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.

87. The Four Signs of the Apocalypse

Annex 087: The Four Signs of the Apocalypse

"Just like dreamworld? What did she mean with that!?" Mentioning her precious company was a sure-fire way to get Iria riled up. "Did she.. convince the shareholders, while Dom was indisposed?" It sounded bad. It would be even worse if anyone was to ever find out that Dom was no longer in this world. "I need to confirm this." Iria left the castle hall to run towards their helicopter which was still perched on the fourth tower; the landing tower. "..." On her way she noticed Martel, the creepy kid, staring at her. Something troubled her about his expression, but she could not focus on that right now.

Cassius' LP: 5700 Ichirou's LP: 4500 Phoebe's LP: 7000

Up above the battle royal raged on. "Let the feast begin! Frightfur Chimera, kill Phantom Knight of Break Sword!" Dame Phoebe had created her ultimate death-toy(8/2800/2000) and one of its three beast-heads sprang forwards. It bit off the top half of the headless centaur knight(4/2000/1000)'s body. When Frightfur Chimera attacked, no spells or traps could be activated until it was finished with its destruction. "Hmm, so you want to absorb my guild. Well, you will have to take that up with Adamant too. As for me.. I can't even give you my XYZ-monster. A Phantom Knight revived with Phantom Knights' Wing is banished when it is removed from the field." The Break Sword perished and its remains evaporated before they could fall into the grave. Frightfur Chimera had no corpse to revive. "Bleh, barely had any taste to it." The girl spat. "There's always next turn." She placed two cards down in the spell/trap zone and passed the turn to Cassius.

Ichirou's LP: 3700

"If you try to control my guild, we will fight back from the other side. Dame Phoebe. But you wont get that far! I wont trust either of you with what we built!" Dom activated the effect of a spell card in his graveyard, Speed Recovery. "Speed Recovery can banish itself and return a Speedroid from the graveyard; Speedroid Double Yoyo, to my hand. I summon it!" The bladed Double Yoyo(4/1400/1400) came back to immediately use its own effect. With its string it revived the Speedroid tuner Red-Eyed Dice(1/0/0). "I change Double Yoyo's level with the Red Eyed Dice's effect." The golden dice added a single star to the Yoyo(5/1400/1400). "Synchro summon! HiSpeedroid Kendama!" The two regular speedroids tuned into one Hi-Speedroid; the flying Kendama machine(6/2200/1600). "I activate Kendama's ffect, inflicting 500 points of damage by banishing a machine from my graveyard. However!" The effect's cost was paid, removing Razorang from the graveyard. "I negate Kendama's effect with Clear Wing!" The rest was blocked by the white dragon. It(7/4700/2000) destroyed the HiSpeedroid to soak up its attackpoints.

"Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, attack Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!" Ichirou still owned Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon(9/4000/2000), which had been powered up by various effects. Cassius needed to feed Kendama to Clear Wing to overcome that hurdle. Though Ichirou was stunned he put in that much effort. "Coming after me when you know which cards await for you?" Ichirou activated two trap effects and one came from his graveyard. "The Phantom Knights of Tomb Shield negates one trap or spell card on the field." A grey shield in chains, targeted Follow Wing. Cassius' continuous trap was supposed to protect Clear Wing from attacks and fatal effects. "And Phantom Knights Sword to empower my dark-monster even further." The second, a haunted sword made from purple crystals, was activated from the field and given to Dark Rebellion(4800/2000). The black dragon gained an additional 800 attackpoints. Enough to become the bigger power in the upcoming clash. "Yes I knew. I knew and I counted on you to negate Follow Wing this turn, Ichirou!" Cassius revealed his own set card once Follow Wing had been sealed. "I activate Hi-Speed Re-Force!"

Hi-Speed Re-Force, Quickplay Spell
Banish 1 "speedroid" Synchro-monster from your graveyard, then target 1 synchro monster you control; it gains 1000 ATK and can attack all monsters your opponent controls, once each.

"Oh?" The quickplay spell banished Hi-Speedroid Hagoita. Its speed and power were given to the Synchro Dragon(5700/2000). "Now I can take care of two birds with one stone!" Clear Wing sped up, breaking the soundbarrier as it flashed from sight and re-appeared behind Dark Rebellion. "Ah but, I can banish Phantom Knights Spear from my graveyard to negate the destruction of my monster." Ichirou narrowly avoided the dragons demise, as he let a spell spear from the grave absorb the blast that the Synchro Dragon fired at the XYZ-Dragon. "Oof.. But I see now why they call you the chief of the synchro guild." Ichirou still took battle damage from that exchange.

Ichirou's LP: 2800

"Guh.." And Uno felt that damage as well. "Now what? Am I.. sharing their pain? Is Odd-Eyes sharing their pain?" The crystals flashes got fiercer and fiercer, it was starting to draw the attention of a duelists outside. "So this is what it looks like when it is active?" Adamant came into the hall and witnessed the pendulums light first hand. "I did not realize this before. Your crystal resembles those used by December and his kind. Are they like you?" Though the shape differed, that glow was unmistakably the same as the others. "Shouldn't you be watching the guild, or the duel?" Eric asked him defensively. "The guilds are more interested in Ichirou now. And I had a feeling that what is transpiring here, holds more relevance. Now answer me, Uno." Adamant repeated his question with a firmer tone. "Sorta. I don't remember them and they don't seem to know who I am either. They claim to be timetravelers from the future, not just from another timeline." That was as close to understanding it as Uno got. "Travelers from the future? A remarkable story.."

"NO! No. No future! Wont have one! Cant run away!" Alice let out another scream, after having been eerily quiet for a while. "Ah.. Alice, please. We're getting your sister, we will be out of here soon!" Eric thought she'd been getting better. Something set her off again. "... How long has she been like that?" Adamant was slightly confounded and watched intently at the panicking girl. "Since Roma..well.. got carded." Uno did not have a better way to describe that process. "...Because of that?" The new leader glanced at the card of the old leader. Roma's 'curse' was a horrid experience to see, yet nobody had reacted like she did. "Could she have seen something like this before?" He asked bluntly. "I wouldn't know how.." Uno said.

Back at the duel, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon still had one more attack in him. "Your turn to be attacked, Phoebe!" Cassius ordered a strike against Frightfur Chimera. "Heh?" The synchro dragon sped up again, making it appear as if he had teleported behind Dame Phoebe and her monstrosity. "Why do you hate your dragon so?" So she now flipped her face-down card; Battle Fusion. "!" Cassius' heart froze as he realized the totality of his error. "Hahahaha! You attacked my fusion monster, Battle Fusion gives him your monsters attackpoints this battle!" Frightfur Chimera(8500/2000) increased its size several times over until it towered over the dragons and the castle. "No take-backsies!" Phoebe flicked her finger as Clear Wing continued its attack. It slammed into the Chimera and was crushed by its snake-tail. At the same time, Follow Wing destroyed itself, as it lost its original target. "Mine!" The Chimera special summoned Clear Wing Synchro Dragon(1250/2000) to her side of the field in defense mode. The victims had their original attackpoints halved, but the Chimera(3100/2000) gained 300 attackpoints for each 'stolen' monster card.

Cassius' LP: 2900

"Damn it!" Cassius ended his battle phase. "I activate the other effect of Kendama, from my graveyard!" Now that Cassius controlled no cards, he could and had to use the HiSpeedroid's selfrevival effect. Kendama summoned itself back in defense mode. Then the synchro duelist placed a trap card and passed his turn to Ichirou. "Well done, Cassius." The latter was a bit displeased that things turned out this way. "Maybe I should clean up your mess." The draw phase was equally frustrating, as Ichirou drew Reinforcement of the Army. He could not activate that spell due to his own Anti-Spell Fragrance. "You certain you'd rather not gut Cassius. He is as much your enemy as I am." Phoebe asked tantalizingly. "Ergh." Cassius was not defenseless, but his cards didn't give him much hope. "Perhaps." Ichirou set his narrow eyes on her. "But I think not." Ichirou started the battle phase. "Dark Rebellion, destroy Frightfur Chimera." Phoebe had one trap left, but even if she would try to destroy his dragon, he could counter her with the effect of Phantom Knights' Sword. He would not make the same mistake as Cassius.

"Uh oh, time for Magical Hats." Phoebe reverted to 'Dame' as she giddily revealed her other face-down card. "The Hats?" Three magician hats plopped down on the field to hide Frightfur Chimera. The Magical Hats trap took two spells from Phoebe's deck and set them face-down as monsters, along with the fused death toy. The three cards were shuffled around, so Ichirou did not know which one to target. "You would have a card like that. In that case.." He sighed and redirected his XYZ-monsters attack towards her Synchro monster. Dark Rebellion destroyed Clear Wing Synchro Dragon with one attack. "Too late, too late. My disk already analyzed the decryption codes Dom put in this synchro card." The girl giggled as the card was tossed back to Cassius. "What?"Cassius cringed. "Yep. Two down, one to go." She turned her smile to Ichirou. "And I already know how I am going to get it." Once the battle phase ended, the two fake hats disappeared and their base cards were destroyed. The graveyard gained Toy Vendor and Double Fusion.

Double Fusion, Normal Spell
Fusion summon 1 Fusion monster from your extra deck, using monsters from your hand or your side of the field as Fusion materials.
During your turn: you can banish this card from your Graveyard and pay 500 lifepoints, then Fusion summon 1 Fusion monster from your extra deck, using monsters from your hand or side of the field as Fusion materials.

"Heehee." With the destruction of the Toy Vendor, an Edge Imp Sabres could be moved out of the deck and into Phoebe's hand. "Our turn." Phoebe summoned the Edge-Imp(3/800/1300) and flipped Frightfur Chimera(8/2800/2000) upwards. "You brought your dragons. I'll bring mine." She banished Double Fusion from her graveyard to initiate a fusion. of her two two monsters. "Ah?" The Chimera and Imp came together; two dark-types were the materials for this fusion summon. "Come out and play! Starve Venom Fusion Dragon!" Beast and demon were twisted into the shape of a dragon, a violet monstrosity(8/2800/2000) with red and yellow orbs across its body and golden horns to frame its devilish face. "The fourth dragon.." Uno could not look away. Even from this distance he could tell it barely resembled his Odd-Eyes anymore. And his pendant was burning brighter than ever.

Phoebe's LP: 6500

"What is going on?" Cassius gasped as the Fusion Dragon started devouring light and energy. "When Starve Venom is fusion summoned, he will gain the attackpoints of one other monster that was special summoned!" Phoebe's dragon(7600/2000) siphoned its new power from Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon. "Then.." Even if Ichirou's dragon would survive an attack due to Phantom Knights' Sword, Ichirou's lifepoints would not. "There is so much more. My beautiful beast can drain the effects of any level 5 or higher monster on the field!" Phoebe explained as she pointed her claws at Cassius' monster. "No!" HiSpeedroid Kendama was targeted; its effects were copied by Starve Venom. "Kendama can inflict piercing damage. So it can too?" If his synchro monster was attacked, he would lose all his lifepoints. "Looks like I got both you boys at my mercy, ahahaha! How sweet!" The girl licked her fingertips, savoring every second of this. "So, who wants to die first?"

"Hmm." And Ichirou made a split second decision. "Milady, I have an idea. I can't beat you, but you need me.. Let my guild join with yours, and I will concede this card to you. Otherwise.." He took Dark Rebellion dragon from his board and pinched it between his hands. "What?" Cassius flinched. The duelist was threatening to destroy the card! "Oho.. Holding me over a barrel?" Phoebe still had to get the code from the dark dragon. "I like the cut of your jib, Ichirou." She turned her smirk towards Cassius. "No.. wait!" The synchro duelist protested futilely. "Sor-ry, dear-ie!" She sang at him with her sugary voice, as Starve Venom gathered an unholy cluster of bloodred energy in its wings. "It just wasn't your day! Dragon, kill Cassius!" And the beast unleashed its terror. "Gaaahhh!" Cassius was consumed by a venomous light. And that light expanded.

Cassius LP: 0 Ichirou's LP: 0

The castle shook, the entire hill shook. "What the devil is going on?" Iria returned to the scene just in time to view the spectacle up above. "It's the dragon!" Eric shouted. The light between dead and living dragons resonated back and forth while the pendulums glow intensified along with it. "The three dragons, no.. the four dragons are in one place! It's too much power!" Uno tried to keep the energy contained, but his hands could not stop the rays from shooting outwards. "It's happening! It's happening!" Alice cried as the entire castle was illuminated by the four colors. It dominated their vision. "Why? Why can't they be together? Why doesn't it..work?" Uno had to do something, it was his presence that caused the problem. "Stop it. Help me stop it!" He shook the crystal, the core that fueled the chain reaction. "Come on! I know you can.." It provided a solution halfway during his cry for help. All energy and light was pulled to their one location, and it consumed the five people around the pendulum in a quick sudden burst.

...

When Uno opened his eyes again, he saw a familiar place. "...Here?" It was his oldest memory; standing in an open field, surrounded by gravestones and trees as a sun dawned in the east. "A cemetery?" But this was not that moment, this was the present. Adamant was not here last time. Now he was right besides him, dazed and shocked. "What did you do?" So were the others. "Home.." Eric and Alice recognized this area with a single glance, this was their home village. "He.. teleported us. Just like Neter.." Iria had no other explanation. Only a few seconds has passed on the internal clock of her dueldisk, and in that instant they traveled here. "I see." Adamant thought it would have had a more lasting feeling. It was over in the blink of an eye. "I did that?" Uno was amazed the pendulum did what he wanted it to do for once. Like with June's ability, it seemed difficult to control the outcome. Still this was a safe place, far away from the castle and from the duel. This must have been the pendulums way of taking the fourth dragon out of the equation. Hopefully that was enough. Though one question remained.. Why did he come back to this village again?

"Dad!" Alice got up on her feet abruptly and rushed out the graveyard. "Alice, wait!" Uno yelled in vain. She did not slow down as she rushed into the village. The others pursued. "Daddy! I'm here! I'm home!" Her house was right there, the door was open. "Hey.." Eric stopped to check out his own house next door. "This is.. weird." The door to his house was wide open as well. "She would never.." His mother always scolded him if he did not close the door properly. "This is your village. Where is everyone?" Other signs did not look promising either, Adamant had not seen a single soul since they got here. "Dad? Where are you?" Alice wandered her quiet home, looking for any sign of life. "Dad?" She got increasingly more anxious the longer she looked. "This isn't funny, dad." All the rooms were empty. "No.. you can't do this!" She inspected every corner of the house, again and again. "Alice. The house is empty." By the time Uno caught up to her, she was standing in the kitchen, staring out the window. "No.. It's happening again.. They're all leaving me."

"Alice. I told you, I wont leave you. We're here. Your father is somewhere too, and Emily. We can go back and save them." Uno said with a confident smile. Now that he understood his pendulum, there was almost nothing he could not do. "Go..back." She whispered to herself. "You can go back, you can go anywhere... any place..any time." Alice turned her head and looked at Uno with desperation. "You can go back in time, can't you? You can change everything! We can!" Uno's smile faltered. "I.. don't know..if it works that way. I've never gone to the past..." Even if he did, Uno did not know if he could actually change the events that led up to this moment. "But you can go to other worlds! Why don't we do that!? We'll just run away from them all, they wont find us!" She was pleading now, tears formed under her eyes. "I... what am I saying?" She looked away and hugged her sides. "Emily told you everything, didn't she? I'm awful, right? I keep running away.. Mom, dad, sis. I know they're not my real family, but.."

"What are you saying." Adamants booming voice made Alice flinch. "Huh?" He, Iria and Eric were in the room with them now. "Guys. Did you figure out what happened?" Uno asked. "This might be a result of the barrier that the XYZ-guild put up. Some of locations have been evacuated due to their proximity to the generators, and there is one within this region." Iria finally had access to the net again, so she could dig up information on the country's state. No messaged could get in or out the barrier though. "That is not what I wanted to talk about." Adamant cleared his throat. "Alice, I am aware of your feelings. But you need to answer this, it is important. What do you know that you are not telling us?" His question was bigger than she expected. "Eh? Is this about the family thing?" Eric did not get it either. "I will rephrase. Alice, where did you live, before you had your new family?"

"Where?" Alice choked up. "I..I don't know w-wh-what you're talking about. I forgot.." She replied, squirming where she stood. "I do not believe that." He pulled out Roma's card. "You recognized what happened to him. Something terrible happened years ago, and you were there. As difficult as it may be, try to remember." Adamant was insistent. "No. No I don't want to! I don't like it! I hate it, IhateitIhateitIhateitIhate!" She slumped down against the wall and held her hands against her ears, pretending not to hear him. "Hey, don't you think this is taking it a bit far? She's gone through enough!" Eric shouted at the XYZ-duelist as he walked over to her to console her again. "Adamant, what are you insinuating?" Iria wanted to know what was up with his line of questioning as well. ".. You've already unraveled the secret, haven't you?" The only one who did not speak up was Uno, which Adamant noticed. "...Yeah." Uno did not want to say it, but it would be better if he did. "Alice... you're not from this time either, are you?" Her status as a nobody in this world, her obsession with him, Cassius' warnings; it all fit the picture. "What? Uno, that doesn't make any sense!"

"No..." Alice had stopped raving. ".. I didn't want it to be true, but it is. I'm the only one left.. from my world."

(To be Continued in An08X &#,-7XrF5]

New Cards used by Cassius
Hi-Speed Re-Force

New Cards used by Ichirou Azora
Phantom Knights' Spear

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The Phantom Knights of Tomb Shield
Phantom Knights' Sword

New Cards used by Dame Phoebe
Starve Venom Fusion Dragon

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Double Fusion (+)

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Magical Hats

(+ Based on the spell used by Judai in YGO GX)