Yuri - The Montgomery Palace
Just as Yuri was about to come back to the dining room with a bowl of popcorn in hand, the doorbell started ringing frantically. He set the bowl down in between Tyson and Nick, locked in a fierce game of Dragon Ball Z Fighter Z. Yuri hurried to the door, the bell was ringing constantly.
"Who is that?" His mother called from the third-floor balcony overlooking the foyer.
"I got it, mom! I got it!" Yuri shouted over the rush of the waterfall plummeting into the pool behind him. Through the glossy windows, he could see the outline of McCraven standing outside with his flashlight. Yuri opened the door.
"Sir!" McCraven shouted over the heavy rain. "It's Patty."
Yuri stepped outside. Patty was shivering uncontrollably as though she had seen a ghost. Her eyes were red with weep and her skin was pale.
"What happened?" Yuri asked.
"Yuri...it's Crystal."
Yuri stepped into the rain. "What? Crystal? Did you find her?"
"Oh, I found her alright." She stepped aside. Franny was struggling to walk through the garden. She was carrying someone. McCraven ran down the stone steps to aid her. The flashlight mounted over his shoulder revealed a girl leaning against Franny's shoulder. A girl with a heart-shaped face and heterochromia eyes.
"Crystal!" Yuri shouted. He sped towards her to hug her. "Oh, God! You're all right!" As soon as he put his arms around her, she yelped in agony.
"Easy, easy!" said Franny. She pushed Yuri back from her softly. "She's a little sore. They tortured her for a long time."
"They?"
"Brett and his gang. Yuri. He killed Don Lucio. He took over the gang with the aid of all the RAPTOR soldiers he bought out."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll explain once we get inside. We need to get you guys out of here right now. It's not safe. He's going to take over the city."
"He can't do that."
"He can and he will. He's raised an army down there in the underbelly of the city. They all want their fair share of the fortune he's going to plunder from your father's fortune. He has lawyers, policemen, even members of the Phobos Corp board on his side. He's going to make your family disappear."
"Come inside," said Yuri. "My dad's going to want to hear this and we need to get Crystal out of the rain. McCraven. Have all the guards on high alert."
"Roger that!" He ran into the estate to rally the guards and secure the Montgomery family.
Once Yuri and Franny brought Crystal inside, a commotion erupted throughout the palace. Yuri's friends rushed to her aid. She struggled to smile, for she was so relieved to see friendly faces after being in hell for the past forty-eight hours. Patty, Sabrina, Rosita, and Franny took Crystal upstairs to give her a warm bath and treat her wounds. She had bruises everywhere, her body was covered with marking from a whip, and there were bite marks on her thighs and breasts. When she was cleaned, Patty carefully dressed her into one of Mrs. Montgomery's nightgowns and lead her to the guest room where she fed her some hot soup Mrs. Montgomery made. She didn't want to eat, but Mrs. Montgomery urged her to so she could gain a little strength.
Jacob came up moments later after he briefed an escape plan with McCraven and the guards. He pushed Yuri and his friends out of the way so he could see the girl he considered his own daughter. He knelt down and burst into tears as he grabbed her hand and rubbed it to show her love and comfort. "My poor baby," he said, sniffing twice. "What did they do to you?"
"What didn't they do to me," Crystal said hoarsely. There was a big bruise under her eye and her bottom lip was fat from being punched repeatedly. "The Dragon Sisters. My friends."
"We know," said Tyson. "They died in a plane crash."
"It was no plane crash," said Franny. "Brett murdered them."
"What?" everyone shouted.
"It's true," said Crystal. "He learned they teamed up with Yuri to fend off the bounty hunters who were after him. He didn't take that too well."
Crystal - Brett's Bunker One Day Ago
She recalled being alone in that dank, dark, dungeon with walls made of grayish-red bricks. Her ribs were sore from being kicked constantly. She tasted blood in her mouth from the times that Brett slapped her with the hand containing his thick, golden rings. They caused more damage, opening many cuts on her lower lip.
"Girls!" Brett called. "Girls please come in here."
The doors to the dungeon opened. One by one Layla, Shy, Margery, and Ashely were herded inside, followed by the rest of Brett's entourage. He had them lined up in front of the wall so Crystal could see them. Brett took off his blazer to reveal the leather holster containing his silver pistols with gold filigree and floral engravings. The image with the Lady of Guadalupe was inlaid on the grips. It was a joke, Crystal thought. It must have been a sick joke. How could anyone paint an image of the lady who represented love, peace, and tolerance — the one who gave birth to the Lord and Savior — onto tools that were meant to maim and kill?
Brett took one of the pistols out of the holster and pointed it at the girls. "Take your clothes off," he said. "All of it. Everything you got. I bought you those clothes and now I want them back." The girls didn't move. Layla started to sob, tears dripped down her cheeks. "Did I stutter? Did what come out of my mouth not make any sense?" He clapped his hands. "Clothes! Off! Now!"
So they did. They stripped as Brett's boys whistled and jeered. When they were finally nude, Santiago collected the clothes and stuffed them in a black trash bag. He was holding his M4 carbine at them to display his dominance.
"Gather together, please," said Brett. "Chins up so I can say a few words."
Brett waited for them to huddle together. They wept and sniffled in fear and shame.
"I'm sorry it's come to this," said Brett. "You know. I tried my hardest to give you good lives. I really did. I loved you all like you were my own sisters. That's why I called your group the Dragon Sisters. You were my pride and joy behind this little bitch here." He looked at Crystal with disgust. "I gave you girls everything when you had nothing. I gave you a home to live in. I gave you powerful cards. I gave you fame, I gave you wealth." Brett motioned his pistol around with his wrist. "All I ask for is a little respect. That's it. I didn't ask anything else from you except 20% of what you earned out there doing what you did. It was a relationship that required a little quid pro quo but not a whole lot. You just pay your dues, make me money and you can live the rest of your lives in peace."
He paced around, flashing his gun against the lights lining the walls. "And how do you all repay me? By siding with the one person on this entire fucking planet who rubs me the wrong way. Instead of just going about your lives you decided to join this busy little bee in ruining my plans of getting rid of that little nuisance who lives above us. Not only have you girls ruined my plans and cost me a lot of money, but you spit in the face of the generosity I blessed you with all my heart and soul. I thought we were a team, girls. I really did."
He aimed his pistol and shot Shy in the forehead. The girls screamed as her body slumped to the ground. Crystal clawed her face in anguish.
"You all plotted against me! You all wanted him to win and take the winnings when you know how much it means. This isn't some game anymore, girls! It's a matter of life and death."
He shot Ashley. When she fell to the ground, he shot her three more times. "I need that money to change my life! To get myself out of the shadow of that old fool and out of that grinning bastard Yuri Montgomery! No matter what I did! No matter how much I gave you, it wasn't enough. I gave you cars, I gave you penthouses, nice clothes, a place to live. All he does is smile and you side by him. I hate his smile! I hate it!"
He shot Margery twice in the chest.
"Brett stop!" pleaded Layla. "Please. Please, stop. We're sorry."
"No, no, no, no, sweetheart. It's far too late for I'm sorry. Layla, I appreciate all you've done for me but double-crossing is not tolerated in this family so..." He shot Layla until his clip emptied. He walked to her corpse and used his foot to flip her over. "And so ends the legend of the Sensational Dragon Sisters." He turned to look at Crystal. She was sobbing so hard her wails could not come out. It started out as a faint croak until she let out a scream. "This is just the beginning," said Brett. "Just wait and see what I have in store for your little friends."
"That son a bitch!" said Andre. "We need to stop him."
"I'm afraid we can't," said Jacob. "That fucking monster bought up half my mercenary force with the fortune he's now inherited from his Uncle. Those who are loyal to me are on their way here right now to help us make way for the airport, but they won't be able to fight back against the turncoats who support Brett."
"Sir," McCraven said entering the room. "We'll stay behind and keep you and your family secure. It's the least we can do for you after all these years. It's been an honor, sir."
"Thank you, McCraven. You're a good man. Tell your men to hurry, please. We have no time to lose."
"We need to stop Brett!" shouted Andre. "We can't just run away!"
"There's nothing else we can do," said Franny. "Brett and his men are already arming themselves to storm the palace. If you want to help, help them get out."
"But this city..."
"It's lost," said Tyson. "I'd rather leave than see Brett take charge of it. How can he get away with this?"
"He's an evil person," said Franny. "Evil people have been getting away with these kinds of things for years. As I said, he has legal and financial power behind him. With Uncle Lucio's fortune, he has enough money to pay the media and the police and sway them to sweep this coup under the rug. The Dragon Sisters were just the start. You guys are next. And then it'll be anyone who speaks out against the inconsistencies of his plan. If they gather evidence against him, they will be either killed or labeled as a conspiracy theorist. That's the way it works. Money makes the world go-'round, and Brett's got the money."
"We must leave at once," said Mr. Montgomery. "That's our only hope in stopping Brett from getting away with this."
"We're not leaving this city without a fight," said McCraven. "The airport is heavily guarded by RAPTOR forces and possibly some of the Martinetti's private forces. We don't know who is loyal to you or Brett. Our chances are going to be slim, make no mistake of that."
"We need to try, McCraven. We need to try. Kids, gather your things. Our estate's security forces have an APC for emergency situations. It should get us through the city in one piece. But I won't lie to you, this will be very dangerous. McCraven predicts our chances are low. If Brett captures you, he will kill you."
"Only if he's feeling generous," said Franny. "And I doubt he is. He made Lance suffer before killing him."
"He killed Lance, too?" said Patty. "No way!"
"Yes. He would have killed Crystal and me as well, but I managed to get us both out of there. Our window is short, though."
As everyone started to dash around the palace to gather their belongings, Yuri sulked around, unable to grasp the current situation. So much corruption was taking place underneath their fair city. They're just gangsters, everyone said. Don't mess with them, they won't mess with you, he was always told. Now, look what was happening. Brett Martinetti was literally going to stage a military coup against his family to oust them from power and claim Aquarius for his own. How? How was such a thing accomplished? How could one spoiled brat of a human being get his hands on so much money and power that he could literally kick the founding father of the island out on a whim?
How?
Yuri looked around at the palace he called home his whole life. He was going to lose it soon. Never again would he hear the rushing waters of the indoor rives edging the hallways. Never would he see the sunrise over the ocean from his room in the basement below. Never would he play games with his friends in the living room in front of that giant television screen. All his father's hard work was all for naught. Brett was going to take it all away from him. Yuri punched the wall with all his might. "THIS ISN'T REAL!" he shouted. "This can't be happening! This is a joke! It has to be just one big joke!"
Evil has many twisted ways of getting what it wants. Ser Norman appeared behind him.
"Is there anything you can do, Ser Norman? What about all that stuff you pulled against the demon hold Patty's soul."
"My power doesn't work that way, Yuri. I am merely a guest here in the realm of the living. So was Zera the Mant. I was only able to defeat him because he and I are practically still in the spirit world. But I cannot cross through. Believe me, for a long time I've wanted to hew this Brett character's head off his shoulders. All the stories you told of him. All the things he's done to your friends. If I were able to, I would have ended him and the fools working for him. I am sorry, Prince Yuri. There is nothing I can do."
That just made Yuri angry. All of a sudden the Pendant of the Kings started glowing around his neck. His thirst for justice, his hate for corruption and evil, the desire to protect the ones he loved. It was all channeling into the Pendant. Powering it.
"Yuri!" said Ser Norman.
"What's happening?" Yuri said. His hands started to feel cold. He examined them. What he saw caused him to let out a scream. They were encased in gauntlets of platinum decorated with scrollwork and diamonds. "What happened to my hands?"
"The Pendant is linking us together, Yuri. In a bond far greater than before."
Yuri suddenly found himself laughing. He pressed his palm over his chest."What's this feeling? I...I have this desire to take on a hundred Duelists. Ser Norman! You have no idea how incredible this feels!" He started jabbing the air with his fists. "I feel like I could wrestle a grizzly bear!"
"It's the power of the Pendant of the Kings! I can help you use it."
"How?"
"By paying Brett Martinetti a visit!"
"You can do something about him?"
"Yes. Go to him. Leave the rest to me."
Brett - The East Enron Docks
Even though he was the one launching the coup against the Montgomery Family, Brett was still cozy in his office building deep beneath the surface of Enron Island. He snapped after Nick beat him and ruined his only chance of getting into the Millennium Tournament. If he couldn't win the money he needed to make changes, then he was going to take it. His plan involved murder, thievery, and bribery, of course. When he finally got the resources and the bodies he needed to overrun the palace and take control. One of his lawyers was already on the phone with a very distrustful news agency (Then again they all are). He was instructing them to change the story. They were going to make it look like an army of pirates attacked the palace and killed the Montgomery Family. It was a slippery story, but Brett knew the people of the world would buy it.
They lived in a time when people were too lazy to dig up the truth. And even if they found it, they'd be too comfortable or too scared or even too proud to accept it. They always relied on the one with the biggest voice and influence for truth. If the talking head on the news or the pop singer and the movie stars on social media said something was right or wrong, then the people would just believe what they said and that's all there was to it.
Brett had plenty of friends in Hollywood who would gladly go along with the narrative he was going to publish after the Montgomerys were dead. Now that he had his Uncle's fortune and soon the Montgomery fortune under the palm of his hand, he had enough money to do anything he wanted. He looked outside the window at the troops gathering below. They were ready to kill the elite guards of the Montgomery Estate, whom Brett could not convince to join his side. Not that it mattered. RAPTOR had better gear and better troops. There was no way Yuri and his family were going to survive this night.
He poured himself a glass of wine to celebrate his victory. He turned his swivel chair about to look at the monitors displayed the feed from the many security cameras about the compound he created to oversee the coup. Something caught his eye.
Someone was walking toward the gate. Someone dressed in torn jeans and a hooded fur-lined leather jacket. The hood was up to keep the wearer's identity secret. That was until he stopped in front of the gate where two RAPTOR soldiers halted his advance by pointing their rifles at him. The mystery person took off their hood.
"Yuri?" Brett said with a laugh. "You've got to be kidding me. Looks like Franny and Crystal told him about my little plan. No matter. It's too late. The pieces are set into motion and I'm about to — huh?"
He saw Yuri stick his hands out of his pockets to reveal the gauntlets he was wearing. The two guards fired but Yuri stood his ground, opening his palm and creating a green force field.
"Wh-wh-what?" Brett stuttered.
The bullets bounced off of it, one ricocheted back at one of the guards, striking him in the jugular. The other ran out of bullets. He didn't have time to change his magazine. Yuri grabbed him by the throat and slammed him so hard against the concrete wall that he formed a crater.
"What the hell!?" shouted Brett. He pressed a button on his desk, raising the alarm. His private soldiers stormed toward the front gate, weapons up, ready to deal with him. Just then, the unthinkable happened. Brett watched in horror as Yuri used his gauntlets to punch the gates open. The gates were blasted as though someone used a stick of dynamite against them. The doors flew a great speed toward the soldiers, crushing a few of them.
"Yuri!" called one of Brett's closest henchmen. He took off his jacket to show off his muscles pressed against his black shirt. "You just never learn, do you?"
Four more guys arrived, cracking their knuckles and their fists, thinking Yuri somehow blasted the gates with dynamite. They were ready to beat him again, just as they did years ago when they were kids. Yuri remembered them. They were the guys who helped Brett beat him to a vegetative state. He smiled, his gauntlets flashed. The biggest goon swung with his fist, Yuri dodged his punches effortlessly then struck him hard on the gut.
"ACCCKK!" the guy was launched into the air, flipping head over heels until he smashed against a wall. Yuri ran towards the others. He punched a guy so hard that his face exploded. Another one of Brett's lackeys ran towards him. Yuri blocked his punches with his gauntlets, the impact crushing the guy's fists. He fell to his knees, wailing from the excruciating pain. He examined his knuckles, the bone broke like pieces of glass and stuck out of his flesh. Yuri grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and spun him around before tossing him into the side of the building. He then punched another guy into the air, sending him soaring into a metal container where he splattered like a bug against a windshield. He grabbed the last two by the top of their heads, squeezing them until they cried out in pain.
The power. It was incredible. How could he have denied Ser Norman's help for this long? He brought the two men forward and whispered the last words they would ever hear in this world.
"This is for the Dragon Sisters you sons' a bitches!" He smashed their heads together, flattening them like melons under the power of his gauntlets.
"Oh my God," Brett breathed, watching the footage from the control room.
A mercenary standing on a makeshift guard tower launched canisters of toxic gas at Yuri. Yuri coughed and fell to his knees. "Ser Norman!" he gasped for air. His lungs felt like they were on fire. "Ser Norman!"
You're not going to die tonight, My Prince. Let me take over...Yuri...Yuri stay with me! Yuri!
Yuri fell to the ground and vanished behind a cloud of smoke.
"YES!" Brett cheered. He radioed his men below. "Bravo Team, this is Gold Dragon. When you dig up his corpse, see if you can take those gauntlets off him. I wanna see them for myself."
"Roger that, sir. Wait...there's..."
Brett looked out the window. Something was walking out of the mist. Something huge. The ground was shaking and puddles rippled as giant footsteps rocked the very foundation of the city.
It was a knight.
A giant knight standing eleven feet tall wearing colossal armor of platinum and a white and gold cloak that moved like an open scroll. He carried a giant greatsword made of steel that looked like light made into a solid form. It was taller than the knight was. He wielded it with one arm like it was nothing. The mercenaries started shooting the knight all at once. The platinum knight then swung his sword around, deflecting each and every bullet, tossing them aside like they were raindrops. He picked up five soldiers with telekinesis and then slammed them on the ground five times until they were dead, all the while swinging his giant sword around to deflect the bullets.
The knight started mercilessly slaughtering the mercenaries across the courtyard. He summoned thirteen Swords of Revealing Light by holding up the spell card.
The swords started to fly around and cut them all down to shreds, painting the ground and the walls red with blood.
"KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" shouted Brett. "What do I pay you guys for!?"
It was no use. The platinum knight snapped his fingers to conjure another card.
This time, it was Thousand Knives.
The spell launched a rain of glowing daggers from the sky that felled all the soldiers up top. When the spell died off, two snipers stormed onto the roof and took positions. They fired but not even their powerful rounds could dent the knight's armor. The knight snapped his fingers again, materializing another card. Lightforce Sword.
Two of them appeared over his shoulders and launched upward to the roofs, skewering the soldiers through the faces.
The knight kicked down the door to Brett's compound. More mercenaries ran toward him to stop him. One final card was played by the platinum knight. Sakuretsu Armor.
His armor grew two-fold and radiated with a toxic green aura that started to burn the flesh off their foes. No one challenged the knight as he walked down the hall in his enchanted armor. Anyone who did so perished in agonizing death. It would be minutes before the grim reaper would give them the mercy of death. Even the angel of death knew of the horrible sins these men committed and wanted to watch them suffer.
A team of heavy snipers came out of the barracks equipped with Mechem NTW-20 anti-material rifles.
"YES!" cheered Brett. The sheer size of the weapons made him feel better, dare I say safe. The snipers shot the knights. The giant rounds of their weapons caused some sparks to fly and even made the knight tumble backward from the impact.
Brett raised his fist in triumph. "YEAH! GET HIM!"
RRRRAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHH! Roared the knight.
He raised his left fist up. His gauntlet then formed into some sort of laser cannon that shot a beam with the power of 10,000 Blue-Eyes White Dragons firing White Lightning all at once. The snipers didn't even have time to scream. Their gear, their weapons, their bodies, everything they had was atomized in a matter of seconds. Not a particle was left of them. They were gone.
"What is that?" Brett cried. "Yuri? Is that you?"
"Boss!" said Santiago. "We gotta get out of here. That's not Yuri."
Santiago took charge and led Brett, his gang, and one final squad consisting of his most elite mercenaries. He brought them down to the docks, past hallways with windows showing the ocean beneath the waves outside. The lights revealed fish, lazily swimming by, not knowing of the carnage taking place inside the halls. Brett started calling all his men on the radio.
All he got were the sounds of wild gunshots and screams. Then the lights flickered and then shut off, leaving their group in darkness. The power was out. Eerie red emergency lights suddenly lit the hall showing Brett the exit to the dock where his boat was. Through the walls, he heard more gunshots and the frantic yells of his soldiers as they tried to regroup and come up with a way to stop the platinum knight.
Brett felt urine pouring down his pants. If he was discovered by the armored monster out there, he was going to suffer a most painful death. He didn't want that. He wanted to live.
This can't be happening, he thought. I can't die like this! I'm just an infant. My life has barely started. I'm just a child! I'm barely an infant! God, I'm sorry! I know I've done some bad things but you can't kill me like this!
BAM!
The doors behind them fell down. The platinum knight came strolling in, his sword was encased in the intestines of the soldiers he killed. Brett screamed like a frightened girl, clasping his hands over his cheeks in horror. Santiago started shooting him but the knight kept walking, the bullets didn't phase him.
"Brett open the door!" Santiago shouted. The door to the docks needed to be opened with a keycard and the passcode. Brett stumbled through his pockets, searching for the damn thing.
"BRETT OPEN IT!"
The platinum knight grabbed two of Brett's men with his mind powers and slammed them against the wall over and over again until they died. He smashed their mangled ruins in front of the others. They started shooting while Brett still fumbled for the card.
"BRETT!" Santiago shouted again.
The knight was getting closer. The rest of Brett's squad was shooting at the knight with everything they had. The knight stopped where he was and swung his blade around, deflecting the bullets. The guns ran dry and it was time to reload. The knight let out an eerie chuckle and headed straight for them.
"BRETT!" they all shouted.
Brett finally found the key card. He swiped it over and over again, but he was in such a hurry that the machine couldn't read the card properly.
The knight snapped his fingers to get another card. Anti-Magic Arrows.
Three of them flew down the hall, striking the last of Brett's men, leaving on him and Santiago.
"BRETT OPEN THE DOOR!" Santiago shouted. He got up, pushed Brett out of the way, and punched in the code himself. The doors opened. They rushed through. Brett could see the boat ahead. He jumped in as Santiago punched in another code and closed the door shut. The bolts inside started to slam against one another. BAM! The knight punched through the metal. His arm stuck back in. BAM! He punched another hole.
Brett and Santiago hurried to the boat and jumped in. "Keys, keys, keys!" Brett said. He felt around his jacket.
"Where are the keys!" shouted Santiago.
BAM! The knight punched through the door again. They could see his image against the red light in the hallway. The light also revealed something glinting on the ground behind them. The keys to the boat. They fell out of Brett's pocket.
"BRETT GET THE KEYS!" Santiago roared.
"NO! NO WAY MAN NO!"
"BRETT!"
The knight started to tear the door open with his hands. Santiago jumped out of the boat, sprinted to the keys, and ran back. He turned on the boat, the engines came to life without incident. Just as the knight broke through the door, Brett tossed a grenade. It rolled toward the knight's feet and exploded as their boat sped off into the ocean. Brett turned around, praying that the grenade did the job.
Someone was walking out of the fire. It was Yuri, no longer clad in his platinum armor. Once again, he was wearing his jeans and jacket.
"He got away!" Yuri grunted. "Fuck!"
The Platinum Knight loomed beside him in phantom form. "Don't worry, Yuri. He will trouble us no more. His family is dead. His army is dead. His friends are dead. And if he ever thinks of showing himself, here again, we'll kill him."
"YEAH!" shouted Yuri. "RUN BRETT! RUN! YOU FUCKING LITTLE BITCH! YOU HAVE NOTHING! YOU HAVE NOTHING! I TOOK IT ALL FROM YOU! YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD TAKE EVERYTHING FROM ME! WELL, I TOOK IT ALL FROM YOU! GET OUT OF HERE! DON'T YOU EVER COME BACK! BECAUSE IF YOU DO, WE'LL KILL YOOOOOOOUUUUU!"
Brett got the message. He knew better than to mess with Yuri now that he had this strange power that single-handedly destroyed his private army. In just a few short seconds, his boat vanished into the dark horizon.
And he would never be heard from again.