Annex 057: Cycle of Violence

"How did.. since when could you do that?" Certainly, Eric had acted in a terrifying way just now. It was not just that he attacked Zach, but how he attacked Zach. His Infernoid looked every bit as solid as one of the holograms made by the XYZ-guild. "I can't tell you that, Alice. I.. Ngh.." Eric seemed to be struggling to speak up. "Just.. trust me on this. I have to do this." In his hands were the fusion and synchro dragons which he put in his pocket. He got what he wanted, he had to get out now. "I can't let you do that!" But it was Cassius, of all people, who got the jump on Eric. "Gah!" Eric was not expecting such agility from a man who had been bedridden this morning. "Get off!" Eric pulled himself free from Cassius' grip off and pushed a button on his dueldisk. "Just, do not get in my way. I do not want to hurt any of you!" The disk put up a barrier between him and them to make sure nobody could stop him again. "This will fade in a couple of minutes. I just need to be away from you. Really, I am sorry.. I..argh.. I have to go!"

"Eric! Eric!" Emily screamed his name as he ran off. He was going back to the theater, to the fight. "Damn it! What the hell is going on?" She cursed and slammed her hand against the forcefield. Of course it did not budge. "Emily, that is not going to help." Her mother tried to calm her down. "I know that. I am just.. what is he thinking?" She could not believe what just transpired before her eyes; Eric had betrayed them for his guild. "There must be a reason." Alice had seen the same thing. But she could not accept that it was as simple as that. "Perhaps. The guild may have leverage over him."Cassius got back up, and dusted off his clothes "If they have gone as far as to create their own solid vision dueldisks, they are capable of anything." He groaned. "You shouldn't have tried to stop him, Aaron. What if you hurt yourself more?" Emily said scoldingly. "I did what I had to. You should check with Zach first, he took quite a hit. Besides.." Cassius took something out of his sleeve. "If I hadn't intervened. I wouldn't have been able to get this." It was Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. He had secured one of the two at least.

...

Meridians LP: 6600 Uno's LP: 850

Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon(4/2500/2000) had returned. "..." Last time this card fought against Uno, now it was his ally. Briefly, he felt some odd discomfort after its summoning. Its cries were loud, almost painfully deafening. It sounded like several dragons were roaring at the same time, and one of those dragons was Odd-Eyes. Eventually he adapted to the noise. "If you want this card, Meridian, you should also find out what it can do in a duel." Uno detached both his Performapal XYZ-materials from the dragon. "Dark Rebellion can take half a monsters attackpoints and give it to himself!" Electric bolts shot out of the dragons wings and caught the second Gemknight Lady Brilliant Diamond(10/3400/2000) in a web of lightning. Half her(1700/2000) energy was drained away by the XYZ Dragon(4200/2000). "Now, here is its attack!" The dragon lifted off from the ground and came barreling towards the weakened GemLady like a supercharged meteor. Dark Rebellions jaws punctured her diamond body and turned her to dust. She might as well have been made from glass.

Meridians LP: 4100

"You imbecile! Have you forgotten that I have this trap?" Meridian countered his monsters destruction with Brilliant Spark, to inflict damage equal to the Lady's original attackpoints. "I would have to be an imbecile to forget that!" Uno countered the counter, he activated Performapal Raingoat from his hand. "Good thing I'm not. U can negate that damage!" The invisible performapal shielded Uno from the sparks with his raincoat body. "Another repeat of the last time? Curse you! When did you even acquire that card?" Meridian did not think Uno even had this much left in his hand. "Now you are being forgetful, or just too mad to pay attention. I added it to my hand when I summoned Performapal Secondonkey. If I summon him when I control two pendulum cards, instead of sending a Performapal to the graveyard I can add it to my hand."

Now Uno had two cards left. One he placed face-down in the spell/trap zone. "Dragon Pit Magician activates his pendulum effect! He destroys one spell or trap card, after he sends a Pendulum monster from my hand to the grave!" The other, Performapal Cheermole, was discarded. "The card I will destroy is Brilliant Fusion!" The Dragon mage tore the continuous spell in half with a blast from his staff. "Aaagh!" Meridian had summoned the first Brilliant Diamond(10/3400/2000) with that spell. Without it, she could not live. Her diamond body broke down as well. "This is not fair! You would have died without that XYZ-monster! That card does not belong to you!" Meridian had reached the peak of his fury, his hands were shaking. "Grr. No! I shall not sabotage myself with this..anger. I am above that." He had to take several deep breaths to let it all out "That dragon does not decide the duel by itself.. It is my turn."

"I activate the effect of Crystal Rose." One of the Gemknight Ladies was banished from his graveyard as a cost for the resummoning of the deceased Crystal Rose(2/500/500). "I have decided to end this the way it should have ended many weeks ago." Crystal Rose's second effect sent Gemknight Lapis into the graveyard. Now the rose took on a gold/blue-ish tone. "And I activate Particle Fusion! I can fuse two Gemknights together; Lapis and Garnet! Particle Fusion adds one of those materials attackpoints to the fused monster!" The rose melded with the red gem-warrior(4/1900/0). The latter transferred its attackpoints, the former served as the key fusion material. "I will create Gemknight Lady Lapis Lazuli!" The maiden(5/2400/2000) of the ocean blue stone returned to duel against Uno. Her(4300/2000) attackpoints were boosted by those of Garnet, making her strong enough to overpower Dark Rebellion. Yet a fight was not what Meridian was looking for. "There are three special summoned monsters on the field." He still controlled his other fusion monster, Gemknight Topaz(6/1800/1800). "I activate her effect!" By sending a Gemknight from his main or extra deck to the graveyard, Lapis Lazuli would inflict 500 points of damage for each of those special summoned monsters.

"Trap card, Misdirection Wing!" Uno's only option was to shut down the effect altogether. "Misdirection Wing negates the effects of Lapis Lazuli and gives 800 attackpoints to my monsters!" Dark Rebellions wings were blanketed with a ghostly glow. "Bah!" In the light of this glow, the Blue Gemlady could not finish her damaging effect or confront the XYZ-dragon(5000/2000) in close combat. "In spite of everything, fortune keeps smiling on you. Even Dame Phoebe finds you more interesting then someone like me. Why.." Meridian went through the Gemknight Fusion and Brilliant Spark sequence again. He banished Gemknight Garnet from his graveyard, he took back the fusion spell and he discarded that to retrieve the Brilliant Spark trap that he set down on his field. "Why are you so special?" Meridians turn ended. Dark Rebellion(4200/2000)'s attackpoints went back to what they were before.

"You're asking the wrong person, Meridian. I barely remember a thing from my past even now. I am all out of clues." Uno could take his turn. He could banish Misdirection Wing from his graveyard to power his monsters up again. However, unless he took care of Brilliant Spark, he was not going to get a turn after that. If he could draw a pendulum monster, Dragonpit Magician could destroy the set trap. "Or.." What he drew had even more use; another gift from the cardmaker. "Meridian. I have people that need me, people that I want to be with. Time is up, I am bringing down the curtain on this show!" The drawn card was played. "Spell card, Pendulum Overlay! I can take one or more monster in my pendulum zones, and attach them to an XYZ-monster on the field!" A destructive portal opened, it moved between the light pillars that emanated from the pendulum zone. The overlay gate claimed the lives of Dragonpit Magician and Stargazer Magician and attached them to Dark Rebellion as XYZ-materials. "You didn't!" Meridian would suffer its effect all over again. He would lose all his lifepoints before Brilliant Spark could retaliate.

Pendulum Overlay, Normal Spell
You can only use 1 effect of "Pendulum Overlay" per turn, and only once that turn.
1) Xyz summon 1 Xyz Monster from your extra deck, using the appropriate pendulum monster(s) in your pendulum zones as Materials.
2) You can target 1 Xyz Monster you control; attach 1 or more pendulum monster(s) in your pendulum zones to the target as Xyz Materials.

"I did..argh." But it was not just he who suffered. "Urgh, what?" Uno felt as if a stray lightningbolt had hit his chest. "My pendant?" Uno reached for his neck. "Why does it hurt?" It couldn't have been the spell card that Dom gave him, could it? No, the pendant was giving off light; reacting to something or someone. "Is it them? Is it Neter? No.. " The cries were coming back too. Meridian did not seem to hear them. "Are they all in my head? Odd-Eyes, are you doing this?" That sound was definitely the sound his own dragon always made. Dark Rebellion was starting to go wild as well. "What is with this performance? I already lost, just end it!" Meridian was getting freaked out. "It is not me doing this, Meridian." Uno did not give any orders or push any buttons. Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon now acted on its own accord. It detached both its new materials to absorb half of Lapis Lazuli's attackpoints. She(2150/2000) gave it all to the XYZ-dragon(6350/2000). "What are you!?" Meridian stammered while Uno's monster entered the battle phas. It attacked directly. "Graaaahhh!" The dragon slammed into Meridian with all of its weight and sent him flying ten feet away into the tunnels.

Meridians LP: 0

"Meridian!" Uno gasped. "It happened again! The monsters are real!" The mayhem was not over just because the duel was. Dark Rebellion did not disappear, it screamed and trashed about. "This is nuts! It's like its angry, like it is alive!... Were the Sisters right?" Uno had no control over anything, not over what was going on now and not over what happened next. "Ah!" The monsters hologram lost its shape. The energy that held it together flowed out, rapidly. "Stop!" The entire tunnel network was swallowed by the radiant explosion and Uno was caught at the center of it. "Gaaahhh!" A crack formed on his pendant. He covered his eyes, he felt nothing anymore.

The blast was so great that it could be heard all the way at the helipad. "Good lord." Zach was hoping that the people that used the tunnel network had reached the parking lot by now. That sound probably had nothing to do with them and everything to do with.. "Uno!" Right away Alice sprinted back towards the tunnel door. "Alice, wait! You don't know what's happening down there!" Her mother cried after her. "So? There's still time left! I.. we can't leave without finding out!" She didn't listen and kept on moving. "Damn it. She's right.. Mom, I'll go with her!" Emily chased after her to ensure her sisters safety. Whether that explosion was a good or a bad thing, Emily could not walk away without finding out. And if Uno was hurt, they had to help him. "Alice.. Emily." Heather stayed behind, perplexed.

...

Roma's LP: 6500 Adamants LP: 5000 Unknowns LP: 0 Unknowns LP: 4000

Back at the theater, the drawn out nature of the dueling was getting to the XYZ-guild. Many of their numbers had been deprived of their cards, knocked unconscious or been forced to withdraw. Roma himself was now forced into battle as he and Adamant moved to the skybox to secure a new foothold. With his Super Quantal Mech King Great Magnus(12/3600/3200) and Adamants Raidraptor - Blaze Falcon(5/1000/2000), he could fend off most duelists. This very moment their combined firepower laid waste to one of them. Yet the enemies kept coming. "Who are these people? What do they fight for?" Adamant could not explain this. The fusion guild alone could not have had that many members. Yet they were forcing them to a standstill, vying for equal sides of the arena. The people they sent in did not talk, gave no name and wore no symbol. They just kept coming. As soon as they were defeated, they just slipped into unconsciousness. ". "You under-estimated them, Roma. The other guilds are just as determined to get the power as we are. Dueling like this will give us no progress. Why are we still here?" Even the Synchro guild had fallen back by now.

"Tch." Roma checked his dueldisk. "Still no report from Ichirou. Something has gone wrong on his end. He would have broken Dom by now." The only reason Roma was here, was to get that information out of Doms head before the outside world could be alerted to what they were doing. This siege was never supposed to last this long or get this out of hand. "It all went wrong from the beginning when Cassius escaped. You should gotten more members from the guild." Adamant growled. "Do not question me!" The commander spat back. "It will work out, if we can eliminate the other guildleader.. Where is that cowardly girl?"

Dame Phoebe was out of their sight, she stood in a garden in front of the theater building where it was safe. Because the fight intensified, the XYZ-guild had to clear out from the surrounding areas and concentrate on the theater. "Ah there you are." It was also easy for Eric to make his way back to her as quickly as his body allowed it. "Phoebe.. I.." He caught his breath first. Then he gave her the good news. "I did it. I did what you wanted me to do. I got the keys. They were inside these cards." He said excitedly. "Yes we know." Phoebe met his enthusiasm with a desirous smile. "You do? How did you know ..come to think of it, how did Meridian know?" All the guild had told Eric was that he had to join Zach and help him save Dom and then stick around until Dom told them where the data was hidden. Eric had not actually gotten the chance to submit his findings to Phoebe. "Let's just say we have been watching you closely, Eric. With a little bug of our own." The guildleader happily explained. "It serves Dreamworld right for trying to turn you into a spy. Heheh."

"What? Eh.. I guess that's.." Eric was oddly okay with what he heard. "Enough about that. Show us the cards." Phoebe impatiently extended her left hand. "Yes, miss.. uhm." As Eric fumbled in his pockets to get the cards out, his expression slowly lost its joy. "Uh oh. That can't be right." He pulled out one card, and just one. "Where.. is the other?" Phoebe knew that there was supposed to be a synchro monster too. This was just a fusion card. "I don't know, honest! I couldn't have dropped it.." Eric rechecked every pocket in his coat. This would never have happened with his old jacket. "You're telling me that you lost it?" The girls left eye twitched. "Because of you that card could be anywhere out there.. you.." She raised her hand, clenching it like a claw. "You sweetie-pie." Her frustration snapped away, at the drop of a hat. Dame Phoebe gave him a simple warm grin and pushed her left hand down with her right. "You got one for us. That is plenty. Since Meridian messed his duel up, we would have to wait anyway. At least this fits our guild." She snatched the card from Erics hand. "Starve Venom Fusion Dragon. It's so adorable."

"Dame.." Their little get-together was interrupted by the hooded figure. "Huh? Who's that?" Eric could not see his face. He had never seen anyone dressed like that before either. "Oh. You two have not been acquainted yet. Inexcusable. Eric, this is our secret weapon.. his name is Martel. Martel, this is Eric. our newest member." The hooded kid just stared at Eric with unseen eyes. "Company..." That was all the time he gave Stonewell before his attention turned back to Dame Phoebe. "My 'friends' are claiming more and more. Ones they exterminated are getting up again. Should they use the 'solution'? It would.. make things permanent." Martel seemed to mind his words around Eric, because Eric sure as hell had no idea what he was saying. "No, not yet. Not if we do not have all three dragons. However.. with the way things are going. We may be able to bring down the leaders of the XYZ-guild. That would make us happy." Dame Phoebe was pretty pleased. However their good spirits would not last them.

"The hell was that?" A loud undefinable noise reverberated across the park. There was no known duel monster or effect that could produce such racket. "That's the second time.." It was the sound Dame heard down below, when Uno's duel with Meridian ended. Though they did not know the source of that outburst, they could tell this one came from inside the building. "... Dangerous." Even Martel seemed offput by this development. "I have to see this." Now Eric was definitely intrigued. His curiosity got the better of his newfound loyalty to the guild and he raced towards the battle zone. It was easy to find out what caused the commotion once he saw the ring. "...No way! It's her!" And old enemy had shown up, and she brought friends this time, familiar friends.

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing, wether they were dueling or standing around. They witnessed a miracle. Four people walked out of unseen voids, that was the best way to describe their entrance. "This seems to be a good enough time. They're all fighting each other for some reason.." Said the woman who called herself June. "Right place too. I told you a lot of fun goes down here if you take it slowly." Neter, the young one, had a good laugh. "The leaders are all here right? If one of them got away..." August still seemed to be as furious as he had been weeks ago. "Well, one of them apparently did. But we already checked that guild, and they had nothing. There's still that Dom, someone else I am forgetting and that guy." June pointed up at the center stage. "They look busy." Neter pointed out. "That wont stop us." August smirked.

"It wont." At last their fourth member spoke. He appeared to be dressed like a nomad, with long black hair flowing from the back of his head like a lions mane. His eyes, which were a burning gold, gazed at the two duelists above. "Leader of the XYZ-guild! We have questions for you!" His voice was sharp, clear and inhumanly steady. "You took the words out of my mouth! Who are you and why do you seek an audience with me?" Roma was the one who responded to the call, brushing Adamant aside. He was the leader now. "If you need a name, address me as December. If you are of use to us, you already know why we are here. We seek a man not from your world, we seek Tempus."

(To be Continued in Annex 058: The Rewritten Chapter)

New Cards used by Uno
Pendulum Overlay

New Cards used by Meridian
Particle Fusion