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.

61. Every Law is Breakable

Annex 061: Every Law is Breakable

They were vanquished, every last one. The men and women that attempted to duel August or December had their lifepoints stripped away in rapid succession and their dueldisk drained of power. "My entire army.." Two triumphed over dozens. It should not have been possible even through chance. And to add even more insult, the two just disappeared before finishing off the rest. "This is not over!" Roma's followers still had some workable dueldisks, he could still salvage this. "Roma! It is over!" But Adamant disagreed with that, for several reasons. "We have to fall back! We have nothing to gain from staying here! Dom is lost to us and outside forces are on the way here." Every other guild had dispersed already anyway, there was nobody left to duel. "Enforcers? How did they find out?" The XYZ-guild had lost control completely, the plan was unraveling. "That does not matter now! Give the order to retreat, the guild cannot fight as it is now!" Adamant yelled. "Grr. Fine. I will.. but I want to know who slipped through the cracks.."

...

The ones who did, who had flown over the XYZ-guilds perimeter, were now landing on top of Dreamworld HQ. Everything had gone well for them, the same could not be said for Dom and Iria on their end. "Sir! Sir! Agh, he cannot hear me!" Zachs conversation with the Master had been interrupted by the ill-timed arrival of the four travelers. All outgoing messages were being scrambled. "I have to get back there!" Zach was inches away from restarting the helicopter and flying back. "Calm down, Creffield! What good would that do? It would take you another hour to make it back!" Cassius grabbed his hand and pointed out the futility of it all. "But what if they hurt him, what if they hurt Silver? You can't expect me to sit here and do nothing!" The disciple struggled. "You are not doing nothing. You made sure help is on the way. Let them handle this. Also.." Cassius placed his hand on the on-board radio. "They cannot hear you, but we can hear them. And they haven't realized that yet. We should record everything they're saying.."

...

"Ooh? can we duel her? I saw her in the tournament! Her cards are real special!" Neter went giddy at the thought of accepting Iria's ultimatum. "Quiet Neter, I need to concentrate." June had different ideas. Her earrings lit up only for a few seconds. "Still nothing. That mask is blocking me. Never seen anything like it." This was the second time someone had found a way to circumvent her power. "It does? Well what are the odds!" Dom chuckled. "We really gotta do it the old fashioned way, do we? Well the four of us can break her with ease!" August cracked his knuckles. "Is that how you want to do it?" A smirk crossed Iria's lips. "What was that?" Augusts left eye twitched. "Are you not a duelist? Can you not fight by yourself?" Iria said provokingly as she started drawing her cards. Whatever he intended to do, she was going to start the duel and take the first turn.

"I summon Frontline Observer." She called out a clunky-looking helicopter robot(4/1000/1500) with a claw for one hand and a gun for the other. "During the endphase of this turn in which it was normal summoned, Frontline Observer will place an earth-attribute Pendulum monster in my hand." Iria placed two trap cards down and let the main phase end. "I shall add Qliphort Scout." Her choice fell on the scale 1 Qli-scoutship. Afterwards her turn ended and any of them were free to jump in. "Qliphort." December broke his silent demeanor to make a noise of surprise. . "That settles it." August had a more impassioned response. "I will crush your cards!" He activated his disk and drew six cards.

Iria's LP: 8000 August's LP: 8000

"Come, Darkness of the Yang Zing!" August normal summoned a tuner monster, the corrupted seawyrm Jiaotu(2/0/2000). "I do not need to explain his power to you..do I?" While a player controlled no monsters, Jiaotu the Darkness could discard 2 Yang Zing cards to special summon two Yangzings from the deck. One of those Yangzings had to have zero attackpoints, the other was required to have zero defense points. Both would be banished at the end of the turn. "Come to me, Wind and Earth!" August discarded 2 monsters and summoned Yangzing of the wind, Pulao(1/0/1800) and Taotie - Shadow of the Yang Zing(5/2200/0). "Before you is the enemy!" August needed one more card to really start the battle. He activated Supply Squad. "Remember it!" He sent Pulao right into the Frontline Observer, letting the weak dragon-wyrm kill itself in that battle. August lost some lifepoints, yet because Yangzing Pulao was destroyed, the wyrm special summoned a new Yangzing, Chiwen of the Light(1/0/0), from Augusts deck in defense mode. This was also where Supply Squad came in, as that continuous spell allowed August to draw one card once a turn, if his monster was destroyed. "Now kill it!" Taotie summoned geysers of dark plasma from the floor and guided them towards the Frontline Observer. Iria's robot was torn down by the shadows. "I set two cards to match yours! Then you can take your turn!" During his endphase, Tao'tie was banished by Jiaotu's effect. "And nobody else! I can defeat her by myself!"

August's LP: 7000 Iria's LP: 6800

"Some masochist, isn't he?" Dom commented dryly. "It is the strategy he chose." Iria activated Qliphort Scout from her hand, setting the scale 9 scoutship in one pendulum zone. She than gave the Scout 800 lifepoints, so that it could use its search effect and pick Qliphort Monolith out of the deck. Qliphort Monolith, the scale 1 pendulum machine, set itself in the other pendulum zone. "I will pendulum summon the Pendulum monsters; Qliphort Disk and Qliphort Cephalopod." The qli-cargoship(4/1800/0) and the shellfish-like machine(4/1800/0) blasted down to the field. Their levels and points had been lowered as they were not tribute summoned. "There they are, the proof of your guilt!" August sounded like he could retch, as he looked upon the Qliphorts. "You talk like a man who has seen these cards before. Then there is the fact that your associate has Pendulum monsters of his own. Can you explain that? How did you acquire those cards?"

Iria's LP: 6000

"How did you get those cards!? We had them long before you did!" August yelled and he activated his trap card, Torrential Tribute. Because Iria had summoned monsters, this trap would destroy all monsters on the field. "I do not answer to you. I activate Qlipper Launch!" Iria responded by activating her trap. Qlipper Launch gave all Qliphorts 300 attack and defense points and they(4/2100/300) would be immune to spell and trap effects. Her machines flew away from the torrential waves, while all of Augusts Yangzings got swept away. Of course both Jiaotu and Chiwen could special summon new Yangzings when they were destroyed by this card effect. "Bi'an of the Earth, Bixi of the Water!" The tiger wyrm(2/0/1800) and turtle wyrm(3/1600/0) were summoned from the deck. That was the first gain. Second; Supply Squad drew one more card for August. Third; Chiwen - Light of the Yang Zing(1/0/0) could special summon itself from the graveyard now that a Yangzing had been destroyed. So August controlled three monsters again. "Bian!" He now activated the effect of the water wyrm to perform a quick synchro summon during his opponents main phase, with Chiwen as the tuner. "I activate Skill Drain." This was when Iria revealed her second trap, a continuous trap that took away 1000 of her lifepoints.

Iria's LP: 5000

"Now who is the masochist?" Skill Drain negated all monster effects on the field. Not only did this undo the power limiters of Cephalopod(8/2800/1000) and Carrier(6/2400/1000). Since the trap chained to Bi'an, its effect would be blocked. However. "Unfortunately it is useless!" August could chain to Skill Drain with his other Yangzing. Bixi had the same effect as Bi'an. "The Elements shall become one, and all will tremble!" Bixi used itself and Bi'an as the materials and Chiwen of the Light as the tuner, to bring out a level 6 synchro monster before Skill Drain resolved. "Synchro summon; Red Wyvern!" A red dragon(6/2400/2000), with no arms and wings of fire, was forged from the elements of light, water and earth. "One time only, Red Wyvern can destroy the strongest monster, if it is not the strongest monster itself!" The Wyvern released a blast of fire to knock Qliphort Cephalopod out of the air. "I see. Because the Water Yangzing was used as a synchro material, your synchro monster is immune to trap cards." Red Wyvern was unaffected by Skill Drain thanks to Bixi's synchronization with it. "Nor can your monster be destroyed this turn." The Bi'an material made sure the synchro summoned monster could not be destroyed as a result of battle. As Red Wyvern was summoned in defense mode, there was no point in attacking it. "My turn will end then."

"Heh. You can't even touch me. Nor will you ever! You are just as powerless as your friend! He needed the help of that outsider to even stay alive!" August drew a new card. "Outsider? You mean Uno? What does he have to do with this?" Dom asked. "Don't pretend to not know. He was your messenger-boy." August met that question with another, one that sounded more like an accusation. "We know as little as we can. Just that he has the same item that you hold." Iria said. She could see some jewelry embedded into the mans armbands upon closer inspection, but they were smaller red gems. If those were his pendulum crystals, that would have to be made certain. "The Pendulum. That is something he should not have. Are you saying it was not you who gave it to him? That it was not you who gave him his pendulum cards?" August countered her investigation and activated his field spell, Celestia. A cosmic cluster of wormholes formed, flooding the office with stars. "Like I could believe that!" By banishing three Wyrms from Augusts graveyard, Celestia could destroy one card on the field. Taotie, Bi'an and a previously discarded Lindbloom were banished. This resulted in Qliphort Disk being vanquished by the galactic darkness. "Attack her, Red Wyvern!" Nothing protected Iria now. Red Wyvern flew by and smacked its claws against her. "Ugh!"

Iria's LP: 2600

"Iria! Don't break a leg!" Dom shouted. "That was not my plan, sir. Might I suggest you take a tactical retreat?" The disciple refused to let a little pain get in her way, but she was worried about his condition. "I don't like my chances against instant warp kid over here." He responded as he subtly pointed at Neter. "Oh you can try! We can make it into a game of hide and seek! I always win though."

"That will not be necessary." Iria tensed her arms and hands. August placed another trap card down and after that she could take her turn. She drew a monster card. "My turn. I shall pendulum summon!" Iria was about to summon two Qliphorts from her extra deck and one from her hand. "Will you? I activate Dragons Bind!" But before the actual act of pendulum summoning could be started, August revealed a continuous trap, targeting Red Wyvern. "No monsters can be special summoned unless they have more attackpoints than my dragon!" Red Wyvern had 2400 attackpoints, Qliphort Scout and Qliphort Helix also had 2400 attackpoints. They were 'bound' by the dragons trap, and could not leave her extra deck or hand. Qliphort Disk(8/2800/1000) could at least be pendulum summoned. "Heh. You only have been using Pendulums for less than a week? We have had years to learn how they work!" August boasted. "Is that so?" Iria only saw one way out of this mess now. "I add Qliphort Helix to my hand!" She had to pay 800 lifepoints to use Qliphort Scout's effect.

Iria's LP: 1800.

"... Laser Qlip." And she pushed it a bit further, with a field spell she possessed. "What is this now?" Purple laser beams shot out of Qliphort Disk, and covered every star in the Celestial space. "Once Laser Qlip becomes the field, Qli monsters can be normal summoned twice each turn, and their normal summons cannot be negated." Iria told him as she first normal summoned Qliphort Helix(4/2400/1000) without tributes, using its summon effect. That could not be negated by Skill Drain. "I tribute summon.. Qliphort Stealth." Then both the Disk-ship and DNA-ship were sacrificed for the invisible Qliphort jet(8/2800/1000). "With Helix tributed, one spell has to be destroyed." Iria, unexpectedly, chose her own trap for this effect. Skill Drain was removed from her field. Now her monsters could use all their effects again. "With Qliphort Stealth tribute summoned, it sends one monster away from the field." The stealth-machine blasted Red Wyvern and returned it to August's extra deck. Without the dragon around, Dragons Bind destroyed itself. "Now this is where I attack you, August." Qliphort Stealth prepared a second shot and fired it into Augusts chest. "Rgh!"

August's LP: 4200

"Looks like she made a liar out of you, August. Should we lend a hand?" June inquired calmly as August staggered backwards. "No! I do not!" He gave his usual roaring retort. "Then show me." Iria moved to her endphase and Qliphort Monolith drew two cards for the two Qliphort monsters she had tributed this turn. "Before I end my turn, I will activate this to destroy your field spell, Mystical Space Typhoon." As the destroying cyclone card was a quickplay spell, it could even be activated during the endphase. That is what she did to get rid of Celestia. "Gah!" There went his easy way to victory. "You are more troublesome than I took you for, woman. That I can admit. However, in the end all of this is a waste of time! I summon Al-Lumi'raj!" Augusts next wyrm was a little peculiar. It looked like a small rabbit(3/1600/1000) made from blue light, except it had a unicorns horn on its head. "That card will not affect my Qliphorts, August." Al-Lumi'raj normally reduced a monsters attackpoints by 300 for each of its level or rank stars. However a normal summoned Qliphort would not be affected by the effects of lower-leveled monsters.

"You think you're smarter than me, don't you? Bah! What you people do not know could fill the galaxy! XYZ-Ray Pierce, feed on Red Wyvern and Bixi of the Water!" August needed a second monster and he got one. XYZ-Ray Pierce(4/1700/1200) was a wyrm of charred bones and fire. It had the ability to special summon itself from the deck, by banishing a wyrm and a dragon from the graveyard. "Drown them in the darkness of their own sins! Synchro Summon! Yazi - Evil of the Yang Zing!" The horned rabbit was a tuner monster. It synchronized with the XYZ-Ray-Piercer to create a 7th level synchro monster; a grim black wyrm(7/2600/2100) in dark chinese armor. "What are you trying to accomplish?" Yazi, while dangerous, was still no threat to her. The Evil Yang Zing could potentially destroy cards on both fields, and it could special summon wyrms from the deck if it was destroyed itself, but it had too low a level to affect Qliphort Stealth. "These cards are just a tool to you. Their power is all that matters, so power is all you will get! Yazi, attack!" Despite everything against it, the synchro wyrm clashed with the invisible Qli-machine. However, this was no suicidal charge.

"Yang Zing Brutality!" It was his decisive attack. August activated an attack-boosting trap during the damage step; Yang Zing Brutality doubled a Yang Zing's attackpoints. "Ah!" Yazi(5600/2100) grew twice as large as it had been before, reaching the ceiling of the office. "There have been many who tried to stop us. You are just another in a long line!" The creature of Evil smothered Qliphort Stealth with an all-obscuring fog. "Kgah!" Iria coughed, she nearly choked on it.

Iria's LP: 0

"Enough!" Decembers booming voice broke through the dark, finally heard after a long silence. "You are done." With a single gesture he turned off Iria's dueldisk and the barriers it had created. Augusts monsters were dismissed as well. Her last stand was over. "How is this.. possible?" This simply did not make sense, why did she feel so weak after losing a game? "Do not blame yourself. You dueled as well as was you could." June seemed to approve of what she had seen. Not everyone shared that opinion. "She should blame herself, she was too weak. I told you all I could do this alone." August boasted. "So does she even have anything?" By now June should have been able to break into her head and dig up all her secrets. "She was telling the truth before, as far as she knows. This Uno did not get the pendulum from them. However, this is confusing.. She does know the name of the one who 'invented' the pendulum monsters in this world." At last, there was Master Dom to give them their answers, so June approached him. With a book in her hands. "Dom. We first believed that you were the author of this work. But we were wrong" It was the book of The First Duelist. "Who is UNO?"

...

At Dreamworlds HQ, after a horrifying twelve hours, the Brandt family could finally come to rest. While Cassius and Zachary oversaw the rescue operation of the people in the amusement park, they took Uno to Doms main office in this building. "You don't think he is dying.. or in a coma? Do you? Mom?" Uno had been gently placed on a couch. He had not given one sign of life all this time, aside from his breathing. "This does not look like a coma to me." Her mother ascertained. To her he looked more like a very deep sleeper. "It's just like when you found him. He did not budge then either. He will be up in no time I bet." Emily reasoned. Though this was the third time already. It was starting to look like a chronic affliction. It at least put her sisters vivid imagination at ease. "Yeah. He must have been so tired. I hope his dreams are nicer than... the real world."

...,,,,,

Uno was starting to hate this place and he had not even been here for more than a few minutes. Or was it several hours since he woke up? Nothing here indicated time at all. There was only solitude, darkness and the creaking wooden walls. He was pretty certain that people could go insane in a place like this. "Heellloooo! Should I be shouting in different languages! English is all I got!" Calling out for names was not taking him anywhere, everything looked the same. "I am probably walking around in circles too. Just great.. why do I always find places like these?" Uno stopped walking. "Wait. This feels.. like Deja Vu.." Vague memories started to associate with what his senses were experiencing. "Havent I done this before? And what is..that?" Something protruded from the wall, something retractable. "A Book!?" These walls were bookcases. This was a library. And this book was not just a normal book. There was a name on the cover. His name.

(To be Continued in Annex 062: Faceless from the Past)

New Cards used by Iria Silver
Frontline Observer

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Laser Qlip

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Qlipper Launch
Skill Drain

New Cards used by August
Pulao, Wind of the Yangzing
XYZ-Ray Pierce
Al-Lumi'raj

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Red Wyvern
Yazi, Evil of the Yangzing

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Supply Squad

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Dragon Bind
Yang Zing Brutality