Episode 117: The Era of Orichalcos

Atlantis, 15,000 Years Ago

The entire monster spirit army looks up in fear at the giant, serpentine silhouette looming over them in the sky. Dartz declares with an amplified voice, "Surrender your souls to the Orichalcos, and you will be doing this world a service! Continue to fight and you will know nothing but misery before the Great Leviathan!"

Timaeus shouts up to Dartz, "Nay! We shalt never surrender! It matters not how big of a creature you command, we shalt defeat it just the same!"

Dartz simply replies, "Oh well, your mistake. Great Leviathan, grand deity of the Orichalcos, grace us with your presence and destroy those who seek to end your holy crusade!"

Bolts of lightning light up the sky, and the Great Leviathan makes the change from silhouette to solid form. First its features become apparent, and then its colors fill it in. The Great Leviathan appears, fully formed.

Yuni comments, It seems smaller than it was in the memories you showed me.

Yugi explains, When it appeared that large, Dartz had sacrificed millions of souls, which he gathered over the course of 10,000 years, to summon it. He probably didn't have as many souls to sacrifice this time.

So it should be easier to beat than before, right?

Yugi responds regretfully, Maybe, but I wouldn't count on it. It almost single handedly defeated the Egyptian God Cards, and was already weakened from the very battle that we're in now.

The Great Leviathan lets out an ear-piercing roar, and then releases a beam of sinister energy from its mouth. The beam sweeps across the city, vaporizing everything in its path, buildings, dragons, and Orichalcos Soldiers alike.

Hermos leaps out of the way of the attack just in time. He shouts, "Dartz hast turned the tides of battle! We cannot hope to stand against such power!"

Critias shouts back, "We cannot give in! We will not give in! We shalt fight until the end, there is no other choice!"

Timaeus, using the wings he gained upon fusing with the White-Horned Dragon, flies over Critias, saying, "And fight on we will! In the name of Atlantis!" Critias leaps up and grabs onto one of Timaeus' hands. The two then fly over to Hermos, who leaps up and grabs Timaeus' other arm.

The three shout together, "For Atlantis!" Hermos and Critias both brandish their swords, Hermos' glowing with the energy of the Felgrand Dragon, and Critias' burning with the power of Burst Breath. The Great Leviathan attacks them with another beam, but Timaeus manages to fly to the side to dodge it. They manage to fly up and over the Great Leviathan. As the fly over it, Critias unleashes a stream of fire that grazes the back of the serpent as they pass over it. Timaeus then turns around for another pass. He lets go of Hermos, who lands on the monster's back. Upon landing, Hermos takes his sword and stabs it down into the beast. He then runs towards the head, dragging his blade as he goes. Timaeus and Critias follow, Critias unleashing a stream of fire at the areas just slashed by Hermos. As they make it to the head, Hermos jumps back up, Timaeus catches him, and Timaeus then attacks the head with a beam of white energy from his horn.

Dartz laughs. "Your attempt to wound the Great Leviathan is futile! It is truly invincible! Now Great Leviathan, show them your power!"

The Great Leviathan roars, and attacks with another energy beam. Timaeus attempts to dodge with a barrel roll, but fails as the attack grazes his left wing. Timaeus cries out in pain as the three begin to fall. Just in the nick of time, he manages to control his descent so that the three land on a nearby rooftop.

Yuni has recalled his monster spirits, and is running through the streets. Up ahead he spots Seto battling from the top of his Cosmic Plasma Dragon. Yuni calls up to him, "Seto, we need to take the fight back to the Leviathan! Only two of our monsters can do that!"

Seto nods in understanding and grins. "Let's do it."

Yuni points to a skyscraper that is in close proximity to the castle. "Can your dragon fly us up there?"

Seto feigns offense. "Why do you even need to ask?" Seto says something to his dragon, which then grabs Yuni and lifts off into the air. They fly towards the indicated roof. Once there they land. Seto hops off the dragon and says to it, "Go back to the battle and destroy as many of those Orichalcos Soldiers as you can." The dragon responds with a roar and flies off.

Yuni and Seto look to each other and nod. They both pull a card out of their deck boxes. Yuni declares, "I need your assistance, Chronos, the Temporal Lord!"

Seto declares, "Unleash your wrath, Quantus, the Spatial Lord!" The two massive God Monsters appear in between Seto and Yuni and the Great Leviathan. Both roar in challenge.

From his castle balcony, Dartz has an up close and personal view of the Yugohan Lords. He looks up at them with a combination of awe and horror. He stammers, "Those…those monsters…they're incredible!"

From the shadows behind him, Otto states, "They are of no importance. The Great Leviathan is made from the force that is the very antithesis of those monsters. Without their leader, Empyrean, the Sovereign Genesis Lord, they are insignificant. Watch and enjoy, as they are completely annihilated by the Grand Deity of Orichalcos."

Yuni and Seto both command at the same time, "Yugohan Lords, destroy the Great Leviathan!" Yuni adds, "Temporal Force Attack!" while Seto adds, "Fist of Physics!" Chronos first unleashes a massive ball of energy from one of its mouths, while Quantus punches, creating a giant shockwave of energy that's sent out from its fist.

The great Leviathan roars, and then attacks with another beam of tremendous energy. Its attack collide with the attacks of the Yugohan Lords. At first, the attacks from both sides seem even, but after only a moment, the Great Leviathan's attack overpowers both Chronos and Quantus' combined attacks. The attack is about to hit Yuni and Seto, until Timaeus, now in his dragon form, flies in and attacks with a beam of his own, which manages to hold off the attack just long enough for the Leviathan to stop attacking. Critias and Hermos also fly in, them too in their dragon forms. They all land next to Yuni and Seto.

Yuni says, "Thanks for that, you saved us."

Timaeus, unable to speak while in this form, simply looks Yuni in the eyes and nods.

Seto says, "I don't get it, nothing is more powerful than Quantus, how could that behemoth possibly overpower him, especially when partnered with Chronos?"

Yuni answers, "Back when Yugi battled the Great Leviathan, it took the power of all three of his Egyptian God Monsters. The Yugohan Lords may be just as powerful as them, if not more so, but Yugi had the Winged Dragon of Ra, and we don't have access to Empyrean, the Sovereign Genesis Lord. We lack the combined might of three God Cards." He then looks to Timaeus and says, "It looks like your attacks are almost a match for the Great Leviathan as well. You three should combine your power with our monsters."

The three dragons nod and then take back off into the air. Along with Chronos and Quantus, they fly towards the Great Leviathan. Now that they're closer together, the size comparison becomes evident. The Yugohan Lords may be massive, and the Great Leviathan may be smaller than normal, but it is still far larger than either of them. The five attackers dodge a beam from the Leviathan's mouth.

They make it up close. First to move in is Chronos. The two monsters engage in a battle which only two serpents could, as they wrap and twist around each other, attempting to get the upper hand over the other. While it is distracted, Quantus moves in. It delivers a direct, energy-packed punch right to the back of the Leviathan's head. At the same time, the three Legendary Dragons attack by combining their beam attacks.

The Great Leviathan now seems angered by the attacks. It roars, and with the roar, it uses a new attack, creating a shockwave pulse that knocks back the close-in Chronos and Quantus. Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos manage to fly far enough away in time to avoid the full power of attack, but they are knocked back to the rooftop. They transform back into their human forms. Meanwhile, Chronos and Quantus aren't fairing so well. Having took the full force of the attack, they fall to the ground and disappear.

Seto says with disbelief, "It just destroyed my most powerful monster…as if it were nothing…"

Yuni runs over to the knights, who are just now getting up. "Are you guys okay?"

Before any of them can answer, Dartz proclaims with is amplified voice, "Do you see now that this battle is all in vain? Stop fighting, allow your souls to be absorbed, and you will become one with the glory of the Orichalcos!"

Before anyone responds to him, the Great Leviathan attacks again, its beam of energy now cutting through the base of the building that Yuni, Seto, and the knights stand on. The building collapses, and they all scream.

The building fully collapses, but somehow they all manage to come out okay. They are beat up, bruised, covered in the dust collapsing building, but okay.

Ironheart, Chris, and Skye run towards them. They are followed by Tori, Brutus, Cosmo, and Celestia. Upon getting close, Celestia calls, "Are you okay?" She has directed the question towards the right, where both Seto and Critias stand.

Both Seto and Critias answer at the same time, in the same way, "I'm fine." They then look to each other angrily and grunt.

Tori says with disbelief, "Did I really just see what I thought I saw? Did the Great Leviathan just destroy both of your Yugohan Lords?" Yuni and Seto nod.

Brutus exclaims, "That's not possible!"

Yuni says, "I wouldn't have thought so either, but it is."

Timaeus steps forward and says, "This battle is not going well for us. We need to find a way to turn the tide of battle in our favor, or all is lost and Dartz wins."

A morbid expression crosses Ironheart's face. He says, "There is one way…"

Everyone looks to him. Hermos asks, "Pray tell what this miracle method is?"

Ironheart shakes his head. "No, it is not a miracle method. It is about as far from a miracle as you could get, but it is a solution."

Chris says, "Grandpa, you're scaring me."

"I'm sorry Chris. I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this, but it looks like it will. It is time to activate the Atlantis Contingency."

Critias says, "I hast never heard of such a thing. What is it?"

Ironheart explains solemnly, "Back when Atlantis was first discovered the Orichalcos stones, and began to advance technologically, my father knew that it would become the coveted gem of the world. He knew that we might eventually face an invasion in which we might lose Atlantis to the invaders. The advanced secrets of Atlantis could not be allowed to fall into enemy hands. So my father conceived of the Atlantis Contingency, a final resort weapon to be used only in the most extreme of emergencies. If we can activate it, Atlantis will be lost, but Dartz and his Great Leviathan will also be stopped, and they will not be able to spread their evil to the rest of the world."

Timaeus says, "It sounds as if that may be our only hope. I agree with thee, we should activate the weapon." The other two knights nod in agreement.

Ironheart nods. "Then it is decided. We will activate the Atlantis Contingency. To do so, we must journey to the catacombs deep below the Castle of Atlantis. It is deep in enemy territory, and will be incredibly dangerous. I'll go down, but I'll need help. Be advised though, those who venture down, may not be able to get out before the weapon is activated."

Timaeus steps forward. "I shalt go."

Next is Critias, "As shalt I."

Then Hermos, "I volunteer as well."

Yuni steps up as well. "I'm in."

Seto, almost as if not to be outdone, says, "I wouldn't miss it."

Ironheart nods. "Alright, we'll set off immediately." He looks to everyone else. "You need to make sure that you all get out of here before we activate the weapon. For once we do, there will be no hope for escape."

Chris asks, "Grandpa, what about me, can't I come?"

Ironheart shakes his head. "No Chris. You may have marched into battle with me before, but this will be entirely different. I need you up here, so that you can get out of the weapon's range before it's too late."

Chris nods. "Alright Grandpa, just promise me you'll come back."

Ironheart is about to say something, but then he stops. After a moment, he says, "I'm sorry Chris, but I can't promise that." This brings a tear to Chris' eye. Ironheart turns away from her, too hurt to look back. He says, "Come on, let's go." The volunteer group follows his lead.

Yuni, Seto, Ironheart, and the knights are now in dark and dingy tunnels. It is moist and damp, as water drips from the roof all over. Critias states, "I am unfamiliar with these tunnels."

Ironheart responds, "These catacombs run beneath the entire city. They are a labyrinth designed to baffle and confuse any invading armies. I am one of only two people alive who knows the path to end."

Yuni asks, "Who's the other one?"

"Dartz."

Seto says sarcastically, "Isn't that great?"

Ironheart then says, "He doesn't know our plan, so we should be fine for now."

Critias now responds sarcastically, "How comforting."

Timaeus proclaims, "We cannot let that worry us now. We must move forth, for it is our only hope." Everyone continues moving. Ironheart guides them through the constantly branching path of the catacombs.

Dartz continues to watch the progress of the ongoing battle from his balcony. The Great Leviathan still floats above him, as it continues to destroy both attacking dragon spirits and the surrounding city. The city has been almost completely leveled at this point. Dartz says, "Victory is within my grasps. It is a shame that Atlantis had to be completely destroyed, but a more pure world is worth the cost."

Otto agrees, "Yes, we must be willing to sacrifice anything to achieve our goal."

Dartz nods. "And now with the power of the Great Leviathan, we will."

"The Orichalcos is benevolent. It will always provide us the-" He suddenly stops and closes his eyes.

Dartz asks, "What, what is it?"

"I sense a disturbance. The Orichalcos is warning me of something…" He suddenly turns around and walks off.

Dartz asks, "Where are you going?"

"The opportunity has presented itself to destroy the Knights of Atlantis. I am going to do so. You must remain here and oversee the remainder of the battle."

Dartz nods. "It will be my pleasure." Otto walks out.

The group continues their quest through the catacombs. Hermos asks, "How much further must we venture?"

Ironheart responds, "We are nearing our destination now."

Then Otto's voice says from behind them, "Oh are you? And just what might that destination be?"

Everyone turns around. Standing behind them is Otto, however his face is cloaked by shadows, so his features cannot be made out. Ironheart says, "You must be Ottikus."

Yuni exclaims, "Ottiuk!"

Otto says, "Ah, so the final incarnation of Yu-Gi-Oh has managed to piece it together. However, you know not of what is going on. Now, it is time to face your doom."

Yuni, Seto, and Ironheart all prepare to fight, however, the knights step in front of them and draw their swords. Timaeus declares, "Nay, you three move forward to activate the weapon, we shalt handle this one."

Yuni nods. "Alright, but you be careful, we still need you."

Critias grins confidently. "Do not fret, for there are three of us, and only one of him. We shalt win."

With that Ironheart leads Yuni and Seto down a nearby tunnel.

The knights all remain in their ready stance, and Otto steps forward, into better lighting. Otto states, "This should be fun. After all of these years, I finally get to battle with Yu-Gi-Oh and Seto again."

Critias makes the first move as he cries, "Have at thee!" He charges towards Otto, sword adrawn. As he slash the sword downwards, Otto responds by simply raising his palm. The blade impacts a barrier of shadows right above Otto's palm. Otto then grabs the sword and uses his leverage to throw Critias across the room.

At this point Timaeus and Hermos each charge towards Otto. They approach him from either side. Critias quickly gets up and leaps into the air. Otto now has three blades coming towards him from different directions. His response is to summon a bubble of shadows around him, which he then causes to quickly expand. This forces all three knights back."

Timaeus demands, "What sorcery is this!?"

Otto chuckles. "How pathetic. You know nothing of your history, of your heritage, or where you come from."

Hermos leaps up and slashes at Otto, declaring, "We are of Atlantis!"

Otto extends a hand and using some sort of telekinetic powers, catches Hermos in midair. He levitates Hermos so that they are face-to-face. "I wasn't addressing you." He laughs. "You are nothing but a mistake. A fluke. You were never meant to exist. You just happened to be born in the right place at the right time. You are simply a cosmic coincidence, and have no purpose here. You do not hail from Yugoha, you are insignificant."

Timaeus is running towards Otto. He declares, "He is anything but!" Otto tosses Hermos to the side, and then deflects Timaeus' sword. Critias comes up from behind, but Otto also deflects his blow without even looking. He then throws them both to the opposite side of the room from Hermos.

He takes a step closer to them and says, "Since you bonded with the Dragons of Legend, I may not be able to destroy you by conventional methods, but the Orichalcos presents me with an alternative, one that the fool Dartz was too blind to use when he fought you originally." Otto reaches into his pockets and pulls out something. They're three Orichalcos stones. He tosses them to the ground, where they arrange themselves in a triangular formation around Timaeus and Critias. They light up and glow. Within seconds the stones create a Seal of Orichalcos around the fallen knights. Bolts of green electricity begin to come out of the stones and electrocute the knights. They cry out in pain. Otto begins to laugh evilly. "After all these millennia, I will finally destroy a portion of Yu-Gi-Oh and Seto!"

Hermos slowly looks towards his fellow knights. He is obviously in a lot of pain. But he struggles to get up. He grunts. "Thou shalt not destroy my friends!" He is now fully up and he dashes towards Timaeus and Critias. He leaps at them, pushing them out of the Seal of Orichalcos, just as the barrier is about to close around them, leaving him trapped inside. He shouts and writhes in pain.

Timaeus and Critias shout at the same time, "Hermos!" Timaeus attempts to slash his sword at the barrier, but it bounces off, doing absolutely nothing.

Critias asks, "Why would thou do that?"

Hermos forces a grin and a chuckle. "Why wouldn't I?" He suddenly shouts out in pain again.

There is a tear in Timaeus' eye. He says, "Hermos, we shalt save you."

Hermos shakes his head. "Nay, there's no way. Focus your efforts on the enemy. Remember, we must put Atlantis first. Now go, defeat Ottikus and save Atlantis, nay, save the world!" He looks to Otto with defiance and asks, "Who's the mistake now?" He cries out in pain one last time, and suddenly he is gone.

Otto cries in rage, "No, you fool! You ruined my one chance!"

Timaeus and Critias look to each other. Both faces display completely different emotions. Timaeus is crying and devastated, Critias shows rage. They both then look to Otto and declare, "For Atlantis, for Hermos!" They both transform into their dragon forms and fly up into the air. They unleash a barrage of energy beam attacks at Otto.

At first, Otto manages to deflect the attacks, but they quickly begin to overwhelm him. He shouts, "I will not be defeated!"

Timaeus and Critias both roar, and then unleash a large and continuous beam of energy at Otto. Otto begins to cry out in pain and rage. The attack keeps going. Otto suddenly disappears.

The moment Otto disappears, the scene shifts, so that we now see modern day Otto sitting in a meditative stance in his dark room. His eyes suddenly snap open and he starts panting with shock. After taking a few seconds to recover, he says to himself, "I have failed in Atlantis…no matter. I still have two more chances to manipulate the past."

Ironheart has lead Yuni and Seto into a large chamber. A large machine is situated in the center of the room, it appears to be some sort of massive dynamo. Yuni asks, "So that's it, the Atlantis Contingency?"

Ironheart nods. "Yes, this is the only hope for the world now."

Seto asks, "What exactly is it supposed to do?"

"It is supposed to completely destroy Atlantis, along with any enemies that may inhabit it by dragging Atlantis to the bottom of the sea."

Yuni chuckles at the irony. "So it's Atlantis that ends up sinking itself, mystery solved."

Ironheart asks in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Yuni shakes his head. "It's nothing to worry about. Now how do we activate it?"

Ironheart steps up to the machine. He removes his crown. "The crown of a monarch of Atlantis is the key to activating the device." He inserts his crown into a slot on a control panel. He then pulls a lever. "And this should turn it on." However, nothing happens. Ironheart looks baffled.

Yuni observes the machine. Yugi points out, Hey, look at the center of the machine.

Yuni looks there. Propped in the center is round, green gem. An Orichalcos stone! He asks aloud, "Is the machine powered by an Orichalcos stone?"

Ironheart nods. "It is the only power source great enough to power such a weapon." He then realizes what Yuni is inferring. "Orichalcos itself is not allowing us to activate this machine. We need to figure out an alternate power source."

Yuni asks, "But what could we use as an alternate source of power?"

Seto steps forward. "Luckily for you two, you brought me along." He pulls a card out of his deck box. "Plasma Bolt, power this machine!" Seto's monster composed of lightning appears in front of him.

Yuni exclaims, "Seto, that's genius! The Plasma Bolt is made of pure energy!"

Seto nods self-confidently. "What would you do without me?" The monster leaps in the central ring of the dynamo and allows itself to be absorbed into the machine via the slot that holds the Orichalcos stone. The dynamo powers up and the concentric rings begin to spin."

Ironheart nods. "This is going to work." He starts to press buttons on the control panel. "Alright, I don't want to give Dartz or his monsters any chance to escape. The machine will activate as soon as it warms up. Let's get out of here."

They all turn around and run out of the room. They run through the twisting and turning chambers and halls. Suddenly, there is a loud humming noise, followed by some sort of low pitched but loud mechanical wail. The humming continues. Seto asks, "What does that mean?"

Ironheart says, "It means the machine is ready, the process has already began." Just as he finishes saying that, everything around them begins to shake. They keep on running.

After running through even more corridors, the walls around and roof above them begin to crumble and collapse. Seto looks to Yuni and says, "Great, I'm going to die in here, trapped with you for eternity."

Yuni declares, "No, we can't give up yet, we have to keep on moving!"

Just then, a massive chunk of roof collapses in front of them, blocking the way forward. Seto says, "Please tell me there's an alternate path."

Ironheart says morbidly, "There isn't. In order to make it as hard as possible to find, there is only one path in, and hence, only one path out."

Seto shakes his head. "Then we really are doomed." He takes a deep breath. "I'm so sorry Kodane."

Suddenly Yuni points up, to where the roof collapsed. He shouts, "No we're not, look!" Through the hole in the roof, the sky can be seen, and coming into view is Timaeus, flying towards them in his dragon form.

Ironheart proclaims, "It's Timaeus, we're saved!"

Timaeus lands on the fallen ruble. He makes a motion with his head for them to get on his back. They do so. Timaeus lifts off, and they fly up, back into the city.

Ironheart says, "Great, now we just need to get out of here before the barrier is erected!"

Yuni asks, "What barrier?"

"In order to ensure that the invading army was trapped when the city sunk, the Atlantis Contingency will erect a barrier that will trap all within it, pulling them down with the city. That's how we'll stop the Great Leviathan!"

Timaeus flies straight up, the Great Leviathan comes into view. Seto says, "Speak of the devil…"

Dartz is standing on his balcony as it shakes. He looks around in horror. "No, he wouldn't…" He grabs his Orichalcos stone and holds it near his mouth. Using it as some sort of communicator he says, "Ottikus, do you hear me? We need to get out of the city, now!" There's no response. Dartz shakes his head in frustration, and then makes a run for it.

The Great Leviathan has noticed Timaeus. Ironheart says, "While we need to get out, we also have to make sure the Leviathan doesn't follow us. Distract it until the barrier begins to appear."

Timaeus nods. He flies close to the Leviathan and strafes him with a beam of energy. The Leviathan turns, attempting to fight back, but it's too slow. However, it does manage to use its tail to knock Timaeus down to the ground. Once it does that, it prepares for a final attack.

Yuni shouts, "don't give up Timaeus, you have to keep on fighting!"

Timaeus looks up and attacks with another beam, just as the Leviathan attacks with its own. The two attacks collide, creating a massive explosion. Taking that distraction as its chance, Timaeus gets back up into the air.

Ironheart points to the perimeter of what was once the city. "Look, the barrier is appearing!" An energy field is rising out of the ground.

Timaeus flies straight up, at his maximum speed. The Great Leviathan attempts to follow. It reaches forward with its mouth, attempting to catch Timaeus, but just as it is about to, the barrier closes in front of it, Timaeus having made it out just in time. Everyone, even Seto, cheers. Timaeus roars in triumph.

Meanwhile, the Great Leviathan is roaring as well, but in anger. Its unleashing attack after attack on the barrier, but to no effect. The city and the surrounding land is now noticeably sinking into the ocean.

Another roar is heard. Everyone looks towards it to see Critias, as a dragon, flying towards them. On his back is Tori, Brutus, Cosmo, Celestia, Chris, and Skye. Brutus calls over, "Hey, nice to see you in one piece!" They fly closer.

Yuni responds, "It's nice to be back in one piece."

Everyone looks back to the sinking city. Tori says in awe, "Wow, I never even dreamed of actually witnessing the sinking of Atlantis."

Yuni suddenly realizes something is wrong. He asks, "Hey, where's Hermos?" The two dragons can only answer by hanging their heads in despair. Everyone seems to understand, and join in their mourning.

Atlantis has completely sunk, but wreckage can be seen floating all over. One large piece of wreckage seems to have something on it, or rather, someone. Dartz is clinging to it. He is bruised, beat up, and wet. He looks over the floating wreckage. He says in horror to himself, "My city, my glorious city. How could it have fallen? Even more unbelievable, how could the Great Leviathan be defeated? My father, and the rest of humanity, will pay for this. Even if it takes me millennia, I will have my revenge, I will purify this planet in the name of Orichalcos!"