Chapter 34
A Duel with Dartz: Part 2
"The Tragedy of Atlantis"
"Behold, the lost city of Atlantis in all its glory, just as it was 10,000 years ago!" Dartz declared as he and his opponents looked down at the place where he once ruled as king. "A perfect civilization, or so I thought. Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see, we were isolated from the rest of Greece, which is where our ancestors were from, and the rest of the world." he continued as they all looked down on this wonderous and beautiful ancient city.
"Our lives were simple, we existed side by side with all of the world's creatures and we knew nothing of violence, unlike the land our ancestors hailed from. But then, that changed." he said as they witnessed the once peaceful civilization descend into disaster as a volcano erupted, blackening the sky with smoke that seemed to form the shape of a dragon or lizard.
"Darkness descended on us, and a strange rock rained down from the heavens. A rock that would change our lives." he added as the volcano sent chunks of rock all over the city, which soon started to glow green. "The Orichalcos Stone." Yami said. "Please tell me the story is over. I'd like to get on with the duel." Seto said, annoyed. "The tale of my past directly effects the fate of your future. So if I were you, I'd pay attention." Dartz replied, displeased with Seto's lack of understanding.
"Now, thanks to the Orichalcos stones that landed in the city from that volcanic eruption, the people of Atlantis made advancements in technology that were never before imagined by our fellow Greeks. Technology that would inevitably be lost to the world until it was reinvented centuries later. But soon, when my father passed the crown to me due to his old age, I ruled over the most highly developed civilization ever known." he continued as they saw how advanced Atlantis had become and how Dartz became king.
"However, with progress comes greed. And eventually, violence. I knew what had to be done, but my father, former king Ironheart, had different ideas." he added. "I met Ironheart in the deserts of Arizona. How could he have been your father?" Yami asked. "If you keep asking questions, this ridiculous story is never gonna end." Seto pointed out. "That old fool did the wise thing and pass the crown to me because he knew he never had what it took to be king, and he allowed me to fill his unimpressive shoes on my twenty-first birthday. So as technology continued to advance and the hearts of my people continued to sink deeper into darkness, it was up to me to remedy the situation." Dartz explained.
"The citizens of Atlantis were growing more and more selfish, and if I didn't act soon I would lose complete control. But even I couldn't imagine what would happen next. The Orichalcos began to test us. It revealed the truth about who we were." he continued as they saw a large explosion far from Atlantis take place, followed by citizens in the streets turning into monsters.
"Those who were wicked on the inside became so on the outside, including Iona, my own wife and queen, the mother of my child, Chris." he added before they saw Fiona start to turn but then run away form her husband, only to turn completely, to Dartz's horror. "I was forced to slay my own wife, robbing Chris of her mother. I didn't realize it at first, but the true colors of my people were revealed to me that day." he continued as they saw Dartz looking out over his deteriorating kingdom before he felt the Orichalcos stones calling him to a fountain outside his palace.
"I couldn't understand why or how a society as perfect as ours could crumble like it did. But soon, a shard of the Orichalcos stone would answer all my questions. Deep down, the people of Atlantis were no different from the rest of the Greek world, they were evil and I had been chosen to wipe them out and start over again." he continued as they saw Dartz gaze at a piece of the Orichalcos stone, which turned his right eye turquoise and showed him what he had to do.
"But I couldn't accomplish such a task alone. I was but one man, so the Orichalcos stone gave me a gift, something powerful enough to lead my fight against mankind, for deep below the Earth's surface, possibly even under the Atlantic Ocean, lurked the most incredible creature that ever lived, The Great Leviathan!" he continued as they witnessed the vision that Dartz had of the Great Beast he and Doma practically worshipped.
"It was and is mine, and shortly, this great beast will return to finish what it began. I was ready to begin my task of recreating civilization and paradise on Earth, but one person stood in my way." he added before remembering how his father tried to stop him before he explained his grand scheme and summoned the first of many Orichalcos Soldiers, frightening both Ironheart and Chris before they decided to flee with Skye instead of join Dartz's mad plot.
The three soon saw the first summoning of Timaeus, Critias and Hermos in their dragon forms before they saw the ancient Battle of Atlantis unfold. "And so, the Battle of Atlantis began. You see, my father had opened up a gateway to the Dominion of the Beasts, and he used the monsters within to form and army of his own." Dartz continued. "I saw visions of what you say, but I didn't see how the battle ended." Yami said. "Well, neither side was victorious and Atlantis sunk to the bottom of the sea. My father's monster army was scattered around the world and sealed away in pyramids like those in Egypt and Mexico, as well as in temples like the ones in Greece until they were needed again." Dartz replied as they saw the Pyramids of Giza, the Aztec Pyramids and the Mastabas that were also in Egypt.
"The Leviathan was drained of his power and also sealed away. Its taken me 10,000 years to gather the energy necessary to bring it back. All that's left is for me to do is defeat you two in this duel, then your souls will awaken the Great Leviathan and my plan will finally be completed." he continued. "Hold on, we already defeated you. The Dragon Master Knight should've wiped out the rest of your life points." Seto pointed out.
"Perhaps it should have, but I'm afraid it didn't. Your pathetic attack fell short of its goal, so this duel is still on." Dartz replied with a laugh before everything around them returned to normal, but they saw that Dratz's life points were still at 3500. "Hold on, you didn't lose a single life point!" Seto said in shock. "Didn't I just tell you that your attack failed?" Dartz asked. "Thanks to the special ability of my Kyutora, the damage I should've taken was reduced to nothing." he explained as Orichalcos Kyutora absorbed all of the energy from Dragon Master Knight's attack.
"No way! That guy dodged an attack from one of the strongest dragons in the game!" Spike said in shock. "Worse yet, it's his turn again." AJ added. "Return, Orichalcos Gigas!" Dartz declared before the behemoth came back to the field. "I told you, Kaiba, that creature is hard to destroy. Each time I managed to destroy it, it comes back even stronger." Yami said as Gigas' attack points increased to 1400. "Face it, you'll never defeat me. The power of the Orichalcos will swallow you both. Now let's get back to the duel. Since my Gigas returned to me, I can't draw this turn. But no matter, everything I need is in my hand. So I'll enhance the power of the Seal with this, the magic card known as Orichalcos Deuteros!" Dartz said before another border of the Seal was added to the original.
"What's going on?" Seto asked. "Somehow, he's made the Seal of Orichalcos stronger." Yami replied. Meanwhile, a seaplane was on its way to the island, piloted by Rafael. But then, he rode out of the back as the plane was set to autopilot and he began to ride up the stairs to the temple. Meanwhile, in the temple itself, the game continued. "Gentlemen, welcome to the second level of darkness!" Dartz declared. "Kaiba, I don't know how he did it, but somehow he's added a second border, another layer, to the Seal of Orichalcos." Yami said, baffled.
"Why'd he play that to make the seal bigger and stronger?" AJ asked. "The first benefit of Orichalcos Deuteros is that I gain 500 life points for each monster on my side of the field. Therefore, since I have two, that means 1000 points." Dartz explained as his life points increased to 4500. "How are we supposed to wipe him out now?!" Seto asked.
"You won't, nor can you even try, for Orichalcos Deuteros makes me invincible." Dartz answered. "Next I'll attack your Dragon Master Knight." he added. "Go, Orichalcos Gigas!" he commanded before the behemoth went on the attack. "Nice try, but my Knight is too strong!" Yami stated before Orichalcos Gigas was blasted to smithereens. "Kyutora, absorb all the damage meant for me!" Dartz commanded before his one-eyed creature did so, sparing his life points. "My life points are safe once again, and now my Gigas returns." he added before Orichalcos Gigas revived, this time with 1900 attack points.
"Is it me, or Dartz letting his Orichalcos Gigas get destroyed on purpose?" Pinkie asked. "It's not you, Pinks. He's trying to make Gigas strong enough to destroy the Dragon Master Knight." Rainbow replied. 'That can't be it. His monster would have to be destroyed seven more times before it could defeat our creature. There must be more to his plan. Perhaps the secret lies in his Kyutora and its ability to absorb attack damage. Wait... Of course, that creature must have another special ability.' Yami thought.
"Alright, Dartz, my move!" Seto said before drawing. 'As long as that eyesore is on the field, its pointless to attack his Orichalcos Gigas because Dartz won't lose any life points. Plus, Gigas will just come back stronger. But maybe if I attack Dartz directly, I should be able to win the duel.' he thought. "I set a card face down. And then, I summon Blade Knight!" he declared before his armor-clad warrior appeared. "And since I have no cards in my hand, Blade Knights gets an extra 400 attack points." he added as his knight's attack power increased to 2000.
"I think that'll do, for now." he concluded. 'He's setting himself up for something.' Yami thought. 'He better not mess up the strategy I have planned.' Seto thought. "Time to pick up where I left off." Yami said before drawing. "Before you take your turn, Yugi, I sacrifice Blade Knight to activate this magic card, Reflect Energy!" Seto declared before said card was triggered and a small reflecting dish shot toward and connected to the wall behind Dartz.
"Okay, Yugi, it's up to you to blow this freak show away with your knight. Once you attack, my Reflect Energy satellite will redirect the blast to his life points and wipe him out." he explained to his partner. "Very well." Yami replied. "Dragon Master Knight, attack with Dragon Saber Blast!" he commanded before the attack fired. It struck the satellite and bounced right towards Dartz's back. "Nice! Can't avoid an attack from the rear, can you, Dartz?!" Rainbow shouted.
However, the attack struck and destroyed Orichalcos Gigas instead of Dartz. "Oh, no! That attack was supposed to hit Dartz, not his monster!" Seto said in shock, to Dartz's laughter. "A forcefield?! How did he create it?" Yami asked, just as shocked. "By using the second layer of the seal, of course. Whenever my life points are targeted, the Orichalcos Deuteros activates and saves me. It's simple, I make a sacrifice so that your own monster takes the hit." Dartz explained. "You know what that means, don't you? Your Dragon Master Knight is attacking itself." he added as the attack was shot right back at it.
"Guys, do something, fast!" Mokuba shouted. "I activate De-fusion!" Yami declared, separating the one creature back into two. "Quite an impressive retaliation." Dartz replied. "Its only through the equal determination between me and Kaiba that we lasted this long." Yami pointed out. "You seem to have a little speech prepared for everything, don't you, Pharaoh? Surely you must get tired of being right all the time. Well, don't worry, because that all ends here. So listen closely as I teach you a little lesson of my own, and I assure you it has nothing to do with this so-called teamwork you and Kaiba have going. After all, you are rivals rather than friends. And it all starts, with this." Dartz replied before drawing.
"I activate a ritual spell known as Orichalcos Mirror, which allows me to sacrifice my Timeater from my hand in order to summon Mirror Knight Calling." he continued as his new monster, a level six, Earth attribute rock/ritual/effect monster with 0 attack and defense points appeared, though its attack points increased to 500 due to the seal. "This, in turn, allows me to summon four Mirror Knight Tokens to the field to protect me." he added before his knights, each one a level one, Dark attribute warrior token with 0 attack and defense points appeared, now with 500 attack points thanks to the seal.
"That thing must be like Scapegoat if it allowed him to summon four Tokens in one move." Fluttershy said in surprise. "You poor fools, you'll never get past my Mirror Knights." Dartz said, confidently. "And now, thanks to Orichalcos Deuteros, I gain 3000 extra life points!" he declared as his life points shot up to 7500. "Now, pay close attention to the reflection in the mirror shields." he added. "What's going on?" Seto asked. "Each knight holds a mirror shield that reflects something or someone on your side of the field, that dictates the value of their attack points." Dartz explained.
"Then that means..." Yami began to say, realizing what Dartz's plan was. "Yes, it does. My knights receive the same number of attack points as their targets." the madman answered as Yami and Seto both saw their own reflections and the reflections of their monsters in the mirror shields of each knight. Right then in there, the knight on the far left had their attack points increase to 3000 while the knight next to it had their attack points increase to 4500. Soon, two of the knights lost their shields and went on the attack with the others. In mere moments, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Black Luster Soldier were destroyed and both Seto and Yami's life points decreased to 3500.
"What's wrong? Scared of your own reflections?" Dartz asked. "Thanks to Mirror Knight Calling, I can replace the shields of the two knights that attacked your monsters. Each time I remove a shield, they can't be destroyed when they go to battle with a monster that's as strong as they are. Which means they cannot be destroyed!" he explained as two Mirror Knights got new mirror shields while their attack points returned to 500. "Go ahead and summon whatever monster you like." he concluded.
"Fine, we will!" Seto replied before drawing. "But first, I'll activate Card of Demise. This allows me to draw five cards, as long as I discard my entire hand in five turns, but it's worth it, for a fresh start." he stated before drawing his new hand. "Next I'll play Silent Doom, allowing me to summon a monster from my graveyard in defense mode. And I choose Blade Knight!" he declared before his armored warrior returned.
"Now I'll sacrifice my knight, to summon Kaiser Glider!" he added before his new monster, a level six, Light attribute dragon/effect monster with 2400 attack points and 2200 defense points, appeared. "Lastly, I'll set one card face down to end my turn." he concluded. "I must say, I'm impressed. Your Kaiser Glider is safe from being attacked and destroyed by a monster with the same number of attack points, so my knights can't touch it." Dartz said.
'Kaiba may be safe for now, but we need to find a way to destroy his monsters, not hide from them.' Yami thought. "Alright, Dartz, my move!" he declared before drawing. 'Mirror Force, this should help.' he thought. "First I'll set a card face down and then summon Big Shield Gardna to the field in defense mode." he said before his best defender appeared. "That's all, for now." he concluded. "Quite a pathetic move. Now, then..." Dartz said before drawing.
"Since it's the start of a new turn for me, I'll gain another 3000 life points." he added before his life points greatly increased to 10,500. "That's about the same amount of points Slifer the Sky Dragon had when Yami dueled Strings!" Fluttershy said in shock. "They need to stop him, fast!" Twilight said, urgently. 'As soon as Dartz attacks, I'll activate Mirror Force to stop his knights and destroy them.' Yami thought.
"Hold on, folks! I activate my trap card, Ring of Destruction!" Seto declared as his trap sprung. "Your knights only get new shields as long as Mirror Knight Calling is on the field, but now I can destroy it with my Ring of Destruction!" he added before the creature was destroyed, though it did lower his life points to 3000, but it also lowered Dartz's life points to 10,000
"Now, when your knights go into battle, they can't get new shields afterwards." he concluded. Suddenly, the helmets on the knights' heads began to crack and crumble to pieces. "Wait, what's going on?" Seto asked before, to everyone's shock, the heads and faces underneath the helmets were those of Yugi, Mai, Joey and Pegasus. "Recognize anyone?" Dartz asked.
"Yugi?! But how?!" Yami shouted. "What did you DO to him?!" Fluttershy asked, horrified. 'How's that possible?! Yugi's right next to me!' Seto thought, completely baffled at what he saw. "I have the souls of your companions, remember?" Dartz pointed out. "Leave them out of this!" Twilight demanded. "Attack my knights, and you'll really be attacking these four poor, unfortunate souls." Dartz added before Yami looked up and saw the four spaces on the wall where Mai, Pegasus, Joey and Yugi once were.
'If I had activated Mirror Force, that would mean I'd be attacking them." Yami said, realizing he was close to making a foolish mistake. "No matter what you do, you'd lose. It's impossible to defeat me without destroying these Tokens. And yet to destroy any of them would be to destroy the souls within." Dartz claimed before laughing maniacally.