Chapter 58

"Kaiba may have found a way to keep himself safe for now, but Dartz will find a way to crush his dragon. I just hope I can find a solution to beat Dartz first though." Illidan silently thought to himself.

He then drew his next card and said "First of all, in my Standby Phase, my Armed Dragon LV3's special ability kicks in. I can now sacrifice it in order to special summon it's next level, so goodbye Armed Dragon LV3 and hello Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700) in attack mode!" The smaller dragon vanished in a flash and then a larger orange skinned dragon with dull grey armor appeared. It had powerful clawed hands, strong legs, short stubby wings, and a tail that had a spiked ball on the end of it. Also, it's body was covered in spikes as well.

"Next, I'll play my spell card, Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two new cards." With a swift motion, he picked up two cards at once and looked them over.

"I'll place one card face down, and play the spell card Mirage of Nightmare. During your Standby Phase, I get to draw till I hold four cards in my hand, but during my Standby Phase, I must discard the same number I drew. That shall do it for my turn." (Seto 4000, Illidan 4000, Yami 4000; Dartz 7500)

Nodding, Yami drew and seemed to glance at his card for a long moment before saying "I now place one card face down, and summon Big Shield Guardna (100/2600) in defense mode." A warrior with long wild black hair in orange pants and a multicolored shirt with a very large shield strapped to his arm then appeared on the field in a one knee position with the large shield creature in front of himself.

"I'll end my move now." (Seto 4000, Illidan 4000, Yami 4000; Dartz 7500)

Sighing, Tea said "There isn't much they can do now, is there?"

Nodding, Tristan replied "The Pharaoh, Illidan, and Kaiba are all three stuck due to those Mirror Knights. If they were gone, they could continue assaulting Dartz, but even if they got rid of them, Dartz's little eyeball would absorb the damage."

Mokuba added "Don't worry guys, my brother will find a way to win this duel."

On the field, Dartz drew his next card, saying "Now that I've drawn, Deuteros adds yet another 3000 life points to my score."

"Yeah, and don't forget that my Mirage of Nightmare kicks in during your Standby Phase, so I now draw four new cards." called out Illidan. Glancing over his newly drawn cards, he saw he had Dimension Wall, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6, Silent Swordsman LV3, and Luster Dragon.

"We must stop him from gaining anymore life points." Yami called out to the others, instantly breaking Illidan's concentration on his cards.

Nodding, Illidan added "And fast, because we won't be able to keep this up forever."

Dartz only smirked at this, saying "You're all fools if you think you can stop me."

Kaiba had now had enough of Dartz's comments, and said "You think we're fools, well, you're wrong, because I'm activating a trap! Go Ring of Destruction, which allows me to destroy one of your monsters, causing us both to lose the same number of life points equal to the destroyed monster's attack points. And now, I'll use my trap to squash your Mirror Knight Calling, because without it, your knights won't have anymore spare shields!"

A large collar with explosives on it's side then appeared. It then spun rapidly across the field and slipped onto the large crystal monster. The collar then exploded, sending shards of the crystal flying. Both Dartz and Seto then each lost 500 life points, but Seto only smirked at his handy work.

As the dust was settling, the helmets of the four knights then began to crack up. The helmets then completely broke apart, revealing four faces. Everyone but Dartz was in shock at the faces they saw.

There stood four familiar faces. The first was of a young boy with violet eyes, black hair with yellow and pink highlights in it. Then there was a young man with brown eyes and sandy blonde hair. Next to him stood a blonde headed young woman with mid-back length hair and violet eyes. Finally, a man with grey shoulder length hair and only one eye visible, which was brown, was left.

"It can't be…" Illidan said in total shock.

"Yugi!" called out Yami, in total confusion.

Tea, who was still in shock, said "It's Yugi, Joey, Mai and Pegasus! What is going on?"

Dartz let out an evil laugh, saying "I control the souls of your friends, and if you want to get to me, you'll have to destroy them."

Yami's face then went white, as if something troubled him greatly. Illidan then guessed possibly what was wrong. "His face down, I bet it would have destroyed them. This is bad."

Continuing with his evil laugh, Dartz said "No matter what you do, you'll never defeat me! You must destroy the souls of your friends in order to stop me, so let's see if you have what it takes gentlemen."

Both Yami and Illidan were beginning to sweat, as they knew Dartz was right. "If we want to stop him, we have to mow down our own friends. I… I don't know if I can do it." Illidan silently thought to himself.

Dartz then let out another evil laugh, saying "How do you like my new soldiers so far?"

Growling loudly, Yami spat back angrily "This isn't funny!"

"Leave them out of this!" called out an angry Illidan.

"Stop with the magic act and duel already." added Kaiba.

Chuckling, Dartz replied "But I am dueling, except by my rules. Since I control your friends' souls, I thought it was only fair to show them to you one more time, for old time's sake."

Tristan then yelled "Leave our friends out of this fight! They did nothing to you, so leave them be!"

"Yeah, they never once did a thing to you, so let them go!" added in Tea.

Dartz simply ignored them, but Yami was visibly seething with anger. He yelled "I won't let you get away with this Dartz!"

Smirking, Dartz replied "Yes, that's right Pharaoh, let your anger boil over. The more the darkness consumes you, the more powerful the Great Leviathan shall be when you lose your soul."

Now putting a serious face on, Dartz called out "Mirror Knight Yugi, attack Yami's Big Shield Guardna."

The knight that looked like Yugi struggled slightly, as he raised his sword, but refused to move forward. Shrugging, Dartz said "I guess he still is loyal to you Pharaoh, even after you were the one who caused his demise. What a shame. I'll place one card face down and end my turn." (Seto 3500, Illidan 4000, Yami 4000; Dartz 10000)

That said, Seto drew his next card, saying "I won't be intimidated by the fact you placed some familiar faces on some card holograms. It takes more than that to fool me! I now play the spell card Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two new cards."

Picking up two new cards, Seto smirked and said "I now play the spell card Cost Down. By discarding one card from my hand, I can lower the level of my monsters by two, so I discard Ring of Defense. Now I can summon my Different Dimension Dragon (1200/1500) in attack mode." A light blue serpent like dragon with white on it's underbelly and four wings then appeared with a small hiss.

"Thanks to this monster's ability, it can't be destroyed in battle with a monster that has less than 1900 attack points. Now I have two indestructible monsters out, so you better watch out Dartz. I think it's time I eliminate a knight, so now, attack Mirror Knight #3 my Kaiser Gl…"

"STOP!" screamed Illidan.

Glaring at Illidan, Seto simply said "I have no times for your petty speeches. You know like I do in order to win this duel, we have to crush those knights, so get in the game, or lose!"

From behind Seto, a voice calls out, saying "Please Seto, don't do it!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Seto sees that it is Mokuba with a look of sadness on his face, but he turns his attention back towards the duel. Then Yami called out "Kaiba, you mustn't attack!"

"Zip it Yugi! I'm not falling for this mind trick like all of you have." replies a grumpy Kaiba.

Pointing a finger at Dartz now, Kaiba continues, saying "That snake right there stole my company, and I will do whatever it takes to reclaim it!"

Softly growling, Yami then pleaded "But Kaiba, those are our friends! Please, don't attack them! We don't know what will happen if they're destroyed."

Snorting and glaring at Yami, Seto replies "Don't you see what Dartz is doing? He's trying to stall us with this display, but it just won't work on me! I can see through his plan, and so should you two dimwits if you want to win this duel."

Illidan looked back at the field, at his friends who are now captive on the field. "If we attack, we lose our friends, but if we don't… everyone suffers. We have to win, but at a cost of our own friends, is it worth it?"

Turning his attention back to Dartz, Kaiba asks "Am I supposed to be afraid to attack you due to this little magic act?"

Slightly shrugging with a smirk on his face, Dartz replies "Only if you don't mind destroying innocent souls."

Lightly chuckling, Seto replied "As president of Kaiba Corp, that comes with the job description, and might I add I have no problems doing that every day!"

Closing his eyes for a moment, he then calls out "Kaiser Glider, attack Mirror Knight #3 with Kaiser Blaze!" The golden dragon let out a small roar and opened it's jaws, releasing a blast of golden energy from within it's jaws. The blast is sent hurtling towards the knight that has Mai's face, and her shield is struck, easily shattering it.

"One more shot and Mai is gone…" said a sad Mokuba.

On the field, Seto then cries out "Different Dimension Dragon, attack that Mirror Knight again with Dimensional Stream Burst!" The white and blue dragon let out a soft roar and shoots a blast of multicolored energy straight at Mai.

Just before the blast can strike Mai, the knight with Joey's face jumps in the way, allowing his shield to take the hit, which easily shatters it.

Growling loudly, Kaiba mutters "Figures Wheeler would mess things up. I place one card face down, and end my turn." (Seto 3500, Illidan 4000, Yami 4000; Dartz 10000)

Glaring at Illidan and Yami, Seto quickly says "If you two want to win this duel, you'd better crush Wheeler and Mai. It's the only way to win this duel, and you both know that, so do what needs done. Don't fall for this magic trick!"

Sighing, Illidan silently says in his mind "But it's not a magic trick. Those are our friends, and I can't hurt them. They have lost so much so far, and to risk their lives… I have to find another way, I just have to. But how?"

Looking at his deck, Illidan draws his card to see his Silent Magician LV4. Sighing again, he then looks up and says "First of all, during my Standby Phase, I activate the spell card Emergency Provisions. Now I can sacrifice one spell or trap card on the field and gain 1000 life points, so I'll sacrifice my Mirage of Nightmare card, thus getting rid of it's effect and padding my life points.

Softly growling, Illidan realized if he didn't slow down Dartz, then Kaiba was right, Dartz would win. "Still… I have to find another way. There has to be one."

Closing his eyes, he recalls his memories of the four people that are captive. In his mind flashes images of his incredible duel with Joey at the end of Tournament of Power, where Joey showed great courage. Some images of Joey and Mai together then popped up in his mind, as he saw them looking so in love while at the tournament. Images of Yugi then flash before him, of how he was so kind, so innocent seeming, and how he was totally devoted to helping Yami recover his memories. Finally, images of Illidan meeting Pegasus a not long ago appeared in his mind, as he saw a man who was slightly broken up inside due that he lost his chance to save the one he loved, but encouraged Illidan not to give up on Marie.

Sighing once more, he opened his eyes and calls out "I'll place one card face down and summon Silent Swordsman LV3 (1000/1000) in defense mode." A small swordsman in with green skin, orange hair, a long black coat, white gloves, black boots, and a small, yet larger than his body, sword appeared on the field in a one kneed defense position."

Closing his eyes, knowing he'd never hear the end of this from Kaiba, he says sadly "I end my turn at that." (Seto 3500, Illidan 5000, Yami 4000; Dartz 10000)

Snarling at Illidan, Kaiba yelled "You idiot! Why didn't you attack! Fool, you'll get us all destroyed in this duel!"

Glaring at Yami, Kaiba then yelled "You'd better attack those Mirror Knights, Yugi, or else we'll lose this duel!"

Sighing, Yami closed his eyes as it appeared he was contemplating on what to do. Finally, he opened his eyes and drew a card, but simply said "I end my turn." (Seto 3500, Illidan 5000, Yami 4000; Dartz 10000)

"You idiot!" called out an angry Kaiba.

In a sad voice, Tea softly says "If the Pharaoh or Illidan don't attack, Dartz will win…"

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Tristan confidently says "Don't worry, those two won't let that happen. They'll think of something, trust me. The Pharaoh always thinks of something."

Lightly smirking at the predicament on the field, Dartz draws and smartly says "You two had your chance, but now it's my turn. Now I first gain 2500 life points due to my five monsters on the field. Next, I play my face down spell card, Twin Bow Centaur."

A double ended man like horse, which didn't have a head on either end, but just arms and front legs, then appeared on the field. Each held in their hands a bow and arrow.

"This spell card now allows me to select two monsters on the field, one being mine, and one of my opponents. Once I've selected, my centaurs will randomly select one of the monsters and then destroy that monster and removes it from play, and then deals damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack points to it's owner. Now for the selections, which are Mirror Knight Joey and Kaiba's Kaiser Glider."

The others slightly gasp at this disturbing information, and Tristan finally says "If that thing picks Joey, he'll be destroyed, never to return!"

"And if it picks my brother's monster, he'll lose nearly all his life points!" added Mokuba with great concern in his voice.

Back on the field, Dartz smirks and says "Let's see what will happen." That said, he snaps his fingers.

Finally, after a moment, the centaur's arrow that faces the golden dragon ignites. The arrow is then released, striking the golden dragon, shattering it easily, but the arrow then continues on, striking Kaiba in the chest, and pushing him backwards into the barrier of the seal, making him scream out in pain from both shocks of pain. Finally, he falls back forward, landing on both his knees as he clutches his chest where the arrow was.

"KAIBA!" calls out Yami with great concern in his eyes.

"I… I should have attacked. If I had, maybe Kaiba wouldn't be in this shape." Illidan says to himself in his mind as he stares in horror at his hurt friend.

"Seto!" screams Mokuba as he bashes his hands against the barrier of the seal. Tears are slowly flowing down his face as he stares at his brother sitting on the ground in great pain.

Finally, after a moment, Seto struggles back up to his feet, and slowly advances back to where he stood. Smirking at this, Dartz calmly says "Of course, there is a plus side to the use of this spell card. It automatically ends my turn." (Seto 1100, Illidan 5000, Yami 4000; Dartz 12500)

Slightly smirking as he is still in pain, Seto draws his card and says "That is good news indeed, cause now I can finish what those Siamese donkey twins should have done last turn! Different Dimension Dragon, attack that third rate duelist with Dimension Stream Burst! You've held me back for the last time you chump!"

The light blue and white dragon let out a small cry and released yet another multicolored stream of light from it's jaws. The stream was dead on till finally the knight with Yugi's face jumped in the way, allowing his shield to shatter instead.

Dartz only laughs at this reaction, saying "Seems friendship does conquer all! Or at least, your friends loyalty to one another will be your three's downfall!"

Slightly growling, Kaiba simply mutters "I end my turn." (Seto 1100, Illidan 5000, Yami 4000; Dartz 12500)