C.2 - The Pantheon

He stood at the front of the boat, at the very nose of the small yacht, one hand out and holding onto the railing while the other hand, he held a golden sceptre close to his chest. Occasionally the vessel would hit a crest of a wave and splash down, sending a spray of seawater over him.

But that didn't deter him from standing there looking out at the endless horizon of blue waiting for that moment when he'd finally see the place where he knew his enemy awaited him.

The Pharaoh…

Oh how he couldn't wait to let loose against the cause of all his worries, the cause of every abuse, every restriction, every horror that harmed him or his family. He'd tear him to shreds, burn him to cinders with the very gods themselves and leave him to the shadows to send insects crawling beneath his skin and fester for all of eternity.

A tomb of darkness and horror like his own home had once been.

But that would have to wait for now.

His men had to find Yugi and then, if they continued to fail him, he'd take the matters into his own hands.

He took a testing swing of the millennium rod, swinging it through the air like an axe.

He wondered what the Pharaoh would look like, after finally returning to walk amongst them. Would he be dressed in gold like he was? As a Pharaoh would of course… or what? He refused to see the pictures, he wanted to see the man for the first time with his own eyes.

He heard steps behind him and he turned to find his brother. "Odion," He called out to the man behind him. His brother.

"Master Marik," the large foreboding man said, whose expression looked like it was chiselled from stone, with an ancient script tattooed across their face and dressed in heavy dark purple robes, not too dissimilar to the robes of his Rare Hunters. "I am here to tell you that we should be arriving within a few hours at Domino Pier."

"Wonderful, my brother." He grinned. He could feel his excitement within him, that familiar dark pleasure, he hadn't felt something like this since he had freed himself from his father's abuse. "Soon, I'll have killed the last remnants of that accursed legacy. Soon…"

He then turned to face his brother. "Tell our best of the Rare Hunters to begin attacking against the Pharaoh, though I don't expect them to get far on that front. We can only hope for the best, but planning for the worst, let's have the others prepare to make moves against the Pharaoh's allies. Kidnap his friends and try to dissuade my sister and whoever she allies herself with from interfering with me as best you can."

"What about the remaining God Card?" His brother asked him.

"No doubt my sister will have given it to someone capable by now." He growled. "That means it's either the Pharaoh or Seto Kaiba, those are our best bets. You already know my orders to fight the Pharaoh at this moment, but Seto Kaiba, observe for now. I don't want to make any plays against the man unless we're sure he has that card."

Odion nodded at his decree. "It is done, Master Marik."

He turned back towards the horizon they were headed towards. "Prepare yourself Pharoah, for this will be a battle like none other you've faced."

Kaiba glared at the thief trying to cheat in his tournament, meanwhile the man the thief had been mugging for their locator card had run off now that the thief was distracted and digging through his suitcase of rare cards he'd offered him. Well… he says offer but in reality it was an ultimatum.

Assemble a deck worth duelling against or i'll kick you out of the, not only the tournament, but out of my city.

He considered the thief for a moment as they came close to completing his deck.

The Thief had tried to cheat at his tournament and he considered that perhaps he would've done the same. No, he knew that he would've if it wasn't for that fire lit within him, that moment he'd lost and had his drive shattered so crushingly at the hands of Exodia.

But now he was reforged.

He didn't know why he was reminiscing, maybe this tournament was just making him nostalgic. Especially with how he planned to end the finals.

By destroying his late adoptor's remaining legacy. That island.

He was a new man now, and he'll prove it by beating his mistake at losing to Yugi and cap it all off at the man that made him commit his first mistake.

Because long ago, he remembered the first time he cheated, that chess game he'd 'won' against Gozaburo Kaiba. Since that moment he's cheated at so many games like a drunk man drinks. He lost himself in what he'd become during that portion of his life.

Forcing others to play unfair games, or not even bothering with a game at all unless he was sure he could win. Because he thought he needed to win a game or die. And he'd held so many other people to that standard, he'd almost killed his brother.

No, he intended to kill his brother back in Death-T. The fact his brother still believed in him was a miracle.

And he'll admit it, he deserved to lose against Yugi. He'd cheated in their duel after all, not even because he'd thought he'd lose, he just wanted to bathe in the feeling of power of summoning three Blue-Eyes White Dragons and watching that spiky haired squirt squirm.

Losing broke him, he reassessed his whole purpose. The point of living. And he'd found the answer in having to rescue his brother. Now he sees a new future, a long future. A competitive drive now burns within him. He'll restore his record and defeat Yugi.

He'll go towards actually having his business do something. He'd stopped at just making Kaibaland, even corrupted it into that dreaded Death Trap which he'll restore to its former glory once he's free of his father's lasting influence. A new future beckons for him.

And he'll answer it with the newest power in his arsenal.

He snapped out of his inner thoughts as the thief stood up and turned on his duel disk, they then kicked his suitcase to the side of the alleyway.

"You ready to duel!" The Thief chuckled darkly.

"That depends on you." He regarded the Thief poorly as he opened his arms from where they were crossed over his chest. He held out his Duel Disk.

"Prepare to lose, loser!" The Thief sneered, sticking his tongue out.

"Let's Duel." Only the Thief shouted out. He didn't see the need to call out the iconic battle cry whenever a duel would start, this game wouldn't last that long.

The Thief drew from their deck. "I'll begin by playing Graceful Charity, letting me draw three then discard two! Aha! I just drew Pot Of Greed! Now watch this as I play it and draw two more cards. I'll then summon Zombyra The Dark and set two cards face-down. Your move."

"Show'em Who's boss, big bro!" Mokuba stepped out from behind him and cheered for him.

"Draw." He declared calmly. He then smirked. "You really had no chance…" He commented whilst shutting his eyes and just shaking his head slowly.

This was hysterical.

"What the hell are you on about!" The Thief shouted at him.

Some of his excitement soured at the man's poor sportsmanship. "See for yourself. I'll set two cards and then play card destruction to throw away all cards in our hand."

The Thief complied, discarding his hand of five cards to the grave to just draw five again, while he discarded three cards to draw three more. Once he saw his new hand his eyes zeroed in on one specific card, and as he did he couldn't help but grin manically.

He swore he could begin to hear a distant choir. A choir for a god!

But first, the set-up.

He gestured towards one of his set cards on the field. "Spell activate Monster Reborn, which I'll use to Summon the Lord Of Dragons from my graveyard in defence mode. I'll then play my second set card, say hello to the mighty Flute Of Summoning Dragon!"

A man appeared on his field beneath the light of the Ankh that appeared in the sky. The man wore clothing with armour that resembled dragon bones, the skull being used for their chestplate. A sweeping purple cape fell off of their shoulders. Then an ornate golden war-horn appeared in his hands, a sculpted dragon's head on its end.

"I can only play this card while I control the Lord Of Dragons, it allows me to summon any two Normal Dragons from my hand or deck in defence mode! And guess what! I have two!" He then played the second flute from his hand. Giving his lord a second ballad to play.

Materialising around the alleyway that was far too thin for this many gigantic beasts of destruction, were three mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragons and a Emerald Luster Dragon. The bright metallic shine of his white dragons illuminated all of the shadows of this trashy alley while his emerald dragon reflected a prismatic green glow.

Whilst they were all in defence mode and thus unable to attack, they still filled the Alley tightly and were a majesty to behold. (A:3000/D:2500) (A:2400/D:1400)

"Th-that's a lot." The Thief stumbled backwards as the four mighty drakes appeared on the field.

"And that's not all." He grinned.

"Wh-what's that music!" The Thief suddenly called out for no reason.

Mokuba also seemed to react to the strange choir singing that echoed throughout the alley, sourceless, yet omnipresent. "Who's singing?"

He ignored it. "Appear! I sacrifice my Three Blue-Eyes White Dragons to call your name, now then, appear Obelisk The Tormentor!"

His dragons faded into golden dust that fell over the alleyway like snow as the floor of it and the buildings all became draped in an inky blackness, everything became a silhouette for just a moment before it passed and something rose up from that darkness behind him.

It spread its titanic blue wings over the skyscrapers and buildings around them, its massive, incredibly muscled frame was all you could see standing behind him and its impassive stoic expression on its head.

"Now Obelisk, I tribute my two monsters to activate your effect!" The god he controlled obeyed his command and absorbed the strength of his two remaining monsters. Imbuing his frame with a prismatic almost kaleidoscope like light to it. "Now he gets to destroy all monsters you control."

Obelisk lifted a finger, and yet already that caused a shockwave that incinerated Zombyra The Dark, leaving his opponent's field free of monsters.

"Now!" He grinned before jutting his hand out towards his opponent and clenching his hand into a shaking fist. "Obelisk, wipe this thief from my sight, Fist Of Fury!"

He Obelisk pulled their fist backwards slowly, its body lumbered, seeming to only just contain the untold power clearly building up within them, his fists glowed with swirling pure energy.

"I-i-i-i won't die that easily!" The Thief declared like a delusional fool. "I activate Mirror Force!" He shouted out as one of his two set cards was raised up to reveal their trap card."

"Obelisk The Tormentor is a legendary God Card, he is unaffected by all trap cards!" he explained to the heretic.

"Th-th-then.." The Thief then clicked another button on his disk revealing his second card. "I'll play Shrink, halving your monster's attack!"

"Then I'll use my monster's third and final ability." He declared. "Divine Decree! Once per turn, during either player's turn, I can declare the name of any card. For the rest of this duel. Obelisk is unaffected by cards with that name! I declare your pitiful Shrink!"

"N-no!" The Thief cried out right before Obelisks fist crashed into him sending him flying down the alleyway and into a wall of a building, slightly cracking it.

"That's game." He said coldly before leaning back a step bursting into a manic laughter.

"S-seto!" Mokuba called out to him.

"Hm?" He stopped his laughter and looked around, the holograms on the field were now gone. He saw his brother looking at him with worry. "Yes, Mokuba."

"Ar-are you alright, you've been acting crazy ever since you got that card and started this tournament." He asked.

"Everything will be fine soon, Mokuba. I was just enjoying myself."

"Mhm." Mokuba then looked around him to look at the Thief he'd thrown into a wall. "That card doesn't seem normal, it threw him across the alleyway."

"A glitch in the solid vision." He quickly brushed off. "After the tournament we may want to decrease the solidity of the holograms, that way we're not sued when younger children get their hands on these things."

"But bro, even if it was the solid vision, the only card that's actually done any collateral like this has been that card that mystical lady had given you. It doesn't even seem like actual Solid Vision at all sometimes, I mean, you saw what that card did to the computer simulators."

Caused them to immediately explode. That's what Obelisk had done.

"What do you mean to imply? What could it be, if not the Solid Vision." He demanded his brother.

"You know… magic, like with Pegasus."

"You're confused." He brushed off his brother again. "I don't know what that man did to us, but it wasn't magic. None of this is magic. They're just normal cards with a bunch of crazy people hoarding them." He insisted, maybe a bit too strongly.

His brother narrowed their eyes on him. "Bro, c'mon, you can't just deny the obvious here. The holograms can't throw people that fast, it can't cause computers to combust! And that thing the lady said about you resembling the figure in that tablet!"

"And what if it does exist?" He growled out. "What does that change? Nothing that's what. Magic or no magic, it doesn't matter. I'm not indulging in some fantasy of the past. This is the new age and I am in control of it."

Mokuba looked at him, not entirely eased by his words. "Well.. okay, fine then, so now that you've had your first duel, you're going to go find your next victim?"

"Yes." He confirmed as he calmed himself down. "You man the fort while I'm away. Also, you don't need to worry about me. With Obelisk I'll crush all my foes. Everything will be fine soon, I promise."

"Soon?"

"When I destroy the last of what's been holding me back and rectify his past mistakes. The Past." He clarified. "I'll torch it all, the last of our horrid father's crimes, my loss to Yugi and even that crackpot's theory about my 'destiny'." He scoffed at that last point.

He won't be chained down by his past any longer,

He'll ascend and meet his future!

Delving into his mysterious past…

It has been a taxing affair. Ever since their meeting with that woman, Ishizu at the new Egyptian Exhibit and seeing the 'Final Duel Of The Pharaoh' Tablet.

"Even after just two duels, I'm beginning to feel exhausted from the stress of it all." He admitted to himself.

And his other self responded. His light, softer self. Not the spirit of the Pharaoh, but True Yugi. 'Yami?' He asked.

'Yes.' he mentally replied with his soulbound partner.

'I get that this is a lot, but if we can find out who you are… then you'll probably be a bit happier, ever since we've been in full contact with each other.' something that had happened during the Duelist Kingdom tournament. 'And especially after Ishizu, you've been questioning your existence a lot more…'

"True." Yami admitted out loud as they turned to walk down another street. He was beginning to exit the denser parts of town. Which was odd, he thought more Duelists would be playing in the park that he was headed to.

He reminisced on his short new life here in Domino. 'I think when you first completed a puzzle, I was but a shade, or a revenant. Merely a spirit acting out on the emotions they felt and since my soul was bound in yours i seeked to right the injustices made against you. I acted as the judge to other's crimes and made them pay when they were revealed to have no goodness in their heart whilst in the thick of life or death stakes… They all showed how terrible they truly were.'

'You've grown since then.' Yugi assured him and that did help put a smile on his face. 'You recovered from whatever being trapped inside a puzzle for 3000 years did to you, at least somewhat, you have your own wants, your likes and dislikes and sometimes they are different from mine. And… you're the one who saved my friends, won every battle for me… i wouldn't be here without you.'

'True, but that's changed too…' Yami pointed out to Yugi.

'Huh?'

'See, before when I first emerged I would possess you fully. Use your body as a vessel to help me reach those who hurt you or your friends. But if i was still possessing you so strongly you'd be just as forgetful as you were back then.'

'Oh, yeah!' the lighter Yugi chuckled to himself. 'The black-outs I remember. Man, I can't believe I shrugged all those off for so long, like seriously, how did I think it was okay when I blacked out and ended up on the other side of the city. Like that time with the guy who scammed Joey for his shoes and then after a black-out I found that guy being carted off in an ambulance due to scorpion poison.'

"He still has those shoes, doesn't he?" He asked his other self.

'Mhm. Yeah, of course Joey does.' Yugi answered. 'I even think he's wearing them today. Cut laces and all.'

'Yes well, as of recently you've been going headfirst into battle, you're no longer as afraid and skittish as you once were and because of that, near the end of Death-T, i haven't needed to possess you as strongly, it's more like our minds overlap and work in unison.'

'Really? Yeah, sometimes I think of a play and then you do that… huh.' Yugi hummed to himself in thought. 'So that's been happening.'

'Honestly, sometimes.. I don't think I'm a full person, just a ghost using you to fill in the blanks.' Yami clenched his fists. 'That's just more of a reason to obtain the God Cards and learn the secrets of the Final Battle Tablet and said cards. Then perhaps I can learn my name and who I was.'

'Mhm.' he could feel Yugi mentally nod in agreement. He was on his side. Through and through, he couldn't ask for a better partner.

He looked up, snapping out of his thoughts as he arrived at the part, which was empty, but there was something there. A large circus tent top, with white and dark purple stripes, standing in the doorway of such a place was a strange man dressed in a special red suit with stylised wide hips and shoulders, a full jester's mask and hat, complete with lightly jingling completely covering his face and hair.

The strange jester seemed to be waiting for him. He just had a feeling, there was no reason why this place was as empty as this, especially not with such an eccentric person around. So he approached apprehensively. Once he was close enough he shouted out to the Jester. "Who are you! A Rare Hunter?"

The jester didn't answer and simply walked backwards into the darkness of the tent.

He considered following for a moment.

'Please be careful.' Yugi warned him.

He nodded in return and made his way inside of the tent.

Mai Valentine was on the hunt for some Duelists and of course she was looking for them where she thought there'd be a lot of them. That being Kaibaland, an indoor amusement park inside of the Kaiba Corp Building. However to her disappointment, there didn't actually seem to be any duelists here.

Just children, a surprising amount of children actually with a disproportionate amount of parents. He'd heard that the Kaibaland park allows free entry to orphans, but it was a different feeling entirely to see them all. The rides themselves at the park all resembled cards from the big man's deck.

Plenty of dragon statues, but the rides at least had variety like a Ryu-Kishin Horror House, the Megami Merry-go-round or a Dekoichi The Frightening Railcar rollercoaster. It was all quite impressive, still no duelists however, that sucked.

Suddenly her senses went haywire and she spun around, only to find one of Kaiba's dragon statues.

Though that didn't stop her from narrowing her eyes. She could tell, she was being tailed by someone.

Ending Notes

Hello, Mimikree here!

For this chapter i wanted essentially explain where all the characters are at the moment in their arcs. A catch-up if you haven't seen the show in forever or have seen other fanfiction's that have taken certain liberties with the motivations.

In addition i wanted to get across what each of the gods would do. In this chapter Obelisk The Tormentor gets to show off a little. In addition to it's tribute to destroy all monster cards your opponent controls while still being able to attack effect, It has the general god effects all the Egyptian Gods are using.

Namely the Trap Card immunity while on the field and the ability to just be immune to other effects as a quick effect. I thought that last one there would essentially allow me to give my God-Card the most immunities without needing to make a million stipulations on the card. One last thing, is that i removed their effect that sends them to the GY when Special Summoned. It was more of a problem to write around than anything. So yeah.

Hopefully this will make you feel like these gods are really a threat here.

Anyways, i hoped you enjoyed this.

This is Mimikree, Signing off.