Return of the Orichalcos (Finishing/PG-13/IC)

[a bad post]

"Wow, thank you Lucas,"she actually made a small, and very shy, no need to give the old man ideas, genuine smile,"as long as were discussing this topic of your Stones what are they, because they attract the Seal like moths to a flame, what are they because they obviously make you very powerful?"Cynthia asked wondering what could possibly give people such Orichalcos powers,"if you think I'm going to sell you down the river to them look at it this way, I stand more to gain if the Orichlcos wins, do you know what my contract with the Orichalcos is, you probably don't care, but I'm going to tell you anyway, as long as I keep stealing souls, then every week I get a mysterious check in the mail, that pays for my living in a Hilton Suite, which on another note is probably in ruins right now,"Cynthia said attempting to prove her loyalties,"if the Orichalcos loses then all that goes away, and I have to go back to stripping and pole dancing, so honestly where do you my allegiances lie."

[TotalObelisk]

Idris found herself rolling her eyes all of a sudden, having a hard time taking all these new events in so quickly she did pretty much the only thing she could think of and resorted to snark.

[b]"This...Is...Stupid,"[/b] she sighed under her breath before turning to Brian [b]"And don't encourage her, you'll only make it..."[/b]

She was cut off by the sound of the girl blowing a hole through the wall, turning about in surprise to see her climbing through it. Idris rolled her eyes and followed her through it and pausing at the sight of the machine-gun toting vehicle she was now climbing into. After a low groan she hopped onto the machine just behind the girl, wondering if this day could get any worse.

[b]"Okay listen, I don't care if you're the herald of darkness or the ambassador for candy f*cking island,"[/b] she said [b]"We've got bigger problems to deal with and you've just gone and made everything that bit harder to deal with, so if you don't mind telling me what the f*ck just happened then we can all get on with our lives and you can go conquer the world all you f*cking like."[/b]

****

[b]"In that case it would be better if just one of us went,"[/b] Syria replied [b]"Rather than an assault on their base of operations we could infiltrate the place posing as one of them, find the duellist stripper was talking about and leave once we are finished."[/b] She said all this without even the faintest hint of emotion in her voice, as if she where simply describing the weather [b]"If the individual who can apparently sense the seal is currently absent then it would be best to act sooner rather than later."[/b]

[Merci]

Pener frowned at Idris.

[color=brown]"I'm sorry for asking, but eh...what's the meaning of this 'ambassador', 'fa king', and candy?"[/color] She asked, having never heard of the word before. She still wasn't really that great in English.

But as to her other questions, she merely rolled her eyes, although unbeknownst to her she was actually misunderstanding question as well as the situation as a whole. She smiled.

[color=brown]"I don't care about the condition of your world, but to put it down...I am currently going through five trials my Master gave me. I have already completed four of them, and the last trial is to conquer the world called 'Maxima', which is this one."[/color] She explained. [color=brown]"Once I have succeeded, I will be deemed worthy of [i]truly[/i] being the herald of darkness, and I will be given the quest of bringing forth judgment on existence. Simple."[/color]

Her smile dropped.

[i][color=brown]"...this world is scary."[/color][/i] She murmured in Ancient Egyptian, forgetting about Idris for a moment. [i][color=brown]".....there are hundreds of kings...and things that fly and things that float, all made of metal...the world does not revolve around the sun...and it's flat too...our gods are laughed at and the spirits everyone used to fear turned into cardboard amusements..."[/color][/i]

To herself, she slowly began to list down all the things she hated and feared in this world, while comparing it to her homeland, speaking in her natural language. Everything was just so different.

[Love of Ghibli]

Lucas was intrigued by Syria's statement a stealthy mission would seems most advised and it could provide for some entertainment.

[color=#ff8c00]Well that is the most logical thing to do isn't it? But which one of us should go? Syria would get the opportunity to observe more human behavior, Carla would get to reunite with her wrestling clients, and well I'm old so I don't really have anything better to do other than to look at these cool trinkets I picked up. Hmmm maybe we should let the dueling stripper decide.[/color] He said all of this to Carla and Syria then he looked at the stripper. [color=#ff8c00]Well who would you like to accompany you on what would most likely be the riskiest move you'll ever make in you entire life.[/color] Lucas spoke without so much as an inflection of concern. [color=#ff8c00]I mean lets face it if whoever you pick gets found out then they'll most likely have to kill you just on general principle and to be honest I can't really see any of us let alone Arche lifting a finger to help you. Personally I don't really know if your quality of life is where you really want it to be anyway. Think of it this way, if you replaced "taking souls" with "having relations" then aren't you technically being pimped out by a card. Is that how you envisioned life for yourself? Doing tricks for two dimensional piece of cardboard. [/color]

He swigged his empty scotch glass in the air and waiter came and replaced it immediately.

[color=#ff8c00]Well hey you still are better than that Kori loser whose on our side at least you are trying...failing a little...but trying to do something with your life. And look now you get to make a big decision that could impact the way this war, or whatever, it is turns out. I'm sure your pimp...card...boss...suga daddy would be proud of you. [/color]

Lucas didn't really care how much his words might have stung in his eye strippers weren't really people more like conscious zombies who lie to themselves to get through life. They are incredibly fit though.

[a bad post]

"Fine, I'll choose Carla she seems like she would be the most adept one for the job,"Cynthia said ignoring Lucas's comments on her life, what she did with her life was her problem, what she didn't say was, that if this little plan failed and Carla lost the duel, then well that would be 1 less person Cynthia had to worry about trying to kill her, plus it might give Carla a chance at the wrestlers,"Speaking of us, how many Orichalcos members are actually left, I mean besides the drones, how many of us are left, there can't be that many right?"

[Merci]

Archetype Earth was saddened that both Alexander and Jared were gone, two of her favorite subordinates, but what really saddened her was that Jared killed himself. She didn't know why he did it. If he had wanted to die, he should've at least sacrificed himself to the Great Leviathan. His death had been in vain. Ugh.

For a moment, she decided to close her eyes and touch everyone's minds, those that were linked to the Orichalcos. It was just a tiny poke, they might not even notice it.

She opened them.

The total amount of members in the Orichalcos cult was approaching a thousand.

[TotalObelisk]

Idris had to resist to urge to slap her own forehead, this girl obviously wasn't from here so there was little to no chance she'd understand sarcasm. At the very least she managed to answer Idris' question...Sort of, she didn't exactly answer it but Idris did at least have a better understanding of who the hell this girl was.

[b]"Uhuh, yeah that's cute,"[/b] she replied cynically.

She paused as the girl began muttering to herself in egyptian, possibly under the impression that Idris couldn't understand her, from the way she was complaining about the modern world she was starting to sound a lot like Yuri.

[b]"<So you're from Ancient Egypt, then?>"[/b] Idris hated speaking Egyptian, but if it was going to get any response out of the girl it was worth a try [b]"<I mean, you look like you know a good amount of Shadow Magic and I'm guessing you know about the Spirit World.>"[/b] She paused, waiting for the girl to react [b]"<Who's this 'master' of yours anyway?>"[/b] Though Idris had a hunch she could guess already.

[Merci]

Pener paused.

[i][color=brown]"You can speak my language?"[/color][/i] She asked, thoroughly surprised though in a different way from usual. Mostly, it was just culture shock, but she was quite surprised that someone else in this world was still able to speak it. She smiled faintly. [i][color=brown]"I don't know much magic at all...I'm just copying what I used to see other magicians do in the kingdom, and pour my own energy into it to make it stronger. As for the Spirit World...that's where ka come from, right...?"[/color][/i]

Then she frowned a bit at Idris's last question.

[color=brown][i]"Master?...I don't know. To me, hE is only a voice, possessing unfathomable power, and the source of all shadows came from him. He promised me life."[/i][/color] She explained.

Then she shifted uncomfortably in the vehicle, before deciding to ask something.

[color=brown]"What is your name?"[/color] She asked, in English.

[Thranduil]

[color=#008000]"Okeanos, halt your attack." [/color]The great beast stopped attacking and pulled back. Yuuto gave Arta a puzzled look.

[i][color=#696969]"Why did you stop, you could have won soon."[/color][/i]

[color=#008000]"Because winning was never my purpose."[/color] Arta closed his eyes and hummed a tune for a minute before speaking again. After his short meditation Arta looked at Yuuto. [color=#008000]"The reason that I challenged you to a duel is because I know you have the ability to win, but you seem to lack the confidence. You put on an act of Bravado, when in fact your still the scared little boy who is hoping to have his father's help on winning. You need to learn to stand on your own two feet before you go and say you can challenge a member of the Orichalcos cult. I will not send you away but I do demand that you rethink your options here, are your truely prepared for the possibility of loosing your soul in a war for the earth?"[/color] Arta deactivated his duel disk and walked away, leaving Yuuto to mull over what he had just told the boy.

[TotalObelisk]

Idris could help but feel a bit smug when the girl actually reacted to her speaking in egyptian, at least she was making some progress, all she had to do now was figure out who the girl actually was and what had happened to Protheus, assuming he hadn't just transformed into a girl. What the girl actually said though was interesting, she apparently learned magic just by watching and copying other sorcerers whereas Idris, who had been studying and practicing all her life, had barely even grasped a lot of it.

[b]"<Yeah, that's right,>"[/b] she said in respone to the girl's question about the spirit world [b]"Well, to be specific that's where they live when they're formed from a human's soul and...It's a bit hard to explain."[/b] She then remembered she was talking to a girl who had appeared out of nowhere claiming to be the herald of darkness [b]"My name's Idris,"[/b] she said in an effort to change the subject to a less confusing one [b]"My family's descended from the the guardians of the sacred court and other egyptian sorcerers so that's pretty much where I get it all from."[/b]

She paused for a moment to look around her, spotting several of the orichalcos servants moving close having spotted the duelhog.

[b]"We might want to get moving,"[/b] she suggested [b]"We have a base of operations...Sort of...So we should head there first. Anywhere's better than here anyway."[/b]

[Kingdom Xathers]

[color=#ff3333]"That's where our Champions come in,"[/color] Hermos replied. [color=#ff3333]"Gabriel and... "Yuri" is her name, correct? They we act as something like dousing rods. All they have to do is point in the direction where we can most strongly sense Timeaus' presense. Which is kinda why I had Gabriel violate Yuri's personal space,"[/color] he added. [color=#ff3333]"Only while they're in contact should they be able to function as such."[/color]

[color=#b22222]"Hermos,"[/color] Gabriel said to his Legendary Knight telepathically, [color=#b22222]"am I going to have to hurt you?"[/color]

[color=#ff3333]"... but, there's no way that you can possibly--"[/color]

[color=#b22222]"Oh, trust me, I'll find a way,"[/color] Gabriel replied, then said directly to Yuri, [color=#b22222]"It seems you and I will have to be their radar."[/color]


~~~~

[color=#ff0000]"Oh, lucky me,"[/color] Carla said in a bored tone. [color=#ff0000]"Listen, sweetie, not that I don't like you--that much--but I'd rather do this by myself, if you're okay with me not holding your hand."[/color] She gave a little stretch. [color=#ff0000]"Besides, if I'm going to be doing anything, I'd like to have a little catnap first; I've had enough excitement for one day."[/color] Not only that, but she was also waiting for a certain blue-eyed wrestler to accept her invitation... ... [color=#ff0000][i]oh great, why didn't I see that similarity before? God, I'm such a yutz, falling for the same trick I'm trying to pull....[/i][/color]


~~~~

[color=#000080]"So, you're just going to let him off?"[/color] Russell said as Arta walked past. [color=#000080]"I mean, you could've just as easily beat the lesson into his head... ugh, what I am saying?... that wouldn't be right."[/color]

[werewolfjedi]

[b]"this is all interesting with your blathering in some other language, but we NEED TO LEAVE! those copters are almost upon us, and I would rather not be shot tonight, so it's time to MOVE! "[/b]
Brian ran for the Duelhog with the turret, growling to himself about his ride being left behind, the cultist's duel disk shutting off when he tugged all the cards off it, as he ditched the stone half with it, and stuffed it into a deck pocket on his belt, as he moved to his spare mag, dropping the other out with the ejection button as he slammed the other in, taking shots at the cults, and now military soldiers, in his way, diving in through the door that opened for him.
[b]"why the hell are the military here! I thought we were just facing cultists!"[/b]
tossing his pack into a corner of the vehicle's rear area, he took a place in the gunner seat.
[b]"I"m pretty sure I'm the most qualified to fire this thing, considering I actually live in this world. why do I always get paired up with crazy chicks..."[/b]
Brian revved the barrels up, taking his aim at his ride. shutting his eyes as he blasted the front computer into swiss cheese.
[b]"I"m sorry, old friend..."[/b]

[Love of Ghibli]

Lucas was content with the strippers decision and it was logical had he not been slightly buzzed he would have congratulated her on making a wise choice. But Carla was also pretty much on to something with this whole sleep thing. The humans most likely needed to recharge after all of this activity and Lucas was remembering once again that he was old and it was nap time and if Consuela didn't clean up the mess after the earth then heads will roll, if her head was already rolling down the street some where already. If that was the case...then she was an honorable worker. Nevertheless the issue was solved and the team got four souls on their first day of being promoted. A nap should be well earned at this point.

[color=#ff8c00]Well since you made your decision and us humans are getting tired I think we should all take a small little ciesta for a minute and at least check on our respective homes. So I know Syria here can probably fly or something, but I will take the ladies home. Wherever that may be and hopefully its still something that could be called a home.[/color] Lucas looked around to see if any of the ladies would accept his offer.

[Merci]

Yuuto remained quiet at Arta's words, frowning. Then, "whatever."


--------------------------------------------


[color=brown]"Guardians of the sacred court, huh?"[/color]

For a moment, she recalled the battle she had against them. Having finally reached her limit, her ka fully materialized and she had attempted to kill the newly-made Pharaoh, son of King Akhenanden. Remembering, she took out her deck. Good. It was untouched from the third test, and all the cards were still in there. The Warthog suddenly took a sharp left and one of the cards came falling out, visible for a moment. It was a Red-Eyes B. Dragon.

She picked it up and put it into her deck again, before putting it away. She then turned to Brian.

[color=brown]"Yes! Annihilate them all!"[/color] She commanded him.

[Thranduil]

Arta paused next to Russell, their shoulders lining up exactly. Arta's tone was somber and yet understanding. [color=#008000]"Yeah, I am. It is true that I could have beat it into his skull but something tells me that if I had done that then he would have tried to prove himself again. Giving him the chance to figure things out for himself is better. Besides," [/color]Arta looked at Russell. [color=#008000]"I don't want to have the weight of letting a kid get caught up in a war on my mind."[/color] Arta continued his walk away from the crowed of people and went to lay down on the beds. [color=#008000]"Let's see what the kid chooses to do now."[/color] Arta whispered under his breath.

[TotalObelisk]

This time Idris really did have to slap her own forehead, though in this case it was because in all the 'excitement' she had completely forgotten why she'd come here in the first place.

[b]"Oh bugger, that's what I came here to tell you in the first place,"[/b] she muttered [b]"Or tell Protheus rather but...Well. Anyway I was in town and overheard this announcement about the military taking control of the city after the disaster, run by this guy named Castle."[/b]

[i][b]I told you he wasn't to be trusted[/b][/i]

[b]"Shut up!"[/b]

She cut off when she spotted the Red Eyes card in Pener's deck, a worried expression crossing her face for a moment before she looked away again to check on the approaching helicopters.

****

Syria gave Carla a confused look, the concept of sleep being completely alien to her, as far as she could tell organic beings could only go so long before they had to hibernate for a few hours in order to recover energy, the closest thing Syria did was merely shut her consciousness down when she was downloading information from an external source to make the process go faster.

[b]"I do not have a home,"[/b] she confessed, not sounding in the least bit bothered by this, and suddenly reminded of her conversation with the two wrestlers the previous night.

This wasn't stricly true, she did have the escape pod she'd arrived in but that was hardly in any condition to be used as shelter, possibly even more so after the earthquake.

[a bad post]

"Well then Syria you can come to my place, if you like, it might not very pretty after the earthquake, but it will do," Cynthia said feeling bad for the girl,"Lucas are you going to drive all of us home or do not qualify as a lady, if I do then I'll take you up on your offer," Cynthia said. She looked at the other three people sitting at the table Lucas, she wasn't sure what he was, pimp, pervert old man, sensible old man, no definitely not that last one, rich archaeologist, are those the aspects that made him up. Cynthia turned to Carla what was she prostitute, it was a good possibility, a broken hearted woman who fails at love every time, a cruel sadist, were any of them aspects that made up Carla, and Syria a mysterious girl not to say the least, probably the closest thing Cynthia had to a friend in this world, which really wasn't saying much, because Syria didn't enjoy her presence just allowed her to be in her company. Who were these people that stood before her?

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Lion Tamer spoke up from the speakers as they sped away from the university and onto the highway, Black Hawks in hot pursuit. "Castle is compromised out the wazoo. His superiors don't know it yet, but he's a member of the Orichalcos cult. He's also the one who led the attack on Duel Arcadia earlier today." Explosions went off around them as the missiles that were supposed to lock onto them hit other places in the road. "Luckily, Itsu made some modifications to the Duelhog, including a targeting disruptor. Our foes are getting a bunch of false positives. The likelihood of a direct hit is miniscule, but we should still fire back. I have One For The Money and Two For The Show a couple of minutes out from your current position. You just need to hold off the 6 Black Hawk helicopters until then."

Atsuko sobbed into Natsu's chest as Pandora arrived, and noticed the little girl. "Of course. A little sister of mine." She approached Atsuko and placed a hand next to Atsuko's wound and looked up at Natsu. "Comfort her while I mend her wound." Natsu blinked a couple times, coming out of her stupor. "Comfort her?" Pandora nodded. "Make her feel better. Stroke her hair. Be calm and let her know it's alright. Motherly things." Natsu sighed and tried, running her fingers through the girl's hair. "Umm...it's alright...it won't hurt much...just grin and bear it?" Pandora groaned as she concentrated, making sure whatever was hurting Atsuko wasn't still there, but was surprised as she used telekinesis to remove a shard of Orichalcos, causing Atsuko to scream in agony. "Curiouser and curiouser..." Pandora commented while Atsuko finally passed out again. Pandora resumed accelerating Atsuko's healing, the blood retreating back into her body as the entry wound stitched itself back together, leaving no scar. Pandora, now appearing rather tired, indicated for them to go inside, the exhausted psychic eventually leading them both to the back room after passing some other refugees. Pandora plopped back down on her couch as Natsu sat in a comfy Lay-Z-Boy, cradling Atsuko and still stroking Atsuko's red hair, amazed at how similar they looked.

Ringmistress watched as her compatriot dodged the military, but she focused her attention on the data she received. She would need to discuss this data with the group, as some of it was simply astounding. She had already sent copies of her data to several top scientists to confirm her results, hoping they would do the research as well before it is too late. She was also thinking on twinning herself yet again to make a more specialized AI for data mining and surveillance. Since her vehicle driver was "Lion Tamer", "Trapeze Artist" sounded fitting for someone with eyes in the sky.

The crystalline shard of Orichalcos sat there on the concrete, until it started to lengthen, generating segments, like a worm. Archetype had a new task for it, as the roots it had placed in Atsuko were too miniscule to make any difference. However, while flesh was hard to corrupt, stone and metal were not, and Archetype was fairly certain there was a certain mythril statue wherever Atsuko had been taken. The Orichalcos worm slithered inside and started its search for its new host...

[TotalObelisk]

Idris gave a start at the computerized voice suddenly speaking, sounding like the other AI, ringmistress, but this one was somehow different.

[b]"Oh yeah, hold off six heavily armed military helicopters,"[/b] Idris found herself rolling her eyes [b]"Piece of cake!"[/b]

She cast a wary eye at the black hawks currently chasing them and still detirmened to blow them to kingdom come.

[i][b]Idris![/b][/i]

[b]"Well, if you insist,"[/b] Idris muttered.

She reached into the case on the back of her belt that currently held her deck and took The Eye of Timaeus out, holding up in the air.

[b]"Arise, Timaeus!"[/b]

The card shone brightly for a brief moment until the great teal dragon materialized in the air, hovering just aboe the duelhog and glaring up at the helicoptors. A few of the missiles aimed at them struck his body but he was barely fazed by the attack. With a low growl he opened his jaws wide and let forth a stream of blue fire, striking one of the black hawks and forcing it to break away and land.

[b]"I'll bet that took them by surprise,"[/b] Idris muttered.

****

Syria looked up at Cynthia with a puzzled expression on her face, tilting her head to one side slightly. She was simply pointing out a fact and wasn't expecing anyone to offer her shelter.

[b]"I do not require rest as you do, I will be perfectly fine without any need for shelter,"[/b] she explained simply [b]"But your offer is...appreciated."[/b]

[werewolfjedi]

[b]"real monsters, military cultists, why did I listen to my father's letter, I've got finals in a week dammit!"[/b]
Brian just roared anger as he took his frustration and rage out at the copters, raining fire at them in arcs, forcing them to swerve back and forth as he launched burst after burst, keeping it from overheating as best he could, as he grinned, the car losing them more and more as they took turn after turn around the buildings, almost losing them once even, but the pilots had them marked, they couldn't escape, even with the active scrambler keeping the rockets from taking them out. he finally nicked one in the rear section fuel spraying out with some fire, watching it land to repair.
[b]"anyone got anymore tricks, I'm not some superhero ya know!"[/b]

[Kingdom Xathers]

Suddenly, a disturbance could be felt in the force: Timeaus, in his Dragon form, had made his appearance somewhere. The instant this had occurred, Hermos and Critias felt him immediately.

[color=#ff3333]"I sense him!"[/color] Hermos gasped exasperatedly. He, as well as Gabriel whom he was accidentally puppeteering, pointed in the direction that Timeaus' presence was felt. [color=#ff3333]"He's over there, coming from what looks like a college campus. He and his champion... and two others... they're being chased by military copters. But why?"[/color]

[color=#b22222]"Whoa-whoa-whoa! Wait a second!"[/color] Gabriel blurted out. [color=#b22222]"First off, how do you know so much about modern society? I know it's not just from observing our world."[/color]

[color=#ff3333]"Gabriel, I would love nothing more than explain to you this,"[/color] Hermos replied, [color=#ff3333]"but right now, they're in danger, and I doubt they'll be able to hold them off even with Timeaus' assistance!"[/color]

[color=#b22222]"... what have you told me about doubts, Hermos?"[/color] Gabriel said, presenting Hermos with an ironic echo.

Hermos couldn't help but to give a slight chuckle at Gabe's comment. [color=#ff3333]"Well played, Brave One."[/color]

[color=#b22222]"So, what are we to do?"[/color] Gabriel asked the Knight.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

[color=#008080]"I'll tell you what we must [i]do[/i], champion of Hermos,"[/color][color=#000000] Critias sparked with a fire in his eyes, [/color][color=#008080]"We save Timeaus from those curs that would threaten his life!"[/color]

[color=#4b0082][i]'You couldn't have said that any [b]better[/b], Critias!'[/i][/color][color=#000000] Yuri drew and shot a card straight up in the air, [/color][color=#4B0082]"Come forth, The Fang of Critias!"[/color]

[color="#000000"]With that, a magnificent navy blue dragon arose from the card, roaring proudly and defiantly. Yuri hopped on immediately, still wearing the armor that she was wearing during her attempted stealth take-back of Duel Arcadia, but only wielding [i]one[/i] of her two swords this time.[/color]

[color=#4b0082]"Now have at thee!"[/color][color="#000000"] After Yuri had said this, Critias took off and soared right underneath one of the military copters. From there, Yuri swung the sword with all her might, completely dissecting off the copter's tail, before Critias took initiative and flew out of the way. Next, Yuri charged forward up Critias' back and lunged forward for the next copter, aiming to pierce through the door and impale the pilot's skull. Of course, the copter could easily dodge the attack and send Yuri plummeting to her death.[/color]

[Love of Ghibli]

[i][color=#ff8c00]Well of course you don't count as people stripper[/color][/i]. Lucas thought but that would be unnecessarily cruel to turn her down like that and its not like she could do any harm. However sense Syria did not have a home or require rest she clearly could just exist in some time or space. This would not do. Teammates will not be left out to dry simply because they are able to...well Cythia maybe, since she may have become a traitor and all. [color=#ff8c00]Well good, sense you do not need rest you can come to my place and help me categorize the artifacts in this bag.[/color] Lucas phrased that statement making sure it wasn't perceived as question. There was no room to say no, this was happening. Hmm I feel like a rapist for some reason he thought while nursing his fifth scotch. The only person left to say anything was Carla but does she really have the resources to turn down a free ride?

[color=#ff8c00]Well lets all get going then I'm sure we have lot of homes to make sure aren't destroyed so I say we hop to it. Though if what you say about a descendant of the king of games is true then I do hope to meet this fellow someday[/color] Lucas said with a very slight chuckle. [color=#ff8c00]Wonder what his personality would be like growing up in the shadow of such a figure.[/color] He stood up and made his way towards the door and he held the door open like a perfect gentleman waiting for the ladies. Of course the meal was free because he is one of the initial founders of this place.

[Merci]

[color=brown]"I can sense two powerful ka coming our way."[/color] Pener muttered.

To her this was not a good thing, although unbeknownst to her they were on her side and of the forces of good, although unbeknownst to her, they were coming to aid them. Besides, if she ever wanted to conquer this world, she would have to take a more active role in current events. Standing up inside the vehicle, she took out a card.

[color=brown]"Red-Eyes Black Dragon, come forth!"[/color] She declared, and at the moment a well-known creature materialized.

As soon as it did, a rocket managed to dodge Timaeus and hit it, and then it was obvious that this dragon was a whole lot weaker than a Legendary Dragon. Smoke covered it, but Pener remained calm. [i][color=brown]Now, burst evolve.[/color][/i] When the smoke cleared, in the dragon's place was a more metallic looking and upgraded version of it, [i]Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon.[/i]

And unlike the calm and wise ancient legendary dragons, the darkness metal dragon was violent, tearing at the remaining Black Hawks ferociously. The poor pilots might've been terrified, especially since it was obvious the evil dragon was most definitely NOT going to spare them.

Roaring, it attacked the flying machinery, crunching all the pilots in its jaws, regardless of whether they tried to stay inside or jump out.

---------------------------


Yuuto had returned to base, and was now mulling over what that Arta guy had said. [i]Rethink my options here, huh?[/i] He thought to himself. [i]I lack the confidence? Me, the grandson of Yugi Mutou? How can I lack the confidence? This deck is one of a kind, the very same deck he used, the very same deck he had used to become the king of games...[/i]

He then noticed a spiderlike piece of Orichalcum slither across the ground by his feet.

[color=green][i]You need to learn to stand on your own two feet before you go and say you can challenge a member of the Orichalcos cult.[/color][/i]

Curious, he followed it.

[Kingdom Xathers]

[color=#b22222]"... well of course,"[/color] Gabriel uttered to himself as he watched Yuri take off on Critias' back, [color=#b22222]"but what I meant was "how". I mean, I'm just... a regular human being...."[/color]

[color=#ff3333]"Unfortunately, we've no time to spare,"[/color] Hermos urgently declared. [color=#ff3333]"Just follow Yuri's lead, and I'll guide you through the rest."[/color]

[color=#b22222]"Very well...."[/color] Gabriel drew the top card of his Deck, then tossed it into the air. [color=#b22222]"I call thee, Claw of Hermos!"[/color]

At his declaration, a scarlet, horned dragon with jagged scales burst into the sky, bellowing its roar to the heavens. Gabriel looked on in awe of Hermos' dragon form. [color=#b22222]"I... did this?"[/color]

[color=#ff3333]"No time for gawking, Gabriel,"[/color] Hermos' voice resonated from within the luchador's head. [color=#ff3333]"Grab onto my leg and hold on tight."[/color] Complying, Gabriel hopped on as Hermos sped off after Critias and Yuri, just as Russell came running in, having only caught a glimpse of what had happened.


In almost no time at all, Hermos and Gabriel had caught up to Critias, the luchador watching on as Yuri performed acrobatic feats one would only see in action movies.

[color=#ff3333]"Gabriel!"[/color] Hermos called out frantically, bringing the luchador's attention to two missiles headed their way. Thankfully, due to Lion Tamer's program scrambling the missiles' targeting functions, the missiles had missed Hermos by many yards. [color=#ff3333]"Please, Gabriel, I need you to focus!"[/color]

[color=#b22222]"Well, pardon my french, Hermos,"[/color] Gabriel cried out over the winds and explosions, [color=#b22222]"but what the almost-literal flying f**k am I supposed to do?!"[/color] At this point, Gabriel noticed that Yuri was making a rather suicidal move in an attempt to take down one of the helicopters. [color=#b22222]"Hold that thought; just fly us under that copter, and hurry!"[/color] At this, Hermos soared toward the general direction of where Yuri had made her leap, hoping that in the event that she would miss her mark, Gabriel and Hermos would be able to catch her before she could fall to her death.


~~~~~


Carla was almost tempted to mouth off at Lucas, mainly to tease him about making such a "pedo-move" on Cynthia and Syria, but she found that she was a bit too tired and buzzed to make the attempt. [color=#ff0000]"Sure, old man, I'll hitch a ride with you,"[/color] Carla mumbled, heading for the door that Lucas had so graciously held open for them. [color=#ff0000]"Hopefully, my landlord got crushed by falling debris, so I don't have to pay his lard-@$$ anymore...."[/color]