Hey guys! So just a quick PSA from me. When I upload Chapter 20 (hopefully not too long) I will most likely be doing a Q and A on the Yu-Gi-Oh subreddit. When that happens, if there's anything you'd like to ask me, head over there once you see Chapter 20 as being up. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always I hope you're enjoying the series as a whole.
Chapter 18 – A Fated Duel
"So this is where you ended up," Yusei growled. "We wondered where you disappeared to all those years ago, Seto. I never thought you'd join these people."
"You wouldn't understand, Yusei," Seto replied. "I did what I had to do to ensure that Mokuba and I survived. As well as countless others."
The mood in the room was icy cold, the tension so thick it could be cut with a knife. Tanion was still trying to comprehend what he was witnessing. Seto Kaiba is the leader of The Grand Order?! he thought disbelievingly. He was never the nicest guy, but he always had the right interests at heart, and he'd do anything for Mokuba and other children. How could he be the leader of an organisation that has killed so many?
"Why'd you do it, Seto?" Jorann demanded. "You quit the game 7 years ago to focus on Kaiba Corp, something that you dedicated to helping people, especially children. Why did you join the Order?"
Seto glanced at a door to his left, and then looked back. "Like I said, you wouldn't understand," he repeated. "I do know that you've all lost people throughout this ordeal. For that, I am sorry."
"You're sorry?!" Yusei roared. "Being sorry doesn't bring people back!"
He's crying. "Yusei…" Tanion said. "Calm yourself. This won't help."
"Who are you to speak, child of Eden?" Yusei bellowed, the rage in his eyes causing Tanion to catch his breath. "You know nothing of the pain and suffering the Order has put us all through. I won't forgive anyone who would dare to stand with them!"
"I agree," Jorann said firmly. "If you're their leader, Seto, then I don't care why you've sided with them. We're here to kill you, and that's what I intend to do."
Seto once again glanced at the door to his left. Is he waiting for someone? Tanion suddenly thought. Jorann and Yusei are too full of rage to notice, but something's off about all of this. Yusei can probably take Seto, but I don't think we have a full grasp on the situation yet.
"You knew we were coming, didn't you?" Tanion suddenly realised. "That's what you said before, wasn't it?"
"We did," Seto answered. "Yusei, I have a proposition for you. Surrender now, and all your men will be released once they are no longer useful to us."
"You're bluffing," Yusei said angrily.
"We've already captured all your men, with only your scouting squads getting away," Seto said. "Some of our men have been acting as All Alpha since the start, giving you the information you needed to get here. We were leading you here this whole time."
The realisation slowly sank in that they were completely trapped. All those men and women that had help them get to this point, all the ones they had left scattered through the city to help them escape, were now in the clutches of The Grand Order. In launching Operation Theta, they had delivered many of the remaining Synchro users right into the enemy's hands on a silver platter. Fear began to grow slowly over Tanion's face. They were caught.
"We all knew the risks in coming here," Jorann said calmly. "We will see this through to the end, and we will kill you."
"Seto, have you been keeping our guests entertained?"
The feminine voice came from Seto's left. Standing in the doorway was a woman of middle age, wearing a scarlet red shirt coupled with black trousers, her brunette hair hanging down her back. She wore a duel disk on her arm, and her stance radiated authority, her hazel eyes piercing and yet sly. This has to be why Seto was glancing at the door, Tanion realised. He was waiting for her.
"You are also late, Irene," Seto commented, rising out of the throne as he did so. "What happened in there?"
"The meeting took a lot longer than I had hoped," the lady named Irene replied. "I hope you've made our guests right at home, Seto?"
"Who are you?" Yusei demanded.
"My, my, aren't you lively for a dead man," Irene noted with a venomous chuckle. "If you must know, Seto isn't the President of the Order, as I'm sure you've jumped to that conclusion. I am."
"You… you're the one who started all this?!" Yusei shouted.
"Now, now, no need for such anger," Irene said calmly as she sat in the throne. "We're all adults here. We will settle this like adults."
"How could you side with such a horrible excuse for a human being, Seto?" Yusei questioned. "Do you even know of the things her men have done? The horrors they've carried out?"
"I'm well aware," Seto replied lowly. "Although I don't agree with their methods, it was the right choice."
"How? How is siding with murderers the best choice?" Jorann demanded.
"You wouldn't understand," Seto repeated. "I did what I had to do, and that's the end of it."
"Seto, I think you owe them a better explanation than that," Irene surprisingly said. "They've been so worried about you, I'm sure they'd love to hear your story."
"The last time you were seen outside of media conferences and business surrounding Kaiba Corp was over 7 years ago," Jorann said. "What happened to you?"
"Since we're apparently delaying the matter at hand, I will do as Lady Irene wishes," he relented with a sigh.
Just what the hell is going on here? Tanion wondered with deep concern. The Seto Kaiba I remember would never have bowed to the whim of someone else. If this were the Seto I remember, he'd want to get this business over and done with as quickly as possible. And Yusei… I've never seen him lose his cool like this before. Just how much has this war changed people I thought I knew?
"What happened after you lost to Yugi 7 years ago, Seto?" Yusei demanded.
"It all began that very day, when I was approached by Lady Irene here," Seto began, although Tanion could tell that he wished he didn't have to. "She told me of the Grand Order's plans, and what their final goal was. I saw the writing on the wall immediately. I could've turned down her offer, tried to fight like you and the others, but I knew it was hopeless."
"Hopeless?" Jorann said sceptically. "Who knows what we could've done with you are our side."
"Jorann, isn't it?" Seto asked, getting a nod from the old man. "Look around you, Jorann. You and Yusei are relicts of a dead age. The resistances around the world are losing, they've never even come close to pushing the Grand Order back. You would never have stood a chance even with me on your side. Instead, I decided to go where I would be of the most help."
"And so you stood with murderers and rapists," Yusei said in disgust.
"The Grand Order has done many questionable things," Seto replied with a glare in Irene's direction. "However, I've also been able to do so much more from here. Set up refugee camps across the world, help those displaced by the war find new places to live. Some cities have been completely wiped off the map, and those who survived I've been able to help in one form or another."
"You could've been fighting that destruction with us!"
"And everything I've done to help would never have happened," Seto answered. "Even if I had sided against the Order, the destruction of this world was already assured. I saw that from the start. By joining the Order, I've been able to help far more people than even you have, Yusei."
"Then I'll just have to kill you too," Yusei growled, readying his duel disk. "I hope you're ready to face your fate, Seto. You too, Irene."
"How nice of you to remember I was here," Irene said with a smile. "How predictable of you though, Yusei. Challenging us to a duel. You think we weren't prepared for that?"
"I'll take you and Seto on at once," Yusei said. "I'm not afraid of cowards."
"I will face them with you, Yusei," Jorann said, readying his disk as well. "I can't allow you to face them alone."
"What about your injuries?" Yusei asked.
"I can stand, therefore I can duel. Let's get this done."
"As you wish," Irene said, standing up from her throne. "But first…"
The President of the Grand Order clicked her fingers, and Tanion felt something akin to a surge of energy rush through the air. Suddenly, Jorann and Yusei grunted in pain as they fell to one knee, with Seto doing the same. Behind them, Pete and Wendy screamed in pain and collapsed, almost as if they had been electrocuted. For whatever reason, though, Tanion felt nothing, much to the surprise of Irene, who also seemed unaffected.
"Are you not affected?" Irene asked him.
"He's a child of Eden," Seto answered. "Perhaps it makes him immune."
"What did you do?" Yusei demanded. "And why aren't you affected either, Irene?"
"That's why secret, dead man," Irene said with a laugh. "As for what I did, that secret lies in this room. It's one of a kind, you see. The room is artificially charged with Duel Energy, and with the simple press of a button, I can 'burn' the energy in the room, including the Energy within people, although that does replenish eventually."
"Then I will ask once more, why are you unaffected?" Yusei demanded. "Are you a child of Eden too?"
"You make it sound like I'd just reveal all of my secrets to you simply because you demand it, Yusei," Irene said angrily. "Let's begin this duel, shall we? I'd rather we finish this mess before this next meeting that I have to get to."
"If you think that little party trick can scare us, then you've got another thing coming," Yusei said. "Jorann, are you still good to fight?"
The old man nodded. "Tanion, since Pete and Wendy are down, you watch the door," Jorann ordered. "No one is to interrupt us, understood?"
"Just don't die on me, Jorann," Tanion said, and moved out of the way as the duelists prepared for battle.
Was this what Jaden meant when he said that I had to go with them on this mission? Tanion wondered as he helped rest Pete and Wendy's unconscious bodies against the wall. And what about Irene? Is she really a child of Eden, like me? If so, then what does that make The Grand Order? I thought Elise said something like that would be impossible…
"Before we begin, a few ground rules for the duel," Irene said playfully. "We will each share a field, and start with 8000 LP. The turn order will go Yusei, Seto, Jorann, and then myself. Neither Yusei nor Seto can attack on their first turn, but Jorann and I are free to do so. Sound fair?"
"A slight twist on normal tag rules, but that's fine," Yusei answered for the both of them. "In the end, we're still going to kill both of you."
"Such confidence," Irene noted. "Let's see how that holds up against us."
The doors to the room suddenly flew open and a bunch of Grand Order soldiers ran in with disks at the ready. Tanion readied his disk, realising that he would potentially be facing a lot of soldiers at once. Although only around five could fit beside each other in the doorway, he could see many more behind them.
"Whatever you do, Tanion, don't let them get to us," Yusei ordered.
"I'll do what I can," he replied. It was going to take everything he had just to keep them in the door frame, let alone push them back. "I summon Defender of the Knight and Shadow of the Knight! Come forth and protect us, white knights!"
The two arrived in a flash of light, Defender with his massive shield already in a defensive position. Shadow disappeared instantly into the ground, causing the advancing soldiers to pause as they became extremely wary of the monster now lurking in the shadows. Tanion clutched his chest as the summoning effort knocked the breath out of him, the summoning of a level 5 and 6 simultaneously taking a large toll. However, he could feel his energy already returning, and his breath would not be long behind.
"I can take care of them," Tanion said confidently. "You just get this done."
Yusei nodded. "He's impressive," he said to Jorann.
"He's strong, that boy," Jorann agreed. "Let's not let him down."
DUEL!
"What the hell…" Yusei said as he looked at his cards.
"Did it happen to you too?" Jorann asked grimly.
"Irene, what the hell have you done?" Seto demanded.
The President simply chuckled. "By burning your Duel Energy, it temporarily severs the connection who has with their deck," she explained. "Duel Energy is what allows us to interact with spirits. If you don't have any, or very little, then how is your deck supposed to respond to your will?"
"What's going on up there?" Tanion demanded as his Shadow danced between the enemy soldiers, taking them out one by one.
"You just worry about keeping them off us, boy," Jorann yelled. "We'll handle this mess if you handle yours."
The soldiers in front of him began to summon out their monsters, many of which Tanion recognised as the Double Cannon he had faced back home. A Level 4, Tanion recalled. If I remember correctly, in a Duel of Strength, my monsters win outright against Level 4's, but against so many… I'm going to have to summon out the bigger guns if I'm to fulfil my role.
He gritted his teeth and prepared for the long battle to come. Whatever the problem was that Jorann and Yusei were facing, he could only hope that they were prepared to deal with it, otherwise the citadel of Eravand would soon become their grave.