Yami Yugi

Castle Yu-Gi-Oh, The Stormcoasts - Thara

Even though they had won a great victory against the Naralians in Akuuda, and learned that they were disbanding all over the continent, there was no feast to be had that night. No songs to be sung. No chroniclers to write down the tales of their deeds in battle. No, once the fight was won and the Naralians fled back across the ocean with their tails between their legs, Jon and the other Princes boarded Stas's Skyship and went to chase them down. Not out of fiery confidence or for glory...but of vengeance.

Summer had fallen ill. She had conjured a great wizard from a magical plane unknown after all. It was a desperate move on her part, but one needed to win them their victory.

Endymion, the Lord of all Magicians. By some miracle, he had chosen her as his link to the Heart of All Worlds. Having that power, unfortunately, would cost her dearly. The summoning was just far too intense for the child she bore. It died instantly. Poor Summer fell in great despair and wailed herself into a deep sleep in the middle of the voyage back to Termnnia.

"I am so sorry," Yami told Jon when they sat in the great hall of his castle in the Stormcoasts. "This was all my doing."

"You didn't start this war, Master," Jon said, staring out the window at the windy seas below the castle, his hands behind his back to keep him calm. "You have nothing to apologize for."

Yami paced back and forth beside the table where the royal companions ate bowls of hot soup with cold ale.

"How is she?" Yami asked.

"She's sleeping," Jon replied. "And she might remain that way for a long, long time. But I have faith. I must always have faith just as you have taught me."

"It was faith that kept us alive on the battlefield that day," said Marcel. "I believed in myself, my friends, my ancestors, and the Goddess of Victory that we would pull through. It wasn't the way I thought we'd win but..."

"Summer sacrificed herself and her child for your people," said Michael. "She deserves a great reward when she awakens. I will see to it that twelve carriages of gold are sent to your family, Jon. And hers."

Jon turned and smiled at Michael. He nodded so fast the hair on the left part of his head swung. "Thank you, Michael."

"So what do we do now?" Jaeyoung asked. He was feeding Xifeng pieces of Uzumenese steak. Her cheek was on his shoulder as she chewed her food, a loving smile was on her face. He cut another piece and held it over her lips. She leaned forward and snatched it with her mouth.

"The Naralians have learned of your power," said Yami. "There is not a whole lot to do now. You have struck fear in all of them. Even with their mechs, they are powerless to stop you. The Empress of Light wrote to me a few days ago. She informs me that her champion destroyed a squad of them when they tried to attack Lady Avi."

"Nice!" Ven said. "I can't believe I missed all the action."

Michael sat up in his seat and chuckled. "Well, if you weren't so infatuated with Jasmine and pulling crude pranks on her for your channel in Domino, perhaps you would have seen some action."

"Pranks?" Yami asked.

"Ah, I had forgotten you don't spend a lot of time on social media. Jasmine and Prince Ven here have gotten very close since defeating the Pirate Kings in the Tropical Kingdoms. They moved into Domino for some rest and started vlogs and gameplay videos and such. Ven took it a step further by pulling pranks on Jasmine for a few more likes and subscribers. Just yesterday he landed himself into hot water when he pulled her yoga pants down as they were jogging at the beach — in front of many people. Last week he gave her an upset stomach by adding some powder to her drink. Honestly, Ven, have you no shame? The girl summons Levia-Dragon Daedalus for goodness' sake. I'm surprised the beast didn't rise from the deep and snatch you up."

Ven let out an obnoxious burst of laughter. "Hey, me and that monster go way back. We've had so many adventures together. I don't think he minds if I play a few tricks on Jasmine once in a while."

Yami rubbed his cheek as the others laughed. "Oy," he said. "I sure am glad I am not up to date with this...social media and these kinds of things. Jasmine is the Heart of the Ocean. What in the world is she doing participating in such antics? Yugi loves those kinds of things for sure. Oh, that boy."

"But we digress," said Stas. "The Naralians. You said they were disbanding. What's going on?"

"Not a lot of them," said Yami. "But it is going to hit their forces very hard. Naralia has few heroes who can stand up to you, and many of them feel that being in giant armored suits gives them power. The other soldiers, however, don't want to contend with princes of great power and a girl who can summon True Dragons. My scouts monitoring King Forrest's 118th Conquistian Forces have reported that six thousand swordsmen left in the night."

"Six thousand!?" said Maria. She walked into the hall with a plate of food in hand. "What an impact this alliance is making!"

"Ah, the sleeping beauty finally awakens," said Michael. "How is Summer?"

"She's still sleeping," Maria said and sat down beside Yami. She kissed his cheek to greet him and said her prayers before digging in. "Poor thing. She lost her child. Jon, I am so sorry, too. You have my condolences. My sisters are sending gifts to you as we speak."

"Thank you, Your Grace. Summer and I will make it through this. Congratulations are in order for you, though. Master Yugi says you are now an official member of the Alliance and will be the first woman to sit in the High King's Royal Termnnian Table."

The princes clapped.

Maria bowed her head. "Thank you, thank you, all of you. This is truly a great honor. May I just say that —"

BOOM!

There was a terrible explosion outside that rocked the palace and caused the windows to shatter all at once, showering the group with shards of glass.

"What the heck!" shouted Jon.

They all ran outside to see what had happened. Yami gasped when he saw half his courtyard was demolished and in flames. Dead guardsmen and scores of his best knights were scattered all over the ground as though they were ragdolls tossed by a giant hand. Out of a wall of flames, a mech flew towards the group slowly and menacingly.

It was colored bright red and accented with lights colored turquoise. The giant mech also carried giant twin katanas in each hand, which were then coated in whitish-blue flames.

The princes materialized their weapons. Marcel tapped on the gem around his neck and his Lord of the Red armor formed all around him.

"Who the hell are you!" called Yami. He materialized Xenduril in his hands and held it up high.

"A Lightforged Sword, eh?" said the pilot. "So that makes you one of the legendary Estarí Knights. I'll be sure to loot that off your corpse when I'm done with you, Master Yugi."

"Estarí Knights?" Maria asked. "Master Yugi. Is this true?"

Yami looked down at his blade. The light radiating from it let out a sound like an angelic choir and silver bells. "I am no Estarí Knight. They have long since been extinct. The knights are gone. I just wield one of their weapons. You know a lot of Termnnian history for one who wants to see it burned and forgotten."

The intercom rang with the pilot's chuckling. "I used to be like you. Until the Fires of Yeyu burned away all my sins and freed me of the High King's lies and the false Goddesses. So you're the Princes everyone is talking about, huh? You guys did quite a number on us back in Akuuda. General Baldric was not pleased that you interrupted our mining operations there."

"Where is he!?" shouted Marcel. "Tell the coward to show himself!"

"He's quite busy keeping our forces from splitting up, Highness. He's going to whip our soldiers back into shape. As will I. I will show our troops that you guys can be destroyed. In fact, if it wasn't for that broad summoning that magician, we would have won that battle and you know it!"

"Watch how you speak!" shouted Jon. "That broad is my wife! And you will show her respect!"

"Respect? Nah, I think I'll just take her and sell her to the House of Flowers where she belongs. They'll pay me a heap in gold if I bring them the girl who summons Endymion."

"You filthy wretch!" Jon's blood boiled. Thunder clouds formed over the courtyard. Lighting struck all around him. He held up his hand and then Anduin appeared in his grip. His tank top and torn jeans were replaced with his combat armor. "I will strike you where you stand!" He swung his axe, shooting a wave of lighting at the mech. It was a direct hit but the mech still stood much to everyone's shock.

The pilot laughed. "You've got to do better than that, bro! Our losses to both you and that dragon-summoning whore have taught us one thing. That it's time for an upgrade. And upgrade we have. That's the thing about us. We get stronger and stronger with each defeat. Bow down to Holy Naralian Technology!"

After shouting those words the pilot attacked, swinging his katana at the princes. They all ducked out of the way, his giant blade struck the ground where they stood, creating a massive crater and unleashing a thick cloud of dirt. Stas summoned his giant jeweled claymore after he leaped up the wall and landed on a crenelation to be safe. He jumped and smashed his great blade on the arm of the mech. It caused a few sparks and may have teetered the mech a little to the left but all in all, he did nothing.

He heard the pilot laughing. The massive arm of the mech swung towards him, Stas saw it in time and trusted to the left in mid-air. The hand missed him by a few feet, Stas could feel the gust smashing him in the face. Xifeng and Maria charged for the legs. Maria struck her longsword on the mech's ankles, then smashed it with her diamond-shaped tower shield for good measure.

Xiefeng was equipped with a magical bow with carvings depicting the wyrms of the Yang Zing on it. Three arrows of light as tall as her leg magically notched onto the bow. She fired striking the mech's left ankle. It did some damage, creating an explosion followed by a rain of spark. The mech buckled backward from the impact. Inside the cockpit, the pilot's computer alarm wailed and screens flashed in his heads-up display revealing the damage. "Warning! Warning! Warning!"

"Ah, these girls got some fight in them," he said. He flipped a switch on the dashboard. "Here's a gift from me to you, ladies!"

Missile bays opened from the mech's back and launched a salvo of missiles trailing blue and red smoke. They each whistled as they took off into the air and made an arch in the sky, tumbling back to earth to strike their targets. The missiles seemed to hone in on anything magical, locking on the mana inside the target.

Jeayoung summoned the spirit of a warrior named Sun Mou, one of the ancient Senka Warriors from his homeland. The blue-armored Eidolon spun his twin blades until he created a barrier of winds that shredded the missiles. When they were gone, Sun Mou looked at Jaeyoung. He nodded his head and disappeared.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" the pilot laughed. He took a long gulp from his bottle filled with a cherry-flavored energy drink. "Go on! Summon whatever you want! Cast all the spells you want! Naralian technology is the future and you cannot stop us!"

He fired another salvo of missiles.

"Not again!" shouted Ven.

Stas shot fireballs from his palms and shot down four of them before they could strike him or Michael. Yami got in front of Xifeng and Maria then summoned a powerful magician known as Illusion of Chaos, who created a force field to protect them.

When his job was done, he vanished.

Ven took a turn against the mech, summoning a wall of water to put out the flames on the mech's twin katanas. The water put out the flames and the katanas were shrouded with hot steam. The pilot merely cackled and the flames returned once again. His mech haunched down and he started spinning around, using his katanas as propellers, whopping to cut Yami and the princes down to size.

Michael ran for him, summoning his thirteen blades. He slashed at the mech's armor with his own sword while the thirteen blades danced around him, elongating themselves as they struck the mech for extra damage.

Marcel activated his Red-Eyes Aspect ability, shrouding himself in the flames of a Red-Eyes Black Dragon's Inferno Fireblast. They made the wings longer and his suit was protected by another layer of arcane armor made of flames and horns of fire crowned his helmet. The tail's length was elongated and tipped with a flaming sword for extra damage. He tackled the mech, knocking it to the ground.

He stood on top of it, raising his tail, ready to jab the flaming blade into the mech's chest. The pilot powered on the rocket boosters on the mech's ankles. He flew toward what remained of the northern wall of Yami's courtyard. The force of the rockets knocked Marcel off. His wings spread, and took him to the sky, saving him from crashing violently on the ground.

The pilot unleashed another salvo of missiles. Once again, Yami and the others had to dodge or stop to make arcane barriers to protect themselves. The pilot saw his chance to get them while they were busy. He went for Xifeng and Maria. Jon put a halt to his advance with lighting from his divine axe. However, he could not protect them for long. The missiles locked on to him. Jon had little time to hesitate but he knew what he had to do. He ceased blocking the mech and rolled out of the way. Xifeng and Maria jumped out of the way.

The battle lasted for hours but eventually, the princes and Yami worked together to conjure a monster with the last of their strength. Michael did as Yami told him to do and summoned his Terrorking Archfiend. Xifeng summoned her faithful Eidolon, The Iris Swordsoul. The two monsters of light and darkness stood together, giving Yami what he needed to complete a ritual summoning. He locked his hands together and muttered something in an arcane language. He used the two monsters as sacrifices to bring forth none other than his own Black Luster Soldier. He then conjured his Dark Magician from the magical plane. Dark Magician spun his staff around as he always did when he entered this world. He then floated next to Black Luster Soldier.

"Fuse together!" shouted Yami. "I summon thee! Dark Master of Chaos!"

Black Luster Soldier and Dark Magician combined their souls together and transformed into a spellsword in black and gold armor. The Dark Master of Chaos's summoning was completed. The exhausted alliance members sat down in exhaustion, then cheered, knowing Master Yugi was going to lead them to victory. Michael aided the Dark Master of Chaos by combining his XII Swords with the spellcaster's own sword, creating a blade that stretched over twenty feet long. Jon added more power for good measure with his axe, summoning a blast of divine lightning from the storm clouds still looming over the courtyard.

Dark Master of Chaos jumped high up into the air. He held the giant sword over his head and let out a mighty battle cry that could be heard for miles and miles before he struck the mech down.

"LONG...LIVE...KING FORREST!" the pilot managed to say before he was cut in half. His mech exploded and then at last the battle was done.

Yami approached the flaming ruins of the pilot's mech. There was still a piece of it left on the ground in front of him. It bore the insignia of Forrest's new mech division. Yami furiously stomped his foot down on it as though it were a cockroach. His Dark Master of Chaos landed beside him and his young Alliance members gathered behind him to survey the destruction of their foe burning in front of them.

"King Forrest," he said. "I sense that you are watching. Your machines are strong. But our love for this continent and for the High King is stronger. Your armies are falling apart. Your influence is waning. Your power — if you had any at all — dwindles. When all is said and done, we mill march on Naralia and bring those who have caused us so much suffering to justice. I am coming for you Forrest!"

Lore

CUIRASS

CUIRASSES are giant suits of armor created by the weapons manufacturer, JayceTEK. These mechs are considered to be the most powerful weapon ever conceived by mankind. They are fast like the wind and carry an array of deadly weapons from lightsabers, giant swords, 30mm autocannons, nano blades, laser blades, and rocket launchers hidden in various parts of their bodies. With these weapons, CUIRASSES can bring down giants, topple castles, and — possibly — can prove more than a match for True Dragons.

Mechs have been used in Termnnia for many years since the technological boom of the Third Age of the Sun, though the first generation models were used mostly for construction. In the year 1208 of the Third Age, their potential was eventually realized as machines of war. Eredian knights and even mercenaries wield them, acting as security for royal families, hunting troublesome monsters in the country, and stopping pirates from attacking Erdedian cargo ships in the Mammoth Ocean and the Singing Sea. But now, thanks to advancements in technology in Domino City, they've evolved into beautiful engines of destruction.

After the Cyber Dark Dragon Crysis, JayceTEK's eccentric CEO, Veran Jayce, was able to acquire the body of a fallen Cyber Dragon Sieger created by Zane's former assistant, Kara Kestrel. He salvaged the advanced technology used to create the beast and applied it to his father's horde of mechs that were sitting forgotten in the vaults of the company's headquarters. In a short time, Veran Jayce perfected the mechs, creating the new and deadly Generation Six CUIRASS mechs.

Young Jayce sold the first few to the Holy Knights of the Kingdom of Naralia to aid them with their mission in killing the Dragon Summoner, Avi, and the Princes of the Termnnian Alliance, who have proven to be a thorn in the side of the Holy Kingdom's military forces. He also hopes that their presence in the current battlefield will install enough fear into the Termnnian government to get them to buy their own mechs from him so as keep the civil war going and his profits climbing.

With these machines, a new dawn has risen in Termnnia. The age of the machines has come. Who benefits greatly from this technological revolution remains to be seen.