Good Day Readers and welcome to the sequel to Pain of Betrayal, Pain of Loss! Thanks to all of you for the support and I hope that you all enjoy this latest edition of the Hope sisters. Sorry for the late update, on time this week, thank goodness.
Obviously I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh only Kylie and Katherine Hope along with the unique cards within their decks and whatever other OCs decide to crop up. Also italics symbolise a mind conversation, a video tape or something in a language that isn't Japanese. I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy
Chapter 9: - Impregnable Guardian Deck
"Impossible! There's no way this can happen in reality!" Seto exclaimed. I had my suspicions that Seto had been the other one chosen by the Nameless Dragons when we'd gone to the Duel Monsters' Spirit World for Jounouchi to retrieve Hermos. The glowing card that my friendly acquaintance held was the only physical proof I needed that he had been dragged into this fight as well, things seemed to keep drawing the five of us together.
"I feel it! There's a strong power coming from the card!" Jounouchi exclaimed. The power that was radiating from the five cards was incredibly powerful, but I didn't realise it was strong enough for someone with no magic sense to be able to detect it; a slight sound wavered within the light, almost like a call that was reaching out from the cards, I looked down at my bracelet and found that it was glowing in response to cards and emitting a similar sound, almost like a response.
"There's something like a song coming from within the light!" Katherine exclaimed. Her other arm was raised, the fingertips gently brushing against the glowing card as if she was attempting to feel out the words that were coming from the card she'd been granted; however, I don't think any of us could understand what the cards were saying, it seemed to be in a completely different language.
"The five cards are resonating towards one another," Yami stated. That certainly seemed to be the case given how they'd immediately reacted to the presence of the other four cards when we'd showed them off to each other; suddenly the lights, all six of them, died down and vanished alongside the strange call that had been emitting from the cards and my bracelet.
"It wasn't just the cards, my bracelet was reacting to them as well," I admitted. Yami and Katherine snapped their heads towards me with concerned looks on their faces, Jounouchi appeared to be shocked whilst Seto was completely confused by the words. "Either way, it certainly seems like the five of us have been chosen to fight against Doma," I admitted.
"Are you talking about destiny? Nonsense!" Seto snapped. I hated that word as much as anyone, but even I didn't deny that sometimes, people were born to do something. "I decide the path I follow on my road of life! Don't speak of destiny or fate in front of me!" Seto snapped. I looked at the brunette and raised my eyebrow in response to his words.
"You're still saying that now, Kaiba?! These aren't opponent's you can beat yourself! We need your strength!" Yami responded. Seto's immediately response was a refusal and stated he wouldn't take orders from Yami, I kind of felt like smacking the CEO across the back of his head for being so stubborn about fighting alongside other people.
"Seto! Doma's gunning for your company! You're going to fight them no matter what!" Katherine snapped. In response, Seto simply declared he'd settle things with Doma by himself and still believed we were playing occult games. "Stubborn fool!" Katherine snarled. Mokuba followed after his brother, Katherine raked her hands through her hair in aggravation at Seto's actions.
"We don't need to rely on someone like him. With a card like Claw of Hermos, we aren't going to be beaten by the likes of Doma!" Jounouchi declared. It was good to see the blonde back to his normal self, considering how despondent he'd been after Mai had vanished, which Honda pointed out. "Of course! If we keep being so pessimistic, nothing will get resolved!" Jounouchi admitted. Anzu made the fine question of what we should do now that we got Pegasus' message and that his soul had been kidnapped… talk about karma.
"I think we should head to Arthur's home. He might have some new information regarding those ruins, they're connected to this and the more we know, the better prepared we are," I suggested. Everyone made their own admissions of agreement, we just needed a way to get there; a sudden loud rumbling sounded and we raised out to the study, opening up the curtain we saw the Blue-Eyes White Jet taking off with both Kaiba brothers inside, Honda demanded a ride but they completely ignored us.
"We've got transportation. Let's use my car to get there," Otogi suggested. Anzu was worried however since there were so many of us gathered here, more than an ordinary car could normally fit, so Otogi turned to look at me and my sister. "Could either of you work some magic to fix this?" Otogi wondered. I looked at Katherine who gazed back at me as we had a quick mind conversation about the possibility.
"We've got something," We admitted in unison.
*Yu-Gi-Oh*
A simple expansion charm made the card big enough for us to sit in and we were cruising down the dirt roads that led to Arthur's home; I was currently on the phone to father in order to corroborate what Holo-Pegasus had said, unfortunately it was true. Theoretically it should be impossible to buy out Hope Industries, my father held thirty percent of the stocks whilst me, mum and Katherine each held seven percent, totalling to fifty-one percent making it impossible to take over without getting those from us four and we'd never sell… but the remaining forty-nine percent was free game.
Hanging up, I leaned back against the seat and threw an arm over my eyes, to protect them from the sun and to give me a bit of privacy as I though over what had happened. Uncle Pegasus was gone, Mai was now an enemy and Seto hadn't agreed to help with us; plus the enemy was several steps ahead of us in regards to information putting us at a disadvantage… beside that, there was another problem.
The image of the one they called Rafael appeared in my mind, throughout the Duel with Mai, I'd seen something surrounding him, like white feathered wings. It wasn't the presence of a Monster protecting him that had unnerved me, Blue-Eyes and Black Magician often hovered by their masters not to mention Andromeda, Virgo, Athena and Hecate's own actions… it was the fact that I'd seen that white winged protection before, several years ago.
*Yu-Gi-Oh*
Night had fallen by the time we arrived at the Hopkins' home and the moment we did I threw myself out of the vehicle with Katherine following after me, when I got closer I felt my blood curdle at the sight as Katherine let out a short scream. The building that should have stood here was in shambles, blackened into nearly ash with pieces scattered about the area around it and faint wisps of smoke still rose from the remains of the building.
"Rebecca! Arthur!" I screamed. I didn't care if Doma's thugs happened to be in hiding, I was more concerned with locating my friends, fortunately I heard Rebecca's voice called out to us; we turned around and saw the blonde girl standing behind us, now dressed more like a cowgirl then the outfit she wore in Japan.
"Yugi, Miss Kylie, Kathie… grandpa, he…" Rebecca tried to explain. But she burst into tears and charged at Yugi, tackling him with a hug as she started to wail; I walked over and stroked her back as Yugi seemed rather flustered about what to do, he asked what happened, causing Rebecca to pull back from the boy. Since it was cold out, I ushered everyone into the nearby caravan and everyone dropped themselves either at or around the table that Rebecca sat at, I started making some tea for Rebecca, to calm her nerves as Rebecca explained, her grandfather had been kidnapped and the house destroyed, taking the relics with it.
"Who could have done such a thing?" Anzu asked. The kettle started to whistle so I clicked the heat off as Jounouchi immediately accused Doma of being responsible, Honda wondered why the organisation would kidnap Arthur in the first place; I looked over at Katherine who had called mum and was telling her what had occurred and if she had any copies.
"Rebecca, that fragment. It's the crystal-like fragment I left with the professor," Yugi spoke up. I felt a shiver move up my spine all the way from my toes, I didn't need to see that thing again but if Arthur had answers, then I'd swallow my revulsion; Rebecca was wearing it and passed it over to Yugi, Katherine hung up the phone and walked back over to the rest of us.
"What should we do now?" Katherine asked. Otogi pointed out that this was a crime scene and we had to contact the police. "And tell them what Otogi? That a millenniums old organisation has been manipulating events for all of human history, they're responsible for the strange recent events and are trying to revive some Dark God and are connected to ancient ruins that rewrite history?" Katherine asked.
"It be lucky if we didn't end up in an asylum," I admitted. Yugi suggested that we wait for now so Katherine, Otogi and Anzu made some food which we consumed but whilst everyone started to slumber away, I stepped out of the caravan, following after someone who was attempting to sneak away from the rest of us. "What are you doing? Going off on your own is dangerous," I spoke up. Yami turned the horse he was seated upon around so that he could look at me whilst I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Rafael wants to meet me in Death's Valley and he wants me alone," Yami explained. My eyes widened at those words, this was new information which meant Rafael, or a goon, had appeared during dinner prep or Rebecca had been keeping this information quiet. "I'm sorry my Queen but-," Yami began to speak. However, I stomped forward with a glare on my face as I looked at him, unable to believe what he was saying.
"Even more reason not to go… especially alone," I insisted. Without waiting for another word, I planted my hand on the saddle and hauled myself onto the object behind Yami. "We are a team, we can stop them together," I insisted. Yami looked back at me with uncertain ruby eyes, but my emerald gaze must have been unwavering as he turned around and cracked the horse's reins, urging the equine forward.
The horse galloped onwards through the cold night until Yami pulled the horse to a stop, I looked over his shoulder and down, finding a large canyon separated us from Raphael who was standing on a plateau that was linked to our side by a solitary bridge. Yami cried out the man's name and the horse leapt down to be level with the bridge, once on the ground me and Yami climbed off of the horse and I saw Rafael's eyes narrow when he spotted me.
Yami began to walk across the bridge, but when I attempted to follow him, several objects flew towards me and landed in front of me; a clear indication that whilst Rafael would tolerate my presence, Yami was to cross alone. Yami had turned around to look at me, worry clear on his face so I gave him an encouraging smile and nod, I stepped to the side of the bridge and kept my eyes on the Duel that was going to come.
"We had a deal! Hand over Professor Hopkins!" Yami demanded. At least that confirmed who had been behind the kidnapping, Rafael revealed that Arthur had already been released and would be home by now. "What did you say?" Yami asked. Rafael didn't repeat himself and instead pulled his purple coat off, then he picked two hatchets that were beside them and sent both flying at the bridge, shearing through the rope and sending the rope tumbling into the canyon, thus cutting me off Yami.
"As our death match is about to start, there's no need for an escape route! I'm very honoured, Muto Yugi, to be able to Duel with you. As a True Duelist," Raphael admitted. I raised an eyebrow at the blonde's words with Yami out right dismissing them since Yami believed he wouldn't be using Duel Monsters for such evil intentions if Rafael was a True Duelist. "So, we are evil? Let me ask you then, Nameless Pharaoh, what is your definition of 'justice'?" Rafael asked. He was definitely a strange individual.
"My definition of justice?" Yami repeated. Rafael stated that they were comrades walking paths that each of them believed in, as such they each had their own version of justice within their hearts and believed that they could only bet on the 'justice' that was in front of them right at that moment. In that moment, I saw the faint rim of sunrise begin to peak over the horizon's edge, staining the sky a faint pink shade.
Rafael – LP: 4000
Yugi – LP: 4000
The moment the declaration to start the Duel was made, I felt a strong wave of energy radiate off of Rafael as a white energy surrounded him; my magic sense went on alert as my primal instincts flared into overdrive. This Rafael was certainly not normal and if he was who I thought him to be, then Yami had no idea as to the danger that he had stepped into.
"I shall attack first. My turn! I activate the Continuous Magic, Treasure Cards of the Guardian God! By discarding five cards I have in my hand, I can draw two cards from my deck. In my coming turns, I can draw two cards instead of one!" Rafael declared. I furrowed my eyebrows at that, was he aiming for the Barrier of Oreichalcos or something else. "I Summon a Defence Position Monster. I set a reverse card and I end my turn. Now, I have no cards in my hand. So Yugi, are you relieved now? I do not have the Barrier of Oreichalcos in my hand," Rafael stated. The two cards were projected onto the field and I felt that creeping feel snake its' way across my back.
"My turn! I fuse Phantom Beast King Gazelle and Baphomet from my hand! To Fusion Summon Chimera the Winged Phantom Beast to the field!" Yami declared. The two headed Monster appeared on the field and I guessed where Yami was going with this play, I just wondered if it was going to work, that face down card could be a Trap that would damage Yami's Life Points or any number of effects.
Chimera the Winged Phantom Beast – Attribute: Wind, Type: Beast/Fusion, Level: 6, ATK/2100, DEF/1800
"With the Attack Power Chimera possesses, it can easily destroy any ordinary Monster! Go Chimera! Attack his Defence Monster! Chimera Impact Dash!" Yami commanded. The Monster dashed over to the face down card, but Rafael made no move to defend the hidden Monster and it was flipped over. Two dark hands seized a hold of Chimera, preventing the Monster from attacking. "What?!" Yami exclaimed. My eyes widened as I recognised the Monster that had been set to protect Rafael.
Backup Gardna – Attribute: Dark, Type: Warrior, Level: 4, ATK/500, DEF/2200
"Shoot!" I cursed. With Backup Gardna's Defence Power, it was easily able to repel Chimera's attack and do some damage to Yami's Life Points, this put the ancient spirit behind already even if it was only one hundred Life Points, it was still enough for me to be concerned given how dangerous the Duelists of Doma had proven themselves to be in the two Duel I'd witnessed. Rafael explained the reason to Yami, the blonde then dared Yami to give him the Pharaoh's strongest attack.
Yugi – LP: 4000 – LP: 3900
"It's my turn," Rafael stated. That white aura had appeared again and I felt the tension course through my body. "Equipment Magic, Gravity Axe – Grarl!" Rafael declared. He played a card and I felt my breath cut in my chest as a large axe appear on the field, immediately Backup Gardna reached out and took the weapon in its' hands and increasing its' attack by a small amount.
Backup Gardna – ATK/500 – ATK/1000
"I activate the Special Effect of Gravity Axe! Come forth, Guardian Grarl!" Rafael declared. That cinched it, I knew who he was now; the dinosaur like Monster appeared on the field, clearly prepared to face off against Yami; I still couldn't believe what I was seeing but it would made sense if my theory about him was right, but I needed to wait just a little longer before making my accusation.
Guardian Grarl – Attribute: Earth, Type: Dinosaur, Level: 5, ATK/2500, DEF/1000
"Guardian Grarl is a Monster that can be Summoned when Gravity Axe is on the field! And because of the Effect of Backup Gardna, I can attach the Equipment card, Gravity Axe, to Guardian Grarl!" Rafael declared. The weapon that Backup Gardna had in hand proceeded to vanish from his grip and quickly appeared within Grarl's scaled hands.
Backup Gardna – ATK/1000 – ATK/500
Guardian Grarl – ATK/2500 – ATK/3000
"Three thousand Attack Points!" Yami exclaimed. Rafael commanded the scaled Monster to attack with Swift Cleave Attack, the Monster charged forward and brought its' axe swinging down, allowing it to cleave through Yami's two headed Monster and causing Chimera to turn into pixels, further widening the gap between Yami and Rafael's Life Points.
Yugi – LP: 3900 – LP: 3000
"Chimera was beaten this easily…" Yami admitted. It was a fair surprise; Chimera wasn't all powerful, but it normally took more than two turns to defeat such a Monster. "Due to Chimera's Effect, I can Summon Baphomet!" Yami declared. The demonic Monster emerged onto the field in a flash of light, but it wouldn't be able to do much, given the difference in power between Baphomet and Rafael's Monsters.
Baphomet – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon, Level: 5, ATK/1400, DEF/1800
"What's wrong, Yugi? This won't do any damage to my Guardian Deck," Rafael stated. Yami repeated the title of the Deck that had just been given. "That's right, my Monsters will risk their lives to protect me. Likewise, I'll protect these Monsters as well!" Rafael declared. Those words were familiar to me and I could no longer hold my tongue.
"Rafael! Rafael Adams!" I yelled. Both men turned their attention to me, Yami's eyes were wide with surprise whilst Rafael seemed to focus heavily on me. "I know it's you, I can see her wings wrapped around you as always. Mind telling me why, my predecessor as the US champion, is working for an organisation like Doma?" I questioned. Yami's eyes widened even further and he spun around to stare at Rafael.
"I thought you might recognise me Miss Kylie," Rafael admitted. However, he gave no response to my question and instead focused his gaze back on Yami. "Can you even begin to grasp how strong the bond between myself and these Monsters is? You wouldn't be able to comprehend it!" Rafael declared. He was wrong, Yami could understand, I'd seen the devotion and love of his Monsters many times.
"That sounds so shallow, Rafael. A Duelist who believes in his Guardian cards, it's natural for anyone to believe in their own Deck!" Yami declared. But Rafael showed him his cards, there was a marked difference between the cards other Duelists used and those that Rafael used. That difference was that the cards Rafael used were starting to fade from being overused, Rafael admitted he put new covers on the back to prevent him from accidentally cheating but it didn't change the length of time they'd supported him.
"Yugi… no, Nameless Pharaoh. Ever since I knew of your existence, I have held some strange feelings towards you. We are both people being manipulated by fate," Rafael admitted. Those words were confusing, I wondered why Rafael would think such a thing and even Yami seemed to be confused by those words. "This place greatly resembles the place where I lived with my Monsters. It's like a no-man's island floating on land," Rafael admitted.
It was then that Rafael explained his life, how nearly ten years ago, a terrible sea accident destroyed the luxury cruise liner he and his family were on and he was the only survivor, ending up washed up on an island. Of course, Rafael didn't know only he had survived at the time and strove to survive, hoping to see his family again, he lived on that island for three whole years; in his loneliness, all Rafael had were his Guardian Monsters Eatos, Grarl and Kay'est who he protected and cared for, that gave him a unique gift, it heightened his senses to perceive spirits and like me and Katherine, Rafael could see the Duel Monsters Spirits.
I saw Eatos manifest herself behind Raphael, protecting him as she always had, I wondered if any of these Monsters knew what the Dark Sun was doing or if they simply loved Rafael too much to reveal the truth. Another, perhaps more terrible, possibility was that the Barrier of Oreichalcos was somehow interfering with the bond between Rafael and his Guardians, preventing them from warning him.
"Rafael! If you love your cards so dearly, why are you helping Doma?" Yami questioned. Rafael believed that humans couldn't fight against fate that existed in this world; eventually Rafael managed to return to the world but couldn't find his family, all he found were relatives that stole from him and people who wanted to leech from Rafael.
"Only Miss Kylie was a decent person, she neither wanted my fame nor needed it. She saw the Monsters who protected me and spoke with me as an equal… tell me Nameless Pharaoh, why did your soul revive after thousands of years? Why was my whole family wiped out in seconds… leaving me alone, to live in this malicious world?" Raphael asked. As he did, tears streaked down the blonde man's face, Yami remained silent as he stared at Rafael whilst a frown came onto my lips. "You can't answer my questions. There is but one way to answer to 'fate'… the answer to 'fate'. If you want to know the answer, you'll have to accept your own destiny. You can only watch carefully to see where your fate will bring you," Rafael admitted.
"Does that mean that you're also fighting your own fate?" Yami asked. Rafael stated fate would only allow one of them to live. "But I have no wish to disappear!" Yami declared. Rafael echoed that statement and I felt a vice snap itself around my heart, this wasn't going to end well I could feel that already. "My turn! The Magic card, Twinkle Five Star! The Twinkle Five Star card can only be used when there is a Level Five Monster on my field! The Five Stars will Summon the Kuriboh Brothers to the field! I Summon the Kuriboh Brothers!" Yami declared. The five fluff balls appeared on the field, each a different colour to the original Kuriboh.
Kuriboh – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon, Level: 1, ATK/300, DEF/200
Kuribah – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon, Level: 1, ATK/300, DEF/200
Kuribee – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon, Level: 1, ATK/300, DEF/200
Kuribeh – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon, Level: 1, ATK/300, DEF/200
Kuriboo – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon, Level: 1, ATK/300, DEF/200
"Are these the Monsters that protect you?" Rafael asked. A 'you have no idea' dashed across my mind, the amount of times that Kuriboh had saved Yami was almost on par with how often Black Magician had saved him; Yami gave him a warning and then used Kuribah's Special Effect, combining the Brothers together in order to form a Monster by the name of Kuribabylon.
Kuribabylon – Attribute: Dark, Type: Demon, Level: 5, ATK/?, DEF/200
Kuribabylon – ATK/? – ATK/1500
"In addition, I activate Pump Up from my hand! This card can double the Attack Power of a Monster for a full turn!" Yami declared. The effect of Pump Up appeared as a golden aura around the massive fur ball and rapidly heightened its' Attack until it was equal to that of Grarl's own Attack Strength. "Kuribabylon, attack Guardian Grarl!" Yami commanded.
Kuribabylon – ATK/1500 – ATK/3000
"I activate the Magic card I placed in the Graveyard! Salvation of the Buried God!" Rafael declared. The card popped out of the Graveyard and a white aura surrounded Grarl, Yami was shocked by the unexpected event, cards that activated in such a fashion were incredibly rare. "Salvation of the Buried God, by removing five cards in the Graveyard from the game, the battle with your opponent is invalid. I've said this before! That I'll protect these Monsters!" Rafael explained. Kuribabylon struck Grarl and sent flying backwards and split apart into the five Brothers once more.
That was the frightening thing about facing Rafael, he would give anything – and I mean anything! – to protect his Monsters from being destroyed; he wouldn't allow a single one to be lost. I'd never Dueled Rafael before but I saw plenty of his matches so I knew how he worked, how he acted, his devotion to his Monsters was one of the strongest that I'd ever seen, more than me or Katherine's, certainly… and the worst was yet to come.
"It's my turn! Honestly, I'm quite disappointed. In that turn earlier, both our Monsters had the same Attack Powers. Given that situation, your precious Monsters would have gone into the Grave. Yugi… I won't forgive anyone who belittles his Monsters. I set two cards face down. Then I activate a Continuous Magic, Magic Power of the Pure Cemetery! The effect of Magic Power of the Pure Cemetery is that, for every Monster sleeping in your Graveyard, you will be dealt one hundred points in damage every turn. This effect is destroyed once there is a Monster in my Graveyard. And let me tell you one more thing. I'll never use the Barrier of Oreichalcos in this Duel! Even if I don't use that card, I'll still be able to defeat you. Your little servants are now in Attack Position after their attack was nullified earlier. Guardian Grarl has an Attack of three thousand points! There's a difference of two thousand and seven hundred points. If this attack hits, it will be vital damage to you! Go ahead, Guardian Grarl!" Rafael declared.
"Yami!" I cried. Grarl charged towards the Pharaoh and his little furry band of protectors.