Ch.21

When Kaiba showed up with his blimp, I put away my duel disk and gave my locator cards to him saying I wasn't interested in the finals any longer as none of them had any cards I wanted and I didn't care about titles. He grunted and told me to hand over the three Egyptian god cards I had. I told him no and that I no longer had them on me, letting him look through all the decks I had on hand.

Seeing I wasn't lying, he demanded to know what I did with them and I shrugged. "I locked them away and threw away the key. Even the millennium items I possess besides my bracelets are locked away now. The Egyptian god cards are too powerful for them to be in yours or anyone else's hands and the millennium items can literally destroy the world in the wrong hands by releasing real evil."

He said he didn't believe in all that nonsense and I offered to put his soul back in a card and dared him to call it nonsense again. He gritted his teeth and I shook my head. "The shadow realm was created by an evil god long ago and the millennium items were created to seal his power away. At first they were just magical objects created by the pharaohs of long ago by taking in the power of the shadow realm that being had made, but once it felt threatened it attempted to destroy the world."

"Atem, the pharaoh of that time, challenged the being and used the three god cards in the form of stone tablets. Even then the being overcame them so the pharaoh did something far more dangerous, he fused all three gods into one ultimate being, Harokhty, the creator of light. It's both the most powerful card ever created and the most powerful being in our world that watches over and governs all life."

I held up Harokhty's card and Kaiba backed off. I told them all coldly. "When I beat Pegasus during the tournament in an unsanctioned match, I made him create this card because I possess the stone tablet Harokhty was originally bound to. I don't remember how, or why, but I have it and I made Pegasus create this card specifically in case the god cards were ever dug up."

I made the card vanish in my hand and I shook my head. "Even if you faced me in a duel now Kaiba, you cannot face that deck and since I have it and all the god cards sealed away now where only I can get to them, all of this tournament is pointless to me."

I turned to Yugi and the others, sighing. "I won't be participating, but if you'd like, I will watch your matches to see who's the victor."

Yugi nodded happily and Kaiba snorted, saying it doesn't matter since he can no longer possess the god cards. He said he'd still be victorious and I shrugged, getting on the blimp with the others. I watched each duel one after another until we reached an island where the finals were going to be held. With Yugi and Kaiba being the only finalists left after Bones, Weevil, Rex, Espa Roba, Mai and Joey being eliminated one after another.

Even I didn't participate so the finals were truly Yugi against Kaiba. In that time, Shadi had shown up and given me the scales and key once I let him see my plan to seal away all the millennium items and the being that's sealed with them. Once only Yugi and I had the remaining sealed millennium items, I put my bracelets away along with the part of my soul that was sealed in them like a horcrux. I told Atem and Yugi of Zorc Necrophades and the realm of memories.

I told them how a big piece of it was sealed in his puzzle and the only way to ensure it never arises again would be to seal it away. I tapped Atem's head and suggested he fuse with Yugi like I and Anhur because they were pieces of the same soul in the end and it would leave Zorc in the puzzle alone, allowing me to seal it away with the others for good. I told them both to think about it and offered them the deck of the gods. They both shook their head saying I won them myself and I was right to seal it all away to protect the world.

I sighed and put them away before setting the Dark Magician deck k had on the table. "Then at least use some of these extra cards to boost the power of your deck because I really don't need them. I only made the deck as a gift for you to begin with and even Joey has his Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon deck now."

He hummed and I left him there to think about it. When the blimp veered off course and we began to crash. Noah Kaiba contacted the ship and took over remotely. I grunted as we landed and were forced off the ship.

When the big five tried to send us all to the virtual world, my secret necklace activated and protected us, infecting their system and burning the AI like consciousnesses out of it entirely. Kaiba asked what was happening and I smirked as a screen showed all seven virtual minds including his adoptive brother and father with the big five. "When I faced your virtual reality generator and learned we were nearly trapped in there for good, I came up with a countermeasure against such devices in case I ever faced similar circumstances."

I held up my necklaces that had a mirror force card on it. "This card is actually a virtual reality virus barrier. Any virtual reality systems that try to force it's will upon me is infected while a hologram barrier forms around myself and those near me. It then systematically destroys all those attacking me and burns them out of the systems permanently, erasing them until there's nothing left of them in the virtual world or net."

The system controls sparked and popped all over while I walked to the terminal. The seven of them were erased permanently while I made the submarine ship surface and release the blimp. I turned and told them. "We should go. We have five minutes before this ship automatically self destructs, a gift left over from your enemies unfortunately. I did manage to get the schematics and technology information for the submarine though it'll have to be combed for any stragglers."

I tossed the USB to Kaiba who agreed and we left, getting on the blimp and taking off. We barely made it far enough away before the ship blew and disappeared. We landed on the tower and I made sure to clean out any AI like beings from the blimp's high tech systems and the duel disks, alongside the USB. When I finished Kaiba said I really should think about coming to work for him.

I scoffed and watched them battle it out with the others. When Yugi beat Kaiba in the finals, he'd used Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon and instantly destroyed Kaiba's Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, making Kaiba take a four thousand five hundred special damage. It ended the duel and Kaiba set the island to explode so we left with the helicopter since the blimp was too badly damaged. Kaiba and Mokuba took off in a jet that looked like a Blue Eyes White Dragon.

We soon arrived in Domino at nightfall and I yawned before saying goodbye because I had to finish school and start up my own company with the money Pegasus made me by winning the bid for the healing tank and it's solution. Things soon turned back to normal for a while and I got Strawhat Inc started after I graduated a bit early at eighteen. I released hundreds of technologies from capsules to medicines and to spaceship technology parts and hover craft technology. My fields of expertise and knowledge was so vast and varied that my company soon rivaled Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions.

I had business all over the globe soon enough and precious little time to worry about dueling. From salt water filtering to get clean water to all those that need it all the way to fast growing crops weather, bug and disease resistant seeds. I was working and flying in a private jet when I heard a voice I knew was Dartz, whispering to bring the Egyptian god cards to the tablet in the museum back home.

I brushed his magics aside and reached through him, pulling the great leviathan into myself before crushing the hatred and energy it was made into before storing it's magical power in my ring and cleansing the world of the power of the Orichalcos seal and stones. When they crumbled into dust, I closed my eyes and relaxed, knowing the trouble was over for now. All the souls of those trapped by the leviathan were released and all the Seal of Orichalcos cards were destroyed.

The legendary knight's curse was broken and the duel monster world was safe once more and prospering to boot. I knew this because I felt the presence of the three knights thanking me in my mind. I just nodded lightly and moved on with my work. I was working overtime to restore the planet using the latest technologies and ensure the world doesn't become a ruined wasteland or factory filled dump.

Buying abandoned buildings all over and turning them into parks filled with trees and grass was the name of the game while making newer and better technology. Solar powered batteries and reactors soon upped the anti, making a huge name for myself in the clean energy business. The refractor lenses took in and processes more than a thousand times more energy than the basic crap they had on the market. Sure enough, buildings all over the globe benefited from free energy and vehicles most of all.

Then came the sea and air scrubbers and full dumb destroyers that turned the toxic waste in the dumps into environmentally friendly goop that grew trees and plant life fast when mixed with fertilizer. Gramps and mom were sure proud of me and even Yugi and the rest were happy I was saving the planet one step at a time, knocking out big businesses and taking their employees. Soon even Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusions couldn't hold a candle to my company.

I returned to battle city happily after almost a full year of working overtime to get my company up and running where it was fully stable and expanding at a smooth pace. Yugi gave me the millennium puzzle after they'd fused. I called Kaiba and warned him of Zigfried von Schroeder being a hacker and wanting to ruin Kaiba Corp's new dueling tournament at the Kaiba Land amusement park in America. The Kaiba Corp Grand Championship was too important for Kaiba Corp to let Schroeder Corp mess with.

Kaiba took swift action and crushed Schroeder Corp for corporate espionage, getting the asshole arrested and the stock dropping before he bought it, dismantled it all and sold it off. Zigfried was arrested and the tournament went on with everyone competing to win Yugi's king of games title. I took the time to add three Heart of the Underdogs to my Exodia deck.

I dueled a few kids outside the arena with my Atlantis level duel disk. With three one day of peace and the heart of the underdog, my deck was far more complete. When three Solemn Wishes was added to that and the White Stone of Legend came out, I was able to fuse my Blue Eyes and Exodia deck into one powerful deck. The kids were asking where I got the Blue Eyes from because there were only seven in the world and I had three of them.

I told them I won them in a duel against Kaiba long ago. They lost the duel and I walked away satisfied that my skills hadn't atrophied. I headed to Egypt next where it was time to purify the millennium items and rid the world of Zorc for good. Ishizu met me at the airport and with Marik, took me to the tomb in the Valley of The Kings.

There I brought out all of the Millennium Items and through them, faced Zorc in a battle for my body and soul to defend this world and end him once and for all. With Horakhty and the three Egyptian gods re-summoned with three monster reborn, I summoned Exodia and together we destroyed Zorc forever, obliterating it beyond the physical, spiritual or the mental realms in a shadow game duel to end it all. Zorc's own power consumed him before he and the shadow realm were broken up and consumed by my ring into pure magic energy.

The power of the shadow realm was gone and all the souls inside were freed to pass on for good. Even Marik's evil half was utterly obliterated for having fused with Zorc in a desperate attempt to get revenge. I was drained, weaker than I'd felt in over five thousand years. Still, the memories of what happened returned and showed me I'd helped Atem seal the beast away the first time it'd turned it's attention to destroying the world.

I leaned against a column as I sighed, remembering standing alongside Atem who used my bracelets to give him the strength he needed to destroy Zorc's physical form and banish it to the millennium items. I lifted the items and sighed. "Magical instruments only now it seems. Your powers are weak and very limited without the shadow realm to support them anymore."

I put my cards away and left the stone tablet of Horakhty in the tomb so that it's main foci could never be destroyed. As for the cards, each of them carried a peace of the Duel Monsters in them now as a promise that no matter where my soul wanders to next, I will never be alone. I thanked Horakhty and the god cards for their promise and put them away.

When I left, I handed Marik the millennium items except my bracelets. "Put those back would you Marik? Their time is over and their powers fade with the shadow realm gone. They can still be dangerous to mortals though."

He bowed politely. "Yes my pharaoh."

I shook my head. "I'm no pharaoh, no matter the power I possess or my former status as a prince of Egypt. I seek no titles or glory. I've simply done what I had to do that I could ensure the protection of this world."

He nodded and took the items I offered, laying them in their resting place where he said they'd be protected for all time. Ishizu asked me how I was and I shook my head. "I'll live a while yet, but the battle damaged my life force more than I'd expected. A decade at most and it'll be my time to return to the ether."

She looked saddened and I smiled, cupped her face. "We can make the best of a decade my Ishizu. There's no need to weep for the future when we live in the now. Leave the tears for tomorrow because tomorrow never truly comes."

She cheered up a bit and agreed so we married a month later and by the fourth year anniversary, we had five children. Three years later Gramps passed away and Yugi inherited his shop. He and Tèa had two kids of their own while Mai and Joey were married and Serenity and Tristan were as well to Joey's irritation. Even Kaiba found an American woman he could marry and had two little rugrats.

By then we'd merged Kaiba Corp with Industrial Illusions and Strawhat Inc to form a super corporation called Kaiba Global Illusions or KGI. Pegasus was more than happy with it and with our combined global influence so was Kaiba. We were the board and the chairmen as joint staff. They worked on the duelist and tech stuff around it while I made sure there weren't any downsides.

Our systems were unhackable and our spaceships had begun terraforming planets in the galaxy we'd mapped out. With the teleportation technology I'd made, several planets had already been populated and a duelist world was their crowning achievement as a world sized dueling theme park. Sure, we ran into hiccups along the way, but hackers were easily found and turned over to the police. With how much we'd done over the years to stop crime on a global scale, it became a terroristic act to hack or attack KGI.

In fact, most businesses just sold their rights and built a small branch of KGI while reaping the benefits. Any illegal business was routed and those doing it were outed to the police. KGI became synonymous with honor and integrity. Most days I worked from home or on the private island I owned where my family lived.

I'd even been there for Marik when he was married and now he had kids of his own as well. Kaiba had arrogantly opened a dueling school that teaches kids how to duel and the new rules as they come out. One evening I saw Jaden Yuki's name appear on the roster and I kissed Ishizu before telling her I'd be gone for a few weeks. She hummed, nodding and telling me to come back before she pops.

I chuckled and rubbed her swollen stomach where my sixth child grew. I agreed and left, catching a private teleport to the school Kaiba opened up. The moment I came out my scanner came on and Kaiba called asking what I wanted with his school. I chuckled and told him I was just curious and coming to visit.

He huffed and said he'd have some of my favorite tea made. I smiled and hung up on him before seeing Yugi crossing paths with Jaden and handing him the Winged Kuriboh. I went to meet with Yugi and chuckled, passing the kid named Jaden five cards that I'd gotten just for this occasion. I told him that long ago they were the first cards I was given and they'd brought me a great deal of luck so I might as well pass them on to the next generation of duelists.

Jaden was so shocked he almost forgot to go take his exam. I shoo'd him off and Yugi said those weren't the Exodia I had. I shrugged. "No, maybe not, but the Winged Kuriboh wasn't the Kuriboh you had back then either. Still, it's the sentiment that counts I guess and while it isn't the Exodia I got from Gramps, it's still a full Exodia."

He nodded slowly and asked what I was here for. I told him I was headed to see Kaiba's new school and perhaps duel him since he was visiting today. Yugi agreed to come with and have a good duel as well. After greeting Kaiba and having some fresh tea, I accepted Kaiba's challenge and so did Yugi.

We had a three way duel in which I used the Egyptian god cards and Horakhty at Kaiba's insistence. His Shooting Quasar Dragon was no match for Horakhty in the end and both he and Yugi lost simultaneously with the gods and Exodia at once. It really was the duel to end all duels in the end and we went our separate ways after it was over while I told them I only had three years at most to live before their chance to beat me is over.

Yugi asked what that meant and I sighed, telling them what id done to remove the threat of Zorc for good. I told them I'd be spending most of it setting up the company more and spending my time with my wife and kids, but if they ever wanted a rematch they'd have to do it then because once I die, I intend to take the location of the god cards with me to my grave so their power is never misused. Yugi asked if I was sure and I nodded. "Though I may not even last that long. My healthcare monitoring chip I just released is showing a decline in my overall health."

I shrugged. "It doesn't matter now because there's nothing in this world that can prevent my end from coming, trust me, I know, I've looked and invented every medical technology out today."

I clenched my fist and shook my head before sighing. "I'd like the both of you to be there when it happens if you would. I'll understand if you can't make it, but I intend to walk forward to the next great adventure on my own two feet before I get too weak to even walk."

Yugi said he'd be there and I nodded before leaving. Over the next year Yugi and Kaiba fueled me repeatedly along with our friends that stopped by. Kaiba always insisted I face him with the Egyptian god cards deck and every time he lost he said he'd come back stronger and eventually take the god cards from me when he wins. Over and over he dueled me until my body could take no more and I barely beat him.

I stood there shakily and told him with Yugi and the others listening that it was time because using the god cards so often in my condition had sped up the process. I told Kaiba that it seems I'd go undefeated after all. Ishizu helped me stay standing while telling them we'd leave now and once we got there the millennium items and myself would leave this world forever. My children and friends saw me off and I stood before the sarcophagus before saying my true birth name for this world. "I am Anhur, son of Aknamkanon, prince of Egypt. It is time."

The symbol of the eye of Horus glowed and the path to the afterlife opened up. I waved a hand and all seven millennium items disappeared from the sarcophagus. I turned to Yugi and the others. "I'd like to say I regret using the god cards to win our duels, but I can't for the life of me seem to do so. It's been more fun outside of marriage and fatherhood that I've had in a long time. Thank you all for coming to see me off and being my friend."

They each had tears including Pegasus. The only one not crying was Kaiba and only because he was as stoic as ever. I turned to Pegasus and Kaiba in particular. "I've done the paperwork and I'm leaving my fortune with my wife and children while the controlling interest will be split between them and everyone here. That should keep you both happy and secure while not ruining the company. I took the liberty of leaving a hard copy of all my latest inventions in my official office so you can all benefit together."

Joey said they didn't care about none of that and just wished I could stay. I chuckled and leaned weakly against the casket before telling them. "It's now or when my body gives out entirely in a few hours. I intend to pass on with whatever dignity I have left and someday we all may meet again in another life."

I turned to Yugi and showed him all of my past with Atem, all the memories Atem had forgotten and I'd relearned, everything. I turned and walked through the bright barrier and my body disintegrated as my soul was released. I was reborn once more after what felt like an eternity of peaceful bliss.