Annex 049: Black Out
Emily's LP: 8000 Tanvir's LP: 600
Inside a large Rafflesia flower was a woman in white cloth, with long pink hair. "Traptrix Rafflesia!" She was Tanvirs answer to Emily's synchro monster. "That is it?" Rafflesia(4/500/2500) did not look that strong, but she had enough defense points to outlast Superheavy Samurai Ogre Shutendoji(6/500/2500) now that it had lost its Soulshield Wall. Emily did not know what else it could do, but she was not one to judge a monster by its stats alone. She would not start here when hidden natures were the entire gimmick of the Traptrixes. "How right you are. This card is unaffected by traps while it has Xyz Materials. Traptrix monsters I control, with the exception of Rafflesia, cannot be targeted by card effects or destroyed. Oh, and most importantly; during either turn I can detach 1 Xyz Material to essentially activate 'Hole' Normal Trap from the deck. Should the requirements be met, of course." Tanvir placed three trap cards down on his field. "Right now, that is not the case. So you may have this turn."
"May I?" Emily would have liked to roll her eyes, had her position been any better. She hated to admit that she could not do a lot against this current setup. "I special summon Superheavy Samurai Big Waraji from my hand." If she could get enough monsters on the field, she could perform another synchro summon. To start with she would bring out the samurai sandals(5/800/1800), since her graveyard had no traps or spells in it yet. "Trap card. Deep Dark Trap Hole." Tanvir countered this with one of his set traps. This trap hole was intended for special summoned highlevel monsters. "Not even going to wait for my synchro monster? Okay then; that card was bait anyway." Hopefully the coast was a bit clearer now. "I can unequip Superheavy Samurai Soulhorns to special summon it to the field." The horned shoulderplates disengaged from Shutendoji and appeared on the field as their own entity(1/0/300).
Unfortunately Emily made a fatal mistake. "In defense position?" The position she had summoned it in was not secure. "Then I activate the effect of Traptrix Rafflesia!" The flower maiden consumed one of the attached Traptrixes. "I activate the effect of 'Double Trap Hole' from my deck! A monster that is summoned in defense position is banished!" This samurai fell down into a pit in the ground as well. "Nhg, you have a traphole for every occasion, don't you?" Now she really was out of ideas, she didn't have enough monsters to synchro summon something. "Interesting. It seems the effect of solid vision are still limited by the range of the holograms." Cassius drew a different conclusion, basing it on the way the holes in the ground did not damage the floor itself. "Aaron, is that important right now?" It was not going to help the duel itself. "No. But it may be that this is part of what the guild needs from Dom, an expansion of this solid vision technology." Cassius was not certain yet. Tanvir was not going to say anything unless he was taken down by Emily. "Kay.." She placed a monster and a trap card on the field, and ended her turn.
"Your interest is not unexpected, Cassius. Would you like to see it in practice, as I use it against your woman?" Tanvir placed a new monster on the field. It started out as a pitcher plant. "Traptrix Nepenthes." Another young girl(4/800/2000) emerged from the plant, one with long blond hair that turned bloodred at the ends. "If I activate a normal 'hole' trap card, I can either claim a Traptrix monster, or special summon it from my deck." Tanvir flipped the second of his set cards, Acid Trap Hole. "I will do so with this." Acid Trap Hole took a face-down monster and flipped it face-up. If it had less than 2000 defense points, it would be destroyed. "Ugh." That was exactly the case for Emily's Superheavy Samurai Soulbreaker Armor(1/0/500). The samurai armor fell into a pit of acid and melted down into a green goop. "I shall summon Traptrix Atrax." The effect of Nepenthes summoned the final Traptrix, the silverhaired girl(4/1800/1000) with webbed wings around her body. Both Atrax and Nepenthes hid underneath the shadow of the giant Rafflesia flower, where they could not be touched by effects.
"Great. I guess another XYZ-monster is incoming?" That was one way he could get rid of her Synchro monster now. "Not necessary." Another way was through the effect of a trap card. Tanvir flipped his last one. "Lair Wire! I can banish an insect from my graveyard to destroy a monster you control!" Traptrix Myrmelo the antlion insect was selected. Its banishment left behind a tooth-filled hole beneath Shutendoji. The Samurai was dragged into it by a web and the hole closed up. "I can smell schemes from miles away, you were hoping to use your trap to stop me. Why would I give up the protection my XYZ-monster provides them? I wouldn't." He started the battle phase. "Now then. Savor these direct attacks, synchro duelist! This what Cassius expected you to endure for him!" The Traptrixes came out of the shadows not in their innocent forms but in their monstrous forms. Atrax the trapdoor spider fired a shot of webbing at Emily's feet. "Guh!" She was pinned down long enough for Nepenthes the Pitcher Plant to strike her with its spiked vines. "Gaaahhh!" She was knocked to the ground.
Emily's LP: 5400
"Emily!" Cassius made another attempt top get up, but he stumbled over his own feet. "Stop this! She has done nothing to you!" He pleaded. "Heh! You're so pathetic now, Cassius; groveling for the sake of another just because you cannot face me yourself. That accident made you lose your worth as a fighter!" Tanvir ended his turn. "Geh.. This is my own choice, you know." Emily succeeded in getting back up. "Oh? I would have thought the pain would keep you down." Tanvir was a little impressed. "Ha, that was nothing. As a kid I did all kinds of stupid things that got me hurt. If that is the best you got, than you can just pack it up." She said with a slight grimace. It still hurt like hell; as if a big branch had fallen on her. "So you do not know who attacked Cassius either?" Tanvir used the word 'accident'. The XYZ-guild was clearly capable of doing what had been done to Cassius, yet they were not aware of what really happened? "He was attacked? Not by us, I can assure you. We would not use such tactics. Our dueling is pure and attacks direct. You will see soon enough!"
"Soon? No time to waste then." Emily drew her next card, and she was happy to have it. "I special summon Superheavy Samurai Transporter!" This time the samurai was a mailman(5/1200/1800), a red robot with wheels on its feet. "Transporter can be summoned when I have no traps or spells in my graveyard! The same condition applies to using his effect!" To use that effect she had to tribute the Transporter. The mailman disappeared from the field. "Transporter special summons one or two monsters from my hand to your field, and I draw a card for each Superheavy Samurai that was summoned!" The tuner she could not safely bring out last turn, Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter(2/300/600), was now given to Tanvir. It was summoned in defense position. "I will gamble it all, what do you think about that?" Emily drew her next card, and it had to be good. It was. "Giant Rat!" The overgrown rat (4/1400/1450) placed itself on the field."Either you were too confident in your own monsters, or you under-estimated mine. But now I have a straight line towards victory!" One attack against Traptrix Nepenthes would settle the duel perfectly.
"I have done neither, woman!" However Tanvir responded with Rafflesia's effect. "Endless Trap Hole!" The XYZ-monster used up its last material to activate the appropriate trap hole card. "A monster that is summoned will be switched to face-down defense position and stays in that position!" Transporter still had to ignite his effect while Emily controlled it. So the Traptrixes could capture him in their trap and Atrax would even summon another of her kind.
Except.. Emily had spun a trap of her own. "Your monster is out of materials now, isn't it?" Emily activated the set Breakthrough Skill. "I will negate your monsters effect for the rest of the turn!" It targeted Rafflesia. "What!? How?" The power of Tanvirs XYZ-monster fizzled out. "Easy. Paying the cost happens first, so your Traptrix lost its immunity to traps as soon as you detached that card. And I noticed how Rafflesia does not activate the traps themselves, she sends them to the graveyard to make their effects her own. That meant I could negate your Nightmare Trap Hole with a card that stops monster effects! Now I believe I was about to attack Nepenthes!" Emily entered the battle phase. The rat tore up the weakest Traptrix on Tanvirs side. "Kgh..Kgaagahahhh!" The XYZ-duelist received the remaining energy as a shock to his entire body. He fell to the ground, as sparks flew off his uniform.
Tanvir's LP: 0
"Gah! Is that what the loser gets?" Emily shuddered. "He would have done the same to you. You won, you rescued me." Cassius cried a cheer of celebration. He could even lift himself back up for this. "Don't push yourself. Come on, I'll help you." She walked over to his side, but the sound of laughter stopped her. "Gah! You're still awake?" Tanvir was on the ground, injured and exhausted. That did not dampen his amusement. "If you want to leave.. heheh, to warn everyone? You are too late." He coughed. "Too late? Why? What are you going to do?" Emily picked him up instead and looked him right in his smirking face. "What that ritual girl made us do. This is a war. I did not make in time to stop you, but I did delay you." His answers were frustratingly unclear. "Ritual girl? My sister?" Emily growled. "Sister? I didn't realize. You losing duelists all look the same to me.. to us. Heheh..." Inevitably, Tanvir passed out from his injuries.
"Damn.." Emily reached inside her pockets; they were empty. "Ahhh, don't tell me.." She had left it in her hotel room. "Crap! We gotta move, now!"
...
Eric's LP: 300 Phoebe's LP: 6600
At the same time as Emily's fight, Eric went through his turns with Phoebe. It was his turn once more, and his deck finally offered him a way out of his situation. "Void Imagination." It was the continuous fusion spell for the Infernoids; the only way he could bring out Infernoid Tierra. The last few duels his maindeck monsters were enough to overpower his opponent. This time he needed it. "Maybe you have a point." He could only activate this effect while she controlled her Frightfur Tiger(6/2200/1200). Void Imagination would not work if the opponent had not summoned any monsters from the extra deck. "I do want to see my scariest monster... It has been too long! I activate and tribute Void Imagination!" By cracking open six orbs of its own infernal tree, the void spell started the fusing process. Infernoid Onuncu, Lilith and four other Infernoids in Erics main deck were sent to the graveyard. Their spirits merged into one being, the titanic hell serpent Infernoid Tierra(11/3400/3600). "Finally."I thought you'd never get around to this." The fusion guild leader smirked.
"Happy now?!" Because Infernoid Tierra had used more than 5 fusion materials, it could awaken two of its four powers. The Infernoid discarded the top 3 cards from the main deck and from the extra deck. Now Eric had 11 Infernoids waiting in the grave. "Quite." Dame Phoebe smiled. She had what she wanted, three Frightfur monsters in her graveyard. "Well. I have seen all your duels, and there is not a single fusion monster you have, that can beat mine! Qell maybe that Tiger, but that is who I am killing now!" The battle phase started. "Tierra! Send the Frightfur to hell!" The fused serpent gathered six spheres of crimson flames. They were cast down towards the Tiger death-toy. Its fur was set on fire, and soon the rest of it burned as well. Metal melted and limbs turned to ash. "Pity I had to ruin such a nice lifepoint score. But hey, things are finally looking up!" Eric placed two cards down and ended his turn.
Phoebe's LP: 4400
"Hu-hu-hu. Things are looking up? What a lovely expression." Phoebe said as she chewed on her nail. "You aren't escaping hell so easily. Not when I have you right where I want you." Phoebe drew her next card. "There are so many ways for you to die, I don't know what to choose. They're all so visual and you like that don't you?" She toyed with the card in her fingers, not giving a care about whether or not Eric could see the topside. "What're you going to with just one card?" He made an effort to appear undaunted, to hide the dread he was feeling inside. "One card is all.. we need." Phoebe slammed the card on her dueldisk. "We activate Frightfur Fusion!"
And, right in the middle of this spell cards activation, the disk shorted out. "Ha?" The lights dimmed and the screen shut down. "Did you..did you break it?" Eric almost assumed, before his own dueldisk suffered the same symptoms. "Hey. Hey!" Infernoid Tierra vanished. "I was using proper cards this time! What gives?" This couldn't be a simple case of illegal card detection. "It is not just us, Eric." Dame Phoebe listened to the rising commotion in the theater ring. Hundreds shouted about malfunctions in their dueldisks. Every last device had been turned off. In fact it was worse than that, every mechanical appliance had been fried. The big screen blacked out, the holo- grid was down, and the power generators stopped giving energy. The hotel which Uno was kept at lost power too. Uno and Alice, and the rest of the world, could not see what was happening at the theater anymore.
"Silver? How did this happen? Did we overload the system? I thought we had backup generators for that!" Dom was in the dark, literally and metaphorically; even his skybox was affected. "I don't know sir. We detected an anomaly in one of our servers and a surge in power just before the blackout. Whatever caused this, it was forced by someone. We are cut off from the outside world." With coms down, it would be impossible to analyze the situation or to determine the effect's range. The perpetrators could go about their business without being seen. "Was it a virus, an EMP? What do we still have left?" This power outage could have affected the whole park. "Few items. We.. hold on. Sir? Look outside!" Iria turned her attention to the windows. New lightsources popped up in the theater. "What on earth?" Not every duelist had lost the functions of their dueldisk. "The XYZ Guild!?"
Duelists in black uniforms were all over the building now, in every exit and on every level. "Ladies and gentlemen!" Their commander, Roma, stood in the center of the theater, speaking through a headset that amplified his voice. "There has been a chance in today's schedule." He affected a mocking imitation of Doms own voice and stared right up at the skybox. "Guards, what are you doing!? Seize him!" Iria shouted at the security staff. If she could not use the communicator to send the orders, she would yell them herself. "Right!" The bodyguards rushed down the stairs. They had the weapons here, it did not matter much if they were outnumbered. "Not a good idea.." Unless the enemy had weapons of their own. "Now!" Roma gave the command to his followers. They placed a card on their disk and created holograms of various XYZ-monsters. "What?" Each monster was pointing their blade or gun at the guards and the audience. "Adamant.." And to fully demonstrate their threat, Roma made Adamant summon his Raidraptor Rise Falcon. "..." Adamant silently followed Roma's commands and had Rise Falcon fire a missile at a spot in the ground. The missile exploded and left a deep crater. "It..it was real?" The crowd collectively cried out.
"Now that we have your attention!" Roma silenced the panicked cries of the public. "I shall give our demands!" His eyes turned towards Dom. "We want full access to the network, to the blank slate program and to your archives, Master of Dreamworld! If you do not comply, there will be consequences! You have seen what we are capable of! So come down and give us what we want!" As Roma waited for an answer, Dame Phoebe slowly walked towards him. "Hold your distance!" Several XYZ-duelists appeared to surround her with their duel monsters. "Or you will do what? I am genuinely curious. You speak of consequences.." The monsters had little intimidation power over her. She casually stroked the blade of one monster just to see if it could draw blood. "Destruction? Execution? How far are you willing to go for this, Roma?" The blade left a small cut on her finger. It did not bother her. "As far as Dom will take it." Roma grunted. "Hmmm, I hope he has the stomach for it then. Heh, so this was your backup plan? Were you worried I would get to it before you did?" The girl cackled. Roma had heard enough. "Take them away, keep them where they belong." Several of his men escorted Phoebe and Eric off the stage. "Hey!" Eric could not believe what this guy was doing.
"I am here, Roma." Two left the stage, one entered. "I will give it to you if you let everyone go and restore the network. You do not need hostages and we kinda need to be online to get the data." Dom was ready to negotiate. "Ah you came without either of your disciples? Good listener." Roma rubbed his hands together. "But you do not make the demands. We can still use the network, but everything we want is hidden behind your security measures. All you must do is tell us what the codes are and we will handle the rest." Roma's tone quickly made clear that he was not here to bargain. "Do you think you can get away with what you are doing? You wouldn't do this for the blank slate program, so what are you really after?" Dom just did not see what made the XYZ-guild desperate enough to try this. "I believe I said, no questions.. didn't I?" Roma glanced at one of his subordinates. The duelist nodded and summoned his King of Feral Imps. "You have no power to stop us, we made sure of that." The monsters claws reached around the head of Dom.
"Oh you did. You also helped me figure out what you did to the network. I have a funny story about that." The claws were slapped away by a great black dragon; Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon had been made manifest. "Gah!" Roma flinched and took a step back. "You missed one disk." Dom raised his arm. Uno's dueldisk as strapped to his wrist. "If you want your prize you will have to duel for it, Roma!"
(To be Continued in Annex 050: On Equal Terms)
New Cards used by Emily Brandt
Superheavy Samurai Transporter
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Breakthrough Skill
New Cards used by Tanvir
Traptrix Nepenthes
Traptrix Atrax
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Deep Dark Trap Hole
Double Trap Hole
Acid Trap Hole
Lair Wire
Endless Trap Hole