Well, here we go, chapter 7, and things are just getting worse.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

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"In the end, we will remember

Not the words of our enemies,

But the silence of our friends."

-Martin Luther King Jr.

I have been told things before about my father's past with the Orichalcos, not that he used it, but he did fight against an opponent using it with a tricky deck.

I also happen to remember my dad saying that there are sometimes things about my family's history that are better left unsaid, but now something in his past is coming to haunt me.

However, I cannot say I exactly disagree with this gal's reasoning for dueling me, my grandfather did wrong her father in ways that no one deserves to be hurt.

But its not exactly fair for her to take it out on me...

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CHAPTER 7:

SOLDIERS OF TRUTH

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Later around lunchtime, the friends are seated at a table, chatting away as they enjoy a meal of Chinese food. Ariel on the other hand is sitting off to the side, poking lightly at her chicken.

She was next, she could feel it, she was the only one of the 6 duelists that had yet to face the Orichalcos, and she had no doubt that her own challenge would be tough. Her deck had got her through the Duelist Dimension tournament, through trials and tribulations that few duelists would normaly face, and she was still standing here today.

Now, she could only hope that whatever fate sent her way, she could overcome it...

Suddenly, a hunting knife goes flying, and embeddes itself into the table right in front of Ariel, with the blade stabbed through a piece of paper. Ariel struggles for a second, then takes the knife out, unfolding the paper, which reads. "Payback time, Kaiba!"

And underneath it was a cartoonish picture of Ariel impaled on a giant stake.

"Didn't anyone ever you that impaling people on stakes went out of style in the 1400's?" Ariel calls out, shaking her head. "I know your here, so show yourself."

"Stubborn and impatient, I was hoping you would've gotten more qualaties from your mother than your father," a feminine voice from the crowd says, and the crowd parts, revealing a young woman, just two inches shorter than Ariel, with long red hair tied into a ponytail, and wearing a black coat, and a grey tank top and jeans.

"And you are?" Ariel demands, twirling her own red hair on her finger.

"What, you don't remember me?" The young woman says. "Lets see, company picnic, 9 years ago..."

"Oh yeah, I remember," Ariel says...

Flashback...

9 years before, a 8-year-old Ariel Kaiba is eating a hamburger with her mother nearby. It was one of the few Company Picnics that her dad actualy schedueled, and attended with his family.

Her mom is chatting away with another woman with short black hair and green eyes, sitting nearby is a girl about Ariel's age, with some freckles, and is poking at her food.

"Hey, I'm Ariel, whats your name?" the young Ariel asks.

"Amy," the other girl says. "My dad just got a job at Kaiba Corp, I don't know why I had to come to this crummy picnic anyway."

"Tell me about it, I only have to be here because my dad runs the company," young Ariel says. "I would rather be dueling anyway."

"You duel too?" Amy asks.

"Two-time Junior champion at Kaibaland," young Ariel says in a braggy tone.

"Hmm, not bad, maybe we can duel someday," Amy says.

"Yeah, like you could beat me, but you never know, it might be fun," Ariel says with a laugh.

End Flashback...

"Oh yeah, you're Amy, I never saw you after that day, how have you been?" Ariel asks.

"Terrible," Amy says. "My dad put his heart into working for your company in order to make up for what he did to your father, and its gotten our family nowhere!"

"Just exactly why did your father want vengence on mine in the first place?" Ariel asks.

"This is bad," Renee says, the other 5 duelists had been watching from their table. "My dad told me a little bit about Alister, if I'm right, and this is his daughter, Ariel will have her work cut out for her."

"As you are aware, Kaiba Corp. was not always a Gaming Compamy, years ago, Gozaburro Kaiba was a supplier of weapons for countries all over the world," Amy starts. "Once, an army invaded a small town, the reasons where selfish, just destruction for the sake of destruction. My father was living in that town with his brother, his brother was killed, and he knew that your grandfather was behind it all. And I'm here to finish what he started, to take down the Kaiba family once and for all!"

Ariel is silent for a minute, then as if remembering something, she removes something from her backpack. "Amy, you feel like my family doesn't care, but you're wrong," she says, and takes something out of her bag.

Its a small action figure, resembling something from a Japanese Anime, it is beaten and singed as if it had been through a war, which it had been.

"Dyna Dude, right?" Ariel asks, holding the old action figure out for Amy to see it. "A discontinued line, yes, if it was in better shape, worth maybe a few thousand dollars. My dad gave it to me, I don't know why, but I had it in my bag, this toy, it was important to your father, wasn't it?"

"How did you..." Amy demands.

"My father, despite what you might think, is an honorable man, he kept this action figure, he could've destroyed it at any time, but he kept it, to honor your father," Ariel says, tossing it to Amy. "Take it, you need it more than I do."

Amy pauses for a moment before putting it away. "That won't help a thing, you and I are still going to duel!" She says, and Ariel stands up.

"Fine, if thats the only way I can get through to you, then lets duel!" She says, activating her duel disk while Amy does the same.

"LETS DUEL!" The two say in unison.

"This should be interesting," Darren says with a yawn. "I mean, if Amy has a vendetta against Ariel's family, they will both have to step their game up."

Ariel is going to have to be careful, as dillusional as Amy might be, her passion for revenge on what happened to her father is what powers her dueling, which means that she will be harder to beat than you would think, Katie thinks, and Yami nods.

"I'll go first," Ariel says, and draws. "I'll place this card face down, and summon my Luster Dragon (1900/1600), in attack mode!" She says, and the saphire dragon appears. "And thats it for me."

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From the floor above, Kennith and Damien are watching the duel begin (Kari was off on other buisness).

"I wonder if it was really that good of an idea for the boss to hire the children of two of the original Orichalcos swordsmen," Kennith says. "Their strategies are out of date in comparison to ours, and they aren't even that good of duelists!"

"They have their uses," Damien says, folding his arms. "Like testing our enemies for one."

"At least the boss learned his lesson this time when it came to hiring duelists for his swordsmen," Kennith says. "Those three just couldn't cut it, too honorable to be real henchmen material."

"Yeah, that I'll agree with," Damien says, and the two Swordsmen of the Orichalcos continue watching the duel.

Not knowing that someone else is watching them from a distance...

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Amy draws. "I'll place this card face down, and summon my Science Solder (800/800) in defense mode!" She says, and a mechanical soldier appears. "And thats it for me."

"Oh great, not that card, thats one of the guys that nearly cost me the duel against Dr. Finnigan," Wendy groans, remembering the Soldier Revolt combo that had been used against her in her last duel.

"Yeah, but Finnigan used a relativity deck," Renee says. "Soldier Revolt was just an extra combo, if Amy follows the deck strategy of her father, she most likely has a better chance of using it right."

Ariel draws. "I activate Pot of Greed," she says, and draws two cards. "And I summon, Don Zaloog in attack mode!" She says, and the eye-patched thief appears, brandishing two swords.

"The Dark Scorpions? Your a bigger hypocrite than I thought," Amy sneers. "The Dark Scorpions don't deserve to be in the deck of someone like you!"

"You don't get it, do you?" Ariel asks. "The Dark Scorpion gang in my deck isn't your average 5 cards, they're also Duel Monster Spirits, and I have earned their respect, something that a real hypocrite like yourself would never understand."

"What on earth is she talking about?" Katie questions.

Monster Spirits... could it be? Renee thinks, then looks harder at Ariel, who is now standing their flanked by 4 figures, 4 familiar figures.

Meanae the Thorn, Gorg the Strong, Cliff the Trap Remover, and Chick the Yellow, the other 4 members of the Dark Scorpions. Like Renee and others, Ariel Kaiba had spirit companions, the original members of the Dark Scorpions.

Ariel gives Renee a knowing smile, and continues with her turn. "I activate an equip card, Fusion Sword Murasame Blade, raising Don Zaloog's attack points to 2200!" She says, and one of the thief's swords is replaced with a darker one. "Luster Dragon, destroy her Science Soldier, Saphire Blaze!" She commands, and the dragon incinerates the mechanical soldier in a burst of blue flame. "Now Don Zaloog, attack her directly, Sting of the Scorpions attack!" She commands, and the thief slashes at Amy, lowering her life points to 5800. "And Don, grab two cards from her deck," she says, and Don Zaloog snatches two cards off of Amy's deck, and shoves them into the graveyard before doing a back-flip, and landing gracefully on Ariel's side of the field. "Your move."

Amy draws, and grins. "I summon, my KC-1 Clayton (2000/1200)!" She says, and a tank rolls into view. "And I activate a trap card, go Tank Units of Historical War, so I get three tank tokens (800/1200)!" She says, and suddenly three more tanks appear, and the first tank's attack rises to 3500. "I'll also place this card facedown, and attack Don Zaloog with my Clayton!" She says, and the tank fires a missile, incinerating the thief king, and lowering Ariel's life points to 6700. "One card face down, and its your move."

Ariel draws. "I summon my Hysteric Fairy (1800/500), in attack mode!" She says, and a fairy with glasses, and carrying a book under her arm appears. "Now Luster Dragon, attack one of her Tank Tokens!" She commands, and the dragon sends a burst of fire at the token, only to be blocked by a barrier.

"Sorry, but I activated my trap card, Token Shielding, since I have one monster on the field that isn't a token monster, my Tank Tokens, and any other tokens I summon cannot be destroyed as a result of battle," Amy counters.

"Fine, I'll place this card face down, and end my turn," Ariel says. If she tries to summon anymore tokens, she'll be in for a nasty suprise, she thinks to herself.

"Hey Ariel, come on, let me get a crack at this gal for beating Don!" Meanae says from beside her.

"Meanae, I don't even have you in my hand right now..." Ariel points out.

Amy draws. "I activate, the Seal of Orichalcos!" She shouts, and the wicked seal descends around them, and KC-1 Clayton's attack rises to 4000, and each token's attack rise to 1300. "Now Clayton, destroy her Fairy!" She continues, and the tank fires another shot, destroying the fairy, and lowering Ariel's life points to 4500.

"Go trap card, Damage Condenser!" Ariel says, and discards a card from her hand. "And Now I can summon a monster from my deck, so lets welcome to the field, Meanae the Thorn (1000/1800)!" She says, and the whip-wielding member of the Dark Scorpions appears, looking angrily at Amy.

"Fine, whatever, its your move now," Amy says.

Ariel draws, and glances at Amy for a second. "Amy, your quest for vengence has one major problem to it, you are so blinded by your rage that you are unable to see the big picture, its time that I put you in your place. I activate Monster Reborn, and bring Back Don Zaloog!" She says, and the thief king appears.

"So? I already beat him, I'll just do it again," Amy says boredly.

"Well, then I'll have to take care of that, won't I? I activate a spell card, go Dark Scorpion Tragedy of Love!" She says.

"Whats it do? Other than sound like the title of a bad soap opera that is," Amy asks with a chuckle.

"Yeah, well who doesn't love a bad soap opera. Anyway, since I have Don Zaloog and Meanae the Thorn, by sacrificing Meanae, I can destroy every card on your side of the field!" She says, and Meanae cracks her whip, striking each card on Amy's field and they shatter, followed by Meane herself.

"All right, she got rid of those tanks!" Wendy says.

"Don't celebrate just yet, this duel is far from over," Renee says. "And she hasn't even used her best combo yet, Ariel might be in trouble."

"Now Don Zaloog, attack her directly!" Ariel commands, and the thief slashes at Amy, lowering her life points to 4400, and he grabs a card from her hand this time.

Well, there goes using Royal Decree this duel, Amy thinks.

"One card face down, and its your move," Ariel finishes.

Amy draws. "I summon this monster, my Cyber Soldier of Dark World (1400/1200 + 500)!" She says, and a mechanical warrior appears. "Now, attack her Don Zaloog, Dark Cyber Blast!" She commands, and the warrior sends a dark blast of energy at the thief king.

"I activate the spell card, O-Opressed Rising, which lets me negate your attack and destroy your monster!" Ariel Counters, and the mechanical soldier shatters. "Of course, I have to skip my battle phase next turn."

"Then take your turn," Amy says.

Ariel draws. "I set this monster in defense mode, and switch Don Zaloog to defense mode to end my turn," she says.

Amy draws, and glances at the card. "One card face down, and I set this monster in defense mode, your move," she says.

Ariel draws. I have to be careful, that monster might have high defense, and I have no monsters in my hand right now that can help, she thinks. "I'll just pass."

Amy draws, and laughs maniacaly as she looks at her card.

"Maniacal laugh is never a good sign..." Darren says.

"I flip summon my face down monster, go Kinetic Soldier 1350/1800 + 500)!" She says, and a cyborg warrior appears. "And I activate a spell card, go Junk Dealer!"

"Uhh, Junk Dealer? Thats one I'm not familiar with," Wendy says.

"It lets her summon two monsters from her graveyard and halfs their attack points," Katie explains.

"So lets welcome to the field, my Science Soldier (800/800 + 500 - 650) and Cyber Soldier of Dark World (1400/1200 + 500 - 950)!" Amy says, and the two mechanical soldiers appears, their attack lowering. "And now, I reveal my trap card, go Soldier Revolt!" She says, and a huge explosion destroys every card on Ariel's field. "And now, I activate this card, Sky Union!"

"Sky Union? That doesn't sound good..." Katie says.

"Its not," Renee says. "It summons her best monster, and I don't know how well Ariel can do against this one."

"What do you mean?" Darren asks.

"Seto Kaiba beat Alister all those years ago using the Fang of Critias," Renee says. "But the Legendary Dragons have yet to appear, if they will at all, but for now we can only hope that Ariel can do something."

"I sacrifice my 3 soldiers, to summon my all-powerful, Air Fortress Ziggurat (2500/2500 + 500)!" She shouts, and the celing opens up, and something begins to decend onto the field. It is a huge mechanical fortress, with cannons sticking out of nearly every inch of it, and a large face attached to the front that resembles the face of a mech from Japanese anime. "But I can't attack yet, so I set one card face down, and its your turn, which forms a Toy Robot Token (0/0) to the field in defense mode!" She says, and what looks like a toy robot appears.

Should I activate it now? No, I'll wait until she has more of them, Ariel thinks, and draws, then grins. "I summon, Spear Dragon (1900/0), in attack mode!" She says, and a long-nosed pteradactyl-like dragon appears. "And I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, and destroy your Token Barrier!" She says, and a wind blows away the barrier. "Now Spear Dragon, destroy her token, Cyclone Blast!" She commands, and the dragon sends a huge gust of wind at the token, who shatters, and Amy's life points fall to 2500. "And my dragon goes to defense mode," she says, and the dragon covers itself with its wings. "Your move."

Amy draws. "I activate the trap card Aerial Bombardment, but we'll get to that in a second, now Air Fortress Ziggurat, attack her Dragon, Aerial Bombardment attack!" She commands, and the fortress' cannons all aim for the dragon, and blast it to smithereens. "And now I can draw one card," Amy says, and draws. "Then I activate Toy Robot Box, by discarding one card, I can summon Three Toy Robot Tokens to the field!" She says, and 3 tokens appears in defense mode. "And thats it for me, giving me another token!" She says, and another token appears, but Ariel laughs.

"I activate a trap card, Token Feastevil, so your tokens are all destroyed, and you lose 300 life points for each!" She says, and strange monsters appears, gathering up the tokens, and Amy's life points fall to 1200.

"And now, its my turn," Ariel continues, and draws. "And I activate Graceful Charity!" She says, and draws 3 cards before discarding two. "And I activate Premature Burial, so lets welcome back this monster, my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Ariel says, and the white dragon appears with a roar as her life points drop to 3700. "Two cards face down, your move."

Amy draws. "I activate Pot of Greed," she says, and draws 2 cards. "And I'll set two cards face down, and its your move," she says, and Ariel draws. "Go Ring of Destruction!" She says, and the grenades attach to Blue-Eyes and explode. "And Ring of Defense, so I take no damage!" She coninues, and Ariel's life points take a steep dive to 700.

"Fine, I activate my face down card, go Cost Down!" She says, discarding a card. "So lets welcome to the field my Airknight Parsanth!" She says, and a fairy centaur appears.

"Whats the point? Your monster can't destroy mine," Amy says.

"The point was so I can use this spell card, I activate Dragon's Mirror, and I remove from the game all three of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons, to summon this monster, my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" She says, and the huge three-headed dragon appears.

"Wait, how did you get three Blue-Eyes White Dragons in your graveyard?" Amy demands.

"Gracefull Charity and Cost Down, now lets finish this duel, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack Air Fortress Ziggurat, Neutron Blast!" She commands, and the thre heads sends a huge burst of energy, and wipes out the machine, then the electricity cascades down, and strikes Amy, who screams as her life points fall to 0. "And thats game."

"You've got to be kidding me..." Amy says as the seal takes her away.

Amy, I'm sorry, I will avenge you, Ariel thinks.

As the 6 duelists leave the building, Ariel and Marie look to the sky.

The first quarter will be over in a few days, the wrath of the lamb is comming, they think to themselves.

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The rest of the day is uneventful, and our heroes head to bed after a few hours.

Katie puts her duel disk and Millenium Puzzle off to the side as she finishes changing into her pajamas, and drifts off to sleep.

Halfway into the night, her dreams start to turn weird.

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KC-1 Clayton, Tank Units of Historical War, Sky Union, and Air Fortress Ziggurat where all used by Alister in the two-part episode "Flight of Fear."

Dark Scorpion Tragedy of Love was used by Don Zaloog against Chazz.

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Token Shielding

Continuous Trap

Image of Dark Magician Girl taking the attack for a Scapegoat. As long as this card is active, when you have at least one non token monster, your opponent cannot choose tokens as an attack target.

O-Opressed Rising

Quick-Play Spell

Image of the Dark Scorpions leading a group of peasants against an army with a giant flaming letter O in the sky. This card can only be activated when a monster with "Dark Scorpion" in its name, or is named "Don Zaloog" or "Cliff the Trap Remover" is attacked. Negate the attack and destroy the attacking monster, you must skip your next battle phase.

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Well, chapter seven is finaly done, so lets move on, shall we?

Next chapter, Katie is dueling again, this time against a character that first appeared last fanfiction. However, this character will not be using the Orichalcos, instead will be working to draw out an old ally of Katie's father? Can Katie win, and will the ally appear? Find out in, "To Duel Death."