Chapter 25: The Millennium Guardians Strike!
Civilians throughout Los Angeles realized that the Beasts of Chaos were gone, but they were puzzled to the cause of their disappearance. The sunlight beamed in their faces as Yugi and the others hid in the shadows. Making sure they were not caught, they dwelled around the alleys to look for the whereabouts of Rosemary and Kimberly.
Yugi fell behind the others as they walked. He sadly stared at the ground, wondering why Artemis, Yukai and Pluto had turned against them. They were once his friends, but now they had betrayed him.
Serenity could not help but look towards Yugi. She knew he still felt upset over the Millennium Guardians' retreat, yet something else bothered her. The fact that they fled, where the rest of the Millennium Guardians were, and why light was their weakness.
"Well this was a wasted night," Joey commented as they walked. "Those three have really lost it this time, even turning Téa against us."
Suddenly Yugi paused midway, staring up at the sky. He shuddered, sensing someone was watching them. Narrowing his eyes, he could not find anyone responsible for his alert disposition.
"Yugi, what's wrong?" Serenity asked, looking upwards.
"Nothing." Yugi replied, dismissing what he saw. He then strolled off on his own.
Horus and Selene took notice of what Yugi was searching for. They knew it could not have been either Artemis, Yukai or Pluto since they fled the moment morning dawned. There had to be more the three were hiding or else they would not have escaped, leaving their job unfinished.
"It couldn't be them." Selene said softly to Horus.
Her brother nodded. "Who else do you suppose it to be then?"
"You may be right."
"Serenity, are you all right?" Joey queried, approaching her.
"I'm fine," Serenity answered. She continued to gaze at Yugi before turning towards Joey. "Just a little worried for Yugi, that's all."
Joey raised an eyebrow in suspicion. He knew his sister was hiding something from him, and that truth had to be about Yugi. Instead, he smiled at Serenity and they resumed walking.
Full daylight arrived at last in New York as the sun began its usual ascent above the sky. Cold air wisped about as the Guardians, Nick, Mai, Ryou, Bakura and Kisara stood outside after they witnessed Atem's departure. The Guardians were especially surprised to find out that Atem deceived them, but it only reminded them of one thing: Final Battle.
"I don't believe this. Atem was working for the Beasts of Chaos the entire time." Mai said angrily. She shook her head a couple of times in frustration.
Jupiter, Saturn and Venus turned away from them and secretly exchanged glances with each other. During these times, they had gained experience of the events to come because they knew how it felt when a friend's loyalty is dishonored. They knew Yugi and the others would soon have to face betrayal in their lifetime.
Nick glowered at the Guardians, already suspicious of their behavior. He held onto Bastet's card in his hand, and stammered to them.
"It would seem that you three were aware that this would happen." Nick said. The Guardians merely stared at him.
"I just had enough of your silence!" Mai yelled out. She walked up to Nick and confronted the Guardians. "What is it that you're hiding?"
Jupiter sighed in discontent. "And I thought it was obvious too," she remarked. "Fine, we know that Atem has to be involved in something big or else he wouldn't have attacked us in the first place."
"Meaning?" Bakura inquired as he, Ryou and Kisara came towards them.
"Most Guardians are capable of manipulating their 'puppets' but Atem didn't appear he was, unlike Téa," Venus explained. "It seems he's doing this for his own need, to satisfy his hunger to destroy Nick and to have Téa all to himself."
"In that case he's being driven on his own to do this." Ryou observed.
Venus shook her head positively and continued. "As for Téa we know she would never go against her friends. She's being controlled by someone who can alter her feelings in any way they want."
"And we've come to the conclusion that Yukai is doing this." Saturn said in a dreadful tone.
"And what exactly can he do?" Mai questioned, considering her lack of knowledge of the events six years prior.
"The Millennium Rod, he still has it," Nick replied bitterly. "And I'm betting that Artemis and Pluto are in on this too."
Jupiter glared at him, disapproving of Artemis' involvement. "No! She wouldn't!" She cried out defensively.
"Then where is she?"
Jupiter remained silent.
"Nick, maybe you should relax. It's not like the Guardians know everything," Mai assured calmly. "It's been tough on all of us. We'll find a way to get Téa back."
Nick heard what she said, but headed back inside without saying a word. He did worry about Téa, especially since he never told his friends, besides the wedding, something he and Téa kept hushed up amongst themselves.
"Téa will return back to the good side, even at a price." Venus said suddenly, her face taking on a blank slate.
"At a price?" Kisara inquired. She and the others noticed that the Guardians were going back inside as the chill in the air rose. "What do they mean?"
"Who knows," Mai said, facing them. "Let's get inside and find Rebecca and Hathor." She then realized that she had to explain what Rebecca was doing here and who Hathor was to both Ryou and Bakura.
Yugi had not spoken a word at all to his friends as they made their way around the alleys, still searching for the missing Trinity members. He was lost in thought, pondering over many possibilities as to why Artemis deceived him. It seemed unlike her to betray him, after all her duty was to protect, not to destroy. He had to find out what was going on.
"Hey!" A voice called out in the distance. Everyone looked at the direction of the voice and found Kimberly raising her hand high in the air. She was also not alone because Rosemary was with her. "About time."
"You two were supposed to stay behind in your hiding place!" Matt scolded, first walking and then running towards them. He truly was upset that two of his experienced Trinity members acted as amateurs during the situation.
"Gee, nice to see you too." Kimberly remarked sarcastically, folding her arms together with a flustered look.
"Did those monsters leave?" Rosemary asked. She scanned their surroundings to be sure.
"They did, the cowards," Joey said irritably.
"Wheeler, isn't it obvious they don't like the light?" Kaiba pushed him out of the way as he walked by.
Joey blinked a few times before understanding what he meant. "That's just strange. I mean, how they can't stand the light."
"It reminds them of their eternal loyalty to Ra," Selene explained. "The Beasts of Chaos were once the Phoenix Dragons' servants until they were killed in battle against their nemesis, the Galactic Dragon. In turn, the Galactic Dragon revived them which resulted in their new servitude."
"But still why would Artemis, Yukai and Pluto betray us?" Yugi questioned, quite unconvinced of the current situation.
"That's something we cannot answer," Horus replied. "You have to seek them out from those three." He stared worriedly towards Yugi. "I fear the remaining the Millennium Guardians may have become influenced by them."
"But that's crazy!" Joey said aloud.
"No, Joey, think about it," Yugi inferred. "We haven't seen the Millennium Guardians ever since this all began when they disappeared, but they could be working together with our former friends."
"And you could not be more than right." A feminine voice echoed above them.
Yugi shielded his eyes from the bright light of the sun and discovered three shadows atop a building nearby. With closer observation, he soon found out who they were. "No way!"
"What is it, Yugi?" Joey asked, gazing up.
Nidoki, Forseti and Orpheus leaped down from the building towards the ground.
"But you can stay in the sunlight, why?" Yugi noticed the three did not retreat like their other siblings.
It was Orpheus who approached him, grinning maliciously. "Unlike those three, we don't possess the Beasts of Chaos so we can come out whenever we want."
"Luckily they did accomplish something," Forseti mused. "And what I mean is that Artemis and Yukai sealed away Ra and Ammon so we won't have trouble destroying you all."
"I regret to inform you that we have the Neo Guardians," Yugi reminded. "I guess they never told you that."
Nidoki flew off, outstretching her black butterfly-like wings. She waved her hand, creating negative energy around her which shaped into a sphere. She tossed it towards them as Forseti and Orpheus dodged out of the way. Yugi and the others moved as the sphere crashed into the ground, causing tremors.
The blast erupted and spread all around those close by. Smoke appeared as Nidoki descended, staying diligent of possible survivors. Four streams of light peered out and the Neo Guardians cleared out the debris to protect their masters.
"A lot of good that did." Forseti commented, noting how sloppy his sister worked.
"That is what I wanted them to do." Nidoki reassured. She concentrated all the power she had within her and aimed towards Set.
Yugi glanced out of the smoke and found that his Neo Guardian was about to be attacked. "Set, look out!"
Once Set realized what was going on, he immediately flew to safety high in the sky as the attack missed. Set was furious because more of his brethren had betrayed them. He could not fathom the reason for this, but he and the rest of the Neo Guardians had no choice. They were sent to get rid of those that threatened their masters.
"Well, I see you're not happy." Orpheus snickered at Set, flying towards him, and raised his arms in the air. He shot out multiple dark spheres directly at the Neo Guardian.
Ma'at came in between them and created a shield to protect Set. She guided him to the ground where Set kneeled down with exhaustion.
"Pathetic," Nidoki said furiously. "I thought you would put up a fight, Set. Oh well." She fired another wave of her attacks towards Set but metal flashed in her eyes.
Yugi had defended his Neo Guardian with his sword and he deflected the attack straight back to Nidoki. She took the hit and crashed to the ground. The determined look on Yugi's face made her cautious of the next actions she made.
"Are you okay?" Yugi asked.
Set nodded in response and stood up. "One Millennium Guardian is still missing."
"What do you mean?"
"We've only seen six, when they are seven Millennium Guardians." He explained.
Yugi's eyes widened. "Apollo's not here!" he cried out. He glared at Nidoki, waiting for an answer. "Where is he?"
Nidoki frowned at this. Being reminded of their outcast brother was something she wanted to keep tucked away. Instead she changed her mind. "Even we do not know where he is," she answered. "We cannot even sense him anymore."
"He cannot be dead," Horus said, walking to Yugi. "We would know if he did, although Artemis never mentioned him."
"Like we need him," Orpheus responded furiously. "He's too soft and weak to even be called a high-ranking Genesis. Good riddance is all I have to say for my pathetic excuse of a little brother." His eyes held a glint of hatred as he said those words, especially turning towards Horus.
"Then maybe you don't mind if we torture you for some information." Joey said, summoning his Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
"And you three are perfect to tell us what we need." Kaiba joined in. He called upon his Blue-Eyes White Dragon beside him.
The two dragons united, combining their attacks together, seemingly powerful enough to take down all three Millennium Guardians. The flow of light hit their targets and caused the ground to quake. It even cracked below everyone, but the Millennium Guardians had formed a barrier that concealed them inside. As for Yugi and his friends, the Neo Guardians quickly carried them safely away from the huge crevice now appearing where they once stood.
"How were those dragons capable of doing that?" Yugi asked.
"It was Thoth's special ability," Selene said, smiling. "He can power up any Dragon-types monsters when he's summoned."
"That was amazing." Joey replied, giving his servant a thumbs-up. Thoth apparently seemed to blush at the compliment.
"I guess your Neo Guardian isn't useless after all, Wheeler." Kaiba sneered. He received an annoyed look from Joey.
Out of the rubble that was produced, Nidoki, Orpheus and Forseti managed to free themselves and were unharmed in the process. They surprised Yugi that they had survived an attack so powerful, even without taking any damage.
"How futile." Forseti responded, glancing at the destruction of the buildings and roads.
"Not really, but we must depart before the mortals see us," Nidoki stared back at Yugi. "Looks like our job is complete. Ra, next time we will defeat you and finally succeed in the revival of the Dark Dragon." With that, she, Forseti and Orpheus disappeared into thin air.
"Dark Dragon?" Yugi pondered as the Neo Guardians brought them to ground level. "What did they mean?"
"So it is true." Horus ruminated. He glimpsed at the Neo Guardians, all of them sharing the same frightened gaze as Horus and Selene.
"Yugi, are you hurt?" Serenity asked, running to him. Her hands were shaking in fear of what might have happened to him.
"I'm still alive," Yugi pledged. "I'm just wondering what Nidoki meant about 'the revival of the Dark Dragon', that's all."
The three Trinity members could not believe what they saw right in front of them. Even they were shocked to see the great power that Yugi and the others had within them.
"This has been a fun day…" Rosemary said, twitching slightly.
"Yeah right, look what's happened!" Kimberly shrieked, gesturing to the chaos. "At least Los Angeles hasn't been destroyed yet. This surely didn't happen when Artemis was here." She realized that all eyes were on her.
Rosemary sighed. "Artemis was here, but she was still her same old self before we encountered the new self today," she clarified. "After she left LA, she didn't stay in touch with us anymore although… It was like she was hiding something from us."
"Why didn't you tell us until now?" Yugi inquired.
"You never asked." Rosemary retorted.
Yugi looked back at the Holy Guardians, wondering if they knew what was going on. He especially wanted to know what Nidoki meant too. Slowly, he made his way to them and breathed in deeply.
"Now I have another question; what is the Dark Dragon?" Yugi questioned.
"You mean 'who', not 'what'," Horus replied. He gazed towards the shadows shifting around before replying. "They're planning to revive my younger brother, Apophis."
Author's Notes: There will not be an update for next week since I'm leaving to go to Florida tomorrow, and I'm also working on another story that I want to start by the time I get back.
And this is me being lazy not putting in a summary of the next chapter. I'll leave the chapter title instead.
On the next Struggle of Chaos - Chapter 26: Worlds Apart