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The Orichalcos Saga
Fanfic Chapter 198: Guardian of the Cards Pt 1: Death Valley
Episode Basis: Fate of the Pharaoh Pt 1
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! With all Industrial Illusion leads exhausted, the gang decided to visit Professor Hawkins and Rebecca. Unfortunately Doma got to them first, destroyed the Professor's house and almost killed the Professor himself. Raphael left a calling card for Yami to meet him at Death Valley. Yugi wanted to go alone but the others found out anyway. But something is different about Raphael, he definitely isn't like the other Warriors of Doma. What do you think it is?
Duke's car flew over the desert landscape, unhindered by speed limits. It went over dunes, passed cacti and even went over rocks.
Amara was not having a good time. "Hey Duke, couldn't you just ease up on the gas a little," she requested gripping the door handle tightly.
"Not if Yugi's going to be in massive trouble in the Seal of Orichalcos is played," Joey said. "Floor it, Duke!"
"Hold on to your underwear," Duke warned as he pressed the pedal as far as it would go. Amara screamed as the convertible flew into the air and landed on a dirt road. Duke skidded to a halt to check on his passengers. "Hey Amara, you okay?"
"I think so," Amara moaned. "We're both just lucky I didn't eat breakfast."
Duke smiled then called back, "What about you guys, you in one piece?" Actually, they were in no pieces because they were gone. "I warned them to buckle up."
"Where we live, seat belts are more of a privilege than a necessity," Amara said sarcastically as Duke scanned the horizon with his binoculars.
"Found them!"
Joey and Tristan jogged towards the car looking a little ragged.
"Maybe we should walk there," Tristan suggested.
"I'll agree if you carry me," Joey replied.
Raphael stood on a mesa shuffling his deck. The sky still had remnants of starlight left. Soon it will be time for the Pharaoh's final duel, he thought.
Speaking of which, Yami at that point arrived at a mesa opposite of Raphael's. "Let's do this!" He said and rode the horse down the steep slope to the ledge that a rope bridge connected to Raphael's mesa was on. The white orb which had followed him all night remained hovering on the cliff edge.
As he was almost about to land on the edge, he jumped off the horse and they both landed safely on the ground.
"Nice dismount, cowboy," Raphael said sarcastically as Yami walked across the rope bridge onto the mesa Raphael was on.
"Where's Harold?" Yami demanded to know.
"In a safe place… that's not here. But since you came so far for nothing, you might as well stay awhile."
I had a feeling rescuing Harold wouldn't be that easy, Yami thought. Raphael flung off his cloak revealing army-style pants, boots, and a tank top. His Duel Disk was the same type as Guimo's and Mai's. He picked up two axes and threw them in Yami's direction. Yami twisted to the side as the axes cut the ties to the rope bridge isolating them from the mainland. "What was that for?"
"So we wouldn't be disturbed. You see, I need to capture the soul of the Pharaoh himself so I can save the world!"
"Save the world? Don't you know that what you're doing is destroying the world?"
"Darkness has blinded you to the truth! The world is a dark and lonely place to live, poisoned by mankind! All I'm trying to do is fix what's been ruined by people like you! And I'll do it by capturing your very soul!"
"Listen, you…"
"The name is Raphael and I have called you here to duel you!"
"Fine, you leave me no choice. But know this in the end righteousness will prevail!"
"That's what I'm hoping for," Raphael said though Yami had a feeling they were thinking of different types of righteousness. "We'll start as soon as the sun rises."
"Be careful," Yugi warned. "Something doesn't feel right about him." Yami nodded as the two activated their Duel Disks.
The last remnants of the night faded away as the sun rose warming the desolate landscape.
It was on.
"Time to duel!"
(Y: 4000)
(R: 4000)
"I'll start," Raphael volunteered. "I play the magic card Guardian's Treasure. First I must discard my entire hand. Then I'm allowed to draw two cards. Plus I can draw two more cards at the start of my every turn." Raphael drew two cards. "I'll set a monster in defense mode and set another card face-down. You should be pleased, because I played my two cards, I don't have anything left to do. I'm giving you a head start."
Yami knew Raphael was goading him but didn't fall for it. He held up the three cards he was going to play. "I play Polymerization fusing Gazelle and Berfomet (1) together to form Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast (2)!" A two-headed creature appeared. "Chimera, attack his face-down card with Pulverizing Pounce!" The creature leapt at the card but a pair of burly blue arms reached out from the card, grabbed Chimera and threw him back to his starting point. A blue demon arose from the card.
"My Backup Guardna (3) has 2200 defense points, more than enough to tame your savage beast."
(Y: 3900)
(R: 4000)
Raphael drew two cards to start his turn. "I equip my Guardna with Gravity Axe. And next I summon Guardian Grarl (4) in attack mode!" A burly dinosaur-like creature appeared. "I also use Backup Guardna's effect to switch Gravity Axe to my Grarl."
(GG: 2500-3000)
"Guardian Grarl, slice up his two-headed mutt!" The creature charged forward and sliced Chimera in half with its axe.
(Y: 3000)
(R: 4000)
"You activated my Chimera's effect," Yami announced. "Allowing me to bring Berfomet back in attack mode!"
"I'm not impressed, I got a deck filled with Guardian monsters and each of them is more powerful than the last!"
Yami have heard that Industrial Illusions have produced sets of cards that work with one another.
"You could never understand the link I have with my cards."
"You're wrong! I share a special bond with all my monsters and trust and respect each and every one of them."
"But my link is special. Take a look." Raphael held up the Backup Guardna and Guardian Grarl cards.
Yami gasped, the cards were worn and faded. He was surprised Raphael's Duel Disk was even able to recognize them.
Raphael explained, "I played these cards hundreds of times in duels over my life. Jonah had constantly offered to restore or replace them but I couldn't. You see, these monsters saved my life."
I was once like you, gullible, foolish, believing that humanity was good. I was born to wealthy parents and my siblings, Julian and Sonia, loved me. My entire family did. On my tenth birthday, my parents took all five of us on a cruise where I received what was to be my saving grace.
"Another guardian card, and this one's ultra rare! Thanks, you guys."
"We only had to go to about 18 different stores looking for it," Sonia bragged.
"Just 18, huh?"
"Hurry up and make your birthday wish," Julian coaxed.
"I already have everything I would ever need."
Or so I thought.
Suddenly the ship started rocking uncontrollably. We all foolishly ran out to the deck to see. A huge squall had come out of nowhere and was now tossing our ship around. A huge tidal wave struck us. My siblings and I were swept overboard.
I don't know what happened after that. Perhaps I floated along on a piece of driftwood. Perhaps it was like the story of the boy who was put in a basket and set adrift in a river. Or perhaps my Guardian cards were truly that. Whatever the reason, I found myself washed up on an abandoned island.
I knew I could do two things: sit around and feel sorry for myself or toughen up and move on. I lost my childhood but fate has given me something in return: a deep respect for my new family: the Guardian Duel Monsters.
We protected each other. I protected them from the weather and they made me strong and sane. We saw each other through the three toughest years of my life.
"If you respect your cards so much, why do you use them for evil?" Yami asked.
"What you think is evil I look at as saving the planet from falling apart at the hands of people like you and your peons."
"Insult me all you want but leave my friends out of this!"
"You dare call them your friends but are they? You're a Pharaoh, and in no history book did it say that Pharaohs had friends. They just had servants and people they used for their own gain. It took me three years to realize that nobody has friends, they all just use you."
Three years into the future, I was surprised to discover a giant city and island that appeared just out of nowhere. I didn't know if it was a mirage but I wasn't about to question good fortune. I used the raft I had been building for the past several months and tried to row out to it.
But before I could reach it, it descended into the sea again and the whitecap produced by its descent capsized me yet again.
But just like before, I survived. I didn't know how at the time but somehow I was floating in the water above the city. That's when I heard the voice.
"Do not fret, my young friend, we will meet again soon enough."
When I awoke, I was back on the raft and a ship was heading towards me.
I was famous. People saw me as the Miracle Kid, the Boy Who Survived. But soon I would wish I hadn't.
The world I had returned to was far less civilized than life on the island. My immediate family was gone, lost at sea. My relatives suckled everything of worldly value from me and leached off of my reputation like vampires. The island I had lived on was lonely, but at least nobody was able to take advantage of me.
"How can you blame mankind for what happened to you?"
"Because people are evil! But it wasn't always that way. Once the world was perfect and serene, it was paradise!"
I was given an opportunity seven years after my return. The city reappeared to me and this time, I didn't need a raft to get to it. In fact, they literally laid out a light bridge for me.
"I told you we would meet again. Are you ready to leave your old life behind?"
"Yes."
"Then join me and together we will rebuild paradise!"
"I don't know what lies you've been told but no good can come from this plan!"
"Don't worry you won't be around long enough to see how it turns out. Now make your move!"
Rex and Weevil rode their bicycle passed the white orb (which neither of them noticed) and over the edge of the cliff. They crash-landed on the ledge near Copernicus. The horse and the white orb stared at them as they righted themselves. "Looks like we haven't missed the good stuff," Weevil said.
"Yeah, let's see what Yugi does to beat the Seal of Orichalcos."
Yami drew a card. "I play Five-Star Twilight!" Berfomet transformed into a speck of light and ascended. "Since Berfomet is a five-star monster, I can sacrifice it to summon five new monsters." Five more specks of light came down. "Meet the five Kuriboh Brothers (5a-d)!" Five different-colored Kuriboh appeared. One was the normal brown, another was pink, a third was white, the fourth was purple and the final one was blue-green. They all made "kuri' sounds in chorus.
"My cat's coughed up scarier monsters."
"Appearances can be deceiving. Now, Kuriboh Brothers combine!" The five balls of fur started bouncing around, eventually coming together to form a giant blue feral Kuriboh with a horn on top. "Meet Kuribabylon (6). Next I play my Pump Up magic card which doubles my monster's attack for this turn only."
(K: 1500-3000)
"Now, Kuribabylon, attack!" The creature lunged at Backup Gardna.
"I activate the magic card Rescuer from the Grave!" A magic card slid out of his graveyard.
"You can't play a magic card from your graveyard."
"I can if it's Rescuer from the Grave. By removing five cards in my graveyard from play, I can repel your attack!" Kuribabylon broke apart and formed back into the five Kuriboh Brothers. Raphael drew two cards. "I set two cards face-down and activate the magic card Purity of the Cemetery." The face-down card that Raphael set at the onset of the duel was flipped up. "Now for each one of your monsters in the graveyard, you lose 100 life points. And Purity of the Cemetery remains on the field as long as I have no monsters in my graveyard. Also, you should know that I have no intention on using the Seal of Orichalcos!"
"What?"
"That's right, but your fate is still sealed only it will be at your undoing! Now, Guardian Grarl, attack those little gnats!" The dinosaur charged towards one of the Kuriboh Brothers.
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Berfomet
Level: 5
Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1400
DEF: 1800
(2)
Name: Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast
Level: 6
Type: Beast/Fusion/Effect
Attribute: Wind
ATK: 2100
DEF: 2200
(3)
Name: Backup Guardna
Level: 3
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 800
DEF: 2200
(4)
Name: Guardian Grarl
Level: 5
Type: Dinosaur/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 2500
DEF: 1000
(5)
Name: The Kuriboh Brothers
Level: 1
Type: Fiend/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 300
DEF: 200
(a)
Name: Kuriba
(b)
Name: Kuribe
(c)
Name: Kuribi
(d)
Name: Kuribu
(6)
Name: Kuribabylon
Level: 6
Type: Fiend/Fusion/Effect
Attribute: Dark
ATK: 1500
DEF: 1300