Here's the stuff I forgot to clear up in the beginning of the first chapter. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters or magical artifacts therein. I just own the original characters and cards. :)
Oh yeah, this is my first-ever fan-fic, so I hope you enjoy it. If you must criticize, try to keep it civil.
Chapter II
The Legendary Dragons
So, do you have any idea what the card that guy used is that made all his monsters stronger?" I asked.
"I don't know. In all my years of studying magic, I've never come across anything like it. However, the name 'Orichalcos' does sound familiar," Lily said.
"Well, I do know this: we have to find the one and only Yugi Moto," I said.
"We'll start first thing tomorrow morning. Try to sleep well, darling," she said.
"I will. Good night," I said, the two of us slowly drifting off to sleep.
Elsewhere in some part of the world, a dark gathering was taking place. The mysterious priest was again in his sacrificial chamber.
"My soldiers, the battle has begun. Our enemies - the knight and the sorceress - must fall," he said.
"We are yours to command, Lord Thatehos," said one of the ten cultists bowing before him, this one happening to be some kind of death knight. They lifted to their master.
"So, which one of them are you going after?" the knight asked his partners in evil.
"Doesn't matter to me, as long as I kill something," said one of them, running his claw-like nails over a sharpening stone and speaking with a voice that was obviously not civilized.
"Let me have a go at them, Master. Perhaps then my fame can be restored," said another one with an Indian accent.
"You keep off of Demetrios! He's mine, as is that wench of his, Lily! As soon as I find them, they're dead!" said a light Southern female voice, obviously with anger.
"Well I'm going to break that rich boy Kaiba in half; what right has he to control dragons?" said the knight.
"It matters not to me; they'll all be mine in the end," said a mysterious voice.
"Ah yes, there's still that little runt Yugi and his insignificant so-called friends to contend with. No matter; Satan shall have them all!" said another of the cultists. A flapping of wings could be heard outside the temple.
"Ah, my servant has returned," said Thatehos. A gargoyle flew into the room and perched onto one of the serpent-shaped outcroppings in the chamber. This creature looked like a gargoyle at first glance, but it had more reptilian qualities than the creatures decorating the Notre Dame cathedral. Its head was snakelike in shape and its body was long and spindly like a lizard's, but had a frame like a monkey. Its long arms ended in three-fingered claws and its tail resembled a whip.
"Enlighten us, Dijumia," said Thatehos.
"My Lord, the knight and the sorceress are now looking for the one called Yugi Moto," the creature said while hissing the whole time.
"Abaddon may have failed his mission, but perhaps another shall succeed," said Thatehos.
"I'll go. My dark magic will destroy anything," said one of the cultists.
"I'll go with you and keep our enemies at bay," said another in a dark Southern accent.
"That's not all. Inderfar, you're coming with me," said the knight.
"I know. It's time to draw Seto out," said the cultist he signaled.
"Good. Now, my soldiers, go forth and spread chaos!" said Thatehos, and the cultists carried off with their missions.
In another part of Domino City, as dawn was approaching, a young boy was having troubling nightmares. He saw vast armies of demons marching across the Earth, destroying all in their path. Hellish dragons reduced all to ashes, and the hellfire in their breath turned the sky red. Then, when all hope seemed lost…a strange but angelic song broke through. Unfortunately, it was in Latin, so the boy couldn't understand it.
"Valde Hostilis orator victum;
Everto pervasor vacuus misericordia.
Three proeliator es electus
Impero Valde Extraho.
Tamen they unus mos non sufficio;
Miles militis quod Veneficus vadum orior oriri ortus quod victum barathrum1." it sang. But when it finished, the song became unintelligible, as the vision swirled into chaos; all that was left was a bunch of black. But not all was gone; there were three ancient statues of dragons; one of emerald, one of onyx, and one of ruby. The voice spoke again.
"Yugi Moto, vos erant electus impero Lumen of Timaeus. Utor suus vox puteus huic bellum, pro vestri imperator has postulo vestrum iterum2," it said. Suddenly, the emerald coating broke open, and the dragon contained therein burst forth. He looked at the creature in awe…and suddenly woke up in the safety of his own house. He peered around his room to make sure he was still in this dimension. But this was no mere boy. His spiky blonde/red hair and large violet eyes revealed that he was none other than Yugi Moto himself. As he was confirming that his dream ended, a familiar voice came to him.
"I guess you saw it, too?" asked Yugi's spiritual alter ego and friend, known simply as "the Pharaoh". For while he was indeed a Pharaoh of ancient Egypt, he unfortunately lost most of his memories, but thankfully his spirit entered the safety of Yugi's most prized possession, an amulet called the Millennium Puzzle, before the Pharaoh was completely destroyed.
"Yeah. What do you think that was?" Yugi asked.
"I'm not sure; I don't understand Latin," the Pharaoh admitted.
"Maybe Téa will know what to make of this," said Yugi, picking up the phone next to his bed and dialing the aforementioned number.
Upon hearing the phone ring, Téa stirred slowly in her sleep. Still half-asleep, she reached over and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" she asked groggily.
"Hey, Téa, it's Yugi," he said. At hearing the name, she woke up almost immediately.
"Hey, what's up?" she asked happily, sitting up in bed.
"I had the weirdest dream and I have no idea how to explain it," he said.
"Does sound weird. Would you like to hang out later?" she asked.
"Yeah, I definitely don't want to sleep anymore," he said.
"Good; I'll meet you at the park later. Bye for now," she said, and both hung up.
In the very heart of Domino City, Seto Kaiba's day already began. He was already at his desk, typing away at his computer. But as focused as he usually was, his thoughts strayed now and then.
"What kind of dream was that?" he wondered. Whether by coincidence or fate, Seto had a dream similar to Yugi's, although in Seto's version the onyx dragon broke free. "I don't know what it is: either I've got to stop listening to Yugi's fantasy speeches or he needs to." he thought. Little did he know how close to the supernatural stuff that he so was he going to be in a few more hours.
Meanwhile, Lily and I arrived in Domino.
"Well, we're here now," I said.
"Now we have to find Yugi," said Lily.
"How can you miss him? I'd say we look in the most crowded places first," I said, as we dismounted Moon Shadow.
Speaking of Yugi, he was in the park, walking with Téa, who looked as lovely as ever.
"So, tell me about this dream you had," she inquired.
"Well, I saw this war, for lack of a better word, and I heard this weird voice speaking Latin, and it ended with this enormous green dragon," he said.
"That is bizarre. What do you think it could mean?" she asked.
"I've no idea. Do you think I've been chosen for some battle or something?" Yugi wondered.
"Personally, I hope not. I've had enough supernatural stuff for one lifetime," Téa admitted.
"Yeah, me too…" he began, when suddenly, he sensed a supernatural presence nearby - a dark one, at that.
"I spoke too soon, didn't I?" Téa asked.
"You could say that again: it's some kind of sorcerer," Yugi said.
"I don't like the sound of that," she said.
"I'll check it out; it could have something to do with that dream of mine," he said.
"Yugi, it could be dangerous. You know how the last guys were," she said, referring to the dark magic that Maximillion Pegasus and Marik Ishtar both yielded, thanks to the Millennium Items, of which Yugi's Puzzle was a part.
"If I don't find out, I won't solve the mystery," he explained, running toward where he sensed the presence.
"Oh, I hate it when he uses that excuse," she whispered, running after him.
Lily and I were walking through the streets, keeping an eye out for Yugi and company. When we reached a secluded alley, some kind of shadow swept over us!
"What was that?" I demanded.
"I think we're about to find out," Lily said, noticing the mysterious figure in front of us. It appeared to be an old man with a long beard. His skin was an odd shade of green and grey, as if he were a corpse. He was clad in a sorcerer's robe, and adorning his head was a dragon's skull. His staff was the gnarled branch of a dead tree.
"Ah, I've found both the Knight and the Sorceress. I must say I've had better luck than usual in my orders," he said.
"Are you with that guy who tried to whack Lily?" I demanded.
"You mean Abaddon? Yes, I knew him. He must have been pretty weak to fail at such a simple mission, and we all thought he was an accomplished assassin," he said. "Oh, where are my manners? I am called Graveshade, and I am a necromancer."
"Graveshade? I know that name from somewhere…wait, I remember now! You're that guy who tried to take over the world with an army of the dead!" Lily said. "But…aren't you supposed to be dead? That took place over a thousand years ago."
"Yes, I am supposed to be dead, but I've never felt better, thanks to the magic of the Orichalcos. But enough small talk. I was assigned to kill one of you, and I shall do just that, and I think I'll start with you, witch," Graveshade said.
"Not if I can help it," Lily said, activating her own Duel Disk. Graveshade activated his, and it looked just like Abaddon's! So they were working for the same guy!
"Duel!" both opponents said, and their 8000 Life Points triggered.
"I'll start by activating the Spell Card, Cold Wave!" As if to punctuate the card's name, ice began to form in the area where the Spell and Trap cards formed. "Now neither of us can activate any Spell or Trap Cards until next turn - that is, if you can make it to next turn, since I'll end by summoning Master Kyonshee in Attack Mode." An undead man in ninja-style clothes (1750/1000) appeared in front of Graveshade.
"We'll see about that," said Lily, and looked at her hand. It contained De-Fusion, Pitch-Dark Dragon (900/600), Reaper Scythe, Zera Ritual, and Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600). Great! None of them are strong enough to take out his monster!
"I'll put Pitch-Dark Dragon in Defense Mode and end my turn," Lily said.
"Don't worry about it, you'll beat this guy easily," I assured her.
"That's what you think, because it is my turn once again, and since Cold Wave's effect has expired - like you both will - I can now activate…the Seal of Orichalcos!" Graveshade said, and he raised the mysterious Spell Card in the air to activate its effect!
"You've got to be kidding!" Lily said.
"Where did you get that thing? Who are you working for?" I asked, demanding to know the origin of this magic.
"Don't bother with questions, fool, for you'll be dead anyway," Graveshade said, and the Orichalcos Ring descended onto the field and formed the six-pointed star. Just as with Abaddon, the star appeared on Graveshade's forehead, as well as on that of Master Kyonshee, who also got red eyes and his Attack Points went up to 2250.
"And that's not all. I'll also summon Dark Assailant (1200/1200), and he'll also absorb the power of the Orichalcos," said the necromancer. The Dark Assailant's empty eye sockets glowed red and the Orichalcos symbol appeared on its forehead as well, raising its Attack Points to 1700.
"First, I'll have Master Kyonshee destroy your little dragon," he said. The zombie ripped up Lily's monster with his bare hands, but thankfully her Life Points weren't hurt.
"And then, Dark Assailant will attack you directly!" he continued, and the undead pirate cut through her Life Points, reducing them to 6300.
"And last but not least, I'll activate Polymerization, to combine my monsters into one undead killing machine…the Great Mammoth of Goldfine!" Graveshade said, activating said Spell Card. The two creatures combined and turned into a living mammoth skeleton whose bones appeared to be made of solid gold (2200/1800). The Orichalcos symbol appeared on its head as well, making its Attack Points 2700!
"Now, my Great Mammoth, attack her Life Points directly!" said Graveshade. The Mammoth tore through her Life Points again, making them 3600!
"If you hurt her, I'll kill you!" I warned him.
"Big talk from someone who's outside the Orichalcos Ring. This is between me and her, fool. But rest assured, you'll be next," he said. Both Lily and I looked him down.
Meanwhile, as Yugi and Téa were running toward the mysterious entity he sensed earlier, Yugi suddenly stopped.
"Yugi, what's wrong?" Téa asked.
"I don't believe it; that guy's dark power suddenly skyrocketed!" he said. I recognized the voice nearby, and turned and saw…Yugi Moto!
"Yugi, is that you?" I asked, unable to believe my eyes. Lily saw him as well.
"And who might you be?" he asked.
"I believe now is not the time for introductions; there's a bigger problem right now," I said, pointing to the necromancer.
"What's all that green energy?" Téa asked.
"I don't know, but it's not very friendly, I'll tell you that much," I said.
"So, you have more people to witness your demise. How very touching," Graveshade said.
"Not if I can help it," Lily said, and drew a card from her deck. It was…Swords of Revealing Light! She gave a sigh of relief.
"Your mammoth's not going to be hurting me for a while, because I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light," she said, triggering the aforementioned card. Swords of light appeared on Graveshade's side of the field, rendering his Great Mammoth paralyzed for the next three turns. "I'll also put a facedown card while I'm at it."
"You're only delaying the inevitable, my friend," said the necromancer. "I'll just put a monster facedown and end my turn."
"Let's see what the future holds for me," Lily said, and drew two more cards. She selected Graceful Charity and Marie the Fallen One (1700/1200). An idea immediately flashed into her mind.
"I summon Y-Dragon Head in Attack Mode, and now I'll play Graceful Charity," she said. "Now by getting rid of two cards from my hand, I can draw three more from my Deck." By getting rid of Reaper Scythe and Marie the Fallen One, she got three more cards: Dark Witch (1800/1700), X-Head Cannon (1800/1500), and Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300). Yes! Now she could create one of her most powerful monsters! Not only that, but now that Marie was in the Graveyard, her Life Points went up to 3800.
"I'll summon X-Head Cannon thanks to that effect, and I'll have him destroy that facedown of yours," she said. The machine's long cannons locked on to the concealed creature, but when she fired it, it turned out to be Castle of Dark Illusions (920/1930, and because of the Seal of Orichalcos, the anti-gravity ring surrounded got the Orichalcos symbol on its center and its Attack Points became 1420)!
"Ha! You just activated my effect! When Castle of Dark Illusions is flipped face-up, all my Zombie-Type monsters get 200 more Attack Points for the next four turns," Graveshade explained. As if to punctuate his statement, the Great Mammoth's Attack Points became 2900.
"Not only that, but because of its higher Defense Points, your Life Points go down again," he explained further, and Lily's Life Points did indeed become 3670.
"Well, it's my turn once again, so now I'll activate the Trap Card Pyro Clock of Destiny, which will put an abrupt end to your little light show," he said. With that, the Swords of Revealing Light disappeared, and now Graveshade was free to attack with the Great Mammoth of Goldfine again. It charged forward, ready to skewer one of Lily's monsters on its golden tusks.
"Not so fast! I activate De-Fusion!" she said, undoing the creation of the Great Mammoth. Suddenly, it turned back into Master Kyonshee and the Dark Assailant.
"Now that he's out of the way, I summon Z-Metal Tank, and now for the fun part. By removing my three monsters from play, I can summon the most powerful tank that money can buy…the XYZ-Dragon Cannon!" Suddenly, two energy cannons emerged from the tops of Z-Metal Tank's treads. The Y-Dragon Head landed on top of the tank and locked into place while another gun emerged from its opening mouth. Finally, X-Head Cannon locked into place on top of the combination, and became the XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800/2600).
"Okay, now blow away his Dark Assailant," Lily ordered. All the guns on the machine locked onto the skeletal soldier, and fired incredibly powerful beams of energy! The Assailant was reduced to ashes, and Graveshade's Life Points became 6900. Not only that, but Lily's Life Points went up to 3870.
"Now I'm back on top," she said confidently.
"Now you're talking!" I said proudly.
"You may have won the battle, witch, but I'll win the war," said Graveshade, as he drew another card from his deck. He smiled confidently as he saw what he drew.
"I'll summon Spirit Reaper in Attack Mode," he said, as a Grim Reaper lookalike (300/200) appeared on the field and gained the power of the Orichalcos, with the red eyes, the mark on its forehead, and its Attack Points becoming 800. "And I'll activate another Polymerization to combine him with Nightmare Horse from my hand to create Reaper on the Nightmare!" Suddenly, the Spirit Reaper was riding a ghostly horse (800/600). "And that's where the nightmare begins; not only is he empowered by the Orichalcos, he also gains 200 more Attack Points from the Castle of Dark Illusions!" he explained further. Sure enough, the Reaper's empty eye sockets glowed red and the Orichalcos symbol appeared on its bony forehead. First its Attack Points went up to 1300, then up to 1500. "And now for the beauty part: even with that XYZ-Dragon Cannon of yours, he can attack your Life Points directly. Reaper, cut her in half!" he said. The monster galloped toward Lily and cut through her with his scythe, reducing her Life Points to 2370. "And he's not done yet: when he does attack, a random card in your hand goes to the Graveyard, and I'll choose the one on the right!" With an annoyed grunt, Lily sent Warrior Lady of the Wasteland (1000/1100) into the Graveyard.
"Don't give up!" Yugi said.
"We're right behind you!" Téa added.
"Thanks for the support, guys, but those are my lines," I joked.
"So, do you want to give us the rundown on what's happening here?" Téa asked.
"Okay, my name's Demetrios and the sexy lady in there is my girlfriend, Lily. Last night, my family was killed and one of those responsible for the crime tried to kill her, too. I dueled the assassin, and he used that same card the necromancer's using right now. So Lily and I came looking for you because I was told that you could help us find this cult," I explained.
"I don't know about any cult, but I'll help you get to the bottom of this," Yugi said.
"We can find something out after Lily survives this duel," I said.
"You mean if Lily survives this duel," Graveshade said.
"You forget, I still have Marie in my Graveyard, so my Life Points heal again, and now my Dragon Cannon will blow away your reaper," Lily said. As her Life Points went up to 2570, the XYZ-Dragon Cannon fired at the Reaper…but when the smoke cleared…he was still standing!
"You've got to be kidding me! My cannon's Attack Points are 2800!" Lily said in disbelief.
"Another advantage of the Reaper on the Nightmare: he's not destroyed as a result of battle, though the drawback is I still take damage from your attack," he said as his Life Points went down to 5600. "But there is good news: my Reaper gets 200 more Attack Points from the Castle of Dark Illusions." The Reaper's Attack Points went up to 1700. Hoping for a good card, Lily drew one, and got Pot of Greed.
"All right, Pot of Greed! Thanks to that, I can draw two more cards from my Deck," she said while activating the valuable effect. The extra cards she drew were V-Tiger Jet (1600/1800) and Reduction Barrier. She was just one card away from making her XYZ-Dragon Cannon even more powerful.
"Okay, if your Reaper of the Nightmare can't be destroyed by battle, then it's time for plan B. I'll discard one of my cards to the Graveyard and destroy him with XYZ-Dragon Cannon's special ability," Lily explained. She sent her Reduction Barrier to the Graveyard, and XYZ-Dragon Cannon charged forward at full speed, running over the Reaper of the Nightmare. "And I'm not done yet. Now my Dragon Cannon will demolish your Castle of Dark Illusions," As she said that, the tank fired all of its guns at the Castle, reducing it to rubble. "And last but not least, I summon V-Tiger Jet in Attack Mode, with which it'll attack your Life Points directly." The jet fired a barrage of missiles at Graveshade, cutting his Life Points down to 4000.
"Oh wait, I'm not done yet. Thanks to Marie, I gain Life Points again," she said as her Life Points became 2770. With frustration, Graveshade drew another card from his Deck, and smiled at what he saw.
"Your fallen angel's not going to be doing any healing anymore, after I read the Book of Life!" he said, showing her the card.
"Book of Life? What does that do?" I asked.
"Not a good effect. Now he can resurrect a Zombie-Type monster from his Graveyard and remove one of Lily's monsters in the Graveyard from play," Yugi said.
"And that's just what I'm going to do. First I'll bring back Reaper on the Nightmare for Round 2, and then I'll get rid of that Marie," Graveshade said. Irritated that she lost the advantage, Lily put Marie into the out-of-play area. Then Reaper of the Nightmare reappeared, though this time with only 1300 Attack Points.
"Now he'll attack your Life Points directly once again, and you know what happens after that!" he said, and the Reaper did so. Lily's Life Points went down to 1470.
"Oh no! More attacks like that and she'll lose the duel!" Téa said fearfully.
"And I've seen what happens when a person loses inside the Seal of Orichalcos," I said, not wanting the same fate to befall my ladylove.
"What happens then?" Yugi asked.
"When I defeated the assassin, I think his soul was stripped from his body," I said. Yugi and Téa gasped at such a revelation.
"Can a Duel Monsters card really do that?" Téa asked.
"This is no ordinary Spell Card he played. This is purely evil magic," I explained.
"Don't worry, my love; I won't suffer the same fate," Lily said. She drew a card from her Deck, and smiled at what it was.
"I summon W-Wing Catapult in Attack Mode, and now I'll combine it with my V-Tiger Jet to create the VW-Tiger Catapult," she said. The two machines joined together to become the ultimate fighter jet (2000/2100). "And now I'll attack your Reaper with both of my monsters!" First the VW-Tiger Catapult bombarded the monster with multiple salvos of missiles, and then the XYZ-Dragon Cannon fired its energy cannons. Both attacks combined made Graveshade's Life Points 500.
"Looks like I'm back on top," Lily said.
"And it looks like you'll beat him yet," I said.
"You haven't beaten me yet, worm! I sacrifice my Reaper on the Nightmare," Graveshade said.
"For what?" Lily asked nervously.
"My greatest Zombie. I now summon the mighty Despair from the Dark!" he declared. A satanic creature with an ethereal body but very corporeal devil's hands (2800/3000) appeared on Graveshade's side of the field. Even though it didn't have a forehead per se, the Orichalcos symbol appeared on its head anyway, and its eyes turned red. Then its Attack Points became 3300!
"Now, show that bitch the very meaning of despair by destroying her VW-Tiger Catapult!" he ordered. The creature's demonic hands extended from its shadowy body and ripped the VW-Tiger Catapult apart. Lily's Life Points went down to 170!
"No, Lily! You can't lose! I've already lost my entire family! I don't want to lose you, too!" I said, almost on the verge of tears.
"He's right, Lily. You can beat him. You just have to believe in the Heart of the Cards," Yugi said to her.
He's right. I can't give up just yet. We have to find out more about this cult and how to stop it, Lily thought, and drew a card from her deck, hoping against hope that it would be a helpful. She saw that she drew…Monster Reborn!
"All right!" Lily said, grateful that her hope worked. "I activate Monster Reborn, and bring back the VW-Tiger Catapult you just sent to the junkyard. But it won't be around for long, because I'll remove both it and the XYZ-Dragon Cannon to create the most powerful machine I have…the V-Z-Dragon Catapult Cannon!" she said. Both machines started to combine. The VW-Tiger Catapult connected to the XYZ-Dragon Cannon, and the W-Wing Catapult's wings turned into mechanized legs. The Z-Metal Tanks legs/treads turned into arms as the whole machine started to take on an anthropoid outline. The Y-Dragon Head's wings emerged from the back of the machine, giving it a more impressive look. The head of the V-Tiger Jet turned became the head of the machine, and it turned into the powerful VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon (3000/2800).
"So what? My Despair from the Dark can still kill it," said Graveshade, apparently not as impressed as the rest of us were.
"That's where you're wrong. Once per turn, I can remove a card on your side of the field from play automatically," Lily said smugly. Graveshade gasped with disbelief.
"No, you can't!" he said.
"Watch and learn," Lily advised. Each and every weapon on the VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon locked onto the Despair from the Dark and fired; not to destroy it (because it wasn't attacking), but to remove it from play.
"I'll kill you for this, you bitch!" Graveshade warned.
"That's what you think. V-Z-Dragon Catapult Cannon, attack his Life Points directly and end this duel!" Lily ordered. The many guns on the machine aimed at the necromancer and fired at full power, reducing his Life Points to 0!
"All right!" Téa said triumphantly.
"I knew you could do it!" I said.
"Wait; look what's happening now," Yugi pointed out. Just as with Abaddon, the Seal of Orichalcos shrank around Graveshade, and launched a stream of light into the sky into a waiting portal.
"I'll destroy you for this!" the necromancer said, right before his soul was removed from his body, rendering it comatose.
"See what I mean?" I said.
Back at the mysterious temple, Thatehos sensed something.
"What? You must be jesting!" he said in surprise. A soul flew into the chamber and into the bottle that the statue of Satan held in his left hand.
"My Lord, it would seem that this knight and sorceress are stronger than we anticipated," Dijumia said in surprise.
"You dare to underestimate my forces?" the old priest said in utter offense.
"My apologies, my Lord. But they've already defeated two of our masters of the Seal of Orichalcos," the gargoyle said.
"Yes, but they've yet to see something more powerful…the Seal of Satan," he said.
It was currently 1:14 in the afternoon, and now Seto Kaiba was starting to get concerned.
This doesn't make sense. Mokuba may sleep in now and then, but never past noon. I'd better check up on him, he thought. When he came to his room, he saw that the door was slightly ajar. Upon entering, he saw that his little brother was not in his bed.
Where could he be? he thought with irritation, checking every part of the room. Sure enough, Mokuba was not in any of them. With all speed, he ran back to his office and pressed the button on the intercom.
"Roland, get security and check every part of the building! Mokuba's gone missing!" he ordered.
"Yes, sir!" said Seto's most trusted suit, Roland. Seto wasn't normally the type to jump to conclusions, but whenever Mokuba was endangered, he would rush in head-on, keeping the promise he made when they lived at the orphanage. He checked the room a second time just to make sure, and found something he didn't notice before: a video cassette on one of the chairs.
Whoever is behind this is terribly outdated; haven't they ever heard of DVDs? he thought. He looked in his own room for his old VCR. Dusting it off, he connected it to his TV and watched it. On it was a man with long white hair in what appeared to be the suit of armor of a medieval knight. The mysterious man looked at the camera grimly.
"Hello, Kaiba. I am Sir Aiakelotho. If you're watching this movie, well, then the slowest horse has crossed the finish line; we have your brother!" said the man in a terrifying voice (but not to Seto, it wouldn't be). Then, the camera pointed to Mokuba, who was struggling to escape the strong grasp of a seedy-looking Indian man. Upon seeing this, Seto was immediately infuriated.
"You release my brother right now, you cock-suckers!" he shouted to the TV.
"If you want to see your brother alive, I suggest you come to the most isolated part of Domino City. And bring your dueling equipment; believe me, you'll need it," Aiakelotho continued with a sadistic and sinister chuckle. Then the video ended and turned to static. Immediately, Seto gathered up his Duel Disk and his deck, famous for containing the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, and headed for the hangar that contained his distinctive Blue-Eyes Jet.
"Mr. Kaiba, where are you going?" asked one of the security guards in the hangar.
"To kind Mokuba, and crush the person responsible for this insult," said Kaiba. He leaped into the jet and took off swiftly.
Whoever messes with my brother messes with me - and will live to regret it for the rest of his miserable life, he thought.
Back at Domino City, Lily and I explained our situation to Yugi's other friends, Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor.
"So this wacko's out to get you with an army of cultists using a weird Spell Card?" asked Joey.
"Are you sure you didn't dream this?" Tristan asked skeptically.
"Of course not; Lily, Yugi and Téa all saw it, too," I explained.
"So what else do you know about this cult?" Joey asked.
"The assassin that tried to kill Lily also said that his leader has something of a vendetta against us," I said.
"That's why we were hoping that Yugi would provide us with some answers," Lily added.
"I'm sorry; I don't know anymore about the cult than you do, but I did have that weird dream last night," Yugi said.
"Dream? What kind of dream?" I asked.
"Well, I saw this army of demons invading the Earth, and then these three statues of dragons, and I inadvertently woke up one of them, and if I can remember correctly, its name is 'Eye of Timaeus'," he explained. Joey was shocked at this.
"You're kidding, Yug! I had the exact same dream!" Joey said.
"Are you sure you're not the one who's kidding? Sounds like someone's been reading a little too much science fiction lately," Tristan taunted.
"Tristan, given the circumstances, I think it's safe to assume he's right," Téa said.
"That's when it gets weirder; in my dream the dragon's name was 'Claw of Helmos', and when I woke up that morning, I saw this card in my Deck I never saw before," Joey explained further.
"Can we see it?" I asked. Joey fished around in his pocket for the card he described, and pulled it out. It was a Spell Card, and in the portrait was an especially ferocious-looking red dragon with a nasal horn like a rhinoceros and spikes protruding through the back of its skull. Its red scales were like armor and its tail was quite muscular.
"Very impressive, but how does it play into all of this?" Lily asked.
"Yug, did you have anything like Timaeus in your deck?" Joey asked.
"Now that I think about it, no I didn't look," he admitted.
"Then we'd better check and find out," I said. Lily and I mounted Moon Shadow, and we headed to Yugi's house to solve more of this mystery. But now another question arose in my mind. If Yugi had this "Eye of Timaeus" and Joey the "Claw of Helmos", then what was the name of the third dragon they described, and on top of that, who had it? It could be a terrible weapon in the wrong hands.
But speaking of terror, we saw something of the sort when we got to Yugi's grandfather's game shop. The place was broken into!
"Oh no!" said Yugi, running inside to investigate. The rest of us followed en suite. The shop was trashed completely. The display cases were smashed, and the floor was strewn with broken glass and game equipment. Yugi's grandfather, Solomon, was laying on the ground, trying to catch his breath. He was beaten up pretty badly. His nose was bleeding and one of his eyes was starting to swell and turn black.
"Grandpa, what happened?" Yugi asked desperately.
"A group of thugs…broke in here…and trashed the place…" he said, coughing between words.
"Calm down, try to breathe. What did they look like?" I asked.
"One of them…looked like a medieval knight…and another…looked like he hasn't lived in civilization for decades…" he described.
"Don't worry, we'll find them, and make them pay for this," Yugi said.
"Mr. Moto, the ambulance is on its way right now; we'll have you out of here in no time," Téa assured him. Just then, Solomon had another flashback of the attack.
"…no…they took…" he began.
"What did they take?" Yugi asked.
"The man in the medieval outfit…he stole the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" he said. While Seto Kaiba had three of the legendary creature, there were only four in the whole world, and Solomon had the fourth one.
"Hey, Yug, I found a note!" said Joey.
"What does it say?" Lily asked.
"It says, 'If you wish to see your precious card again, meet me in the park at sundown. If not, we shall finish the job we started on your grandfather'," he read aloud.
"Are we going to? It sounds dangerous," Tristan said.
"We have no choice; if we don't, they'll kill Yugi's grandfather, and we have to find out more about this cult," I said.
"Okay, I'll accept their challenge," Yugi said.
"Don't worry, Mr. Moto, the ambulance will be here shortly. Just stay put until it arrives, okay?" Téa said.
"All right…just be careful, Yugi…" he said, and then went unconscious.
"No! We can't lose him!" Yugi said.
"Okay then, one of us will stay and keep an eye on him until the doctors arrive," I suggested.
"I'll stay. I'll keep off the attackers if they show up again," Lily said.
"Are you sure? I don't want to lose you," I said.
"Demetrios, you worry too much. I'll be fine," she said, giving me a light but affectionate hug.
"Okay," I said, giving her a kiss. "Yugi, grab your dueling stuff and let's go," I said.
"All right," he said, and did so. We went to the park to find out more about this cult.
1 "The Great Enemy's champion conquers; Demons invade without mercy. Three warriors are chosen/To command the Great Dragons. But they alone will not be enough; the Knight and the Sorceress shall rise and conquer the underworld"
2 "Yugi Moto, you were chosen to command the Eye of Timaeus. Use his power well in this war, for your general has need of you again"