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.

63. A Dream had Me

Annex 063: A Dream had Me

"Emily, Alice!" At this exact time, the security room at Dreamworld HQ got a lot noisier. "What!? Aaron, why are you shouting?" Emily just happened to be close by enough to check what this was all about. "Where is Uno?" Zach asked as she came in the room. "Uno? He's in that big office you have one floor below, sleeping. Why?" Cassius and Zach were clearly distressed. "It's them. We've been listening in on Dom and Iria for the last half hour, after they encountered August and the others." Cassius rapidly explained. "You did? What did they say, what did they do?" There was no way this would not be important. "Dom and Silver aren't in danger. They're after Uno now! They probably know he is here!" If they assumed June could look into Iria's mind, then June would have seen where Uno was going. "We have to get him out now! They could already be here, sneaking by us like June did in the castle!"

"The world already knows about us. It would be too tiresome to erase half the minds on the planet." Said the devil they spoke of. "We could still do that here, depends on how you will react." June, Neter, August and December walked through the entrance to the security room. "Only a weakling avoids battles. And you let the contamination happen, June." August said spitefully. "I will let that slide, August. Any way, I do thank you for making this easy for us. The office one floor below you said?" June repeated Emily's words. The girl flinched. "Over my dead body!" She reached for her dueldisk. "Ooh, dramatic." Neter activated his first and intercepted her challenge. "You leave her alone!" Cassius and Zach went by Emily's example and turned their devices on. "See, this is what I was trying to avoid." Now June and August had no choice but to retaliate. "They're all fools." Three duelists from each side were locked into a battle royal. "..." Only Decembers hands were untied. He turned around and headed towards the office at a quiet pace. "No! You can't.. Stay away from them!" Emily could not stop him... or warn her sister that he was coming.

...,,,,,

Cloe's LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

Cloe and Veronica sat down at one end of the reading table. Uno's place was on the other side. The two sisters were apparently going to duel as one, with Cloe physically holding the cards. "I have chosen a deck that I believed to be appropriate." She had a pile of cards and drew five from the top. "We're hosting so we decide who's on first." Veronica would declare actions and manage rules when needed. Margot still stood at the end of the library, not commenting on anything. "Okay then." Uno drew his cards as well. Cloe then placed two cards down on the table, one monster and one spell or trap card. "That was turn one." Now Uno could draw his sixth card. "Okay." He mostly had Performapals in his hand, few of them were pendulum monsters. At least he still had those kinds of cards. "It feels strange to duel without a dueldisk. But let's see where this goes! I set the scale 2 Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer and the scale 5 Performapal Fire Muffflerlion." He placed two of the pendulum pals at either side of the table.

"Whoa!" The cards had barely touched the field and instantly they created small pillars of light. "Okay? How did you pull that off?" The pendulum monsters were visualized, despite the lack of visible projectors anywhere in the room. "Well I could've told you that you didn't ever need dueldisks to make the monsters come to life. Or I could have claimed that there were once other ways to duel. But you used up all your questions.." The youngest sister mumbled. "No answers then. Got it." Uno would just have to roll with the weirdness. "I pendulum summon two monsters!" Performapal Secondonkey(4/1000/2000) and Bowhopper(4/1500/1000) were placed down on the field. "Pendulum Sorcerer does his magic whenever a Performapal is pendulum summoned!" The Sorcerer added 1000 attackpoints to the Donkey(2000/2000) and Grasshopper(2500/1000) until the end of the turn. "And with Secondonkey summoned in between two pendulum monsters, he will put another Performapal into my hand! I choose you, Performapal Silver Claw!" Uno searched his deck and claimed the silver-haired wolf(4/1800/700) who was then normal summoned. "You can go first, attack!" Silver Claw extended his(2100/700) claws and jumped on top of Cloe's facedown monster.

"You killed her." The set monster, a little ghost girl(2/1000/800) in snow-white robes, was easily destroyed. Yet her spirit lingered. "Her name was Ghostrick Yuki-Onna." The snow girl used a bewitching spell on Silver Claw, which forced the wolf into hiding. "A monster that destroys Yuki-Onna flips into face-down position and stays that way." Veronica explained. "Ah. The Ghostricks. Fitting." Uno liked those cards; they were a funny take on monstrous creatures. Ghostricks also had XYZ-monsters, so it even made sense. "What else ya got?" The attack of Silver Claw had powered up all Performapals this battle phase. Secondonkey(2300/2000) tried to attack Cloe directly. "This." Cloe activated a card from her hand; a snowman in winter clothes. It threw a snowball in the donkey's face. The Performapal tripped over its legs and stumbled into a face-down defensive position. "When you attacked directly, I activated Ghostrick Jack Frost from my hand and permanently switched your monsters position." Afterwards Jack Frost was special summoned to Cloe's side in a face-down position as well.

"Oh well, third time is the charm!" Performapal Bowhopper(2800/1000) catapulted a small bug across the table. "Not always." Cloe activated her continuous trap card; Ghostrick Go-Round. "What the?" A segment of the table flipped around like a revolving door; both Bowhopper and Jack Frosts monster zones were targeted. "Ghostrick Go-Round switches monsters positions during the battle phase. If a Ghostrick switches to face-up attack mode, one of your monsters switches to face-down defense mode." Ghostrick Jack Frost(1/800/100) revealed his snowy body, while Bowhopper was forced to cower in defense like all the other Performapals. "Hmm off to a bad start." Uno thought out loud, as he ended his turn. "The start is only the start, Uno. Everyone has a beginning." Veronica started to muse while her sister entered the draw phase. "We have seen many stories, many battles where the warriors thought the outcome was predictable, inevitable. It never was and they never learned."

Cloe placed another monster face-down and activated a spell card. "Ghostrick Museum." It was a field spell that changed the layout of not just the table, but the entire mansion. The bookcases became glass cases, and statues of classic monsters appeared in various galleries. "Oh boy." Uno saw which way the wind was gonna blow. Veronica layed it out for him anyway. "As long as we control Ghostrick Museum and nothing in your monster zone is face-up, our monsters can attack you.. directly." They started the battle phase and Cloe slammed her hand on the table. "Ghostrick Jiangshi, that was the monster I set." The field trembled as Ghostrick Go-Round reactivated. Jiangshi, the vampire ghost(1/400/1800) with a paper talisman on its face, was flipped face-up and his flip effect triggered. "Jiangshi can add one Ghostrick to our hand, if its level is less than or equal to the number of Ghostrick monsters we control." They controlled two Ghostricks, meaning Cloe could take the level 1 Ghostrick Lantern from her deck. "Now, to actually battle in this battle phase." The Jiangshi zombie and Jack Frost ghost shuffled across the flat table to pummel Uno with black firebolts and snow blasts. "One more thing you probably know. The Museum resets any monster that used it to attack directly." Veronica said as Jiangshi and Jack Frost were flipped face-down again. "That was our turn two."

Uno's LP: 6800

"Was it? Could have been worse." Uno said, carefully. The Ghostrick deck was not as harmless as it made itself appear. He had to break free somehow. The problem lied with his own defending monsters. Silver Claw could not be put back into attack mode manually, neither could Secondonkey. "Time for some fresh blood! I summon Performapal Turn Toad." A green toad(2/0/800) in a blue suit hopped down onto one of the monsterzones. "I will talk about his power later. First I flip summon Bowhopper!" Uno's green insect pal(1500/1000) had only been affected by the Ghostrick Go-Round trap, which did allow reflips. "This is your time to shine Hopper! You can tribute one Performapal to inflict damage!" The Bowhopper could sacrifice his fellow performers whether they were face-up or face-down. "Fire!" So Uno loaded the catapult with the set Silver Claw and launched it away. "Its level is 4, so that means your lose 400 lifepoints!" The wolf bounced off of Cloe's hat. It was only a minor hit after all. "That was inventive.."

Cloe's LP: 7600

"Oh there is much more to come! For my next trick.. I will pendulum summon Performapal Silver Claw!" The pendulum wolf had gone to the extra deck after its catapult-induced demise, so the Pendulum Sorcerer and Fire Lion could resummon it(1800/700) to Uno's field. Again a Performapal had been pendulum summoned, again the Sorcerer used his spell effect to energize Bowhopper(2500/1000), Turn Toad(1000/800) and Silver Claw(2800/700). "Say, that field spell works on both players doesnt it?" The Ghostrick Museum prevented attacks on face-down monsters, but since all she controlled were face-down monsters. Uno could attack directly! "Let's try that!" Like last turn, the wolf would lead the battle, adding 300 attackpoints to himself(3100/700) and his companions. "History repeats itself." Veronica and Cloe countered with their continuous trap. Ghostrick Go-Round flipped Ghostrick Jiangshi to attack position, using its effect to add another level 1 Ghostrick monster (Ghostrick Specter) to the sisters hands.

And then the trap flipped Turn Toad to defense position. "Not a fan of the toad, I see." Turn Toad could flip monsters back into face-up attack mode during the battle phase. Uno had planned to use it to reverse flips done to his monster but Turntoad could not use this power on himself. He could use it on someone else before he went under. "In that case. I turn Secondonkey!" The donkey(2000/1000) was flipped face-up. Turntoads effect had the added benefit of switching the targeted monsters attack and defense points for that turn. In the mean time Silver Claws redirected his attack towards Jiangshi. "Not as such, no." Cloe activated another monster effect from her hand, that of Ghostrick Lantern. "You attacked my Ghostrick, so you invoked this monsters effect." The jack-o-lantern ghost shot flames from his lantern that scared Silver Claw away. "Lantern negates an attack against another Ghostrick, and then he summons himself.. face-down." The Ghostrick hid itself next to the face-down Jack Frost. "You two are just full of surprises. But no matter, I will keep coming! Bowhopper, you are up next!" The insect(2900/1000) fired a direct shot at Jiangshi and succesfully managed to destroy the tiny vampire ghost.

Cloe's LP: 5200

"..You awakened Ghostrick Specter." Now a bedsheet ghost popped up in the Jiangshi's old spot. "Upon the death of a Ghostrick, Specter sets itself from the hand to the field and draws one card for us." Veronica said, as she pulled a card from the deck and gave it to Cloe. "Another face-down? Well if nobody is watching.. Then they wont mind and attack from Secondonkey!" Witrh the help of Ghostrick Museum, the performapal mule walked across Cloe's set monsters and gave the youngest sister a kick with his tiny legs. "Now that is a turn I can be happy with." As he ended the turn, Ghostrick Museum forced Secondonkey into face-down defense position.

Cloe's LP: 3200

"You did enjoy yourself. You were not affraid of what was to come. But then you never were..." The sister in white said, while she drew her card. "The past has always been your fear." Cloe placed one monster face-down. Veronica took over. "We flip summon our other monsters." Ghostricks Jack Frost, Lantern(1/800/0) and Specter(1/600/0) were put in attack position. "And we overlay two of them. To XYZ-summon Ghostrick Dullahan." It was finally time to bring out the XYZ-monsters. Specter and Jack Frost were attached to another famous ghost, the headless horseman Ghostrick Dullahan(1/1000/0). "Ghostrick Dullahan gains 200 attackpoints for each Ghostrick on the field." A trap, a field spell, and two monsters cards powered Dullahan(1800/0) up. Now that the battle could begin Cloe took back control. "You have forgotten many things, many stories. You are not alone, everyone has forgotten something." Ghostrick Go-Round targeted her new monster, flipping it to reveal a zombie inspired by the famous frankenstein story, Ghostrick Stein(3/1600/0). On the other end of the table, Performapal Silver Claw(1800/700) was put down in defense mode. "Like everyone else, you did not recognize these cards as anything but cards."

"I know those cards are based on stories. I just never read them!" Uno was telling the truth, as far as he knew. Stein and Dullahan looked familiar, yet he was not sure if that was because of their nature as cards or their background inspiration. "But they werent always 'stories'. You lost yours, and you are not the only one." Cloe detached one material from Dullahan. Dullahans second effect halved the attackpoints of another monster on the field, Bowhopper(750/1000) would be it victim. "And stories are not everything you stand to lose." Dullahan created a skull of flames in its hands and hurled it towards the grasshopper, burning it down until only ashes remained. "Not everything?" Uno looked at his field. His three remaining monsters were all face-down, alive but helpless. "The one whose forgot his stories, is the one who died." Cloe ordered her other monsters to attack directly. Ghostrick Stein and Lantern raced across the Museum and assailed Uno with flameballs and punched. "Ugh." Even such little creatures caused a lot of pain.

Uno's LP: 3150

"When Stein inflicts damage, a Ghostrick spell or trap can be taken from the deck." Veronica pulled a trap card; Ghostrick Nights. "We set this." She handed it to her sister, who placed it down in the spell/trap zone, along with another trap card. "That was our turn." During the endphase, Ghostrick Museum switched Lantern and Stein back to face-down defense position, so Ghostrick Dullahan had to surrender some of its(1600/0) power. "But that was not our last move." Cloe was quick to point out, as her new trap was put into effect as soon as Uno entered the standby phase of his turn. "Ghostrick Night! While we control a Ghostrick monster, you can not flip summon your monsters."

"That's no fun." Uno was in a bind now. Between Ghostrick Go-Round and Ghostrick Museum, he would lose all his lifepoints next turn if he did not break this lock. But he did not have high enough scales to summon the monster in his hand, and no pendulum monsters in the extra deck. There was just one solution; something he had not done in a long time. "Then..I sacrifice my face-down Silver Claw, to summon Performapal Springoose!" He would perform a tribute summon. The wolf gave his zone to a dapper goose(5/1100/2400) with a spring for a torso. "And to follow that up, here is the spell card; Pendulum Rising! Springoose leaves the stage to bring in a pendulum monster of the same level!" The spell sent the goose to the graveyard and special summoned Performapal Drummerilla(5/1600/900) from the main deck.

"Cloe, Veronica. You know I don't see my cards as just cards. They're part of a greater show; each Performapal has a role.. even those I tribute." Springoose's effect was one that could only be activated from its grave. "Springoose, banish yourself and return 2 Performapals on the field to my hand!" Two steel springs 'sprung up' from the table and ejected Pendulum Sorcerer and Turn Toad from the field. Springoose could target Performapals whether they were face-down or in the pendulum zone. "I will set Turn Toad in the right zone now!" Instead of a scale 2 wizard, there was now a scale 3 amphibian paired up with the scale 5 Fire Lion. A wider range was not needed. "You saw the Toads monster effect, now enjoy his spell effect! Turn Toad switches any face-up monsters attack and defense points!" The toad showered Ghostrick Dullahan(0/2200) with bright stars. "I think we can start the main event now. Pendulum summon!" Uno special summoned Silver Claw(1800/700) from the extra deck and Pendulum Sorcerer(4/1500/800) from his hand.

Because Pendulum Sorcerer had been special summoned, its monster effect could also be demonstrated. "Sorcerer, make my cards disappear and re-appear as Performapals!" The wizard destroyed the face-down Secondonkey and the pendulum-zoned Turn Toad. For this price, Uno could draw two Performapal monsters from his deck. "Here we go!" Another battle phase was underway. "And again and again." Naturally, Cloe put the brakes on Silver Claw before it could even move one step. Ghostrick Go-Round flipped that monster down and put Ghostrick Stein in attack position. "I am gonna try it as many times as I can, Cloe!" Drummerilla attacked next, pumping up his(2200/900) own attackpoints with his drumbeat effect. It and the Pendulum Sorcerer attacked Ghostrick Stein and Dullahan respectively, destroying them both. "And I am almost there!"

Cloe's LP: 1100

"And that has always been your flaw, Uno. You never wondered about the time that remained." Cloe responded harshly, as she used Dullahans final effect. If the XYZ-monster was destroyed, it would return a Ghostrick card from the graveyard to the players hand. Veronica grabbed Ghostrick Jack Frost and gave it to her sister. "And now your actions lead to more hauntings from the past." In the same chain, a trap card was activated. "Ghostrick Break. It sets two of our dead monsters on the field again when a Ghostrick monster breaks." The trap summoned Ghostricks Jiangshi and Yuki-Onna back from the graveyard, in face-down position. "Is this about that bad something that was gonna happen in the future, that you talked about last time?" Uno knew he could not get any more answers yet he asked anyway. "Is.." He found the answer on his own anyway. "Is time passing right now?" Nothing followed the physical laws in this place. Still, Uno could not imagine that time was stopped while he was here. And then he realized what else he could lose. "What is happening to Alice and the others?"

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

"Ah?" Alice got startled by an unexpected blackout. The lamps in and outside the office powered down. The only light now came from the city skyline beyond the office windows, for the rest there was only darkness. "Emily? Is that you!?" She heard the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door. "Who is there?" It was not the soft shuffling sound that her sister usually made. "Who are you?" A man she did not know walked inside. He did not have the appearance of a dreamworld employee. "A friend.. of Uno." Said December with his booming voice. "I am here to take him home."

(To be Continued in Annex 064: Trinity)

New Cards used by Uno
Performapal Turn Toad
Performapal Springoose

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Pendulum Rising

Cards used by Cloe and Veronica
Ghostrick Yuki-Onna
Ghostrick Jack Frost
Ghostrick Jiangshi
Ghostrick Lantern
Ghostrick Specter
Ghostrick Stein

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Ghostrick Dullahan

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Ghostrick Museum

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Ghostrick Go-Round
Ghostrick Night
Ghostrick Break