Lantash burst onto the arena floor, with a now near-empty stadium, darkened by lack of floodlight. "The sign is coming."
"Yeah. Sign this." Barbas stood opposite Lantash holding a silver case, "Wes, lights on."
The floodlights buzzed to life, shining down upon them, Barbas smiled, "Let's talk Lantash." He sat the case on the ground, and crouched next to it, "You got people worried back at the HQ." he pulled the Duel Disk out of the case, "But what I really want is to know what sign you're referring to."
Lantash smiled, "The sign I knew would come, mortal. The reason I gave this vessel willingly to Seros, the reason I helped you defeat Illarya. I wanted to be here when the climactic battle came to pass. So I could watch your futures end."
"Well, it seems we have a wolf in sheep's clothing." Barbas stood, Duel Disk on his arm, launching.
"Well, it appears the cards will do the talking for us." Lantash launched his Duel Disk.
-O-
In the Stars HQ, alarms sounded. Lights thought the building turned red. Opaka's voice rang through the halls, "Clear the building, this is not a drill!"
Shuyin looked over at Opaka, Sevanos, and Aura, "Shouldn't we go?"
"Yes." Sevans nodded, turning.
"What about Raven?" Aura said, worried.
"Raven knows what he's doing." Sevanos led the other three out of the building.
-O-
"Summon my Gearfried the Iron Knight and st a card face-down. Go." Barbas smiled.
"Summon my Skilled Dark Magician and attack!" ordered Lantash.
"Reveal trap card Windstorm of Etaqua!" The Skilled Mage took a defensive pose. "My move." Barbas drew, "Summon my Ancient Lizard Warrior!" A Lizard with a mere 1400 points of attack appeared. "Gearfried, his Magician, Lizard, his Life Points!"
Lantash drew, Life Points down to 2600 as he set two cards face-down, "Not bad. Summon Skilled White Magician! Magician, defend!"
"My move!" Barbas drew, smiling, "Sacrifice my Ancient Lizard Warrior and Gearfried the Iron Knight for my Serpent Knight Dragon!" The great dragon entered the playing field, "Dragon, destroy his monster." Barbas smiled, "You call yourself a duelist? I haven't played since Battle City, but I'm still roasting you!"
"Are you?" Lantash laughed, "Or are you just out of date?" he drew, "Now, my two Magicians leave my side!" The Skilled Magician flew out of the Graveyard. "And call forth my Chaos Emperor Dragon!" Lantash grinned evilly, "Also activate these cards, Card of Sanctitiee, raising our hands to six cards each, and Card Destruction, sending them to the Grave!" Lantash smiled, "Then reveal Disgraceful Charity! This brings up to having twelve card hands, friend. Now, Chaos Emperor Dragon, activate effect Apocalypse!" The Emperor Dragon shot a great blast at Barbas, knocking him onto the ground, deck scarrered about him. "That's 12000 damage by CED's effect, since my Interdimensional Matter Transporter saves my CED." Lantash smiled, "That's right, Barbas, lie down. You're dead and you don't know it yet. Now out of my way!" Lantash screamed, drawing back his right hand, and swiftly casting his hand aside, causing Barbas to fly into the stands, seriously injured no doubt. Lantash looked to Wes, "Aren't you going to run?"
"Not likely!" Wesley walked to where Barbas was and launched his Duel Disk, placing the eyepiece on his face and activating it.
-O-
Raven stared at the Repository, "What kind of Pandora's Box did we open?" Raven closed his eyes as the device began to break apart.
-O-
Sevanos ran to the street at the edge of the parking lot where Opaka, Shuyin, Aura, and now Kaomi stood. "Except Raven, the building's clear."
"You left him there?" Kaomi scowled.
"He told the rest of us to go." Sevanos said, defensive, "So don't accuse me! Besides, he can take care of himself. He knows what he's do-"
-O-
A great earthquake rocked the area, from the building to the Stadium, and all across the quaint community. As it shook, the HQ began to become consumed in an odd glow, a bright blue pillar of light shot straight up through the building, and expanded to encompass it. The pillar seemed to stretch to the heavens themselves.
-O-
"This is it!" Lantash laughed, the Chaos Emperor Dragon staring down Wesley as Lantash was occupied with the pillar, "This is the sign!"
"Yeah, it's a sign all right." Wesley stared at it, "'Going out of business'."
Lantash deactivated his Duel Disk, "I'll let you be. Go tell Raven and Sevanos that Hathor said 'Hello'." Lantash laughed as he walked off.
-O-
Outside the Stars building rubble seemed to be strewn everywhere. Cars overturned, the ground ripped up at the base of the pillar, and those outside lay on the ground.
Sevanos stood. He looked at the pillar of light surrounding the building.
"Could he have survived that?" Aura asked, then paused, and closed her eyes, "Oh, Kaomi. Kaomi I'm so sorry..."
"He's alive, alight?" Kaomi shot back, "He's fine."
-O-
Raven staggered to his feet, still in his Yami form. "Now I know what the floor of a taxi feels like." He looked about him. He wasn't in the basement; he seemed to be atop the pillar. The walls passed the place where he stood by ten feet or so, but the sky was right above him. The walls and floor seemed to be made of a sort of energy. Thinking about how was headache-causing material, no doubt.
"It is time." A voice rang. A cloud of darkness swirled to form a human; a male in black battle armor with a silvery trim.
"Yes. Time to quit meddling in fate." A white cloud produced a similar result, but in white and gold armor.
"What the hell am I doing here?" Raven asked.
"Keeping others out, and mediating." The white knight, Seraph, responded.
"And being the first to go when this goody-goody looses." The black-clad Nemesis smiled.
"We'll see." A Duel Disk of pure light, in its launched position, appeared on Seraph's arm.
"I talk big, but my wrath is bigger!" A disk of shadows appeared on Nemesis's arm.
"Duel!" They called, lightning cracking overhead as cloud cover moved in.
-O-
"Call Alan, tell him the finals will convene in the morning, due to unexpected delays." Sevanos ordered Serenity, "Ardrea, next time you see Pegasus, tell him we're sorry about losing the prototype." He then came to Kaomi, "I'm sure he's alive in there, Kaomi. Although I'm sure I'm dead soon enough."
"C'mon, the insurance in there must be alright." Kaomi tried to comfort him.
"Well, we'll see." Sevanos sighed. "I'm going to make a damage report.
-O-
Lantash approached the pillar from the opposite side. It was amazing, but did not appear to be solid.
"Lantash!" Sevanos stared at him.
"I represent one with a vested interest in this match. The great and powerful Hathor. Stay out of my way." Lantash called.
"I can't do that." Sevanos launched his Duel Disk.
-O-
"Raven!" Sevanos called walking through the barrier of light.
Seraph and Nemesis shot each other a gaze, and flew to Raven and Sevanos's sides respectively.
"A double duel?" Raven asked Seraph.
"My good friend, a little less impersonal." Nemesis laughed and flew into Sevanos. Sevanos had a brief look of pain on his face, but that faded as his eyes turned totally black. A black Eye of Anubis took form on his forehead. "Get ready Seraph." Sevanos's voice wasn't heard. It was the dark inhuman voice of Nemesis.
"I get the idea." Raven closed his eyes. When he opened them he stood where Seraph was, and he looked to his idea to see himself. His eyes were a pure white and upon his forehead was a white Eye of Anubis. He had astral projected. Sent himself in to an out-of-body experience in order to let Seraph take command.
Both decks shimmered slightly. Odds are these demigods had their own decks to use. They still used their light and shadow Duel Disks.
"Let's go!" Seraph spoke in a voice similar to Nemesis, but a bit more benevolence rang in it. "I'll make the first move. I summon Kiser Seahorse and set two cards face-down. Go."
"I set two cards face-down and summon Double Coston." Nemesis smiled.
"They really are opposites." Raven said to himself.
"We're in mortal shells, we can differ now." Seraph replied, "Too bad we have to bind immense power to use a human's body..."
"Shut up and duel!" Nemesis screamed.
"Watch, Raven." Seraph smiled, "Ready for a total shut-out? Sacrifice my monster for Blue Eyes White Dragon!"
Since they're not of this plane, stands to reason their decks aren't either. Raven sighed; I wish I had a Blue-Eyes. Imagine what Cid would offer for it.
"Reveal Chain Disappearance, removing all three of your Blue Eyes from play!" Nemesis smiled.
"Reveal spell, Dimension Fusion!" Seraph smiled, "and send out Polymerization, forming the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"
"Reveal Wabaku!" Nemesis sighed. He drew, "Summon Red Eyes Black Dragon and activate trap card Refresher! By paying half my Life Points, I can Special Summon my Meteor Dragon and combine them to form the Meteor Black Dragon."
"Ultimate Dragon, attack and destroy!" Seraph called. "Good wins 'cause evil stupidly plays in attack mode. You have 1000 Life Points left, Nemesis."
"How anticlimactic. Too bad I'm now reviving my monster and adding these two cards, Scroll of Bewitchment, enchanting my Meteor Black Dragon with magical abilities. Allowing it to cast the Spell of Reprisal! Making its attack power 6500, beating yours by 2000. Attack!"
Seraph winced as the Ultimate Dragon was destroyed. He drew, Life Points down to 2000, "Trap card, Rope of Life!" The Ultimate Dragon retuned, boasting 5300 points of attack. "Set two cards and go."
"So good plays poorly too? You left your monster in Attack Position." Nemesis smiled, "Too bad for you I had a plan. Dragon, attack!"
"So did I! Reveal cards, DNA Surgery, making all monsters Dragons once more, and getting rid of the magic within your Dragon, and I also activate the Tailor of the Fickle, giving my Dragon your Dragon's old spell. Since my card doesn't require a correct target, my Dragon is still super-powered by the Reprisal spell." Seraph smiled, "Ultimate Dragon, with a grand total attack strength of 8300, obliterate him!"
Nemesis closed his eyes, "You've weathered the storm, fair Earth, but you know how weather goes... no calm is eternal."
"Bold words, Nemesis."
"You know, brother, my defeat, as my equal and opposite force, is your defeat." Nemesis smiled, "Your hand in these ties of fate is through if mine is."
"Perhaps. But I think these people are strong enough to make their own destiny." Seraph smiled as they drifted out of their host bodies, and slowly the owners of the bodies regained control.
"Really? Somehow I think our work here has yet to end." Nemesis laughed manically as he disappeared.
"He'll be back. I'm sorry we keep intruding on you all. It's really the fault of my somewhat psychotic brother." Seraph went to vanish himself; "I'll just try to keep counterbalancing him like I have till now."
"Maybe..." Raven stopped Seraph from leaving too, "Maybe our fate is to have you two mess around with our fate."
Sevanos laughed, "Like fate is too lazy to write our story itself."
Raven smiled, "We could have worse writers."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Seraph faded away.
"Ya know..." Sevanos turned to walk out of the pillar, "That was an anti-climactic duel. I mean, that was sopposed to be the hard part?"
"I don't think we've reached the hard part yet." Raven made for the exit, "Think Seraph left me those Blue Eyes?" Sevanos shot him a glare, "Yeah, I thought not."
A bright flash forced both men to blink. When they reopened their eyes, they stood in the lobby of the Stars building. The others ran in.
"The building just... reappeared.." Wesley explained. Medics wheeled Barbas in.
"What happened to him?" Sevanos asked.
"A duel with Lantash. Lantash seems to have telekinetic powers; he threw Barbas from the arena floor in the Stadium to the stands. Broke a few bones, but Barbas will recover. Lantash gave me a message for you two. Err... 'Hathor says hello'. Mean anything to you?"
"No. Not particularly." Raven replied.
"I ran into Lantash outside the Pillar of Light the Ancient Star created. He said his boss, Hathor, had a vested intrest in the match between Seraph and Nemesis."
"I remember something now, from my super-brain episode. 'The Dark and Light spawned ghosts of gods, the malevolence of all mankind Nemesis, and the benevolence of all mankind, Seraph. The ghosts war with no meaning to their existence for all of eternity. But even eternity is not forever. Should the ghosts become mortal and war, the balance of our world rides on the outcome. Seraph, whose heart know only light, fights to protect existence and return both to their essence form, but Nemesis, whose heart knows only darkness, fights for the end of all existence.' No wonder I tried to warn you guys. 'The Great Box of Knowledge,' the repository, 'was made to give the necessary powers to those seeking to prevent this shadow duel, but others sealed their knowledge in as well, lo leave their legacy for ages to come.' The story of the Repository."
"What about 12, 22, 2012?" Seraph asked.
"Don't know."
"Trinary code?" Wesley shrugged.
:"There are three levers on the device." Raven shrugged.
-O-
"I assume the first two levers are one and two, and the third imputs." Wes reasoned.
Raven pulled the first lever, than the third. Both levers reset and a glowing number one appeared. He pulled all thee and a 2 appeared. He pulled levers six more times, until 12, 22, 2012 was displayed on the device. That slid to the top and revealed text below it. Raven reads aloud, "It says 'by your calendar, December 22, 2012 is the predicted date of activation for this device. This device will trigger the climactic battle. Though the ghosts can tamper with fate, we believe this date will not only be the date of activation, but the last day of existence. We do not possess the power to destroy the eternal device of the Pharaoh's Court, so we placed a warning inside. You must intervene. Human intervention is the key to our continued existence in this realm.' It's wrong."
"The Mayan colander... based on a mistake made by Egyptians?" Wes cocked his head.
"We did find some pieces of the device in a museum in Central America." Sevanos shrugged, "Maybe the Mayan people had it."
"Maybe." Raven sighed, "We have a tournament to complete don't we?"
-O-
"The winner of the Fallen Star Cup, after his close defeat of Serenity Tesconé," Alan called just a few hours later, at almost eleven-thirty, "Raven Vaniver!"
Raven graciously took the trophy.
-O-
Raven entered his quarters to find, to his dismay, that although the Millennium Scale was gone, a letter had come from Shadi.
Raven,
You have handled this task better than brilliantly. If anyone should wield these scaled it should be you. I apologize for taking them back from you, but I had little choice. I am of the opinion that the Millennium Puzzle, Millennium Ring, the Millennium Rod, the Millennium Eye, the Millennium Necklace, the Millennium Key, and your Millennium Scales will need to gather again soon. This said, rumor tells of an eighth. Rumor also has it that before departing for America, the Pharaoh destroyed it. I do not believe the second rumor. It's possessor, Anubis, was destroyed, and banished from the Pyramid of Light, but I believe the shattered Pyramid wasn't the authentic one. I am of the belief that the authentic Pyramid of Light shall reveal itself to you. Bide your time and wait for it's arrival or my return .In the meantime, Raven, do enjoy yourself. You deserve a break. Play the game, become as well known as the Pharaoh himself, and have fun! Life has much to offer. You will do well to enjoy it. You have a lifetime of challenges to your honor and to the Pyramid and to those you care for, so the reprieve should be indulged in.
Best Wishes,
Shadi.
Raven sighed. The note was both bad and good. Those notes suck, Raven decided.
-O-
Raven entered Sevanos' office early the next morning.
"Raven, check this out." Sevanos showed Raven a computer list, "We're A List duelists! Same rank as Seto Kaiba and Yugi Motou!"
"Wait a sec... S List?" Raven pointed to a hyperlink at the bottom of the web page.
"Get this description, 'A rank surpassing that of A List, the S List duelists are the best in the world. Their play-to-win attitude and deck styles are trend-setting and could easily duel circles around those on A List.' Can you believe that?" Sevanos read.
"Pretentious brats." Raven scowled. Then an idea fromed that brought a smile to his face, "Where are the World Championships?"
"America. New York City I think." Sevanos shrugged.
"To paraphrase their Statue of Liberty, 'Give me your ignorant, pompous, and gloriously diluted masses, and I will show them Heart of the Cards owns all.'" Raven lauged.
Sevanos picked up his phone, "Alan, prep the jet."
"Who's representing Japan?" Raven asked.
"Well, we have earned six slots in the Championship this year... so my, you, Serenity, Illarya, Kaomi and Cid?"
"No, Serenity and Illarya qualified for America's six." Raven replied.
"Well, how about we throw in Aura and Shuyin, for laughs?" Sevanos offered his opinion.
"Sounds good." Raven nodded.
"Alright. I'll send the list in a few minutes, and call the other six to the jet. The rest of our friends will take the second jet over." Sevanos planned.
"Sounds good." Raven exited.
-O-
Kaomi sat observing a duel. One duelist was a child she recognized. She would never know who it was if not for the Seiyaryu the young girl had on the field. It had Kaomi's name on its stomach.
"So that's how it renders." Raven sat on the bench next to her."
"Yup. I bet she feels special. She has a one-of-a-kind Seiyaryu." Kaomi smiled.
"No one else asked you?" Raven asked.
"Well, that creepy guy you knocked out with your Duel Disk the other day, but I knocked him out with mine before he could finish his sentence." Kaomi smiled.
"Good times." Raven laughed lightly, "We're going to the World Championship. Apparently some cocky group of self-proclaimed 'Masters of the Duel' thinks they can play circles around us."
"They're in for more than they bargained for." Kaomi smiled. "I really stunk up that tournament Raven."
"You're going. No question. Arkith was right, you can't let defeat get you down." He reminded her.
"I'm afraid of loosing where my losses count for something." She looked at Raven
"This S List is spreading their spheres of influence. Others are thinking like them..." Raven paused, "I'm willing to brake myself to shake this veil from everything I know. I'm not afraid. You shouldn't be. I will defend you. I will save you."
"I've got the faith in my deck Raven, but not in my own heart." Kaomi sighed.
"Believe in yourself, Kaomi Itai." Raven closed his eyes, "Have the faith to believe you can do anything."
Kaomi was very silent for a moment, motionless. She was pondering these words. Then a smile swept her face, "Those jerks won't know what hit 'em!"
"That's the Kaomi I know!" Raven laughed, "We leave later today!"