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The Orichalcos Saga

Fanfic Chapter 227: To Light the Darkest Hour Pt 3: Dartz's Manipulations
Episode Basis: A Duel with Dartz Pt 3

Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Dartz told Yami and Kaiba the story of Atlantis, how the Orichalcos came and brought about a technological evolution. But the Orichalcos also began corrupting people and even turning them into monsters (and not the dueling kind either). Dartz claimed that the Orichalcos told him to eradicate humanity and gave him The Great Leviathan to help him. His father, Ironheart and his daughter, Chris, left Atlantis and formed an army to challenge Dartz and his army of Orichalcos Soldiers. The battle ended in a draw. But back to the duel, Dartz somehow gained over twice his original score of life points and summoned four invincible Mirror Knights to protect him. Kaiba was able to destroy the source of the Mirror Knights' invulnerability but when he did, the helmets fell off and Yugi, Joey, Mai, and Harold were revealed. I'm afraid to ask, but can Dartz get any more sadistic?

Yami's stomach lurched as he stared at his friends on the other side of the field. "What do you think of my newest soldiers?" Dartz asked.

"That's not funny!" Yami snapped.

"Cut the magic act and just duel!" Kaiba was also upset though for a different reason.

"We are dueling, we're just dueling by my terms. Since I control the souls of your friends, I thought it might be fun to let them play along."

"This is sick," Amara hissed.

"Leave our friends alone!" Tea snapped.

"You should be thanking me," Dartz said. "I'm giving you one last chance to see your friends before they're gone forever."

"I'll never let you take them away!" Yami declared.

"That's it," Dartz said. "Feel your anger, let it consume you and feel the darkness spreading within. The stronger your rage, the stronger the Great Leviathan would become when it absorbs your soul!" Dartz turned to the Yugi-Knight. "Mirror Knight Yugi, time to attack your other half."

"No, Yugi, fight it!"

It looked like Yugi was fighting. He was struggling against raising his sword.

"How touching that your still loyal to him even after he turned his back on you," Dartz commented. "That will soon change." He placed a card face-down. "I end my turn."

"And I'll begin mine," Kaiba said. I won't be intimidated just because Dartz put a few familiar faces on his soldiers. "I play the magic card Cost Down." He discarded a card from his hand. "This allows me to lower the level of the monsters in my hand so I can summon it without a sacrifice so now I summon Different Dimension Dragon (1) in attack mode." A serpentine yellow dragon with four wings appeared. "And this monster can't be destroyed by any monster with less than 1900 attack points. And don't forget my Kaiser Glider, it can't be destroyed by your soldiers either. Kaiser Glider, attack Mai!"

"Seto, no," Mokuba protested.

"Kaiba, stop!" Yami threw in.

"Be quiet!" Kaiba snapped. "I won't let some mind trick stop me from winning this duel! This lunatic seized control of my company and I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get it back!"

"No!" Yami placed a hand on Kaiba's arm.

"Don't stop me," Kaiba said and with one wave of his arm threw Yami off. The action threw Yami off balance and he fell down. "Do you think I'm like these other nerds and am too afraid to attack?"

"Only if destroying an innocent soul disturbs you."

"I'm president of a major corporation, I do that every day."

"You know, Kaiba, that's not the type of thing a normal person would boast about," Amara commented dryly.

"Kaiser Glider, attack with Lightning Radiance!" Kaiser Glider blasted Mai's mirror shield. "Now, Different Dimension Dragon, attack with Guiding Light!" The dragon fired a yellow energy beam at Mai.

Yami turned away not wanting to see Mai destroyed.

"Look!"

Yami turned back and saw that Joey had sacrificed his shield to protect Mai.

"Figures Wheeler would mess things up for me," Kaiba said setting a card face-down. "End turn." Yami got up and drew a card. Kaiba said, "Yugi, if you want us to win, you know what you have to do, destroy Wheeler and Mai."

But… I can't, Yami mentally argued. They're my friends, I can't risk putting them in harm's way. "I end my turn."

"What?" Kaiba asked outraged.

"If Yugi doesn't attack, Dartz will win," Tea said.

"But if he does, we lose one of our friends," Amara pointed out. "Either way, he wins."

"This is despicable," Tristan complained.

"You had your chance," Dartz said drawing a card. "Through Orichalcos Deutros, I gain 2500 life points."

(K: 3000)
(Y: 3500)
(D: 12,500)

"Then I play the magic card Twin-Bow Centaur." A centaur with two front ends appeared in between the players. It had no heads and each end held a bow and arrow. "Here's how it works, I pick one monster on each side of the field. And whichever the arrow picks, that monster is removed from the game and the person who owns that monster will lose life points equal to the monster's attack points. So I choose Kaiba's Kaiser Glider and Mirror Knight Joseph." A fireball began going from arrow to arrow.

"If Joey is picked, we'll never get him back," Tea complained.

"But if Seto's Kaiser Glider is picked, he loses most of his life points."

The fireball finally stopped on the arrow pointing at Kaiser Glider. The arrow burned through Kaiser Glider and struck Kaiba sending him down.

(K: 600)
(Y: 3500)
(D: 12,500)

"But there's an upside," Dartz said. "My card requires me to end my turn right now."

Kaiba got up and drew a new card. "Now I'm going to do what your Siamese donkey twins couldn't. Different Dimension Dragon, attack Wheeler! That chump has held me back for the last time!" The dragon powered up.

"Mokuba, your brother has anger issues," Amara pointed out.

"Actually, this is calm for him," Mokuba said. Amara's eyes bugged out at that revelation.

The Different Dimension Dragon fired its laser. This time Yugi leapt into the line of fire sacrificing his shield to protect Joey.

Dartz laughed, "Maybe friendship does conquer all. And thanks to your friends' loyalty to one another, I have a way to conquer the two of you!"

Yami drew a card. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Twin-Bow Centaur!" The twin centaur was destroyed. "That's all."

"You wasted your turn destroying a creature I didn't even need," Dartz said drawing a card. "But this monster I do need, I summon Orichalcos Malevolence (2) in attack mode!"

(OM: 1500-2000)

The monster was huge despite its low stats. It was made of magma. "I now gain 3000 life points."

(K: 600)
(Y: 3500)
(D: 15,500)

"One more attack and my brother's toast," Mokuba cried.

"Don't worry, I'll put his soul to good use. Orichalcos Malevolence, attack Kaiba's Different Dimension Dragon!"

Roland and the helicopter pilot were loitering in front of the temple when they heard the sound of a motor running. A burly guy on a motorcycle rode up the steps and, through protests by the two former, into the temple.

"Activate trap card," Kaiba commanded. "Attack Guidance Barrier, this lets me redirect the attack to any other monster I choose, raising their defense points by 600 in the process and I choose Yugi's Big Shield Gardna!"

(BSG: 2600-3200)

The attack bounced off of the shield but then Big Shield Gardna stood up.

"Why did Yugi's monster just stand up like that?" Tea wondered.

"It's the special ability," Amara explained.

"What?" Tristan asked.

"Big Shield Gardna has a lot of defense points, but all those points come with a price. After Big Shield Gardna is hit by an attack in defense mode, it switches to attack mode with only 100 attack points."

"And thanks to Kaiba's trap card, your turn is over," Yami said to Dartz. Dartz just shrugged.

"You better hope nothing bad happens to me," Kaiba threatened. "Because, you can't win this duel alone." He drew a card. I have 600 life points and no monsters in my hand, I better be careful. "I switch Different Dimension Dragon to defense mode and set two cards face-down, that's all for now. Yugi, it's up to you now, if you want to win this duel, you're going to have to attack those Mirror Knights."

But I can't turn my back on Yugi again.

"Attack!"

"Yugi?" Yami looked at the Mirror Knight Yugi.

From the looks on the other's faces, they heard him too.

"We'll be fine," Yugi assured him. "If you don't attack, you lose."

"But if I do, it could mean losing your souls forever!"

"Don't forget what I said, you're more important than I am, you're the only one who can finish this."

"Yugi, you do realize that you're talking to a hologram with a picture of your head on it, aren't you?" Kaiba asked.

"Shut up, Kaiba," Amara scolded. "Not everything can be explained."

"Well get going," Dartz said. "Everyone's waiting."

"I switch Big Shield Gardna back to defense mode," Yami announced. "Then I set a card face-down. That ends my turn."

Kaiba scoffed.

"Don't give him such a hard time, Kaiba," Dartz said. "He knows there's nothing either of you can do to stop me from winning."

Suddenly a motorcycle burst into the room. It did doughnuts on the side of the Seal of Orichalcos before stopping. The rider took off his helmet.

"Raphael!" Yami cried.

Raphael addressed Dartz, "What's the matter, Dartz, you don't look happy to see me. And after everything we've been through, where's the love? Actually don't answer that because I'm not listening to your lies any more! Thanks to the Pharaoh, I was able to escape from the Seal of Orichalcos with my soul intact, unlike the others that you've used." Raphael cast an eye at Jonah's body and his eyebrow twitched.

"Actually, I think the Orichalcos did take something from you, Raphael," Dartz retorted. "Your brain."

"What did you say?"

"You're more gullible than ever, Raphael. Do you honestly think that the darkness that once controlled you can be dispelled so easily?"

"Yes," Raphael said bluntly. "The Pharaoh and his friends showed me that."

"Did he, or did he trick you like how you think I did?" Dartz saw the hesitation in Raphael's eyes. "Look around you." He gestured to the tablets of people. "You're no different from anyone else here, all these people gave in to their dark sides and in turn were taken by the Orichalcos. They're evil, just like all humans which is why I've been chosen to wipe them out! You're no different, you can't just walk away from the darkness, it's part of who you are! That's why I hired you—your rage made the perfect candidate to carry out my plans."

"I'm through with being angry with the world," Raphael said. "The Pharaoh and his friends have shown me what trust, loyalty, compassion, and friendship, were all about! I used to be like them until you came along and poisoned my mind with the Orichalcos!"

"The Orichalcos didn't poison your mind it exposed you for who you really are, a corrupt human being full of anger just like everyone in this room."

"What does that make you?" Tea asked.

"A pioneer, chosen by the Orichalcos to carve out a new world and now my task is nearly done. Soon I'll have enough power to awaken the Great Leviathan and rebuild civilization.

"For thousands of years I've been gathering enough souls to awaken the Great Beast. But time was running out and I needed help. So I searched out those who were filled with enough anger to tap into the full power of the Orichalcos."

"You searched out me and the others."

"That's right. You, Alister, Valon, even Jonah and her father, all of you had what I've been searching for. But I knew you wouldn't come into it on your own, so I set out to… influence certain events in your lives."

"What?" Raphael asked incredulously.

Dartz pointed to Alister's tablet. "Let's start with Alister, he believed that his family was killed by the tanks supplied by Gozaburo Kaiba."

"Is this true?" Amara asked Mokuba.

"Unfortunately yes," Mokuba confirmed.

"What he didn't know was that Gozaburo Kaiba didn't do a thing, it was all my doing!" Kaiba and Raphael gasped at that comment. Dartz swung his arm around to Valon's tablet next. "And then there's Valon. He grew up in an orphanage ran by a nun related to someone in this room, try to guess."

"Mai," Amara gasped remembering the story Valon told her and Joey.

"Exactly right, Mai's aunt ran the orphanage until it was burned down."

"But wasn't it burned down by hoodlums?" Amara asked.

"No, it was burned down… by me! Those hoodlums were just innocent bystanders. Valon bludgeoned a bunch of bystanders to death!" Dartz laughed. He next gestured to Guimo. "And it was a simple matter of forging the pink slip that got Jonah's father fired from Industrial Illusions. And speaking of Jonah, on her back is a scar from when a black scorpion almost killed her." Tea leaned Jonah's back down and lowered her jacket revealing said scar. "What nobody knows was that I slipped that scorpion and then just happened to wander by and cure her."

"You brought her to the brink of death just to make her join Doma?" Raphael asked clenching his fist.

"Don't be so shocked, that was child's play compared to what happened to you."

"No, you couldn't have!"

"Oh but I did, you think the Captain of that ship steered into the storm that took your family away, and he did, that Captain was me."

"But why?"

"I watched you master Duel Monsters at a young age but I needed to unlock your inner fury, it was the only way to make you strong enough, after all I had the Legendary Dragons to contend with. And quite frankly, your life was just too perfect so I decided to make some adjustments."

Raphael was seething now. "Raphael, control your anger," Yami coached.

"Everything… what happened to Jonah… Alister… Valon… my family! Everything is YOUR FAULT! YOU TOOK AWAY MY FAMILY!"

"What happened to your family is insignificant compared to the cause of Doma, I needed your anger and your thirst for revenge… quite like what you're displaying now."

Raphael let out a scream of rage. Eatos appeared wielding her sword. Then the Seal of Orichalcos appeared on both of their foreheads.

"Raphael," Yami called but Raphael was convulsing. Finally, Eatos faded and Raphael collapsed. Tea and Tristan ran to check on him. Tristan looked at Yami and Kaiba and shook his head.

"Well that was an amusing interlude," Dartz commented as a stone slab behind him was filled with Raphael's profile.

"This ends now!" Yami declared in a forceful voice.

Dartz laughed, "You're right, it all ends now." He drew a card. "Once I play this card, your fates are sealed. The Seal of Orichalcos is about to become even stronger! It's time to experience the third level of darkness! Go, Orichalcos Tritos!"

To Be Continued

Duel Monster Database

(1)
Name: Different Dimension Dragon
Level: 5
Type: Dragon/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 1200
DEF: 1500

(2)
Name: Orichalcos Malevolence
Level: 4
Type: Pyro/Effect
Attribute: Fire
ATK: 1500
DEF: 1800