Episode 72: Redemption Part 1

Seto and Kodane are in a bedroom. One might think that it is just an average hotel bedroom, if it wasn't for the fact that one of the walls was made of a see-through material, thus revealing a spectacular view of the Earth from high in orbit. Kodane is jumping up and down on the large bed in the center of the room and Seto is sitting on the floor, on top of what looks like a makeshift bed made of blankets on the floor. He's working on a portable terminal. Kodane leaps of the bed and runs up to the window. He presses his body against it and stairs down at the Earth. He exclaims, "This is so awesome! I still can't believe that we're in outer space! I never want to leave!"

Seto smiles. He suggests, "How about this, after we get back, I'll invest in an official Kaiba Corporation space ship, maybe even a space station. Then we can go into space whenever you'd like."

Kodane quickly turns towards Seto and exclaims, "Oh boy! That'd be great!"

Seto contemplates, Come to think about it, with these finals taking place in space, I'll bet that dueling in space will be more desired than ever. I might just be able to profit off of such a venture. Hmm…

Just as he finishes his thoughts, the door to the room opens. Seto, without looking up from his work, says with annoyance, "Hey, haven't you ever heard of something called knocking? It's something you do when entering someone else's room."

Kodane says nervously, "Um…Seto…"

Seto looks up to see that the person in the door is the imposing figure Oblivion. Seto puts down his terminal and gets up, looking angrily at Oblivion. He sneers, "What are you doing here?"

Oblivion states, "You and I have some unfinished business to attend to."

A look of disgust crosses Seto's face. Without turning to face him, Seto tells Kodane, "Kodane, leave this room now."

Kodane objects, "But Seto-"

"No Kodane, get out of here, now."

Kodane sprints out, avoiding Oblivion, who's still next to the door.

Oblivion moves in closer towards Seto. "Now Seto, you and I need to have a little chat." He chuckles menacingly.

Yuni, Brutus, and Tori are all in a room similar to the previously described one. Yuni's sitting on the bed, Tori on a chair, and Brutus is leaning against a wall. Yuni is in the middle of saying, "…and then I just heard his voice in my head. He told me not to worry about him. I have no idea why it happened…or if it even did happen."

Tori looks intrigued. She comments, "We don't really know how this whole mind banishment things really works. It's completely possible that there is a way communicate with those who have been sent away."

Yuni looks skeptical. "I don't know. From what I experienced," he shivers, "you lose all touch with reality. Even if you had the ability to do it, I just can't see one actually having enough focus to do it."

Brutus comments, "I don't think that we should worry about how he did it. All that matters is that he did. We've got to do all we can to defeat Oblivion, just like he suggested."

Before anyone can say anything else, Kodane bursts through the door. He's panicking.

Brutus starts to ask, "Hey, who do you think you-" He stops as he realizes who it is. "Hey, you're rich boy's brother. What are you doing here?"

Kodane runs up to Yuni and begs, "Please Yuni, I need your help!"

Yuni looks at him quizzically. "What's wrong? Why'd you come here for help? Why not your brother?"

"That's just it. Seto's in trouble. I had no clue where else to go, you're the only other person that I even kind of know up here."

Brutus chuckles. "Ha, so the spoiled brat needs our help. Imagine that."

Tori hits Brutus in the side. She scolds, "Brutus, this is no time for that!" She turns towards Kodane and kneels down to be at eye level with him. She asks, "What is wrong with your brother?"

"It's that bad man Oblivion." With that comment, the three all look at each other and run out.

The three make it to the outside of Seto and Kodane's room. Brutus holds his hand up to motion the others back. "Stand back, I'll handle this." He winds himself up and then charges at the door. Just as he is about to ram into it, the door opens. On the other side is Oblivion, who steps to the side, allowing Brutus to continue running until he slams into a wall and falls onto the floor inside the room.

Oblivion gives him a quick look of disgust and then walks out of the room. Yuni demands, "Alright, what were you doing to Seto, Oblivion?"

Oblivion inquires, "And what is wrong with me wanting to have a simple conversation with the young Seto?"

Kodane accuses, "You wanted to hurt him! I know that!"

Oblivion shakes his head innocently. "I assure you, no harm has come to your brother." Oblivion walks off. No one is sure what to do.

Kodane runs into the room shouting, "Seto, Seto! Please answer me!" Yuni and Tori go in after him.

There in the room, sitting on the floor with his portable terminal, as if nothing had happened, is Seto. Brutus is on the floor in front of him, unconscious, but Seto pays him no heed. Seto looks up from his work and asks, "What's got you all so wild up?"

Kodane stammers, "But…but…what about Oblivion?"

"He just needed to have an innocent conversation with me. It's nothing to worry about."

Yuni steps forward. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. There is no such thing as an innocent conversation with Oblivion. What did you talk about with him?"

Seto looks at Yuni with annoyance. "Who and what I talk about is my business, not yours. Now I suggest that you get out of my room before I call security on you." He looks down at Brutus with disgust and adds, "And get this…thing out of my room." Yuni looks at Seto with dislike and he and Tori walk over and pick up Brutus, and leave the room.

Some time later, Yuni, Tori, and Brutus, now revived, are waiting on the observation platform of the duel arena. Seto, Kodane, Oblivion, and Otto are there as well. Ma'at appears to have left overnight. The oversized hologram of the Minister of Dueling appears. He announces with much bravado, "Alright duelists! Who's ready for day two of the action packed World of Duel Finals!? Today we're in for a real treat! The first duel of the semifinals will be between two great duelists! On one side we have the unknown-until-recently upstart duelist, Yuni Oha!" A spotlight shines down on Yuni. "And on the other we have the Duel Monsters World Champion, and Kaiba of Kaiba Corp., Seto Ossius!" The light changes to Seto. "So who will win!? Will it be the established champion, or the determined underdog!? Let's find out! Duelists, take your positions!"

Yuni and Seto move off of the observation platform and each move to their respective sides of the field. Back at the platform, Otto is thinking, The two Princes of Yugoha facing off against each other one more time. You could call it fate… He smiles devilishly, or you could call it a set up. The two will now duel, and reveal to me how much of the power they retain from their original embodiments.

The Minister explains, "Alright for those who don't know, all semifinalists will duel using the same amount of life points that they began with during the previous duel. And now, without further ado, let's get things moving!"

Yuni and Seto activate their Duel Gauntlets. The computer recites, "World of Duel Finals duel now commencing. Yuni Oha, with 4200 life points vs. Seto Ossius, with 4800 life points. Scanning decks…decks accepted. Commence dueling."

Yuni shouts out, "Seto, this is duel on!"

The Minister announces, "And luck has favored Seto Ossius today, he shall go first."

Seto smiles. He states, "If nothing else, this duel will be…amusing."

Yuni asks, "And is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"From me, it is." As he draws a card he declares, "I draw!" He grins at his draw. "You might have defeated me before, but that was merely a fluke. And now…and now I have a card more powerful than you could possibly imagine on my side. This duel will not be in your favor. Since there are absolutely no cards on the field, I can special summon Plasma Monk (Light/Level 5/Spellcaster/Effect/ATK 2300 DEF/1100)!" In a flare of plasma, a wise old man, in a meditative stance, appears on the field. He is made of orange plasma. "Then, when I pull out a Plasma monster, Cosmic Enlightened One will also appear on my field (Light/Level 5/Fairy/Effect/ATK 0/DEF 2400)!" Similar to the previous monster, this one is also a meditative old man, but this one appears to exude more of a sense of knowledge and wisdom. This one actually levitates in the air. Like other Cosmic monsters, it appears to be made out of the fabric of space. "When the Enlightened One is summoned, it raises the levels of all Cosmic and Plasma monsters on the field by one (Monk's Level: 6) (Enlightened One's Level: 6)! Finally, since I control these two monsters, I can add Plasma Wall to my forces (Light/Level 6/Thunder/Effect/ATK 0/DEF 2500)!"

Yuni looks off put. He has a flashback to the time that he was teamed up in a double duel with Seto, and when Seto summoned Quantus, the Spatial Lord. He thinks, This can't be good. I know what three level six monsters get him!

Seto grins again. "I can tell by the look on your face that you remember my ultimate beast. In that case, I shall waste no more time. I tribute my three level six monsters, a total of 18, in order to summon Quantus, the Spatial Lord (Divine/Level 10/Divine-Beast/Effect/ATK 4000/DEF 4000)! The entire space station shakes. A massive vortex opens up behind Seto. From said vortex, Quantus steps forth onto the field. It is so large that it takes up almost all space available to it.

Kodane cheers, "Yeah, with that monster you'll never lose!"

Tori and Brutus look at each other with worry. Tori states, "I hope not."

Seto says, "You are lucky that it is only the first turn, for if it was not, my monster would lay waste to you (Seto's hand: 2)."

Yuni is looking at the monster and seems like he would agree. He shakes it off and draws a card. He looks at the card he drew. He thinks, And so it would appear that this duel is being guided by the hand of fate. He declares aloud, "Since I control no monsters, but you do, I can special summon Cyber-Tech Accelerator (Wind/Level 5/Machine/Effect/ATK 2000/DEF 2000)! Then, since I control a Cyber-Tech monster, I can special summon Cyber-Tech Teleporter (Light/Level 4/Psychic/Effect/ATK 1700/DEF 1800)! To increase my options, I'll activate Temporal Advancement! This card advances the turn count by one for each monster that I control, meaning it is now my third turn, and the third turn that each of my monsters have been on the field! That means that they have been on my field for a total of six turns! I offer them both as tribute in order to call upon the power of Chronos, the Temporal Lord (Divine/Level 10/Divine-Beast/Effect/ATK X000/DEF X000)!" From a portal similar to the one that Quantus emerged from, Yuni's serpentine god dragon appears. The station shakes once more. Chronos too takes up all of its allotted space.

Yuni's Yugohan Lord appears to make eye contact with Seto's, and the two glare intensely at each other with the conviction of a rivalry at least 20,000 years old. The scenery around Yuni and Seto changes. They are now floating in a massive, regal throne room, that almost appears to be more of an auditorium. Seto complains, "Not again!"

Yuni looks towards Seto and questions, "You have experienced these visions before?"

Seto looks back at Yuni in disbelief. "You're telling me that you're having the same hallucination?"

Yuni shakes his head. "This is no hallucination. This is a vision. How could we both be hallucinating the same thing at the same time?"

Seto is about to raise another objection, just as something starts to happen. The room is suddenly filled with people. On the throne on one side of the room, sits an older man with graying hair. He wears regal golden and red robes. However, these robes seem to have various pieces of armor plating, that appear integrated into the clothing. These armor plated clothes appear to be the standard fashion of the area, since a giant crowd of people also appear, wearing similar, but less royal, clothes. Before the old man stands the Princes Yu-Gi-Oh and Seto, except not as we normally see them. They are younger kids at this point in time. Yu-Gi-Oh wears his normal gold, but instead of the battle armor we've seen him in, it is of the Yugohan fashion, while Seto wears his silver in the same style. The man announces with a voice amplified via unknown means, "People of Yugoha, thank you all for coming! As you know, it is the tenth birthday of my twin sons, Yu-Gi-Oh and Seto and today is the first day of their six year coming of age ceremony!" The crowd cheers. "As you know, when there are two twin princes, it is the tradition of the Grand Yugohan Space Empire to have our gods select which one is the more worthy one to rule!" The crowd cheers once more. The man, presumably the Yugohan Emperor, stands up. He turns around and faces a massive statue behind his throne. It is of a massive winged dragon, colored silver and gold. Silence descends upon the room. The Yugohan Emperor chants, "O, great dragon god of Yugoha, ruler of reality itself, lend to my two sons the aid of your divine servants. Allow each to bond with one, so that their worthiness may be judged by the gods themselves!"

The dragon statue begins to glow. As soon as it does, everyone in the room, including the emperor and the princes, bow down to the statue. Above the statue appears a spiritual form of both Quantus and Chronos. Each sounds its roar. Chronos flies towards Yu-Gi-Oh and disappears as soon as they make contact. Quantus does the same with Prince Seto.

Everyone raises off of the floor. The emperor declares, "And so the great gods have chosen! Quantus, the ruler of space has chosen Seto, while Chronos, the lord of time has chosen Yu-Gi-Oh!" The crowd erupts with more cheer than ever before. "Now the gods will remain bonded to these two for the next six years, during which time they will judge every action made by the two, evaluate their every move, and upon the morning of their sixteenth birthday, the gods will know who is the rightful heir to the Yugohan throne!" More cheers. The emperor raises his arms to the ceiling and shouts, "Praise the Trinity of Yugoha!"

The entire crowd shouts back in unison, "Praise the Trinity of Yugoha!"

While Yuni and Seto are watching this scene, it is revealed that up above them is Otto, watching it as well. He thinks, And so this is the day that it all went wrong for the star-crossed empire of Yugoha. Even in my infinite knowledge, this is one event I would not have been able to witness had it not been for Yuni and Seto. He grins evilly.

The vision ends. Seto and Yuni look disoriented, Seto more than Yuni. He quickly shakes it off though. Yuni asks, "Do you honestly believe that that vision was false!?"

"Of course. If you're gullible enough to believe that that was real, then you are weak."

Yuni looks up behind him at Chronos, and then looks across the field to Quantus. He thinks, Seto needs to know about his heritage. If he won't believe these visions, he won't believe anything.

Yugi advises, Allow him to believe what he wants. When the time comes, he will accept his fate.

Yuni shrugs. He explains, "It is my third turn, thanks to Temporal Advancement, and Chronos' attack is equal to the number of my turns that have passed times 1000 (ATK: 2000)! To add to that, Chronos will now use its effect and propel us two turns into the future (ATK: 4000)! Right now our monsters are equal in strength and power, but upon the end of this turn, Chronos will gain another 1000 attack (Yuni's hand: 2) (ATK: 5000)!"

Seto draws. He states, "Your monster doesn't frighten me. I know mine to be the superior one. Just find out! I summon Plasma Serpent (Light/Level 5/Dragon/Effect/ATK 1800/DEF 2000) with its effect, then, with the effect of Quantus, I'll double its level (Level: 10)! Chronos isn't the only monster that can use its own effect to power itself up! I tribute Plasma Serpent in order to strengthen Quantus by its level times 500!" Quantus reaches in front of Seto and picks up his other monster. Quantus crushes it in his hands and absorbs its power (ATK: 9000).

Yuni looks up at the mega-charged Yugohan Lord with some fear.

Seto continues, "It is time to destroy your monster and prove that none can defeat the great Seto Ossius and get away with it! Go, Fist of Physics!"

Yuni gets over his hesitation and declares with passion, "Counter with Temporal Force Attack!"

Quantus charges its fist with massive energy and punches towards Chronos. Chronos charges a massive amount of energy in one of its mouths and unleashes it at Quantus. The two massive attacks impact each other at the center of the field.

The exact moment that the two attacks collide, there is a brilliant flash of blinding white light. After the flash, Yuni and Seto are once again floating in the throne room of Yugoha. Before they can make any comments, the room is once more filled with a crowd of people, including the Yugohan Emperor, Prince Yu-Gi-Oh, and Prince Seto. The two princes are now closer to their normal age, but still noticeably younger than normal. The emperor stands up and declares with an amplified voice, "Welcome valued citizens of Yugoha to Ceremony of Succession! It now the day we have been waiting for for six years! Today is the day that we learn which of my sons will be declared the true heir to the throne!" Applause and cheers from the audience. "It is time to begin the ceremony." He looks at the princes, who immediately kneel on the floor and lower their heads in respect. The emperor asks, "Prince Yu-Gi-Oh, do you swear that you will uphold the traditions of Yugoha and accept the judgment dealt to you by our god of time, Chronos?"

Yu-Gi-Oh nods. "I will."

"And do you promise, no matter the outcome, that you will continue to honor people and serve your kingdom to the best of your ability?"

He nods again. "I will."

The Emperor turns to Prince Seto. "And you Prince Seto, do you swear that you will uphold the traditions of Yugoha and accept the judgment dealt to you by our god of space, Quantus?"

Seto nods. "I promise it."

"And do you promise, no matter the outcome, that you will continue to honor your people and serve your kingdom to the best of your ability?"

"I swear."

"Then in that case, it is time to hear the gods' verdict!"

A golden aura surrounds Yu-Gi-Oh and a silver one surrounds Seto. The two Yugohan Lords manifest themselves above each of their hosts. The entire room, including the emperor bow down to their gods. Quantus declares in a booming and powerful voice, "I have completed my judgment of Prince Seto. He has the strong traits of a leader, primarily his chivalry, loyalty, ingenuity, and strength. Despite these advantages, he suffers from egotistical and somewhat selfish characteristics."

Chronos now speaks. He has a voice that sounds more calm and wise. "And I have completed my judgment of Prince Yu-Gi-Oh. His greatest traits are his honor, leadership, compassion, and skill. However, he does harbor the disadvantages of being too trusting and sometimes slightly gullible."

The two gods look at each other. Quantus declares, "We have made our decision on who is fit to rule Yugoha."

Chronos continues for him, "The next Yugohan Emperor will be…"

Both speak at the exact same time. Chronos declares, "Yu-Gi-Oh!" while Quantus declares, "Seto!"

Panicked gasps of shock and confusion sound throughout the room. The emperor sneaks a peek up. He also is confused. The two Yugohan Lords look at each other. Silence ensues.

Finally Prince Seto gets up and demands, "What is the meaning of this!?"

Yu-Gi-Oh tries to tell him, "Seto, you are in the presence of your gods, show the proper respect."

Prince Seto ignores him. He demands, "Why did you both say a different name? We can not both be emperor!"

Yu-Gi-Oh gets up and marches over to Seto. He tries to force him back down to the ground. Seto shoves his hand away. Yu-Gi-Oh demands, "Seto, what are you doing?"

Seto looks at Yu-Gi-Oh with dislike. "Yu-Gi-Oh you fool, don't you see!? The gods named both of us the next emperor. In the hundred thousand year history of the Yugohan Empire, this has never happened!" Seto turns away. He looks up at Quantus and asks, "Do you stand by your decision to chose me as the emperor?"

Quantus nods. "You are the rightful ruler."

Chronos moves closer to Yu-Gi-Oh and says, "No, Yu-Gi-Oh is the rightful heir to the throne!"

Yu-Gi-Oh starts to say, "Seto, we can figure this-"

Prince Seto cuts him off, "No Yu-Gi-Oh! We can't! Only one of us can be emperor, and that is me."

"But Chronos is the wiser one, maybe we should listen to him…"

"But Quantus is the more powerful! This can mean only one thing."

"Don't say it brother."

"This is war." Seto takes a deep breath. He says with rage, "And you know what!? I'm glad! I've never liked you! You have always annoyed me!"

Yu-Gi-Oh says meekly, "Brother…"

"You are no longer my brother!"

Seto storms out of the room. Quantus follows. A tear comes to Yu-Gi-Oh's eye. He says with pent-up anger, "I guess it is." Yuni leaves in the opposite direction, Chronos behind him.

The Yugohan Emperor slowly rises. He hangs his head in shame and says to himself, "So this is it. My sons bring an end to the Yugohan Empire…"

The vision suddenly ends. The collision of attacks from the Yugohan Lords have caused a massive explosion. The shockwave from the explosion somehow destroys both Yugohan Lords.