In which the enemy is revealed. Attack of the flying Yugi!
Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters
Game Twenty-One: A New Enemy
The Mythic Dragon was gone, and the villagers cheered loudly for their savior. Calmly, Yami lifted his sword into the air victoriously, and the sunlight glistened through it in a most beautiful rainbow.
Well done, Pharaoh.
Yami smiled. I owe many thanks to you, Divine One.
My time here has come to an end. I must also thank you from releasing me from this curse of mine. How fares the little one?
He only needs some rest, Yami replied. His determination to protect his friends and the people of this village far outweighed his concern for his own safety.
Yami felt the dragon ponder for a moment before answering. I must take my leave now, Pharaoh, but remember this: what Yugi did was nothing short of what is admired in a true leader and friend, and therein lies the true power that you will need.
With that, Yami landed gently on the ground, and the armor of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon left him, returning to its true drachen form. With a roar, the great divine beast returned to the tablet, and the faded image of it was restored to a crisp and clear depiction of its true self.
With a final farewell to the villagers, the group set off with Alexander leading them back to the forest. As they walked, Yami was taken by surprise by a familiar voice. Is it over?
Yes, the spirit replied, blinking. Are you feeling alright?
Never better, actually. With a nod, the two switched back, and Yugi found himself walking alongside his friends once again. After a moment of silence, he spoke. What happened while I was out?
Yami seemed to grin. Long story short, the Mythic Dragon is gone thanks to you and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Blue-Eyes…? Yugi answered. Was that really the voice of Blue-Eyes that we heard?
Yami nodded contemplatively. Yes. He fused with the Duel Armor and together we were able to take down the fiend. What gets me is the fact that when the dragon left, I didn't get the same energy shock as all the other times that I used the Duel Armor.
Maybe it left behind some of its power with us?
"The passageway back home is supposed to be here, right?" Tea asked, jolting Yami from his thoughts. "I don't see so much as a doorknob."
"I know," Alexander said. "You may have passed all five tests, but your adventure is not yet complete."
"But if the trials are finished," Solomon replied, "What else is there to do?"
Alexander narrowed his eyes fiercely. "A single task remains for you. Once you are back in your home world, you must quickly locate a hidden chamber at the very top of the pyramid. Your pendant will be able to open the door there. Inside lies a power that I once craved: the power to rule the world."
Yugi glared at Alexander. "I thought I already told you," he protested fiercely. "I don't want some stupid power, I just want to go back home!"
"You did tell me that," Alexander replied darkly as he reached for his mask. "But even if you don't want it, there is someone waiting on the other side who does!" With that, he tore his mask off, revealing a familiar blonde-haired and blue-eyed visage gazing sternly back at them.
A collective gasp erupted from the group as they recognized the man's face. Yugi was the first one to speak the man's name after the briefest of surprised moments. "Doctor Brisbane?!"
"Wait a minute," Tea cried in shock. "You said you were Alexander the Great! What's going on?!"
"He is Alexander," Solomon said sternly. "He may bear a strong resemblance to my colleague, but I know for certain that this man and Alex Brisbane are not the same person."
Alexander's gaze softened only slightly. "The words you speak are only partially true, Mutou. This colleague of yours is possessed by my dark half."
"Dark Half?" Yugi echoed nervously. Yami, where have we heard this before?!
He said he found a good luck charm that 'clouded his mind,' Yami replied fiercely. I have no doubt about the fact that it could be a millennium item.
"Yes," Alexander continued. "The moment I placed that charm around my neck, my soul was split in two. I was trapped here while my other half was trapped in that accursed pyramid. When Doctor Mutou and Doctor Brisbane – a direct descendant of mine – entered, my dark half immediately ceased control of Alex. The entire time he was using you to get to this power!"
Solomon's eyes narrowed uncharacteristically. "I get it now," he said. "Your dark half lured each and every one of us into this game so that he could use the key we earned to enter the secret chamber!"
"Precisely," Alex replied. "You must obtain that power before he does, so don't let that pendant out of your sight, Tea!"
Tea nodded, clutching it in her hand tightly. "I won't."
"If I'm not wrong," Joey began, "He'll be waiting for us to get it, acting all innocent like Brisbane would. But if we can find out a way to stop him, he won't stand a chance!"
Alexander nodded. "Right. We need a plan…"
Several minutes later, the five duelists stood solemnly in a circle, holding hands. According to Alexander, the only thing they needed to do was focus. Their eyes all closed, their thoughts concentrated on an image of the pyramid. A recognizable golden light surrounded them and the wind blew fiercely. A jolt from the ground caught their attention and their eyes shot open. Beneath them was a tiled stone floor, and nearby was a familiar-looking map that spanned the entire floor, and the room they were in was dark.
Joey was, of course, the first to celebrate. "Awright!" He shouted. "We're back!"
"But we're not done yet," Yugi said, looking at himself. He was still wearing his duel armor, and everyone else was still wearing their capsule cannon armlets and capsule belts. Alexander was right: their escapade was far from over. I don't get it. If the challenge is over and all we have to do is find that power, then how come we still have our capsules?
I'm not sure, but it can't be good.
It was not long before another face arrived on the scene. "Doctor Mutou! You're back!"
Alex Brisbane came running into the room, arms outspread and face ridden with a relieved smile. The duelists knew better than to buy this act for a moment, and their eyes narrowed momentarily before playing along with the act. "I'm so glad you're alright!" Brisbane said as he approached them. "I've been worried sick about you since the moment you vanished into that map!"
He's a dead giveaway, Yami remarked privately to Yugi. If it were really Brisbane, he would have immediately asked about the armlets and duel armor.
That and the fact that he supposedly didn't see Grandpa disappear, Yugi replied, agreeing. He said that he simply came down here and only found his headband. The only people he saw vanish were me, Joey, Tea and Tristan, and he's not addressing any of us.
"You can stop worrying now," Solomon said, grinning brightly at Brisbane, "Because we're all back!" As he greeted his friend, he began to doubt Alexander's words.
"So," Brisbane proceeded, "Did you find anything?"
Solomon hesitated. "Find…?"
"When you crossed to the other side, did you find anything of interest?" Brisbane asked.
Utter and complete giveaway, Yugi groaned. Looks like one of his dark half's faults is not being able to hide his intentions.
Solomon, however, was a splendid actor and played along very well. "I might have," he said, rubbing his chin. "Let me think…my mind isn't quite as sharp as it used to be…" He waited a few moments, glancing around as though lost in thought, before finally smiling. "Ah, I remember! Is this what you were thinking about?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pentagon-shaped amulet that Tea had previously worn.
For a moment, Brisbane's eyes glinted suspiciously, but it left as quickly as it came. "Yes," he said. "That's precisely what I was thinking about…" he began to reach forward, grinning.
Before he could do so much as stroke his fingers across it, a blur of light raced forward, tackling Brisbane and knocking him to the ground. It was none other than the Alexander whom they had met in the game, and now he was finally free. "After all these years I've finally caught up with you!"
"Let go of me!" Brisbane cried. The duelists nearby staggered back slightly as the two wrestled fiercely.
"Your reign of tyranny ends now!" Alexander cried, shoving Brisbane roughly to the floor as he vanished within the man's body. A long moment of silence followed as the man shuddered on the floor in shock.
Yugi hesitated briefly, feeling suspicious. "Doctor Brisbane…?" He began. "Are you feeling alright?"
After a moment, Brisbane sat up, taking a deep breath to calm himself before glancing over at his friends. "I'm fine," He said. "I'm feeling better than I have in a long time." The group cheered silently as he stood, still a bit light on his feet. "I'm more worried about the rest of you. Are you unharmed?"
Yami snorted sarcastically. Of course we're fine, he grumbled. But Yugi here could have gotten himself seriously hurt.
I heard that, Yugi replied, though both of them still grinned at each other. "We're alright," he said, this time to Brisbane. "A few scratches here and there but otherwise nothing's missing!" Though some of it should be, he thought, sparing a quick glance downward at the Duel Armor, his armlet and his belt.
"That's good to hear," Brisbane said, finally steady. "I was-oh, what's that you have Doctor Mutou?"
Solomon paused. "It's an artifact that I found in the pyramid after I went missing," he said. "It's in very good condition, so I thought we could get a better look at it somewhere else."
"May I see it for a moment?" Brisbane inquired, holding out a hand.
"I don't see why not," Solomon replied, handing the pendant to Brisbane.
It only took a split second for a dark and malevolent glint to reappear in Brisbane's eyes. Yugi gasped. What?! That's not Brisbane!
Solomon also realized the fact the instant he saw Brisbane's eyes narrow, but it was too late as the man swiped the pendant from the old man's hand, grinning in an evil triumph. Solomon cried out. "You're still possessed by Alexander's dark half!" he exclaimed.
"Correct!" Brisbane, now revealed to be Alexander, replied, cackling manically. "You see, my peaceful half is also my foolish half! He could never have conquered half the world without me, and now the time has finally come to complete what I started millennia ago!"
"And we're going to put a stop to it!" Yugi protested. "That pendant belongs to us!"
Alexander would not have it. Turning, he fled with a disgusting smirk on his face. No one needed an order to follow him as he raced up the stairs. Their plan had failed, and now Alexander had the key to a powerful and dangerous prize. Yugi gritted his teeth as he bounded up the stairs, for once his short stature granting him the speed he needed.
As they finally approached the top stairway, they looked on with horror as Alexander slipped the pendant into the keyhole of the doorway, causing it to vanish and the door to creak open. He began to step forward.
Yugi! Get him away from that door!
Yugi did what he did best. Running forward, he raced to the side and across the wall a ways before leaping off of it toward the possessed body of Brisbane, tackling him to the ground. Unfortunately, with small size came small weight, and Brisbane began to stand. Tristan quickly joined in on the man-pile. "We worked hard for that thing," he demanded, "Now hand it over!"
In silent protest, Alexander flung himself into the doorway, only for the three of them to begin falling into darkness. Luckily for them, Joey and Tea were on the scene in a moment and grabbed the man's ankles before he could fall further. Yugi's Millennium Puzzle clinked quietly against the stone wall they hung next to, the sound echoing about them louder than it should have. They began to pull upward, and Solomon arrived to help in whatever way he could. Alexander, however, would not accept his defeat, and shook himself desperately to free himself from their grip. Instead, however, they fell with him into an endless, dark abyss.
Yami! What's going on?!
I don't know! Just hang on!
The entire group cried out as they tumbled further and further into the endless space around them before their descent mysteriously slowed to a halt. As they all gazed about wildly in confusion, a light appeared, gradually forming the shape of a person. Yugi recognized him immediately: a dark complexion, creamy white robes and a turban. Azure eyes stared blankly back at him, and a very familiar ankh-shaped key dangled from his neck.
Yugi's eyes widened in surprise as he finally found words. What's Shadi doing here?
To be continued…
You thought it was over, didn't you? Well, it's not. Not yet, anyway. Time for one more challenge!