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.

58. The Rewritten Chapter

Annex 058: The Rewritten Chapter

The first thing he realized, when his eyes opened, was that this had been his first bout of unconsciousness since his return to his friends. The second realization was the memory of his own name. "Uno.." Third, and presently also probably the most crucial detail, was the fact that he had no idea where he was. "Did I get moved... again?" Someone could have relocated him while he'd been sleeping. Except this did not look like a place he would be moved too. There was not a soul to be found. "Oh, Uno, did you travel that way again?" If it was as bad as he thought, than he could be in a completely different time period. This did not feel he switched times though, more like he switched surroundings. He could feel wooden walls around him, the passage was narrower and the floor creaked. 'Here' was not any part of Doms tunnel network. "Wherever this is, it isn't pretty.." His first instinct made him reach for his pendant. "!" His hand slapped against his chest. "No." The pendulum was not there, he couldn't go anywhere without it. "No! I'm stuck here! Where is here? Hello! Hello, can anyone hear me!?"

..,...,...,...

That was the world his mind occupied, far removed from anyone else. "Oh no!" And yet his body was right there for Alice and Emily to find. Uno was in the same place where they had left him, albeit he was now lying with his back on the tunnel floor. "Wait!" Emily saw Meridians body. He was still there too, not awake either. "Wh..why are they both.. who won?" The duel had definitely ended, according to their dueldisks. "I think Uno did...or else that guy would have run off." Emily saw a card on his disk blade; Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon included. It seemed unlikely that Uno had lost his duel. "Uno! Can you hear us?! You better get up, the whole place is collapsing and uh.. on fire!" Alice's shouting got no reaction. He was alive and completely unresponsive at the same time. "He's out of it. We're gonna have to carry him." Emily tried to lift Uno up. "What about him?" Alice pointed at Meridian. "We can't take them both. If he just got knocked out, he will get better." Emily had seen this before with Tanvir, these people never stayed down for long. "Now come on. We have to get back quickly, we cant keep the others waiting." She could not drag Uno by herself that well. "Okay." Alice took Uno's other arm. And not a second too soon.

"Em, did you hear that?" A loud rumbling came from above ground. "Yeah, I felt it too!" The entire tunnel shook and dust fell from the ceiling. "We really gotta scram now!" Emily was not going to stick around and find out what caused a sound like that.

...

"Sir! It's them!" Iria shouted. The arrival of the four mysterious travelers was caught on the screen in Doms office. "They were part of the same group, just as we suspected. There is a fourth member now." Their facial recognition software failed to identifty the previous three duelists, so she did not bother with this new guy. "Well. That's perfect timing. Let's see how this develops." Dom just kicked back in his own chair, since it seemed like they weren't coming after him yet. There was little he could do about in his current state anyway. "Funny, they're still wearing the same clothes. Somebody should get those people a tailor."
...

"Oh? You are the leader now? According to our information, that man should be the leader." Down at the actual theater. June and the others responded to Roma's assertion with mild surprise. "I suppose a lot can happen in a day. Well done with your promotion, Roma." She seemed genuinely happy for him. "You will forgive me, if I do not take such praise at face value. And who is this Tempus person I am supposed to know?" Roma did not know what to make of their request, or the rest of their actions. "You don't? Tch, we're wasting our hours with you then! I guess the previous leader did not share everything with you!" August let out a guttural chuckle. "I know everything that he knows, and more!" Agitated now, Roma corrected the man. He would not stand around and be insulted. "Well, what do they think?" Neter asked June, who had been looking intently at both XYZ-duelists. "On the surface, not much. There's a lot of confusion.. They're both hiding a lot though, and they are stubborn about sharing it."

"Not from us." December took out a set of cards. "You want to challenge us? We were already engaged with other opponents!" Roma had many objections. On the other hand the seemingly mindless opponents of Roma raised none of their own. "You were having a battle for everyone." December did not see the problem. This was a battle royal; anyone could freely join in on already running duels, no matter whose turn it was. "That also counts for us! Commander Roma, we will defend you!" As December walked towards the skybox, the nearest four XYZ-duelists rushed to intercept him. However they themselves were intercepted. "You do not have the right!" August took one two of them at once. "Yeah, come have some fun with us first!" Neter and June held up each of the remaining pair. They grabbed their cards and revealed their dueldisks. "What the.." The models were different from the ones each of them used the last time they were spotted. "You will find us equally worthy." June carried a crescent-shaped disk version with an ocean-green color. August had a rounded monochrome single-blade disk. Neter wielded a red disk that looked more like a Pad of sorts. And December had the most basic looking model of them all, a sharp curved dueldisk.

Decembers LP: 8000 Roma's LP: 7000 Adamants LP: 5000 Unknowns LP: 4000

"What are those?" Half the models did not look remotely familiar to anyone in the guild. And still, somehow, the disks could connect to their network. "Our dueldisks." December stated bluntly. Nobody was going to get in the way now, so he started drawing. It was his turn. "I make my spell; Dark Contract with the Gate." December activated a continuous spell, which raised a hellish doorway from the cracks of the stadium floor. "Dark Contract?" As the guildleader, Roma was supposed to know about every card. Hdidn;t recognize this one. "These people can use cards that we have not heard of." Adamant hadn't seen it for himself, but he assumed the scarred dragon that August summoned against Zach and Uno was of a similar origin. "If you seek understanding, hear this. Dark Contract with the Gate allows the player, me, to add a Dark Dimension monster from my deck to my hand, once per turn." The monster December claimed was another unknown; a D/D/D Conquest King Kaiser card.

"Dark Dimension? Well that is different from... the different dimension." D/D was not D.D. This was a big surprise for Dom, for reasons Iria could imagine. "These cards were not on any roster, were they?" Even the Odd-Eyes dragons and the Magicians, as unexpected as they were, had been part of the other UNO's lists in some way. "Not unless I turned nearsighted." Dom rubbed the front of his mask. His eyes did not lie. "I wish someone would tell me why the network knows those things are cards, despite the fact that Dreamworld never made them." And then it hit the master like cold water in the face. " Is that why everyone wants access?" If these cards were part of the network, who knew what else could be? As for these cards Dom was in luck, depending on you viewed it. For he and the rest of the stadium were about to find out exactly what the Dark Dimension was capable of. "Sir! He is.." Iria spotted a move she herself was accustomed too now; placing a card at both ends of the dueldisk. "I see it." December was using pendulum zones.

"Pendulum monsters?" Roma gasped as his newest opponent placed a card in the left and right pendulum zone. "Yes, your kind already encountered this power type. That is new. My pendulums; scale 4 D/D/D Doomking Armageddon and scale 8 D/D Proud Ogre." Two massive pillars of energy rose high up into the skies and pierced the clouds. A pendulum-bodied and masked demon hovered in the left zone, while the right zone held an axe-wielding ogre in black armor. "Ugh.." The emanating raw power literally pushed against the opposing duelists. Uno and Iria's pendulum summons had never been this forceful. "The path is yours; D/D/D Conquest King Kaiser." December did not just have one of those cards in his hand, he had two. "PENDULUM.. SUMMON!" Their descent was shouted across the whole theater. Two redcaped emperors(7/2800/2100) slammed down like a massive boulder, making the entire ring tremble. Their pendulum summoning awakened their full effects. "Kaiser negate the effects of all cards my enemies currently control." The ConquestLord placed a negating aura over the three duelists that stood against December. All of their cards were sealed..

All besides the Quantal King Magnus(12/3600/3200). "So there was another who learned that technique. How disappointing that that is all you raise against me. It wont even land a scratch on my XYZ-monster." As long as he had his Super Mech with all of its XYZ-materials, Roma did not have to fear anything. "This will not be a scratch." December moved his hands to the left and right pendulum zones. "You're in your magic state, D/D Proud Ogre. Take 500 of my lifepoints and grant them to the King as strength. Likewise, King of Armageddon, add 800 attackpoints to Kaiser." Both pendulum monsters placed their powerboosts on the same D/D/D Kaiser(4100/2100). "My monster, the great Kaiser, has one more talent. By shattering up to two of my spells or traps, he adds that many strikes to his next battle. I shall destroy all my spells." The Pendulum monsters in the pendulum zone counted as spells, so one Kaiser could destroy them both to gain an additional pair of attacks for the bext battle phase. The second unboosted Conquest Lord destroyed the Gate Dark Contract and a spell card that December set down just now, to triple his offensive capabilities.

Decembers LP: 7500

"Then now it is my turn to teach you about power, December! Everything you build is worthless if I can just blow it away with the snap of my fingers!" Roma detached one material from the Great King Magnus. "I target the first Kaiser, and send him back to your deck!" The effect that his Quantal XYZ-machine used to push monsters off the field worked during all players turns, not just Roma's own. The holographic barriers unleashed wind-like pressure upon the field. "One act can accomplish greatness, greatness can be undone with one act." December activated a card from his graveyard. "I reawaken my spell, D/D Reject." The violent winds were dispelled by an even stronger force. D/D Reject prevented Roma's cards from affecting the Conquest King. "You see your XYZ-monster as a great power. You do not know power." December continued the battle phase. "Like all before him, Great King Magnus will fall." The strengthened Kaiser crushed the super-combiner Mech King with a single slash of its blade.

Roma's LP: 6900

D/D Reject, Quickplay Spell
Target 1 "D/D" card om the field; this turn that monster is not affected by your opponents card effects.
You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 pendulum summoned "D/D" monster card om the field; this turn that monster is not affected by your opponents card effects.

"Urgh.." The shockwaves that resulted from this one exchange of fighters were intense. "How.." Adamant could sense it in his bones; a pain that none of their solidified monsters had ever made them experience. "It is not over yet!" Roma continued to defy this seemingly almighty opponent. "When Quantal Great Magnus is destroyed, he can summon three different Quantal XYZ-monsters from the graveyard!" The destroyed Mech King split up into its original components; Mech Beast Grampulse(3/1800/2800), Mech Beast Aeroboros(4/2200/2400) and Mech Beast Magnaliger(5/2600/2000). Each part was summoned in defense mode. "..." December observed this move and shook his head. He did not see the need to comment on Roma's lack of vision. The duel was over just the same. "Destroy them all." The second unpowered Conquest King slayed Quanta Beast Magnaliger and Aeroboros. The powered up Conquest King used his second attack to destroy Grampulse. "Wait..." Only now did it dawn on Roma. "You will follow.." Both D/D/D Kaisers saved their last attack for the XYZ-duelist. Their swords carved the spot he stood on.

Roma's LP: 0

"Gah!" Roma looked at his own hand. Blood trickled down a small cut on his finger. "That was..that was real?" The detail, the pressure, the realism; these holograms surpassed any other. They weren't even holograms. "My men!" These duelists surpassed his too. The four that had come to defend Roma had all been dispatched in the time it took December to take the guildleader down. Their dueldisks were shut down, their entire energy reserves depleted. June, August and Neter were standing victoriously among the beaten. "Where did you get such power? Are you one of them, the other side?" He had to know, he needed to know. "The other side? You do not know who or what we are? June, what can this man even tell us? His mind should be weak enough now." August asked their female companion. "He has us confused for someone else. He has heard about other worlds, yet he does not see them as we do. I'd need more time to get a clear picture, his thoughts are all over the place."

"But does he know Tempus?" December modified August question. June waited a moment to give her answer. "No. I sense no acquaintance.. in either of them." She had kept her eyes on both Roma and Adamant. "Then he is not the one." December dismissed his monsters, he had no interest in continuing the duel. "You can..read our minds?" That was the only conclusion Adamant could make from the scenes that bunfolded before him. "That does not surprise you. Ah, you have already accepted the fact that such powers can exist." June seemed to prove his theory just be plucking one of Adamants latest ponderings from his brooding head. "...What is Tempus?" The former champion dared to return the questioning to them, which was met with a giggle from the apparently psychic woman. "You really are not afraid of us? That's admirable." She spoke with an amused tone. The same could not be said for August. "You can not give us anything we do not already have. And none of what you got going on here is going to matter if we do not find what we do not have! So stay out of our way!" He practically roared.

Unknowns LP: 0

"...ah." Just then the woman that Roma and Adamant had been dueling before the four came in, fell down. "Huh?" She had placed her hand on her deck and conceded the game. Now this person lied there, comatose. "Geez August, way to scare the lady." Neter chuckled. "That was not me." He grumbled. He was right though. Every other silent duelist went down in similar circumstances. The nameless people that Martel had sent in were all giving up their fight. "This is strange. I did not detect any thoughts from them before." June inspected the sleeping woman. "Now there is activity again." Her eyes scanned the entire theater. As she did so, Adamant noticed a faint symbol glowing underneath her hair. "Someone else did this. They're no longer here. But.." Her gaze traveled the distance, reaching all the way to the other side of the ring where Eric stood. "Aaah!" Stonewell flinched, somehow he had been noticed. "There we go. I know where the other guildleaders are." June smiled. "January, shall we go?" She extended her hand so that Neter could take it. "Just think the word." He and June did their vanishing act as soon as they touched each other.

"Stealth technology he said.. Those two just teleported." Roma had seen amazing things, horrifying things. "I do not care what you claim to be. If you have that kind of power, you are a threat to us! XYZ-guild, attack them, now!" He ordered every available duelists to concentrate their monsters on August and December. "Ha! They are really begging for it, December!" August was awfully happy about the opponents heading his way. "These are not the pieces." December reshuffled his deck and reactivated his dueldisk along with August. They would dispose of them in short order, as they had business elsewhere.

...

"Hello." June said cheerfully as she and Neter popped up in front of Dame Phoebe in the outer hallway of the theater. "...Hello?" Phoebe was startled, but not terribly so. "Huh. Normally they at least scream a little. That's always the fun part.." Neter let out sigh of disappointment. "Screams? Heheh, that's what I look for in a duelist as well." Rather than getting scared, Phoebe was getting thrilled. "So you are the one they call June, I am happy that I finally get to see you. And your name was Neter, was it not?" Her other voice had some concerns at least, which she dealt with politely. "Neter?" June cast a glare down at her partner, who started whistling innocently. "You gave these people a name? I told you, January, to only use the codenames." She berated him, which made him upset. "Hey! You're the one who made it obvious! June is June and August is August. It would look a little fishy if I called myself January. That's what I thought.. also arent you making it worse by talking out loud about it?" He chided her right back. "Well the secret is out now. There's no need to keep it in our heads." June brushed it off. "Am I.. interrupting something?" Dame Phoebe asked.

"Dame Phoebe!" Before the conversation could develop any further, Eric showed up to make it a fourway affair. "Watch out. They have weird powers!" He stopped in front of the guildleader, shielding her with his dueldisk. "Oh hey, it's you. I see you have found new friends." June greeted him kindly. But he had no kind words for her. "Yeah, you remember me. I remember you too! I had been hoping we'd see each other again!" He grabbed his deck to make his desires clear. "Hey June. This kid wants another go at you." Eric did not come off as intimidating as he had intended, Neter and June were more amused than anything. "Why does everyone keep calling me a kid? I'm pretty sure I am older than you!" He yelled. "Hhahaa! That's funny! You have no idea how much older we are!" The 'kid' burst out in laughter. "Shut up. You wont fpush me around so easily this time! I saw what you did to that XYZ-guy, you have to duel us first before you can mindprobe us!" He would gladly throw himself in their path if he could save Phoebe. Though he did not see a reason, he did not need it. "Oh I see." Dame Phoebe touched her lip with her finger. "You want information. Poor old Roma knew nothing, so you are going to try me next." She licked her finger. "I can roll with that." She brought out her dueldisk. "Stonewell. Let's have this dance together.. I shall help you live out your revenge."

(To be Continued in Annex 059: Think Again)

Cards used by December
D/D/D Doomking Armageddon
D/D Proud Ogre
D/D/D Conquest King Kaiser

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Dark Contract with the Gate
D/D Reject