Battle of the Portal
As the ships descended to the Valley floor, Atem was able to get a good view of the Valley, letting him see a host of troops, a bustling military camp, and in the distance, near the middle of the Valley, an object. It wasn't very clear from the distance they were at, but it appeared to be some type of stand with a large object on it which seemed to glow. The Prince was guessing that was the portal. Since the Valley of the Kings was composed of a patch of desert surrounded by tall, stone cliffs, the only ways out were via the far side of the Valley, or the one Atem and his group had just come from.
It was good he'd just oriented himself, because explosions rocked the five ships right then. The three at the front vanished in bursts of light, and those bursts of light lanced out and struck something outside the range of their view, even as the people on those three ships yelped and fell to the ground. They hadn't fallen far, only a handful of feet and onto soft sand, so weren't injured and quickly recovered themselves. Atem, Set, Mahad, and Karim were amongst those to fall, and the other two ships stopped as their passengers began jumping off.
In the distance where the lights had gone, they heard explosions and screams, even as more explosions hit the last two ships, sending two more bolts of light in the direction the attack had come from. After two more distant explosions sounded, a moment of quiet fell and Atem called, "Mahad, choose a group to seal the far end of the Valley! Karim, take command here as we discussed! Set, are you ready to turn this place into Hell on Earth?"
"As ever," Set agreed. He then called, "Kaiser Seahorse!" His mount appeared, and he turned to look at Atem—whose expression frightened him in that moment.
"Gryphon Wings!" the Prince called, and everyone watched in amazement as the named wings appeared attached to his back so he could fly. "Let's go, Set!" he called as he shot into the air, and Set quickly followed, wondering where that had come from.
Then he remembered what Yuugi had said about stepping into the state which accessed one's soul, rather than thoughts and feelings. If Atem was in that state, he was seeing with far greater clarity than the rest of them at the moment—and the result was singularly impressive. As such, he quickly followed Atem, watching for more of the shots which had taken down the ships, only to see five distinct spots on the Valley floor where things had exploded and taken several people around each into the Afterlife. In the meantime, he watched the Prince raise a hand.
"Swords of Sealing Light!" Atem intoned loudly, and glowing, white swords spread out over the battlefield, even as light shone and every weapon, every trap, everything which could be used against them, became visible. Including the natural traps and curses of the Valley of the Kings. It quickly became clear that no one could lift a hand against them, and Atem was examining the existing traps and curses.
"Atem, how long will this last?"
"Until we take three actions against them, or until I release it. I'm just giving Mahad time to get into place unhindered," the Prince replied, so the High Priest nodded and looked at the battlefield again.
He then smirked and asked, "Can I activate the quicksand trap they negated?"
Raising a brow, Atem agreed, "Use Cyclone. I'd like to see whatever they did to stop that one dissipate." The card in the English version had been named 'Mystical Space Typhoon', making him think Pegasus was one for dramatics. After all, 'Cyclone' was simple, quick, easy to remember, and just overall more practical of a name for a card which was used fairly frequently for all sorts of magic and trap removal. And why he was thinking about that now, he had no idea.
"Of course," Set agreed in amusement. "That way I don't have to guess the orientation of the power they used to seal it." He then held a hand forward and intoned, "Cyclone!"
Chaos erupted in the middle of the camp as the area which had been a sealed quicksand trap reverted to said quicksand trap. Whole sections of the soldiers vanished, screaming, into the quick drag of quicksand held still too long—and both Atem and Set were horrified to see that no one made any move to help the ones caught in the quicksand, not even the ones on the edges and within reach. They traded looks, and the Prince gave a feral grin.
"Looks like there's really nothing left to save of them. Well, then, no misgivings."
"None," agreed the High Priest.
"Then let's simplify things and take a few pages out of Yuugi's book," Atem offered, his grin still feral.
Set laughed out loud at that, then called, "Seiyaryu, come to me!"
"Call for Obelisk the Tormentor. It'll come to you—that's a fact," Atem threw in.
"One of the God-beasts?" Set stared as the dragon Seiyaryu appeared beside him.
"Yes, one of the God-beasts," the Prince replied dryly. "I'm going to test Yuugi's theory in saying I can use Fusion, too." He then intoned, "Summoned Skull, Red Eyes Black Dragon, come to me!" They both appeared, and he focussed everything he had on what he wanted as he called, "Fusion! Black Skull Dragon!"
As the Red Eyes and Summoned Skull fused, Set swallowed and reached into his power core for the strength to summon the God-beast, but there was a malicious grin on his face—if this worked, he was calling the most vicious God-beast. "Obelisk the Tormentor, come to me!"
And sure enough, just as Atem had said, Obelisk took form below them.
"Attack!" Atem and Set yelled at them together, and all three of the beasts set out to destroy the enemy. No one could do more than run currently, but the spell would wear off soon. Atem then paused to call, "Gaia the Fierce Knight, Curse of Dragon, come to me!" As soon as they appeared, he went on, "Fusion, emerge Gaia the Dragon Champion!" Again, as soon as it formed, he called to it, "Join the attack!"
Set eyed him for a moment as he saw the Swords of Sealing Light flickering. "How about we take another page from Yuugi's book and use Upheaval?"
"Us both? At once?" the Prince asked with a raised brow. At Set's even look, he smirked. "Oh, that'll be great, won't it? Let's go, then."
Both extended hands downward as they called together, "Upheaval!"
The land groaned, shuddered—and exploded. Lava poured up from underground, the land crumbled, sinking the sand entirely to leave behind broken rock, and water rushed in from some unknown source, spilling across the area, steaming and spitting where it came into contact with the lava. Obelisk was oblivious to the damage around it, and just kept adding more and more broken land to the destruction, and the others took to the air to throw or spit attacks at enemies below, enemies now able to run, to fight, to do them some damage.
Not that they did much...Until Atem and Set felt energy washing over the land and forcing it back to a quieter state.
PA-HPS-YM-SK
In Yuugi's room, Isis watched worriedly as Shada and Akhenaten sat to either side of the boy, both taking his hands to anchor themselves. "I will be the one to take the soul fragments and pass them to you—Anubis will have no direct contact with you," Shada told the man. "I would hope the same would be true of the other Gods. If Yuugi is there, he will be able to show you where each piece goes, or place it himself...And I do hope he is there."
"As do I," Akhenaten agreed quietly. "I may well need him to be there to reach his soul room, considering my inability to read him. Regardless, I will make every attempt to reach it by the time you reach me with the first fragment."
Shada nodded and closed his eyes to slip into a trance as Akhenaten activated the power of his Eye to seek out Yuugi's mind and soul.
At first, nothing happened, and all the man could see was white, but then he saw something casting a shadow in the distance. Walking towards it, he found a wall, attached to a torn-off hall of a sort, and the wall had a door in it. The door was open a few inches, and he could hear someone crying inside the room, so went to the door and pushed it open a bit as he knocked on it lightly. Looking around the room, he could see the damage to the room clearly, and a child who resembled a younger Yuugi—which was saying something, given how young the boy looked normally—who sat on the floor, holding a damaged toy rabbit and crying over it.
"Child, crying won't fix this, will it?" he asked of the small boy, who looked up at him with such a sad, but adorable, expression that he almost fell over in a swoon. If that was what Yuugi had looked like as a child, it was safe to say he had been something of a doll to those who knew him. That in turn could have caused as much harm as good.
After rubbing his eyes and trying to stop crying, the boy said, "No. But I wasn't trying to. I thought I got rid of Usagi-kun..." He paused to hold up the damaged rabbit. "But then I found him a-a-again...with e-e-everything gone!"
Now the man was puzzled. "...Why did you try to get rid of it, and why are you so hurt by it now?"
The boy looked at the rabbit, then slowly dropped it to the floor as he said, "It was the last thing Daddy gave me before...before he changed...before he started hurting me..."
Holding his hand to his head as he felt a headache coming on, Akhenaten sighed, then looked up at the child again, who had gone despondent. "So you see it like a part of a man you want no contact with?" Slowly, the younger Yuugi nodded, so the man picked it up to examine it. He then looked at the boy and said, "But wouldn't you want to keep it just to show how strong you are, that you could overcome the things he did to you?"
Little Yuugi blinked up at him, slowly, sorting through what the man had said...Then reached out and took the rabbit back. He then dropped it and stood, but as he rose, his form grew up to be that of the Yuugi Akhenaten was used to seeing. The boy smiled and said, "Thank you. I got...a little too caught in those memories." He then paused and blinked again, and asked, "How did you get here, and why are you here, Priest Akhenaten?"
"You heal from mental trauma remarkably quickly," the Priest snorted. "I'm here because Shada and Anubis have found a way to track your soul fragments, but they need me here to take them, so I can give them to you."
"I see," Yuugi murmured thoughtfully. "And you could get in here because I was in here already?"
"Yes, so would be my best guess. Shada should be here with the first pieces soon."
"Okay. What's happening out there? I haven't felt Atem near me in awhile."
"They found the portal. It's active, so he took some people and went to destroy it. At the same time, the Palace and city fell under attack. The Pharaoh and our troops are holding them off so far, but we have no guarantee of how long he'll be able to manage. Anubis said our priority is you because we can't win this battle without you as it stands—now, we never intended to leave you, but needs a must, so you're getting healed a little sooner. That's all."
"...Tell me, has the Pharaoh ever actually summoned the God-beasts?" Yuugi asked quietly, shocking the man.
"...The Sky Dragon of Osiris. Who currently isn't coming to him."
"Oh, Hell," the boy sighed, closing his eyes. "That means Osiris is too attached to Atem now that the Gods gave him...That's why you need me, because the enemy can only be taken down by the God-beasts, and they're not currently obeying the Pharaoh."
"But they would obey you?" Akhenaten frowned.
Yuugi opened his eyes to look at the man. "Yes," he said simply.
"Why?"
"I'm Atem's other half."
A voice echoed through the damaged room, calling, "Priest Akhenaten, are you there?" It was Shada, so Akhenaten turned towards it.
"Yes, I'm here! Send me a strand of energy so I can take the fragments!"
There was a pause, then a thin thread of energy descended into the room from a few feet over from the pair. The older man moved over and grasped it, sending a 'reply thread' back up it, then waiting with out-stretched hands. From the space above them, where the threads connected the two Priests, two glowing objects descended to land in Akhenaten's hands.
"I have them, Shada!" he called.
"Good," the other voice sighed in relief. "I will bring you the next soon!" The presence vanished, leaving the threads behind.
The Priest turned to Yuugi and offered the glowing fragments to him. "Where do these go?"
Taking them in his hands gently, Yuugi gasped as they faded into his body and part of the vanished wall was restored, along with a few of the damaged objects in the room. He then blinked several times as he tried to clear the fireworks-like spots out of his eyes and adjust to feeling just that little bit more complete, that little bit less torn inside.
"It seems this will be easier than we thought on this end," Akhenaten said in some amusement. "But you truly were an adorable child—dangerously so."
There was a pause, then Yuugi was suddenly laughing whole-heartedly in mirth, even as the damaged edges of his room began glowing—and growing. When he stopped laughing, he saw the man staring at the repairs, so said, "Of course this side is easier." When Akhenaten looked back at him, the smiling boy said, "Because it's me, and I accept my soul as 'who' I am, not my thoughts or the things I've experienced."
Thoughtfully, the man looked back at the slowly-repairing walls.
PA-HPS-YM-SK
"The settled area is strongest at the portal," Set pointed out.
"That's our destination, then," Atem answered, flying in that direction, Set and Kaiser Seahorse right behind him.
They ignored the destruction below them to set their sights on the portal, seeing how there was a three-tiered block of stone—a large one—with a circular ring surrounded by a triangle on it. On each of the three tiers, lizard-people stood, hands extended towards the land, eight of the more obviously lizard-like beings on the bottom level, six of the more human-like ones on the second level, and four of the more human-like ones on the top level, where the portal was. Two of those top four actually faced the portal, and there was a glowing bubble around said portal, which glowed fiercely with a nearly black light.
"Huh...Eighteen lizards," the High Priest commented.
The Prince smirked. "Up for some sword-play?"
"You want to kill all of them with a sword?"
"No, of course not. Attacking them that way will draw them into traps—Magical Cylinders, for example. Trap Hole and Acid Trap Hole, for example."
Set snorted and said, "You are positively evil today, Your Highness."
"Not at all. They're reaping what they sowed," the Prince returned dryly.
"Did you even bring your sword?" the High Priest asked.
"Don't need it. Sword of Dark Destruction, come to my hand!" Atem called, and the slender, sharp, curved blade with a black and reddish sheen appeared in his hand.
With an impressed whistle, Set held his hand out and called, "Legendary Sword!" The sword he found himself carrying was a heavier broadsword which glowed white, and it suited him much better than the pure killing blade Atem had called.
At that moment, he realized the Prince had already shot down and landed on the middle tier of the portal, blade swinging and cutting down two of the enemy in one slash. One shot—something—at the Prince, only for Magical Cylinders to activate and shoot the thing back at the shooter, killing that one. Atem, now engaging two of the lizard-people, one of whom had come from the lower level with a sword, had left his back entirely open, where two more were coming from the other side.
"You are so high-maintenance, My Prince," Set muttered, then smirked and called, "Change of Heart!" He'd targeted the lizard nearest Atem of the two coming from behind, and that one stopped—then turned to attack the other of the two approaching from behind. That had been singularly effective, so he dove down into the clear space at the Prince's back, sword at the ready as he jumped off Kaiser Seahorse.
To the side, when two of the enemy from above tried to join the battle, they found themselves falling onto spikes in a trap hole, and Atem had killed the other two he'd been fighting. The one Set had taken control of killed a second opponent, but died at the same time, and Atem killed his most recent opponent while two more attacked the High Priest. At about that point, their Upheavals began affecting the region again, but somehow, the stand they were on stayed almost completely still.
When two more on the bottom level tried to jump at Atem, they fell into an Acid Trap Hole and began screaming in agony—and both the Prince and High Priest wrinkled their noses at that. At about the same time, Kaiser Seahorse launched itself at the last of the lizard-people on the bottom level and Set killed one of his two opponents.
Frankly, Set was actually somewhat frightened of the pure fury Atem fought with—it was more akin to a whirlwind of metal and death. It was impressive, and he could certainly respect the Prince's power, skill, and command ability—covet it, even—but that didn't stop it from being frightening up close. He truly hadn't known the full extent of Atem's skill, or the lengths he would go to when someone hurt his light. Oh, it was all so perfectly controlled, so targeted there were literally no wasted moves, and they had barely been able to scratch him (once on his arm and once on the opposite hip), but the control, the calm, made it all the more frightening. After all, Atem had single-handedly killed, with a sword, five highly skilled and physically stronger enemies with nearly no damage.
Just as the High Priest was about to engage the last of his opponents, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, even as Kaiser Seahorse squealed in pain and vanished. Stumbling, he realized his summon had just been sent back to the spirit realm, leaving him with damage, and he could see the lizard's blade swinging at him...
Only for a huge, deadly light to flash in front of his eyes with a roar and crushing sound. Blinking the light spots out of his eyes, what he saw in front of him was a section of the platform torn off in a straight line, and everything in the path of the light vaporized. Turning to look to the side it had come from in shock, he saw Obelisk lifting its hand before turning back to the enemies on the ground around it.
"Well, that was impressive," Atem's slightly panting voice came from behind him, sounding perfectly amused. "How are you after Kaiser...?"
"Fine," the High Priest answered, attention snapping back to Atem as he pushed himself up. A quick look around showed that the top level of the platform, where the portal and the last two lizards were, was relatively undamaged, only a few inches sheared off, while a deep gash crossed the ground where the two lower levels had been destroyed. He was recovered now, just a little tired, so it was true.
"You are so. Bloody. Annoying!" a voice snarled from above them, making both Prince and High Priest look up to see a man in pale clothes standing there, the other two lizards still maintaining the barrier around the portal. "And how did you manage to recover from one of our blade wounds so quickly?"
Atem smirked. "Because that wasn't me, it was my younger brother. The little imp borrowed my horse to go for a ride, and you made the battle personal."
The man's hands clenched and he took his lizard-like appearance, his glare leaving both younger males with the impression 'if looks could kill...' He then barked out a laugh and said, "Ah, I see. It really was chance, as he said. However, we can't let you destroy the portal."
That was where the battle turned hard, as a wave of energy surged off the man and every bit of debris within fifty yards of the man rose into the air in a swirling mass—then shot at Atem and Set. They couldn't defend, and they couldn't dodge—
"Negate Attack!" Atem roared, and the familiar discolored swirl lit the air, forcing the power to die and all the debris to hit the ground.
"Thank all the Gods you're a bloody tactical genius and nearly as powerful as Ra to boot, Your Highness..." the High Priest commented dryly.
On the other hand, the man above them seethed—then smirked. "So you're going to do it the hard way," he said as though talking about the weather. He then knelt and placed his hand flat on the platform—
And before they had a chance to stop him from doing anything, hands, legs, bodies, skeletal and covered to varying degrees in flesh, began dragging themselves free of the ground all around the platform and turning to them.
"He's a necromancer..." the High Priest murmured sickly.