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The Orichalcos Saga
Fanfic Chapter 196: Friends and Foes Pt 3: If I Only Had a Hammer
Episode Basis: My Freaky Valentine Pt 3
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Joey was behind the eight ball in his duel with Mai. Mai had given up her "weaker side" (her term) in return for the power of the Orichalcos. But it was clearly driving her insane. Things looked grim when suddenly Joey was spirited away to Gadira where he released one of the Legendary Dragons, Hermos. I wonder what it can do.
Duke Devlin burst through the door to the security room. "Found it." He sat at one of the consoles and started typing command. "Now let's hope the override commands work."
Everyone was astonished as Joey presented his new card.
"No way, that's card looks just like the one Yugi has," Amara gasped.
"That's because it is like the one I have, Amara," Yami explained. "Just as I was chosen to wield the Eye of Timaeus, so was Joey chosen to wield the Claw of Hermos."
Valon growled, "How did a hack like Wheeler get a card like that?"
"What I want to know is can he use it?" Raphael asked.
"Looks like I found the secret to ending this duel and saving us both," Joey said.
(M: 3600)
(J: 200)
"First I play Monster Reborn to revive my Fiend Megacyber."
"I'm not impressed," Mai said. "My Pet Dragon destroyed him once and he can do it again."
"I'm not done yet," Joey said. "Next I'll get you reacquainted with my old friend Time Wizard (1)!" A clock with a literal face holding a scepter appeared.
Mai growled disgusted.
"Time Wizard is how Joey beat Mai in their first duel," Harold explained to Amara. "So obviously Mai is going to hold a grudge against that particular monster."
"And now, here's Hermos!" Joey announced sliding the new card into the magic/trap card slot. A red dragon appeared. "Next I'll combine Hermos with my Time Wizard!" The two monsters disappeared into a cone of light and an object emerged.
It was a bright-colored flat-end mallet with a long handle and a pair of wings. Joey let out a grunt that was a combination of surprise and confusion. "What is that?"
Valon laughed, "It's a croquet mallet with wings," he cracked.
Tristan slapped his head with his palm. "Can't he turn that thing back into a dragon?" Tea asked.
"There's no need to," Yami informed them.
Yugi nodded his head. "First impressions can be deceiving."
"Who cares what it looks like," Joey said. "All right, my Fiend, pick up that hammer and attack!"
"I hope Joey knows what he's doing," Harold said.
"I doubt it," Amara replied.
Joey's monster's attack points haven't changed, but I better be careful, Mai thought. "I play Harpie Lady Sparrow Formation to destroy your monster!"
"That won't work," Joey said. "Because my hammer has all the power of my dragon AND my Time Wizard!" The Fiend Megacyber pounded on the ground and a vortex opened up. Glowing specs came out of the vortex and landed on top of each of Mai's monsters. Harpie's Pet Dragon got the number 1, while the three Harpies got 2, 3, and 6.
"Tea, what's going on?" Tristan asked.
"I'm the wrong person to ask," Tea replied.
"Thanks for the counting lesson, Wheeler," Valon heckled. "What are you going to do next, teach us the alphabet?"
"Come on, do something!" Joey exhorted. But the Fiend Megacyber just stood there. Joey let out a defeated sigh. "Fine, I end my turn."
"Are you still trying to lose on purpose? Well it all ends now." Suddenly a strong wind picked up and all of Mai's monsters were sucked into the vortex. "What's going on?"
"I'm just as confused as you are," Joey admitted.
"Whatever Joey did must've destroyed Mai's monsters," Yugi theorized.
"Maybe not," Yami replied. "Look, the vortex formed by Joey's hammer is still there. There is a chance that they may return."
"With Mai's monsters MIA, this is Joey's time to make an attack," Amara said as Mai placed a card face-down on the field.
And that was what Joey did. "Fiend Megacyber, attack Mai's life points directly!" The mighty warrior slugged Mai right in the chest.
(M: 1400)
(J: 200)
She'll forgive me… someday, Joey thought.
"This is cutting it close," Jonah commented.
"Not to worry," Raphael said. "We get a soul either way."
"How can you two talk like that?" Valon asked harshly. "She's one of us!"
"Oh get it through your thick skull, you Neanderthal; she's not one of us! She's doesn't believe in our cause, she only wanted to join us so she could get the power to clobber Wheeler!" Valon got set to give Jonah a black eye but was stopped again by Raphael.
"I'll lay a card face-down and end my turn," Joey said. As Mai started her turn, her pet dragon popped out of the vortex.
"Mai's dragon is back," Harold gasped.
"But why did it come back?" Yugi wondered.
"Wait a second," Yami said attracting the attention of his group. "Joey's hammer was made from Time Wizard, a monster that can speed forward the passage of time. I bet that vortex wasn't designed to destroy Mai's monsters, but send them forward by a certain number of turns."
"If that's true," Amara said. "Then those numbers must've represented a number of turns which had to pass before the monsters were returned."
"Unfortunately, Harpie's Pet Dragon had the number 1 so it returned first," Yami finished.
"And Harpie's Pet Dragon is Mai's strongest monster," Harold guessed. "And to make matters worse, it's her turn."
Mai drew a card, "Harpie's Pet Dragon, attack his Fiend Megacyber!"
"I wouldn't do that if I were her," Raphael said.
"She's losing her cool," Jonah commented.
"Mai, wait!" Valon called out.
"I reveal my trap card Skull Dice," Joey announced. "Your monster's about to lose some attack points."
"Because the monsters are so close in terms of attack strength," Amara explained. "Pretty much any number will do."
The gremlin rolled the red die which came up a 2. Harpie's Pet Dragon's attack points were cut by half.
(HPD: 2500-1250)
Fiend Megacyber retaliated destroying the dragon.
(M: 450)
(J: 200)
"Almost there," Joey told himself. "I have to make sure our life points hit 0 at the exact same time. That way, nobody loses."
Mai sank to her knees shaking. "No… I won't go back… I won't go back there!" Her defeat at Marik's hands screamed through her mind.
"She lost it," Raphael simply said.
"I think she never had it," Jonah cracked as Valon got on the ledge of the mezzanine and leapt off.
"With this fragment of the Orichalcos stone, I unlock the seal!" Valon cried out. He punched the shield.
Yami felt something push against the crook of his knees and he collapsed just as the shield exploded. Unknown to anybody, a bolt of electricity went into Joey's Duel Disk and shorted it out.
"That idiot," Raphael said as he picked up Jonah onto his back and also leapt down.
As the dust cleared, both Joey and Mai were out cold but Valon had Mai in his arms.
"Why did you do it?" Raphael asked Valon as everyone got up (a white orb nestled underneath Yami's collar. "You risked betraying Dartz all just to save some girl?"
"You knew perfectly well that it's dangerous to unlock a seal before a duel is done," Jonah scolded.
"She's not just some girl," Valon protested. "She's… like me."
Raphael got up close and personal with Valon's face. "We'll talk about this later," he said in a low roar. "Jonah, get us out of here!"
"Yes, sir," Jonah saluted and removed one of her earrings.
"This isn't over," Raphael said to Yami and the others. "I'll make up for this by taking your soul, Pharaoh! The power around my neck puts your Puzzle to shame!"
The green prism that made up Jonah's earring started to glow. A light started to surround the Warriors of Doma.
"You clowns aren't getting away that easily," Harold said and ran forward, setting up a shield in front of him with his Armlet. Harold and his Armlet's shield hit the light just as the Warriors of Doma started to disappear. There was a bright flash of light which blinded even Rex and Weevil outside. Then all five of them vanished.
"Yes!" Duke cried as he broke through the last layer of security. "Now to deactivate the security doors."
The Blue-Eyes White Jet touched down in the middle of the street.
The security gates were raised. Tristan and Amara went to check on Joey while Tea looked around for any sign of the Doma Warriors.
"I was so close," Joey moaned punching the ground. "But I will get her back, I swear!"
"Face it man, she sold us out," Tristan said. "She wasn't just playing a friendly game of Duel Monsters, she was after your soul!"
"No, I refuse to admit that! Mai would never betray us, not after everything we've been through!" Joey ranted as Kaiba and Mokuba walked in.
"What are they doing here?" Mokuba asked.
Yami turned and noticed them. "Kaiba!"
"Well, well, well, isn't this a party," Tristan said sarcastically.
Duke then came running in from a staircase. "Duke's here too," Mokuba noted.
Duke was about to run up to Joey but skidded to a halt upon seeing the Kaiba Brothers. "Hey, it's a party," he commented. "What brings you guys here?"
"Certainly not the Dweeb Convention," Kaiba retorted. "Where's Pegasus?"
Yami shook his head, "We're too late."
"Yeah, Mai Valentine got to him first," Tristan added. "She took his soul with some Orichalcos thing."
Recognition registered in the Kaiba Brothers' eyes and Yami noticed it. "Kaiba, have you heard of this card before?" Yami asked.
"Yeah, my brother just wiped the floor with someone who played that card," Mokuba said before Kaiba could respond. "He disguised himself as Pegasus and lured us to Duelist Kingdom just to duel!"
"And then he ran away," Kaiba took over. "So we came here to get some answers. Whoever impersonated Pegasus is trying to take over my company and that's unacceptable."
"Pegasus did say somebody was watching him," Yami admitted.
"Yugi!" Tea cried. "Harold's gone!"
Yami looked around. "Harold! Harold, are you here? Harold!" But silence answered him.
"I saw him running towards Mai as they spirited her away," Amara reported.
"This just keeps getting better," Tea said sarcastically.
"This just makes it all the more important that we figure out what Pegasus knows," Yami knows. "But right now, our only clue…" He held out the card that Pegasus included in his package. "Is this."
"Can I see it?" Kaiba asked. Yami handed Kaiba the card. Kaiba turned the card over and picked at the back. A thin strip the same color as the back of the card peeled off the card revealing a black line. "A bar strip."
"So the key card is really a… key card," Amara said. "But what does it go to?"
"Wait a second," Duke said. "There was one door that wouldn't open even after I cracked the security system!"
"Take us there right now!" Kaiba commanded.
"Okay, okay, just chill," Duke replied.
"Just who invited you anyway?" Tristan said steamed. "Why don't you just scram?"
"Why don't you?" Mokuba retorted.
"Children, children," Amara said. "Let's just head on upstairs and try to find out who was after Pegasus." She gave both Kaiba and Tristan dark glances. "And we ALL go."
Yami went up to Joey, "It'll be all right," he assured his friend.
Joey sniffed and accepted Yami's offered hand. "Thanks, bud."
Everyone headed for the elevator. Rex and Weevil were at the rear. "They've forgotten about us again, haven't they?" Rex asked.
"Who cares," Weevil replied. "It'll be all that much easier to just sneak in and grab whatever's behind that door.'
"Yeah!"
Duke led everyone up to Pegasus's personal office and to a side door. "This was the door I was talking about." Yami slid the card through a card reader. The red light changed to green and the door automatically opened to a dark room.
"So who wants to go in first?" Tristan asked.
"Maybe draw straws," Joey suggested. Kaiba just grunted and walked in. Mokuba gave a smaller grunt and also walked in.
"Let's close the door and run," Amara said.
"Amara," Tea said scolding. Everyone then decided to enter.
As soon as the door closed, the lights clicked on revealing larger than life statues of all of Pegasus's Toon World monsters. A large diorama of Toon World was at the center.
"I hate these Toon Monsters," Kaiba said disgusted.
A bright light shone from down the room and Pegasus appeared.
"Pegasus!" Yami gasped.
"Hold on," Kaiba said. "It's just a hologram."
Amara went up and placed her hand right through Pegasus. "You're right, Kaiba!"
"Yugi-boy, at least I hope it's you who found this room," the Pegasus hologram said. "By the way, what do you think of the room I did the interior decorating myself."
"This guy has got to get over himself," Tristan grumbled.
Tea nudged him, "I can't hear," she said.
"If you're receiving this message, then the people who were after my soul have already gotten to me. So please listen." All of a sudden Pegasus's voice just got a whole lot solemn, totally unlike him. "It all started when someone tried buying out my company."
"Hold on," Kaiba said. "This was how I was dragged into this mess."
"I did some inquiring and overcame a lot of government red tape and while I was unable to get a handle on the name of the group issuing the buyout, I was able to get a handle on the leader of the buyout, and his name… is Dartz."
"Who's Dartz?" Yami wondered.
"Who cares?" Kaiba retorted.
"Even though I no longer have my Millennium Eye, I do have a sixth sense towards the occult, probably what led me to contact you. Anyway, I felt there was something rather supernatural about this Dartz fellow so I did some further digging and found out what his plan was. Dartz is planning on using my game to destroy civilization!"
"How is he going to do that?" Mokuba asked.
As if the hologram could hear him, it answered, "Ever since my retirement, I've been researching into the Egyptian origins of Duel Monsters and I made an incredible discovery. These monsters existed long before the pyramids were even formed!"
"In the city of Atlantis," Yami filled in.
"That's where Dartz comes in, he's trying to resurrect the most terrifying beast to ever roam the Earth: the Great Leviathan! By draining the souls of man and beasts to feed his monster! He must be stopped. You are our only hope, Yugi-Boy! So I created a card made exclusively for you!"
Rex and Weevil panted as they looked around.
"But I've hidden it in this room just in case the wrong party got here before you did. Now, think strategically, where can one find an extra card?"
Yami looked around. All he saw were giant-size images of Duel Monsters. Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, Toon Masked Sorcerer, even Toon Alligator, Pot of Greed…
Pot of Greed?
"Pot of Greed!" Yami realized. "In the game of Duel Monsters, it lets you draw extra cards!"
Rex and Weevil leapt for the pot but Tristan stopped them.
"You're the only one who can save the monsters I have created!" Pegasus cried before the hologram dispersed.
"Talk about dramatic," Tea said.
Tristan held the pot while Amara reached inside and took out a card.
There was no picture on the card, just a white background. "Bad news, guys," Amara called. "There's a card here but it's blank!"
"Then it's worthless," Kaiba concluded.
"Maybe not," Yami said. "If there's one thing we've learned about Pegasus, it's that he never does anything on a whim, everything he does he does for a reason. There must be a reason for this card as well."
"Then you take it," Kaiba offered. "I have no use for something so worthless." Amara handed Yami the card.
Joey growled and kicked over a miniature Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon statue. "This doesn't make any sense, why would Mai join a plot to destroy humanity? They must've brainwashed her or something!"
"Wake up," Kaiba said. "This is a hoax planned by Pegasus."
"Huh?" Joey asked.
"There's no group going around steeling souls, this is all a trick by Pegasus to distract me long enough for him to take over Kaiba Corp.!"
"Kaiba, I hate to ruin your grand conspiracy theory, but in case you haven't noticed, there are a lot more people on this planet than just you and your ego. And some of them are actually more important in the grand scheme of things."
"You dweebs are so gullible," Kaiba said. "Pegasus pulled this same type of mess on us at Duelist Kingdom."
"Maybe there's something to it," Mokuba said.
"Mokuba, don't tell me you're buying into this nonsense! It's just all illusions!"
"I don't know if the whole soul-stealing thing is legit, but there might be something to a hidden group trying to control everything." Everyone was now listening to Mokuba. "After the Virtual Wars, I did a scan of all Kaiba Corp. computer systems just in case Gozaburo or Noah left any copies of themselves. I didn't find anything like that but I did find some of Gozaburo's old files. Gozaburo believed that a shadowy organization was behind several failed projects of Kaiba Corp. It is possible that this Dartz guy heads one of these organizations and is responsible for what's happening to both Kaiba Corp. and Industrial Illusions."
"Okay, assuming you're right, Mokuba," Tristan said. "How can we stop this organization from destroying and/or enslaving the world?"
Yami drew his Eye of Timaeus card. "With this," he said.
Kaiba's eyes widened at the card. "Where did you get that?"
Joey pulled the Claw of Hermos from his deck. "Same place I got mine."
"Kaiba, I know you must've gotten a card like this too."
Kaiba drew and showed them the Fang of Critias. "You mean this."
"They'll give anyone a magical dragon these days," Tea cracked.
"With these three dragons, we might be able to bring down The Great Leviathan," Yami said as the dragon cards started to glow."
The End
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Time Wizard
Level: 2
Type: Spellcaster/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 500
DEF: 400