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.

79. The Unstoppable Force

Annex 079: The Unstoppable Force

Uno and the gang hit a bit of a snag as they reached the top floor. "Well if anyone was asleep already, they definitely arent now." The synchro guild was buzzing around like flies, covering every hallway and exit. They took the alarm seriously. "We can't duel them all, we only have two dueldisks left." Uno had to discard his, since he did not trust anything Cassius had given him. "Maybe I can go out and talk to them? I mean they aren't looking for me." Alice had her suggestion. Uno shook his head. "It would be our word against Cassius'. I don't like those odds. What we need is another diversion... Dom, can you try that hologram trick again?" Uno heard how it fooled Adamants forces before. "Not without the proper tools. We have to get out of range of whatever it is that paralyzed us before. I am assuming Uno's pendulum made us immune for now. But seeing as my disciples haven't been affected, our station must be safe anyway." If they could get there, they could form a new plan. "Hmm... I have a plan too!" Eric turned his dueldisk on. "To play the bad guy." He ran out into the open. "Eric!" Alice shouted.

"It's him!" A handful duelists spotted him immediately. "Yeah, what about it?" Eric taunted them and rushed down the halls. The synchro guildsmen pursued. "Well, I have to give him credit. It worked." Dom stated with marginal pride. "Let's go. Silver is waiting for us.."

...

Cassius' LP: 2000 Emily's LP: 700

"You.. you arranged it?" Emily had to digest a lot of new information this day. And still Cassius' most recent revelation made the rest look small in comparison. "Was that why you came to see Uno's duel at the sporthall? So you and your pals could recruit him?" All this time, it had been about him. "The Circle heard about the 'thief' from their man inside Dreamworld. They estimated he would travel through our territory, so they planned an intercept. Once I found out that you were with him, I took the task. They wanted Uno, but I wanted you.. Emily." Cassius drew his card and quickly moved to his battle phase. Clear Wing Synchro Dragon(7/2500/2000) rose into the air to hover at the same level as Emily's Superheavy Samurai Susanowo(10/2400/3800). "Attack!" Clear Wing had the power of Follow Wing targeting it. The continuous trap would make it so that Cassius' synchro monster would destroy Emily's highlevel monster before the actual battle could take place.

"I wasn't done yet, Aaron!" So Emily activated a card from her hand. "Superheavy Samurai Blowtorch! I can discard this card when I have no spells or traps in my graveyard, and I can turn another Superheavy into an attack target!" A torch-carrying machine samurai materialized before the dragon. It spewed flames from six pipes to drive the monster away and redirect it towards Emily's other monster. Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei(8/1000/3500) was targeted. "Argh." Since Blowtorch skipped the start of the damage step and pushed straight into damage calculation, Follow Wing could not destroy Big Benkei. The synchro dragons attack failed to put a dent in the armor of the Samurai. Worse, Cassius took the deflected battle damage. "So you wanted Uno. But then other guilds found out about him. Did you tell them that too?" The gang had not yet figured out how the fusion guild learned about Uno and his pendulum monsters. Dreamworld had always denied involvement. "We did.. We believed Uno would only accept our guild once he had seen what the Fusion guild was like."

Cassius' LP: 1000

"Unbelievable." Emily shook her head. "And what about your accident? Dom said that you did it on purpose? Did anyone attack you at all?" Everything else had been a lie, so why not that as well? "No. I had to make it look like it was.. to keep the other guilds of our tracks. Ngh.. They were starting to suspect us, I had to make it look like we were the victims and that one of them was the culprit. Our.. guild had no personal stake in the tournament anyway, we do not seek Doms secrets." Cassius seemed to be struggling to keep talking. "..And then you said the Fusion Guild did it. Was that just to get me riled up? To make me feel sad for you? For gods sake, I took it out on Eric for you!" Emily was angry, with herself and with him. "I didn't want that! I never thought Eric would join the fusion guild!" He shouted. As he placed another trap card down he ended his turn. "Yeah that was Dreamworld's fault. But you know what? At least Eric got a choice!" Emily pulled the top card from her deck. "It doesn't matter now, Emily. I studied your deck, it can't break this lock." The combo of Clear Wing and Follow Wing was near insurmountable.

"Then I guess you don't know me at all." Emily summoned a new monster, a mechanical grey/green and copper bandit(10/1000/1000). "Superheavy Samurai Thief! I can special summon him when I have no spells or traps in my graveyard. I have to tribute him to activate his effect!" The thief vanished into the ground. Clear Wing could not stop this activation either. "He will then destroy one of your traps and.. set it on my side of the field!" The thiefs greedy hands emerged from underneath the stairs, and snatched Follow Wing. "Ah!" Cassius' continuous trap was dragged into the graveyard and then placed face-down on Emily's steps. "That's right. I had Dom make a few cards for me too. I guess I didn't tell you everything either." Clear Wing Synchro Dragon was an easy target now. "Susanowo, attack!" A single strike was all she needed to defeat both the dragon and his master.

"..Interdimensional Matter Transporter." Cassius wasn't going to grant her the attack. He activated his trap to banish Clear Wing Synchro Dragon for this one turn. "That's not gonna save you, Aaron!" Though Emily could call off her attack via the replay rule, she kept it going as a direct attack. "No, but this will." He then activated his second trap card, Stardust ReSpark. "Your special summoned monsters attack is negated, and a Stardust monster is summoned from my extra deck!" Susanowo's weapon was deflected by a collision of stars. The stars formed a being of energy, the flashing diamond of a dragon, Stardust Spark(8/2500/2000). "I summon Stardust Spark Dragon in defense mode. This monster can make one monster indestructible each turn." The dragon roared and raised a protective light bubble around its body. Big Benkei could not break through, nor could it inflict damage. "Finally, Stardust Respark allows me to draw one card." Cassius did so while Emily terminated the battle phase. "I thought I had it.." For each step she made to catch up, he raced ahead by two. "Damn it." She had to let the turn end. At this point the Interdimensional Transporter placed Clear Wing back in the proper dimension.

"It is time to let it go, Emily. You cannot stop this. And you will see why, soon." Cassius gained a more confident attitude, once his turn came again. "I activate Shock Surprise, banishing one speedroid to destroy one card on your side of the field." His spell banished Speedroid Taketomborg and targeted the set Follow Wing trap. "And I activate Synchro Cracker. One synchro monster on the field returns to the extra deck. All monsters whose attackpoints were inferior to this synchro monsters original power, shall die." The Synchro Dragon disappeared within an aura of pure green light. "Ah.." The light separated into two rings, one for each of Emily's Superheavies. "I activate Susanowo's effect!" Only now, with Clear Wing no longer on the field, could Emily activate the effect of her level 10 card. Susanowo targeted one of the spell cards in Cassius' graveyard and placed it down on her side of the field. Nevertheless, Warlord Susanowo and Big Benkei were destroyed by the Synchro rings. "What's gotten into you? You're acting different. Is it him, the other Aaron?"

"I am Cassius. We might disagree on some matters, at the end we always see eye to eye. The half of me that never got to meet you still has the memories and experiences that show what an amazing person you are. How many times can I say it, Emily? Synchronization is not the end of one life." He closed one fist. ".. it is the enrichment of two." He closed his other fist and pushed it forwards. Stardust Spark Dragon fired a blast of starlight towards Emily. "Grrr, I activate Gigagloves!" But a direct attack was something her dead Samurai could respond too. "I banish it to draw one card from my deck! If it is a Superheavy Samurai, your monsters attackpoints are reduced to zero!" Though Emily's deck had been reshuffled when Soulpiercer went to the graveyard along with Susanowo, and she had already added a new Samurai (Blue Brawler) to her hand, her deck was more monster than spell or trap. So she had to count her blessings. "I Draw... Superheavy Samurai Soulbang Cannon !" And she could add one more blessing. Stardust Spark Dragon(0/2000) lost all of its power. So the direct attack did nothing. "Cassius.. What about my family, my friends? How many people do you want us to leave behind?" Emily was not sure if she ever could be convinced. "It will be like this for all of us, your mother, your father, Eric, the Guild." Cassius placed one trap card down and ended his turn. "We can tell them together. They will listen. Many of their counterparts in the other timeline are already waiting for them to join. As for the rest, if they cannot be persuaded. Then their minds were never clear enough."

[Merci]

"What..what was that?" Cassius flinched. "Dom?" He could tell whose voice it was. Why he could receive it was another matter. [Down here, Cassius] Once the voice returned, both duelists could pinpoint the exact source. It was Emily's dueldisk. "Cardmaker, have you been listening?" Cassius looked above him and below him, the two were alone. [Naturally. You may have modified these dueldisks with a lot of your own features and taken out others, but in the end these darlings are still mine first and yours second.] Just like the XYZ-guild, the synchro-guild could not take the dueldisks apart entirely. Not if they wanted to keep using them for duels. "Why are you calling, Dom? You're not here to simply chat." Cassius asked as he tapped some buttons on his disk. [Don't attempt to track me. This message is broadcast over the entire network. I am just here to check up on Alice's sister. How are you holding up, Emily? And I don't mean duel-wise.] The master could keep track of that of course. "Still swell." She replied quickly.."Wait, what did you say?"

[You heard correctly! This transmission is broadcast over the entire network. Every duelist has been following our conversation, and yours. Congratulations, you just told your guild!]

"I did what?! " Cassius yelled. [Well, remember when we put that recording device in Uno's dueldisk. And remember when UNO dismantled said disk to create his printer. We had some leftover parts, and I gave Emily one of them before we left.] He revealed, as Emily reached for her shoulder. "You..." She plucked a small device from under her collar. He had placed it there when he tapped her shoulder. [This lovely device recorded your entire conversation, and now all dueldisks in the vicinity got the full log. Don't blame the girl, Cassius. I did it without telling her. Not that I lack faith in her acting abilities, but the best performances come from those who have nothing to hide. Thank you Emily. We will see you soon. Enjoy the fun, Cassius!] The signal broke up.

Everything the master said was true; Cassius' own words echoed throughout the base. And just in time too, Dom and the others had run out of places to hide by now. "What is..going on? The hell does he mean with counterparts?" The few duelists who had surrounded the gang were now too confused to keep up the hunt. "He did something like that behind our back?" Some like Jet felt betrayed. "No way man, this has got to be a trick somehow!" Others like Boris could not accept it, the whole story sounded like a bad joke. "Damn him!" Meanwhile those who were part of The Circle knew how much trouble this just heaped up on their plates. Though most of them had been knocked down by Adamant. The escaped XYZ-duelist could not prevent a smile, as he took in every transmitted word. "This is the price you pay." He walked up to one of the people he had beaten and placed his foot on the mans back. "You have one chance to answer me, where is your leader?"

...

"Well now it's over, Aaron." With renewed resolve, Emily drew her next card. "I activate a spell card; Shuffle Reborn! I can special summon a monster from the graveyard, while I have no monsters on the field!" Shuffle Reborn targeted Superheavy Samurai Susanowo(10/2400/3800) and summoned it, in attack position. "The monster summoned by Shuffle Reborn is banished during the endphase, and cannot activate its effects. So it will have to attack like any other card, from attack mode. Warlord Susanowo! Attack Stardust Spark Dragon!" The battle phase began. "No, Emily! I have to keep going. If not here, then on the other side! I activate Dice Roll Battle!" Cassius flipped his last trap. "By banishing a Speedroid tuner in my hand, and a Speedroid monster from my graveyard, I can synchro summon one monster with them as the materials." He banished a second Speedroid TriEyed Dice from his hand, along with Speedroid Double Yoyo in the graveyard. "Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!" Three stars from the tuner, four from the nontuner; Cassius had opened the extra deck to let the Clear dragon fly out once more. "Now, I activate the effect of Stardust Spark Dragon!" The starlight dragon flew parallel with Clear Wing and raised up a shield of energy. "That's not gonna stop the battle damage, Aaron!" Though Emily could call off her attack via the replay rule, she kept it going.

"No, it wont. That is why I am going to destroy Stardust!" Clear Wing suddenly grabbed Stardust by the neck with its claw. "You're negating the protection effect?" The dragon of white destroyed the dragon of the stars and absorbed its power into itself(5000/2000). "This is my victory, Emily." Cassius played the last trick in his sleeve. "Dice Roll Battle banishes itself from my graveyard to target two attack-position synchro monsters! Those two monsters will have to fight each other!" The Dice trap targeted Clear Wing and Susanowo. Their eyes lit up with rage and they tore at each other. "Stop trying to tell me what my future is! I go where I want to go, and I am not going to lose just yet!" Emily flipped her face-down spell card; his spell card. "Limiter Removal!" The first spell he had set, the spell Shutendoji had destroyed, that was Susanowo's dying gift to Emily. Limiter Removal powered up the machine samurai(4800/3800). Though Clear Wing still destroyed Susanowo in the end, her lifepoints weren't completely blown away at the same time.

Emily's LP: 500

There was another card Emily could banish from her graveyard. "I banish Shuffle Reborn. This will shuffle one of my cards back into the deck and drew a new one.." Emily placed Superheavy Samurai SoulbangCannon down on her field and shuffled that into her deck. "I will show you what.." Then she drew her card, and she looked at it. "No.." It was too late now to pretend it could be anything else. "Skill Prisoner." It was not a monster, it wasn't anything that could save her.

"You put up a good duel, Emily. But as much as you have grown, you cannot defy fate." Cassius could tell that her drawn card was not what she had wished for. "Shut up. Stop talking about that.." Emily placed the trap card down anyway and ended her turn. "Don't worry, Emily. I will take care of everything." Cassius was not going to fall her bluff. "Not for me. I will fight you every step of the way! You're gonna have to tie me down to stop me from messing your plans up!" She only had words now to fight with, and so she would. "Please don't, Emily. I am a friend." Cassius had the chance to attack her, but he held himself back. "Not my friend... Cassius." She replied with as much venom as she could muster. "..You make me sad." Cassius closed his eyes. "Direct attack." He let Clear Wing Synchro Dragon(7/2500/2000) deliver the fatal hit. A whirlwind of green waves rose up and swirled around Emily. "Ghhhhraaa!"

Emily's LP: 0

"Kgh.." With that last attack, Clearwing had used its sudden and overpowering full physical force. The wind sapped all the energy out of Emily. "You..couldn't even look. You..coward." She grunted while she could. Soon her vision faded and her body fell down. "I got you." Cassius raced to her step and caught her. "You're not getting away now, we will survive together."

...

"Emily!" Alice screamed her sisters name once she heard a loud noise in the distance. "Whoa, calm down Alice! That could have been anything!" Uno heard the same thing. He just couldn't determine the source. The castle at present was a scene of pandemonium and infighting duelists. There were those loyal to Cassius and those who were against this seemingly crazy plan. The trio was stuck in the middle. "But.. " Alice wanted to explain why she believed that she believed that the sound came from Emily's duel. Yet she could not remember why she had that belief. It was a feeling in her gut. "I shouldn't have let her go. They're all leaving.. Mom, Emily, Eric." She grabbed Uno's arm and held it tight. "Alice. Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." He held her hand and gave Dom a look. He didn't have to ask; Dom had still been listening to the duel. "..." Dom shook his head to make Emily's fate clear. "..Rgh. We have to get her back, Dom." Uno would not wait on Dom any longer. The master still hadn't told them what his plan was, nor did he tell him now. "You're saying we should go back down there, after we took all that effort to get up here?" Dom sighed. They were mere feet away from his station and his disciples, but unable to reach it without being seen.

"I wouldn't count on going there either."

"Jet!" It was inevitable that someone like the blackwing-duelist would spot them. "Chill. I'm not here to start a fight." He raised his hands. "The rest dont wanna hear it yet, but this is some serious bullcrap going on here. When I heard Cassius' wacko story, I wanted to get out. But I can't. The only safe way down this mountain is through the road, and they blocked that path. We're stuck here just like you. So.." He pointed a finger towards Uno. "Maybe we can help each other out.."

(To be Continued in Annex 080: Head of the Round Table)

New Cards used by Emily Brandt
Superheavy Samurai Blowtorch
Superheavy Samurai Thief

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Shuffle Reborn

New Cards used by Cassius
Stardust Spark Dragon

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Synchro Cracker

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Stardust Re-Spark
Dice Roll Battle