Wow, has it really been a year since this was updated? Sorry guys... I just post the chapters when the author gives them to me. We are sorry that you've had to wait this long for the next chapter... anyway, to say we're sorry, the author has given me 4 chapters to post right now, so you'll have more to read. Please remember to review!
Chapter 35
"And as soon as your soul is mine, I'll put it to good use, by feeding it to the Great Leviathan!" Dartz announced, as the green photon ring approached Mai.
"You'll never get it, Dartz!" Mai shouted. "I activate one of my face down cards: Silent Doom! This magic card allows me to bring any monster in my graveyard."
"I should thank you, Dartz, for playing your Battle After the Storm trap card, forcing all three of us to discard one card from our hands." Mai continued. "The card I discarded was my Amazoness Swordswoman, so my Silent Doom card will bring her back in defense mode."
As Amazoness Swordswoman appears on the field (1600 def), Mai continued. "Now, I activate another one of my face down cards: Curse of Fiend! This magic card forces all monsters on the field to switch positions. It won't affect your Orichalcos Shunoros, Orichalcos Dexia, and Orichalcos Aristeros due to your Orichalcos Tritos, but it will affect my Amazoness Swordswoman and the pharaoh's Celtic Guardian! Furthermore, your Orichalcos Tritos prevents magic and trap cards from affecting your monsters only, not magic and trap cards affecting all monsters, so your third layer can't destroy it!"
"Big deal, what do you intend to do?" Dartz taunted, as Amazoness Swordswoman and Celtic Guardian switched into attack mode.
"My Amazoness Swordswoman has a devastating ability, Dartz." Mai replied. "If attacked by a monster, the opponent takes all the damage. Your Orichalcos Shunoros's atk strength is 23700, whereas my Amazoness Swordswoman's atk strength is only 1500."
"You only have 20500 LP. And since your Orichalcos Tritos cannot negate the special abilities of monster cards, you'll lose 22200 LP as soon as your attack hits my monster!" Mai said in triumph. "Which means you lose, Dartz!"
"Wrong again, Ms. Valentine." Dartz replied. "I play this: the magic card Talent Suppression! By paying 500 LP, this card allows me to choose a monster on the field and prevent it from using its special abilities for one turn." Off Mai's horrified look, Dartz smiled evilly. "And that means you'll be the one losing LP after all, Ms. Valentine, so the duel is over for you!" (Dartz's LP: 20000)
"Not so fast, Dartz!" Yami shouted, as the photon ring approached Mai's monster. "I activate one of my face down cards: Soul Shield! This trap card allows me to prevent a monster's attack from destroying another monster, as long as I pay half of my LP to activate it!" (Yami's LP: 1400)
"It also reduces all battle damage to 0 for this turn," Yami explained. "And since this trap card was used on Shunoros's attack and not on Shunoros itself, your Orichalcos Tritos can't negate it, so your Orichalcos Shunoros just lost 1500 atk points for nothing!"
Orichalcos Shunoros's photon ring dissipates in front of Mai's Amazoness Swordswoman, and its atk decreases to 22200. "In that case, I'll dismantle your defense, pharaoh!" Dartz replied. "Your Celtic Guardian cannot be destroyed by a monster with 1900 atk points or more, but damage calculations still apply. Fortunately, I already attacked with Orichalcos Shunoros, so I have to attack you with Orichalcos Dexia instead."
"And remember, pharaoh, my Orichalcos Dexia's ability ensures that its atk strength is always 300 points higher than the monster it's attacking." Dartz reminded, as Dexia's atk increases from 500 to 1700, 300 points higher than Celtic Guardian's 1400 atk.
"Orichalcos Dexia, destroy his Celtic Guardian!" Dartz ordered. Orichalcos Dexia fires its energy beam, and Yami's monster is destroyed. (Yami's LP: 1100) Orichalcos Shunoros's atk decreases to 21000, losing the 1200 it gave to Orichalcos Dexia.
"I still have LP, Dartz!" Yami countered. "And the two of us stopped you once again from wiping us out!"
"That's true, but what's the point?" Dartz taunted. "Just take a look. The two of you are completely alone. Your friends are no longer able to support you, and the scoreboard doesn't exactly point in your favor."
Yami and Mai looked back to see Tristan and Tea still unconscious on the ground. "All you two have to do is forfeit, and you can join your friends on the other side. There is no need for this torment to continue, since all you can do is stall." Dartz continued.
He's right, Mai thought. His Orichalcos Shunoros still has 21000 atk points The pharaoh and I may have caused it to lose 8100 atk points already, but it isn't making the situation any easier.
Dartz has 20000 LP, and we have no way of draining them, Yami thought. With three virtually indestructible monsters, it is impossible for the two of us win this. Perhaps I can do more if I allow myself to let the Orichalcos take me to where my friends are.
"Pharaoh, don't you want to be with your friends?" Dartz asked. "They are lost without you, so don't turn away. All you have to do is place your hand over your deck and submit. Then you'll be free. Free to see your friends one last time before the rise of the Great Leviathan."
"The time has come for you to accept your true destiny." Dartz continued, as Yami's eyes began to glow Orichalcos green. "You returned to Earth to pay for the crimes you once committed. You practically destroyed the world with your Shadow Games. So in order to compensate for your sins of the past, you must surrender your spirit so I can rebuild paradise!"
Almost in a trancelike state, Yami held his hand over his deck. "It's my fate."
"Exactly, pharaoh. Keep listening to the voice of reason within your head." Dartz continued.
As Yami's eyes continued to glow Orichalcos green, he felt like he was sinking underwater. He remembered Joey telling him that he'd fight with him in this endeavor, as well as Yugi pushing him out of the Seal of Orichalcos so his soul would be spared. Finally, he remembered Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba all falling to the Orichalcos.
"As for you, Ms. Valentine, you said it yourself. You wanted to see Joseph Wheeler once again. All you have to do it submit, and the Orichalcos will take you right to him. It's that simple." Dartz said, turning to Mai.
"You must also pay for the sins you did, Ms. Valentine. You are a heartless person, never caring about anyone but yourself, and always wanting more and more power and glory. You take pleasure in hurting others, both physically and emotionally. Even you can't deny that. But it's not too late for such sins to be purged from your body. Just surrender your soul and allow me to rebuild paradise."
"Joseph Wheeler is waiting for you on the other side, Ms. Valentine." Dartz continued, as Mai's eyes also began to glow Orichalcos green. "You know how much you want to be with him. I'm giving you that opportunity."
Turing into a near trancelike state, Mai also held her hand over her deck. "It's my fault what happened to Joey, I have to do the right thing."
"You're almost there, Ms. Valentine." Dartz said. "Just put your hand over it, and you can see Joseph Wheeler again."
As Mai's eyes continued to glow Orichalcos green, she felt like she was falling into the abyss. She remembered Valon telling her that he finally understood why Joey meant so much to her. She remembered Joey telling her that she was one the best duelists he had ever known, and was confident that she would make the right decision in the end, as well as him pushing her out the seal so her soul would be spared. She remembered Joey challenging her to that Orichalcos duel that extracted the last of the Orichalcos magic from within her and allowing her to wield his legendary dragon. Finally, she remembered losing Joey to the Orichalcos, and her own vow that she would never stop fighting for him.
"This time has come. Sacred seal, encircle the pharaoh and Ms. Valentine!" Dartz ordered. The Seal of Orichalcos lights up, then began to shrink.
As it reached the halfway point, it split itself into two seals, each continuing to shrink around Yami and Mai. "Just relax," Dartz said. "Let the darkness spread. Look deep into your hearts and set your spirits free."
But suddenly, the Millennium Puzzle began to glow, and a column of golden light formed around Yami. When the seal touched it, it is immediately repelled.
"This is not possible!" Dartz exclaimed, as the seal expanded around the duel once again. "Nobody has the power to overcome the Orichalcos!"
As the golden light continued to shine around Yami, the images of his friends appeared around him: Yugi, Tristan, Tea, Kaiba, Mokuba, Duke, Rebecca, Alister, Rafael, Ironheart and Chris.
"What's going on? The seal should have taken your soul! How did you stop it?" Dartz demanded.
"You forced me to gaze deep into my heart, thinking that I would only find darkness. You were wrong. It is filled with the light of friendship, and the Orichalcos cannot take that away!" Yami shouted, as the images disappear into the golden column.
"You thought I was nothing, that I was completely alone, but you were wrong. I should thank you. You reminded me that my friends will always be with me. And together, we will defeat you!" Yami continued.
Dartz clutched his fist in anger. "Very well then, pharaoh! But I will still get something out of this, as Ms. Valentine is about to lose her soul!" He gestured to Mai, where the seal is only a few feet away from her.
"Mai!" Yami cried, as tears slid down Mai's cheeks.
But to Yami and Dartz's astonishment, when Mai's tears hit the ground, a column of even brighter light formed around her. And when the seal touched it, it is also repelled.
"What! How did you overcome the power of the Orichalcos?" Dartz demanded, as the seal expanded around the duel. "You don't even wield magic! You can't withstand such a thing!"
As the bright light shined around Mai, the images of Joey and Valon appeared by her side.
"What's happening?" Dartz demanded. "How did you stop the Seal of Orichalcos from taking your soul?"
"You thought deep in my heart, I was nothing more than pure evil. You were dead wrong, Dartz!" Mai shouted. "I may not have as warm of an exterior as others, but my interior is not filled with anger and despair!"
"You thought I had nothing, didn't you? Wrong! I've always had someone. There were those who tried to help me," Mai continued, gesturing to Valon.
"And those who love me for the person I am," Mai said, gesturing to Joey. "It was from Joey that I learned that he cared for me, that he was the one who helped me see my real self! It was Joey who inspired me to fight on against all odds! I swore an oath that I would fight for him the moment I lost him, and I've come too far just to be beaten by you!"
Thank you Joey, Mai mentally whispered. You were right. Our bond IS stronger than the Orichalcos. And since it saved me, I'll save you! Now I understand why I didn't feel anything when I dueled against duelists from all over America. I was dueling for shallow things. But in my duel with you in which you played the Seal of Orichalcos and my duel with Rafael, I fought for the people I truly cared for, and I DO feel stronger!
The shining bright light around Mai faded, as did the images of Joey and Valon. "And now that I know that Joey is still with me, we'll defeat you together!" Mai shouted. "Dartz, this all ends right now!"