Author's Notes: I bet everyone was awaiting this next chapter. Anyway, disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or Nick who belongs to Phoenix727 or DJ and Darien whom belong to DJ Rodriguez. Here's the chapter!
Chapter 31: Surviving The Threat!
Smoke and ash filled the air as the aroma of blood drifted around Nick, Tea, Atem and Luna. The gruesome bodies of the dead made Tea come closer to Nick whilst Luna and Atem walked (or floated in Luna's case) with disgusted looks on their faces. The earth pounded as Obelisk the Tormenter punched its huge fists on the ground, destroying countless buildings in its path. Slifer the Sky Dragon eliminated the remaining decrepit structures with its Thunderstroke. The rain continued to pour as the Egyptian Gods were not affected by it.
Atem stared worriedly at those who had perished, the innocent people being unaware of their demise. He could not believe the very beings that were supposed to protect Animus, were now destroying it. Horrifying images flashed in Atem's mind. Memories of his life in Egypt and the destruction Zork caused. Each memory he saw was worse than the last.
Even Luna recalled the time, when she was alive and not a spirit, she lived in the Underworld. She once was a mighty wind sorceress. Luna witnessed many terrible things in the Underworld and she remembered encountering Pluto when he was young. The two fell in love, but Luna knew he was the son of the demon ruler of the Underworld, and his mother did not accept their relationship.
As the years gone by, Pluto's mother found out Luna protected the Soul Sphere and she sent her son to kill Luna, then steal the Soul Sphere. Although Pluto denied he murdered her, his mother did not obtain the Soul Sphere. To this day, Pluto and Luna appeared to have strong feelings for each other.
Nick and Tea remembered the times when their lives were put on the line. Shadow Phoenix would not have been created if Nick had managed to defeat Yami Marik on the blimp during Battle City. He lost and thus Nick was sent to the Shadow Realm where he relived the worst parts of his life. After Atem defeated Yami Marik, Nick disappeared and because of his experiences in the Shadow Realm, he thought he could no longer trust anyone and tried to commit suicide. Luckily his friends prevented him from doing so until he died on New Years Eve.
Our lives were once again put on the line when Shadow Phoenix returned, and we thought he was gone for good when Tea defeated him in Battle Adelaide. With the assistance of Artemis, who was trapped in Animus during the time Yukai and his friends were there, she helped Nick by giving him some of her powers, and came back to the world of the living. Even though Nick was able to vanquish Shadow Phoenix, he could not stay, and Tea, the others who survived were saddened by his departure. Yugi even tried to kill himself, but Nick, who came to him in spirit, convinced him not to commit the deed. When Pluto came into the picture, Artemis brought Nick back so he could aid in stopping Shadow Phoenix, and thought he was finally finished.
They all had rough moments in their lives, but they would pass through this one. There could be no way Seiryu could stop any of them.
"So what's the plan?" Tea asked, glancing at Nick.
"Excuse me but I do not remember taking orders from him!" Luna protested. She crossed her arms. "I don't work well with mortals.
"Luna, Artemis said you had to work with us, even if you disagreed," Nick replied. "Besides, we need your help."
"My help! You three are alive and I'm not!" Luna spat. "I'm better off being dead than assist the likes of you!"
Tea became furious. She walked over to Luna and glared at her. "You're being careless!" Tea yelled. "Artemis is out there, trying to save Yukai, and you just stand here, making an idiot of yourself!" Luna took a few steps back.
"Tea, are you fine?" Atem asked, fearful if she might take her anger upon him.
"Tea, you should calm down." Nick advised. "We don't want you to blow a circuit or something."
Luna nodded her head. "All right, I'll work with you but we must hurry!"
"Then who goes first?" Tea questioned.
"I say the Pharaoh." Nick suggested.
Luna gave a sly look at him. "And I thought the reincarnation of the Pharaoh's senior bodyguard was supposed to protect him."
Nick flinched by her remark. Tea raised an eyebrow while Atem stared at him puzzled. Luna smirked happily before handing Tea the Soul Sphere. The yellow item glowed brightly in Tea's hands.
Tea blinked, not understanding why Luna gave it to her. "What do you want me to do with this?"
"A useful item to power up your Ka," Luna explained. "My magical abilities will not be strong enough to take those Gods down."
"Don't worry. I'm in the mood to fight them anyway." Nick said.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Luna shouted.
Nick, Tea and Atem summoned their Ka as the Soul Sphere in Tea's hand intensified its glow. Slifer and Obelisk began attacking them, the rain pouring harder, and the clash of the monsters started.
Meanwhile with DJ and Darien, they stood defiantly as they faced The Winged Dragon of Ra. The mighty beast roared, but that did not frighten them.
"The Winged Dragon of Ra isn't that scary," DJ commented.
His partner sighed. "I guess after living with monsters, you're not even afraid of this one."
"Nope." DJ replied. "We can take of it! We should combine our attacks and then it should be weaken."
"Remember, Artemis said that our weapons do not work on this Egyptian God. It shares some of the same characteristics as the Guardians."
"I forgot they're immune from man-made weapons, but ours are not -" DJ was interrupted by Darien.
"The weapons must be forged by magic." Darien included. "Let's not waste time!" He twirled his cane which then pointed towards The Winged Dragon of Ra.
"I agree." DJ said. He formed a yellow light within the palms of his hands as Darien prepared to launch his roses.
Multiple roses were shot at The Winged Dragon of Ra and the attack exploded on impact. The monster fell to the ground as DJ's attack damaged it more. The dragon roared in agony and tried to get up.
"Hey, our attacks are more effective than usual." DJ said.
"Yes, it would have at least damaged The Winged Dragon in two or three attacks." Darien inferred, placing his hand on his chin.
"Well, whatever force is at work, it seems to be helping us." DJ replied.
They resumed attacking the God. It stood no chance against them, but in order for it to be destroyed, they needed the help of their friends. At the moment, all of their friends were having their own problems fighting their battles.
Kaiba and Joey confronted Pluto, but they did not seem to be working with each other. They argued on how they were going to fight Pluto, and the Guardian was surprised that the two disputed for nearly ten minutes, completely ignoring him. Joey knew his quarrel with Kaiba would not get themselves anywhere, and he noticed Ammon disappeared. Kaiba was baffled to the cause of its disappearance.
"Okay, Wheeler, what is going on?" Kaiba growled angrily.
Joey turned to him, extreme anger took over. "Kaiba, I don't know why Ammon vanished!"
Kaiba grunted. "Mutt, this is all your fault!"
"My fault? Listen here, rich boy! I did no such thing!" Joey yelled.
Pluto watched the argument. He was becoming irritated by their foolish antics until he stepped in. "Would you two quit it?" he demanded.
Both Kaiba and Joey stared at him wide-eyed, nearly startled by Pluto's outburst, and the Guardian took a deep breath. He smirked at the two, realizing the problem they were having. Pluto drew his sword, but did not attack. Instead he approached closer to them.
"What's the big idea?" Joey said furiously. He looked like he was about to fight Pluto himself.
"Mortal, Ammon only stays with you if you two work together." Pluto explained.
"I refuse working with that mutt!" Kaiba protested. He turned his back away from Joey.
Pluto thought this would be his opportunity to strike since Kaiba and Joey were not helping each other, let alone want to be in each other's presence. He knew their rivalry would get in their way. Kaiba and Joey would probably not risk their very lives if they had to save each other.
An astonishing explosion took place as the earth began to move apart. The ground split in half, separating Joey and Kaiba from Pluto. Pluto gazed in the direction to where the source of the blast was, and his eyes widened. He saw Obelisk and Slifer both collapse to the earth, their bodies nearly destroyed and they started disappearing.
"What the hell happened?" Kaiba yelled loudly. He fell to the ground as the earth continued to shift. Joey tried to hold on as he stumbled on the land.
Joey observed the wreckage to discover that Nick and the others were able to defeat the Egyptian Gods. "Well, they pulled it off..." he replied. He looked back at Kaiba before noticing The Winged Dragon of Ra was coming towards them.
"Where is it going?" DJ yelled out. He realized that the dragon was headed for our friends. "Darien, we have to warn the others!"
"Why did The Winged Dragon of Ra abandon its task?" Darien questioned. They both ran down into Gold City, meeting up with Atem, Tea, Nick and Luna.
"I'm glad to see you two are alive." Luna said.
"Yes, but The Winged Dragon seems to be going to Pluto." Darien inferred.
"Have Yugi and Artemis returned?" Atem asked.
"You mean they haven't?" DJ responded.
Atem stared at the ground. He worried if both had made it pass Yukai, but in the meantime, he was oblivious to what they were facing. Tea noticed his look of despair, and then she saw Kaiba and Joey in the distance. They ran as fast as they could and met up with them.
"You guys are all right!" Tea said happily.
Joey searched the area. "Has Yugi come back?"
Tea shook her head. "We haven't seen him since we separated."
Yukai, Artemis and I were racing around the city, trying to locate our friends. We rummaged through every part of the city, not giving up hope until we heard the sound of a huge explosion. Yukai looked around and found out that Slifer and Obelisk were destroyed. He alerted us of the news and ran into the direction of the blast. We found that our way was blocked by a huge crevice in the earth. Mesenet flew overhead and my Ka descended towards me. It rested its immense body on the ground, urging me to get on its back. I saw Artemis and Yukai had no problem crossing the blockade since they could fly. I got on Ra and it took flight along with Mesenet, Artemis and Yukai.
We continued our way by flying and we were soon relieved that our friends were fine. The only thing that troubled me was Pluto and The Winged Dragon of Ra. I thought DJ and Darien dealt with it, unless Pluto had plans of his own. Ra landed safely to the ground as I ran to the others. Artemis and Yukai looked back at Pluto, knowing that their elder brother had to be stopped or else their attempts to save him would only prolong the inevitable.
"Haven't you two done anything to Pluto?" Artemis asked Joey and Kaiba. They exchanged glances as Artemis gave them an infuriated look. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea for them to work together..."
"You know, you could have used the Millennium Ring, you stupid mortals!" Luna scolded.
"Guess we forgot..." Joey held the Millennium item tight in his hands. He squirmed as he received a death glare from Luna. "We were fightin' and we just -"
"Disregard it!" Luna said, holding her hand on her temple. "Mortals, what are you going to do with them?"
"What is Pluto up to?" Artemis mused. She stared at Pluto for a few moments, then her eyes widened. "The darkness! It has returned!"
"Artemis, what are you saying?" I looked up, and saw a dark aura appear around Pluto. The Winged Dragon of Ra also had one. "Is he going to increase the strength of The Winged Dragon of Ra?"
"No, he can't!" Artemis protested. "The Egyptian God will drain him of his life force!"
"What?" everyone yelled.
"We can't let him do that!" I shouted. I turned to DJ, and I nodded to him to begin his plan.
He lifted up the United We Stand card into the air as Nick, Tea and Atem's Ka appeared. Both Kaiba and Joey set aside their differences and summoned Ammon, it flew beside Ra and Mesenet. Artemis summoned God Phoenix to help out. Yukai managed to summon Slifer back under his control, DJ summoned Gemini Elf and the United We Stand card glowed. All the extra attacks points were given to Ra, making it stronger and more likely to rid this world of The Winged Dragon.
"There is no way I'm letting Seiryu purge this and the entire universe into darkness!" I yelled. The Millennium symbol upon my forehead glowed. "Ra, destroy The Winged Dragon!"
Ra gained energy from every Ka standing before it. It absorbed enough power as it built up a huge spark of yellow light. A beam was shot out as it hit The Winged Dragon of Ra, doing some permanent damage to its body. The huge Egyptian God collapsed on the earth, and began disappearing.
Pluto was unaware of Yukai appearing behind him and suddenly knocking him out. Yukai prevented his brother from creating an impact on the ground as he safely carried him to the others. Luna glanced at him and smirked at Yukai for his deed. Artemis was taken aback by it and she knelt beside the Guardian of Darkness.
"Pluto." She whispered in his ear.
Her brother's eyes slowly opened as he gazed upon her. "What just happened...?" Joey approached them and handed Pluto back the Millennium Ring. "Someone tell me what is going on? I thought I was destroyed by The Winged Dragon of Ra."
"Actually you and Yukai were revived by a special ability of the Galactic Dragon's." Joey explained.
"Let me guess, Seiryu started missing me so much, he wanted me back?" Pluto briefly winked, more so in amusement. He stood up and faced me. His blue eyes met my eyes. "I presume we're still fighting."
"We are." I answered. Ra descended as the other Ka stood beside their owners. Artemis strolled over to me, placing her arms around me. "Artemis has been leading us while you and Yukai were gone."
"She did?" Yukai stared at us in bewilderment.
"Yes, she did a good job, by the way." I said. "How did Pluto get back to normal?"
"A simple knockout." Yukai responded. We all sweat dropped from his response. "What? We were both brainwashed, duh." He then rested a hand beside his waist, huffing in annoyance.
"Did you have to hit me so hard, though?" Pluto complained, rubbing the back of his head. He noticed Orpheus, Apollo, Forseti, Nidoki, Mercury, Ryou and Bakura coming towards us.
They were all out of breath, and Ryou and Bakura fell to the ground, not bothering to ask us what occurred. The rest of the Guardians chatted alone with each other, except for Artemis and Yukai. They both had their own conversation. I wanted to listen, but Luna moved me away from them.
"Is there something you're trying to not let me hear?" I remarked.
Luna playfully threw a wink at me. "Yugi, it's their business." Luna said. "Even I do not know what they are talking about."
I watched Artemis and Yukai as they discussed about their own matters. Then Artemis gave Yukai back his Millennium Rod, and he embraced her which made me twitch. I knew it was just a friendly hug, but it made me feel that there might be more to them than I knew. I walked over to DJ and Darien as they talked amongst the rest of my friends. I passed by Pluto and Mercury, the two brothers were happy to see each other again, and I pondered over why they have never argued. Maybe Joey and Kaiba should be more like them, or at least like Pluto and Yukai. The two Guardians got along, most of the time anyway.
"Hey, I wanted to congratulate you guys." I said to DJ and Darien.
"It was the least we could do." DJ replied as he shook my hand.
"No matter what, we will assist any way we can." Darien said, shaking my hand next.
Artemis immediately ran over to me. She bowed kindly to DJ and Darien before leading me away from my friends. We hid behind a building which began crumbling. Although Yukai was devastated of the destruction he caused, Pluto was used to it since he did have his share of trying to destroy Animus.
"What did you talk about with Yukai?" I asked.
Artemis was silent. Her moon amulet released out a warm glow as she sighed. "Remember when I promised Yukai to tell him what had gone on between Skyros and I? He took it well since he thought his father needed to change."
"I guess he can now go on with his life, knowing what happened to his father, then." I said. I leaned closer to Artemis as I pulled her into a kiss. She was surprised by my action and she instead enjoyed the feeling she felt.
"My little light?" Luna replied. We broke the kiss as we saw Luna watching us, eyes gaping open in shock. "Forgive me, but there is something you two may want to see..."
Luna lead us to our friends as the Guardians stood atop a cliff. Artemis flew over to them and she was alarmed at what she saw. Artemis recklessly flew in our direction, almost crashing to the ground. I ran to her and helped her get to her feet.
"What is it?" I asked.
"The Galactic Dragon is approaching!" she warned.
"Show me!" Artemis complied as she took me in her arms, and she carefully soared in the air.
All the Guardians dispersed as Artemis and I watched the Galactic Dragon's path of chaos. It blasted its way, with Seiryu following it, and flames fell from the sky. This was almost like the vision I had, but my interpretation of this was different. Maybe the vision was a warning, not meant to be exact or clear.
"Artemis, are your visions always precise?" I asked.
Artemis shook her head in disagreement. "Most of the time, I foresee signs, precautionary measures that cannot be overlooked."
"Then it is time to stop the Galactic Dragon, once and for all!" I declared.
The Guardians agreed with me, knowing that the time had arrived. The crimes Seiryu had committed could not go without punishment, and he would not succeed in his task! Never!
Author's Notes: If anyone is wondering... The final confrontation with the very fate of the universe is beginning! Aren't we all happy? Well, I should be because I'm dying for this to be over!
Yugi and the others have regrouped, and now the entire universe lies in Yugi's hands. He, Artemis, Kaiba and Joey are the only ones to defeat the Galactic Dragon, but Seiryu poses a threat to them. The rest of the gang and the Guardians aid them, with the very stake of their lives in play! On the next Dark Crisis - Chapter 32: Judgment Day