//------------------------------// // Chapter 51: Knife's Edge // Story: Dueling is Magic! Many Futures // by Wolfgang //------------------------------// Dueling is Magic! Many Futures Chapter 51 Knife's Edge /*********************\ Rainbow Dash beat her wings as fast as she could to keep up with the two D-Wheelers riding below her. They were approaching a highway gate. "Once we enter the gate, whoever takes the next corner will get the first turn," said Antinomy. "Agreed," answered Paradox. Dash flapped her wings and gained altitude so she could see the highway course. "Paradox, it's gonna be tricky, but I think you can take the first corner. Keep to the inside and accelerate around the turn and you'll make it." "Accelerate?" Paradox repeated. "You're supposed to slow down when you reach a turn!" "If you do, the other guy can get past you even on the outside if he's brave enough to do it himself. Trust me, alright?" "Fine. I will try it." Paradox sped up and moved to the inside of the approaching turn. He twisted the throttle and accelerated even more, beginning to lean into the curve. One of the metal extensions on the side began scraping against the road, sending sparks flying upward. He tried to accelerate further, but the sparks intensified. Paradox lost his nerve and began to pull back. As he did, Antinomy approached on his left and smiled at him before racing ahead. Paradox pulled out of the turn and straightened out, but nearly lost control of his D-Wheel as he did. "Paradox!" Rainbow Dash called out to him as she flew up next to him. "You okay? What happened?" "I lost my nerve," he said, panting from the effort of maintaining control. "I am an android, and not a human... yet I was afraid of the speed?" "You were never a pro D-Wheeler like I was, Paradox," Antinomy said. "You can't keep pace with me!" Rainbow Dash turned her attention to Antinomy. "Maybe he can't do it alone, but he's got help this time!" "And I'm confident I can take you both!" Antinomy replied. "We shall see, old friend," Paradox said. "DUEL!" Life Point Count Antinomy: 4000 Paradox/Rainbow Dash: 4000 "My turn!" Antinomy announced. "I summon the Tuner monster 'Tech Genus BIOSphere' in Attack Mode and activate its effect. When Normal Summoned, BIOSphere lets me Special Summon a 'Tech Genus' monster from my hand or Graveyard. I summon 'Tech Genus Spark Salamander'!" The first monster to appear was humanoid in shape but seemed composed of vines and root. Cybernetic implants were embedded in various parts of its body, giving the appearance of a face on its head and armoring its shoulders and shins. A black sphere was embedded in the center of it torso and green lines of code ran along its surface. The second monster was a small reptile with flame-like red and orange patterns on its body and armor plates running along its back and tail. Two small cannons rested on its shoulders and spurted jets of flames as it emerged onto the field. T.G. BIOSphere PL-09 ATK / 1800 LV 4 T.G. Spark Salamander RE-03 ATK / 500 LV 1 "Level Four 'BIOSphere' tunes my Level One 'Spark Salamander'!" More green code appeared on the black orb in BIOSphere's body that took the shape of an X with the letters "TG" inside it. It flashed away and was replaced with the word "Tuning". BIOSphere's body vanished and left four stars in its place. They flew through the air and drew green Synchro rings in the air. Spark Salamander flew into the rings and became an orange outline of itself with a single star inside. The outline was stripped away and a line of light shot through the star before expanding around it and then enveloping the green rings. "Synchro Flight Control! Limiter removal, Level Five! Regulator open! Thruster warm up, OK! Uplink: All Clear! GO! Synchro Summon!” said Antinomy. "Come on! 'Tech Genus Hyper Librarian'!" T.G. Hyper Librarian SCX-1100 ATK / 2400 LV 5 "A Synchro Summon on the first turn," said Rainbow Dash. "Synchro Summoning is the primary focus of his deck," Paradox explained. "But it's only a means to an end. His goal is to perform an Accel Synchro Summon." "Accel Synchro? Like Yusei's Shooting Star Dragon?" "Yes. When Z-one brought us all online, he told us what our roles in his plan were. Mine was to attempt to eliminate Duel Monsters from history. Failing that, Aporia would be deployed to try and stop the development of Momentum. If that plan failed as well, Antinomy would be sent back to help Yusei evolve in his Dueling, but only so that Z-one could come to the past himself and destroy the city and all Momentum technology present. Yusei evolved further than Z-one anticipated and stopped him." "So Antinomy taught Yusei how to Accel Synchro?" Dash asked. "Correct," Paradox answered. "There's one thing you're missing, old friend," interrupted Antinomy. "I taught this timeline's Yusei about Accel Synchro Summoning, but the one from our timeline is the true creator." "Yusei created Accel Synchro?" Dash said, amazed. "Indeed, and history repeats itself even when changed. I also taught him about Delta Accel Synchro, but he went further and created Limitover Accel Synchro to defeat Z-one and save Neo Domino City. Yusei was always destined to be a pioneer in evolutionary tactics. "But the end result of all evolution is death. Spark Salamander's effect lets me draw one card when it's used for a Synchro Summon. I Set two cards and end my turn." "What're 'Delta Accel Synchro' and 'Limitover Accel Synchro'?" Dash asked Paradox. "It's what lies beyond Accel Synchro," he explained. "Instead of using two Synchro Monsters for a Synchro Summon, a Delta Accel uses three. But as for 'Limitover Accel', I don't know. I can only assume it uses more than just three Synchros. But let's worry about that when we face Yusei. My turn!" Paradox drew a card. As he did, displays on his and Antinomy's screens appeared showing that their Speed Counters had begun to increase. A similar display appeared in Rainbow Dash's eyepiece. Speed Counters Antinomy: 1 Paradox/Dash: 1 "I summon 'Malefic Pathfinder' to the field." Paradox's monster was a large, angular vehicle with an otherwise box-like shape and six wheels. Black and white lines formed the Malefic patterns across its surface. Malefic Pathfinder ATK / 0 LV 2 "When this card is summoned, it destroys itself, but while it's in the Graveyard, face-up Field Spells have their names changed to 'Malefic World'." The vehicle exploded and an energy wave expanded outward, changing the air around them to a purple hue. "Next, I send 'Cyber End Dragon' from my Extra Deck to the Graveyard and Special Summon 'Malefic Cyber End Dragon' in Attack Mode!" Black metal wings spread, white line running along the fingers, edges, and joints, as three mechanical dragon heads wearing masks patterned after their master's roared to life. Malefic Cyber End Dragon ATK / 4000 LV 10 "Malefic Cyber End Dragon, attack Hyper Librarian with Eternal Evolution Burst!" Each dragon head roared and spat beams of yellow-white energy at Antinomy's monster. "I play my Trap 'Sonic Stun'," said Antinomy calmly. "This negates your attack and lets me Special Summon a Tuner from my hand. Come out, 'Tech Genus Cyber Magician'!" A small wizard in green-edged white armor appeared, flourishing a black cape behind him. Strange blue capsules containing an orange liquid rested on his shoulders. T.G. Cyber Magician SC-01 ATK / 0 LV 1 Paradox frowned slightly. "I Set one card face-down and end my turn," he said. "My turn again," Antinomy said. Player: Antinomy LP: 4000 Hand: 3 Speed Counters Antinomy: 2 Paradox/Dash: 2 "Cyber Magician can tune with other non-Tuner monsters in my hand. My Level One 'Cyber Magician' tunes with the Level Four 'Tech Genus Rush Rhino' in my hand!" A bipedal, armored rhino briefly appeared before fading away and leaving four stars behind. The small magician also vanished, leaving a single star that drew a green Synchro ring around the four stars. They formed a line before being pierced and enveloped by a column of light. "Limiter removal, Level Five! Booster injection at one-hundred twenty percent. Recovery Network range updated. All Clear! GO! Synchro Summon!" The light expanded and faded to reveal a tanned human in green armor and wielding broad-bladed axe. "Come on! 'Tech Genus Power Gladiator'!" T.G. Power Gladiator WAX-1000 ATK / 2300 LV 5 "Whenever a monster is Synchro Summoned, Hyper Librarian's effect activates and I draw one card. Next I activate the Continuous Trap 'Graceful Revival', which lets me resurrect a Level Two or below monster from my Graveyard. I Special Summon 'Tech Genus Cyber Magician' back to the field, then have it tune the Level Four 'Tech Genus Titanium Wolf' in my hand!" Tech Genus Cyber Magician arose from a horizontal portal as Antinomy's Trap flipped up. Moments after, a black wolf in silver-grey armor edged in sky-blue and bearing the Tech Genus insignia on the chest plate in the same color appeared overhead and roared before disappearing the same way as Rush Rhino, leaving only four stars behind. The small wizard also vanished, repeating the tuning process. "Limiter removal, Level Five! Booster launch, OK! Inclination, OK! Ground support, all clear! GO! Synchro Summon!" Within the pulsing column of light, a new monster appeared, a female magician in red and pink armor edged with gold. Long pink hair tied into thick pigtails flew in the wind from beneath her hat, her pink bangs fluttering in front of her face. T.G. Wonder Magician SCX-1000 ATK / 1900 LV 5 "Hyper Librarian one again lets me draw one card," Antinomy continued. "Now I Normal Summon 'Tech Genus Catapult Dragon' and use its effect to Special Summon 'Tech Genus Solid Wyburn' from my hand." A purple and orange drake with a catapult launcher atop its head emerged from a blue portal. A ball of light appeared on the launcher, which the dragon fired into the air, creating another portal and allowing a wyvern covered in red and silver armor to appear. Its eyes were bright blue and triangular in shape, although angled and with slightly wavy edges. Four silver jets burned on its wings and legs, and a silver, blade-like ridge ran along its back, curving upward and ending at a sharp point above the base of its tail. T.G. Catapult Dragon DR-08 ATK / 900 LV 2 T.G. Solid Wyburn DR-03 ATK / 1500 LV 3 "If I use it for a Synchro Summon, Solid Wyburn lets me use one 'Tech Genus' monster from my deck as the other material. Level Three Solid Wyburn tunes with the Level Two 'Tech Genus Bladewing Butterfly' in my deck!" Antinomy announced. A butterfly with silver, razor-edged wings appeared, but it and the armored wyvern were reduced to stars, with two of them lining up and the remaining three drawing green rings around them. "Limiter removal, Level Five! Over Boost System primed. G-Diffuser, OK! Launch thrusters, OK! Navigation, All Clear! GO! Synchro Summon!" A white beam of light pierced the stars and engulfed them and the Synchro rings before fading to reveal a new monster. "Come on! 'Tech Genus Slipstream Dragon'!" A dragon emerged above the highway. It wore white armor with blue plates on its hips, green on its shoulders and chest, and green and blue patterns on its head. A blue blade tipped its tail. The Tech Genus insignia was embedded in black on its chest plate. It spread and flapped its white wings, the front edges colored blue from the shoulders to the first joint, and green to the edges. T.G. Slipstream Dragon DRX-1200 ATK / 2400 LV 5 Antinomy pointed at Paradox's monster. "Slipstream Dragon, attack Malefic Cyber End Dragon!" "I play the Trap 'Malefic Quake'!" said Paradox. Malefic Cyber End Dragon roared with each of its heads, beating its wings and slamming its tail into the highway. "If I control a 'Malefic' monster, all monsters on the field switch to Defense Mode, and until the end of the next turn, if a monster that was affected by this card is changed to Attack Mode, its controller takes its original Attack Points as damage." "Why'd you stop the attack, Paradox?" Rainbow Dash asked. "His monster would've been destroyed!" "Antinomy isn't your average Duelist. He would not have made a move like that without a plan," Paradox explained. "I've known him too long to just let him make seemingly bad moves." "Paradox is correct," Antinomy chimed in. "If Slipstream Dragon battles a monster with both a higher Level and higher Attack Points, I can destroy that monster at the start of the Damage Step. Since everything is now in Defense Mode, I'll end my turn." "Yes! Now it's my turn to joint he fight!" Dash said excitedly. "I draw!" Speed Counters Antinomy: 3 Paradox/Dash: 3 "I summon 'Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus' and use its effect to place 'Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise' in my back row as a Continuous Spell." First a white Pegasus with a sapphire horn emerged from a blue portal. Then its horn lit up and a massive emerald appeared behind it. Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus ATK / 1800 LV 4 "I play the Speed Spell 'Speed Energy', and give Sapphire Pegasus two hundred Attack Points for each Speed Counter I have. Since Paradox and I have three counters, that's six hundred points, putting Sapphire Pegasus at twenty-four hundred Attack Points! Sapphire Pegasus, take out Hyper Librarian with Sapphire Tornado!" "Going for mutual destruction?" Antinomy asked. "Not quite, bub. If a Crystal Beast on the field would be destroyed, I can turn it into a crystal in my Spell and Trap Zones instead." "And you don't want me drawing any more cards from Synchro Summoning, is that right? Well, unfortunately for you, I'm still going to get one more draw out of my Librarian. My Level Five 'Tech Genus Wonder Magician' tunes the Level Five 'Tech Genus Power Gladiator'!" Power Gladiator raised his axe to the sky. His body changed to an orange framework before vanishing and leaving five stars behind. Wonder Magician closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. Her hat vanished in a flash of light, letting her hair fly free in the wind. She too disappeared as five green Synchro rings appeared and encircled the line of stars that had taken Power Gladiator's place. "Uh-oh... kinda forgot about that," said Dash. "Here it comes!" said Paradox. "Limiter removal, Level Ten! Central Hub Connection established! All Clear! Infinite power is now focused and pierces through dimensions! GO! Accel Synchro!" Waves of light flashed around Antinomy before he disappeared through a wall of light. Paradox and Rainbow Dash passed the point where Antinomy vanished a split second later. Suddenly he appeared behind them with a new monster flying above him. "Come on! 'Tech Genus Broadsword Driver'!" The monster was a navy blue robot, thin in construction and bearing orange mark on its chest, shoulders and knees. It held in both hands a wide broadsword with a gold band running down the middle of the blade. The hilt was very large and connected to a cover over the handle. It swing the blade with both hands in an X-shape then brought it to rest on its left shoulder. T.G. Broadsword Driver MAXX-11000 ATK / 3000 LV 10 "That's an Accel Synchro Monster?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It is, but I've never seen that one before!" Paradox answered. "When a Synchro Monster is Synchro Summoned, Hyper Librarian activates and I draw one card." Antinomy drew from his deck and placed the card in his hand. "Because I summoned a new monster, a replay occurs. Rainbow Dash, you can now reselect your target, or you can call off your attack." "You're not getting off that easy, buster! Sapphire Pegasus, don't stop and take out that Librarian!" "I thought you'd say that. Level Five Slipstream Dragon tunes my Level Five Hyper Librarian!" "You're Accel Synchro Summoning again?!" Dash exclaimed. "Slipstream Dragon is another Synchro Tuner!" Paradox said, shocked. "Synchro Monsters are the symbols of evolution, Paradox. Let me show you how much I've evolved! Limiter removal, Level Ten! Full network control established! All Clear! Infinite power condenses and launches through dimensions! GO! Accel Synchro!" Once again he disappeared in a flash of light, but this time reemerged next to Paradox. "Come on! 'Tech Genus Shield Catapult'!" Another robot appeared above Antinomy. It had a bulky, sturdy build and was white with orange markings on its chest, knees and upper arms. It held in its right hand a massive, diamond-shaped shield, white with a blue edge and the Tech Genus insignia in the center. The white robot knelt down and slid the shield into a special slot at the bottom of its right shin. T.G. Shield Catapult MAXX-12000 DEF / 3300 LV 10 "I don't believe it," Paradox said. "He has two new Accel Synchro Monsters. Antinomy, just how far do you plan to evolve?" "As far as it takes for us to survive," he said. "Yusei knows that the end result of all evolution is death. The trick is finding that point where you can take control and direct your evolution yourself. Yusei has found it." "No he hasn't! He's just found another dead end!" said Rainbow Dash. "It's like I said before, Rainbow Dash," Antinomy replied. "Synchro Monsters are the symbols of evolution. Yusei is like a Tuner trying to unite everyone to create something new: The Living Singularity. When we are reborn as one, our evolution will go down a new path. Humanity will live on as a new super-consciousness!" Life Point Count Antinomy: 4000 Paradox/Dash: 4000 /*********************\ Next time on Dueling is Magic! Many Futures Antinomy has summoned two powerful Accel Synchro Monsters and uses them to back Paradox and Rainbow Dash into a corner. As the two of them try to stop the devastating damage and destruction effects of the two robots, Rainbow Dash remembers a vital clue that could reveal Nightshroud's true intentions... Chapter 52 The Knight of Evolution /*********************\ Featured Card T.G. Slipstream Dragon DRX-1200 WIND Level 5 Dragon/Synchro/Tuner/Effect 1 "T.G." Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters At the start of the Damage Step, if this card attacks a monster whose Level and ATK are both higher than this card's: You can destroy that monster. This card can also be treated as a Machine monster. When a Spell/Trap Card you control targets this card, halve this card's original ATK and DEF. When this card is destroyed: Draw 2 cards, then send 1 "T.G." monster from your hand to the GY, or, if you don't have any in your hand, send both drawn cards to the GY. ATK/2400 DEF/2100 T.G. Broadsword Driver MAXX-11000 EARTH Level 10 Machine/Accel Synchro/Effect 1 Tuner Synchro + 1+ non-Tuner Synchro Monsters During your opponent's turn, if this card is in your Extra Deck, you can: Immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon this card using monsters you control as Material. [Other effects unknown] ATK/3000 DEF/2000 T.G. Shield Catapult MAXX-12000 EARTH Level 10 Machine/Accel Synchro/Effect 1 Tuner Synchro + 1+ non-Tuner Synchro Monsters During your opponent's turn, if this card is in your Extra Deck, you can: Immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon this card using monsters you control as Material. [Other effects unknown] ATK/2300 DEF/3300