Chapter 10: A Triple Threat

Several days later, halfway across the world, in an ancient temple built into the walls of a valley in Egypt, there was great activity. For this was no ordinary temple, rather this was the main headquarters of The Eternal Hunters.
Early in the morning, just before sunrise, a dark-robed figure, wearing a hood quickly walked through the dark, torch lit hallways until he reached a set of large wooden double doors. He pounded his fist against the doors three times and heard a voice on the other side say "Enter!"
The robed figure pushed the doors open and entered a large living chamber. There was a large bed in one corner of the room and a round table with seats surrounding it on the other, as a type of sitting room. All of the furniture had an ancient Egyptian motif to it. In the center of the room stood a tall, slender but muscular man. His facial features looked very Egyptian. His skin was dark, like a native of the area and he was bald. He wore a long Dark Purple cloak with a miniature Millennium Symbol on it. Around his neck was a Pendant that reached down to his chest. Attached to this pendant was a small Mirror that looked so clear it could seeming absorb a looker into another world.
The hooded figure approached this man. He stopped about 3 feet short of him. He then removed his hood and dropped to one knee bowing his head. "Lord Set." He said

"Venom, what news do you have?" Set asked
"We found him My Lord. We have found The Red Demon." Venom responded
Set's face filled with excitement at this news. "Excellent work. Where is he now?" He asked.
"He is in the Main Audience Chamber My Lord." Venom replied
"Very well. I'll be along shortly." Set said. Venom then rose to his feet, turned around, left Set's chamber, and preceded to the Main Audience Chamber. Set meanwhile donned a dark blue cape and proceeded to the Chamber himself.

When Set arrived in the small Audience Chamber, he saw several of his men wheeling into the room a large stone slab. This slab had the shape of a human body carved into it, in much the same manner that the coffins of the Pharaohs were designed to look like the actual king inside. The arms were folded over the chest and there were two openings in the stone as if to insert something. When Set saw this slab he was ecstatic.
"Excellent!! So this is The Red Demon." He said. One of the robed figures, a portly man named Christophe Kaprit, raised his hand as if to ask a question.

"Begging your pardon My Lord, but what exactly is this? And how will it help us defeat Mathias Blackhart?" He asked. Soon several others began to wonder the same question.

Set looked Kaprit directly in the eyes and began to tell what this Red Demon was.
"The question is not what is this, but rather WHO is this?" Set began. "This is Loki, or as he was also called, The Red Demon. Some time ago, Loki challenged Mathias to a duel where the loser would be entombed in stone forever. Apparently Loki had learned that Mathias was in possession of the Horus Dragons. Loki desired them for himself so he could harness their power. Loki was ill prepared for the power that they possessed and Mathias defeated him. Loki has been like this ever since. He's not dead though. His spirit has been sustaining him all these years. Although I have a feeling that he is not fully human."

"So how shall he assist us My Lord?" Kaprit asked
"Simple," Set said, "We shall tell him that we aim to assist him in crushing Mathias and his little friends. We shall convince him to join us since we can help him. In return he will allow us to use the power of the Horus Dragons and the Mirror to fully harness the power of the Chaos Realm. Then we will have an army powerful enough to crush anyone who stands against us, and the world will be ours!!! But first things first, we must speak with The Red Demon personally." Set then reached into his robes and pulled out a small dagger. The blade had a strange symbol on it, a type of Early Middle Ages Norse religious symbol. Set placed the dagger, handle-first into one of the slots in the slab. After about 10 seconds an image appeared in the air above the slab. It was a spirit projection of Loki's body. He was tall, approximately 6 feet in height. His body was slender but muscular. He had Golden Blond hair and fire red eyes, eyes that looked like they wanted to set the world on fire. He also had sharp fangs for front teeth and his face looked like one would expect out of a man who wanted to go on a killing spree in a Post Office.

Loki looked around and saw Set and his hunter's all-surrounding the stone slab. "I'm not fully solid, but at last I am able to move freely again." He said. Loki then looked at Set. He could tell that Set was the one that placed the dagger in the statue. Loki's eyes glowed. He looked as if he wanted to strangle Set right then and there.
"Greetings Loki." Set began "Long have I waited to be in the presence of The Red Demon. I am Set, leader of a sect known as The Eternal Hunters. These are some of my followers. We have been searching for a long time to find you."
"Why have you given me some of my freedom back?" Loki asked, "Why have you released me?"

"Because we want to help you destroy Mathias Blackheart and his little friends." Set responded. Loki froze at the mention of Mathias's name.
"Mathias Blackheart." Loki began, rather intensely "I'll never forget that name. It was he who imprisoned me in this statue all those years ago. He shall burn for what he did to me!!!!" As Loki spoke, his words began to pick up even more intensity and anger.

Set spoke up. "He has allies now. Defeating Mathias will not be easy with his allies at his sides. However we too have a desire to crush Mathias. He was my student and he betrayed me. I offered him everything and he abandoned me to go with Elena. If we were to join forces we would be able to crush Mathias and his friends. Once we do so, the power you desire will be yours and the power we desire shall be ours."
"What power do you speak of?" Loki asked. He seemed reluctant to share the power he sought with another.
"We seek the inner strength of Mathias Blackheart." Set answered, "If we can harness it, along with harnessing the power of the Dragons the world will be OURS!!!"
Loki pondered for several minutes. This was a most interesting offer Set was making. Set was offering Loki assistance in defeating Mathias Blackheart as well as a stake in conquering the world. All Loki had to do was trust Set.

"You make a very enticing proposal Mr. What was it again, Set!! That's it! I shall agree to your proposal on two conditions. That you and your Hunters return to the site where you found this statue and search for my Dueling Decks. I left two of them behind. Also, do what you want with his friends, but I want Mathias." Loki said
"It shall be done. I humbly thank you for your assistance." Set said as he bowed before Loki as a sign of respect. Loki's image began to flicker and fade out. "I'm growing weak. I must rest up and regain my strength in order to prepare for battle." Loki said, as he said this, the image he projected had vanished completely. Loki had retreated back into the statue to rest. Set then called for Venom. The two began to walk side by side out of the Audience Chamber and into another dark, torch lit hallway.

"Everything is going according to plan. Now I shall go and launch the next phase of the plan. You shall be in charge here until I return." Set said
"Where are you going My Lord?" Venom asked
"I'm going to pay a visit to Seto Kaiba over at his company's headquarters." Set said, "We could use his assistance as well."
Venom seemed puzzled. "But Why? Kaiba is a loner." Venom asked, Set then walked up to a small table where he picked up a newspaper. It was the previous day's edition of The New York News. He showed Venom the front page headline:

WORLD CHAMP KAIBA CRUSHED BY UNKNOWN
The Associated Press
"Seto Kaiba, the newly crowned World Duel Monsters Champion, was defeated in a convincing fashion, by an unknown duelist who challenged him to a match following Kaiba's victory over archrival Yugi Moto in Saturday's World Championships.

The duel, played at an undisclosed location somewhere in the Western United States, was broadcast over Satellite Television and viewed by approximately 45 million in America and countless millions across the globe. In the duel, the mystery duelist easily handled every move Kaiba threw at him. The main monster used by the challenger was a set of cards involving large Silver, hawk-like Dragon that could stop Magic Cards on command. When asked if such cards were real, a rep for Industrial Illusions only stated that yes, such a card does exist.

Kaiba was unable to mount any type of offense against his opponent and with only 200 Life Points remaining, actually conceded the duel to his opponent. Such a move has never been seen out of Mr. Kaiba before. The opponent, who referred to himself only as 'Horus' is widely believed to be one of a trio of shadowy duelists known as The Saints, a group that trains diligently in Duel Monsters and only surfaces to issue challenges to high profile champion duelists. To date, The Saints have never lost in one of these challenges and it looks like now they can add Seto Kaiba to their list of people they have defeated."

"Kaiba's defeat at the hands of Mathias is all over the world." Set said. "No one has ever done to him what Mathias has done. I am going to see him to try and get him to join us. I'll tell him that we can restore his reputation and help him get even with Mathias and his friends for what they did to him. But in return we'll ask that he help us return to us the Horus Dragons."

"But My Lord, what about Loki?" Venom asked
"It won't be hard to pry the dragons away from him once we have Mathias's powers." Set responded. "Now leave me. I must prepare for my trip." At this command Venom knelt down for a moment before Set. He then rose and quickly ran off in the opposite direction.

Two days later, Set arrived at Kaiba Corp world headquarters. He was dressed in an all white business suit and carried a black briefcase. He looked as if he was carved out of ivory rather than an actual human being. He entered the building and walked straight to the elevators. He entered one and pressed the button for the top floor, where Seto's office was located. He stepped off the elevator and proceeded to walk up to the secretary's deck. "May I help you?" she asked
"I have an appointment with Mr. Kaiba." Set told the Secretary. She then pressed a button on her desk to activate her speakerphone into Seto's office.
"Excuse me Mr. Kaiba, you're 1:30 appointment is here." She said a voice responded back over the speaker, "Good, send him in."
"Mr. Kaiba is ready for you Sir." The secretary said. Set then walked through the large brass doors that led into Seto's office. His office was what one would expect the office of a CEO to look like. It was brightly lit and decorated with several lavish leather chairs and a couch. Seto's desk was in next to the rear windows and the sun shone in brightly through the large panes of glass. Seto, looked up from his computer monitor to recognize his guest.

"So, you claim to know something about this Horus freak and his crazy little buddies." Seto said. He was still speaking in an arrogant tone despite having his reputation as a champion flushed down the drain by Horus.
"Yes, I do." Set began "I came here to make you a proposition, one to help you regain your reputation as a champion."
"I will only reclaim my reputation by beating Horus. Yugi may have beaten me many times before, but he and I always had vicious duels that seesawed back and forth. This guy came along and made me look like a complete chump. I cannot go anywhere without some nobody on the streets calling me a loser." Seto said
"I know that, and I can help you beat him." Set replied, "but I will need something from you in exchange."
"And what might that be?" Seto asked his patience was wearing thin
"I need you to help me reclaim from Horus my rightful property. He was my student once and those dragons were once mine. Horus betrayed me and stole the dragons for himself. I and my associates will help you crush Horus, and all I ask in return is that you help me regain my property."

Seto remained silent for a few moments before speaking up. "Why should I help you? Give me one reason why I should risk whatever remains of my reputation just so you can get back your property. I personally think I'd be better off figuring out how to beat Horus myself. My computers are hard at work analyzing his style and trying to find ways to counter his cards."

Set began to laugh at this comment. "By the time you figure out how to beat his deck, Horus will have built a completely new deck." Set said. "This guy's smart. He wouldn't give you the opportunity to find the weaknesses in one deck without him having a completely different deck to demolish you with. I know you prefer to work alone. I know you are proud of your dueling career and I know you would love nothing more than to reclaim your reputation and crush Horus, and that's what I'm offering you. In return I ask that you help me out a bit. Think of this as both of us getting something out of the deal. I get back my dragons, you get back your reputation and we both get rid of Horus and his friends."

Seto paused for another few moments. "Hmmmmm, very interesting proposal you make. Ordinarily I refuse such proposals because I prefer to do things myself. I take pride in the accomplishments I've made for myself and my company, but in this case however I think I can make an exception. Since we both can't stand that Horus freak it would serve us both better if we worked together to take care of him. Mister, you have a deal"
"The name is Set." Set said. He then reached out and shook Seto's hand making the partnership official.

"So what do you have in mind Set?" Seto asked "If you claim to have enough flunkies at your side why don't we just go over to their hideout and take these guys out."
"Patience Mr. Kaiba, patience" Set said trying to calm Seto down. "We need some information first. Where is their hideout?"
"It's a game shop called Game Sanctuary. From the looks of things I'd say it used to be a church until these freaks bought the place. It's about 10 miles east of Sacramento California." Seto said
Set stood up for a moment and rubbed his chin with one hand. "Did you see the decks of Horus's two friends?" he asked
"No." Seto answered, "I dueled Horus first and left right after it was over. As much as I would have liked to see Yugi and Joey get demolished by Horus's little buddies, Shinobi and Maximus I just could not be in there any longer."

Set was now intrigued. "You mean Yugi Moto was there as well?" he asked
"Him and the rest of his geek patrol." Seto replied
"This changes things a bit." Set said, "Knowing Horus as well as I do, no doubt he and his friends will attempt to train Yugi and his friends to prepare for the worst. We're going to need someone to get us more information."

Seto seemed annoyed at all the talk about information "Look Set, are we going to take care of Horus and is friends or are we just going to talk about what we know about them? I'm a busy man you know!"
Set was now annoyed and Seto's arrogance. "Look Mr. Kaiba, we can't just waltz into Game Sanctuary and challenge these guys to duels. They'll mop the floor with us. Horus and his friends are powerful; you have seen this first hand. We need to know what we're up against. So what I think we should do is send in a scout. Someone who can report back to us how these guys play and how we can beat them."

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Seto asked
"As a matter of fact I do." Set replied "I have some associates out that way who can scout around Game Sanctuary and let us know what we're up against." Set reached into his suit jacked and pulled out a cell-phone. He opened it up and placed a call.
"Lord Set," The voice on the other end said rather shockingly, "To what do we owe this pleasure?"
"We've found The Saints." He began "They've been hiding out at a place called Game Sanctuary, about 10 miles east of Sacramento. Send in someone to gather information on their capabilities. As a matter of fact, send in Miguel, he's been looking forward to this for some time now."
"As you wish Sir." Set then hung up his phone and returned it to his inside jacket pocket.

"Does this Miguel have a reason to look forward to the job?" Seto asked, Set looked Seto right in the eyes and once again sat down and told the story of Miguel.
"Miguel was once a student of theirs. Something happened that really ticked off Horus and Miguel was expelled from their tutelage. He joined up with me and my associates in hope he could one day get revenge. Unfortunately for us however before they got rid of him they did a number on his mind. Any time he even tried to tell one of us the location of their hideout, he would scream out in pain, shield his eyes and cover his ears. He claimed he could hear Shinobi talking to him telepathically and he could not only see, but feel the fires of Hell and they were burning him to prevent him from talking."
"I see." Seto said "And he was the only one who knew where they were, but could never talk."
'Exactly" Set responded. "But now we have the information, and we will soon learn what they are capable of. I must go now, but I will need to speak with you again once Miguel's mission is complete."
"Keep me informed." Seto said.