Chapter 18
On the Wrong Track: Part 3
"Timaeus' Refusal"
The train kept speeding on as Weevil and Yami kept dueling. "Your train of life is being rerouted! And your final stop, is eternal entrapment!" the ex-regional champion claimed before drawing. "Not if I activate my trap, first! I reveal Natural Selection!" Yami declared. "What do you plan on doing?" Weevil asked. "My trap card creates a clone of one of your monsters, known as a Selection Token, and puts it on my side of the field. Then the token destroys the monster it was copied from." Yami answers. "Impossible." Weevil replied.
"It's quite possible. See for yourself!" Yami retorted before the Selection Token was created and started to devour the Insect Queen. "No! My queen! You can't!" Weevil shouted, but it was too little too late as the Insect Queen was no more. "Do you actually think you can beat me at an insect game? Never. I'm the master of all insect Duel Monsters! I tribute my Insect Monster Token to summon my Armored Centipede!" he declared before his new monster, a level five, Earth attribute insect/effect monster with 1600 attack and defense points, appeared. But thanks to the Seal of Orichalcos, its attack power increased to 2100.
"Alright, destroy his Kuriboh with your Poison Fangs!" he commanded before Kuriboh was obliterated. "I'm afraid there's more, my Armored Centipede gains 500 attack points for every insect monster it destroys, and thanks to DNA Surgery, your Kuriboh was part bug." he added before his centipede's attack power increased to 2600. "Now that my turn is over, so is your fake queen's time on the field." he concluded before the Selection Token was destroyed.
'He's right, the effect of Yami's trap card wore off, destroying his Selection Token. Now all that's left on his side of the field is that cocoon, and its likely about to hatch.' AJ thought. Back at the rest of the train, Joey and Rex had their dragons ready to brawl. "It's a dragon showdown, and yours is toast." Rex claimed. "Tyrant Dragon, incinerate his Red-Eyes, now!" he commanded. With one stream of fire, Red-Eyes was a goner. "Sorry, Red-Eyes." Joey said, solemnly, as his life points dropped to 300.
"You don't have to say your goodbyes just yet, because my trap card can bring him back. I play, Chain of the Underworld!" Rex declared before his trap sprung and Red-Eyes was revived. "I don't get it, why would Rex revive Joey's dragon?" Pinkie asked. "What better way to torture him than to destroy his dragon twice?" Rex answered. "And since my trap deducts 700 points from Red-Eyes, once I attack, your friend's history." he added as Red-Eyes' attack points lowered to 1700. "Rex is just one attack away from winning and locking Joey's soul away." Tristan said, worried for his friend.
"This was my plan all along. You see, my Tyrant Dragon can attack twice in one turn as long as my opponent has a monster on the field that it can attack. And thanks to my trap, you've got one." Rex revealed. "Rex, that seal on your forehead is messing with your brain! Neither Dartz or Doma are your friends, they'll turn on you if you don't have any reason for being around them anymore." Joey said, trying to talk some sense into his opponent. "So? They already gave me what I needed, same with Weevil, the power to annihilate you and the Nameless Pharaoh." Rex replied. "Now, go ahead and draw." he added.
"That's part of Chain of the Underworld's effect, the Duelist it was used on draws a card." Spike figured. "Your green-haired friend is right, but it won't help." Rex concurred. "I'm warning you, Rex. Don't do this" Joey said before drawing. "He's right. Your messing with supernatural forces that you can't understand." Rarity concurred. "Save it for someone who cares! I know what I'm doing!" Rex shouted. "No, you don't." Joey replied, defiantly. "Tyrant Dragon, attack Red-Eyes and end this duel!" Rex commanded.
"Nice try, but you just activated my Blessings of Birth trap card!" Joey revealed as his trap sprung. "So what? My Tyrant Dragon is trap-proof!" Rex retorted as his dragon flew in for the kill. "What makes you think I'm using it on your dragon?" Joey asked before a pillar of light shot up and stopped the attack, causing the Tyrant Dragon to back off. "My trap kicked in when my Red-Eyes was brought back from the grave by your Chain of the Underworld trap. And it automatically ends your turn right on the spot! Which means my Red-Eyes Black Dragon is safe." he explained.
"What?! No way!" Rex said in shock. "I'm afraid so. And now that he's back, he's not going anywhere." Joey replied. Back on the train, the battle between Yami and Weevil continued. "You'll never get away with this." the ancient one said before drawing. "Your time's up! It's been three turns since I turned you Obnoxious Celtic Guard into the cocoon you see before you. Which means its time for my secret weapon to emerge. Say hello to Poison Butterfly!" Weevil declared before, from the cocoon, the Poison Butterfly, a level seven, Wind attribute insect/effect monster with 2700 attack points and 1800 defense points, emerged.
Back at the rest of the train, Rex and Joey's duel seemed to be near its end. "You're done, Wheeler. You're down to your last 300 life points. Now make your move so I can finish you off for good." the Dino Duelist stated. "I'm the one that's gonna finish the duel, Raptor. Got that? My move!" Joey replied before drawing. "I call to the field, Gearfried the Iron Knight!" he declared before the mighty warrior appeared. "Next I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more times." he added before doing so. "You're going down!" he shouted.
"How do you figure that?" Rex asked. "I'll tell you, but you won't like it. Every monster in Duel Monsters has a story behind it, and this is a favorite of mine." Joey answered. "What are you, Mother Goose?" Rex asked, mockingly. "There once was a warrior so powerful that every time he used his sword, the world shook. He caused so much devastation that this sword master feared his own power, so he decided to build a suit of iron armor to limit his strength. And from then on, he was known as Gearfried the Iron Knight." Joey explained.
"And now the time has come to set him free, so I play the magic card Release Restraint!" he declared. "Now, Gearfried, I release you from your iron armor! Show your true self!" he shouted before Gearfried's armor came off to reveal the warrior inside. "Behold, Gearfried the Sword Master!" he declared before Rex stared at the true form of Gearfried, a level seven, Light attribute warrior/effect monster with 2600 attack points and 2200 defense points.
"You went through the lore of Gearfried the Iron Knight just to show his true form? He's useless to you, Wheeler!" Rex claimed before laughing, but Joey soon showed his next card, the one and only Claw of Hermos. And that brought Rex's laughter to an end. "I think you spoke too soon, Rex." Spike said with a smirk. Meanwhile, on the train, Yami and Weevil continued their duel. "What's wrong? You should be thrilled to have such a strong monster, despite the fact that it takes away 500 of your life points for every turn it stays on the field." the ex-regional champion taunted.
"I wouldn't be so confident if I were you. I'll find away to make the Poison Butterfly useful to my cause somehow." Yami replied. "What do you mean?" Weevil asked before Yami showed him The Eye of Timaeus. "You drew one of the three Legendary Dragons?" Weevil asked in surprise. "How right you are, Weevil. Now behold as I summon forth Timaeus!" Yami declared. Weevil stood with worry on his face as he started into the face of the dragon. But just as quickly as Timaeus appeared, he destroyed himself.
"Oh, no! Timaeus abandoned Yami!" Twilight said in shock. "It must've been because Yami played the Seal of Orichalcos when he dueled Rafael." Fluttershy said in worry. Weevil sighed in relief. "Normally I wouldn't admit something like this, but you have no idea how nervous I was staring into the face of that dragon. But I think I know why Timaeus left, the dark magic of the Seal of Orichalcos and that fragment of the Orichalcos stone you wore around your neck is still within you. So Timaeus turned his back on you and you turned your back on him and your other monsters during your duel with Rafael." Weevil said as he adjusted his glasses.
"If that's the case, my turn is done." Yami said, solemnly. "I thought you'd never say that, and now Poison Butterfly's effect takes hold, so you lose 500 of your life points." Weevil replied as Yami's life points lowered to 700. 'If Yami loses this duel, we'll never rescue Yugi.' AJ thought. "I'd say you're running out of options, Yami. But now its my turn." Weevil said before drawing. "I'll set one card face down and end my turn." he concluded. Meanwhile, back at the rest of the train, Rex began to worry as he stared at Joey's Legendary Dragon.
"I take it you recognize the Claw of Hermos." the underdog said. 'This is bad. If he combines it with either his dragon or Gearfried, I'm a goner. Last time he played that dragon, he nearly destroyed Mai by combining it with his Time Wizard.' Rex thought. "It's all over, Rex. I activate the Claw of Hermos!" Joey declared. "If you remember my last duel, you'll remember that Hermos unites with other monsters to create weapons. So let's see what happens when I merge Hermos with my Red-Eyes." he added as Hermos appeared and fused together with Red-Eyes.
"Together, they form the ultimate weapon, Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword!" he continued before his new creature, a level seven, Dark attribute dragon/fusion/effect monster with 2400 attack points and 2000 defense points, appeared. "And who better to use this weapon than Gearfried the Sword Master?" he added as the sword was revealed to be held by Gearfried himself. "Plus, he gets an extra 500 attack points for every dragon on the field." he pointed out.
"No! That means my Tyrant Dragon makes Gearfried even stronger!" Rex said in alarm. "And the sword by itself gives Gearfried 1000 extra attack points, bringing my warrior's attack power up to 4100!" Joey revealed. "No! He's stronger than my dragon!" Rex shouted. "Not that it matters, thanks to the special ability granted to him by the sword, which allows him to destroy any monster automatically!" Joey revealed, worrying Rex. "Looks like Tyrant Dragon's taking a permanent vacation!" Rainbow shouted as the beast left the field.
"Impossible! My dragon's gone and your warrior hasn't even attacked me!" Rex said in alarm. 'If I beat Rex, the Orichalcos takes his soul. But if I don't, we'll never save Yugi.' Joey thought. "Joey, we have to. We need to save Yugi." Spike said, so Joey silently nodded. "You give me no choice, Rex." Joey said, grimly. "No, Joey, wait! Please don't do this!" Rex begged. "I have to. But don't worry, when we save Yugi, we'll save everyone else who Doma went after, too, including Weevil." Joey replied. "Now, Gearfried the Sword Master, attack and wipe out his life points!" he commanded.
"No! This can't be!" Rex shouted as the powerful warrior slashed Rex with the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword and sent him flying into the barrier of the Seal of Orichalcos while his life points hit 0, ending the duel and sealing his fate. "Joey, please! Save me!" Rex called, but it was too little too late as the Seal of Orichalcos closed in on him and snatched away his soul, leaving his body behind, comatose, but alive. 'I'm sorry, Rex. It was the only way.' Joey thought. Everyone went to check on Rex. "I'm surprised he isn't dead." Tristan admitted.
"Not dead, just in what seems to be a coma." Rarity pointed out. "The Seal of Orichalcos snatched his soul, but I promised him we'd free his soul along with Yugi's." Joey added. "You're right, but what do we do now?" Spike asked. "Well, I say we follow the tracks. They got to lead to a train station, maybe we'll find Yami, Tea, Applejack, Twilight and Fluttershy." Rainbow suggested. "I hope you can hear me, Dartz! We're coming for you, and we're going to free the souls of everyone that you and Doma made victims of!" Joey shouted.
Meanwhile, Yami and Weevil continued their duel. "It's my move now." the ancient one said before drawing. "Hurry up, then. I'm looking forward to hand your soul to Master Dartz so that he can have a matching set." Weevil said impatiently. "You'll do nothing of the sort. This duel isn't over yet, so I call forth Breaker the Magical Warrior!" Yami replied before the mighty warrior appeared. "That's one of my monsters, it gains 300 attack points once its summoned because of its special ability!" AJ said in delight as Breaker's attack power increased to 1900. "Why, thank you. You've triggered my trap card, Infestation!" Weevil declared before his trap sprung.
"The first thing it does is drain 100 attack points from each of our monsters." he said before Armored Centipede's attack points lowered to 2500, Poison Butterfly's attack power lowered to 2600 and Breaker's attack power lowered to 1800. "But that's not all. Next, the attack points lost are added up and subtracted from our life points." he added before his life points lowered to 3800 and Yami's lowered to 500. "This game is just about over. Poison Butterfly will strike when your turn is done. And since you're down to your last 500 life points, you'll automatically lose the duel!" he declared before laughing, causing the girls to worry.
"My turn's not over yet." Yami stated. "Who cares? I still have almost all of my life points, you can't win!" Weevil replied. "But you know, I'd be willing to do you a little favor before you lose your soul and relinquish your title to me. I have a card in my pocket that you might like to see." he continued. "Weevil, this smells like another of your tricks." AJ said, suspiciously. "Relax, cowgirl. I'm just trying to repay the King of Games for ruining my life. You want to find Yugi, right? Well Dartz told me, he keeps all his souls within the temple area of his hideaway. But that's all he told me and Rex." Weevil replied.
"Tell us where he is!" Yami demanded. "Unfortunately, I wasn't taken to the temple itself, but this card is what Raf gave me as a welcoming gift into Doma. Yugi's image is on it while his soul remains trapped in Dartz's temple. And its right here." Weevil said before taking out the card. "Course, I don't want to make you or the girls upset by showing you the horror on Yugi's face, so I'll tell you what. Once I win, I'll give it to his girlfriend over there. Fluttershy, was it? At least that way, she'll have a way to keep him close to her." he continued before putting the card back in his pocket. "At least that'll be better than his soulless body, fit to be fed to worms." he concluded before laughing.
At that moment, Yami and Fluttershy finally had enough. "This is the last straw, you hear me, Weevil!?" Yami shouted. "You'll pay dearly for saying such dishonorable things about my Yugi!" Fluttershy shouted, practically going into her stare, causing Weevil to freeze in his tracks. "You think this duel is finished, I'm afraid I'll have to disagree. I hereby activate Breaker the Magical Warrior's special ability!" Yami declared as Breaker's sword began to glow. "You know what happens now, Weevil? Breaker can destroy any magic or trap card on the field!" Fluttershy shouted.
"No, then that means..." Weevil began to say. "Sounds like you've realized I plan to destroy your Insect Barrier, allowing me to attack with the Poison Butterfly you gave me!" Yami interrupted. "Go, Breaker, and destroy the Insect Barrier!" he commanded before, with one mighty slash, Breaker's attack points decreased to 1500 and the barrier was broken, worrying Weevil. "Fluttershy told you that you'd pay for what you said a few moments ago. I may have weakened Breaker by using his special ability, but it was well worth the price because now I can destroy you." the ancient one stated, not taking any nonsense anymore.
"Prepare to feel the wrath of your own monster, the Poison Butterfly!" he declared, causing Weevil to scream in panic. 'It's all over for him.' Fluttershy thought. "Do this for Yugi!" she shouted. "I will." Yami replied. "Go, Poison Butterfly, attack his Armored Centipede!" he commanded before the powerful insect spread its poisonous powder, destroying the Centipede and lowering Weevil's life points to 3700. "Now, attack him directly, Breaker!" he commanded before one slash lowered Weevil's life points to 2200.
"Nice try, but I'm afraid your turn just came to an end. Which means Poison Butterfly takes the rest of your life points, so I win!" the ex-regional champion declared with glee. "I told you I'm not done yet." Yami replied, catching Weevil off-guard. "Now allow me to complete my turn." he added. "What are you talking about? Both of your monsters have attacked already, there's nothing more you can do this turn!" Weevil replied in a panic.
"I can still play this! Berserker Soul!" Yami declared. "What do you plan on doing with that?" Weevil asked. "First I must send my entire hand to the graveyard." Yami began before doing so. "Then I must keep excavating cards from my deck one by one, and I'm not to stop until I draw a magic or trap card. Meanwhile, with each monster I draw, I can attack you with a creature from my side of the field as long as it has 1500 attack points or less." he explained.
"1500? That means only Breaker can attack me." Weevil pointed out. "Wait a second!" he said, suddenly realizing and remembering what Yami did not long ago with Breaker by activating his special ability to destroy the Insect Barrier. 'Yugi's been planning this all along!' he thought. "It's the beginning of the end for you!" Yami declared before drawing his first card. "I've drawn Queen's Knight! And since she's a monster, Breaker can attack!" he continued. "Go!" he commanded before Breaker struck Weevil again, lowering his life points to 700.
"Now for my next card!" the ancient one declared before drawing another monster. "Looks like your out of luck, for I've drawn Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts!" he continued before Breaker attacked again, bringing Weevil's life points down to 0 and ending the game, for him at least. "I draw again, and its another monster." he added, revealing he had drawn Big Shield Gardna, causing Breaker to attack again. "This just isn't your day." he added as he drew Alpha the Magnet Warrior, causing Breaker to attack again.
'I've never seen Yami like this before.' Twilight thought, horrified at what she saw. 'Without Yugi's gentle nature, he's not showing Weevil any mercy.' AJ thought as Weevil was struck by Breaker once more after Yami had drawn Gamma the Magnet Warrior. Then the ex-regional champion fell to his knees while the Seal of Orichalcos closed in on him, taking his soul. "Let's see what else I draw." Yami said before doing so. "Yami, enough! Please!" Fluttershy shouted as she jumped across the train cars to stop him. "Let me go, Fluttershy." the ancient one demanded.
"Please, your highness. The duel is over, Weevil's finished. The Seal of Orichalcos took his soul. If you kept attacking him, you might've killed him." Fluttershy replied. "We have to get back on mission." Twilight said after she and Tea reached the front of the train car. 'Twilight's right. I have a promise to keep.' Yami thought as he looked at the card he drew, which was Dark Magician Girl. Meanwhile, at the temple lair of Doma, Weevil and Rex's souls appeared on the wall where the souls of all of the other victims of Doma were kept.
"So many souls, so little time. The Great Leviathan is growing impatient. I must supply him with the power he needs to awaken. And for that, I need the Nameless Pharaoh." Dartz said. Meanwhile, Twilight, AJ and Yami checked on Weevil's soulless body. AJ soon checked his pocket and saw the card he held up. "Looks like Weevil was lying when he said he had the card that contained an image of Yugi, all he had was this, a Gokibore card." she said. Fluttershy felt saddened by the news, yet somewhat relieved.
"I promise, Weevil. We'll get your soul back." Fluttershy said gently. Suddenly, they looked ahead and saw the train was heading towards a bridge, but it suddenly went off the rails, sending all of them falling into a forest below them with the train, which Dartz saw. "No! I need the Nameless Pharaoh alive!" he said. However, unbeknownst to Dartz, they were all seemingly okay as a strange old man watched the train fall from atop the cliff.