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The Orichalcos Saga
Fanfic Chapter 202: Separation Anxiety Pt 2: Reflections
Episode Basis: Pieces taken from Trial by Stone and On the Wrong Track Pt 1
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Instead of returning home the conquering hero, Yami returned to the others a defeated and disgraced individual. Everyone was upset of the loss of Yugi's soul. Rebecca was the most outspoken of the group. But there was no time to mourn, for they knew that as soon as the Warriors of Doma found out they got the wrong Yugi, they would be back and this time there would be no mercy. They decided to take refuge at the resort ranch owned by Amara's grandpa. Oh yeah, and Rex and Weevil became members of the Warriors of Doma.
Harold looked around his prison. There was no clue as to where he was or how he got there. He sat down and tried to recall the last thing that happened.
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.
"So this must be the base of whoever these guys are. Oh boy, did I step in it this time." He threw his body at the door but the door didn't budge. "Well that didn't work." He peeked through the bars but all he saw was a darkened hallway. "Hello, anyone home?" No answer. "Great, looks like I'm here for a while."
The lodge of the ranch resort had a bar restaurant which is where Joey had been, deep in thought as he nursed a soda.
Okay, I'll admit I'm not the smartest guy on the block, but even I knew that the Seal of Orichalcos was bad news. But Yugi… no, the Pharaoh, chose to play it anyway, even though he saw what it did to Mai. Compared to that, I'm a genius on Rebecca's level. But if I was tempted to play it, would I? No way! I would ditch that thing or at least use it as a sacrifice card so nobody would be able to use it. But apparently whoever plays it becomes crazier than a drunken clown. Now Yugi's gone, Harold's been kidnapped and Mai's joined the dark side. I can't be as spacey as I usually am. With the Pharaoh on the bus to Depressed City, I'm going to have to head the pack. But the problem is I have no idea what to do next. Hopefully tonight we'll be able to…
Joey's table was near the entrance and he was facing it. He happened to look up to see a kid with spiky blond hair carrying a backpack walk by. "That looked like…" Joey got up and went to the entrance. "It might be. Kevin, Kevin Hunter?!"
The boy turned around. "Joey Wheeler, is that you?"
"Hah, I knew it was you," Joey said as the two shook hands. "But what are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing, Domino is way far away."
Joey grew solemn. "Yeah, well…"
The two went to the bar where Joey ordered a drink for Kevin and explained the situation.
"Wow, that's awful about what happened to Yugi and Harold," Kevin commented. "Any idea what you're going to do next?"
"None what so ever, that's what we're going to try to figure out. So what about you what brings you to this neck of the woods?"
Kevin looked down at his soda, "I'm looking for Mai."
Joey gasped as he recalled what happened during his duel with Mai.
"I was never part of your little playgroup and now I'm going to take you apart piece by piece!"
"But what about your family?" Yami asked. "Does Kevin know you're now a Warrior of Doma?"
Mai just closed her eyes indifferently. "I don't even know who you're talking about. I have no friends or family."
"She's been acting really weird as of recently," Kevin explained. "Then one day she left for a Duel Monster Tournament in Los Angeles. She never came back. I'm trying to look for her but its not easy."
Joey knew he should tell Kevin about what happened to Mai, about how she became a bad guy and was now out to get him. But he couldn't. Mai was Kevin's only other remaining relative. His father, Dr. Adam Hunter, was killed under mysterious circumstances and his Mom disappeared shortly after that. If Kevin knew what Mai did, what she was capable of doing, what she was willing to do, he would be devastated. As much as Joey hated to do it, he couldn't tell him.
"Joey?"
"Huh?"
"Do you guys have any help with solving this whole Orichalcos mess?"
"We've got the Hawkins helping us out and Duke Devlin who was with us at Battle City."
"What about Kaiba?"
Joey scoffed, "Kaiba would rather throw us under the bus then help us cross the street. But I suppose we do need all the help we can get."
Kevin stood up, "Then, count me in."
"Are you sure?"
"Harold helped me out at Battle City, it's the least I can do for him. And who knows, maybe we'll run into Mai along the way."
Joey looked away. To be honest, kid, I hope you don't.
Jonah had been crying for a while now. Both Valon and Dartz thought she was worthless. She wasn't surprised that Valon thought so, but she had been loyal to a fault, hadn't she? What had she done or not done to make Dartz think she's worthless? Jonah was walking back to her quarters where she could cry in peace when she passed the open door to the conference room.
"Jonah."
"Master?" She walked inside and saw Dartz still sitting at the head of the table. "You called?"
"I did, I want you to go with Raphael to Death Valley. Track down the Pharaoh and his friends and capture them no matter the cost."
"Of course, Master, as always I'm at your service." She turned to leave.
"Jonah."
"Yes, Master?"
"I know you were listening to the conversation me and Valon were having."
"Forgive me, Master, I had no intention…"
"It's quite all right, Child, your loyalty has been unwavering ever since you came in, second only to Raphael."
"Thank you, Master."
"Go on, and as long as you continue to serve me, I promise your rewards at the end will be great."
"Sir, to see you in control is rewarding enough for me." And with that, she left.
Dartz knew she could be trusted. At the very least, she was more trust-worthy than Valon. That was why she was a Warrior of Doma.
Jonah joined Raphael on the roof. "Are you ready to go?"
Jonah bowed before her father's mentor. "Yes, sir, I will do my best to aid you."
Tristan had found a new friend: the Rhodes' dog, a small but hyperactive pug named Frank. Now Tristan was outside throwing a ball and having Frank retrieve it. The first time I tried professional dueling, I only ended up getting turned into a monkey. If it wasn't for Yugi, I'd probably still be a monkey and Nesbitt or another of the Big-5 would be wandering around in my body. Things were hopeless during the Virtual Wars but I wasn't too afraid because I knew that Yugi would come through just as he always had. But now, not only had he not come through this time around, but he betrayed his honor as a Duelist, he went against everything he believed in. I was once a street thug but I had a code that I lived by. I wonder what it's like to have magical powers. I mean Yugi has his Millennium Puzzle, Harold has his Armlet, Joey and Tea were under Marik's control. And me, I was turned into a robot monkey. I feel like the Jimmy Olson to Yugi's Superman. And since his weakness was a green crystal, I guess the comparison hits pretty close to home. Frank returned the ball to Tristan and he threw it again. Harold… I was originally pissed at him for trying to eliminate Yugi from Battle City. But I was just using that as cover because I knew that Serenity really liked him. Who would've thought she'd go for the lost boy type? Now, I'm worried sick about him. I guess I should let my anger slide. If I see him again, I'll say welcome back and I missed him because that's the truth.
The same afternoon, everyone gathered in the living room of the lodge for the meeting. The only one who wasn't there was Rebecca who had fallen asleep inside the motor home and everyone believed she needed it.
"Okay, so how do we start this meeting?" Joey asked.
"How about reading the minutes from last meeting," Kevin cracked.
Yami turned to Professor Hawkins. "Professor, were you able to discover any information about Atlantis?"
"Isn't Atlantis just a legend?" Kevin asked.
"Oh it's not a legend. You see, at the ruins I discovered a tablet which gave the entire history of Atlantis. It told that Atlantis was once a prosperous civilization with technology unheard of by the people of the times. But then the stone arrived. People started getting greedy and manipulative. This culminated when an evil king released a great beast."
Yami gasped as he recalled Raphael asking him about whether or not he was an evil Pharaoh. He coupled that with the images shown by the Millennium Rod during his duel with Kaiba at Battle City. Was he the evil king?
"The ancient civilizations formed a coalition to destroy the Great Beast. In the end, they succeeded but only after Atlantis sunk to the bottom of the sea."
"If that's true, then those ruins you discovered might be what's left of Atlantis," Duke theorized.
Amara picked up a newspaper. "Not any more," she said. She showed the article that told of an explosion at ancient underwater ruins, the same ruins Professor Hawkins went to.
"Nuts," Tristan groaned.
"They ruined the ruins?" Kevin asked. "But why?"
"If Dartz is trying to resurrect the Great Leviathan," Yami said. "And if the King of Atlantis did control this great beast, then it's possible that the ruins held the key to defeating it."
Joey punched his fist, "These punks are covering up something about their ancient mega monster!"
"Yeah, too bad the ruins were destroyed before you had a chance to translate them, Professor," Tea said.
"The ruins themselves may have been destroyed, but the inscriptions are still on file at the museum where I was doing my research. It's in Florida."
"Then I guess we're off to the sunshine state," Joey said.
"One question, how are we going to get there?"
Over at Kaiba Corp., Kaiba was getting an update from one of his employees.
"Ever since these monster sightings started, stock has been plummeting," he reported. "Most of our company has been brought out by a mysterious investor."
"I think I know who it is," Kaiba said. "But trace the stock purchases I'm sure it'll lead right back to Pegasus."
"Yes, sir. Uh… one more thing, sir."
"Yes?"
"Sir, we received a report from Roberts' team. The government is leaning heavily on them."
"Tell them to keep going, and that if anybody has a problem with their investigation, to take it up with me personally."
"Yes, sir."
As soon as the employee hung up, Mokuba said, "Are you sure… I mean about Pegasus?"
"Who else would it be?"
"What about Alister, I mean he obviously blames our company for what happened to his family. And besides, didn't Pegasus get his soul stolen?"
"I don't know about all that Pegasus nonsense but you might have a point about Alister. Mokuba, bring up Gozaburo's files on those failed projects and…"
His intercom beeped as a secretary said, "There's a Miss Penfield on the line."
"Amara, wonder what she wants," Mokuba said. "I'll take it, Seto. Put her through."
The video phone clicked on showing an image of Amara who was flanked by Joey and Duke. "Mokuba," Amara said almost relieved. "Boy am I glad to hear from you."
With a side glance at his big brother, Mokuba replied, "Same here, what's up?"
"Listen, we think we know what this Dartz guy is up to," Amara explained. "The problem is we don't have enough evidence to put him down for good. If you could help us get to Florida, we can stop this Dartz guy from going through with his plans."
"I don't know, Amara, we're not in the taxi business plus we have our own problems to deal with."
Joey ripped the receiver from Amara's hand. "Listen, Mokuba, this isn't something you guys can handle alone. They're dangerous! They even defeated Yugi and took his soul."
Amara was able to take back the receiver just before Tristan pounced on Joey from off-screen. "Don't tell him that!"
But the damage was already done.
Kaiba shoved his chair back and grabbed the receiver from Mokuba. "Are you telling me Yugi lost his Duel Monsters Championship crown to some nobody? That stupid mongrel! Tell him he's a disgrace to the game! Nobody should take that title away from him but me!" And he slammed the receiver back on the cradle.
"Seto… are you okay?" Mokuba asked calmly.
"Just fine, now I have one more reason to trash those scumbags."
"Told you Kaiba wouldn't help us."
"Well maybe he would've if you hadn't spilled the beans," Tristan scolded.
"But what does Atlantis have to do with this whole soul-stealing business," Kevin asked..
"Oh there is a connection," Professor Hawkins said. "It was one of the last things I was able to find out before all the research at my house was destroyed. Apparently the Atlantians had a green crystal that was considered sacred to them. In the ancient texts I've read, they've called this crystal… Orichalcum."
Everyone gasped. "So these villains aren't just copying off the citizens of Atlantis's plan, but they are continuing the plan the Atlantians started ages ago!" Yami realized. "Using the exact same metal the ancient Atlantians used."
"All the more reason for us to get to Florida and translate the rests of those texts," Duke pointed out.
"So the question, ladies and germs, is this, how do we get there?"
"Why don't you all just take a train?" Amara's grandpa, Nick, offered.
"Train?" The kids all asked.
"Sure, there's a line that runs right towards Florida. If you leave tomorrow morning, you could arrive there by the next evening."
"Sounds like a plan," Hawkins said.
"Hold on, Professor, you're still recovering," Tea said. "I don't think you're in a good condition to travel."
"We'll have to split up," Amara said. "Duke, you, Kevin and the Hawkins take the motor home while the rest of us go ahead."
"Sure thing," Duke agreed.
Jonah got down on one knee and studied the tracks. She looked back up at Raphael. "They haven't been gone long," she reported. "But we have no way to track them."
"There's no need to."
"Master Dartz!" Both Raphael and Jonah said shocked as their master's voice penetrated their thoughts.
"The Orichalcos sees all, and it has shown me that they are on their way to us."
"Then all we have to do is wait for them," Jonah guessed.
"I'm afraid not, dear Child, time is of the essence so we'll have to get them now. They are coming by train. And a trap is already being set up. And our two new members have already volunteered."
"What do you want us to do in the mean time?" Raphael asked.
"Return to base, we'll remain on standby just in case."
"As you command, Master."
Jonah returned to the helicopter. Raphael looked up at the setting sun. I will find you, Pharaoh, and this time you won't get away.
The gang had taken temporary residence in one of the cabins. There was no top floor, just a loft with six beds. Tea, Joey, Tristan, Duke, Amara, and the Hawkins took the beds and most of them were sound asleep.
Duke couldn't sleep. He had been given an important job: he and Kevin were to protect the Hawkins in case the Warriors of Doma come after them while Yami, Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Amara go on ahead. But it was more than just the upcoming adventure.
When I first met Yugi Moto, I thought he was overrated. But after he beat me at my own game, I began to realize that wasn't the case. I totally underestimated him. But it seems like ever since he played the Seal of Orichalcos, he's been a shadow of his former self. He lost confidence which means we're going to have to work twice as hard until everyone is back safe and sound or until we all become food for the Great Leviathan.
Amara also couldn't sleep. She was downstairs getting a drink. When I first started palling around with these guys, I had no idea of the crazy stuff that was going to happen. Maybe I haven't gotten used to so many magical and crazy stuff that's happening, but now that I am, do I regret it? I don't feel any regret so… Amara then noticed that Yami was still up. He was shuffling his deck, drawing a card, then returning it and shuffling again. First was Kuriboh. The next card was Monster Reborn. The third was The Cheerful Coffin. He didn't even remember putting that in his deck. He was trying to draw one of his Dark Magicians but it was like they were avoiding him.
"You still up?"
Yami motioned to Alexis who had fallen asleep on his lap. "I didn't want to wake her."
"Don't worry, Alexis can sleep through an earthquake." She held the girl's head level while Yami slid out. She then gently laid the head on the couch. "I know you're not used to sleeping and all but the body needs rest."
"I just had too much on my mind."
Alexis moaned and turned over. Amara motioned to the door and the two slipped outside.
"Don't worry, we'll rescue Yugi," Amara assured him.
"It's not just Yugi I'm worried about."
"You mean what Kaiba said? Kaiba's just jealous someone beat you before he did. He's a baby, don't worry about him."
"It's not just that either, it's my past. During the duel, Raphael made the impression that I was actually evil."
"Well first of all, someone who saved the world from the likes of Marik, Noah, and Anubis can't be all bad and anybody who can tolerate Larry, Moe, and Curly upstairs has got to be a saint. But who cares if you were good or evil in the past?"
"I don't remember my past, Amara. And during my duel with Kaiba at Battle City, the Millennium Rod showed us an image of a destroyed Egyptian city and then there was that priest who called me evil…" Yami looked up at the starry sky. "Maybe Kaiba's right, maybe I do linger too much on the past."
Amara sighed and followed his look. "Look, Kaiba's a dunderhead, but I can understand part of what he says. There's no point in worrying about what happened in the past because it doesn't change the current situation. It already happened, and I don't think there's any magical item that can rewrite history or allow you to transport through time. I'm not saying you should not try to figure out your past, but stop worrying about it. All that matters right now is the current situation and right now you've promised to help save mankind, good and evil. Even if that you weren't a hero in the past, that's who you are now. And nothing some big galoot says can change that."
Yami tilted his head. "Amara… it seems so strange you letting your hair down like this."
Amara patted her long brown hair, free of its pony tail. "I guess since I'm going along with you guys on this one, might as well try to pull my weight around here including trying to talk some sense into you."
The next day, Duke saw the five of them to the train station. "I hope this train ride doesn't last too long," Tea said. "You want to take my place, Duke?"
"Sorry, but I have to stay behind to watch the Hawkins with Kevin."
"Rebecca seemed a little peeved that she didn't get to go rescue her 'darling,'" Amara commented making quote marks with her fingers.
"Considering how she called her Grandfather an idiot and ran inside, I'd say that's more than a little peeved."
"Well, good luck, guys," Duke said. To his self, he said, "I think you're going to need it."
Yami boarded first followed by Tea. As Joey, Tristan and Amara followed, they along with Duke were all thinking the same thing: I'll do whatever it takes to help the Pharaoh rescue Yugi.
The End
A/N: I checked a book on Atlantis and Plato's dialogues really did mention a metal called Orichalcum. Now we know the word "Orichalcos" wasn't just some made-up word. Or if it was, it wasn't made up by 4-Kids or Kazuki Takahashi or whoever owns the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh in Japan. I originally was going to have this be one episode but it got too long so I had to separate it.