Author's Notes: Here it is, the true beginning of the arc now that the main threat has been unveiled. Get ready for action packed duels and deadly combat. Everything you thought you knew about my the world has just gone out the window, and the rules are entirely different. So let's get going shall we?

Chapter Ten: The Darkness of Order

"Shall we begin?" The member of the inner circle who asked this question did not dare to look up at his master while speaking. But once he finished speaking he looked up, not looking directly at his master's face. That would be a profanity. He saw enough though to know that his master had just nodded.

"Finally. They won't last even ten minutes against us." The speaker was the man in the black robe, and behind him were his companions. This was the moment, now they would be allowed to strike out, to take down all those who dared to oppose the new order that Great Lord Eikyuu was bringing to the world. All those standing in the way would suffer their wrath. They were the Knights of Order. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Having Seto Kaiba as part of your group can prove to be particularly useful. Especially when you have no other available means of transportation. Kaiba had called in a Kaiba Corporation helicopter to airlift them to a place where they could rest and learn what was going on. That was the military aircraft carrier that had been tracking the strange weather of the area that had been caused by Dartz's attempt to summon the Leviathan.

The strange new sky certainly had them worried, as did the face and voice they had heard, yet they knew that whatever the trouble was they could conquer it. They had defeated people like Pegasus, Yami Malik, Taichi, and Ihachi. Certainly some masked weirdo calling himself a god wouldn't be any different or more difficult than defeating Ihachi had been. All they had to do was take some time to plan and figure out how to strike. After all, this person wasn't coming to them, so they needed to figure out where he was.

Just moments ago they had stopped the helicopter at the edge of the island so that Kirani could take her yacht. She was going to head back to shore and see what was going on there while they discussed things on the military vessel. Essentially she just wanted to make sure her boat wasn't left behind, so she'd meet them once they were rested up and ready to continue to land on the copter.

Kai looked out the window as the helicopter came down for a landing on the massive boat which was intended to harbor numerous aircrafts. There were a few on the deck, but mostly it was just crew doing work. He squinted at them, trying to see how they were looking at the helicopter. Unfortunately his suspicions that this might not be the best place to come didn't pan out, as the crewmen weren't even bothering to pay attention to the helicopter unless they were the direct flight crew for it. Trained soldiers. Of course they wouldn't stray.

Kai's thoughts on this strange group being the same as the Free Masons and the Illumanati had yet to be proved true, however he was certain that at least some people had accepted that guy Eikyuu's announcement. They all had to be on guard, otherwise there was no telling what trouble they'd get into. These people had been targeting them long before they ever took action with Eikyuu coming out and telling the people of Earth to accept him as God.

"This place....it feels too pure to be a military vessel." The others cast a glance at Dalin who was staring out at the boat, just as Kai had been. Yami cast a glance down at Dalin's four-fingered ring, an item that gave him the power to detect darkness. So if this carrier was too pure, that meant he wasn't detecting enough darkness. But what exactly did that mean?

Before any of the others could ask the obvious question Dalin gestured for them to remain quiet. Then he shot a glance at the pilot, and then down at the crew who were now arranged around the helicopter as it finally came to a stop. His look was obvious. He didn't want to explain around these people, and he'd do so when they had a private room to themselves.

Stepping out of the plane the eleven of them gathered in a small cluster, watching the soldiers that stood in front of them in neat little rows. A man in a fancier uniform stepped forward, signifying that he was the one in charge. "Welcome to the U.S.S. Gertrude. She's a fine vessel, and we're all proud to have you aboard. As a matter of fact a few of the crew members are quite big fans of some of you. That's what happens when some of your crew is as young as ours."

The elderly captain brushed his mustache briefly, frowning at the lack of response. Obviously he had expected at least a chuckle from them, but instead he had only received tight-lipped stares. "Well, I've informed the men that none of them are to challenge you to a duel. I'm sure you aren't in the mood to have to deal with a bunch of amateur fan boys. I'll have Petty Officer Talon lead you to your room. I hope you enjoy your stay."

A younger man with a shaved head an blue eyes stepped out in front of them, taking their attention to him. He saluted crisply, and then snapped back into attention. "Follow me. And don't get lost along the way." He turned sharply and started walking at a fast pace towards what appeared to be an entrance into the rest of the ship. The group followed after him, casting glances over their shoulders at the rest of the crew, still nervous about exactly how friendly these people were.

As soon as they were out of sight the captain sighed and turned to face the other crew members who had gathered to see the group of duelists onto the ship. One of them stepped forward from the back row, his black hair cut short. He looked somewhat odd in a naval uniform, but he carried himself well, with the grace of an experienced warrior. "That went rather well I think."

The captain nodded and casually dismissed the rest of the flight crew. Now only had and the black haired man remained in range of hearing anything that might be said. "When you will you take action?" The black haired naval officer smirked slightly, and his body shimmered as a black robe formed around him, covering both his body and his face.

"Soon enough. Don't worry, they won't be any threat at all. Just make sure you take care of your part." With a grim set to his features the captain nodded once more, then gave the black robed man a deep bow. As much as he knew this was for the greater good of the world, he still felt odd giving the orders that he had been told to give. It was necessary, and yet still felt slightly wrong.

"All will be as you asked Lord D'harim. We await your further command." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This entire thing doesn't feel right. It's a military vessel, therefore people should have been engaged in combat, or trained for it. Something or someone is purifying this vessel so that no ill will can be sensed. The problem is I can't be sure if it isn't the same light that went through the sky that did this to everyone or not. Everywhere I go seems too pure." Dalin's revelation left them all just a little bit more nervous and even Kaiba, who despite the things he'd seen occasionally tried to deny the existence of magic, felt on edge.

"Well, if we can't find out whether these people are good or not, we should at least figure out whether this Eikyuu is good or bad. I mean, we're sure that it was people worshiping him that tried to attack us using the Seal of Orichalcos right?" The others nodded at what Ryu had said. It was true, they had each been attacked by someone wielding the Seal of Orichalcos and preaching the same type of stuff about order that Eikyuu had spoken about.

"That's what thing that seems odd to me. These people are in no way connected with Dartz. We know that since this wave of energy got rid of him completely. Yet these 'sendings' as you say they were called each used the Seal. How did people not associated with Dartz get that power?" The others considered what Yami had just said, none of them having thought of such a thing themself. Of course none of them had known about the other threat while confronting their own threat.

"There's more to it than that. You said earlier that each person using the Seal of Orichalcos must empower it with a fragment of the Orichalcos stone. Yet none of the people we faced had such a thing." Autumn's insight also cleared the air, bringing up more questions than it answered. It seemed that so far they would just be going in circles, figuring out the questions that needed to be asked instead of the answers. Those would come later.

Kai was the next one to offer his opinion, and it was on something he had been contemplating for awhile now. It hadn't made sense to him before, but after learning about Dartz it did. "These guys didn't think much of Dartz, they just wanted him out of the way. So they lead us on a merry chase to Dartz's Island so that we could get rid of him. But it may have been more than that. I think they also wanted us away from the rest of the world so that it would be harder for us to do anything."

Frustrated more than satisfied the group separated, going to the different cots that had been set out in the room for them. It was just a place where crew members could sleep, though a bit smaller. With thoughts of the troubles that might lie ahead deep in their minds, the group drifted off to sleep.
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Joey woke up abruptly when his highly sensitive nose detected a strange odor. It was a mixed scent of sweat and something else, like oil. And there was also noise around him. Groaning he pushed himself up into a sitting position, and discovered that he was no longer in the room. Instead he was sitting in what looked to be a huge boiler room. It was the ship's engine!

Casting his gaze around the room he found that there was a circle of crewmen around him stretching about fifty feet in diameter. He gulped as he realized that it was just about enough room to fit a duel in. Shooting a glance to his right he saw Kaiba lying on the ground, and to Kaiba's right was Yugi. Both were asleep.

"Hey, rich-boy. Wake up." Shoving the brunette a couple of times managed to get the arrogant CEO to rose himself from sleep. He assessed the situation and cursed quietly under his brother, staring at the silent navy personal. He moved to the side and got Yugi awake. Upon seeing the situation the pint-sized duelist underwent his personality shift, and became Yami.

The three of them couldn't help but notice their duel disks lying in front of them. Each of them picked up their disk and fitted it over their arm before rising to their feet, ready to take action once they had an opening. Attacking a group of about fifty trained soldiers would be stupid, so they'd have to wait for the moment. "Well now, the three Legendary Warriors isn't that right? Three of the top duelists in the world right at my fingertips. This should be interesting."

The cruel voice that reached their ears seemed to come from everywhere around them. However the source of it became clear as a curl of smoke coalesced into a man in a black robe, his left arm raised, revealing a strange looking duel disk. The part attached to the arm was smaller, and a small oval pod was attached to the left side. There were no plates on it at all, and it was a pitch black color. "Greetings. I am called D'harim. The First Knight of Order. I am the Knight of Darkness. I the am the darkness of Order. I strike from the night and eliminate threats to it. I am the strongest soldier of Eikyuu, and you three are in the way of the coming Order."

As he spoke his strange duel disk activated. The little oval pod extended out from the center part, and then the oval itself separated. It pulled apart to a decent distance, with metal wires between it. Then metal railings moved to connect the two halves of the oval. It was a dueling plate, the field that was used on a duel disk. Only instead of the rougher shape that Kaiba's DD2s had, this one was a simple oval. "This will be a three on two duel, the three of you versus me and a partner I will have. Are you ready to suffer?" (DLP: 4000)

D'harim's partner stepped out of the crowd, revealing him to be the bald Petty Officer Talon. His duel disk was simpler, being just like a DD2 only black like D'harim's was. He raised his disk and extended it, indicating that he was ready to duel. "Dueling the three of you is going to be exciting, I only hope that I don't hold back Lord D'harim." (TLP: 4000)

Seeing no way out of it the three champion level duelists activated their own DD2s, preparing for battle. There were three of them, so they had they advantage of numbers, however Kaiba and Yami had both just experienced a two on one duel that proved powerful cards could make the difference. And Yami's duel with Ihachi also told him much the same. (JLP: 4000, KLP: 4000, YLP: 4000)

Drawing a hand of six Joey decided that he was going to go first. Seeing his hand he felt pleased, and decided that he would start things off strong. After all, why not show them how strong he was by beating these creeps in a duel? Sure he no longer had Helmos, but he didn't need it. "I summon Axe Raider(1700/1150) and set one card face down. That's all."

Kaiba, being the one right next to Joey, was going to be second to go. So he added his next card to his hand and immediately made his play. It would be similar to Joey's, but that wasn't a problem. He wasn't going to be made a fool out of in this duel, he'd crush them beneath his feet. "I summon Blade Knight(1600/1000) and set a card face down. End." His white armored knight appeared next to Joey's axe-wielding warrior. Behind each was a single face-down card.

Yami took his newest card and played it onto the field, revealing the first of his magnet warriors. It might not be the strongest, but he had other cards to back it up. He too wasn't going to commit too much to the opening move against opponents with unknown strategies. "I set one card and bring out Alpha the Magnet Warrior(1400/1700) in attack mode! I'll leave it at that."

D'harim plucked a card free casually of his deck and examined his hand carefully. Then he opened the side panel of his weird disk and slapped a card down in it. "I believe I'll activate the field magic card Seal of Orichalcos. I don't have to tell the three of you what it does by now. Oh, and if you were curious this device is called a Duel Pod. Enhanced technology combining Kaiba Corporation designs and other advanced techniques available only to those in the military. It's quite effective, and much more compact as you've seen. Normally I'd tell you how much more real it makes cards, but the Seal of Orichalcos does that all on it's own!"

The green circle took shape beneath their feet, coming to rest at the feet of the other soldiers, all of whom were watching the duel intently. It seemed they had formed their circle with the intention of surrounding the Seal of Orichalcos. "Now that I've done that, I think I'll set one card face down and place a monster in defense mode. Your turn Talon." The bald duelist nodded and pulled his next card off his deck.

"I set two cards face down. Now I summon Y-Head Dragon(1500/1600). Unfortunately none of us can attack on the first turn, and my monster won't gain power from my partner's Seal of Orichalcos. So I'll just end my turn." Kaiba sneered at the sight of his own monster being played, but felt certain that this amateur wouldn't be able to use it well. The red machine dragon may have been effective in a set, but outside of that set it was useless.

Joey's hand contained five cards with his newest draw. He grinned at the sight of the card he had drawn, and quickly set it on the field next to his first face down card. Then he played another monster. "That little baby will go down for later, and this little baby will come out to play. Gearfreed the Iron Knight(1800/1600)!" The black iron warrior rose up next to Axe Raider, both dominating over Talon's weaker Y-Dragon Head.

"Axe Raider, slice Y-Dragon Head into little bitty pieces!" The warrior let out a battle cry as it leapt towards the machine dragon, swinging its axe down to chop the machine in half. Before it could connect Talon's set card was revealed, and Joey grimaced as he recognized it.

"Monster Relief lets me bring Y-Dragon Head back to my hand. Then I get to replace it with another level four or lower monster. So I replace it with X-Head Cannon(1800/1500)!" The purple machine appeared in place of the red dragon, and trained its weapon barrels on Axe Raider. It fired off twin beams of energy as a counterattack to destroy Joey's Axe Raider. But at the last moment a chain whipped out and wrapped around the cannon monster, diverting it's attack from Axe Raider.

"Sorry buddy, but Kunai with Chain was my first set card. And since I can choose to use either of it's effects or both, I'll chose just to make it an equip card on Axe Raider, shooting it's attack up to 2200. Now slice and dice his X-Head Cannon!" Talon cursed as the axe wielder held the chain taught and proceeded to cut the machine in half horizontally. With it's destruction Talon became the first person to lose any life points, and it was just about to get worse unless he could protect himself. (TLP: 3600)

"Gearfreed, give him another reason why it isn't nice to interrupt people's sleep just so you can force them into a creepy duel. Attack directly!" The iron warrior sliced his blade down across Talon's shoulder, the force sending him stumbling backwards. But he proved his toughness by remaining standing despite the power of Gearfreed's attack. Of course it still took its toll on his life points. (TLP: 1800)

Kaiba smirked at seeing the other duelist dropped to such a pathetic state so soon in the duel. Already down to less than half his life points, and to Wheeler of all people? This guy was definitely no challenge, it'd be easy to take him out. "I'll show you the true power of the XYZ set. X-Head Cannon(1800/1500) in attack mode! Obliterate Talon's last bit of life points!"

Kaiba's monster trained its weapons on Talon and let loose a deadly volley that was equal to the life points that Talon had remaining. And since his set card hadn't been able to protect him during the previous turn, it wouldn't help him now. He was finished. "Kaiba, defeating my partner so quickly? How arrogant. I won't allow it, so I activate my own trap card. Agony!" D'harim's face down card was revealed, and the image was a frightening one. A warrior was lying on his back amongst piles of other soldiers, and dozens of weapons were stuck in his belly. He was obviously in pain.

X-Head Cannon's attack halted abruptly as it's body began to twitch. It was suffering under the power of D'harim's trap card! "Agony is a special trap with an interesting effect. I won't explain it fully since I'm sure you'll learn soon enough. For now just know that it will deal you damage equal to your monster's level times one hundred. So say goodbye to four hundred points." (KLP: 3600)

Unable to make any other move Kaiba declared the end of his turn, and now it was up to Yami to continue the assault. Now neither of their opponent's had any set cards that could help them, and Talon had no monsters. And since a face-down monster can't defend a partner in a tag-duel, Talon was truly open. All Yami had to do was get out at least 1800 points of attack and they'd be finished with one opponent. "I sacrifice Alpha for Jack's Knight(1900/1000) who has more than enough power to finish Talon off. Attack!"

The young knight took Alpha's place. The knight raised his blade and charged at Talon, intent on slicing him up and depleting his life points. Unfortunately he was only half way there before Kaiba's X-Head Cannon jumped into the path of the attack and was cut in half and destroyed. And since it was Kaiba's monster Kaiba took the damage. (KLP: 3100)

D'harim laughed at the incredulous looks on their faces. "Don't you three know anything about pain? X-Head Cannon was in terrible agony, so it committed suicide to abate the pain. The best way to do so was by throwing itself in the way of Jack's Knight's attack. And of course I neglected to mention that the monster affected by Agony loses the same number of attack and defense points as it's controller loses life points. Looks like your attack was blocked Yami." The former Pharaoh growled in annoyance and completed his turn by placing a single card face down on the field.

Now it was once again D'harim's turn, and he seemed greatly interested in both his new and the far left card of his hand that had been waiting. They couldn't tell for sure if he was smirking underneath the dark cloth that covered his face, but they felt that he had to be. "I start by placing a card face down. Next I'm going to introduce you to the card that's going to make this duel so much more interesting. It's my key card in every duel, a card with power great than anything you've ever experienced! This card will make the Seal of Orichalcos look like a cake walk by comparison!"

He raised the card he had drawn over his head, and a sickly purple aura wavered around his body and around the card. "Here it is, Heart of Suffering!" The three duelists gasped, having heard of the Heart cards that Autumn, Ryu, Dalin, and Drake had used. This was similar, and yet the power was different...darker. Even from here they could see the dark purple symbol of suffering glowing from beneath D'harim's hood.

"You may have believed that the Heart cards your friends had are the only ones, but you're wrong! In fact, there are a total of sixteen of them, and you've only heard of the power of six before this! Just wait till you experience part of the power of my Heart of Suffering, then you'll know the difference between the power those weaklings wield, and the power I possess! End turn!" Although the three duelists were worried about the power he had, they felt that a three on one advantage would make things even, and they were sure shortly it would be that way. Talon was a weak duelist.

"Now it's my turn, and I play Payment of Debt! It's power of drawing three cards has given me all that I need. So first I play Frontline Base, which will let me special summon a level four or lower union monster from my hand during each turn. Next I activate Unity Rebirth, which allows me to special summon a low level union monster from my hand and one that can union with it from my graveyard. So here come X-Head Cannon and Y-Dragon Head!" The two monsters emerged onto the field, ready and willing to take Talon's order. He now had two pieces of the puzzle.

"I summon Z-Metal Tank(1500/1600) and then remove all three from play in order to special summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon(2800/2600) from my deck! And to make it worse for you I'll use the power of Frontline Base and special summon my V-Tiger Jet(1700/1200)!" His newest monster joined the mighty mechanical behemoth that was XYZ-Dragon Cannon. It was a green and yellow hovering jet with the head of a tiger.

"I discard to destroy Kaiba's Blade Knight. Then I set a card. Finally I'll activate Halt Play, meaning nobody can activate or set magic or trap cards till the end of Wheeler's next turn." His smirk was broad as XYZ-Dragon Cannon unleashed a barrage of missiles that exploded on Blade Knight's chest, shattering it into thousands of pieces. The group was expecting Kaiba to grimace at this action, but instead he gripped his sides and fell to his knees, crying out in pain.

D'harim laughed to see Kaiba in such a state, and took the time to gloat about it. "Now do you see the power of my Heart of Suffering? Everything you experience, card effects and all, are very much real. And you will feel everything your monsters feel. So Kaiba just felt his entire body being ripped apart. Not very pleasant I'd assume. Now my partner will have XYZ attack Kaiba directly."

The machine launched it's attack, and Kaiba got up the energy to roll to the side. The explosion sent him flying backwards into the Seal, his shirt burned away and some of his chest now a black burnt color. "And now since my partner can't attack without having his attack blocked, he ends his turn. I hope the rest of you are ready for the pain that can come from losing your monsters." (KLP: 300)

Joey grabbed his next card and looked at it, overjoyed at what he saw. His other three cards were good cards, but because of Halt Play some of them were useless at the moment since he couldn't activate or set cards during this turn. He'd have to rely on his monsters...and some luck. "I sacrifice Gearfreed for Maximum Six(1900/1600)! And when Maximum Six is sacrifice summoned I get to roll a die. Depending on the outcome it could become stronger than your XYZ-Dragon Cannon!"

The gambler watched the die bounce around, hoping for the best. If it landed on a four or less his monster wouldn't be able to destroy XYZ-Dragon Cannon, but could still take down V-Tiger Jet. If it was a five or a six then his Maximum Six would be able to destroy the machine monstrosity. Suddenly, the outcome was decided. "A four. Damn, that means Maximum Six gains eight hundred attack points, giving it an attack power of twenty-seven hundred. And now I'll use Maximum Six to take down V-Tiger Jet!"

The six armed purple creature jumped up into the air and landed down on V-Tiger Jet. Using the power of its arms it dragged the machine down to the ground and gripped it by one leg and one arm. Then it began to pull. As it did so the bolts on the machine groaned under the stress, and Talon's body quivered as he screamed in pain, feeling his own limbs being stretched apart. With one last heave of strength Maximum Six ripped V-Tiger Jet in half, and Talon fell limp, his body wracked with pain. (TLP: 800)

Since there was no way that Joey would able to play any more cards this turn thanks to Halt Play, it automatically became Kaiba's turn. The rich duelist now held five cards, and one face down card on his field. But now he had a perfect combination in his hand. "I play White Dragon Ritual, and discard a high level monster from my hand to summon Paladin of White Dragon(1900/1400)." A white knight riding a bluish-white dragon shimmered into view in front of him, ready to take flight. But it's target wasn't obvious.

"I played this technique against another duelist not long ago, and it proved quite effective. Watch the rest of it, because I'll call back the monster I discarded for my ritual by using Monster Reborn. Come forth my Blue Eyes(3000/2500)!" Kaiba's legendary white dragon, with more power than any other normal monster in the entire game, took it's rightful place on the field beside the Paladin. If XYZ-Dragon Cannon had ever had any emotions it would be cowering in fear right about now.

"I have every intent of not only crushing Talon in this turn, but making a serious dent in your life points D'harim. So I summon Vorse Raider(1900/1200) to the field to complete my army of powerful monsters. One with three thousand, and two with nineteen hundred. And my Paladin can destroy defense monsters without even blinking an eye, so your set monster is no threat to me. For the first step in my plan, Blue Eyes will destroy the dragon cannon!" Blue Eyes White Dragon launched its Burst Stream attack, washing over the giant mechanical weapon. Talon screamed in agony, feeling the pain of the ultimate attack of the Blue Eyes. (TLP: 600)

"My partner may be in too much pain, but I know his face down card. He activates Power of Unity, which will prevent any monster composed of union monsters from being destroyed in battle. That means his XYZ-Dragon Cannon remains in play, and you can't attack." Kaiba grimaced at his inability to rid the field of the machine, and because of D'harim's interference. Talon's set card flipped up and revealed that it was indeed Power of Unity, so the move worked.

"I may not be able to continue attacking quite yet, but I can swap my Paladin for another Blue Eyes White Dragon. That ends my turn." The knight on the back of the little dragon jumped off and faded away, and each of the duelists present watched as the small dragon grew until it was identical to Kaiba's other dragon. It had grown up into a mighty Blue Eyes White Dragon.

With yet another opportunity to crush their opponents at hand, Yami drew his next card and smirked, realizing he had a way to turn it all around. "Talon, I've drawn the card that will defeat you. The equip card Excalibur, which will double Jack's Knight's attack power for as long as I give up my draw phase! And with thirty-eight hundred attack power he can easily crush your remaining life points. And with this next monster I'll be able to take the attack to D'harim. Come out Beta(1700/1400)!" Jack's Knight, now wielding a shining blade, was joined by the little yellow magnet warrior, both ready to attack.

"Now, Jack's Knight, cut down XYZ!" The knight started to charge forwards, but he was made to pause as D'harim threw back his head and started to laugh. Yami's keen eyes caught D'harim's hand depress a button on his Duel Pod, and watched as the duelist's single face down card was revealed. And it wasn't anything any of the three duelists had ever heard of.

"Prepare to have this duel turn around, as your monsters turn against each other! This trap will not only pit your monsters against each other in a battle to the death that will deal you damage and weaken them, but it will affect you as well. It will drive you insane! No witness the terrible power of my deadly trap card. Dark Mind-Devil's Insanity!" XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Serenity was jolted awake by her dream, or rather her nightmare. Exactly what it was quickly faded, but she still needed to seek comfort. And there was one person she could think of who had always been there to make things seem better. Her brother. So she got herself out of bed and went over to his bunk. "Big brother, I wanted to talk to...."

She stopped in surprise at seeing his bunk empty. Her first thoughts were bad, but then she merely thought he had gone to the bathroom or something. She started to head back to her own bunk when she spotted another empty bunk. Kaiba's. Those two wouldn't leave at the same time because they might have to be around each other. They hated each other too much for that. And off to the side a third bunk was empty, Yugi's.

Quickly she roused everyone from sleep and told them that the three duelists were gone. Dalin immediately suspected trickery, and began to seek them out using his powers. "They're somewhere below us, at least vaguely. I can feel their presences, only they are being masked by something. Like a barrier or a....damn!" Quickly he grabbed his belongings, the little he could easily carry, and put his duel disk onto his arm. Then he rushed out the door, everyone else following.

"What's going on?" Dalin didn't respond to Mokuba's question as he was busy staring down an officer with a pistol pointed at his face. The large man grimaced and depressed the button that activated his duel disk. The sound of it clanking into place briefly distracted the soldier, and Dalin slugged him. The force of his punch sent the man careening into the wall. Laid out with one punch.

"The thing I felt that seems to be masking them, it's not a barrier. It's a seal. The Seal of Orichalcos, I'm sure of it. We have to get to them immediately before something bad happens!" The others agreed and hurried after him as he started running down the cramped hallway. The place was like a maze, so even with his powers leading him on it would take a while to get there. Who knew what could happen in that time?
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D'harim's laughter was drowned out by the raging screams and cries of the duel monsters of the three duelists. Frothing from the mouth with insane looks in their eyes the monsters launched at each other. Joey's Maximum Six slugged it out, clawing and biting at Axe Raider. The mighty warrior retaliated by cutting Maximum Six with both his weapons, and trying to strangle the blue creature with it's chain.

Jack's Knight had skewered Beta through the stomach, but because Beta wasn't a normal living creature it was struggling while being pinned there. The two white dragons were busy blasting each other, biting and slashing, while the man-beast that was Vorse Raider cut viciously at them with it's blade, while being snapped at by their teeth.

This was not the worst of it though. Yami, Joey, and Kaiba were all in much the same mess. Yami was on the worst receiving end being the weakest, while the much tougher duelists Joey and Kaiba pounded on him and each other. Faces were bloodied, bodies bruised and clothing ripped. Joey, thanks to his fighting nature and Kaiba's previous injury, was winning if such a thing could be said. He was the least bloodied of the three, and that was the best that could be said of it.

At last, after an indeterminate amount of time, the effect of Dark Mind-Devil's Insanity wore off. Kaiba's monsters were gone, the dragons having destroyed each other and Vorse Raider. Joey's Maximum Six was his only remaining monster and it had been reduced to a measly five hundred attack points. Yami had Jack's Knight which had fallen to twenty-one hundred attack power. Unfortunately for the three of them, battle had been conducted in a fairly normal fashion, so damage was done as well. (JLP: 3500, KLP: 0, YLP: 1900)

Without his soul Kaiba couldn't remain standing, and he collapsed to the ground, bleeding and broken. Yami himself was barely able to remain standing, but the tougher Joey kept himself up. He'd experienced similar things before and had been mostly ready for it. He just hoped Yami could last through the pain. "I...end."

D'harim grabbed his next card, smiling beneath his hood. These fools had no idea what they were getting into. He hadn't even invoked his full power, or the full power of the Heart of Suffering. They were going to lose this duel, and it wouldn't be long. "I set a single card face down. That should be enough to easily deal with the two of you weaklings. Now it's my partner's turn. Draw idiot."

Talon struggled to make his move, drawing a card off the top of his deck to give him a total of one card in hand. He swiftly activated it, revealing Pot of Greed. He chuckled idly and slapped both cards onto the field, and they were swiftly revealed as another V-Tiger Jet and a catapult like machine. "My monsters I summon normally and through Frontline Base. Now, I remove XYZ, V, and W from the game in order to summon VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon(3000/2400)!"

XYZ separated and merged together with the other two machines in a bright flash of light. When it dimmed down a towering robot stood on the field, each of it's limbs made of one of the other creatures. It's power was equal to that of the Blue Eyes, but considering the effects of other combinations of those monsters it's effect was bound to be devastating. "When summoned and once during each turn Dragon Catapult Cannon can remove one card on the opponent's field from the game. So I remove Yami's first set card."

The former Pharaoh picked up his card and slid it into his card holder, considering that his removed from play pile. Now they had a dangerous monster pointing right at them, and it had more attack strength than any monster they had. "Dragon Catapult Cannon will destroy Maximum Six." The robot launched a beam of energy from it's right fist, sending it straight at the weakened multi-armed warrior. However, Joey was ready for him.

"Activate Skull Dice!" This time he had a minimal chance that it would work out for him. The best he could hope for was that the damage would be lessened. He got that hope when the result was a three, cutting the robot's attack power down to one thousand. The beam ripped apart Maximum Six and Joey fell to the ground, clutching his stomach as if it had been punctured. And to him it felt like it had. Luckily for him that was all that Talon could do during this turn. (JLP: 3000)

Now Joey's turn was up, and he desperately struggled to draw a card. Groaning he slipped Warrior Returning Alive into his duel disk, calling back Gearfreed the Iron Knight in defense mode. He was too weak to even announce his move. Then he placed a card face to replace his already used up traps, and to help defend himself. Now it was Yami's turn since Kaiba wasn't there anymore.

Yami drew a card, having forgotten about Exalibur, and sighed unhappily as the equip card exploded and Jack's Knight fell to a measly one thousand and fifty attack points. All he could do was change Jack's Knight into defense mode, and hope for the best. With the pain they were in and the disadvantage they had, things seemed to be looking bad for the two of them. And so far D'harim hadn't even summoned a monster. He had just set a single monster and one face down card each turn. It was like he wasn't even threatened by them.

The dark knight of order smirked at the sight of his newest card, and immediately played it. "My next card should be a breath of fresh air for you two. Actually, I doubt it's that fresh. You see this wind blows in from the land of the dead, so it probably isn't very healthy for you. The Black Wind of Death will blow away one of each of your set cards, deal five hundred damage for each, and then it will be returned to my deck to be used again! Wonderful isn't it?" The two duelists didn't seem to think so, particularly when gusts of cutting wind began blasting across the field.

The gusts of wind sliced up one of Yami's two set cards, and Joey's only remaining set card. The one he had placed at the end of his previous turn. It also cut them as well, slicing at their shirts and their skin. At this rate they would pass out from blood loss before the duel was even over. (JLP: 2500, YLP: 1400)

Talon snapped a card off his deck, and now confident in his situation he removed Jack's Knight from the game so as to establish a direct attack line to Yami's life points. He was going to defeat Yugi Motou, one of the top duelists in the world! And it was all in the name of Great Lord Eikyuu. "Attack him directly and grant me victory!"

Yami pressed one of the button's on his duel disk, and his last remaining card flipped up. Talon shook his head in denial as he recognized it, realizing that he had no face down cards to protect himself with. "Not Mirror Force! This can't be happening!" He closed his eyes as his own monster's energy attacked collided with it, vaporizing it. And what was worse, he felt the pain of that attack, and collapsed, unable to get back up. He was passed out, or dead. There was no way to tell.

Joey, feeling a little bit invigorated by the sudden shift in power, made his move. He slid two of his three cards into his duel disk, and then moved Gearfreed into attack mode. This assault would be the one that did Talon in. "Take down Talon Gearfreed." The warrior nodded once and then jumped out and slashed down at Talon, not actually cutting him but still making the attack that would finish his life points. And now it was two on one, although the life point advantage and health advantage was certainly D'harim's. (TLP: 0)

Suddenly the whole gang came barreling around the corner, gunshots being heard in the distance. They were being chased, and now they found themself in a room where the Seal was present and about thirty armed men were pointing their weapons at them. D'harim chuckled and waved them down. "Don't shoot them. Make sure they don't leave, but let them live. I want to let them see the end of some of their strongest duelists. It's one down so far, and two to go. But now that I'm starting to get bored, I think I'll make this duel short and sweet."

Yami now felt invigorated himself upon seeing all his friends together in the room, despite the bad situation. With his friends present he felt that he could do anything at all, and so his draw rewarded him. "I've drawn the card that can help me turn this duel around! Curtain of Black Magic will cost me half my life points, but it will summon my favorite monster, Dark Magician(2500/2100)!" (YLP: 700)

His favorite monster, the purple robed magician, now stood at the ready. But even if it attacked it wouldn't help, because D'harim's only monster was in defense mode. "I equip Dark Magician with Black Spear which grants it a trample effect. I'll set a card face down and then attack your set monster with it!" The Dark Magician, now with a spear in place of it's staff, attacked D'harim's face down monster, ready to obliterate it.

"You've fallen into the last trap you'll ever encounter you weakling! Death Tendrils! This trap will send tendrils of darkness and hate throughout your magician's body, making it mind to control and warping it's mind. And I hope you haven't forgotten the effect of Heart of Suffering. Get ready to lose your mind!" Yami cried out in pain as thin black ropes stabbed into his magician's body and slithered through it. They could all see them crawling like bulbous veins, crawling all the way to his skull. Both the Dark Magician and Yami grabbed their heads and screamed in agony as their minds were invaded and torn apart.

On the outside of the Seal the gang could only watch in horror as Yami's mind and sanity were ripped away. Such power, and it was that of a Heart card as well! How in the world could you fight something that could destroy your mind so easily? "Now come to me Dark Magician! I am your master now!" The magician stumbled across the field, it's eyes glassed over, and joined D'harim. The symbol of the Seal formed upon it's head, and it gained dark power, putting it at three thousand attack points.

D'harim's hand now contained three cards, but he seemed oddly unsatisfied by it. In fact, he sighed as if he was bored. "I had hoped for a more challenging duel, but this pathetic excuse for a duel didn't even require me to use my full power. I'll string you along for at least a turn more, because I don't think you've suffered enough little Joey. But first, let me tell you all a little story about the greatest power of the land of the dead."

Joey could feel something growing inside the Seal, like a presence that he couldn't explain. And it made him afraid. "The ruling power of the land of the dead has for eons been a band of powerful creatures that are neither dead, living, or undead. They are the Death Knights. Bringers of death, destruction, and suffering. They are unrivaled in power in the netherworld, and would be as well in the living world should they ever come here. And now they have in the form of my deck! Witness their amazing power as I show you the first of my Death Knight army! Death Knight Mechanist(200/2200)!" D'harim's monster wore jet black armor, that looked to be formed of skulls and flesh of fallen enemies. Instead of wielding a sword, it had a hammer in one hand and an anvil on the ground and was busy shaping weapons.

"Death Knight Mechanist is no warrior, but he makes weapons, and that's useful. And in Duel Monsters your cards are your weapons, so he'll let me draw three cards right now. And with these three cards comes the source of your suffering! I sacrifice Death Knight Mechanist to summon the supreme one of them all, Death Knight Paladin(2300/2200)! And with the seal he gains five hundred more points!" The mechanist shattered into a million pieces and was replaced by something far more sinister.

Seated upon the back of a black armored war horse was a fearsome looking knight in armor similar to the mechanist's, only spikes stuck out of the ends of it. Even the knuckles were spiked. In one hand it held the reins of the horse, and in the other it had a jet black sword with runes carved onto it in what appeared to be blood. The bottom of the sword was claws cupping a blood ruby. It was truly a fearsome creature. "Now I play Death Knight Corpse Army! I discard two cards from my hand to special summon two Death Knight Tokens(1200/1200)!"

The two new creatures were similar to the paladin, only they were much less fearsome and smaller. D'harim still didn't appear to be finished though. "I'll activate one of the powers of Death Knight Paladin. Once per turn he can special summon a Death Knight from the cemetery to the field, so I'll revive one I discarded. Death Knight Bombardier(1600/1400)!" This newest monster was identical to the tokens, only instead of wielding a sword like the knights did, he held a smoking black bomb in one hand, and a case of them was slung over his shoulder.

"And now allow me to introduce you to the special effect of each and every Death Knight! The power that makes them the ultimate recursion monsters! Infinite Revival! By discarding a card off the top of my deck once per turn I may revive a Death Knight, so rise up my Death Knight Torture Master(1300/1500)!" This knight didn't have a horse, instead he had a wall of sickening looking torture implements. In his left hand was a whip, and his right hand was looking through the implements.

"Fun isn't it? I've gotten five monsters in one turn, not counting the Dark Magician I stole from the poor little Pharaoh. But I'll decrease that number right now to activate the effect of Death Knight Bombardier. For each monster I sacrifice I can destroy a card on your field. So I'll destroy the tokens to destroy your two set cards!" The two knights faded away, and the bombardier hurled two bombs, blowing away Joey's face down cards, his only protection.

"When a Death Knight Token is destroyed, I can shuffle a card from my cemetery into my deck. Meaning that essentially they have no cost. And with that out of the way I'll cut down your Gearfreed and then go direct with all of my monsters!" Joey screamed in pain as the bombardier blew his knight to pieces, and then the others attacked him. He was slashed with a blade, snapped by a whip, and hit by a beam of purple energy. It was just too much for him, and he couldn't stay standing anymore.

"Don't die yet Wheeler, I'm not done. I activate the effect of Torture Master and sacrifice all life point damage I would have inflicted. So for each different instance of life point damage I negated, you must discard one card from the top of your deck. That's four instances, so get rid of four cards." Joey forced himself to grab four cards and shove them into his cemetery, not even struggling up the energy to look at them. He just couldn't even believe in victory at this point, and neither could anyone else. Even Dalin was horrified at the power that D'harim was displaying.

Suddenly Yami drew a card, his eyes still glazed over. He didn't look at the card, he merely stared over at his own partner. Joey cast a confused glance at him, surprised that Yami was even moving. He was also surprised since it was supposed to be his turn. D'harim cleared his throat, grabbing Joey's attention. "Since my partner is gone, and since the effect of Death Tendrils is real, I've gained control of Yami's mind, making him my partner. Since he's too brain dead to announce his move, I'll say it for him. Dark Magician, attack him directly!"

The black magic wave hit Joey in the center of the chest, and he collapsed. They couldn't tell if he was dead or not, only that his life points were all gone and that the duel was essentially over. Serenity couldn't take it anymore, and she tried to rush towards the Seal. Dalin grabbed her by the arm and held her back, knowing that if she continued in this path she would be killed. She turned to him and began sobbing into his chest, unable to watch the end come. (JLP: 0)

"Wheeler is finished, and Yami can't announce the end of his turn. Of course he's sort of my partner, but I was going to crush Talon anyways before the duel was over. So this makes up for that. I summon Death Knight Des Gulliver(1900/1600) to the field. Then I attack with all of my monsters directly!" Each of D'harim's monsters attacked Yami, their weapons tearing into him, dropping him to the ground unconscious. The duel was at last over, and D'harim was the victor. And without losing a single life point. (YLP: 0)

The Seal of Orichalcos closed and took the souls of the three once legendary duelists. Now they were nothing but corpses as D'harim would say. The black robed duelist closed up his Duel Pod and turned to look over at the others. "If this is the best that you people can offer me, I'm greatly disappointed. I hope that if any of us ever duel you'll be more of a challenge than these three were. I'll be leaving now, but I give you a gift. You have a thirty second head start, then these men will hunt you down and kill you. That is all."

With that said he turned and walked away, passing out of sight rather quickly. The eight remaining members of the group turned and ran, heading for the door as fast they could. If they didn't escape quickly they were going to die, and then they'd never be able to fix any of this. In order to save the world, they had to live, and they had to leave behind three friends. And it hurt worse than dying. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The speed boat zipped away from the aircraft carrier, barely avoiding the spray of bullets coming from the weapons being pointed at them from on deck. Although each of them managed to avoid getting hit, the boat itself wasn't so lucky. They managed a clean escape, but they were in trouble. The gas line had been hit, and now they were out of gas in the middle of the ocean. Without a paddle.

Looking up they saw that the sun was high overhead, and it was hot. Very hot. Things couldn't get much worse, or at least so it seemed. For now all they could do was sit and wait, and hope they could figure a way out of this mess.
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D'harim stood on the deck of the aircraft carrier, staring out into the distance. His black robe moved with the ocean breeze, a comfortable feeling to anyone but him. He was annoyed not by the breeze, but because he hadn't gotten his challenge.

"You truly crushed them. Nice work Takuya." The speaker was the brown robed shorter fellow, his companion, one of the two other Knights of Order. He too was fully covered by his robe which blew in the breeze.

"Call me by that name again and I'll kill you. Slowly." Beneath his face-covering the brown robed man was grinning, and he chuckled out loud. He knew just how serious D'harim was, but that didn't mean he couldn't joke with the other knight.

"Well then, should I call you...Kensai?" The one in brown dodged the vicious backhand that the black robed man sent his way, aware that only his ability to move as the wind had saved him from a very painful blow.

Beneath his face covering Takuya Shinomori sneered, his eyes piercing across the sea towards the duelists that now waited out there. His potential challenge. "Those names are nothing to me. Takuya Shinomori is dead. All that there is, is D'harim." XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Author's Notes: MWUAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHHAHAAHHAHAAHA (Deep breath) HAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! I feel evil tonight!

G.O.T. Nick: I'm surprised at how fast you comprehend. Here's a virtual cookie.

The White Mage: Gotcha! Nope, The End was the name of the event where Eikyuu comes and brings order to all. Not the end of the story, although that impression was my intent.

Void Templar: Got you too.

WolfGeneral: Keep your eyes wide. It helps you read the story.

Original Cards

D'harim: Agony, Heart of Suffering, Dark Mind-Devil's Insanity, Black Wind of Death, Death Tendrils, Death Knight Mechanist, Death Knight Paladin, Death Knight Corpse Army, Death knight Bombardier, Death Knight Torture Master

Talon: Payment of Debt, Halt Play, Power of Unity

Anime Original Cards

D'harim: Seal of Orichalcos

Talon: V-Tiger Jet, W, VWYXZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon

Yami: Excalibur, Black Spear