A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's taken me so long to update, I've had a lot of exams this past week and was on a roll for my 'Crimson Eyed Shadow' story, so I'm sorry that it got updated before this! Updates for this story will be slower than before, I'm afraid, because now I actually have to write the chapters and not just edit them, so bare with me! This story is far from done! And there will be quite a few additions to the story line once we reach season 5 ;) (But it'll be for the better, I swear!) So for now, sit back and enjoy the chapter as Yami and Seto go to face Dartz!

Chapter 43: Dartz's Weapon

After battling treacherous winds across the ocean, the gang managed to find their way to the real place where Dartz was hiding. Though they were sure he wasn't so much hiding, as waiting for them to find him. Once the helicopter had landed, Yami took one more look at his two friends who were no longer with them, before stepping out onto the stone surface of Dartz's lair. He and Seto started making their way inside, with Mokuba running after them. After hesitating for a moment, Tea and Tristan followed. The inside seemed to be some sort of ancient design, with stone pillars lining the walls, each with a snake wrapped around it made of stone. Yami admired the intricate details of the design, before looking forwards again and noticing there were another three stone snake statues, each with it's mouth wide open as if poised to attack. They made their way past the statues, through to another corridor. It was eerily quiet, and Tea voiced her concern whilst walking past more snake statues. Yami then spoke without turning around, telling her that Dartz will be quietly waiting for them, explaining the odd silence the building held.

They then reached a room, and were stunned at what they saw. The walls, floor and roof were covered with stone carvings of people, each on their own stone tablet. It sent a shiver up Tea's spine, as Tristan asked what it was about. Tea then pointed towards one of the walls, her eyes wide.

"They're not just any people!" she announced, "Look! There's Mai." They all turned their attention to where Tea was pointing, and to their surprise, they saw the familiar blonde woman etched into the stone.

"This must be all the people who have lost their souls!" Tristan exclaimed, still staring at the carving of Mai. Yami felt an odd pang in his chest as he looked along the wall, not sure if he wanted to see the other people there. He was considering looking away, when his eyes landed on a familiar figure, and it was too late.

"Yugi!" he called out, running over to the wall. Just as he feared, the boy in question was carved into the wall, but even as Yami ran his hand over the surface, it was hard to believe that it was indeed a depiction of his friend, who's soul was captured. After all, they were nothing but stone carvings, but the meaning behind them was almost more than he could handle. He then looked at the carvings next to Yugi's. Tea and Tristan had come up behind him as he looked at the carvings, and he heard Tea speak from over his shoulder.

"Joey!" Although she already knew he would be there, it still startled her to see her friend etched into the wall.

Yami then let his eyes run over the other carvings. "And Rose..." he murmured, sliding his hand from where it rested on Yugi's tablet to hers. Although it was just a lifeless carving, he noticed the distraught expression on her face, and he balled his hand into a fist over the carving. "Dartz will pay dearly for what he's done to our friends..."

Still watching everything unfold from another realm, Rose, Yugi and Joey were stunned to see the room that the group had entered. Rose heard Joey audibly swallow behind her.

"That's us..." he said, staring down into the room, seeing himself etched into the wall.

Rose could tell the idea made Joey uncomfortable, and she didn't blame him, for she was feeling a bit squeamish for seeing herself there, as well. She turned around, still seeing the thousands of people around them. "There must be thousands of those tablets, for each person that is here..."

Both groups were surprised to hear another voice ring out through the room. "What a touching reunion..." the familiar voice sneered.

Yami spun around from where he had been standing by the wall, searching for the voice as he growled under his breath, "Dartz..."

"Too bad your friends turned out to be a bunch of stiffs," Dartz mused, before letting out a menacing laugh. They couldn't see him however, but as his laugh echoed off the walls, Yami balled his hands into fists at his sides. They then saw a large flash of light come down from the ceiling, and once it hit the ground it formed into the shape of a person.

"Dartz." Yami narrowed his eyes at the man.

The Atlantian looked amused, "You were expecting someone else?"

Rose, Joey and Yugi watched on as Yami and Seto demanded for Dartz to set them free (and to give Kaiba his company back). The man did not so much as flinch at their loud and aggressive demands, simply saying that the only way they'd have a glint of a chance is if they would duel him. Yami and Seto instantly took on the challenge, activating their duel disk to show they meant business. Dartz simply laughed, declaring with great confidence that he would gain two souls for the price of one.

"Here we go..." Joey said, looking through the window into the scene before them. It looked like Yami and Kaiba were both going to take on Dartz at once.

"Hopefully having two against one will give them the upper hand," Rose said, though she was still uncertain.

"Don't worry Rose," Yugi said, watching the scene beside her. "When the Pharaoh and Kaiba work together, they make a great team." The three were stunned to see their friends' first moves, both of them bringing out some of their strongest monsters for Dartz to deal with. Seto had managed to summon his Blue Eyes White Dragon, and Yami had Black Luster Soldier in front of him. Rose found herself smiling slightly, perhaps she was being a bit too paranoid, Yami and Seto were the best two duellists in the world as far as she was concerned (Yugi being beside them of course). Therefore, she decided that she shouldn't be so worried, and continued to watch as the duel began.

Dartz drew his first card and just by looking at the glint in his eyes everyone knew what he had drawn. "This card was created from the darkness itself!" he declared, holding the card high in the air. "Behold the power that has existed since the dawn of time," he continued. "The very power that shall strip you of your souls!"

Rose, Joey and Yugi all tensed upon seeing the card. "The Seal Of Orichalcos..." Rose whispered, watching the Seal encircle the field. Once it had taken it's place, their vision of what was happening became distant and blurred.

"Hey, what's going on?" Joey asked, stepping back as the window started to glow a bright green.

Yugi and Rose stepped back also, afraid that the Seal had caused this. "I'm not sure Joey," Yugi replied, still staring at the green glow in front of him. "But it can't be good." The three watched on as the glow dimmed, revealing the Orichalcos symbol, blocking their view of the duel. Joey and Rose were confused, so Yugi tried to elaborate from his idea of what was going on. "The Seal...it's stopping us from seeing the duel."

"Is this like when..." Rose began, not sure if this would be a touchy subject for Yugi. "When the Pharaoh duelled Raphael and he activated the seal?"

She noticed the faint look of pain that crossed Yugi's features, and felt bad for asking, though he soon composed himself, sure that he was past being upset about it. "When the Seal separated me from him?" he asked. Rose nodded carefully. "It seems so. I don't think we'll be able to see how this plays out after all..." He looked disappointed, after the hope that Rose's heart brought to them had just been counteracted.

Joey let out a noise of annoyance, before sitting back down again. "So all we can do is just sit here and wait to either be set free or fed to that beast?" he asked.

"That's all we were doing before..." Rose murmured, taking one more look at the Seal blocking their window, before trying to think of a way to tell the Millennium Heart to cease it's attempt at seeing back through to the real world. She gave up and sat down next to Joey and Yugi, before the window disappeared of its own accord. Rose sighed, "I wish I knew how to control this bloody thing..."

...

The three lost souls did not know how long they had been sitting and waiting. Time seemed to not really exist in whatever realm they were in, and they were all becoming restless, wanting to know what was happening in the duel.

"They've got to be winning," Joey said, running a hand through his hair, "They summoned some of their best monsters on the first turn."

Rose wanted to believe him, but if those monsters had been of great use to them, they would have won by now. "But we didn't see Dartz's first turn," she pointed out. "He could have summoned something stronger."

"Rose is right Joey," Yugi spoke up, "I can't imagine Dartz would have a deck of ordinary monsters. I'm sure he has something twisted up his sleeve." As Yugi finished speaking, the three of them felt an odd force surrounding them.

"What's going on?" Joey asked, suddenly panicking.

"I don't know!" Yugi replied, before his eyes widened when he looked at his hand, it had disappeared. The three were all in shock as they watched their limbs fade into nothing, before their minds were consumed by darkness.

...

Rose was confused beyond belief. Not a minute ago, she had been sitting with Yugi and Joey, wondering what was going on in the duel they had been shut off from. Then they were suddenly pulled away from the room of crowded people, and she couldn't see or hear anything. She became worried, just before she could hear the buzz of voices surrounding her, see the thousands of souls that had been taken away from their bodies, but now there was nothing. Where were Yugi and Joey?

Where was she? There was nothing but darkness. Unable to feel her own body (even if she had just been a spirit before) or see and hear anything, she began to panic. Was it too late? Had she already been consumed by the great beast? Had the Pharaoh and Seto failed at defeating Dartz?

She was about to find out.

Her vision suddenly turned from darkness to light, thought it was too bright to see anything, and her ears were filled with the sound of something breaking around her. Once the blinding light faded, Rose could not believe what she saw.

Standing in front of her, were Seto and Yami.

Rose could not fathom what was going on. She can't have gotten her soul back, for if she did she would have been able to move, and she was sure she wouldn't have been standing up already, too. Plus the look of absolute horror on Yami's face confirmed that this was indeed not something to be happy about. That's when she noticed that she was not alone. Standing beside her, wearing heavy shiny armour, were Joey, Yugi and Pegasus of all people. She couldn't move her head, but she soon noticed she was also bearing the heavy armour. What was going on?!

"Yugi! Rose! Joey!" Yami called out, his eyes wide with horror. Rose wanted to respond, to give him some sort of sign that she was alright, but she couldn't move, couldn't speak. It was torture to her. But what was puzzling her most was what was she doing there? And why were they all wearing this armour? "How is this possible?!" Yami demanded, still unable to tear his eyes away from the knights standing before him.

Dartz let out a menacing laugh, "I control the souls of your companions, remember?"

That's when Rose realised why Yami (along with Tristan, Tea and Mokuba) all looked so afraid. Dartz was standing behind her, and Yami and Seto were standing in front of her, with the Seal surrounding them all. Then it hit her: they were the monsters!

"Attack my knights and you'll be attacking your friends," Dartz announced with a devious smirk. "No matter what you do, you lose. It's impossible to defeat me without destroying these monsters," he explained. "And you can't destroy my knights without destroying the souls of your friends!" He let out another laugh, and if Rose had been able to move she would have froze from the sudden realisation.

Her, Yugi, Joey and Pegasus had just become Dartz's biggest weapon, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. She knew that Yami wouldn't attack for fear of destroying them, but if they didn't attack, Dartz would defeat them. There was no way out, they were all done for.

aaaaand I bet you all saw that one coming :P

Please let me know what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)