Yu-Gi-Oh! Avatar
The Orichalcos Saga
Fanfic Chapter 228: To Light the Darkest Hour Pt 4: Secret of the Armlet
Episode Basis: A Duel with Dartz Pt 4
Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh! Yami and Kaiba's quest to find a way to beat the Mirror Knights that captured the souls of their friends was interrupted by the arrival of Raphael. But apparently he arrived just in time to hear one of Dartz's most surprising revelations: that he manipulated the lives of the Warriors of Doma just so they could be free to use the power of the Orichalcos. He was the cause of the fire that burned down Valon's Orphanage and killed Sister Valentine. He was the one who impersonated Gozaburo Kaiba and supplied the tanks that killed Alister's family. He was the one who caused Guimo to be fired from Industrial Illusions. He was the one who sent that scorpion to sting Jonah just so he could heal her and earn her devotion. And he was the one who steered the cruise ship into the storm causing Raphael's family to be taken away from him. Raphael wasn't too pleased about that (hey, would you?) and it was at that moment that the Seal of Orichalcos made a come back on Raphael's head and this time Raphael's purified spirit couldn't handle it. The seal took his soul. Now Dartz is set to bring the third level of darkness on. Just how many levels does this seal have anyway?
Everyone watched as Dartz used the Armlet to form a circle on the outside of Orichalcos Deutros. The card appeared behind Mirror Knight Yugi.. "How can he possibly make the seal any stronger?" Yami wondered.
"I think we're about to find out," Kaiba replied.
"You're dealing with a force darker than the blackest shadows and older than time itself!"
(K: 600)
(Y: 3500)
(D: 18,500)
"His life points are totally out of control," Tea complained.
"Somebody should put a cap on them," Amara commented.
"I use Orichalcos Malevolence's special effect to switch Kaiba's Different Dimension Dragon to attack mode. Orichalcos Malevolence, attack…"
"Hold on, Dartz, I'm activating a magic card," Kaiba cried. "Shrink, which cuts your monster's attack points…" But before Kaiba could finish, his magic card exploded. "What happened to my Shrink card?"
"Thanks to Orichalcos Tritos, all magic and trap cards are useless against my monsters."
Dartz is right, Yami thought. Each layer of the Orichalcos is more powerful than the last. If we don't think of something soon, Kaiba will lose the duel… and his soul.
"Now where was I? Oh yes, Orichalcos Malevolence attack Kaiba's Different Dimension Dragon."
"I don't think so!" Yami announced activating one of his face-down cards. "I activate my Ambush trap card allowing me to sacrifice my Big Shield Gardna so I can add its defense points to Different Dimension Dragon's attack points!"
(BSG: 3200)
Big Shield Gardna transformed into energy which went into Different Dimension Dragon.
(DDD: 1200-4000)
Different Dimension Dragon retaliated destroying Orichalcos Malevolence but Orichalcos Kyutora absorbed the damage. No matter how strong our monsters are, Dartz's life points are safe as long as he has that Kyutora out.
"The Pharaoh just saved Kaiba by sacrificing his own monster," Tea said in a celebratory manner.
"I guess they really can work together," Amara said astonished. "When the time calls for it, that is."
"Are you kidding, rich boy owes him big time," Tristan cracked.
"Does your dueling partner really mean that much to you?" Dartz asked Yami. "You sacrificed your only defense which means your life points are open to a direct attack!" The Mirror Knights charged forward. Yami was slashed by Harold, then Mai, and then Joey. "How do you like it, being attacked by your former friends? And who better to finish it up then your spiritual equal?" Mirror Knight Yugi charged forward. Yami used the tray of his Duel Disk to fend off the sword. "Finish him!" Dartz commanded. Yami noticed that Yugi was hesitant in his attacking.
"Pharaoh!"
"Yugi?"
"You must use the card Pegasus gave you."
Yami recalled the blank card found in the Pot of Greed at Industrial Illusions. Before he could ponder it further, Yugi slashed Yami across the chest sending the Pharaoh down.
(K: 600)
(Y: 1500)
(D: 18,500)
"Pharaoh!" Tea, Tristan, and Amara cried out.
"Yugi," Kaiba and Mokuba called.
"I'll be fine," Yami assured Kaiba. While our life points continue to decrease, his continues to increase. Could Yugi be right and the nameless card Pegasus gave me be the key to stopping him? I won't know until I play it and I can't play it until I've drawn it.
"I'll set one card face-down and end my turn," Dartz said. "Go ahead and make your final move, Kaiba. With 600 life points, your time's just about up."
I better think of something quick or Dartz is going to win, Kaiba thought. He gazed at Alister's tablet. I can't let that happen, not after everything he put me through. He impersonated my step-father and made Alister think it was my family who killed his family. I can forgive that but when he tried to buy out my company that was stepping over the line. "No, Dartz, I refuse to end up like Alister!" He drew his card and let out a triumphant laugh. "Whenever I'm about to lose, I always draw the card I need, and this time is no exception." Kaiba's Legendary Dragon appeared.
"It's Critius," Dartz said actually sounding scared.
Kaiba turned to Yami, "Yugi, if I know your gaming strategies as well as I think I do, then that face-down card you have is Mirror Force."
"That's right," Yami confirmed. "But…"
"I fuse Critius with the face-down Mirror Force to form Reflecting Dragon (1)!" Critius was suddenly shiny, almost polished. He turned back to Yugi, "Yugi, you know as well as I do that there's no way we can win while those Mirror Knights are out."
"But…"
"They're just holograms! Dartz made them look like your friends so you'd be too afraid to attack. But I'm not. Reflecting Dragon, attack Mirror Knight Harold with Sunrise Beam!"
"Why would Kaiba attack the Mirror Knight that still has its shield?" Tristan asked.
"If Kaiba attacks," Amara said using her fingers as guides. "The shield would be destroyed and the blast reflected destroying the dragon. But Kaiba's too smart for that unless…"
The dragon's beam bounced off the shield shattering it in the process. "I activate Reflecting Dragon's special ability causing the attack to be redirected at all your monsters!"
"If the Mirror Knights are destroyed, won't that mean their souls are lost forever?" Amara asked.
Tea gasped, Yugi… no, please, not my Yugi. She briefly recalled her dream of Yugi walking into that pyramid and disappearing forever.
"Yugi, it's better this way," Kaiba said. "Think about it this way, if those were your friends, do you think they'd be happy about attacking you?" Yami had to admit Kaiba was right but that didn't make it any easier to watch.
The Mirror Knights were destroyed one by one. Yugi gave Yami a nod and a smile before disappearing. Orichalcos Kyutora was able to absorb the damage before it too was destroyed.
"Now you have no monsters on the field to protect you," Kaiba declared.
"I beg to differ," Dartz rebuked. "My Kyutora has another ability, whenever it's destroyed… it evolves!" A large burst of energy erupted at the center of the field. A large creature that looked like a torso with arms appeared. "Meet Orichalcos Shunaros (2)!"
(OS: 20,000)
"It can wipe us out in one shot!" Yami cried.
"Absolutely right," Dartz confirmed. "But I have some more bad news for you: I activate Shunaros's special ability." Its arms detached, taking on lives of their own in the process. Dartz pointed to the right arm (his right), "This is Orichalcos Dexia (3) and whenever it attacks, its attack points are always 300 higher than the monster it's attacking making it the perfect sword." He then pointed to the left arm. "This is Orichalcos Aristeros (4), it can reflect any attack returning it with a force 300 points higher than the opposing monster making it the perfect shield."
"Our attacks won't even get through," Yami realized.
"I also activate the trap card Martyr Curse which forces a monster on my opponent's side of the field to do battle with a monster on my side of the field, canceling any special ability the opposing monster might have." Reflecting Dragon's skin turned dull gray. "Orichalcos Sunaros, attack Kaiba's Dragon with Photon Ring!" A ring-shaped energy blast lifted off of Orichalcos Sunaros and sliced the dragon in half sending Kaiba into the barrier.
"KAIBA!" Yami cried.
"I'm not… done yet," Kaiba stammered. "I activate my trap card… Wish of Last Resort… which transfers my dragon's attack points to my partner's life points."
(K: 0)
(Y: 4300)
(D: 18,500)
Kaiba collapsed. Mokuba started to run to him but forgot about the three barriers of the Seal of Orichalcos. Yami, however, ran over to him. "Kaiba…"
"Yugi… don't screw this up… you've fought too long so you can't lose this. You hear me, win!"
"I will, my friend," Yami said in a low voice. The Seal of Orichalcos contracted around Kaiba. A blank tablet was filled with Kaiba's image.
"Looks like you're the "soul" survivor," Dartz cracked. Yami stared at him disgusted.
The entire temple started to shake as a low roar could be heard. "What's that?" Yami asked.
"Thanks to Kaiba's generous donation, the Great Leviathan is almost ready."
"Stupid!" Mokuba snapped. "Tell your lizard to spit my brother's soul out right now!"
"I have what I need so you can keep the rest." With a wave of his hand, Kaiba's body flew out of the ring. Mokuba tried to catch it but it was moving so fast that it plowed into him throwing both Kaibas up to the wall.
"Mokuba!" Amara shouted. But as she, Tea, and Tristan ran to check up on them. Dartz waved his hand again and a giant eye appeared in front of the three. The eye released a shockwave causing dust to kick up everywhere and throwing the three also against the wall.
"Tea? Tristan, Amara, Mokuba!" Yami called out for them. As the dust settled, Yami saw that all four of them were on the ground. Yami turned to Dartz, "What have you done to them?"
"Your friends are just fine, I just wanted a little one-on-one time with you, Pharaoh."
"How dare you? First you destroy lives just to get your minions, then you steal both my God Cards and Harold's Armlet…"
"Steal? Hardly, in fact I'm just taking back what is rightfully mine." Dartz stared at the Armlet.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what you call the Avatar Armlet is actually an Atlantian artifact."
"How is that possible?"
"I'll show you." The room around them flashed and they found themselves floating over Atlantis. "Back when the Orichalcos stones were first discovered, the Atlantians used them as not only a power source, but to construct jewelry." To emphasize, Dartz touched the broach around his neck. "The Avatar Armlet, originally called the Atlantian Armlet, was forged by our greatest ironsmith to quell the chaos rising in one of our colonies."
"Wait, I thought Atlantis was isolated."
"Physically, it was, but do remember that I also said we set up colonies. In fact, it was to one of these colonies that my father took the refugees after they were exiled from Atlantis. They traveled through the desert for years. Finally, they settled down and integrated with other desert nomads." The scene switched to Ironheart, Chris, and a few dozen human and monsters walking through the desert.
"Traveling through the desert… wait you're not saying…"
"Quite, that the colony in question was Egypt! The people you ruled were descendants of Atlantis!"
Does that mean that I also am a descendant of Atlantis? Yami wondered.
The scene switched again to a man with snow-white hair and a pale complexion working at a forge. "When word reached us that the Egyptian colony was in turmoil due to magical interference, the great Ironsmith Kuloth forged an object which would have the power to quell both the magical and the personal turmoil that threatened the Egypt Colony. He was able to finish it but not before falling ill. He died soon after but we still had to get the Armlet to Egypt. So it was sent in the care of his daughter, whom we called The Maiden. Atlantians are supposed to wed at a young age. Even Iona and I were a little bit older than your host's body when we wed. Any woman passed the age of marrying was called a maiden. And it was the greatest of these maidens, whom we no longer call by her birth name, who delivered the Armlet to Egypt."
The scene switched again, now it showed Dartz walking to a cliff edge that overlooked an Egyptian city. "After the Battle of Atlantis and the Great Leviathan was sealed away, I journeyed to Egypt to search for her and the Armlet. Hopefully, I could use both to jump start resurrecting the Great Beast. However, by the time I came to Egypt, the Maiden was dead and the Armlet had vanished. I thought I would never see it again."
"Until your Warriors brought in Harold," Yami finished.
"Correct, but something had happened to the Armlet in the time between The Maiden departed with it and now. An overflow of dark shadow magic had been inserted into it."
"You mean like the Millennium Items?"
"Exactly, you can imagine how disgusted I was, the magic of the Orichalcos overwritten with the sinister dark magic. But there was some redeeming grace. When your friend Harold tried to break the Seal of Orichalcos with the Armlet, he unintentionally awakened the dormant Orichalcos magic within it. Since then, the Orichalcos magic had been overpowering the Egyptian Shadow Magic. Under anyone else's control, the Armlet would've self-destructed, but because it landed back in my possession, I was able to subdue the energy. It is because of this Armlet that I'm able to control the Orichalcos Soldiers as well as the Orichalcos Deutros and Tritos cards."
"You said that the Armlet was forged to quell the chaos rising in Egypt, what kind of chaos?"
"The kind caused by a tyrannical ruler of course." Yami gasped. "That's right, Pharaoh, you were the reason Egypt was in such turmoil, you were the reason we had to forge the Armlet, to stop your campaign."
"No, you lie!"
"Surely you have noticed how the Armlet could neutralize magical artifacts, how it could break the rules normally governed by the Shadow Realm." Yami thought back to all the times Harold used his Armlet and had to conclude that Dartz was right on that one. "What else other than the Seal of Orichalcos could do that? You had terrorized your people with the powers of the Shadow Realm, I should know, I was there." Dartz could clearly see Yami trembling. "I can see you need someone to connect the dots for you. After you died, the Shadow Magic was locked away and Egypt was peaceful. During your reign, the magic ran rampant and Egypt was on the verge of destruction. You do the math. And when that foolish host of yours put together the Millennium Puzzle, you and your ancient rivals were resurrected and the Shadow Games returned. That's why you must be offered to resurrect the Great Leviathan, to repent for your past mistakes. Look around you, your friends are unconscious, they wouldn't be in such danger if you hadn't dragged them into it. That is just the kind of thing a creature of pure darkness would do."
If… if Dartz is right, then this whole chaos with the Shadow Games is happening because I was resurrected. If I wasn't here, then none of my friends would've had their souls stolen. Raphael might have been right when he said that the reason I was resurrected in this time was to be offered to the Great Leviathan. It seems to be the only way, for me to fully redeem myself, I must offer my soul.
To Be Continued
Duel Monster Database
(1)
Name: Reflecting Dragon
Level: 7
Type: Dragon/Hybrid/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 2800
DEF: 2100
(2)
Name: Orichalcos Shunaros
Level: 8
Type: Fairy/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK?
DEF?
(3)
Name: Orichalcos Dexia
Level: 3
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK?
DEF: 0
(4)
Name: Orichalcos Aristeros
Level: 3
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Light
ATK: 0
DEF?