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The Orichalcos Saga
Fanfic Chapter 217: Duel of Lost Souls Pt 1: Midnight Duel
Episode Basis: Fighting for a Friend Pt 1
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Yami and Kaiba broke through wave after wave of Orichalcos monsters and finally arrived at the central computer. They discovered that the culprits were the Doma Group, a secret society of people who have a hand in everything. The leader of the Doma Group: Dartz, who appeared to them and basically issued a challenge to them. The two summoned the three Legendary Dragons (Solon had inserted itself into Yami's deck) but as it turned out, Dartz wasn't really there. Meanwhile, Tristan had taken off after Joey and Amara, who are hunting down the Warriors of Doma.
"Joey, hold on, I can run by myself," Amara protested as Joey pulled her down the street, Tristan following behind them.
Joey ignored it, "We have to find Dartz it's the only way to save Yugi, Harold, and Mai."
"Are you out of your mind?" Tristan asked. "Mai's joined up with them! If the situation was reverse I doubt she would give us a hand."
Joey was about to turn right when he suddenly stopped causing Amara to lose her footing and fall over. "This hasn't been my night," she moaned. "What could go wrong now?" She looked up and saw what made Joey stop. An Orichalcos Soldier was heading towards them. "I had to ask," Amara moaned.
"Not these things again," Tristan said.
"Reverse," Joey called and again pulled Amara as they backtracked the way they came.
A guy on a motorbike rode by Tristan. "Hey, don't go that way, its dangerous!" Tristan warned. The motorcyclist ignored him and ended up colliding with the Orichalcos Soldier. The man backpedaled and ran off screaming. The Orichalcos Soldier actually stepped over it as it stomped towards Joey, Tristan, and Amara.
"All right, Amara, this is your show," Joey said.
"Huh, why me?"
"My Duel Disk doesn't work and Tristan doesn't know a Duel Monster card from a hole in the head!"
"Hey!" Tristan said angrily.
"All right," Amara said and activated her Duel Disk.
Suddenly the Orichalcos Soldier broke into pieces and faded away.
"What happened to it?" Tristan asked.
"I think he did." Amara pointed to a guy on another motorcycle which was holding his arms out, a green glow fading from his hands.
Joey immediately scowled, "It's him, its one of those creeps who kidnapped Mai." Valon turned his motorcycle around and started to drive off. Joey looked around and picked up the motorcycle that the previous guy had abandoned. He sat Amara down behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. And before she could protest, he took off after Valon.
"Joey's nuts," Tristan said. "He's clearly being led into a trap."
Joey and Valon weaved through the city streets, going through alleyways and up stairways. At one point Joey was able to catapult him self off a food cart awning. All throughout this, Amara was screaming at Joey to slow down.
Valon accelerated and launched off a rising bridge. Joey accelerated and also launched into the air. He landed on the edge and started to teeter back.
"I don't want to fall," Amara cried and squeezed Joey's waist. That motion made Joey rev the motorcycle giving it the needed momentum to land on the other side with Valon.
"Is that all?" Joey asked.
"So you want more?" Valon retorted. "Okay." He took off again. Joey growled and soon followed, Amara whimpering all the way.
When Yami and Kaiba returned to the Hawkins trailer, they were met by Rebecca, Kevin, Mokuba, Duke, and Tea. "Welcome back," Mokuba greeted. "I was getting worried about you guys."
"We're fine," Kaiba insisted. "And now that we know who we're up against, it's time to crash the party."
"That's good," Duke said. "But Joey's one step ahead of you, he already took off after them."
"He probably wants to get back at them for what they did to Mai," Kevin figured.
"Then we have to make it there before he does," Yami said.
"Wheeler better not screw this up for me."
"We have bigger problems," Tea said. "Remember those creatures we met in the desert? Well they're roaming the streets."
"In that case, we should get over to Doma's Headquarters as soon as possible," Kaiba said.
"We can take my car," Duke offered.
"I'm afraid the situation is worse than you realize," Professor Hawkins said stepping out of the trailer. "According to the evening news, people all over the world are suddenly falling into comas."
"The Doma Group," Yami said looking at Kaiba. Kaiba nodded in agreement.
"They must be using the power of the Orichalcos," Rebecca theorized.
"Yeah, and we can't ask for help because all the cops are under their control too."
"Looks like we're fighting alone," Kevin said.
"Kevin's right," Yami said. "We're going to have to fight our way to Dartz."
Tristan ran through the streets calling for Joey and Amara. He heard a motorcycle behind him. "Is that you, Joey?" The cyclist took off her helmet and it was revealed to be Mai. "You!" Tristan said vehemently. "You're the last person I want to see right now."
Mai ignored his jab. "I'm looking for Wheeler, where is he?"
"How should I know?" Tristan retorted keeping up his dagger stare. "Your boyfriend forced him into a game of cat and mouse and now he's gone."
Mai gasped, "Valon!" She put on her helmet and took off again.
"Hey, come back here! Great, she's the reason Joey's been dragged into this mess. I have to stop her!" He took off after Mai's motorcycle.
Valon finally pulled to a stop in an empty parking lot. Joey stopped his bike too and faced Valon while Amara went to throw up in a nearby bush. "All right, you, enough playing around, I want Mai back!"
"Mai has a mind of her own," Valon pointed out.
"She did, until you bunch brainwashed her!"
"Oh quit your whining," Valon said. "There was no brainwashing!"
"When did I eat that cheesecake?" Amara moaned as she joined Joey's side.
"What do you mean?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you? Mai joined us of her own free will because she was sick of taking a backseat while you got all the fame."
"Joey? Fame?" Amara asked.
"Look, chump."
"The name's Valon."
"Whatever, you messed with her head! She was one of my best friends, but when we last talked, she was saying things Mai would never say!"
"I lured you here to get rid of you for good," Valon revealed. "You represent everything Mai hates about her past and she wants to forget that part." Plus deep down, I know Mai still cares about him, and I can't have that. An imbecile like Wheeler deserves nothing except a place on the dinner plate of the Great Leviathan.
Jonah stormed up to Valon and pointed at his nose. "If you ask me your thinking tool is not in your head," she said sliding her finger down to the part of his body she was talking about. "Our goal is to cleanse and rebuild the world as The Sacred Beast allows, not to act like some love stricken Romeo!"
Valon shook off Jonah's echo. This way, I can deal with both. "I challenge you to a duel!"
"I accept," Joey said. "I always accept a challenge especially when I'm fighting for a friend!"
"Joey!" Amara called removing her Duel Disk. She threw it like a Frisbee. Joey caught it by the tray wing with one hand. With the other, he flung off his old Duel Disk and donned hers.
"What's wrong, can't even duel without a girl's help?" Valon joked.
"My Duel Disk was working fine until you jumped into that duel with me and Mai," Joey said.
"Oops, my bad," Valon said though he clearly didn't mean it.
"Let's duel!"
(V: 4000)
(J: 4000)
"I'll kick things off by summoning Alligator Sword in attack mode." I have to be careful around this guy I don't know a thing about his dueling style.
"Nice opening move," Valon congratulated. "But mine is better. I summon Psychic Armor Head in attack mode."
"Is it my imagination or did you just summon a monster with 0 attack points?"
"You're right, my Psychic Armor Head doesn't have a single attack point but when combined with some other cards, it becomes my own suit of armor. So now I play the magic card Armor Gravitation which lets me summon up to 4 armor monsters that are level 4 or below. So now I bring out Trap Buster Armor (1), Big Bang Blow (2), Over Boost (3) and Active Guard (4)." More armor pieces appeared. All the armor pieces wrapped themselves around Valon making him an armored warrior.
"I've never seen monsters that could combine with the Duelist before," Amara gasped. "What's going on?"
"Each piece of my armor may have 0 attack points but together they form an unstoppable force!"
Meanwhile, the others were on the move in the Hawkins' trailer. "We're less than a mile from the Doma Group's headquarters," Rebecca reported.
"We'll have our company back in no time," Mokuba said.
"I'm not so sure," Kaiba retorted. "We're dealing with an organization that not even our step-father could challenge successfully. It's going to take everything we have to bring it down."
"I don't like it," Kevin said. "It's too quiet."
"I doubt that they have any idea we're coming," Rebecca said.
"I doubt it," Yami said. "Dartz was waiting for us at Kaiba Corp. It seems like no matter what we do, he's always one step ahead of us. It could be the case now."
"If that's the case, we could be walking into a trap," Tea said worried.
"Precisely what I was thinking," Kevin said. "Doma won't just let us waltz up to their base unguarded."
Tristan collapsed against a lamppost. "Okay, its official, I'm lost. No Joey, no Amara, no Mai, I just want to see someone familiar!" Tristan looked up and saw an Orichalcos Soldier standing over him. He screamed, "Anybody but you!" He scrambled just before the soldier knocked over the lamppost.
Duke also saw the Orichalcos Soldier up ahead and slammed on the breaks.
The passengers in the trailer all collapsed. "Where did Duke learn how to drive, an amusement park?" Rebecca grumbled. Everyone got up and went up to Duke.
"What's going on?" Yami asked.
"Take a look," Duke said and pointed ahead of him.
"All right, you," Tristan said dropping into a fighting stance. "Let's rumble." He charged towards the Orichalcos Soldier.
"Obnoxious Celtic Guardian!" An elfin warrior leapt into the fray and destroyed the soldier. "Tristan, are you all right?" Yami asked.
"Yeah, thanks, Yug," Tristan said. "Though… I probably could've taken him."
"I'm afraid the only thing that would've been taken is your soul,"
"What are those things?"
"Tea and I encountered them in the desert. They're soldier of the Orichalcos who fought in the battle of Atlantis."
"Soldiers of who, battle of what?"
"I'll explain later, Tristan, where's Joey?" Tea asked.
"He and Amara got onto a motorcycle and took off after one of those biker goons."
"Was it Valon?" Rebecca asked. Tristan shrugged.
"Must've been," Duke said. "The guy has it in for Joey."
"Joey better be careful," Rebecca said. "He's got a deck of cards unlike anything I've ever seen before. He wears them like a suit of armor!"
"We have to get to Joey before it's too late," Yami declared.
Kaiba activated his Duel Disk, "That chump's going to have to wait, we have more pressing matters."
"What do you mean?" Kevin asked.
"Look." Everyone looked around and found themselves surrounded by Orichalcos Soldiers.
Back at the duel, Joey pondered his opponent's status. This guy just summoned five monsters all at once and now he's wearing them like some space-age suit of armor.
"Not only does my armor protects me, but it has a pretty mean offense as well."
"A pretty lame offense is more like it; your suit doesn't have a single attack point!"
Valon's right arm started to glow, "Big Bang Blow-Apart!" He punched Alligator Sword which exploded.
(V: 4000)
(J: 2500)
"Hey, how did I lose my monster… for that matter, how did I lose life points?"
"Big Bang Blow automatically destroys every monster on the field. My Active Guard…" he patted his chest plate. "Absorbs the damage while you take damage equal to your monster's attack points. That ends my turn." Valon's armor dissolved.
"That's the sloppiest finish I have ever seen," Joey critiqued. "You just ended your turn with no cards to protect yourself."
"I don't need to hide behind anything, I go through all my duels by facing my opponent head on! That's a lesson I learned long ago…"
Ah, the good old days. I was quite the rascal back then… yes, even more of a rascal than I am now. I was always getting into scraps with the other kids at the church that served as our home. Most of the others didn't stop me from fighting, but there was one person who always stopped me.
"Valon, that's enough!"
"Oh no, Valon, it's the Sister."
"You're in trouble now."
"Sister, I…"
"You were fighting, don't try to deny it, I saw the whole thing. Come with me."
Yeah, the sister was the only one who could keep me in line. She must've been a saint in a past life to put up with me.
"Why do you insist on fighting the other children all the time? Even the girls?"
"I have to prove I'm strong."
"You don't have to prove anything to anyone. You know the truth and that's all that matters."
"But Sister Valentine…"
"Freeze frame a sec.," Joey interrupted Valon's story. "Did you say Sister Valentine?"
"Sure did."
"Look I may not be the brightest bulb in the box but I know that nuns aren't supposed to get married let alone have kids."
"Yeah, you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that Mai had the same last name as the sister who ran the orphanage. Come to think of it, she was always talking about a niece she had."
"A niece…" Kevin and Mai are cousins; could this be Kevin's mother… or maybe…
Yeah, the Sister was the only one who could stop me from fighting. Anyone else would've probably thrown me out on the streets or worse in jail for such actions, but not her. It was like she could understand what I was really about.
"Valon, you don't have to act so tough all the time. You know you're strong and I know you're strong. Anybody can fight but a true strong person will refrain from fighting."
Sister Valentine is probably regretting ever saying those words because one day a gang burst into the church.
"Our boss just brought this dump," the leader said. "And all of you worthless POS are trespassing."
"But what about the children?"
"They can drop dead for all I care." And the leader punched her in the chest, the momentum sending her to the ground.
I was ready to beat them up for what they did to Sister Valentine but she held them back. "Valon, no."
"But Sister…"
"They're not worth your energy."
That night me and some of the children snuck out to play. When we came back, we saw the church burning. An ambulance arrived but as the paramedics brought out the stretcher, one of the firemen stopped them.
"The nun is already dead."
It felt like my heart was torn apart. The final straw was seeing the thugs standing amidst the crowd. The leader said, "Well at least we don't have to tear it down." He actually seemed happy about it.
That night, I took my revenge, bashing all of their brains in with a metal pipe. I didn't think they could survive after the beating I gave them. I didn't even try to deny it when the cops came for me. I was glad, they took away everything and everyone I cared about, now I did the same to them.
But even in juvie I couldn't stay out of trouble. I still got in fights, they had to put me in solitary and in a straitjacket to boot. One day two guards came in and brought me to see the head of the detention center.
"Valon, you've been in and out of twelve detention centers. But mine is different, we have more productive ways of dealing with boys like you." That was when I first set my sights on a deck of Duel Monster cards. "Try channeling your anger through these cards instead of your fists."
Me and a bunch of others were dropped off on an island owned by some old guy and forced to duel each other. In the end, only one would be leaving the island by boat. That one was me.
And then he showed up, Dartz.
"Your talents are being wasted on this island, how about working for me, where you can battle to your heart's desire."
"Sounds good, you got a deal, pony tail, but watch where you step or else I might come after you."
"Oh I'm not worried."
"Ever since Dartz rescued me, I've been working for him. But don't get me wrong, just because I work for him doesn't mean I duel for him, I duel for one person and one person only: myself."
This guy doesn't know the first thing about anything, Joey thought. I used to be like him, I lived and fought for only myself. Then I met Yugi and the others and learned the true value of friendship and that fighting for those you care about is a lot better than simply fighting for yourself. Hang in there, Mai. "It's time to teach this guy a lesson Joey Wheeler style!"
"I was just getting warmed up just wait 'till you see what my Deck of Armor can really do!"
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Trap Buster Armor
Level: 4
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 0
DEF: 500
(2)
Name: Big Bang Blow
Level: 4
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 0
DEF: 500
(3)
Name: Over Boost
Level: 3
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 0
DEF: 1000
(4)
Name: Active Guard
Level: 4
Type: Machine/Effect
Attribute: Earth
ATK: 0
DEF: 2000