November 22nd part 2
If anything Medan was worryingly calm about the events that had transpired between his battle with ‘Responsibilities of Friendship’ and his Resummoning.
“So you’re telling me that the prisoners escaped with the help of a Marie the Fallen One and a Dark Necrofear and you activated the Level Limit spell in order to protect the camp?” He asked with an air of calm that seemed worrying when you compared it to his usual ranting and raving when things went spectacularly wrong.
“That’s right...”
“Did you ever think that the suppression spell might affect anyone you sent after them?” Medan snarled, having thought that his men were smarter than this and incredibly annoyed that Mahado had now had a chance to see the spell in action and would find a way to counter it. Not only that but it had now been over twenty four hours since his messenger had reached the palace and he had been unable to follow through with his threat since little Yugi had managed to get him to Resummon after his moment of stupidity.
“We haven’t found them yet, my Lord.” The fiend snivelled, “We’ve searched locally...”
Medan twitched. If, as he’d been informed, the small group had travelled via shadows, they could have gone a great distance in a very short amount of time. It was even possible that they had reached the palace by now and it was too late. Medan had, after all, lucked out when it had come to capturing the blasted vessel and his friend as he hadn’t known that the vessel held his card and he didn’t know the paths to the human world like Mahado or some of the other Duel Monsters.
He would, if he managed to get his hands on Yugi again, thank him for summoning him through to the human world, even if he had done it accidently, before he tore the runt limb from limb for the murder of his friend and causing Soraya’s betrayal.
That’s if the vessel hadn’t become a Duel Monster yet. If he had he had other plans for the boy. The spell required the sacrifice of a Light Spellcaster after all and the Mystical Elf that they had captured in order to provide a healer for the compound hadn’t been strong enough or of a high enough level to be suitable.
Whereas Yugi’s Ka Beast, who was easily strong enough to take him down, was and Medan was certain he could manipulate the creature into being the other sacrifice with the right leverage.
And he knew where he could get the right leverage. The Pharaoh was, after all, still wondering around in the Monster World, and there was the vessel’s friend that he could use to manipulate Responsibilities of Friendship.
And he had an advantage over his troops and Mahado if the pair hadn’t reached the palace yet. One of the first things he had done when he’d first brought the pair through to this world was cast a spell that would allow him to track them if they ever managed to get out of the cell.
Not that he’d expected them to escape, but he had been prepared for the eventuality, as he had been warned several times over that events around Yugi tended to work out in the boy’s favour unless he was watched at all times.
He dismissed the reporting fiend and stalked down the corridor towards the map room, where the map linked to the locating spells he had in play rested. He was followed by Lucian, the Vanity’s Fiend that had Resummoned just a few hours in front of him.
“I thought you’d want to see this, my Lord.” Lucian told him as they entered the room, where the map of the Dark Kingdom had several names moving around on it and the two wands that Medan had taken from Yugi and Harry on top of it.
Medan examined the map carefully, looking, as always, for Soraya’s name first.
She had betrayed him to Mahado, it was true, but she had done it because he had frightened her, because something he had said or done had caused her to choose the blasted vessel for the Pharaoh over him.
Julius had been their friend before they had become what they were now. It had been with great amusement that Medan and Julius had found themselves to be the same monster considering that people had forever been mistaking one for the other in both looks and personality, though they hadn’t been related in any physical sense of the word and Soraya, who had been learning magic from both of them had been engaged to Julius.
He had been relying on her relationship with his old friend to keep her loyal, while he found a way to bring him back and a way to prevent anyone else getting killed by the Reaper.
He wanted Soraya back at his side, he didn’t work as well without her, but that wasn’t going to happen while he was weaker than Mahado. Nor while the vessel held her card.
Of course in order to talk to her he had to get her to leave the palace, but he hadn’t worked that one out yet, as she’d been very cautious about being seen around anyone who had even the remotest ties to her former Master.
Moving away from Soraya’s name, which was in the same place as Mana’s, little surprise there, he scanned the map for the other names, spotting Mahado’s moving southward, towards the palace and swearing when he realised that Yugi and Harry were moving south east and, if nothing interfered, would intercept Mahado in less than quarter of an hour.
“What are your orders, my Lord?” Lucian asked, watching the red Dark Magician making plans and striding down the corridor towards his troops.
“We go and recapture Mutou and his friend.” Medan stated as if it was obvious, which to be fair it should have been, before taking down the suppression spell and examining what was left of his forces, “Before they reach Mahado. If they get to him it’s all over.”
It didn’t take more than five minutes to pull together a team, it took another three to get the correct co-ordinates for the teleport, and less than five seconds for a Swordstalker to take them through the Shadows to the location of the Pharaoh of Light and the heir.
The instant they arrived they were under attack. He had expected the pair to get the help of someone powerful, especially if they had someone helping them who knew the world around them like Marie did and this Sunset Magician, who Medan had never had a run in with before, was strong. Strong enough to give Medan pause.
The red Dark Magician watched as his forces all attempted to attack the three only for their attacks to be drawn towards Yugi. The young man threw up a shield of light that blocked the attacks from reaching him as the Sunset Magician launched an attack that blew away the pair of the Whiptail Crows that Medan had brought with him.
“So...” Medan and the Sunset Magician circled each other, glowering, “Who are you?”
“My name’s Yue.” The Sunset Magician stated as Boh, the Kuriboh that was Yugi’s partner monster darted behind his Duellist, “And you’re not taking Yugi and Harry.”
Medan snorted, launching an attack on the other Spellcaster, only for the attack to be drawn, once again to Yugi, whose shield stopped it.
“What?” Harry yelped, not sorry that he wasn’t getting hit, but completely confused.
Yugi shoved his friend away from him, “Run.” The heir told him, finding maintaining his shield and concentrating on his friend at the same time difficult.
“Yugi...?”
“You’re too late!” Medan crowed at Yue, having realised what was going on with their attacks. “His effect has already kicked in!” He didn’t waste another move attempting to attack Yue, instead he cast Thousand Knives, which didn’t swerve off like the previous attempts to destroy the Sunset Magician, and, instead struck home, causing Yue to shatter into pieces and vanish.
“Now,” Medan turned to look at the two semi-humans and noted with some amusement that Yugi shoved his friend behind him, as if he expected to be able to defend the pair of them from all four of Medan’s fiends along with the Dark Magician himself, “I suggest you surrender.”
Yugi smirked, a look that was foreign on Yugi’s face as it was normally Yami’s trick, “You’re forgetting something Medan.” He said, holding his hand out for the Millennium Puzzle, which Harry passed to him semi-willingly, worried about what Yugi was about to do.
“Oh?” The red Dark Magician asked, pretending to be unconcerned.
“This time, I have the Puzzle.”
He didn’t get a chance to challenge his opponents to a game as one of Medan’s fiends swept past Harry and struck Yugi from behind, knocking the Prince flat on his face. In milliseconds Medan had seized Harry, and, keeping him between himself and Yugi, he watched as the heir got to his feet. “You may have the Puzzle, but I have...”
Medan didn’t get to finish his statement as someone attacked him from behind, causing him to drop Harry.
“Wolf!” Harry grinned, delighted as the huge Gold Winged Wolf and his pack bounded onto the scene.
I suggest you leave. Wolf snarled at Medan who was picking himself up and contemplating his options.
The sound of the attacks exploding on Yugi’s shield had to have attracted the pack and if they had heard the fighting, it was likely that Mahado would have done so. He was running out of time.
“Medan!” Yugi growled, his tone far too reminiscent of Atem’s for Harry to be comfortable, “You’re fighting me, not Harry, leave him out of it!”
“I have no choice but to fight you!” Medan sniggered, looking him over. “It appears that Responsibilities is an effect monster that forces others to target you before they can attack anyone else.”
Confusion crossed Yugi’s face momentarily at the word ‘Responsibilities’, then Yugi shifted into a rough defensive stance.
Medan was faster, launching an attack that honed in, unerringly, on Yugi. The heir responded by calling on the Puzzle which, for some strange reason, responded slowly, drawing the Shadows in far too slowly, and with no defence in place, the Medan’s blast obliterated Boh and sent Yugi flying, causing the heir to crash into a tree.
The Shadows dispersed.
“Yugi! Harry!”
Medan snarled at Mahado’s voice, which sounded like it was moving closer and closer, firing off a second attack as Yugi struggled to his feet.
Harry darted in the way but Wolf pulled him down, out of the path of the blast, allowing the attack to explode just in front of Yugi, sending him crashing into the tree before crumpling among the roots, unconscious.
“Yugi!” Harry scrambled to his feet as Medan strode past, picking up Yugi’s limp form by the collar and took the Puzzle off of the unconscious heir, tossing it aside. “Leave him alone!”
Mahado reached them as the Swordstalker threw off the wolves attacking him and got to Medan’s side.
“Medan!” The first Dark Magician snarled, pointing his staff at the other Dark Magician. “Let him go.”
“No.” On that eloquent speech Medan, the Swordstalker and Yugi all vanished.
Harry, fuming, wheeled on Wolf, who almost looked like he had expected it. “Why did you stop me? Yugi could have beaten him if I’d taken the attack!”
“If Wolf had allowed you to take the hit,” Mahado said slowly, trying to trace the teleportation, sensing shadows and looking around at his troops, trying to work out if anyone there could move through the shadows, “You’d’ve have Resummoned.”
“What?” Harry asked, scowling as he collected the Puzzle, checking none of the pieces had jarred out before putting it on.
“I’m sending you home.” Mahado said, scowling himself, having realised that he didn’t have anyone to send after them. “You’ve been here too long and if you’re destroyed in battle, you’ll Resummon, as your Ka beast, and be stuck here.”
“But Yugi...!”
“I’ll find him.” Mahado promised Harry, just as he’d promised Atem. “Don’t make me knock you out too.”
“So that’s what happened to Yami.” Harry’s eyes widened, relief crossing his features. A slow smile formed, “I suppose, if you can best Atem I don’t stand a chance.”
Mahado watched Harry carefully, well aware of how loyal this group of friends was and how difficult it was to get them to leave anyone behind. “I swear I’ll find him, but you have to go back now. Yugi won’t go home if his friends can’t.”
Harry considered Mahado carefully, “I don’t want to leave. Yugi’s half convinced something’s happened to Yami. If I disappear too, he’s going to think Medan killed me.”
“You have to.” Mahado said, looking at Wolf, who nodded and pressed into Harry’s side, “I’ll come through the moment I have news.”
“But...”
Harry didn’t get to finish his protest as Wolf sank his teeth into the leg of Harry’s trousers and dragged his Duellist back to the real world.
One down. Mahado thought with a scowl, wondering how he was going to find Yugi again considering that it had been sheer dumb luck he’d found them on the way back to the palace at all.
“Lord Mahado?” One of the Skilled Dark Magicians asked, wondering if they should stay or move on.
Mahado scowled. If he left, he’d lose the sense of the path that the Swordstalker had taken, but if he stayed he couldn’t get anyone who could follow the path to help.
There were a few who lived in the palace who would be able to help, but Mahado knew who he wanted and who he could trust with such a sensitive mission.
“Go to the palace.” Mahado told them, “And get Hailey and Bailey, the Double Costan pair that’s been hanging around the palace. They’ll be able to follow the path.”
“Yes, my Lord.” The Skilled Dark Magician took off. They weren’t that far from the palace now he could be there and back in a couple of hours.
Hold on Yugi. Just a little bit longer.
“So you’re telling me that the prisoners escaped with the help of a Marie the Fallen One and a Dark Necrofear and you activated the Level Limit spell in order to protect the camp?” He asked with an air of calm that seemed worrying when you compared it to his usual ranting and raving when things went spectacularly wrong.
“That’s right...”
“Did you ever think that the suppression spell might affect anyone you sent after them?” Medan snarled, having thought that his men were smarter than this and incredibly annoyed that Mahado had now had a chance to see the spell in action and would find a way to counter it. Not only that but it had now been over twenty four hours since his messenger had reached the palace and he had been unable to follow through with his threat since little Yugi had managed to get him to Resummon after his moment of stupidity.
“We haven’t found them yet, my Lord.” The fiend snivelled, “We’ve searched locally...”
Medan twitched. If, as he’d been informed, the small group had travelled via shadows, they could have gone a great distance in a very short amount of time. It was even possible that they had reached the palace by now and it was too late. Medan had, after all, lucked out when it had come to capturing the blasted vessel and his friend as he hadn’t known that the vessel held his card and he didn’t know the paths to the human world like Mahado or some of the other Duel Monsters.
He would, if he managed to get his hands on Yugi again, thank him for summoning him through to the human world, even if he had done it accidently, before he tore the runt limb from limb for the murder of his friend and causing Soraya’s betrayal.
That’s if the vessel hadn’t become a Duel Monster yet. If he had he had other plans for the boy. The spell required the sacrifice of a Light Spellcaster after all and the Mystical Elf that they had captured in order to provide a healer for the compound hadn’t been strong enough or of a high enough level to be suitable.
Whereas Yugi’s Ka Beast, who was easily strong enough to take him down, was and Medan was certain he could manipulate the creature into being the other sacrifice with the right leverage.
And he knew where he could get the right leverage. The Pharaoh was, after all, still wondering around in the Monster World, and there was the vessel’s friend that he could use to manipulate Responsibilities of Friendship.
And he had an advantage over his troops and Mahado if the pair hadn’t reached the palace yet. One of the first things he had done when he’d first brought the pair through to this world was cast a spell that would allow him to track them if they ever managed to get out of the cell.
Not that he’d expected them to escape, but he had been prepared for the eventuality, as he had been warned several times over that events around Yugi tended to work out in the boy’s favour unless he was watched at all times.
He dismissed the reporting fiend and stalked down the corridor towards the map room, where the map linked to the locating spells he had in play rested. He was followed by Lucian, the Vanity’s Fiend that had Resummoned just a few hours in front of him.
“I thought you’d want to see this, my Lord.” Lucian told him as they entered the room, where the map of the Dark Kingdom had several names moving around on it and the two wands that Medan had taken from Yugi and Harry on top of it.
Medan examined the map carefully, looking, as always, for Soraya’s name first.
She had betrayed him to Mahado, it was true, but she had done it because he had frightened her, because something he had said or done had caused her to choose the blasted vessel for the Pharaoh over him.
Julius had been their friend before they had become what they were now. It had been with great amusement that Medan and Julius had found themselves to be the same monster considering that people had forever been mistaking one for the other in both looks and personality, though they hadn’t been related in any physical sense of the word and Soraya, who had been learning magic from both of them had been engaged to Julius.
He had been relying on her relationship with his old friend to keep her loyal, while he found a way to bring him back and a way to prevent anyone else getting killed by the Reaper.
He wanted Soraya back at his side, he didn’t work as well without her, but that wasn’t going to happen while he was weaker than Mahado. Nor while the vessel held her card.
Of course in order to talk to her he had to get her to leave the palace, but he hadn’t worked that one out yet, as she’d been very cautious about being seen around anyone who had even the remotest ties to her former Master.
Moving away from Soraya’s name, which was in the same place as Mana’s, little surprise there, he scanned the map for the other names, spotting Mahado’s moving southward, towards the palace and swearing when he realised that Yugi and Harry were moving south east and, if nothing interfered, would intercept Mahado in less than quarter of an hour.
“What are your orders, my Lord?” Lucian asked, watching the red Dark Magician making plans and striding down the corridor towards his troops.
“We go and recapture Mutou and his friend.” Medan stated as if it was obvious, which to be fair it should have been, before taking down the suppression spell and examining what was left of his forces, “Before they reach Mahado. If they get to him it’s all over.”
It didn’t take more than five minutes to pull together a team, it took another three to get the correct co-ordinates for the teleport, and less than five seconds for a Swordstalker to take them through the Shadows to the location of the Pharaoh of Light and the heir.
The instant they arrived they were under attack. He had expected the pair to get the help of someone powerful, especially if they had someone helping them who knew the world around them like Marie did and this Sunset Magician, who Medan had never had a run in with before, was strong. Strong enough to give Medan pause.
The red Dark Magician watched as his forces all attempted to attack the three only for their attacks to be drawn towards Yugi. The young man threw up a shield of light that blocked the attacks from reaching him as the Sunset Magician launched an attack that blew away the pair of the Whiptail Crows that Medan had brought with him.
“So...” Medan and the Sunset Magician circled each other, glowering, “Who are you?”
“My name’s Yue.” The Sunset Magician stated as Boh, the Kuriboh that was Yugi’s partner monster darted behind his Duellist, “And you’re not taking Yugi and Harry.”
Medan snorted, launching an attack on the other Spellcaster, only for the attack to be drawn, once again to Yugi, whose shield stopped it.
“What?” Harry yelped, not sorry that he wasn’t getting hit, but completely confused.
Yugi shoved his friend away from him, “Run.” The heir told him, finding maintaining his shield and concentrating on his friend at the same time difficult.
“Yugi...?”
“You’re too late!” Medan crowed at Yue, having realised what was going on with their attacks. “His effect has already kicked in!” He didn’t waste another move attempting to attack Yue, instead he cast Thousand Knives, which didn’t swerve off like the previous attempts to destroy the Sunset Magician, and, instead struck home, causing Yue to shatter into pieces and vanish.
“Now,” Medan turned to look at the two semi-humans and noted with some amusement that Yugi shoved his friend behind him, as if he expected to be able to defend the pair of them from all four of Medan’s fiends along with the Dark Magician himself, “I suggest you surrender.”
Yugi smirked, a look that was foreign on Yugi’s face as it was normally Yami’s trick, “You’re forgetting something Medan.” He said, holding his hand out for the Millennium Puzzle, which Harry passed to him semi-willingly, worried about what Yugi was about to do.
“Oh?” The red Dark Magician asked, pretending to be unconcerned.
“This time, I have the Puzzle.”
He didn’t get a chance to challenge his opponents to a game as one of Medan’s fiends swept past Harry and struck Yugi from behind, knocking the Prince flat on his face. In milliseconds Medan had seized Harry, and, keeping him between himself and Yugi, he watched as the heir got to his feet. “You may have the Puzzle, but I have...”
Medan didn’t get to finish his statement as someone attacked him from behind, causing him to drop Harry.
“Wolf!” Harry grinned, delighted as the huge Gold Winged Wolf and his pack bounded onto the scene.
I suggest you leave. Wolf snarled at Medan who was picking himself up and contemplating his options.
The sound of the attacks exploding on Yugi’s shield had to have attracted the pack and if they had heard the fighting, it was likely that Mahado would have done so. He was running out of time.
“Medan!” Yugi growled, his tone far too reminiscent of Atem’s for Harry to be comfortable, “You’re fighting me, not Harry, leave him out of it!”
“I have no choice but to fight you!” Medan sniggered, looking him over. “It appears that Responsibilities is an effect monster that forces others to target you before they can attack anyone else.”
Confusion crossed Yugi’s face momentarily at the word ‘Responsibilities’, then Yugi shifted into a rough defensive stance.
Medan was faster, launching an attack that honed in, unerringly, on Yugi. The heir responded by calling on the Puzzle which, for some strange reason, responded slowly, drawing the Shadows in far too slowly, and with no defence in place, the Medan’s blast obliterated Boh and sent Yugi flying, causing the heir to crash into a tree.
The Shadows dispersed.
“Yugi! Harry!”
Medan snarled at Mahado’s voice, which sounded like it was moving closer and closer, firing off a second attack as Yugi struggled to his feet.
Harry darted in the way but Wolf pulled him down, out of the path of the blast, allowing the attack to explode just in front of Yugi, sending him crashing into the tree before crumpling among the roots, unconscious.
“Yugi!” Harry scrambled to his feet as Medan strode past, picking up Yugi’s limp form by the collar and took the Puzzle off of the unconscious heir, tossing it aside. “Leave him alone!”
Mahado reached them as the Swordstalker threw off the wolves attacking him and got to Medan’s side.
“Medan!” The first Dark Magician snarled, pointing his staff at the other Dark Magician. “Let him go.”
“No.” On that eloquent speech Medan, the Swordstalker and Yugi all vanished.
Harry, fuming, wheeled on Wolf, who almost looked like he had expected it. “Why did you stop me? Yugi could have beaten him if I’d taken the attack!”
“If Wolf had allowed you to take the hit,” Mahado said slowly, trying to trace the teleportation, sensing shadows and looking around at his troops, trying to work out if anyone there could move through the shadows, “You’d’ve have Resummoned.”
“What?” Harry asked, scowling as he collected the Puzzle, checking none of the pieces had jarred out before putting it on.
“I’m sending you home.” Mahado said, scowling himself, having realised that he didn’t have anyone to send after them. “You’ve been here too long and if you’re destroyed in battle, you’ll Resummon, as your Ka beast, and be stuck here.”
“But Yugi...!”
“I’ll find him.” Mahado promised Harry, just as he’d promised Atem. “Don’t make me knock you out too.”
“So that’s what happened to Yami.” Harry’s eyes widened, relief crossing his features. A slow smile formed, “I suppose, if you can best Atem I don’t stand a chance.”
Mahado watched Harry carefully, well aware of how loyal this group of friends was and how difficult it was to get them to leave anyone behind. “I swear I’ll find him, but you have to go back now. Yugi won’t go home if his friends can’t.”
Harry considered Mahado carefully, “I don’t want to leave. Yugi’s half convinced something’s happened to Yami. If I disappear too, he’s going to think Medan killed me.”
“You have to.” Mahado said, looking at Wolf, who nodded and pressed into Harry’s side, “I’ll come through the moment I have news.”
“But...”
Harry didn’t get to finish his protest as Wolf sank his teeth into the leg of Harry’s trousers and dragged his Duellist back to the real world.
One down. Mahado thought with a scowl, wondering how he was going to find Yugi again considering that it had been sheer dumb luck he’d found them on the way back to the palace at all.
“Lord Mahado?” One of the Skilled Dark Magicians asked, wondering if they should stay or move on.
Mahado scowled. If he left, he’d lose the sense of the path that the Swordstalker had taken, but if he stayed he couldn’t get anyone who could follow the path to help.
There were a few who lived in the palace who would be able to help, but Mahado knew who he wanted and who he could trust with such a sensitive mission.
“Go to the palace.” Mahado told them, “And get Hailey and Bailey, the Double Costan pair that’s been hanging around the palace. They’ll be able to follow the path.”
“Yes, my Lord.” The Skilled Dark Magician took off. They weren’t that far from the palace now he could be there and back in a couple of hours.
Hold on Yugi. Just a little bit longer.