater. However, the rest of the device functions normally.. including its internal clock. According to his disk, Uno has only been gone for ten hours. The machine did not shut down in between his disappearance and return. We do not know how to explain this.."

"Hu-hu-hu.. That does sound interesting." A low cackle intruded on their conversation. "You?" Iria snapped her head around to see this intruder. "How did you get passed security?" It was Dame Phoebe. "A little money goes a long way." She said sweetly while bobbing her head left and right. "A little threat does the same." Phoebe sneered as she made a crushing gesture with her fingers. "Not settling for holographic communications this time, are we?" Dom sighed and turned his chair around to face her. "Sir. Are we letting her barge in like this?" Iria asked with her hand already on her communicator with which she could order more guards. "Why not? Adamant already barged in here." The master shrugged. "Oh he did? That's adorable. He's even the reason for my visit. Indirectly at least." The Fusion leader affected her gentler voice again. "I will not bother you for long, I just have one request. Start the semifinals today." She said with a pleasing smile. "Today? We just had the quarterfinals!" Iria protested. "And the day is only half done. The crowd only got three matches, not four. You can make room for two more. I know the original schedule was for the Finals to fall on Friday, but why wait? Adamant's defeat changed everything. People will actually want to know how it ends now."

"Hmm. What if I decline?" Dom inquired. "We already had his dance, didn't we?" Phoebe laughed and walked away. "I trust that you will see things our way once again. Have a nice afternoon."

...

"Oh. I really should've come back earlier." Not only had Uno not seen Alice beat Adamant now, he also missed Eric's duel. "You'll be able to watch them later. I imagine they record every duel here so they can sell them on discs or something. At least that's what dad is saying." Emily had gotten a phone call from him a short while after Uno passed out in front of them. He had been too happy with Alice's victory to even listen to the part about their friend coming back. "Oh no. He is never going to let that go." Alice moaned as she imagined her father watching those duels nonstop on TV. "That is something to look forward to then. The oddball guild is doing half-well at least." Uno lowered his head. "Everything I did backfired. That kid still got away." It was reasonable to assume that Dreamworld had not managed to capture Neter. They just did not have that kind of power. "Who do you think he was? Did he know you?" Emily asked. "Not me. But he knew about this." Uno took his pendulum out. "I have an idea on what he could be... what I could be, what really made me lose my memories, and where my home is. But you're not going to believe it.."

"Wait.. That reminds me." Alice abruptly shouted. "Eric should be here for this too. He doesn't even know you're back yet!" Eric had been worried just as much as them, he had to be told. "If you can pry him away from the Fusion Guild. Those people are always swarming him." Emily was worried about what could happen if any guild got word of Uno's return. "What would be so bad about that?" Alice on the other hand did not see why the guilds would be interested. "I can come up with a few bad consequences. Whatever one guild knows, the other hears about as well eventually. If Kyle wasn't lying, then the XYZ guild experimented with solid holograms. I actually did pull that trick off, so they could be coming after me now. Though they'd be up creek without a paddle, since I have no clue how I did it." Uno had thought it over. "I think you should tell Eric. He.."

'LADIES AND GENTS! I BRING YOU A TWIST!"

"Now what?" Emily grumbled as Doms screams cut across the park. He was not supposed to announce anything anymore for today. "DUE TO VIEWER FEEDBACK, AND BY POPULAR DEMAND, WE OF DREAMWORLD HAVE DECIDED TO HOST THE TOURNAMENTS SEMIFINALS TODAY!" There was the impetus behind his declarations. "Today? But then I am going to have to duel again?" Alice moped; as if the last duel had not been exhausting enough. Dom seemed to have taken that in consideration going by his next proclamation. "WE WILL START WITH ERIC STONEWELL AND DAME PHOEBE!" Alice was evidently reserved for the second semifinal match. "Eric goes first? Against his own guild? What is going on?" None of this made much sense. Nevertheless it was happening and happening soon. They had to see this "Hey!" Emily's path was blocked by the two guards however. "We apologize but we were ordered to keep this man detained. You two may leave. He has to stay. If he wishes to follow the match, he may use the TV."

"But why is Eric dueling now? Why is Phoebe his opponent? I thought Guilds could not face each other in the tournament?" That was what Cassius had said to her at the start. "I can explain that." Zach showed up from around the corner. "There is a regulation that states that no finale can be between two members of the same guild. A duel between Stonewell and Phoebe would be a pointless conflict when their guild wins the prize either way. Your other question is also valid, but I can't shed too much light on it." That Dame Phoebe had motivated the Master to move up the schedule was no secret to the disciple. Phoebe got what she wanted, at the cost of having to thin her own ranks. "If Uno can't go, then I don't want to go either." Alice did not want to leave Uno now that he finally was here again. "I agree, someone has to stay with him." Emily did not trust Dreamworld with Uno either. Nothing about this was right. "You stay. I'll go down and get mom." Cassius' warnings were getting louder in the back of her head.

...

The former champion of dueling marched into the large tent that the XYZ-guild had put up just outside the amusement park. "I see you received the call, Adamant." There he was greeted by others of his kind, seated around a table. "Why did you arrange this meeting, Roma? Only I can set the schedule." The one who acted like he was in charge was a man of around his age, with long white hair and a uniform similar to Adamants. In fact it was the exact same uniform, one who was reserved for the highest powers in the guild. Though Roma had added a fancy cape to his ensemble. "See. That is the thing, Adamant. That is no longer your prerogative. I am the commander of the Guild now." That was why. "What!? That is absurd!" Adamant growled. "Is it? You became our leader by fighting your way to the top. All this time you had the highest rank, so we followed you. Now you are beaten, by an independent no less." Because of the odds, the outcome had taken that much more points from Adamants overall ranking. Enough to place him below Roma. "You? You are the highest on the chart?" Adamant checked his own dueldisk to confirm it. It was true. "You did not even enter the tournament!"

"That was your choice. You named me your second in command, so I could perform your duties while you were dueling here. I could not enter the tournament." It was no wonder his points had remained the same, he had lost nothing. "Really, you brought this upon yourself sir. If you had just accepted Alice's withdrawal, you would be in the semifinals instead of her. You were overconfident." Ichirou, who was also there, seemed to enjoy what was happening to Adamant. "You know why I had to do that. The greatest power might be lost if we do not claim it as 'duelists'. And who are you to talk to me like that?" The former champion fired back. He would not let someone below him speak such insolent words. "My new second in command, Adamant." Except going by Roma's claims, Ichirou was not below Adamant at all anymore. "Him?" Adamant refused to believe it. "Any would do. Fact of the matter is, you failed your guild as a commander. Skip the superstitions and talk about destiny; you set your own pride ahead of our goals. Now we are eliminated. I do not doubt your skills as a duelist, so you will still lead our duelists for our battles. But I command everything else. And it is time to act."

"What are you going to do?" Roma had a plan. Adamant had intended to achieve his by winning the tournament, he had no idea what Roma would try. "Something we are forced to do, Adamant. This is a question of survival. We have to assume that the Synchro and Fusion Guild are after the same thing. The next duel will begin soon, they can smell our desperation. If we want to succeed, we need hit to round up our most loyal members and hit them before they know it. Now are you in?" Roma and the rest of the guild looked at him with a relentless gaze. "Tch. I am." As if he had a choice. If he wasn't, he would be nobody.

...

"AND HERE WE GO EVERYBODY! I AM GLAD YOU STUCK AROUND, BECAUSE THIS ROUND WILL BE ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS!" The theater was packed, Doms bizarre move had garnered a lot of interested visitors and duelists. A duel of just one guild was not a common sight, certainly not for the semifinals. Eric himself did not understand what was taking place. "Poor poor Eric Stonewell. You wanted nothing more than to reach the final day, and then they pit you up against me." His opponent had a different attitude; Phoebe enjoyed every moment of this. "Are you saying I don't stand a chance?" Now whether or not he was part of her team did not matter when he was being underestimated. "I owe a lot to you, but you did not teach me everything I know!" Eric Stonewell would not pull his punches for her sake. "Less talking, more gutting." Neither would they. It was time to switch on the dueldisks.

Eric's LP: 8000 Phoebe's LP: 8000

"The first turn is mine, as it should be." Phoebe drew five cards. She placed one monster face-down and one trap card. "You came after me, you get it?" His drawphase followed her endphase. "Hey I can also see it my way. I get to have the first battle phase, so your attacks come after mine." Eric smirked. First he would normal summon Fiendish Rhino Warrior(3/1400/900). Then he banished an Infernoid from his hand. "I special summon Infernoid Lucifugus! Or Infernoid Harmadik if you want to be 'PG' about it. Even though that name sounds even worse!" A mechanical demon bird(3/1600/0) escaped the inferno by flying out of it. "Lucifugus can destroy one monster on the field. It can't attack anymore it if does though." Lucifugus released black flames from its beak to incinerate Phoebe's facedown Edge Imp Sabres(3/1200/800). "Direct attack!" The Rhino demon could still launch an assault, and he tried to swat at Phoebe with his bloodred spear. For a second Eric worried that her trap was going to stop him. Then the hit landed. "Scared already? That's a good boy." The girl cackled as she stroked the part of her dress that the holographic spear had impaled. "Just imagine what you will be like when I actually start attacking, heheh."

Phoebe's LP: 6600

"I'm not scared. I am not a boy either!" Eric grumbled loudly. Why was she calling him a boy when she did not look that old herself? She was probably younger than Cassius. "I know a lot of your tricks too anyway." Eric placed a trap card down and ended his turn. When her turn came up, he could activate the standard Infernoid effect that Harmadik also possessed. "I tribute Fiendish Rhino Warrior and get rid of your scissors!" By tributing another monster, the Infernoid could banish the one card in her graveyard. Edge Imp Sabres had that annoying selfrevival power that he did not want to run into. He would like to see her summon something now. He also gained a little boost from the Fiendish Rhino. Because he had sent it to the graveyard, the rhino fiend could send another fiend (Infernoid Onuncu) from the deck to the dead. He'd like to see her try fusion summon anything now. His moves all sounded perfect... So why was he sweating bullets and why was she utterly composed?

"Not scared? I doubt that. You may hide behind your demons and devils, but you cannot hide your fears from me. I am the devil you made a pact with, Eric. I know you are hoping.. praying.. that I can't summon any fusion monsters without my Edge Imp Sabres. Heheheh.. oh you are dead wrong about that!"

(To be Continued in Annex 048: Solid as a Rock)

New Cards used by Eric Stonewell
Infernoid Harmadik