"Sever the ties that hold you down
Spread out your wings and leave the ground
Take off your regrets
We aren't the rejects
This is revolution now
We're fighting, we're fighting for the truth
(To fight the lies within the shadows)
Warriors with everything to prove
(To see a new tomorrow)" -"Mirrors" by Aviators
When the duel first started, Cecelia was only listening with vague interest. She knew this battle was important, and she was all for cheering on her friend, but she couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes away from her husband's face and body being carved into Dartz's wall of souls. It was the cruelest torture imaginable to have him so close and yet so far away. She was distracted for a moment by one of the attacks, and when she looked back she couldn't seem to find his soul anywhere on the wall. Her body tried to force her into panic mode, but she forced herself to stay calm for the sake of her baby. She watched the duel instead, as the seal of Orichalcos was played, and then reinforced with it's second layer, and watched as Yugi and Kaiba's master of dragon knight soldier was quickly defused from each other.
"Talk about luck of the draw." Said Dartz.
"It's not luck. It's through teamwork and determination that we have avoided your attacks." Said Yami.
"You have a little speech for everything, don't you, Pharaoh? You must get so tired of being right all the time. Well don't worry, 'cause that all ends here. So listen closely as I teach you a little lesson of my own. And I assure you, it has nothing to do with teamwork or friendship! And it all starts with this! A magic card known as "Orichalcos Mirror". Now all I have to do is sacrifice a monster from my hand in order to summon my Mirror Knight calling! Which in turn calls four knights to the field to protect me."
They appeared one by one; four Mirror Knight Tokens armored in bright steel, with identical curved visors sealing their helmets, identical swords, and identical flat shields fronted with mirrors.
"He played four monsters in one turn?!" Gasped Tèa. Cecelia nodded, but couldn't help noticing all the Knights were of different heights except the middle two. If they were duel monsters, shouldn't they all be exactly the same?
"You poor fools. You'll never get past my Mirror Knights! And, thanks to my Orichalcos Deuteros, I gain three thousand more lifepoints!" Said Dartz, his life points now reading 7500.
"That's insane!" Mokuba exclaimed.
Each Mirror Knight in its faceless visor had 0 attack points, but rose to 500 from the Seal of Orichalcos.
"Now, pay close attention to the mirror's reflection." Warned Dartz.
One Mirror Knight's shield reflected Kaiba, standing in the shadow of his dragon.
"All right, what's going on?!" Asked Kaiba.
"Each knight reflects something, or someone on your side of the field. That dictates the value of their attack points." Said Dartz.
"So that means...!" Yami whispered, trailing off in horror.
"Yes, it does! My knights receive the same number of attack points as their targets!" Said Dartz, laughing.
One shield reflected Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, another Black Luster Soldier, another Kaiba, and the fourth reflected Yami. The two on Dartz's left still only had 500 attack points each; the one on the far right got 3000 attack points, the middle right 4500.
Then all four of the knights attacked. Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was slain, as was Yami's Black Luster Soldier. A third knight slashed Kaiba, and the fourth attacked Yami.
"What's wrong- Scared of your own reflections?!" Asked Dartz mockingly as both Yami's lifepoints and Kaiba's decreased from 4000 to 3500.
The Mirror Knights' shields reappeared one by one.
"As long as my Mirror Knight Calling crystal is on the field, my monsters' shields will always return! Which means, my Mirror Knights can't be destroyed! So go ahead and summon whatever you'd like." Said Dartz dismissively.
"Fine, I will! But first I think I'll activate my "Card of Demise"! This lets me draw five new cards, as long as I discard my entire hand in five turns; but it's worth it, for a fresh start!" Said Kaiba. "Next I'll play my "Silent Doom" card, so I can summon a monster from my grave in defense mode! And I choose Blade Knight! And now, I sacrifice Blade Knight, in order to summon Kaiser Glider. And last, I'll place one card facedown."
"I must say, I'm impressed. Your Kaiser Glider is safe from any monster with the same number of attack points; so my Knights can't crush it." Dartz remarked.
Kaiba may be safe for now, but we need to find a way to destroy his monsters, not hide from them! Thought Yami.
"All right, Dartz- My move!"
"Mirror Force"! This should help! He thought to himself.
"First I'll place one card facedown. And then I'll summon my Big Shield Gardna to the field in defense mode! That's all for now."
"How pathetic! Now then- since it's the start of a new turn for me, I gain another three thousand lifepoints." Dartz stated, his life points now reading 10500.
"We must stop him, and fast." When Dartz attacks, I'll activate my Mirror Force to counteract his mirrors, and destroy his knights! Thought Yami.
"Hold on, folks! I activate my trap card! Your knights are only safe if your Mirror Knight Calling magic card is in play! So now- I'll squash it! With "Ring of Destruction"!
Kaiba's trap took the form of an iron ring with bright red explosives attached around it. It fastened itself around the big crystal that was Mirror Knight Calling, and detonated. The debris shot through the rank of knights, though they don't move. Kaiba's lifepoints dropped to 3000, but from the confident smile on his face he clearly decided it was well worth it. Dartz's lifepoints also decreased to 10000.
"Now, when your knights are destroyed, they can't come back!" He said, confidently.
The face visors on each of the knights began to crack, as though made of cheap silver-painted plaster. They shattered one by one, but never fell from the knights' faces.
"Hey, wait! What's going on?!" Kaiba demanded. But he was cut off by Cecelia's shrill, bloodcurdling scream.
The first visor fell to the floor in shards. But her gaze was fixated on the knight on the far right. Dartz smiled with sinister amusement.
"Recognize anyone?" Asked Dartz with a smile.
"Yugi! But how?!" Asked Yami.
The third knight was Mai, her expression just as lifeless and empty as Yugi's. Between Yugi and Mai stood Joey, and on Mai's other side, the knight Cecelia was fixated on, was her own husband- Maximillion Pegasus.
"I control the souls of your companions, remember?" Asked Dartz.
"Let them go!" Tristan ordered.
"Attack my knights and you'll be attacking your friends."
Yami gasped in horror, his eyes on the wall that contained the souls of his friends.
If I had played my Mirror Force... that would mean... my friends would be gone forever...! By my own hand...!
"No matter what you do, you lose."
The four knights- Yugi, Joey, Mai, and Pegasus- stood there silently.
"It's impossible to defeat me without destroying these monsters. And you can't destroy my knights without destroying the souls of your friends!"