Dueling is Magic! Many Futures

by Wolfgang

Chapter 48: Shadow of Truth

Dueling is Magic!
Many Futures

Chapter 48

Shadow of Truth

/*********************\

A drop of water splashed on Twilight's horn, sending a few droplets down to her face. She blinked them away and shook her head. Aporia continued forward, unfazed by the damp.

"Aporia, let's stop for a minute," Twilight said.

"Neither of us has the time for rest, Twilight," Aporia answered without stopping. "I must return to Yusei, and you must find your friends. If either of our missions is to succeed, we cannot stop."

"Aporia..."

"And besides," Aporia continued, stopping to turn and look at Twilight, "I still have a score to settle with you. You've beaten me twice now. We are both growing stronger. I have to know if I've become stronger than you."

"It's not just about Yusei anymore, is it?" Twilight asked as she broke into a quick trot to catch up to Aporia.

"No. Now, it truly is about rivalry. I want to test myself against you. Stopping the resistance and protecting Yusei is simply a means to an end."

"That's the same kind of tenacity that Yusei had." Twilight caught up to Aporia and the two continued walking down the dark hall. "It helped him save my world twice already. I just don't understand how he could give up like that."

"Some things simply cannot be conquered with one's own power."

"Then he should ask other people for help! He's got you and Antinomy and Paradox! I don't know much about the technology or physics here, but I'm a quick study so even I might be able to help!"

"It's not that simple, Twilight. No matter what happens, the Fudo family is ultimately responsible for the extinction of mankind. Yusei has tried everything in his power to avoid that fate, but it's not enough. Paradox could not help him either. In the end, he realized that the only way to save mankind is through silence." Aporia stopped. The lights in his shoulders went out. "Darkness is eternal, Twilight Sparkle. No matter what, it always returns when the light is gone. Light, on the other hand, is fleeting because it must have a source."

"But life depends on light. It fights for the light, to keep it burning. Even if one light goes out, another one has been lit."

Aporia said nothing.

"We can't give up, Aporia. We can still save the world, and Yusei."

Aporia stopped.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Look," Aporia said, pointing a finger. Twilight looked in the direction he indicated.

"That's you!" she said. "And there's Yusei! And Jack, and Crow! And everyone! What's-"

"Another vision," Aporia said. "This was the day of my final death. Yusei had defeated me hours before in the finals of the WRGP, and I lost once again to Jack Atlas and the twins. But I returned because Jack made me realize that I still held on to hope."

"You look like you fell down a cliff," Twilight said.

"The chamber I guarded collapsed after I lost and I was heavily damaged on the way down. I was barely able to climb my way back up."

"What's going on now?" Twilight asked. "And what's that over there?" She pointed toward a strange machine floating in the air. It was shaped like a comma, though upside-down. Twilight noticed that it also resembled Yusei's D-Wheel, but more compact and with a reversed color scheme, white with a few red stripes. Six blue tubes extended from the back of the device and Twilight could see electricity and Duel Monsters cards inside them. In the center of the device was what looked like the upper half of a man completely covered in metal and wearing a strange mask.

"That's Z-one."

"Z-one?" Twilight repeated. "That's him? The last human?"

"Yes. I returned to challenge him, to show him the hope that Team 5D's had given me, but it wasn't enough. I couldn't win."

A mechanical voice echoed throughout the room, originating from the machine in the air. Twilight looked around and realized they were now surrounded by massive piles of junk and scrap metal.

"Aporia, your role has ended," said the voice. "Farewell. Lazion, the Timelord's effect activates! When you conduct your normal draw, you receive one thousand points of damage."

The damaged Aporia was engulfed in flames. He screamed, the fire tearing at his body. "Z... Z-one...." he gasped before falling to the ground.

"I gave the last of my hopes to Yusei. He told me he was able to defeat Z-one and even partly changed history when he summoned a new monster, but Paradox proved that it still wasn't enough. Time is a fickle thing, Twilight. It doesn't like to be changed."

"Tell me about it," said Twilight.

The vision faded. Twilight and Aporia were once again standing in the darkness of the abandoned Kaiba Corp. building. Aporia turned on his lights again. But this time, the light hit something bright and clean. It was Z-one.

"Team 5D's asked me how I could kill my friend like that," said Z-one. "I acted as if I didn't care, that you were not truly the Aporia that I knew, that you were just a puppet. But the truth is, it tore me apart inside. That's why I asked in the midst of the duel that we stopped. I knew you could not defeat me when all you had was hope. Hope alone cannot rebuild the future."

"Z-one?" Aporia said. "Is it... is it truly you?"

"Aporia, it's a trick!" Twilight said. "The real Z-one is dead. Antinomy told me he sacrificed himself to stop the Ark Cradle after Yusei beat him in a duel.'

"But... he's right here," Aporia said. "Z-one, how did you survive?"

"Yusei saved me," Z-one replied.

"You're lying!" Twilight said. "Antinomy told me that you died, and I bet Paradox and Yusei would say the same thing!"

"Z-one... I'm sorry we couldn't save the future. You were right, we should have destroyed Neo Domino City and removed Momentum from history."

"History will never change, Aporia, not without great sacrifice," Z-one said with his mechanical voice. There was a bright flash. Twilight and Aporia covered their eyes until the light died down. They suddenly found themselves in a purely white space, standing on a tiled floor. Z-one's hoverchair turned so he could face them. Two massive, mechanical arms appeared beside him, and a third device that resembled a gigantic deck holder materialized above his right arm.

"You failed me, Aporia. "

"Z-one, I did the best that I could!"

"You betrayed me."

"I tried to save you from your madness!"

'YOU BETRAYED ME!"

Incredible winds kicked up out of nowhere and pushed hard against Twilight and Aporia.

"Duel me, Aporia!" The left arm swing over to the deck holder and drew five massive cards.

"Z-one, please!" Aporia pleaded.

"Aporia, let's both take him on," Twilight said. "There's something funny going on here, and I want to know what it is. Dueling 'Z-one' over there might be the only way to get some answers. "Besides, you know more about his deck than I do, and he can't defeat us both, right?"

"Whether or not this is the real Z-one, you are right that he may have answers," Aporia agreed. "And even if that were not the case, I suppose I should face him."

Twilight nodded, then said to the floating machine before them, "We'll both duel you!" Her Duel Disk appeared in front of her and Aporia pulled the golden ring behind him down to his waist. Green energy formed along the outer edge as his Duel Disk activated.

"Very well," Z-one said. "This will be a tag duel. Neither of you are opponents to each other, but both of you are treated as my opponent. We will also take our turns in direct sequence, with one of you following the other, and none of us can attack on our first turn."

Twilight and Aporia nodded in agreement.

"DUEL!"

Life Point Count
Z-one: 4000
Aporia: 4000
Twilight: 4000

"My turn!" said Z-one. The left arm took a card from his hand and slammed it onto the ground. "I summon 'Time Angel' in Attack Position."

A slender, metallic monster arose from the card on the ground. Its body was dark silver and metallic. The chest was hollow and covered with a gold cuirass that ran down to the bottom of its body in a single line. The gold circled around its body and formed two wing-like structures. Its arms and shoulders were pieces of armor with nothing inside them, floating disconnected next to the body. A gold mask rested just above the chest cavity. Two red eyes flared up from behind the mask as two massive, blue wings unfurled above it.

Time Angel
ATK / 0
LV 1

"I Set three cards face-down, and end my turn." The giant arm put three more cards face-down on the floor.

"A monster with zero Attack Points in Attack Position?" Twilight said. "What's he planning?"

"I know exactly what he's planning. Allow me to go first, Twilight. My turn!" shouted Aporia. "I summon 'Grand Core' in Attack Position!" An orange egg appeared on Aporia's field. The top half tilted back partly, like a lid, and two smaller parts popped out of the sides. Long white fins emerged from within the egg as well.

Grand Core
ATK / 0
LV 1

"I activate 'Chaos Blast'! By sending the top three cards of my deck to the Graveyard, I can destroy one Level Four or below monster on the field. I destroy Grand Core. Next, when Grand Core is destroyed by a card effect, I destroy all monsters on my field and Special Summon 'Meklord Emperor Granel Infinity', 'Granel Top', 'Granel Attack', 'Granel Guard', and 'Granel Carrier' from my hand, deck, or Graveyard."

Five new monsters appeared in front of Aporia. The central piece resembled the other two Meklord Emperors, but was colored gold. Two claws folded out from its back to the sides as the center opened and revealed the green energy orb inside. Each claw opened up as the top and undersides of the machine also opened. Twilight thought of a crab as she watched.

Two fish-like machines appeared as well. On Granel's right was what looked like a coelacanth, while the left resembled a long-nosed butterfly fish. Each one stretched and rotated into different shapes, then locked into place in the claws of the center piece.

Beneath the Meklord was a dome-like machine with a small, curved structure on top. The machine split open and the structure extended upward, joining with the Meklord body. The underside of each half of the machine folded open and into the upper half, revealing a pair of caterpillar treads.

The final piece resembled a sea horse with single, large red eye. It spun around to face Aporia as the spiked tip of its tail slid down into the top of Granel's body until the fins rested just above the shoulders. The top half popped up and revealed a much larger red eye inside.

Meklord Emperor Granel ∞
ATK / 0
LV 1

Granel Top
ATK / 500
LV 1

Granel Attack
ATK / 1300
LV 1

Granel Guard
ATK / 500
LV 1

Granel Carrier
ATK / 700
LV 1

"Granel Infinity's Attack Points are equal to my Life Points," Aporia continued. "Combine, Meklord Emperor Granel Infinity!"

Meklord Emperor Granel ∞
ATK / 4000
LV 1

"Whoa," Twilight said. "Four thousand Attack Points right away? That's impressive, Aporia."

"I play the Spell 'Chaos Bloom'! It's effect changes based on how many other copies of it are in my Graveyard. Since there are none, I can destroy one monster on the field with no more than one thousand Attack Points. I destroy Time Angel! I then Set one card and end my turn."

"My turn," said Twilight. "I summon 'Milla the Temporal Magician'. When Milla is Normal Summoned, I can look at one of your face-down cards. I'll pick the one on the far left."

Z-one's card flipped up. Twilight read it, but it remained shadowed to Aporia.

"That's strange," Twilight said. "Would Z-one have used that with his Time Angel card?"

"If the card you see is 'Magician's Adage', then yes," Aporia said. "When Time Angel is destroyed by battle, it sends all opposing monsters back to the hand. Z-one would then have used Magician's Adage to inflict three hundred damage to us for each of those monsters."

"That clears that up," Twilight said. "I Set a card and end my turn."

"It is my turn again," said Z-one. His center face-down card flipped up on its edge and a golden ring appeared before him. "I activate the Continuous Trap 'Nonexistence'. While this card is face-up, I can Normal Summon any monster of Level Ten or above without Release, but the Attack Points of all monsters I control becomes zero."

"Brace yourself, Twilight," said Aporia.

"I summon 'Metaion, the Timelord'!" Z-one threw a card through the gold ring and a new monster appeared on his field. The new monster seemed like a much larger version of Time Angel. The arm pieces were much larger and painted bright orange. Two orange shoulder pieces curved out and up from the side of the body. A faceless headpiece floated above the body. A pair of sheer, white, metallic wings rested behind the machine. It's chest was wide and glass-like. Twilight gasped when a wide-eyed, grinning human face appeared inside the glass.

Metaion, the Timelord
ATK / 0
LV 10

"Level Ten, but it's Attack Points are at zero," Twilight said.

"Do not underestimate Metaion," Aporia replied.

"Battle! Metaion, attack Meklord Emperor Granel," Z-one ordered. Metaion grinned and held its hands out in front of itself. A whirlwind of fire erupted from his palms, aimed directly at Granel.

"He'll lose!" Twilight gasped.

"No! Twilight, stop the attack!" Aporia shouted.

"Even if I could, why-"

"Metaion's effect activates," Z-one announced. "At the end of a Battle Phase in which it attacked, Metaion returns all opposing monsters to the hand and inflicts three hundred damage per card. In addition, I activate the Trap 'Magician's Adage', inflicting an additional three hundred damage per card returned to the hand."

Metaion grinned as a whirlwind of fire spun up from the ground beneath Twilight's and Aporia's monsters. As each one was launched into the air, another of Z-one's Set cards flipped up. The fire turned bright blue and rushed towards Twilight and Aporia. The two were thrown backwards, landing flat on the ground several feet away from where they were. Their monsters disappeared with the flames.

Life Point Count
Z-one: 4000
Aporia: 400
Twilight: 400

"Thirty six hundred points of damage," Twilight groaned as she tried to stand up. She stumbled and fell back down. "Eighteen hundred points from each card..."

Aporia pushed himself up into a sitting position with some effort. "You couldn't stop the attack?" he asked.

"No," Twilight said. "Honestly, I didn't think he could do much if he was relying on Traps and weak monsters, but I won't underestimate him again."

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn," said Z-one. "Whether or not you underestimate me will not help you. You are dueling against the power of a god."

"A god...?" Twilight finally managed to get her hooves under her.

"Indeed," Z-one answered. "I manipulated all of human history for the sole purpose of saving the future of the human race. I am as a god to all."

"Well, there's just one problem with that," Twilight said. "Yusei beat you once already. God or not, that means we can too! Aporia, it's your turn! Show him what you've got!"

Aporia nodded. "My turn!"

/*********************\

Next time on Dueling is Magic! Many Futures

Twilight and Aporia struggle to stay in the duel in the face of Z-one's godlike defenses and controlling tactics! But Twilight still suspects something else is beneath the mask. Aporia, however, doesn't believe it until a new monster appears...!

Chapter 49

False God

/*********************\

Featured Card

Metaion, the Timelord
FIRE
Level 10
Fairy/Effect
Cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects. Players take no battle damage from attacks involving this Attack Position card. You cannot Summon monsters. At the end of the Battle Phase, if this card attacked or was attacked: Return all monsters your opponent controls to the hand, and if you do, inflict 300 damage to your opponent for each card returned. During your Standby Phase: Shuffle this card into the Deck.
ATK / 0
DEF / 0

Author's Note:

Ya know, I really didn't think I'd be able to include Z-one's cards in this story, but I found a way. The only one that will not be appearing is "Time Maiden," but it's kind of irrelevant right now anyway. Basically, Z-one could Special Summon it if he had no cards, and it counted as 2 Tributes if used to Tribute Summon a Fairy-Type monster.

Anyway, this duel was pretty difficult to write. I had to keep going back and changing things, making sure the hand count was right, all that good (annoying) stuff. In the end, though, I'm pretty proud of this.

It kinda is feeling a bit filler-y, I'll admit, but at the same time, I think it'll be good character development for Aporia. The main reason he lost against the real Z-one is that, despite his efforts, he was forced to rely solely on hoping that the future would work itself out. Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way. In fact, life often kicks you in the most ironic section of one's behind. Z-one taught Aporia this the hard way.

Well, one way or another, I think you'll enjoy this duel.

Oh, and in case you didn't figure it out, Enlightenment Paladin's making another appearance later. "Milla the Temporal Magician" is part of the "Majutsushi" archetype.

Comments

[Blazewind strike]

So your thoughts on the Yugioh VRain and Link Monsters and the new rule changes?

[Wolfgang]

7963896 The Link Monsters themselves are pretty awesome. I like how they make card placement a genuinely relevant strategy.

I HATE the rule that makes it virtually impossible to summon multiple Extra Deck monsters. It basically murders my entire deck. Any Synchro Monster which requires multiple Synchros to summon is now dead.

[Blazewind strike]

7964291 Well you just need some good Link Monsters(I await the day that we have Link monster with Link 4(1 upwards, and the rest pointing down).

[ShadowLight96]

7964291 please for the love of god keep that link monster bull shit out of here. It makes the game much more complicated just to try to slow the game back down.

[Wolfgang]

7964488 Don't worry. Pendulums won't even be appearing, much less these new things. Besides, without completely changing the rules, they wouldn't work here.

[ShadowLight96]

7964607 good.

[Wolfgang]

7965050 Don't get me wrong, though; the only thing I DISLIKE about the new rules is the huge restrictions they're placing on Extra Deck monsters. I mean, we just got confirmation that ANY monster summoned from the Extra Deck must go into an Extra Monster Zone or a Linked Zone- including Pendulum Monsters which start the duel in the Main Deck! So an Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon that got destroyed on the field being Pendulum Summoned from the Extra Deck will have to be placed in your Extra Zone. Out of all the summon methods, Pendulums got screwed the hardest.

On the plus side, monsters summoned from the Graveyard or banished zone, no matter which deck they started in, have to go in the Main Monster Zone. So if I use Jet Warrior's effect to Special Summon it from the Graveyard by Tributing a Level 2 or below monster, it'll go into a Main Zone.

[ShadowLight96]

7965349 honestly glad i quit main stream yugioh.

[Maxout020]

7965349 They are pretty restrictive.

Make's me wonder why they bothered making Pendulums in the first place.