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The Orichalcos Saga
Fanfic Chapter 226: To Light the Darkest Hour Pt 2: The Secret of Atlantis
Episode Basis: A Duel with Dartz Pt 2
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! As the Doma Building was about to collapse, Roland arrived in the chopper to pick everyone up. He was able to retrieve everybody except Raphael who fell through a crevice but not before giving Yami a map leading to Dartz. With the military backing them up, Yami and the gang stormed Dartz's temple where they discovered that Dartz had been gathering souls across time and now literally had a roomful of them. Yami and Kaiba joined forces and were quick to call out their best monster, the Master of Dragon Soldier and sic it against Dartz. But for some reason, the Seal of Orichalcos reacted to the attack and showed them an image of Atlantis. The secret of Atlantis is about to be revealed and the secret may surprise you.
The city was circular in nature. Sea walls seemed to block the ocean from flooding the city. At the center of the city was a large castle. A circular symbol with a cross intersecting it was embedded on the outside wall.
"Behold the city of Atlantis in all its glory," Dartz presented to Yami and Kaiba who were awestruck at what they were seeing. It seemed like they were floating above the city with only the Seal of Orichalcos to keep them from falling. "Everything you see was as it was thousands of years ago."
Long ago, Atlantis existed physically isolated from the rest of the world. We were surrounded on all sides by water but it was so much bigger than what you consider an island to be. We existed along side of the beasts or what you would now call Duel Monsters. Our lives were simple, we knew nothing of violence. But one day, all that changed. Darkness descended upon us, but a gift also descended, little green stones.
"The Orichalcos," Yami realized.
"Is story time over?" Kaiba asked. "I'd like to duel."
"This tale of the past directly affects your future, Kaiba," Dartz scolded. "So I would suggest that you pay attention."
With the aid of the Orichalcos, we made rapid advancements in science and technology. We have evolved far beyond what humanity is right now. We even established colonies for our overpopulation problem. All thanks to the Orichalcos. But, something else was rising along with our achievements: crime, greed, violence, corruption. The very colonies that we seeded had severed ties with us. My people were becoming evil. I knew what had to be done, but my father, former King Ironheart, had different ideas.
"Wait, Ironheart was your father?" Yami asked, his eyes bugging out.
"Yugi, don't encourage him," Kaiba said.
But Yami was coming to another conclusion, wait a minute, Chris called Ironheart 'Grandpa.' And Ironheart was Dartz's father, does that mean… no, not even Dartz would… Yami noticed Dartz had a small smile on his face and knew the truth. Has the Orichalcos corrupted Dartz beyond all reason?
If Dartz caught on to Yami's conclusion, he didn't show it.
The hearts of our people continued to decline even as our technological achievement arose. It was up to me to remedy it, but then the Orichalcos started to test us, to see who was pure and who was evil. Those who were evil were transformed into hideous creatures who ran rampant. Nobody was safe.
Not even my wife, Iona. It wasn't too long before she too was revealed to be evil. I had no choice, to protect my own life I had to kill her with my own blade.
I couldn't understand why this was all happening. How can a society so perfect be revealed as corrupted and evil? The answer came to me in the form of an Orichalcos stone which I found in a fountain. The Orichalcos answered all my questions. The people of Atlantis were evil and I have been chosen to wipe them out and start over.
But I couldn't accomplish such a monumental task on my own so the Orichalcos gave me a gift—something powerful enough to lead my fight against mankind. Below the Earth's surface lurked the most incredible creature that ever lived: the Great Leviathan. Soon, the Great Beast which the Atlantians have long since worshipped will return to finish what it began.
However, someone… or should I say two someone's stood in my way: Ironheart my father, and Chris my daughter.
"Please, son, you must destroy the Orichalcos stones, so we can return to the life we once knew!"
"Ha-ha-ha, foolish old man, do you really think things can go back to the way they were? It is too late for that now! The true nature of our people has been exposed. All of humanity is evil and must be destroyed! We should be thanking the Orichalcos for showing us the truth, not blaming it for the faults of mankind."
"Stop it, Father, you're scaring me!"
"Do not be afraid, my daughter, for the Orichalcos has not only shown me what is wrong with the world, but given me the tools to fix it."
"And what are these tools, Dartz?"
"By the power of the Orichalcos, the Great Leviathan will rise up from the depths of the Earth and fight by my side! And when I'm through I will rebuild civilization!" To demonstrate my newfound power, I summoned Orichalcos Soldiers. "Now you have two options, either join me by my side or become the first of many sacrifices for the Great Leviathan!"
"You're mad!"
"If you are not with me, then you are against me!" Just as I was about to sacrifice them, a trio of magical monsters, including the one who taught my daughter how to defend herself with magic showed up and spirited them away. I could've sent my soldiers after them, but decided that they were of no consequence but instead set out to conquer humanity.
My father led the corrupt individuals who had not transformed yet into beasts into the desert where they wandered for a long time.
"Grandpa, what will we do? Father…"
"Your father is under the control of an evil force, and he must be stopped. The future of our planet depends on it!"
When next I came across them, they were leading an alliance of our former colonies and other ancient cultures. And somehow, they all gained the power that we had, to use our spirit energy to summon monsters of incredible power. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, they all looked like dragons.
"And so, the ancient battle of Atlantis began."
"And what was the outcome of the battle?" Yami asked.
"Neither side was victorious," Dartz explained. "My father's army was decimated and the Great Leviathan was drained of all its power and sealed away. It took me millennia upon millennia to gather the energy needed to make him rise again and I will achieve that goal just as soon as I beat you two in a duel!"
"Hold it," Kaiba called. "We already won this duel. Our Master of Dragon Soldier should've obliterated your Gigas and the rest of your life points!"
"I'm afraid it didn't, this duel is still on!"
Yami and Kaiba found themselves back in the temple, the Master of Dragon Soldier hovering in between them.
"They're back."
"Thank goodness."
"Are you guys okay?"
"Due to the special ability of my Kyutora," Dartz was explaining. "All damage to me is reduced to 0. And now it's my turn."
(K: 4000)
(Y: 4000)
(D: 3500)
Orichalcos Gigas returned to the field. "Each time Gigas is destroyed, it comes back stronger," Yami explained to Kaiba.
(OG: 900-1400)
"Since Gigas returned, I can't draw a card. Good thing I don't need to, I have everything I need right here in my hand…" He took a magic card from his hand. "Like this, I play the magic card Orichalcos Deutros!" The Armlet started to glow and symbols started flying around the Seal of Orichalcos. Another ring formed on the outside of the seal.
"I don't know how he did it," Yami said. "But somehow he made the seal stronger." And he used Harold's Armlet to do it.
"Welcome to the second layer of darkness. Now here's how Orichalcos Deutros works. It gives me 500 life points for every monster on my side of the field. Since I currently have 2, that means I get 1000 life points!"
(K: 4000)
(Y: 4000)
(D: 4500)
"How are we supposed to wipe him out?" Kaiba asked out loud.
"You're not," Dartz said. "Next I attack Master of Dragon Soldier with Orichalcos Gigas."
"Our monster is too strong!" Yami protested as Dartz's monster was obliterated. But then it came back.
(OG: 1400-1900)
"He's letting that thing gets its butt kicked on purpose," Tristan complained. "So it can come back stronger."
That can't be it, Yami thought. His Gigas would need to get destroyed seven more times before it would become strong enough to beat our Dragon Soldier. There must be more to his plan. He stared at Orichalcos Kyutora. It must have something to do with his Kyutora. I bet it has another special ability.
"It's my move," Kaiba announced and drew a card. As long as his Kyutora is out, there's no point in attacking because all damage would be neutralized. And his Gigas will just come back stronger so I need some way to attack him directly. "I set one card face-down and summon Blade Knight (1) in attack mode. And because I have one card left in my hand, Blade Knight's attack points go up."
(BK: 1600-2000)
"I end my turn."
Kaiba's setting himself up for something, Yami thought.
Yugi better not screw this up for me.
Yami drew a card.
"Hold on, Yugi," Kaiba called. "I'm sacrificing my Blade Knight to activate my face-down card Energy Reflector!" A small satellite was launched from the card and was embedded in the wall behind Dartz. "Yugi, when you attack, Energy Reflector will direct the attack squarely on Dartz."
"Bypassing his monsters, of course! Good thinking, Kaiba. Master of Dragon Soldier, attack with Saber Blast!"
"Nice," Tea congratulated. "They were able to blast that freak together."
"Yeah," Mokuba agreed.
The blast bounced off of the satellite but instead of hitting Dartz, it hit a forcefield. Orichalcos Gigas was destroyed. "Whenever my life points are targeted, Orichalcos Deutros steps in to protect me then I can make a sacrifice to have your monster take the hit." The blast was redirected at Master of Dragon Soldier.
"You can't hit it if it's not there," Yami said. "I'm activating De-Fusion!" Black Luster Soldier and Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon separated just in time to avoid the blast.
"It was luck."
"It wasn't luck, but teamwork and dedication."
"Don't you tire of being right all the time, Pharaoh? Well that all ends here." He drew a card. "I play the magic card Orichalcos Mirror sacrificing a monster from my hand to summon Mirror Knight Calling (2)!" A large prism appeared.
(MKC: 0-500)
"And its special ability lets me summon four knights to the field to protect me!" Four knights carrying swords and mirror shields appeared.
"I never seen Mirror Knight Calling before," Amara commented.
"He just summoned four monsters at once!" Tea cried.
"That's right, and thanks to Orichalcos Deutros, I gain 3000 life points."
(K: 4000)
(Y: 4000)
(D: 7500)
"Now pay attention to the reflection in my knights' mirrors, they each reflect a target." Yami appeared in one, Kaiba in another, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in a third and Black Luster Soldier in the last one.
(MK1: 500)
(MK2: 3000)
(MK3: 4500)
(MK4: 500)
The Mirror Knights with 3000 and 4500 attack points destroyed the monsters while the two 500 point knights made direct attacks.
(K: 3500)
(Y: 3500)
(D: 7500)
"Hey, they have the same attack points as the monsters," Tristan pointed out referring the monster-destroying knights. "How come they weren't destroyed?"
"Maybe they can't be destroyed in battle," Amara deduced.
Mokuba noticed that the monsters shields shattered as the monsters belonging to his brother and Yugi were destroyed. "It's those mirrors," he realized.
"I guess we now know which of you brothers got the brains," Dartz cracked. "You're right, as long as Mirror Knight Calling is out, my knights' shields will regenerate preventing them from being destroyed."
"We'll see about that," Kaiba said drawing a card. "I play Card of Demise, this magic card lets me draw five new cards as long as I discard them five turns later." Kaiba drew two magic cards, two trap cards, and a monster card. "I play Silent Doom to bring back my Blade Knight in defense mode and I sacrifice him to summon Kaiser Glider (3)!" A metallic bird-looking creature appeared.
"Impressive, Kaiba," Dartz complimented. "Kaiser Glider can not be destroyed by any monster with the same number of attack points so my knights can't crush it."
Kaiba didn't like being complimented as he set a trap card face-down.
Kaiba may be safe from them for now, but we have to find a way to destroy them, not just hide from them. Yami drew the trap card Mirror Force. And this could help. "I set a card face-down and summon Big Shield Gardna in defense mode."
Dartz drew a card, "I gain another 3000 life points thanks to Orichalcos Deutros."
(K: 3500)
(Y: 3500)
(D: 10,500)
"We must stop him now!" Yami exclaimed. And we will. When Dartz attacks, I'll activate my Mirror Force trap card destroying his knights.
"Hold on, folks," Kaiba called out. "I'm activating my trap card Ring of Destruction!" A ring with grenades around it appeared around Mirror Knight Calling. "Your knights are only protected as long as Mirror Knight Calling is out so I'm using Ring of Destruction to destroy it and then we both take damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack points!" The grenades exploded taking the prism with it.
(K: 3000)
(Y: 3500)
(D: 10,000)
"Now when your Mirror Knights are destroyed, they can't come back!"
Dartz just smiled.
The helmets on the four Mirror Knights started to crack. The helmets shattered.
Everyone gasped.
Underneath the helmets were the faces of Yugi, Joey, Mai, and Harold. All of them had a dazed, hypnotized look in their eyes.
"That's right, Pharaoh," Dartz said confirming Yami's worse fear. "I control the souls of your companions. Attack my knights and you'll be attacking them instead."
Yami looked down at his face-down Mirror Force. That means if I use my Mirror Force trap, our friends would be gone forever!
"No matter what you do, you lose," Dartz said. "It's impossible to beat me without destroying these monsters and it's impossible to destroy these monsters without destroying the souls of your friends!"
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Blade Knight
Level: 4
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 1600
DEF: 1800
(2)
Name: Mirror Knight Calling
Level: 6
Type: Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 0
DEF: 0
(3)
Name: Kaiser Glider
Level: 6
Type: Dragon/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 2400
DEF: 2200
A/N: Did you guys notice the main title? Try to guess where I got it from. :-D