Yu-Gi-Oh! Avatar
Fanfic Chapter 52: Prelude to Battle Pt 1: The Woman from Egypt
Episode Basis: The Past is Present
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Yami Bakura came to Yugi's aid by freeing Bandit Keith from the mind controller's control and then knocking him from the arena. But it was too little, too late, for the mind-controlled Bandit Keith had already shattered the puzzle and then started a fire that threatened to consume everything! Joey, Tristan, and the mysterious Avatar were able to get the Duelists to safety but not without extreme difficulty, for Yugi refused to leave without the Millennium Puzzle. Fortunately, Joey and Tristan were able to free it. Yugi recovered from his harrowing experience but the one who was really affected by the experience was Tea. Who was the mind controller? What's Yami Bakura's "grand scheme?" And what's Tea so agitated about if all these problems are occurring to Yugi and not her?
A plane touched down at Domino Airport. The plane had few passengers, but important cargo. The passengers stepped from the plane into the waiting area. The passengers included a woman. She was very exotic-looking, tall with dark skin and long black hair. She was dressed in a long off-white dress with no shoulders. What really made her exotic-looking was the strange gold necklace with the eye-shape design at the center.
The woman and her escorts were met by several suits. "Miss Ishtar, welcome to Domino, we are honored that you would choose our museum for your exhibit."
"Thank you," Miss Ishtar said. "It is I who is honored."
"We understand that you had some security concerns so we have taken extra precautions."
"Excellent, these artifacts are very valuable and several of my… items have already been stolen by thieves."
"Well you have nothing to worry about; your artifacts are being watched around the clock."
"I understand that there was a fire nearby," the woman conversed as they started to walk towards the exit.
"It was just one of the old warehouses. There was lots of old machinery and gas canisters in there, the fire marshal figured that a live wire struck some of the gas canisters. There was nothing deliberate about it."
"I'm glad."
As the woman walked by, people (mostly men) paused to watch her. One of those people was Harold, who was trying to see if they had any openings there. As she walked by him, he turned and stared at her. "Wow," he said and looked at what gate they came out of.
FLIGHT 172: EGYPT
"She's from Egypt?" Harold said.
Yugi walked down the street, deep in thought. I can't believe I almost lost the puzzle forever. He thought back to the fire and how he almost lost the puzzle. I wouldn't have even been in that mess if I hadn't handed the puzzle over to that zombie Bandit Keith. Because of my naivety, Yami was almost destroyed and I was almost killed if Joey and Tristan haven't come to my rescue. What kind of a chosen one am I if I can't keep hold of my Millennium Item?
Tea was walking on the opposite side of the street and saw Yugi. "Hey Yugi!" She called. But Yugi just ignored her. As he turned the corner, Tea paused. Yugi seemed so sad. Is he still kicking himself over what happened at the warehouse? He saved the Millennium Puzzle, what does he have to worry about? He seemed so distant lately, I'm afraid that soon, I'll lose him forever.
"In local news, Ishizu Ishtar, Director of the Egyptian Bureau of Archaeology, has chosen our own Domino Museum for the opening of her new exhibit." Tea turned to the TV in the window of the electronic school which showed an Egyptian woman with long dark hair and blue eyes. But what shown profusely was the gold necklace she wore.
Strange, Tea thought. Something about that woman's necklace kind of reminds me of the Millennium Ring.
"This is the first time these artifacts have been brought on display since their discovery ten years ago," Ishizu explained. "These artifacts chronicle Egyptian history and culture. Game enthusiasts would especially be interested in the exhibit of ancient Egyptian games. Long ago, Egyptian nobility played contests of skill and luck. And these games weren't just played for fun; they were played for land, wealth, and power. Even the Pharaohs participated in this ancient tradition…"
Tea wasn't the only one watching the press conference. Mokuba Kaiba was watching it in his brother's office while Seto Kaiba was busy typing on the computer.
"Hey Seto, this exhibit sounds pretty cool," Mokuba commented. "Maybe we should go check it out."
"I don't have time for mummies and pharaohs," Kaiba said dismissively. "I have a company to run." His phone rang and Kaiba picked it up. "Yes?"
"You really should pay more attention to my press conference." Kaiba gasped, the voice was Ishizu Ishtar.
"I am personally inviting the town's biggest game enthusiast, Seto Kaiba, to a private showing of my exhibition tonight at Domino museum. I guarantee it will be worth his while."
Kaiba, now dressed in a purple duster over black shirt and pants, rode in his limousine towards the museum that night. How could she have known I was watching? Kaiba wondered. It was like she knew it before hand. That's stupid, there's no such thing as psychic powers.
"Mister Kaiba, we're here," the driver reported as he pulled up to the Domino Museum.
"Leave the engine running, I won't be long," Kaiba said as he took his metal briefcase.
"Yes, sir."
Kaiba entered the museum and was met by Ishizu and two bodyguards.
"Welcome, Seto Kaiba," she greeted.
Kaiba looked around and noticed something odd. "We're the only ones here."
"I did say it would be a 'private' exhibition."
Two more bodyguards appeared in front of the exit. "All the entrances and exits have been locked," one of them reported.
"If you don't trust me, then I'll leave," Kaiba said.
"I apologize, we have had a string of thefts lately and I wanted to make sure that we were not disturbed. Please, follow me." Ishizu led Kaiba deep into the museum. "My organization, the Egyptian Bureau of Archaeology, was founded in 1857 to protect the items of our past from theft and vandalism."
"I'm already bored," Kaiba cracked.
Ishizu ignored it. "When Dr. Hunter died under suspicious circumstances, I was chosen to succeed him in the discovering and studying of ancient artifacts."
"So what, if you're looking for mummies, your out of luck, I only deal with games and technology."
"And that's part of the reason why I called you here."
Kaiba stopped, "Look, lady, my patience wears out real fast, so either get down to business or I'm out of here!" Ishizu turned and looked back at him concerned. One of the bodyguards behind Kaiba started to reach into his jacket for something but a look from Ishizu stopped him.
"You are one of the best Duelists in the world."
"No number, I'm THE best Duelist in the world!"
"If you say so," Ishizu said. "Duel Monsters is actually not a new game. It was based on an ancient Egyptian game that was played three thousand years ago." Kaiba grunted. He didn't realize that Pegasus just copied another game. He thought that the eccentric millionaire couldn't come up with an original idea. Ishizu continued, "Pegasus discovered the rules and strategies for the game during a journey to Egypt. He set out to reinvent the game for modern times."
Yugi sat on his bed, still deep in thought, still worried about what happened a few days ago. Someone is after the Millennium Puzzle, Yugi thought. And they're willing to do almost anything to get it, including controlling another and destroying it. And me, in my blindness, I almost let him.
"Yes, but he didn't succeed," Yami pointed out as he appeared beside Yugi. "You were able to put the puzzle back together and escape from that fire."
"Thanks to Joey and Tristan," Yugi pointed out. "They're the real heroes. I probably would've died along with Bandit Keith if they hadn't busted in and rescued us."
"The point is he didn't get the puzzle," Yami argued. "And now that it's together again and our spiritual link restored; we'll fight this new enemy together."
"But we don't even know who this new enemy is or what he looks like."
"We've been in some tougher spots before, and we'll get through this one together," Yami assured him.
She was standing in a desert. The sun was at its apex but it didn't feel hot at all, in fact, she actually felt cool. She looked around and saw pyramids.
Yugi was heading towards one of them.
"Yugi," she called. "Yugi, wait up!" She started to run towards him but Yugi was already disappearing into one of the pyramids. "Yugi! Yugi, come back! Don't leave me!" She pleaded.
Suddenly the world around her dissolved and she fell into darkness, while a giant gold-colored eye glared down at her.
Tea gasped and sat up. She was in her room at her desk. She fell asleep studying. The window was open allowing cool air to rush in.
"What a nightmare," she muttered to herself as she closed the window. "Is… am I going to lose Yugi forever?" She sat on her bed and cuddled a pillow, afraid.
"Tell me something, do you believe in destiny?" Ishizu asked as she led Kaiba into the basement.
"Does it matter?" Kaiba retorted.
"My people once believed that our fates were predetermined. We also believe that a spirit could never be destroyed and that it was simply reborn into a new body. That is called reincarnation."
"Look, I didn't come here for Egyptian History 101," Kaiba said. "I only came here because you said it would be worth my while. But now I see that it was just a waste of my time."
Ishizu merely opened a door. "This is why I brought you here." The two entered the back room. "The stone carvings that are in this room depict the earliest known game playing in Egypt. Kaiba, I give you… the origin of Duel Monsters!"
Kaiba was led into a dark room. As Ishizu flicked on a light, Kaiba gasped. Standing before him was a giant limestone tablet, almost twice his height. But there were images carved into it, images that looked very familiar to Kaiba. The images were of creatures surrounded by rectangles with Egyptian hieroglyphs on them.
"No way, those images resemble Duel Monster cards."
"In ancient times, my people believed that the soul contained an image of what that person truly was," Ishizu explained. "These images could be drawn out. But the monsters that were formed from these images ran rampant and threatened to destroy Egypt and the very world! The Pharaoh and his six priests were able to seal the monsters into stone tablets. But over time, the priests were able to summon the monsters from the tablets the same way you would use your virtual technology to summon Duel Monsters from the cards. But one of the priests betrayed the Pharaoh and waged the ultimate shadow war against him."
So Pegasus saw this very same carving and used it to create Duel Monsters, Kaiba concluded.
Ishizu moved on to another stone tablet. "Look at this next carving, but I should warn you, once you gaze upon it, your life will change forever. It depicts the final battle between the Pharaoh and the treacherous priest."
Kaiba looked at the stone tablet and gasped. In addition to more monsters that resembled Duel Monsters, there were two human images on it. One of the images was clearly dressed in kingly robes leading Kaiba to believe that he was the Pharaoh, but what's more…
"That's the Pharaoh? But, that looks like Yugi!" It was true, everything about the Pharaoh from his spiky hair to the monster image shown above him (which was clearly the Dark Magician) looked like Yugi Moto. But how could that be? How could a 3000 year old Pharaoh look exactly like the boy who beat him and won the Duelist Kingdom tournament?
"On the left is the priest who betrayed the Pharaoh. According to an Egyptian archives that I discovered years ago, the priest betrayed the Pharaoh and killed everyone who was close to the Pharaoh. He then gathered his followers and battled against the Pharaoh. The battle was long and costly. Soon, the priest was able to challenge the Pharaoh directly. The conclusion of the battle could not be found either in the archives or on here. Doesn't the priest look familiar?" Kaiba grunted. "Yes, it's you, Kaiba! If you have any doubt, look at the monster carved above him." Ishizu pointed to the dragon-like image carved above the priest. "It's the Blue-Eyes White Dragon (1)!" Kaiba was flabbergasted, did look like his beloved dragon.
"This is ridiculous!" Kaiba snapped. "That stone must be a fake! Yugi's no Pharaoh and I'm definitely no priest!"
"I see, you don't believe anything unless you see it with your own eyes," Ishizu observed. "Very well then, I'll give you something to see, with help from my Millennium Necklace."
"A what necklace?" Kaiba asked as light begin to emit from the necklace Ishizu wore. Kaiba was blinded.
Kaiba opened his eyes to find himself floating over a huge chamber, covered in stone. It looked like a throne room or council chamber. Someone was sitting on a throne.
The doors on the opposite end burst open and a man entered. He was dressed exactly like the priest on the stone tablet, and it did look like him. Several guards rushed at him with spears but the priest just held out something that looked like a scepter and with a burst of light flung the soldiers all around the room.
"Where is the Pharaoh?" The priest demanded. Looking around, he saw the throne and stormed towards it. Suddenly a cloaked figure stepped between the priest and the throne. "Out of the way, Avatar, my battle is with the Pharaoh, not with you!"
"Never, traitor!" The man called Avatar declared. "I will stop your tyrannical campaign right here and now!"
"Stand aside!" The priest commanded and raised his gold scepter. Avatar held out his hand. Something around his wrist started to glow too.
The priest lowered his scepter. "Apparently, this shall not be decided by magic artifacts, but by our own Spirit Guardians!"
"Agreed," Avatar said. Both combatants held out their hands and five large stone tablets, each bigger than a person appeared face-down in front of them.
"Attack," the priest commanded. A creature appeared before him.
"Arise, my Spirit Guardian," Avatar commanded and he summoned a monster as well: Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1 (2). The dragon obliterated the priest's creature with a fireball.
"One way or another, you will be stopped," Avatar decreed.
"I'm such a loser," Yugi moaned to Yami. "I almost lost you because of my stupidity. Perhaps you would be stronger without me."
"Never," Yami countered. "I may not know what my real name is or how I got to be in the Millennium Puzzle in the first place, but one thing I do know is that you have the bravest spirit of anyone I know."
"But…"
"Remember in our final battle with Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom? He pulled us in to the Shadow Realm where he hoped to overwhelm us. You knew that you couldn't last long in the Shadow Realm, and yet you still continued to fight on. Yugi, you have the soul of a true champion, that's why fate gave you the Millennium Puzzle, that's why you were destined to solve it, that's why we were able to meet."
Yugi was silent.
Kaiba opened his eyes to find himself back in the basement with Ishizu. She must've hypnotized me or something, he thought.
"There have been eighteen Pharaohs in recorded history," Ishizu was saying. "All but one had been recorded."
"If you're not sure who the eighteenth Pharaoh is, why don't you use your little jewelry to find out?"
"Perhaps you're right," Ishizu said as her necklace started to glow again.
"Hey wait, I was…"
Kaiba found himself back in the throne room. The two monsters have vanished so some time must've passed.
"Your dark forces will not stand a chance against my light!" Avatar said.
"The only dark force here is the one that's sitting behind you." The Pharaoh was unmoved by the priest's insult.
"Insolent dog!" Avatar insulted.
"Arise, La Jinn (3)!" The priest commanded. A genie, which looked a lot like Kaiba's monster, appeared.
"I call upon the ancient spirits of the stone!" Avatar commanded. "Combine my two dragons into one! Fusion!" Two of the images on the stone tablets intermingled to form a large winged serpent monster. "Attack La Jinn!" The dragon let loose with a blast of energy that destroyed the genie.
"You will now suffer for the mistakes of your Pharaoh," the priest announced.
"The only one who will suffer here is you," Avatar retorted. "You will rot in the underworld for betraying your oath and killing your comrades!"
"I will make you see the evil of your ways in one method or another!"
Kaiba was back in the room with Ishizu. Clearing his head, he said, "That priest is a fool! I'm nothing like him!"
"Then perhaps my final vision will convince you." Before Kaiba could protest, his vision was flooded with light again.
"My monsters," the priest declared. "You have all served me faithfully, and I will now honor your sacrifices by calling upon you one more time!" La Jinn and the priest's first creature appeared. "Now, turn your spirits over to me so I can summon the ultimate beast of destruction!" The monsters turned into orbs of light which were absorbed by the priest's scepter. "I now sacrifice you two so I can summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" To Kaiba's shock, the dragon seemed to rise directly from the priest. Even the Pharaoh rose from his throne in shock. "Now, my white dragon, eliminate his monsters!" All the stone tablets and monsters on Avatar's side were destroyed. "Now attack him directly! White Lightning!" The Blue-Eyes White Dragon attacked Avatar directly. The cloaked figure was disintegrated leaving nothing but a gold-colored arm band with strange symbols on it. The Pharaoh took a step back in shock. The priest aimed his scepter at the Pharaoh. "Now, Pharaoh, her murder shall be avenged!"
"Are you convinced now?" Ishizu asked as Kaiba returned to reality. "It's no coincidence that Yugi Moto is your greatest rival; the two of you have battled before, 3000 years ago!"
"It's all nonsense," Kaiba said picking up his briefcase and turning towards the door. "I make my own destiny!"
"Do you wish to see a card stronger than the Forbidden One?" Ishizu asked.
Kaiba turned towards and stared at her wide-eyed. "Impossible, there is no card stronger than the Forbidden One!" Kaiba thought back to his first duel with Yugi. He shivered, "I went up against the Forbidden One, and there's nothing that can stop it!"
"Yes, during your duel with Yugi Moto."
"If you're trying to convince me you're psychic, you're doing a poor job at it, everyone and their grandmother knows about that."
"Perhaps, but such a card does exist." Ishizu pointed towards the top of the stone tablet that showed the Pharaoh battling the priest. "According to legend, these three cards were so powerful, that some thought they were actually the gods incarnated. As such, that's what they were called: the Egyptian God Cards."
"But if Pegasus did turn them into cards, then why didn't he use them against me at Duelist Kingdom?"
"Pegasus feared their power! He feared that he couldn't control them so he locked them away!"
Cards that make even Pegasus tremble, this I have to have. Yugi wouldn't stand a chance against them. But how do I get them? I can't ask Pegasus, he's been in recluse ever since Duelist Kingdom.
As if she could sense what Kaiba was pondering, Ishizu said, "Pegasus gave the God Cards to me for safe keeping, but someone has found them. I must get them back!"
"And who is this that found them?" Kaiba asked.
"Not who, what, the Rare Hunters."
"Rare Hunters? Never heard of them."
"They're an underground sect of elite Duelists who steal rare cards to sell on the black market. If you were to host a Duel Monsters tournament, you would attract Duelists from all over the world. And if the prize was the rarest card from the loser…"
"I see," Kaiba said beginning to catch on. "They won't be able to accept such bait, they'll flock here like vultures to a carcass and they'll bring the Egyptian God Cards with them."
Ishizu went up to him. "I have something to give you, so that your time here was not a total waste." She held out a card. It was a monster card with a blue background, but it wasn't the blue background of a ritual monster. Kaiba immediately recognized the picture, it matched a picture on the stone tablet.
Kaiba gasped, "It's an Egyptian God Card!"
"Correct," Ishizu confirmed. "This is Obelisk the Tormentor (4); he was the only one I was able to retrieve. You may use it during the tournament."
"How do I use it? Something tells me it won't be easy to summon a monster that powerful."
"To summon Obelisk, you must sacrifice three monsters. And once you find out how to activate his special power, you'll be unstoppable."
"I see." Kaiba took the card and smirked at Ishizu. "How do you know I can be trusted?" He asked. "I could walk right out of here and you would never see this card again."
"I have complete trust in you," Ishizu said plainly.
Kaiba placed the card inside his coat pocket. "Fine, I'll host this tournament, but I'll do it for my own reasons, not for your hocus pocus mind tricks. I want to reclaim my title as the Number One Duelist in the Land. No more talk of this crazy Pharaoh and that stupid priest."
"As you wish," Ishizu simply replied. And with those words, Kaiba left.
We will meet again, Kaiba, I have foreseen it, Ishizu thought as her Millennium Necklace glowed briefly.
"I've been thinking," Yugi told Yami. "Perhaps our new enemy also has a Millennium Item."
"Yes, I've been thinking the same thing," Yami agreed. "The spirit from Bakura's Millennium Ring said there were seven items. We have only seen four: the puzzle, Pegasus's Eye, Bakura's Ring, and Shadi's Millennium Key. That means there are three more out there that we don't know about."
"So how can we stop him?"
"As long as we stay connected, we can beat him together."
"But… what if I fail? I mean what if I let down my guard like last time? How do I know I won't lose you again?"
"I believe in you." Yugi remained quiet so Yami disappeared back into the Millennium Puzzle.
In his limo, Kaiba looked over the Egyptian God Card Ishizu gave him. One God Card down, and two to go. And then, I'll be the most powerful Duelist in the land once again! He laughed diabolically.
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Blue-Eyes White Dragon
Level: 8
Type: Dragon
Attribute: Light
ATK: 3000
DEF: 2500
(2)
Name: Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1
Level: 4
Type: Dragon
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 1400
DEF: 1200
(3)
Name: La Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp
Level: 4
Type: Fiend
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1800
DEF: 1000
(4)
Name: Obelisk the Tormentor
Level: 10
Type: Divine-Beast
Attribute: Divine
ATK: 4000
DEF: 4000
