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The Orichalcos Saga
Fanfic Chapter 221: Duel of Lost Souls Pt 5: The Price of Victory
Episode Basis: Fighting for a Friend Pt 5
Mokuba huddled close to his brother as the Orichalcos Soldiers marched towards them. "What do we do now?" He asked.
"Simple, we exterminate these overgrown cockroaches." He drew his Blue-Eyes White Dragon from his deck. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack!" The dragon swept a row of Orichalcos Soldiers which were suddenly replaced by more Orichalcos Soldiers.
"There's no end to them," Mokuba cried.
"Mokuba, what have I always told you? If at first you don't succeed, blast them with your Blue-Eyes again! White Lightning!" The dragon destroyed another row of Orichalcos Soldiers but more took its place.
"Seems like for every one we knock down, two more take its place," Mokuba commented. He then felt hot breath on his head. He turned around.
An Orichalcos Soldier had snuck up behind them. It grabbed Mokuba. "Seto, help!"
Kaiba saw it and quickly slammed another card on his Duel Disk's tray. "Critius, stop him!" The Legendary Dragon stomped on the Orichalcos Soldier holding Mokuba then shot a lightning blast which destroyed a row of Orichalcos Soldiers, this time permanently. But there were still more to deal with.
"They just keep coming," Mokuba complained.
"There's no way I'm giving up now," Kaiba replied and ordered his two dragons into battle.
Joey was barely standing as he stared at Mai. "What's wrong, Wheeler, are my Harpies too much for you?"
"Why don't you try fighting two duels in a row?"
"Quit making excuses and just duel or you'll end up like him." She pointed to Valon who was slumped against a fence.
"Back off of him," Amara demanded. "If it wasn't for your boyfriend over there, he would be able to duel better than he already is."
(J: 3600)
(M: 3600)
Joey drew a card. "I summon Swordsman of Landstar (1) in defense mode." It took Joey several tries before he was able to slip a card into the magic and trap card slot. "I play two cards face-down and…" His vision blurred and remained that way. Joey had to shake his head to clear his vision. "I end my turn."
That match took a lot out of Joey, Amara thought. I hope he can hold out until the duel's over.
"So where are these new monsters you keep bragging about? Why don't you play them?"
"Maybe I'm just waiting for the right opportunity."
"That's so typical of you, you put on the tough guy show but deep down you're just a scared a little kid. Do you honestly think you can win this duel?"
"That depends on what you mean by win, to me winning is about more than cards and life points. You remember when we first met?" Mai looked away. "Well even if you don't, I sure do. You told me that you only dueled for yourself. I bet you didn't believe that people could duel for reasons other than one's own interest, didn't you?"
I never thought I could feel this way, Mai thought. Who would've thought that there would actually be some caring people left in the world?
The Orichalcos symbol on her forehead flickered. Joey pushed on, "But Yugi proved that in his duel against Panik."
"Now, let's see if you can try your intimidation tactics on me, Panik! I don't scare easy, especially when I'm sticking up for my friends!"
"And when Tea dueled you for Yugi's star chips."
"Maybe you're right, Mai, maybe I am scared. Dueling someone who's entirely out of my league for such high stakes overwhelming. But look at this monster. Your Harpie Lady won't stand a chance against it, and do you know why?"
"Enlighten me," Mai said sarcastically.
"Because, it has six times the strength of Harpie Lady!"
"What? That's impossible! What could possibly increase a monster's attack strength that much?"
"The hearts, Mai, it's the hearts of me and my friends are in this card. And this force is something no magic card can duplicate! Six hearts, bonded through friendship, shining through even the darkest times! And that's what helps me face the fear."
"Face it, Tea, Yugi has checked out, he's given up, he doesn't care about this match and he doesn't care about you! Nothing's worth the humiliation you're going through."
"You're wrong! My friends are worth it, always! I don't care how much experience you have playing Duel Monsters, I don't care what the odds are or whether or not they're stacked against me! I won't give up, not on this match and not on Yugi either. I can't… I won't… I'll never give up!" A tear escaped her eyes and she started quietly sobbing.
"I thought that after all that, you'd truly learned the value of friendship. When I learned that you take care of your cousin Kevin, I even believed it."
"That boy," Mai murmured.
"Mai, is that really you? What are you doing in the middle of nowhere?"
Mai regarded Kevin indifferently. "Do I know you?"
"Very funny, Mai, come on it hasn't been that long. It's me, Kevin, your cousin!"
"I don't know you, I don't know anyone named Kevin, and I have no family."
"Mai, why don't you remember me? We've known each other forever."
"Scram, you little rodent, I don't deal with trash like you."
"Perhaps I was wrong, maybe you haven't learned a thing… or maybe… maybe you have learned but forgot."
The stone around her neck started to glow. The symbol came back brighter than ever. "Save it, I've come too far to turn back now." She drew a card. "Cyber Harpie, destroy his Swordsman of Landstar now!"
"I activate my trap card Double Magical Arm Bind!" Two of Joey's Scapegoats disappeared and two shields with extending grabbing claws appeared. "By sacrificing two of my monsters, I can get two of yours." The claws grabbed two Cyber Harpies and brought them over to Joey's side of the field.
"But I still have two Harpies left. Cyber Harpies, attack!"
"I activate my other trap card, Vow of Tribe. Now if the same monster is on both sides of the field, they can't attack!"
"That was a nice move," Mai congratulated.
"Thanks, I wouldn't be this good without you." Mai tilted her head. "You pushed me to be my very best."
How can he still be that way after everything I put him through, Mai thought, the faint outline of the Millennium Symbol appearing underneath the Seal of Orichalcos symbol on her forehead. I could never be like that.
"Now I see what attracted you to him in the first place. The guy's got heart."
The Seal of Orichalcos flashed and suppressed the Millennium Symbol. So what if Valon was right, that's all the more reason to crush him right here and now. He says he duels with his soul, well I'm just going to have to take that away from him. "Make your last move!"
I know that deep down Mai still values our friendship I just have to remind her. "You, of all people, should know that my last moves are often my best ones." Joey drew a card. "I sacrifice your two Cyber Harpies plus Swordsman of Landstar in order to summon Gilford the Lightning (2)!" An armored warrior carrying a large sword appeared. "And get this whenever he's summoned by sacrificing three monsters, all of your monsters get destroyed!" Gilford raised his rather large sword and lightning destroyed all of Mai's Cyber Harpies. "Now attack her directly!" Gilford slashed his sword across Mai's chest sending her plowing into the barrier of the seal then down to the ground, sparking.
"Oooh, that's got to hurt," Amara said wincing.
(J: 3600)
(M: 800)
"See, I still have plenty of fight left in me."
Mai laughed as she got up, "That may be. You've definitely gotten stronger, but I'll be the only winner here. And do you know why? Because I have the Seal of Orichalcos on my side and it's my move." She drew a card. "I play Card of Sanctity, this requires both of us to draw from our decks until we're holding six cards. So that means you draw too, Hot Shot."
That's good news, Joey's hand was looking weak in more ways than one.
"Get anything you like?" Mai asked.
"I guess you'll just have to wait and see," Joey replied cryptically. I didn't draw Hermos, but these cards should suffice for now.
"I play Monster Reborn to bring back one of my Cyber Harpies. This next card you should recognize: the magic card Elegant Egotist, now my Cyber Harpie is multiplied by 3." Three Cyber Harpies, each with a different hair style appeared.
(CH: 1800-2300x3)
"How many Harpies do you have in that deck?" Joey asked. "You know, on second thought, I don't wanna know."
"I play Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation. Since I have three Harpies on my side of the field, I can destroy up to three of your monsters. And then the total of their attack points get deducted from your life points. The Harpies became a giant flaming bird and fried Gilford and the remaining Scapegoat. Now it was Joey who was going down.
(J: 800)
(M: 800)
Mai laughed maliciously, "One more attack and it's over!"
Joey got up laughing, "That was an awesome move," he said. "You might be under an evil spell but you're still one of the best Duelists I know and one of the best opponents I ever faced. I may be about to pass out, but I'm definitely having a lot of fun."
"Oh save it, I'm not falling for any of your tricks."
Joey wobbled and had to lean against the barrier.
I can't just stand here, I have to help him somehow. But I can't get in that seal. "Joey, listen to my voice," she said calmly. "I want you to take several deep breaths." Joey found himself complying with her instructions. His vision became clearer and his balance steady. "Good," Amara said. "Now relax, you're not doing the fighting any more, all you have to do is play the cards, let the monsters do the heavy work for you."
A little bit calmer, Joey drew a card. Both he and Amara smiled. "First I play the Warrior Returning Alive which let's me take a monster back from my graveyard as long as it's a warrior-type. So I'm taking back Blue Flame Swordsman which I now summon in attack mode." The blue version of Joey's favorite warrior appeared. "So you won't fall for my tricks, huh? Well too bad because I have so many. For my first trick, watch as I use Dark Dragon Ritual to make Gearfried the Iron Knight disappear and appearing in his place is a monster known as Knight of Dark Dragon (3). But he won't be staying for long, because I'm sending him to the graveyard to summon my Red-Eyes Black Dragon." Joey's favorite dragon appeared.
"You think you're so hot," Mai spat. "But your dragon can't attack this turn."
"That's okay I was planning on attacking you with something else: the Claw of Hermos! Now watch in amazement as I join Hermos together with Red-Eyes Black Dragon to form the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword." The sword fell into Blue Flame Swordsman's hands and his attack points shot up.
(BFS: 1800-2800)
"Blue Flame Swordsman, attack one of her Cyber Harpies now!" The Cyber Harpie with orange hair went down.
(J: 800)
(M: 300)
"Finally I set two cards face-down." Almost there, just hope my body can hold out.
"Not bad," Mai said again. "But your Flame Swordsman is only as strong as his weapon so I play Harpie's Feather Duster to destroy all magic and trap cards on your side of the field." The Black Dragon Sword was destroyed and Blue Flame Swordsman appeared holding his default sword.
(BFS: 2800-1800)
"Time to blast you out of my life forever! I play Spell Reproduction! Now by discarding two magic cards from my hand, I get one back from the graveyard."
She's about to play Phoenix Formation again, Joey figured.
"I play Harpie Lady's Phoenix Formation!" Once I play Phoenix Formation, his monster will be destroyed and the 1800 attack points will be subtracted from Joey's life points giving me the duel. The Harpies formed the flaming bird again and dove for Blue Flame Swordsman.
(BFS: 1800-0)
Even as Blue Flame Swordsman was destroyed, Mai could sense something was amiss. The Seal of Orichalcos wasn't doing anything which could only mean one thing: his life points hadn't hit 0 yet. "What did you do?" He asked.
"It's not what I did it's what my Blue Flame Swordsman did. I can transfer his attack points to another monster on the field."
"But you have no other monsters on your side of the field!"
"That's right, so I gave them to your Cyber Harpie." He pointed to the Cyber Harpie with the long red hair.
(CH: 2300-4100)
"With Blue Flame Swordsman's attack points at 0, my life points didn't go down at all. Plus when he's destroyed, the original Flame Swordsman takes his place." The original monster appeared from the graveyard. "But you still have two powerful monsters. How you use them is up to you." Joey's voice was growing hoarse. "But like I said, you are one of the greatest opponents I've ever faced and I know you're going to make the right decision. Underneath all that anger and frustration is a good person."
"That… I… I'm sick of taking a backseat to you!" The Millennium symbol was mutely flashing again.
"I'm sorry you feel that way, but are you sure you're any better off? You're still taking a backseat, but now it's to a loony with dreams of power. You have the power you always wanted, but it doesn't seem like you're happy." He drew a card. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."
Mai furiously drew a card. "First Cyber Harpie, attack Joey's Flame Swordsman now!" The Cyber Harpie that was powered up to 4100 flew forward."
"I reveal my trap card," Joey said. "Skull Dice." The goblin rolled a die which came up a two. The Cyber Harpie's attack points were halved.
(CH: 4100-2050)
Flame Swordsman was still destroyed but Joey's life points didn't go down as much.
(J: 550)
(M: 800)
"Who cares, Cyber Harpie #2…" But she froze her finger in the process of pointing. She just stood there, frozen.
"Why didn't she call out an attack," Amara wondered.
Mai was wondering the same thing, Why am I hesitating? This should be a no-brainer, all I have to do is call out an attack and I'll win the duel, he'll be out of my life forever. But…
"Forget it, guys," Joey said casually. "There's no point in arguing, she's too stubborn, but if she doesn't want them, then I'll take them." He laughed.
His laugh infuriated Mai. "DO YOU THINK LOSING ALL MY STAR CHIPS IS FUNNY, JOEY WHEELER?"
"I thought you didn't want them." He held them out of Mai's reach as she grabbed for them.
"Hey, give them back!"
"Okay." And just like that, Joey dropped the star chips into Mai's hand. Mai stared at them questioning, then looked up at Joey. "Haven't you learned anything from this duel, Mai? You can't always keep your defenses up, they would block that which can help you as well as harm you." Mai couldn't believe it. Was this the same kid whom only hours ago she tried to eliminate from the island? "Also..." Mai looked up at him. "Not everyone has their own agenda. Some are actually willing to help out without asking for anything in return. Some people are just like that. If you do that, then you'll become one heck of a Duelist."
"Mai!" Joey cried. Mai had grabbed onto a protruding flag pole.
"Joey, I can't hold on!"
"Let go, I'll catch you!" Joey called.
"You sure?"
"Trust me! Just do it!" Mai let go.
"Mai, listen to my voice," Joey said as he pulled at the chains. "I won't let anything happen to you! We're friends, Mai, and nothing can ever change that." He grabbed Mai's face and turned it so she was looking straight at him, "When I was K-Oed by that fake Ra, I had a dream I was in school and couldn't get up. All my friends were there and they helped me up. You were there, Mai, it was your hand that I took and helped me up. When I took your hand, I knew that I would have to do anything to protect my friends, especially you, Mai, because that's what friends do, they protect each other no matter what!"
"I… I don't want to be alone," she said meekly.
"You're not." A large golden eye symbol appeared in front of her and someone appeared in front of it.
"Yugi!"
"Mai, you can't let Marik's illusions distract you. You must win this match to return to the life you once knew."
"But how can I? It feels like… like there's a darkness growing in my heart…"
"Darkness and light are like two sides of the same coin: they're complete opposites but they compliment each other. One can not exist without the other. Right now, Marik is trying to fill your heart with nothing but darkness, but a balance is needed." Yami-Yugi held out his hands and an orb of light about three times the size of a basketball appeared.
"What is that?"
"The compliment to Marik's darkness: light." He handed it to her.
Mai held it close to her, "It feels… warm."
"That light represents your friends, Mai, listen." Mai laid an ear to the orb of light and could distinctly hear Joey and the others shouting words of encouragement.
"I… I know these voices."
"Those are your friends, Mai, we're all your friends and no matter what happens, we always will. You have the strength, Mai, use the light, call upon it."
"The light… the light! I NEED THE LIGHT!" The Millennium Symbol shone bright and broke the Orichalcos seal on her forehead. Her crystal fell off and shattered. Joey knew that the Mai he knew and loved had returned.
"Congratulations," Joey said. "You win." He collapsed.
"JOEY!" Mai dropped her cards and ran to catch him as he fell. "You're wrong," she said. "I never attacked so you didn't lose the duel."
"But… I'm too exhausted to finish."
"I won't let the Orichalcos take you!"
"It's too late for me, I'm just glad that if one of us had to have our soul taken away, it didn't have to be you." The seal shrunk around him. "This was… one of… the greatest duels… I ever had. Thank you."
Yami, Tea and Tristan skidded to a halt. Yami happened to look up to see Timaeus looking up at the sky. Timaeus let out a low mournful roar before dissolving. Yami looked at the white orb which hovered near his forehead. It too looked mournful. "Oh no," he gasped.
Kaiba and Mokuba looked up to see Critius roaring into the sky. "What's with Critius?" Mokuba asked.
"I don't know," Kaiba replied. "It must be a glitch in the holographic image."
I don't know, Mokuba thought. It's almost like Critius is crying.
Mai cuddled Joey close to her, "This is all my fault," she sobbed. "I was angry and confused and I blamed it on you! How could I be so selfish?"
"Mai," Amara began but didn't know how to follow-up.
"You were the best friend I ever had and how did I repay you? By leaving you for a madman who promised power! You were right, I was a monster to everyone who loved me!" She saw the Claw of Hermos lying on the ground and picked it up. "Amara…"
"Huh?"
"Please, look after him."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to confront Dartz, it must end with him." She got on to her motorcycle and took off.
"Oh Mai, you really do care about him." She took another look at Joey. She gagged and ran back to the bush to throw up.
The End
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Swordsman of Landstar
Level: 3
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 500
DEF: 1200
(2)
Name: Gilford the Lightning
Level: 8
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 2800
DEF: 1400
(3)
Name: Knight of Dark Dragon
Level: 4
Type: Warrior/Ritual/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1900
DEF: 1200