Chapter 24
"Paradise Found"
As the sun began to set in the distance, the group were on their way east in Seto's transport chopper. "So our entire company was bought by this Dartz guy?" Mokuba asked. "I don't understand, how is it that one guy was able to buy the company you worked so hard to rebuild without either of us knowing it? Our security network should've detected it." he added. "There's only one way that I can think of, they must've hacked into our accounts." Seto answered.
"Man, that must be pretty hard losing everything. I've actually been there myself, when my family farm was ruined when an entire apple crop went bad." AJ said. "But my question is, how'd they get past your security network?" Twilight asked. "We're obviously dealing with a powerful organization. And if Dartz is running it, he's using it as a front for Doma." Seto answered. "What do we do, sir?" Roland asked. "Sorry, Roland, but I'm not your boss anymore." Seto said, solemnly.
"Roland and I won't abandon you, sir. We'll stand by your side no matter what until KaibaCorp is yours again." Fuguta said before Roland stood up. "Took the words right out of my mouth." he said. "See, Seto? We're all with you." Mokuba said. "Then what are we waiting for?" Seto asked. "The first thing me and my team have to do is get to Florida and decipher those inscriptions at the museum." Yami said. "I have a research team already there, they're part of the US branch of KaibaCorp and my security forces there will handle any unexpected guests until Professor Hawkins arrives." Seto replied.
Meanwhile, right outside the museum, Doma men took down Kaiba's security team before heading into the museum and finishing off the remains. Soon, in the helicopter, a radio signal came up. "Mr. Kaiba, we have an emergency message on the red line." said the pilot. "This could be what I've been waiting for." Seto said before opening his briefcase and turning on his laptop. "Sir, we're ready to upload the images." said a voice on the other side of the line, surprising the others.
"Smart move, Kaiba, you made your research team got to that museum before Dartz." Twilight said. "Well, what did you expect, Twilight? You know as well as the rest of us that my brother likes to be a step ahead." Mokuba pointed out. "We're now receiving the image data." Seto said. Suddenly, on the other side, Dartz's men came busting in and went on the attack. "I'll bet that was a Doma attack." AJ figured. "At least we got what we need." Spike said with a hopeful tone.
Meanwhile, down on the road, Rebecca was speaking with Yami. "We got the images and my grandfather is looking them over right now." she said. "Good, let's meet up as soon as possible. And, I'm sorry." Yami replied. "Rebecca, don't blame him for what happened to Yugi. There's far too much at stake for hard feelings. Right now, we're fighting a common enemy and this data may be our only hope." Arthur said gently. "You're right." Rebecca said, letting what animosity she had towards Yami fade away.
"Mr. Kaiba, I'm afraid that the quality of the images isn't as great as I hoped it would be. Most of the carvings have been worn away by time, we need to clear up these photos or I won't be able to translate much." Arthur said. "Pilot, set a course for the Kaiba Corporation US headquarters immediately." Seto instructed. "The US headquarters? But won't Dartz have men posted there?" Spike asked. "Maybe, but the only way we can process these images fast enough is by using my computer system so we have no choice." Seto answered.
"I think I'm seeing a pattern here. It's unrelated, but it's still a pattern. Dartz went after the two biggest names in Duel Monsters; Industrial Illusions because they wanted Pegasus, the creator of the game, and now Kaiba Corporation because they wanted the company itself, the very place that produces Duel Disks. They may be a cult, but this is more dangerous than any other in the history of the world, which means we have to stop these fanatical criminals before they make their next move." Twilight stated.
"You're right, we don't have time to lose." Yami concurred. "You two are more gung-ho then I expected, especially since you lost in a non-title duel and all." Seto said. "No offense Kaiba, but this is WAY BIGGER than whether or not Yuge has his Duel Monsters world championship. Last I checked, he still had it because he put it on the line against Weevil and won." Joey pointed out. "For once, Wheeler, you make a good point. But I think its best that your friend there gets a hobby instead of going after anyone who seems to have an agenda that doesn't benefit anyone but themselves or puts the world in danger." Seto replied.
"Rebecca, Duke, Professor, meet us at the Rocky Point cruise port." Yami instructed. "Ten-four, good buddy. We'll see you there." Duke replied. Soon up in the sky above, the aurora appeared again. "It's that aurora again." Rarity said in surprise. 'And the lights are getting stronger. What does this mean?' Yami thought. Meanwhile, miles below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, the Great Leviathan swam around. Something that Dartz sensed all the way in Phoenix.
'Finally. After 10,000 years in exile, the Great Leviathan is ready to return. But in order to reach its full potential, there are several souls that must still be offered.' he thought before Rafael showed up. "You summoned me, Master Dartz?" he asked before Dartz turned in his chair and showed the soul wall in the temple. "Take a look, Rafael, your friend wasn't careful." he said before showing Raf a spot on the wall with a carving of Alister.
"Alister?" Raf said in surprise. "Don't sound so displeased, he's better off where he is now. The energy of Alister's soul, along with that of our other prisoners will fuel the great beast. The Nameless Pharaoh and his friends will be arriving at the Kaiba Corporation US headquarters shortly. I trust you'll give them a warm welcome?" Dartz replied. "He won't escape me this time." Raf responded before departing. "Now, then. On to phase two." Dartz said as the wall he was facing rose up to reveal candles laid out in a formation.
Each candle soon lit up. "Each glimmer of light must join to become whole. Each soul must be utilized. Only then can the Great Leviathan cross over." he said before walking into the center of this formation. "Great soldiers of the Orichalcos, hear me!" he called before the candle lights formed into the Seal of Orichalcos. "Locate the scattered pieces of the Great Leviathan!" he commanded as he remembered the moment Timaeus blasted the beast into retreating and caused pieces of it to fall into the ocean.
"Inhabit these crystals, and return to this world! For the Battle of Atlantis begins again!" Dartz declared before great energy BLASTED from the Seal and into the sky above Phoenix, creating what appeared to be storm clouds. In other parts of the world, the aurora of the Great Leviathan could be seen in the sky. Out in London, England, at one in the morning, a man was bidding his female friends goodnight before finding a shard of the Great Leviathan. Right at that moment, energy from Phoenix entered the stone, causing the man to drop it.
Soon, the Seal of Orichalcos appeared, and from it, an armored soldier came up from it. The same thing happened in other places around the world, such as Domino City in Japan, Paris France, Sydney Australia, Giza Egypt, Beijing China and New York City. 'Yes, my Orichalcos Soldiers, scatter your froces to the far corners of the Earth, and deliver to me all the souls you can gather.' Dartz thought. "Now, time to prepare a welcome party for the so-called 'chosen' Duelists." he said.
Meanwhile, at the KaibaCorp US headquarters in Phoenix, the Seal of Orichalcos lowered down and encircled the building, allowing many Orichalcos Soldiers and even some Duel Monsters to rise and take over the building, among them were Lesser Dragon and Dark Jeroid. Meanwhile, at the Rocky Point port, Duke, Professor Hawkins and Rebecca had arrived and were waiting for the chopper. Then they saw it coming. "Here they come!" Duke said before waving to them. Soon, the chopper landed and everyone disembarked. "Take those two to the nearest hospital, tell the responders they're both in a coma." Seto instructed.
Fuguta and Roland both agreed and the chopper lifted off again. "Professor, glad to see you, Duke and Rebecca made it here." Twilight said. "I agree, but we can do meet and greets later." Joey concurred. "Yeah, but we hit a snag on the way here." Duke pointed out. "Flat tire?" Tristan asked. "We ran into Mai and one of those Swordsmen, Valon was his name." Duke answered. "You mean that boy with the same accent as me?" Rarity asked. "Yeah, and he seems to really be out for Joey. Mai also seems to be looking for him, too." Duke replied.
"Then I'll take care of Valon if we run into him." Joey said, ready for a fight. "Any other news?" Rebecca asked. "I'm afraid things are bad enough already, with Dartz taking both Industrial Illusions and KaibaCorp." Spike answered. "Speaking of, we need to get to the KaibaCorp building located here in Phoenix." Yami pointed out. "Let me go with you, you'll need some tech support." Rebecca said. "This won't be a field trip, kid, but I guess you can tag along if you want." Seto said.
"Keep in mind, Kaiba, this girl's a college student." Pinkie pointed out. "We'll just see about that." Seto replied. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I have a company to save. So whoever's coming with me, let's move." he added as he started to leave pier. "Yami, Rebecca, you two and me are gonna go with Kaiba." Twilight said. "Then good luck, to all of you." Fluttershy said, hopeful. "Alright, as for the rest of us, we inform the police about Doma. I think we're gonna need all the help we can get." Tristan figured.
Meanwhile, Seto and his team were heading down a manhole leading beneath the city. "Come on, try to keep up." Kaiba said as he, Twilight and Yami were running through what appeared to be a man-made corridor or passage. "Where are we going?" Yami asked. "We're taking a short cut, it's a secret passage that leads directly into the KaibaCorp US headquarters computer system, its was made for emergencies much like the one back in Japan." Kaiba answered.
Soon, they came to an elevator that unlocked with Kaiba's Duel Monsters card-shaped picture frame necklace being used as the key. "Now if Dartz's brute squad is guarding the area around the building, they'll never see us coming in." the multi-millionaire said before the three boarded the elevator. 'No one messes with my company and gets away with it.' he thought before a monster soon landed on top of the elevator, bringing it to a halt. "Who's up there!?" Twilight shouted, but she soon got her answer when they all saw it was an Ocubeam before it pounced. Though they got out of the way in time as it went through the wall of the elevator.
"I don't know what that was but I'm not staying to find out." Kaiba said before smashing the panel to make the elevator door open. "Let's go." he added before he and Yami pulled the door the rest of the way open. "I think that was something that looked like the Duel Monster called Ocubeam, but that can't be true." Twilight said. Suddenly they found themselves facing an army of Duel Monsters, among them were a Lesser Dragon, a Dark Jeroid, a Clown Zombie, a Dragon Zombie, a Goblin Zombie, a Headless Knight, Lord Poison, Jirai Gumo, a Morphing Jar and Barox.
"Kaiba, are you seeing what we're seeing?" Yami asked. "If you mean a bunch of holographic Duel Monsters surrounding us, yes. But how did the cretins who took over KaibaCorp manage to generate them?" Kaiba answered. "I doubt there are holographic generators place around the building, so we have to consider all options. Unless you have a better explanation." Twilight said. "You could be indicating that we're possibly going nuts, but this isn't the best time to argue." Kaiba replied. "Then let's go, Kaiba. We have nothing to lose!" Yami declared as the three charged at the monster horde.
Meanwhile, Tristan and some of the others were telling two officers of the Phoenix Police Department about Doma. "So you're claiming that this cult is putting people in comas?" asked an officer. "Yeah, they challenge people to a duel and whoever loses ends up in a coma." AJ answered. "Are the victims in a hospital?" asked another officer. "Three that we know about currently are, but these Doma guys are complete nut jobs. Their calling card is a Duel Monsters field spell card called the Seal of Orichalcos." Tristan answered.
"Is that right? Tell me then, does this seal happen to be on their foreheads?" asked the first officer before raising his hat to reveal the seal, shocking everyone. "They're with them, let's get out of here!" Pinkie shouted before they all ran for it. But they didn't get far when the 'officer of the law' tossed a shard of the Great Leviathan out, which landed in front of them and created the seal, allowing an Orichalcos Soldier to rise out of it. "What on Earth is that monstrosity?!" Rarity asked in horror. "It's an Orichalcos Soldier, the same creature that dueled Yami." Fluttershy answered.
The creature took a swing at Tristan, but missed, so the group ran down an alley. Meanwhile, Yami, Twilight and Kaiba were activating their Duel Disks. "If they're holograms, let's see if they can be destroyed like holograms. I summon the Obnoxious Celtic Guard!" Yami shouted before his warrior appeared. "Go, Vorse Raider!" Kaiba declared before his own creature appeared. "Don't forget me, I summon Gil Garth!" Twilight bellowed before her own creature appeared. As soon as the warriors slashed some of the monsters in half, Seto saw blood coming from one of them.
"Why are they bleeding?! Holograms don't bleed!" he said in shock. "Unless they aren't holograms." Twilight said, worried. "If you're right, then this is one nightmare that we HAVE to stop. This way!" Kaiba said urgently as they raced down the corridor while their monsters stood and fought. "Through here." he added before stopping at a door. Seto tried to unlock it, but it wouldn't open. "Someone must've reprogrammed the lock and unlock mechanism." he said, frustrated. Suddenly, the Dragon Zombie's Deadly Zombie Breath destroyed Vorse Raider while the Headless Knight slew the Obnoxious Celtic Guard.
"We're trapped and we only have one monster to defend us." Yami said as Gil Garth found itself outnumbered. Suddenly, a voice came on the intercom asking if they needed help, it was Rebecca. The door soon opened, allowing the three to pass before it closed again, cutting off one of the hands of the Dragon Zombie. Meanwhile, Duke, Professor Hawkins and Joey were with Rebecca in a manhole where she was working her computer magic. "Nice job, Rebecca." Duke said. "Yeah, I don't know how you did it, but you managed to hack into the security system in the KaibaCorp US headquarters." Joey concurred. "Good thing I 'tagged along' on Kaiba's 'field trip'." Rebecca said cheekily.
"If you're undoing what Doma did to the building, you best do it fast." Duke suggested. "That's the idea. And Kaiba, when this is all over, let me know if your US headquarters needs a new person in the tech support department." Rebecca replied. Meanwhile, Yami, Kaiba and Twilight kept on running as Rebecca unlocked door after door. "Bad news, guys. I can't seem to access the central computer. KaibaCorp's mainframe is on a separate system." the child genius said. "No problem, I've got it from here." Kaiba replied before they entered central computer room. "This should be able to enhance those photos." he added.
Soon, Kaiba activated the retinal check to unlock the system. "Voice recognition, set. Shut down old system, reboot with backup system." he said before the computer did as commanded. "Begin analyzing images. Reference every inscription and cross-reference with every known archaeological database" he commanded. Meanwhile, over on Rebecca's laptop, her grandfather got to work. "What's it say, gramps?" she asked. "Its ancient Greek and it reads; 'after its ancient 10,000 year slumber, the Black Serpent will swallow the sun and then paradise will rule once more'." Arthur read. "Nice translation, but what's it mean?" Duke asked.
"This paradise it speaks of must reference the fabled and lost Greek island city of Atlantis." Arthur theorized. "Hold on, that insignia looks familiar. But where have I seen that before?" Kaiba said as he looked at it closely. Then, he realized. "Wait a sec, it can't be!" he said in surprise. "Can't be what?" Yami asked. "The insignia matches the symbol of a privately owned financial organization known as Paradius." Kaiba answered. "Paradius is the Greek word for paradise." Twilight said. "You're right, but no one has ever seen or met anyone who works for Paradius. And rumor has it that they control a small piece of every company in the world." Kaiba added.
"Then that means..." Twilight began to say. "Paradius is the company that bought out Industrial Illusions!" she said in shock as Kaiba found just the evidence needed to tie everything back to their current situation. "Oh, no! You're right! It WAS them! And look, the president of Paradius, its Dartz!" he shouted as images of Dartz in his business suit came up, tying Paradius and Dartz with Doma. "Yugi, Twilight, you both have no idea who or what we're up against. Paradius has the same kind of wealth and power as presidents and prime ministers!" he added. "Then that means Paradius is a front for Doma's cult activities!" Twilight said in alarm. "I've seen him in some strange dreams I had. But how can it be the same man?" Yami wondered as he remembered the images in his visions.
'This doesn't make any sense. How can the same man who fought a war 10,000 years ago be the president of a modern day, privately owned financial corporation?' he thought. Suddenly, the computer went haywire and started to malfunction. Right at that moment, Rebecca's link was cut. "The link's gone!" she shouted. "Rebecca, where's the headquarters of Paradius?" Joey asked. "Let's see." Rebecca replied before finding it. "Its right in the middle of the financial district, downtown Phoenix. Just a few miles away." she added.
"Then that's where I'm going." Joey said before he climbed up the latter to the surface. "Joey, what are you doing?! We need a plan!" Duke called, but his words fell on deaf ears. Meanwhile, back at the central computer room, the three heard Dartz laughing. "You're so close, and yet so very far." he said before they turned and saw Dartz standing upon the head of the Great Leviathan. "Gentlemen, milady, I want to thank you for coming to me. You've made my job so much easier." the man said with a laugh.
"Mr. Kaiba, Princess Twilight and the infamous King of Games himself." he added. "What do you want from us?" Twilight asked. "I assumed you three had figured it out by now. After all, two of you wield two of the Legendary Dragons, are you not? If so, prove it." Dartz answered. "I don't have to prove anything to you! Now give me back my company before I get angry!" Kaiba shouted. 'He's angry already.' Twilight thought. "I suggest you do what he says." she said aloud. "And free all of your prisoners!" Yami demanded.
"Or else what, Pharaoh? Because it looks to me that neither of you are in a position to make demands." Dartz replied. "Then I'll make you a deal. Duel me and if I win, you'll release your prisoners, at once!" Yami declared before activating his Duel Disk, followed by Kaiba. Both men then played their Legendary Dragons, Timaeus and Critias, respectively. "Behold, Dartz, Timaeus!" he shouted. "And Critias!" Kaiba added.
"Ah, two of the Legendary Dragons. It's been quite a while since our last meeting. How's that eye of yours, Timaeus? Still sore?" Dartz said as he looked upon the scarred right eye of the green dragon. Soon, Timaeus went on the attack, but the attack destroyed a fake Dartz and a fake Great Leviathan. "Where'd he go?" Twilight asked. "The ancient battle continues, my friends, and soon your souls will be mine. Farewell, for now." Dartz replied as his voice echoed and faded. "Wait! Come back!" Yami shouted.
But it was no good as the dragons disappeared and all three of them found themselves back where they were before Dartz showed up. Right at that moment, some monsters broke in. "Come on! Get in!" Kaiba said urgently as he entered an elevator with Twilight and Yami following. They soon reached the roof, but found themselves cornered by a Kaitoptera and a Serpent Night Dragon before the other monsters busted through the elevator door.
"We can't fight them all!" Twilight said, worried. "Alright, get ready to jump. I trusted both of you, so its time for you to do the same." Kaiba instructed before they looked down and saw the Blue-Eyes Jet coming their way. "Okay, then." Yami replied while Twilight nodded. They all soon jumped and entered the cockpit, only for the monsters to shoot them down as they tried to make their escape, crash-landing on the street below and dejected them frm the cockpit. They look back and saw the KaibaCorp US headquarters with gaping holes in the structure of the building, indicating that the monsters made them with their attacks.
"Dartz may have ruined the US headquarters, but I won't let him take my company apart." Kaiba said with a hint of vengeance. "Guys, look!" Twilight shouted as she pointed up to what looked like the silhouette of the Great Leviathan flying above. "It seems we have something bigger to worry about, literally." Yami said. Meanwhile, far away from the city, Valon was standing and looking out over the landscape before he got a call.
"This is Valon. Go ahead." he said. "The Nameless Pharaoh's friends are headed your way." Raf replied. "Good, then its time for me to show Joey Wheeler whose boss." Valon said. "Valon, wait." Raf said, but the cockney biker ended the call and started his bike before riding off. 'It's time to prove meself to Mai.' he thought, still thinking he could win Mai's heart. Meanwhile, Tristan and the others were running through the alleys before Joey came running up and then right past. "Joey, come back! You're going the wrong way!" Rainbow shouted.
"He's heading straight for where that monster was." Tea said, worried. "Tea, you, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy go warn the others. Rainbow, AJ and Spike, you're with me." Tristan instructed before the four ran off after Joey, who kept on running. 'I'm coming for you, Dartz. And I'm not leaving without Yugi and Mai.' he thought as he rushed right into the danger zone.