Yu-Gi-Oh: Dark Destiny

Chapter 2: Plot Revealed, The Pyramid of Light Returns

"Well," Yugi said, "we're off."

One day after the letter arrived, Yugi and the others had gotten on a private yacht, along with several other duelists, headed for Duel Forteress Island. Tea and Tristan had used an old trick and snuck onboard via cargo box, and had met up with Yugi and Joey in the main ballroom.

"So," Joey said, "according to my calculations, it'll take us four hours to get to this here island."

"Way to go, Einstein," Tristan said.

"Let me finish!" Joey snarled, "and as I was saying, what the heck does this guy expect us to do for four hours. I mean, there isn't any food or any place to sleep on this whole yacht!"

"Joey, I think this might be a good time to open those boosters Grandpa gave us for good luck," Yugi said.

"Alright, why not?" Joey said, taking his from his pocket, "let's see what Lady Luck brought us."

Yugi opened his booster pack. It contained Union of Magicians, Poison of the Old Man, Mystical Elf, Magician's Portal, and... a Dark Magic Attack card!

"Wow, some of these cards could really help me during a duel," Yugi thought.

Meanwhile, Joey tore open his pack. "Jeez, nothing good," as he saw the first four cards: M-Warrior #1, M-Warrior #2, Legendary Sword, Remove Trap.

However, his eyes widened at the last card: a Dark Mega Flare spell card.

"Attention duelists!" Everybody turned around to see a person up on the ballroom stage, dressed in a yellow suit.

"My name is Ben Egan," the yellow-suited man said, "and I am to be your guide for this part of the trip. First of all, I'd like to thank you all for participating in this tournament. Second of all, I'd like to explain about the place you are to duel at."

"There is one important rule," Egan continued, "all duels must take place inside the forteress, so we can monitor them to assure fair play. The tournament goes like this. You're probably wondering about the keys that came with your invitation..."

Yugi suddenly heard a small noise. He turned around to see a shadowy figure standing in the doorway to the room. The figure beckoned him with one hand, inviting him outside.

"I knew something was fishy about this tournament," Yugi thought, "that figure means trouble."

Then we shall take up on his offer and see what this is all about, Atem replied. (Yugi changes to Atem)

Atem followed the figure out onto the quarter deck of the boat. The figure stopped, and removed his hood. He had blond hair going down to his knees, a smirk permanently etched on his face.

"Hello, Yugi," the figure said, "or should I say, Pharaoh Atem!"

"How do you know my name?" Atem replied.

"You shall find out soon enough," the blond answered, "if you accept this duel challenge from Shu, of the Anubis Cult!"

"Anubis Cult," Atem thought, then he yelled, "then I accept your challenge! Let's duel!"

Both prepared their Duel Disks (A: 4000, S: 4000)

"I shall go first," Shu declared, drawing his card," and I shall summon Lioness Knight, in attack!" (1600/1500)

"Why would he play such a weak card in attack?" Atem wondered, "alright then, I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior and attack with it!" The magnetic soldier smashed the Lioness Knight to death with its balled-up fists. (S:3900) "I then set a card and end my turn

"Aha! When Lioness Knight gets destroyed, I get to draw an extra card during my next draw phase," Shu said, "my turn now, and the card I drew is this! Go Ferocious Lion!" (1900/1000) A lion with insanely big fangs appeared on the field.

"Attack Beta!" Shu shouted, and the lion rushed towards Beta. However, a circular pattern enveloped the Ferocious Lion, stopping its attack.

"What?" Shu yelled.

"I activated my Spellbinding Circle," Atem said, "your Lion can't move and loses 700 attack points." (Ferocious Lion: 1200/1000)

"Urgh! I set a card and end my turn." Shu stated.

"Alright, my move then," Atem said, drawing a card, "now, I activate Magnetic Attraction! It allows me summon all of my Magnetic from my monsters from my deck!" Alpha and Gamma joined Beta, and all three Magnet Warriors were on the field.

"Now, I sacrifice all three of them to summonn Slifer, the Sky Dragon!" Atem bellowed. Thunder crashed down as the God made its appearance, its red body covering the whole sky.

"As there are three cards in my hand, Slifer has 3000 attack points! Attack, my dragon," Atem yelled, "Thunder Force!"

Shu stood still. Then he began to laugh, an evil melody coming from his mouth. "You think that the Gods can harm me? I have power far beyond the God Cards! I activate my facedown card, PYRAMID OF LIGHT!!!"

"NO! It, it can't be!" Atem stuttered, thinking "how could this be? Anubis and the Pyramid of Light were destroyed!" A blue pyramid slowly formed around the two duelists, trapping them inside. Slifer roared, and suddenly burst into flames, burning into nothingness.

"Slifer! What is this madness, Shu?" Atem demanded

"I think its time I answered your question, Atem," Shu said, "very well. You see, I am a member of the Anubis Cult, a cult dedicated to Anubis, the rightful ruler of the world!"

"Anubis was a madman!" Atem cut in.

"Quiet!" Shu shouted, "that day, when Anubis was finally freed when Yugi solved the Millennium Puzzle, we finally thought are dues were being paid. But then again, we didn't expect you to be released with Anubis also."

"Even then, we knew that Anubis would use Seto Kaiba and the Pyramid of Light card to kill you, and fully resurrect himself. But you and your pathetic friends survived that, and the Pyramid of Light, both the card and the artifact, were destroyed, and him as well." Shu finished.

"But what is your cult's motive? Revenge?" Atem asked.

"That is only part of it," Shu answered, "Master Akhma discovered that by sacrificing the souls of four strong-hearted duelists, Anubis could be resurrected-"

So Rames Akhma lured us into a trap. I knew there was something up. Yugi thought

"So we hacked into Industrial Illusions' cardmaking program, and made many copies of the Pyramid of Light card, to use in our quest for souls."

"You and all of your cult members are mad!" Atem shouted.

"Shut up!" Shu screamed, "it is too late. Even if you defeat me, their are still other cult members mixed into the tournament that will stop you and take all of your souls!"

I've got to beat this guy quickly and warn the others, Yugi thought frantically. "I set a card and end my turn."

"My turn then," Shu said savagely, "now, I summon Crazy Lion!" (1000/1000) A lion foaming at the mouth came into play.

"When Crazy Lion comes into play, I get to destroy one card on the field, and that will be your facedown card!" Atem gasped as his Magic Cylinders was destroyed.

"Now, I attack with Crazy Lion!" Shu declared. Atem let out a hiss of pain as the Crazy Lion raked him across the face. (Y: 3000)

"As you know, Atem, while the Pyramid of Light is in play, not only can you not play your Egyptian Gods, but also, whenever your lifepoints go down, a piece of your soul and energy leave your body," Shu said, "but don't worry, you'll get all of it back once you win the duel. However, that's not gonna happen. My lord Anubis will be proud that I took the Pharaoh's soul!"

Atem stood up. "You are a fool, Shu," he said, "Anubis may have been mad, but he did not depend entirely on the Pyramid of Light card, unlike you. You depend on the card to protect yourself from your own mediocre dueling skills."

"How dare you!" Shu screamed madly, "I will make you regret those words. I play Soul Division! It allows me to halve your lifepoints by discarding half of my deck!" Shu put hald of his deck in the graveyard, and a beam of light cut across Atem's body.

"Urgh!" Atem groaned. (Y: 1500)

"How's that, Pharaoh?" Shu said with delight, "its a pity no one is around to see this. Unlike the first Pyramid of Light, the new ones Master Akhma created transport the participating duelists to a place called the Realm of Pyramids. We're no longer on Earth. Only the winning duelist will be able return home. I switch Ferocious Lion to defense and end my turn."

"You talk too much," Atem stated, pulling a card from his deck, "I play the Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700), and follow up with the card Pot of Greed to draw two cards. Next, I'll play Graceful Charity to draw three cards, and discard two. Finally, I'll play Dark Core. By discarding a card from my hand, I'll destroy Crazy Lion."

"So you destroyed a weak monster and drew some new cards," Shu said, "so- wait a minute, Skilled Dark Magician's ability!" Shu began to sweat profusely.

"That's right, Shu," Atem said, "for every spell card played while he is on the field, he gets a spell counter put on him. I just played three, so he gets three spell counters. With that, I tribute him to special summon the Dark Magician!" Yugi and Atem's signature card appeared, twirling his staff.

"Ha! So what?" Shu said, "I still have my Ferocious Lion for defense. My lifepoints will remain untouched!"

Atem smirked. "I think not. I'll play Magician's Portal! It allows my Dark Magician to attack you directly this turn."

"No!" Shu gasped.

"And that's not all," Atem said slowly, "he also gains 500 attack points for the turn. Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Shu screamed as a bolt of magic hit him. (LP: 0000)

We did it, Atem, Yugi said.

"Heh...heh heh," Shu grinned insanely even as his soul started fading away, "so what if I've lost? I am only the first. Soon you will be overcome by the Cult, and power will...be..." Shu could say no more as his soul left his body.

The surroundings had gone back to normal, and Yugi was back on the yacht. Yugi pondered the words Shu had spoken.

He said that they needed the souls of four strong-hearted duelists, Yugi thought, and I'll bet I know who else besides me that has that attribute.

I know, Atem replied, Joey. There's no one who has a strong a heart as him.

But that makes only two, who are the others? Yugi thought.

Whoever they are, Akhma has definiteley invited them to this tournament, Atem mused, let us go back to the ballroom and warn the others.

"Right," Yugi said, and he dashed back to the ballroom.

He stepped in, and saw that someone familiar was standing next to Egan on the stage.

"Everyone," Egan said, "I introduce to you a special participant of the tournament, Seto Kaiba!"