Chapter 9: The Hundred Million Weapons

"We want to help you guys out." Yugi said. "Your cause seems worthy and you look like you guys could use some extra support against these Eternal Hunters."
"Yeah! You Saints are pretty devoted to Duel Monsters and believe in the forces of good. I'll help out any way I can." Joey added
"That is truly appreciated." Horus said, "We could use a couple of virtuous people such as you to help us. But first things first, I need to see your decks."
Yugi and Joey each handed their decks to Horus. He first took Yugi's deck in one hand and fanned out the cards so that he could examine each of them. After about one minute he handed the deck back to Yugi and did the same to Joey's deck. When he handed Joey his deck back he turned and asked Maximus and Shinobi to huddle with him.

"I think we should." Horus said. "They look like they are devoted enough to want to help us fight the Hunters. Trouble is we need to help them before they can help us. We'd better show them 'The Room'. Maximus and Shinobi looked at each other, then at Horus. They all nodded their heads together and Shinobi and Maximus both walked off together towards a corner of the basement. Meanwhile, Horus addressed the group.
"We'll let you join us." He said "But with those decks you guys won't stand much of a chance against the Hunters…
"So what are we supposed to do then?" Joey interrupted
Horus continued, "Well fortunately for you, we have the solution. Follow me." Horus began to walk over to the corner that Maximus and Shinobi went to earlier. Yugi, Joey, Tea, and Tristian all followed. They arrived at what appeared to be a doorway closed with steel sliding door.

"Is everything good to go?" Horus asked
"Yep," Maximus replied. At this Shinobi walked over to a wall panel next to the door with two switches on it. He flicked one switch into the "On" position and the door began to slowly open. On the other side was a small brightly lit room. When the door was about halfway up Horus pounded his fist against the door twice and said "Have Fun in there!" As the door opened up fully the gang could see that the entire room was lined with countless shelves of Duel Monsters cards. Horus flicked the second switch on and some soft guitar music began to play over the speakers inside the room.

"Yugi!! Look at all this. We hit the jackpot here!" Joey exclaimed. He had never seen such a collection of cards before.
"This is incredible!" Yugi said "We could make our decks so much stronger after this."
As Tea and Tristian looked into the room, their eyes were opened wide and their jaws dropped. Both of them were speechless at the sight of the room. Tea then entered and proceeded to browse the shelves.

Yugi and Joey were both looking at all of the shelves and picking out a few cards they felt would be helpful for their decks. One card in particular struck Yugi's attention.
"Hey Horus, I need to ask you something?" he said
"What do you need?" Horus answered
"I found this card. It's called Dedication Through Light and Darkness. It says it allows you to summon The Dark Magician of Chaos, but I can't seem to find it."

"You mean this?" Shinobi said. He then pulled out a card from one of the shelves and handed it to Yugi. Sure enough it was the Dark Magician of Chaos that the card Yugi found could summon. Yugi read over thoroughly what the effect text on the card read so he knew what it could do.
"WOW!!" Yugi shouted, "This is awesome! Thank you"
"Not a problem. It should help you put more of a focus on your Dark Magicians and
summoning them out faster." Shinobi said. "You might also have to take out some of your old favorites in order to make room for some of the stuff you're receiving today. It's just like Alchemy. You have to give up something before you can make something that is stronger."

Meanwhile Maximus approached Joey. He noticed that Joey was eyeing up a copy of Gearfried the Swordmaster.
"You like Gearfried I see." Maximus stated
"Yeah, There's something about his story that I find touching. A man willing to cause considerable harm to himself with that suit of armor, just to protect the people around him." Joey responded
Maximus closed his eyes for a minute as he thought. When he opened them he walked over and picked up a card.
"If you were to revamp your deck to try and make Gearfried the Swordmaster the central monster, I bet you'd be really good." Maximus said, "Here, try and find cards that will help you summon out Swordmaster. Also look for good Equip cards for the deck. You'll need them." Maximus then handed Joey the card that he had taken from the shelf. "Here, try this one. It will help you."

Joey looked over the card. It was an Equip Magic card called Sword of Dragon's Soul.
"Gee! Thanks Dan! I mean Maximus!! I'll keep this thing handy. Never know when I might need it."
"Anytime Joey." Maximus replied "What would also help you a lot are monsters that get good benefits when you place equipment on them. I've got it!!!!" Maximus reached into a box of cards and began to search frantically. After about a minute he pulled out three copies of a card called Armed Samurai-Ben Kai.
"One of our students was experimenting with this thing about a week ago. If used properly it can be truly devastating to an opponent. In this kind of deck it will work perfectly." Maximus said

Joey looked over the cards and read their effect "So you mean that this thing can attack again and again if I keep equipping it?" he asked
"Yeah," Maximus said, "It can be quite brutal."
"Thanks again." Joey said
"Once again, you're welcome" Maximus replied.

Meanwhile Tea was browsing the shelves. Although she was looking very intently, she was not selecting any cards.
"Is something wrong Tea?" Horus asked
"Yeah." She said, "I'm not sure what kind of deck I should build." She pulled out her own deck and showed it to Horus. "I have a mainly Light and Fairy Deck." She said "But I think I wanna try something different. I just don't feel like Fairies can be much of a threat in this game."
"I wouldn't say that Tea." Horus said. He motioned her to a shelf along the back of the wall where Horus began showing her rows of Fairy Monsters and Magic Cards to support them.
"If done correctly Fairies can be absolutely sick." Horus said, "I know a girl who got married recently and as a small wedding gift I helped build her a Fairy Deck. The day after her wedding she and her new husband went to a tournament and she won. Here, take a look at these two Fairies." Horus showed Tea two cards. One was called Guardian Angel Joan, and the other was called Archlord Zerato.
"These are the two best Fairies I know of." Horus said, "This shelf should have pretty much everything you'll need to make this deck work. Also if you need any help with the deck, feel free to come back. We'll be more than happy to help you." Horus then began looking through one of the shelves. He pulled out a card, flipped it into the air and caught it as it fell. He then handed it to Tea.

"Try this." Horus said, I have this feeling that you will know when to use this card."
Tea looked it over. "Gift of the Martyr. It looks useful, but how would I know when to use this thing?"
"I just have this feeling that something will happen and this card will get you out of trouble." Horus said
"Tea you might want to take his advice." Maximus said, "If I know Horus as well as I think I do, his hunches are rarely wrong."

"Thanks Horus." Tea said. The gang stayed inside the card room for a good half hour going through the shelves. When they were finally finished they all filed out of the room. Horus then turned both switches off. The guitar music stopped and the steel door closed back down. Yugi, Joey, and Tea all showed off all of the cards they had taken from the room.
"You guys are absolutely sure we can just take these cards?" Yugi asked. "It seems like you're losing an awful lot of good stuff here."
"Relax." Shinobi said "We can always have good old Kaiba front us the money to replace them." At this everyone burst out laughing.
"Seriously, it's nothing we can't replace." Maximus said
"That room is our stockpile. We use it specifically for situations such as this." Horus added.
"Well in that case we greatly thank you for your help." Yugi said, "We really should get going though. It's getting late."
"Very well then" Horus said, "Feel free to come back whenever you want. If we're not here, just come over to the Rectory. Someone should be over there.
"Hey Tristian." Maximus said, "How come you didn't take any cards?"
"I'm only a casual player." Tristian said "I still have a lot to learn about the game before I can join Yugi and Joey in playing."
"Suit yourself then." Maximus said

Horus led the group back up the stairs to the door. He pulled out his key and opened it again. Another rush of cool air blew in as everyone filed out of the basement. Maximus once again pulled out the small key he used to lock the front doors. This time he inserted the key into the lock of the door and unlocked the doors.
"Well I guess this is good-bye, for now. Take care Joey." Maximus said
"You too Maximus. I'm gonna work on this deck and maybe I'll be up for a rematch." Joey said. He held up his opened hand in the air. Maximus slapped him a Hi-Five and Joey walked out towards the car.
Yugi walked towards Shinobi. He offered Shinobi a handshake. Shinobi waited a few seconds before accepting.
"Thanks Shinobi." Yugi said. "I hope these cards work for me"
"As do I." Shinobi said "I also hope that should you ever encounter The Hunters that you'll be better prepared for them after our duel today."
Yugi then began to walk out to join Joey. Tristian walked out along with Yugi.

Finally Tea approached Horus
"Thank you for all you three have shown us today." She said. "We'll be back soon."
"We'll be waiting for you." Horus said. Tea then gave Shinobi a friendly handshake. She turned to Maximus and shook his hand as well. She also gave him a hug. Yugi turned around and saw Tea give Horus a small kiss on the cheek. Tea then left Game Sanctuary and joined her friends as they got back into their car and drove off into the night.