Annex 051: An Exact Change

"Ugh. Those guys are like ants." There was not a spot on the horizon that did not have one or two XYZ-duelists. Their numbers had multiplied since Emily had walked into the infirmary. "I knew their guild had more members than ours. But this is beyond my expectations." Cassius now estimated they had twice the amount, possibly more than all other guilds combined. And these were just the top-class members. Not that it made things any different; the two were definitely too late to warn anyone. "We can't get anywhere." Sneaking out was impossible, the XYZ-guild had taken over the entrance. "We cannot stay here either. Someone is going to check up on Tanvir eventually." They were forced to hide in the same room they were in before. Tanvir was not going to be unconscious forever either. "If it comes to it." Emily had an unpleasant idea. She crouched down and pried Tanvirs dueldisk of his arm. "We have to force our way out, one at a time.." His dueldisk still functioned. Still, it was just one disk against a dozen. This could take forever..

...

Doms LP: 4900 Roma's LP: 3200

"I tell ya, you guilds are always in such a rush. You just want your battles over with in a flash. Nobody wants to sit down for that! Luckily, I can make us both happy." The maker of cards was quite pleased with the card he drew this turn. "It starts with this, Bubble Barrier!" He played this continuous spell, which placed bubble shields around all his performers like Performage Flame Eater (4/1200/1600). "Time to put this cat to rest! I activate XYZ Revenge!" Another spell followed the first act. "Your XYZ-monster has one material left, I will take that thank you very much!" XYZ Revenge revived a dead XYZ-monster if the opponent controlled one as well. The card attached to the opposing monster would be attached to the revived one instead. "I special summon Trapeze Magician!" The masked mage(4/2500/2000) broke out of his tomb, pulling himself up on his trapeze bar. With his other hand he pulled the Red Layer card that hovered around Mech Beast Magnaligner(5/2600/2000). "That takes care of him. Super Quantum Red Layer would have revived one of your other Quants if it was simply sent to the graveyard. We cant have that!"

"That implies that you can destroy my monster, Cardmaker. I would like see how.." XYZ-materials or not, Magnaliger would not lose to Trapeze Magician in a straight up fight. "I knew you'd ask that! That has a fix too!" Dom normal summoned a new Performage, a headless magician(4/600/1400) with a smiling mirror for a body. "The final act begins with Mirror Conductor! He can switch a monsters attack and defense!" The Mirrors glass reflected the Quantal fire Mech. This reflection caused it(2000/2600) to weaken. "Then Mirror Conductor inflicts 500 points of damage. But!" The conductor fired a blast straight towards Dom; a blast that Trapeze Magician kicked away as it swung through the air. "As long as I have Trapeze Magician on my field, I take no effect damage that is less than his attackpoints!" The cardmaker then placed Mirror Conductor on top of Flame Eater. "Speaking of which! Let's make this a double performance!" The Performages were used as XYZ-materials to special summon a second Performage Trapeze Magician(4/2500/2000) from the extra deck.

"Here is the final power of my XYZ-Performer!" The new Trapeze Magician detached one of his overlayed materials and targeted the other Trapeze Magician with its effect. "He gives any other monster a second attack during battles this turn! He can't give that power to himself, but he can give it to his namesakes! The targeted monster is destroyed once the battle phase is over, but Bubble Barrier will sort that out." Now there would be three Trapeze-powered attacks this battle phase. There could have been four even, except that would result in the attached Quantum Red Layer going back to Roma's graveyard. Dom did not want to bring more monsters to his opponents field. "Now even the kids at home, if they could see this, would figure it out. I have enough attackpoints for your lifepoints!" Three attacks were sufficient. With the first, Trapeze Magician Deux destroyed the MagnaLiger Tiger. "Time to exit the stage, Roma!"

Roma's LP: 2700

"I think not." Two direct attacks were coming. Roma needed just his one card to safeguard his lifepoints. "I activate XYZ-Reborn." It was a trap card that special summoned one XYZ-monster from the graveyard and then attached itself to that XYZ-monster as an XYZ-material. "!" Magnaliger(2600/2000) was special summoned back in attack position, with its stats restored to normal. "That you attempted to end our battle on this turn, must mean you realized you could not wait any longer. You finally took me seriously, and now it is too late." Doms attacks had to be called off. The Bubble around the first Performage Magician popped, but it regenerated as soon as Dom ended his turn. Inside those bubbles, his monsters would be safe from battle damage. Not that it mattered. As the creator of the weapons in Roma's hands, Dom knew how his opponent was going to counter-attack.

"I activate the other effect of Magnaliger!" Roma was through being patient. He went straight into his final plan. Step one of that plan was to have his current XYZ-monster absorb a Super Quantum card in his hand and turn that into a second XYZ-material. Step two was activating his field spell's effect. "I can send Magna Carrier to the graveyard, then target 3 Super Quantal Mech Beast-Xyz Monsters with different names, alive or dead." Magnaliger, Aeroblast and Grampulse were all drawn into the Carrier. "These three targets will be the materials for one XYZ-monster; the strongest card in my extra deck!" The three Mech Beasts combined their bodies. Aeroblast formed the wings and arms, Grampulse the legs and Magnaliger the torso. A new humanoid head slid out of the red torso compartment. "Super Quantal Mech King Great Magnus!" The new combined Mech King(12/3600/3200) had been born. "Rank 12..." The crowd was floored by this maddening display of XYZ-summoning. The Quantal King was the only rank 12 monster in their existence. "It's over."

"Yes. It is over. You knew this.. didn't you, cardmaker? You failed to win when you needed to. When the Quantum King has four materials it is immune to all card effects." Magnus' powers grew for each pair of unique XYZ-materials that it possessed. There were five, the three XYZ-Quantals, one Super Quantum effect monster and XYZ Reborn itself. "When it has at least two, it can send any single card on the field back into a players deck." The Mech King detached XYZ-Reborn. Bubble Barrier was exiled from the field and its bubble shields along with it. "Well fine. You got me there. But it's not the end of the world." Dom would have to take a hit to his lifepoints and lose his Trapeze Magicians. He could recover from that. Especially since he could just summon more Trick Clowns from his deck afterwards. "Eheh. You are a funny man, cardmaker. You cannot even begin to comprehend how wrong you are." Roma shook his head with disappointment. "It is the end of your world..." He played an equip spell, Stoic Challenge. "Oh. That's flat-out unfantastic."

The attackpoints of King Magnus(6000/3200) shot through the roof, because Stoic Challenge added 600 attackpoints for each XYZ-material that was attached to the equipped monster. Worse still, the equip spell doubled all battle damage King Magnus would inflict when it battled other monsters. "There is no survival for you, you fool of a duelist. You may have helped create the most wonderful weapons known to mankind, but you squandered them.." The Rank 12 machine gathered flames, water and wind inside the Aerobeast mouth on its right arm. "You have wasted everyone's time for the sake of your enjoyment. You will not get another single second! I attack Trapeze Magician!" The revived XYZ-Performage was the target of the Super Quantal. One beam of three colors erased its presence from the stage and ended Doms show permanently. "Whoaa!" The master was blown away by the explosion.

Doms LP: 0

"Sir!" Iria rushed out of the skybox as Dom tumbled off the stage and fell to the floor, though Adamant and several others prevented her from getting too close. "Ohh my globe." The master'd been lucky that the platform only stood three feet above the ground and that he wore a mask. It was cracked now. "I have won, cardmaker. There's nothing more for you to bargain with. Give us what we asked for." By now Doms dizziness had gone away. "Alright. You got me. I know when I'm down. The codes are Zk1r0U22O4, BL50SZ3V and 27mKfmpvw." Dom rattled the letters and numbers off rapidly. "Now you gotta honor your own promise too, sir Roma. You said you would let these people go." Dom cared more for that than anything else right now. "I will, when we confirm that you have given us the right codes." Roma nodded to his follower, he started typing in the codes. "You can at least let the nonduelists go! They just came here to be entertained, not to fight you." Dom pleaded again.

"Roma." Adamant took this time to show back up down below. "You did swear on this. The word of the leader should mean something." There clearly was some disapproval in his tone. "You're teaching me how to take your role, former champion? Hm, I do appreciate it. And I also appreciate seeing the master of dreamworld beg. I am a generous man." He glanced at his follower again. As anticipated, the log-in was going to take some time.. "Very well. Tell the noncombatants that they may leave the theater. But they cannot leave the park. They will understand that we do not want the outside world to know what we did. If they try to, I will not be held responsible for the consequences. If they have to accuse anyone of this extended torment, they can look at the cardmaker." He was technically the one to delay them. "Even if you had done this in a flash, would it have been worth it? Once you leave this stage, all of you will be pursued by the law. Do your followers know that?" Iria asked with scorn. "Once we have the cards we want; the law wont even dare touch us." Roma chuckled.

"Ugh. This sucks.." Eric cursed once dozens of people had been led away by the XYZ-guild. "We can't just let them do this!" He worried constantly, about Emily, Alice and Uno. Being out there was not much better than being in here. "We do not need to do anything, Stonewell." Dame Phoebe counteracted him by being the perfect example of calmness. "Huh? Why're you saying.. Wait.." Eric was seeing what she had seen; a commotion down below, Roma was yelling at his subordinates. "Check again!" He ordered to no avail. The duelist could find nothing on the server. It was empty. "You.. you did this!" Roma turned on Dom, grabbing him by the collar. "What? I gave you what you asked for! I can't help it if some dashing rogue took everything." The master laughed. "You deleted everything! How? You had no way to reach... You did this beforehand? You knew someone would come after it?" The pieces were falling together. "Did I? Guess I'm smarter than I thought!"

"You've got backups somewhere. You would not destroy everything you worked for! Tell me where it is!" Roma shook him and threw him to the floor. "Or do I need to remind you what we do to deceivers?" His Quantal Mech fired a blast right next to the master, leaving a deep hole in the wall. The shockwaves cracked his mask further. "Easy there, pal! Of course I kept the information somewhere." Dom put his hand up, then he placed it on his dome. "It's all in here, I memorized everything important. So you need me." There it was, one last bargaining chip. "I need your head, cardmaker? Then we do not need the rest." Roma was beyond livid. If he was going to have to put up with this, he would do it his way. "I will take everything you value.. starting with that inane mask of yours!" Roma slammed the top of the dome with the blade of his dueldisk and smashed it wide open. "Let's see what he looks like!" Every fragment peeled away...

"What!?" To reveal a second second slightly smaller bowl-shaped mask. "Surprised?!" Dom got back up. "I always keep a spare mask just in case I trip over something. You don't get good peripheral vision in this thing."

"Sir!" An XYZ-duelist let out a panicked cry at this point, as did some others. "What now?" Roma looked behind him and his expression twisted grimly. "No.." He heard the familiar humming of active dueldisks. Each disk in the ring had been switched back on. "Sir. They're connecting!" The shutdown would have lasted until the guild removed it. They had not counted on this. "How? Did you do this too?" Roma could only accuse one man. "I'll take credit for this yeah, me and my Disciples. Nothing is useless, Roma. Letting my dueldisk inside the network was your mistake, but that is all I will say. A magician never reveals his secrets." Roma had been right, winning the duel was never Doms main concern. He just needed to buy time for his other disciple. Zach had gotten into their network while Dom got the innocent out of the line of fire. That was the real act one. To get to the second act, he would need the stage.

Dom pulled a microphone out of his sleeve. Standard equipment like this could also connect easily. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Fusion, Synchro and Independent guilds! Normally I wouldn't go for unprepared or serious speeches, but you have all seen what the XYZ-guild thinks of dueling and what they want from it! If they acquire that power, no force on this planet can stop them. But here and now, they are limited by my design! My duel with Roma was just a demonstration. Sure it didn't exactly go as planned, and I would rather have ended this the easy way. But here we are! Here you are! You can challenge them like I did. You are not alone or weakened; everything is available digitally so build the best deck you can think of! If you work together, you outnumber them! The future of dueling is at stake! So I, Dom, the maker of cards, implore you all to stand up and fight! Let every last card be put to good use!"

It did not take much time for the duelists to give Dom their answer. "Back in business." Jet, Akai and Gareth led the men and women of the Synchro guild in a full frontal charge on the XYZ-guild. "See. We didn't have to do anything.. until now. Herewego!" Phoebe and the Fusion Guild spread out to their prey within the XYZ-guild. "I do not know what the hell is going on, but I know a bastard when I see one!" Even the small independent guilds were incensed and outraged. They picked a fight with whatever duelist they could find. "...Looks like the war has begun here." Adamant declared solemnly. Yet there was a weak smile on his face.

...

The words of Dom had been broadcast around the amusement park, alerting any duelist and nonduelist to the chaos inside the theater. "You heard the man, every able duelist should be out there fighting!" Uno would not wait any longer. "Well these are newer orders. And if the boss is in danger.." The guards were considering it. "But what can you do? You don't even have a dueldisk." One guard reminded Uno of the fact that all his equipment had been confiscated. "But he does." Alice walked over to the table and took her dueldisk. "He could use mine.. or I could help him.. But I don't want to leave mom either. Uno..what should we do?" Alice was torn. One one hand she wanted to to give him the disk and let him deal with it. On the other hand, she would feel terrible if Uno went out their alone. It was not a good idea for nonduelists like her mother to go out there either. "What is going to happen out there? Is Emily in danger?" Heather was not going anywhere until she knew where she could find her daughter. Emily could not be reached on her phone. "It's going to get crazy before it gets calm. That is for sure.. I will go out there to find her. I have to do this for you, for them!" He asked the guards a second time. There would not be a third request.

"Hold.." There did not need to be one either. "It's a message.." One of the guards received a text sent by Zach Creffield. "Okay. You may go." He finally stepped aside. "Sir Creffield has asked for your assistance in this matter. We were instructed to let you go free. Zach has asked to meet you at the west entrance of the amphitheater. There he will give you your physical cards. In the mean time, you can use the digital program that Dom has sent to every other duelist if you wish to duel. It should be in the girl's disk as well." Uno was sorta familiar with that conceptl Digital decks were a new practise for those who could not afford actual cards or wanted to duel over a long distance. In events like these, people could hardly argue for quality. "So Dreamworld needs me? I guess they have a bigger problem to worry about.."

Blasts and explosions began to echo, the duels seemed to be escalating quickly. "You shouldn't stay here either. It's too close by the theater. You guys, can you take the ladies somewhere safe, right?" He glared at the security officers. "We could. The safest place should be the security center. It wouldn't be a threat to them after the blackout. They might have left it alone." They weren't duelists, but they could still put up a fight if they had to. "Right. Alice, Mrs. Brandt.. I will try to bring Emily to you. I think you will be okay, they wont come after you if you're not a duelist." He assumed the guilds could tell from a glance that Heather was no danger to them. "If they only go after duelists.. Then you really should take this, Uno. I won't take no for an answer, okay?" Alice pushed her dueldisk into his arms. "Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. Alice, thank you." He pet her on the shoulder and strapped her dueldisk to his arm. A quick check verified that even his Performapals and Pendulum cards were part of the digital selection. "I'm ready. Are you?" Alice and her mother nodded. "Good. We'll see each other again, that is a promise." He headed out the door, and took the left path. "Good luck, mister Uno!" Heather shouted after him. They were both gonna need that.

(To be Continued in Annex 052: Or You're Against Us)

New Cards used by Dom
Performage Mirror Coordinator

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XYZ Revenge

New Cards used by Roma
Super Quantal Mech King Great Magnus

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Stoic Challenge

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XYZ Reborn