Chapter 25: Vow
The epic duel between Jaden and Jane had just ended. The audience members had begun to file out of the stadium to stretch their legs and perhaps take a restroom break if they needed it. Meanwhile, Jane was taking a wounded Tomoyo to Miator’s infirmary. Tomoyo did not seem too badly hurt, but Jane didn’t want to take any chances. But just as the two were about to leave the stadium, Tamao, Mika, and Hiyori showed up.
“You two have proven to be quite a disappointment.” Tamao commented as she raised her right hand. The stone of her Orichalcos ring glowed, and in a flash of green light the cards for Wraith King of the North and Swift Goblin of the South, along with the two Orichalcos Ritual Spell cards, appeared in Tamao’s hand. “Your usefulness to me has ended. Consider yourselves off the student council.”
Suddenly, four large muscular demons with dark-blue skin wearing thick armor appeared in front of Jane and Tomoyo.
“Destroy them my Orichalcos Soldiers.” Tamao commanded, startling both Mika and Hiyori.
Just as one of the demon soldiers was about to lunge at Jane and Tomoyo, Neos appeared and delivered a devastating punch to its jaw. The fallen demon shattered as if it were a Duel Monster. Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos then appeared in their dragon forms and roasted the other three demons with their fiery breath.
“Leave them alone Tamao!” Jaden shouted as he walked up to the group with his Yubel eyes glowing brightly.
“Interfering again, eh Jaden?” Tamao commented with an amused expression. “Well it doesn’t matter. I’m very close to resurrecting The Great Leviathan, so either way Jane and Tomoyo will be destroyed in the end. Mika, Hiyori, let’s go.”
With that, Tamao turned to leave, but Mika and Hiyori stayed behind for a moment.
“Uh Lady Tamao, don’t you think that trying to kill Jane and Tomoyo is going a little too far?” Mika suddenly asked.
“I’m surprised to hear something like that from you Mika.” Tamao said after stopping in her tracks. “Could it be that you’ve gotten soft?”
“…Killing Jane and Tomoyo does seem a little extreme Lady Tamao.” Hoyori commented.
“I see, it seems that you have softened as well Hiyori.” Tamao observed. She raised her right hand, and in a flash of green light the cards for Wicked Tree of the East and Dark Orc of the West appeared in that hand, as did the corresponding copies of the Orichalos Ritual Spells. “Your usefulness to me has also ended.”
With that, Tamao walked off to the stadium waiting room. Jaden then turned his attention back to Jane and Tomoyo.
“C’mon, let’s get you two to the infirmary.” Jaden said to the two girls.
* * *
A few minutes later, Jaden, Jane, and Tomoyo arrived at the Miator infirmary. Mika and Hiyori went with them, as did Jaden’s usual entourage minus Striker. The doctor had examined Tomoyo and found that she had only a few cracked ribs. But it was decided that Tomoyo stay for a few hours to make sure that her injuries weren’t more serious. Jane decided to stay with her, and Jaden and the others decided to hang around there for a while as well.
“Um, thank you for saving us.” Jane said to Jaden. “Though I can’t understand why you did. You had every reason to sit back and watch Tamao destroy us.”
“You were only being used by Tamao, and I’m not the type to just stand by and watch someone get killed.” Jaden told her. “And right now all I’m worried about is stopping Tamao.”
“If you want to do that, there might be a way.” Mika cut in. “She needs The Great Leviathan for her plan to work, so if you get rid of that she’s finished.”
“And how do you suggest we get rid of this Leviathan thing?” Shion asked.
“The last fragment of The Great Leviathan is being kept in a device in the Miator Student Council room.” Hiyori answered somewhat hesitantly. “In theory if you destroy the fragment you should destroy the Leviathan once and for all.”
“Then let’s go take care of it then.” Yaya declared.
Suddenly a monitor in the wall by Tomoyo’s bed flipped on, showing footage from the Miator stadium. It was clear that the duel between Tamao and Striker was about to begin.
“Guys… you go on and take care of the fragment.” Jaden said to the group. “I have to go to the stadium and watch Striker’s duel.”
“We understand J.” Jessie told him as he gave him a supportive pat on the shoulder. “I’ll take care of the Leviathan.”
“Yaya and I will help Jessie.” Tsubomi chimed in.
“Shion and I can stay with Jane and Tomoyo.” Chikaru added. “You just go worry about Striker.”
“Thanks guys.” Jaden said to the group before heading out the door.
“Hiyori and I will lead the way to the student council room.” Mika said to Jessie.
“Fine by me.” Jessie agreed.
* * *
Meanwhile at the stadium, Tamao and Striker had already gotten on stage. Jaden ran onto the stadium floor before any of the action had started.
“By the decision of the coin toss, Tamao will go first.” Amane announced. “Let the duel… begin!”
With that, the life points of both duelists were set to 4000 and Tamao drew her first card. Meanwhile Hikari and Amane quickly got off the stage in case Tamao played The Seal of Orichalcos.
“First I summon Maiden of Macabre in Attack Mode!” Tamao announced. A blue-skinned woman with an ornate hairstyle wearing a kimono and carrying a scythe appeared on the field. “Next I set one card and end my turn!”
“One way or another I’m taking you down!” Striker declared as he drew his first card.
“My, you seem a bit angry.” Tamao commented. “Did I do something to upset you?”
“You took out Clive’s soul and left his body as a piece of meat!” Striker angrily stated.
“Oh that’s right, my last opponent was friend of yours.” Tamao realized. “I’m terribly sorry things happened like that, but it’s just how things worked out. But don’t worry, you’ll be joining your friend soon enough.”
“Like hell!” Striker declared. “For my first move I play the Field Spell, Gaia Power!”
The area around the battlefield transformed into a lush green forest with trees tall enough to block out the sun.
“From what I could tell from your duel with Clive, you need that weird Field Spell of yours for your strategy, so I’m going to stop you from playing it by activating Field Barrier!” Striker announced. “This card prevents a Field Spell from being destroyed or replaced by another Field Spell!”
“How pathetic, I activate my Trap, Orichalcos Jamming Spell!” Tamao announced. “By discarding one card, I negate the activation of your Field Barrier and activate The Seal of Orichalcos from my deck!”
With a sudden gust of wind, the forest surrounding the battlefield disappeared and was replaced by The Seal of Orichalcos. Tamao’s eyes started glowing bright green. At the same time, the Maiden of Macabre’s eyes began glowing red, and a smaller version of the seal appeared on her forehead.
“I really must thank you for that last move.” Tamao said with an innocent smile. “It turned out that the seal was buried deep at the bottom of my deck, so playing that card actually really helped me.”
“I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior in Defense Mode and end my turn!” Striker announced in an annoyed tone.
Appearing on the field in a crouched position was a pink robotic looking monster with large wings and an S on his chest.
“Striker is playing pretty recklessly.” Yubel commented as she appeared next to Jaden on the sidelines. “He’s usually more laidback.”
“He’s angry at Tamao for what happened to Clive.” Jaden pointed out.
“Yes, and Tamao is doing a good job of egging him on.” Yubel agreed. “If Striker keeps dueling the way he is now, he’ll lose in a big way.”
* * *
Meanwhile, Mika and Hiyori were leading Jessie, Yaya, and Tsubomi to the student council room.
“So why are you two helping us now?” Yaya asked the two former members of the Four Witches.
“Look, after Hoyori and I lost to your friends, we’ve kinda been rethinking a few things.” Mika answered bluntly. “Besides, Tamao trying to kill Jane and Tomoyo really crossed a line.”
“You didn’t seem real bothered by the fact that Tamao was planning to destroy the world.” Tsubomi pointed out.
“Yeah well… we didn’t think that part out too much I guess.” Mika replied.
“It seems than neither Mika or myself fully grasped the reality of what it would take for Lady Tamao to achieve her goals.” Hiyori cut in. “We were all blinded by the promise of the utopia she was planning to create.”
At last the five had reached the doorway to the student council room. Within moments they had entered the room itself, but right away something troubled both Mika and Hiyori.
“What’s wrong?” Jessie asked after seeing the duo’s worried expressions.
“It’s gone!” Mika exclaimed. “The tank with the fragment is gone! Tamao must’ve moved it.”
“The thing’s small enough to be moved?” Yaya asked.
“It was built to be small enough to be transferred to another location in case of discovery.” Hiyori explained. “Lady Tamao must’ve moved it before after she expelled us from the council.”
“Okay, so where could she have moved it to?” Jessie asked.
“It could be anywhere.” Hiyori answered. “And at this point trying to find the tank would be a useless effort. If my calculations are correct, Lady Tamao will soon be able to resurrect the Leviathan after she takes the soul of her current opponent in the tournament. So unless she loses, the world may be doomed.”
* * *
Back in the duel, Tamao had already drawn her next card.
“First I activate Pot of Greed and draw two more cards!” Tamao announced. “Then I summon Orichalcos Mage in Attack Mode!”
Appearing on the field was a short hooded wizard in green robes and blue armor. His face was impossible to see, but his eyes flashed bright red as soon as he appeared.
“My Orichalcos Mage gains 500 ATK for each Spell card in my Graveyard.” Tamao explained. “Right now there are two, Mage Power, which I discarded to activate Orichalcos Jamming Spell, and Pot of Greed. Both these cards give my mage 1000 extra ATK points. That combined with the 500-point boost from the seal means that the ATK of my mage is 2300. Now then Maiden of Macabre, destroy Gamma with Reaper Scythe!”
The blue-skinned maiden charged forward and slashed Gamma in two with her scythe. Striker was left wide open.
“Orichalcos Mage, attack Striker directly!” Tamao commanded. “Dark Seal Spell!”
Green lightning shot up from the seal into the orb on the mage’s staff, and the mage fired that energy at Striker. The attack knocked Striker against the invisible wall of the seal and reduced his life points to 1700.
“I’ll set one card on the field and end my turn.” Tamao announced. Striker got back to his feet and drew his next card.
“You can summon all the powerhouse monsters you want, I’ll still beat you!” Striker declared.
“And what do you hope to accomplish by beating me?” Tamao asked.
“If I win, there’s a chance that Clive’s soul will be set free.” Striker explained.
“Oh, I see.” Tamao chuckled. “You silly boy, defeating me will only ensure that your friend’s soul is trapped forever.”
“What do you mean?” Striker demanded.
“The Seal of Orichalcos traps the soul of whoever loses the duel, and I am no exception.” Tamao told him. “Meaning if you win, my soul will be trapped, and I’m the only one who can free your friend.”
“You’re lying!” Striker shouted. “You’re just saying that to try and make me forfeit!”
“Believe what you want.” Tamao told him. “In the end I don’t think it will matter.”
“I discard one card and activate Lightning Vortex!” Striker angrily announced. “This destroys all of the monsters on your side of the field!”
Several lightning bolts spiraled down from above and obliterated both of Tamao’s monsters. It seemed that Tamao was left wide open.
“Now I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior!” Striker announced. Appearing on the field was a yellow robotic warrior with the halves of a horseshoe magnet for horns. “Beta, attack Tamao directly!”
“I activate my Trap, Magic Cylinder!” Tamao announced. “This redirects Beta’s attack right back at you!”
Two large purple tubes suddenly appeared in front of Tamao. Beta entered the tube on the left and emerged from the tube on the right, causing him to charge at Striker. Beta’s attack hit and reduced Striker’s life points to zero. The seal then began to shrink around Striker, and when it had gotten small enough a pillar of green light shot into the air. Striker’s soulless husk fell to the ground face first. Amane reluctantly declared Tamao the winner. Jaden meanwhile ran up on stage to check on Striker, but it was obvious that there was nothing he could do. He then turned to glare at Tamao.
“See you in the final match.” Tamao said before walking off stage.
* * *
A bit later, Striker was taken to the Miator infirmary, but of course there was nothing the doctors could do for him. Jaden was left alone with Striker after Jessie had informed him about Tamao moving the fragment of the Leveiathan. All Jaden could think about was all the havoc Tamao and the Orichacos had brought to the island, and he knew he needed to put a stop to it. He then picked up Striker’s deck and took out a card, placing that card in his own deck.
“I swear to you Striker, I will stop Tamao!” Jaden declared to Striker’s soulless body. “And then I’ll find a way to free you, Clive, and anyone else Tamao may have captured!”
With that, Jaden headed out to prepare for the final duel.
* * *
Meanwhile, Tamao returned to her room where she was holding the device containing the Leviathan fragment. She held up The Seal of Orichalcos card, which contained Striker’s soul. A light flew from the card to a panel on the top part of the device, leaving the seal once again bare. Meanwhile Striker’s picture became engraved in the panel. After that, Tamao took the four Orichalcos Ritual monsters and their Ritual Spells from her pocket and presented them to the device.
“Now Great Leviathan, take these four creatures created by darkness and use their energy to make yourself whole!” Tamao said to the device.
The eight cards suddenly burst into black flames, which went into the device. The fragment of the Leviathan began to glow bright green, and the glass container it was in suddenly shattered with a brilliant flash. When the light cleared, a card depicting a mechanical-looking sea serpent hovered within the broken device. Tamao reached out and took the card.
“At last, The Great Leviathan has been revived.” Tamao said to herself. “First I will use it to destroy Jaden Yuki, and then I will finally destroy this unfair world!”
