Chapter Thirteen
Seto glared at the row of magicians for only a moment before he reached and grabbed the staff from Siegfried. The older businessman, having no chance to protest the action, frowned at Seto instead and then quietly told Leonhard to be ready to run away. "If something happens to us, I want to know that you will still have a chance to survive," he said firmly.
Leonhard stared at him in horror. "But . . . Elder Brother!" he cried. He could not stand to think of Siegfried being killed, and especially not like this—murdered by angry Duel Monsters. He wondered if he would ever be able to look at the game and the cards in the same way again, even if all of them did manage to escape. Nothing today had gone normally. The Duel Monsters were everywhere, he had attacked his own brother against his will, he had learned of a bizarre force that could bring out people's dark sides, and now they were being cornered by a group of angry mages.
"Just stay back!" Siegfried ordered, gently pushing the child away from him. There was no telling what would happen if the Duel Monsters all decided to blast. The resulting shock could kill them all instantly, depending on the intensity of it, and it could even pass to Leonhard if he was standing too close. Siegfried supposed it would be similar to being electrocuted, though he could not say for certain. He did know that he was not particularly anxious to find out.
Abruptly a new, startlingly familiar voice cried out.
"Wait!"
All the mages lowered their staffs and turned to look in surprise. Then they moved aside into two rows, one on each side of a narrow path they had made, as a man clad in turquoise armor approached and calmly walked down the path. His expression was stern and serious, and one of his eyes had been put out. The lid was closed and a long scar came over it and down the upper part of his cheek. Seto and the others stared.
Leonhard could hardly believe what he was seeing. "He looks like Yugi!" he breathed, coming back over near his brother. But that was not possible, was it? He was not certain what to expect any more. Narrowing his eyes in determination, he stepped forward to stand in front of Siegfried.
"Timaeus!" Pegasus exclaimed. "One of the three Legendary Knights of Atlantis!" This was, indeed, a shocking twist. And it looked as though all the mages held great respect for the warrior. Now all of them were kneeling before him and no longer attempting to blast the quartet. Timaeus spoke to them quietly in what was most likely Atlantean, and then he walked past them to stand in front of the small group.
"It has been a long time," he said quietly, addressing Seto. His voice was deep and matched Atemu's almost perfectly—which Seto still found unsettling. Of course, he found Critias—his own counterpart—to be even more so.
Seto nodded curtly. "Why are you here?" he demanded.
Timaeus sighed. "Well . . . as you well know, the barrier between our world and your own has been breached. The Duel Monsters will not rest until the matter is resolved. Unfortunately, some of them have decided to ally themselves with the very ones who split open the gate." He frowned. "Perhaps they even assisted in making it a reality. But in any case, I, Critias, and Helmos were dispatched to resolve the conflict."
Seto grunted. "It's about time," he muttered, half-turning away. "Has the building really been taken over?"
"Yes," Timaeus replied. "Critias and Helmos are dealing with problems elsewhere. You see, some of the Duel Monsters won't even listen to us." He glanced at Pegasus and the von Schroiders curiously, but made no comment. Instead he turned away as well, intending to go back the way he had came. "Follow me and I will get all of you safely outside."
"What will happen then?" Leonhard spoke up.
Timaeus paused. "Then," he said slowly, "Doom Reborn's plans must be brought to a halt." His expression darkened. "They are the ones behind this. They have revived Paradius to fulfill Dartz's original objectives." It angered him. Why could they not leave well enough alone and get on with their lives? They had the opportunity to, but instead they foolishly chose to continue damaging their lives by making the same mistakes that they had made under the Doom organization. It seemed that some people never learned.
Seto quickly followed after him, and once again the others had to tag along. The blue-eyed businessman looked irritated. "And what about Dartz?" he wanted to know. "Is he the one behind all this?"
Timaeus shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted. "He was supposed to have traveled on to the afterlife with his family, but maybe he didn't. I've often wondered myself if he is responsible for the rise of Doom Reborn." He tried not to harbor ill feelings toward the previously delusional ruler of Atlantis, but it was hard not to. Dartz had successfully turned the world upsidedown for a time, not to mention having turned Timaeus, Critias, and Helmos into dragons. Most of the world had had no concept of what that madman had been doing secretly in the shadows through the centuries, but at last in the modern era things had come to a head and he had finally been stopped. And now it looked as though it was starting all over again.
Leonhard listened to them silently, biting his lip, and then looked up at his brother. Siegfried looked back, and though the man smiled slightly at him, it was obvious from his eyes that he was just as puzzled as Leonhard was.
"We have to travel to the island where the Orichalcos temple was," Timaeus was saying now. "Helmos was investigating earlier and he found that they've rebuilt it."
Pegasus sighed. "Oh well," he mused. "It should be interesting to see what it looks like, I suppose. Though from what I've heard about it, it's not a place I would enjoy." He shuddered. "There's far too many vicious-looking snakes and nothing cuddly." Then he smirked upon seeing Seto's annoyed expression. He did so enjoy teasing the serious businessman. That was something that never got old.
Siegfried smirked as well, though he did wonder what on earth they were getting into. Most likely it was something that he would prefer to stay out of. As they followed Timaeus up to the roof to retrieve the helicopter, he began a conversation with Pegasus in hopes of learning more about Paradius, and Dartz, and Timaeus. Leonhard walked beside him, listening as well and worrying. Seto merely gazed ahead, wishing that this was not happening.
Yugi reached Duke first and was alarmed as the raven-haired boy turned toward him. It was not simply the fact that Duke was being controlled by the Orichalcos that horrified him, but the look of pleading that Yugi could see in the red eyes as they flickered briefly. In that split-second, Yugi knew that his friend was still in that body. It was not merely an empty shell under the Orichalcos's influence. Duke's spirit was still there.
"Duke!" he cried.
Duke smirked at him in a nasty way. "This is a coincidence," he remarked. "It looks like I can complete my mission all at once." He glanced over as the others caught up, and then looked to Yugi again. "All of you are here."
Yugi clenched his fists. "Your mission?" he repeated. "What mission?"
Duke twirled a piece of hair around his finger. "My mission," he retorted smoothly, "was to bring all of you guys to Doom Reborn. I already got Tristan and your mother, Joey." He grinned at the Brooklyn boy, who stared at him in disbelief.
Serenity gave a cry, running forward. This was terrible! Duke was one of her dear friends. She could not stand to see him like this. Joey had warned her, but it was nothing compared to actually seeing him. "Duke . . . how could you?" she whispered, her voice shaking and tears in her eyes. She had not wanted to believe that it was truly him that Joey had seen. But now she doubted that this could be a fake. This boy looked like Duke and sounded like Duke, though his words were foreign to Serenity.
He turned to look at her and smirked again, though something tugged at his heart. "How could I?" He toyed with an Orichalcos card as he spoke. "Because I'm a servant of the Orichalcos now. Your feelings don't matter to me. I'm not your friend anymore, Serenity. You're just going to have to accept it."
"But why?" Serenity demanded. She wanted to go to Duke, but Joey held her back, afraid of what he might do. In spite of that, she strained against her brother's grip. "Duke, you're just not yourself!"
"Of course I'm not!" Duke shot back. "The Orichalcos has control of me now! I'll never be the Duke you used to know!" He slammed the Orichalcos card down on his Chaos Duel Disk. "You never understood me! I'm sick of always being misunderstood! I was never as shallow as you thought I was." He was speaking more to Joey, Tristan, and Téa as he said this. Serenity had always been kind to him, as had Yugi. And he did not know Ryou well enough to be upset with him.
Raphael narrowed his eyes, watching Duke's tirade. This scene was all too familiar. It reminded him too much of how Alister had behaved under the Orichalcos's influence. It had taken Alister's deepest, most personal feelings and had brought them out in a twisted way. It had twisted Raphael's own heart to see one of his closest friends like that—and Valon had felt the same way, though he did not remember now. Raphael could imagine how helpless Yugi and his friends were feeling right now.
Overcome by frustration, and angry at seeing Serenity so upset, Joey ran forward and grabbed Duke's shirt. "So that's why you turned against us?" he yelled, looking as though he was about to shake him. "You were ticked off at us, even though it's your own fault that no one understands you, and so you decided to get your kicks from the Orichalcos?" In his mind he was thinking that this was more how Tristan might react, but his own dislike of Duke was now coming out. This puzzled and angered him so much, that Duke had seemingly turned against them. And now he was breaking Serenity's heart.
Serenity then ran over as well, taking hold of Joey's arm worriedly. "Joey, don't! You'll hurt him!" she cried. Or he'll hurt you. . . . But she had to force herself to believe that Duke was not behaving this way by choice. She was not familiar with the Orichalcos, but she could not grasp the idea that Duke had purposely betrayed all of his friends for power. She knew he was not like that.
Joey was about to give an angry reply when running footsteps coming from the direction of the nearby building caused him and the others to all look over. To their surprise, Tristan, Ms. Kawai, Marik, and Mokuba were all coming towards them. Slowly Joey let go of Duke. Serenity went forward joyously to greet their mother and Tristan. The others came over as well.
Marik stepped back as he watched the reunion and looked to Yugi, who looked relieved to see that the missing people were safe. "We have a problem," the Egyptian said quietly to the short boy. He remembered what Dartz had told them before he had gone off in the opposite direction to secure transportation. The man had mentioned something about one of Doom Reborn's top operatives escaping, but had not said more than that. Obviously he did not want anyone else to interfere with this. But Marik had the feeling that all of them were going to end up involved, whether they wanted to be or not. That was generally what happened.
Yugi turned his attention to the lavender-eyed boy. "I know," he replied sadly, thinking of Duke. Noticing Marik's expression, he bit his lip. "Is there something else?" he asked then. A sinking feeling settling in his stomach.
"A lot more!" Mokuba burst out. He was about to start explaining when he heard Joey give a cry of annoyance.
"Aw man!" the blonde boy growled. "Duke got away! He must've snuck off while we were all distracted!" He slammed his fist into his palm in frustration. It could take them ages to find him again, and there was no telling what calamities he would come up with in the meantime.
Sure enough, the raven-haired boy had made a hasty escape. He had snuck onto the helicopter Dartz had purloined right before it became airborne. He knew where Dartz was likely going, and he was determined to go along. It would not be long before Yugi and the others followed them there, and it seemed like a much better idea to lead them to the ultimate headquarters instead of staying here, where the temporary headquarters was about to collapse.
And yet . . . another part of him wondered if he'd made the escape because he did not want to hurt his friends. He gazed out at the sky at the helicopter rose higher into its depths. He would never be the same person again, but that did not mean that some of the old Duke Devlin did not still exist, deep within his heart.
It was not long before Timaeus and his small group had a rendezvous with Critias and Helmos. From there they went to the Ishtars' home to collect Ishizu, Rishid, and the Hawkins—who had been invited for dinner—and Critias told of the burned building where Duel Monsters often flocked. So then the group headed there, meeting up with Yugi and the others when they arrived. Directly prior to this, they were in the process of vainly searching for Duke while Marik and Mokuba described their meeting with Dartz and the others listened in stunned shock.
Recalling the helicopter from earlier, Raphael wondered if Duke had escaped on it along with Dartz. Unless the raven-haired boy had gone back into the building, he did not seem to be around at all. And Raphael dearly hoped that Duke was not such a fool as to enter the skyscraper again, even under the Orichalcos's control. But of course he knew that when one was influenced by that ancient evil, their judgement was often clouded.
Valon listened to the conversation silently, his blue eyes narrowed as he tried to sort through the confused muddle that was his memories. The mention of Dartz had stirred something in his mind. He associated Dartz with anger, with confusion . . . and with the forming of his surrogate family. This last realization puzzled him, and he blinked. What did it all mean? How had this Dartz brought about Valon being with Raphael and Alister, and if he had, why did Valon seem to have those darker feelings towards him? He rubbed his eyes, wishing desperately that he could remember.
That was when Timaeus and the others found them. Yugi was the first to notice them approaching, and for a split second he felt as though he had gone back in time and that it was Atemu standing there instead of Timaeus. He nearly addressed the warrior as such, but quickly caught himself in time.
"Timaeus!" he exclaimed. "What's going on?" He supposed he should not be too surprised to see him and the other Legendary Warriors. After all, since the barrier between the worlds had been breached, it would make sense for them to be there. But Yugi supposed his confusion was largely due to the fact that he had thought he would have seen them before, if they had been there.
Seto stepped forward before Timaeus could answer, smiling very faintly as Mokuba came running toward him and hugged him. He returned the hug and looked at Yugi with narrowed eyes. "That's what I'd like to know," he grumbled. "Apparently Doom is back, and no one knows if Dartz caused this."
Mokuba looked up. "I kinda don't think he did, big brother," he replied slowly.
Another round of explanations followed. Then Critias declared that they must travel to the island where the Orichalcos temple was. That was where they would hopefully receive their answers. It was the heart of their problems. Doom Reborn was there, and Timaeus was certain that Dartz and Duke were going there to meet them—though apparently for differing reasons.
It did not take long for the others to determine that they also needed to journey to the Orichalcos temple. "Yes," Ishizu agreed quietly. "This is what we must do." She gazed at the others, smiling softly as her eyes met Marik's. He nodded in confirmation to his sister's words.
Mokuba went over to Leonhard. He was happy to see the German boy again. Leonhard was someone whom Mokuba had a kinship with and could understand. Both of them had elder brothers who owned large corporations and both of them often wished that they could be of more help. Mokuba hoped that they could become good friends. "I didn't know you guys were in town," he smiled, then bit his lip. "Um, is your brother okay?" he asked, having noticed that Siegfried was wearing a sling. The elder von Schroider was not one of Mokuba's favorite people, but he knew that Leonhard loved him dearly and so Mokuba hoped that Siegfried had goodness within his heart.
Leonhard looked down. "I hope so," he said softly. He could not bear to tell Mokuba what he had done, so instead he added, "He told me he wasn't hurt badly," and did not say anything more, hoping that Mokuba would take the hint.
And he did, though he became all the more curious about what could have happened. "Are you coming with us to the island?" he asked, changing the subject. Then the raven-haired boy hesitated. "I don't know what might happen there. . . ." He knew that the von Schroiders had no connections with magic—at least not before today. Everything must be strange and new to them, and it would only become more so at the island.
Leonhard looked at him worriedly. "Elder Brother wants to, I think," he admitted. "He wants to find out why all of this is happening." Part of him wanted to ask Mokuba if he knew anything more about the Orichalcos, but he was afraid of what else he might be told. And there was also the thought of having to tell Mokuba the truth behind Siegfried being hurt. What would Mokuba think of him if he did? Would he understand that Leonhard had never wanted to hurt his brother?
"He'll get a pretty bad shock, then," Mokuba said then, mostly to himself. Leonhard heard him, but thought only that Siegfried already had received such a shock. It seemed to him that nothing else could be as appalling as to have one's younger brother suddenly attack.
Even though Seto was not extremely pleased about it, he agreed that they could take one of his private jets to the island. Raphael and Alister had to give directions. This stirred up painful memories for them, especially for Raphael.
He remembered so many times of going there after their missions, and of idolizing Dartz. Now they were returning again, and Dartz would be there once more. How would their reunion go? Would Raphael be able to stand being around the Atlantean? He had trusted that man. Dartz had been his father. And Dartz had betrayed him and the others.
"Hey . . . Raph?"
The man started, both at the voice and at the nickname that only one person bestowed upon him. Quickly he glanced up at Valon, who looked confused. "Yeah?" he said, perhaps more gruffly than he meant to.
Valon seemed not to notice. "Who's this Dartz bloke?" he asked. "I kinda remember him . . . but it's weird. . . ." He then proceeded to tell Raphael what he felt. The older man listened, his eyes narrowing.
"Dartz is . . . was . . . delusional," he said finally, struggling to speak fairly. "He wanted to see Paradise be reborn on earth, and he believed that he knew how to bring it about. He killed our families, thinking that he was just doing what fate wanted him to and that it would have happened anyway. We didn't know he'd done that. We just knew how much we hated the world after that—the hypocrisy, the cruelty, the hatred and betrayal. . . . Dartz convinced each of us to follow him . . . that he was the only one who knew how to change the world. And since we couldn't stand the world we have, we agreed." He did not realize that his expression had grown dark and full of anger. He had never been able to fully forgive Dartz for what had happened, even though he struggled to make himself remember that Dartz had not been in his right mind and that he was a victim of the Orichalcos as well as the rest of them. Sometimes it was hard to remember. After all, Dartz had seemed sane. But Raphael had found out the hard way that those who appeared sane were often the most dangerous.
Valon frowned. "But . . . if we were hurting people, weren't we all hypocrites?" he asked.
Raphael shut his eyes tightly. "Yes," he replied. "That was the problem with Dartz's plans. But we were all too blind to see it."
Alister listened silently. He knew that Raphael was in turmoil right now. Seeing Dartz again would be hard for all of them—though Valon still did not remember—but it would be the most difficult for Raphael. Dartz had been more than a leader to Raphael—he had been a father, a prophet—almost someone divine. Raphael had desperately wanted something to believe in, and Dartz had given him that. Raphael had been let down the most. Alister and Valon had never trusted and looked up to Dartz as Raphael had, even though they had trusted him to a certain extent.
Slowly he laid his hand on Raphael's shoulder, a rare show of affection for Alister. Both Raphael and Valon looked at him in surprise. Though Alister did not speak, his gray eyes said that everything would be alright. And he would stand by Raphael throughout whatever happened. Somehow, too, he believed that Valon would as well.
When the island came into view, it looked exactly as it had in the past. The tower, the winding staircase, and the temple at the top were all the same. Raphael glared at the edifice hatefully as the plane began to come in for the descent. Outside thunder clapped loudly and lightning flashed. A fierce storm was about to sweep over the area, but there would be more than simply the physical one.
"Hey," Valon remarked as they slowly landed, "someone's standing on the temple stairs." He frowned suspiciously at the being, not able to make out who it was and wondering if it was the elusive Dartz.
"It's Duke!" Serenity cried. "I know it is!" She gripped the back of the seat in front of her, agony in her eyes. How were they going to save him from the Orichalcos? It seemed to her that it was an impossible task. It frightened her. What if they could not save him? Would he continue serving the Orichalcos? Other questions roamed through her heart, but she was too afraid to speak any more of them even in her own mind. She did not want any of them to come true.
Tristan looked out the window as well and realized Serenity was right. It was Duke. The hazel-eyed boy wondered if their friend could be saved . . . or if he was too far gone. Maybe they would have to kill Duke to set him free. He cringed at the thought.
Seto grunted, standing up first to get off the plane. "Let's get this over with," he said flatly. He looked at Mokuba meaningfully as he walked past him. He did not want his younger brother here. But he knew Mokuba would not stay behind. At least he wanted the boy to stay close to him and not wander off. There was no telling what would happen around delusional people such as Duke and the other Doom Reborn members. If Mokuba went off by himself, they could catch him for certain.
Siegfried, who had been conversing with Pegasus about the supernatural for most of the flight, looked up. Slowly he reached behind his neck, untying the cloth that had been used as the sling. The cut in his arm truly was not serious, and if they were attacked he wanted the use of both of his arms to fight back with.
Pegasus glanced at him with some amusement. "Impatient, aren't we?" he commented as he stood up.
Siegfried smirked. "No," he replied. "Merely being prepared." As he stood as well and headed for the door, he ruffled Leonhard's hair as the boy looked at him worriedly.
Duke came to attention as everyone walked off the plane. "I knew you'd find me here!" he declared, tossing his raven locks vainly. "Once you used your brains, it wasn't that hard to figure it out, was it?" He could faintly hear his own voice in his mind, screaming "No! Go back!" but he ignored it.
"Come on, man!" Tristan yelled, clenching a fist in frustration. "You know you don't want to do this!" He hoped that someone would have a plan. Raphael had briefly mentioned a time when Alister had been poisoned by the Orichalcos, and Alister had added that he had fought desperately against it—though at times he had not known what it had been making his body do and say. He had not been able to completely break free from it until after he had surrendered the duel in a desperate effort to save Raphael's and Valon's lives. Hearing all of that had only made Tristan panic all the more. What if it would take some sort of intense, tragic event for Duke to gain control of himself? Tristan did not want to see that happen. Maybe they would not all come out of it alive.
"Of course I didn't!" Duke screamed back, much to everyone's surprise. His eyes flashed. "Why do you think I snuck away on Dartz's helicopter? I didn't want to have to hurt any of you!" A hand flew to his forehead and he shuddered, struggling against the Orichalcos, but it was of no use. It had been coursing throughout his body for three months. By the time he had been well enough that he could fight it, it had already taken complete control of him.
Seeing Duke's action, Yugi stepped forward and cried out, "You have to keep fighting back, Duke!" He clenched his fists frantically. There had to be something they could do, and yet it all seemed so hopeless! Again he wished that Atemu was there, but he knew it was pointless to do so. This was something they had to solve on their own. But Yugi did not know if he was strong enough.
"I've tried!" Duke retorted. "Don't you get it, Yugi? There's no hope for me anymore." With that he revealed the horrible secret behind his behavior—that he had been deliberately beaten to death so that he would not be able to resist the Orichalcos when they poisoned him with it. A mixture of alarm, disbelief, and outrage swept over his friends and the others.
Dartz, deep within the chambers of the temple, narrowed his eyes as he heard Duke's story echoing from outside. Doom Reborn was indeed shrewd—and cruel. Perhaps it was even more so than the original organization he had created. What monster could be behind this? He supposed he was a hypocrite for thinking such a thing. Most likely the new leader was just as deceived and delusional as he had been. Vivalene had said that she was not the leader. But then . . . who was?
He paused, sickened as he heard voices emanating from the stone tablets that held captive the many souls. They were pleading to be let out, but he wondered how he would do that. Atemu had freed the other souls by having them concentrate on the light instead of the dark. That, however, had been after the souls had been given to the Leviathan. Right now, these souls were still being held in the waiting area. Dartz was not certain how to release them. As the leader of the original Doom, he had held that power, but he held it no longer.
Slowly he walked to the nearest wall of tablets and placed his hand over the nearest one. It was ice cold. He wondered if Atemu's method would work. "Can you hear me?" he asked finally, keeping his voice low. The spirits quieted expectantly. "I am going to try to free all of you," he continued, "but you have to do exactly what I say. Concentrate on the light. It was the darkness in your hearts that claimed you in the first place. If you think of the light in your hearts, of what and who drove you to survive before you were captured, then perhaps . . . perhaps the Orichalcos will contain you no longer."
There was another silence. Then, slowly, the tablets began to glow. Dartz stepped back, watching with apprehension, and then saw the images on the tablets beginning to vanish. The souls were being set free, the tablets shattering as they fled. As Dartz watched this, he determined that he could speed up the process of their departure by breaking some of the other stones. However, he knew that it was risky. There were surely other Doom Reborn members roaming about. It was actually strange that he had not encountered any, unless they had wanted him to come and had known that he would try to free the souls. He frowned. What did they have in mind?
A wicked laugh caused him to turn around. Vivalene entered the room, clapping slowly in a mocking way. She smirked at him then, showing pearly white teeth. "Excellent, darling!" she cried. "Thank you for getting rid of those pathetic wall decorations."
Dartz glared at her. "What do you mean?" he demanded.
Vivalene shrugged. "They were too weak to really be of much help," she replied. "All the ones on that wall we really didn't need anyway. The rest, the more powerful ones, have been locked away elsewhere. Sorry, darling." She winked. "Surely you didn't expect that things would be so frightfully easy."
Dartz hated this woman. He took a step toward her, his eyes narrowed darkly. "I want to see your leader," he demanded.
Vivalene shrugged. "Sorry, that's not possible yet. You haven't beaten me." And you won't, she thought to herself. But we've been working on a new plan. A delightfully devious plan that should put you in contact with our illustrious leader quite soon.
"Then let's duel right now," Dartz said quietly, though he was obviously angry. He wanted to end this as soon as possible, and the quickest way to do that would be to see the commander.
Vivalene's smirk widened. "Yes, let's," she agreed, bringing out her duel disk. "Don't feel too badly when I defeat you. After all, your soul was strong enough to be the final boost that the Leviathan needed, last time." As if remembering something, she let out a mock gasp. "Oh no! I forgot, you don't like the Leviathan anymore, do you."
Dartz ignored that. "I will set the terms for our battle," he announced. "If you win, you will of course gain my soul. But if I win, not only will I be able to speak with your leader, but the rest of the souls you have captured so far will be set free." The loss of the souls would weaken Doom Reborn immensely and then they would have to start all over again. Dartz wanted to make certain that they would not start over at all.
Vivalene pouted. "Seeing the leader would be quite enough of a reward," she replied. "And I can't free all the souls. Half, maybe, or a third, but not all. Only the leader can free them all." Before Dartz could agree or disagree, she drew her first hand and played a card, beginning their deciding battle. Of course, she did not have the slightest intention of losing. But neither did Dartz. He was determined that this battle would not end in a draw. He would win.