Chaos Effect

Chapter 19

It was rather pleasing to be the one in control of the duel. Yugi was clearly reeling after that last little combo, much to my enjoyment. Even though I didn't have a beef with him I was still rather pleased that I'd managed to catch him on the wrong foot with my combo; to truly shock him and leave him scrambling, trying to figure out how to get out of the mess he was now in. With Fairy Meteor Crush I'd turned his loyal magician into his greatest threat and I knew that was leaving him shaking internally. But that didn't mean I could rest on my laurels; how many villains had thought they'd beaten Yugi only for him to defeat them in a single turn? Plot armor and Main Character Status was a bitch and could always suddenly pop up. I could see hundreds of ways for him to either get rid of my equip or use it to actually win. It was tempting, oh so tempting, to just stall and let Yugi flail about but I couldn't do that. Give the boy too much time and he would find a way to win.

'So just because I've managed to get a blow on him doesn't mean I can rest easy. I landed a haymaker. Now its time to begin laying a flurry of punches on him,' I thought. "And I'm not done yet!" I declared, picking up my deck. "My Witch of the Black Forest's effect activates in the graveyard, not on the field, so your Skill Drain doesn't affect her. Meaning I can now select one monster from my deck with 1500 or less defense points and add it to my hand.' Picking the mage I wanted I shuffled my deck and set it back on the card reader. "Draw!" I smirked as I looked at the card. 'Defender. Hmmm... that might just work.' My mind went back to the research I'd done the night before, of the different combos I could pull off and what cards could work together. And Defender would help me pull off a nice little surprise for Yugi should he figure out a way to stop his Magician from attacking. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!"

Yugi's friends all gasped as the spell card appeared, sending swirling winds that shattered the Skill Drain trap.

"Oh no! That was the only thing that was keeping Edwin from pulling off most his combos!" Tea said, hands pressed to her mouth.

"And with that gone I'll summon Breaker in defense mode and end my turn... right after I tell you that my downface card is Trap Hole."

I could see the conflict on Yugi's face as he saw the trouble he was now in. Breaker had gained a spell counter being summoned face up, meaning that I could destroy any spell or trap on the field. 'And now he won't summon anything that is strong enough to destroy Breaker... if he wants to take him out he'll need to destroy him with Dark Magician, meaning doing damage to his own lifepoints.'

It wasn't the strongest trap scenario there was and in the real world nearly all duelists will be able to tear it apart like a Doberman going at a bag of popcorn. But here and now? It would hold Yugi for a few turns and that was all I needed. A few turns.

"I draw and activate Swords of Revealing Light... on myself!" Yugi declared.

"Clever," Pegasus said, sipping his wine. "The rules of Duelist Kingdom state you must attack if you have an attack monster and no other moves. That will buy you some time, Yugi-Boy-" His Millennium Eye flashed, "-heh but not much."

"I end my turn," Yugi said simply.

I drew as well. "Next I'll summon Defender the Magical Warrior in defense mode. And I'll end my turn."

Yugi drew once more and got a determined look on his face. "I summon Silver Fang and activate Spring and Sprung! This card forced you to activate your trap card!" The white savage wolf appeared on the field, snarling even as the spell card, which showed an Imp wincing as he walked near a bear trap, flashed on the field.

I raised my eyebrow, surprised at that. "So you sacrifice your Wolf in order to break my trap? Clever. And smart." I watched as Silver Fang exploded into shards as my Trap Hole appeared below him, swallowing him up. "But dangerous all the same." (Yugi-600)

"Worth it though if Yug can summon something big next turn and take down your wall!" Joey called out, wave his fist in support. "Go gett'em, Yug!"

"Yeah! Now you have Edwin right where you want him!" Tristan declared.

"Does he?" I asked, bemused. It was time to steal some smiles. "Breaker, I remove one Spell Counter from you so you can destroy the Book of Secret Arts. The Dark Magician will have no use of it anymore." My warrior mage leapt suddenly to his feet, piercing the book with his blade before the Dark Magician had time to react, then leapt back quick as a whip and was in defense position again, kneeling before me with his blade sheathed. "And now I'll activate this: Polymerization!"

Yugi's friends all gasped. Cries of, "No!" "What?" and "Yugi!" filled the air as I slapped the spell card on the field.

"Alright!" Mai cheered towards me. "I knew you were going to finally stop playing around and show him who was boss!"

Yugi merely stared at me, worry clear in his eyes.

"I fuse Breaker and Defender together to summon Knightfall the Pale Gleam Magical Knight!"

While I had never heard of this card existing in the TCG I figured that since Day-Breaker couldn't make an appearance, what him being a Link Monster, this world had decided to make him a counterpart that was a fusion. Where Day-Breaker was Breaker in shining armor and bits of Defender's gear added to his own with Knightfall the reverse had happened; my defensive knight gained pieces of Breaker's armor that, along with his own, were black as a winter's sky with only a faint weak glow emanating from his figure. He had the same attack and defense as Day-Breaker, which wasn't much... but that was about to change.

"That's it?" Joey finally said, seeing that my monster only had a lowly 1600 attack points. "That thing ain't-eh?" He paused as he saw Knightfall begin to glow before gaining 300 attack points. "Hey, what gives?"

"It should be obvious," Mai said with a roll of her eyes. "Edwin loves effect monsters. He wouldn't have summoned Knightfall if he didn't have an effect that could challenge the Dark Magician."

"And give the lady a teddy bear, we have a winner!" I declared. "Knightfall gains a spellcounter ever time a spellcaster is summoned to the field, including himself... and those counters add 300 attack points to his total!"

"Hate to break it to you but that still leaves you 600 attack points short!" Tristan called out.

Joey cackled. "Pretty bad at math there, ain't ya Ed?" He suddenly whipped around and shouted at Mai, "And shut yar mouth about me needin' ta use my toes ta count ta 20!" Mai's eyes went wide for a moment before she began to laugh.

Yugi though wasn't as confident. "What else do you have planned?"

"Only this... a leftover from my duel with Joey: Magical Exemplar!" I summoned the female mage in defense mode, her hands clasped together as mystical energy poured off of her to feed Knightfall, causing him to jump to 2200 as another spellcounter was lodged into his armor. "And that's not all. Everyone assumes Endymion is my favorite card... but he's merely my favorite monster. Come now... you've seen me play it so many times..." I held up a single card, back to Yugi.

"Spell Power Grasp!" Yugi exclaimed before I had a chance to flip the card around for him to see.

"The very same!" I declared.

"Oh, this is about to get very good," Pegasus said, just loud enough for all of us to hear him.

"I place one Spell Counter on Knightfall and then add another Spell Power Grasp from my deck to my hand!" As I did so I glanced at Exemplar, seeing her gain two counters due to her own effect but everyone was far too busy focusing on Knightfall rising to 2500 to notice. "My fusion monster can't attack this turn but next turn I'll add another Spell Counter to him and destroy your Dark Magician... unless you are willing to stop me first."

'What are you going to do now, Yugi? What are you going to do? And will you realize that Knightfall isn't my endgame... or will you be blind and step once more into a trap?'

~MC~MC~MC~

The Spirit looked out through Yugi's eyes at the field. 'This isn't good. The Dark Magician can't attack Exemplar as that will just hurt us.'

'She's just there to help increase his attack,' Yugi said in agreement. 'We could summon the Giant Soldier of Stone to act as a wall of our own and then attack Knightfall...'

'But we'd lose the Dark Magician. We might not lose any lifepoints but it would still be a heavy blow. There would be no other monsters in our deck that we could call forth easily should he summon another high powered attacker.' The Spirit huffed his frustration. 'Edwin wants us to do that. He wants us to sacrifice our Dark Magician as punishment for destroying Endymion.'

'But what other choice do we have?' Yugi reached for his deck to draw. 'I need something... anything... that will help me out of this...' "And now I draw!" Yugi declared, selecting his card. 'Hmmm, perhaps. This doesn't help me deal with Knightfall but it does buy my Dark Magician a bit more time... and hopefully I can figure out some way out of this.' He placed the card on the platform's reader. "I activate Spell Duplication Tome, which allows me to select one spell on the field and activate its effect once again. And I choose Swords of Revealing Light, locking your monsters in place for three turns."

Tea let out a sigh of relief. "Man, that was close."

"Don't be so relieved quite just yet, Tea," Bakura stated. "Because while Edwin can't attack there are still many other things he can do. And Yugi will still be forced to attack next turn when the swords on his side are destroyed."

"Give it to the charming Brit," Edwin said as he drew a card. "I activate Spell Power Grasp again!" Knightfell rumbled even as the Light Swords held him in place, bringing his attack to 3100. "Now he's surpassed your Dark Magician, Yugi! And I still have another Spell Power Grasp to play next turn!"

"Man, I'm beginin' ta really hate that card," Joey grumbled as Edwin added another Spell Power Grasp to his hand.

"Those swords might have helped Yugi out briefly but now he can't even destroy Knightfall!" Tristan complained. "He attacks the knight and he's done, he attacks the Exemplar he's done!"

"In other words... Yugi's done," Mai said.

Yugi shook his head in despair. 'They're right. Next turn he can increase Knightfall's attack even more! Not only will he be able to destroy the Dark Magician but he'll be able to take out the last of our lifepoints. And we can't even attack because that will just help Edwin.' He shut his eyes. 'Grandpa... Kaiba... I swore I'd save you both... but I don't know...'

'It's not over yet, Yugi,' the Spirit reminded him gently. 'Our deck is full of all sorts of tricks... we just have to draw the right card. Giving into despair... your grandfather wouldn't want that. Kaiba wouldn't want that. And I'd dare say Edwin wouldn't want that.' Yugi's brow furrowed at that and the Spirit sighed. 'For all I believe about him... I think he'd prefer you face this battle with your head held high.'

'Yeah... yeah, you're right! A duel is never over until the final lifepoint has disappeared. I'm not going to give up now.' Yugi drew and couldn't help but grin. 'Perfect!' Out loud he stated, "I set one card face down and shift my Dark Magician to defense mode and end my turn!" Mentally he added, 'I just need to hold out a little bit more...'

"Hmmm... interesting. But I'll risk whatever you have set up. I activate the final Spell Power Grasp, bringing Knightfall to 3400! One more turn Yugi... make it count."

'He's right... we do have to make this count. It's a risk but if we can pull this off we'll win the duel." Yugi swallowed. 'Grandpa, I'm coming to save you. And you too, Kaiba. Pegasus has toyed around with us for far too long, making us battle for his amusement.' His mind flashed over his entire time at Duelist Kingdom. The duels against Kaiba, against Mai, against Edwin. 'You've made me face off against my friends and allies, trying to turn us against each other. And while we've disagreed you failed in turning me against them!' He felt the Spirit wince at that but Yugi merely smiled with a determined look in his eye. 'But I swear I'm going to defeat him and put an end to his madness!' Looking back up at Edwin he declared. "I set one more card on the field and end my turn."

"And I draw and pass," Edwin declared, the Swords of Revealing Light fading away.

"And I do the same," Yugi said, drawing a card. "Alright, let's see who is the better duelist!"

"Let's," Edwin said with a grin. "Knightfall! Attack-"

"Reveal my face down! The Magical Hats!" From Yugi's card four giant magician hats appeared, their tops opening. "And into them I place my Dark Magician-" the purple mage smirked himself as he wagged a finger at Edwin and his monsters before leaping into one of the hats, "-and also place my facedown card. And now they shuffle!" The Magical Hats shut before they began to spin about wildly, becoming an utter blur as they danced about the field.

"Normally I like this game," Edwin groused but it was clear there was no real bitterness in his words. "At Comerica they have it where one person has to guess the right cup and if they win they get a hat. I... don't suppose I'll get a hat out of this? Or would I get a cup since these are hats? Hmmm." He turned to Pegasus. "Are there Industrial Illusions baseball caps? And if they are can we get some? Usually people like to hand out free caps."

"I don't want no stinkin' cap!" Joey complained.

"Well, that's a one less for Joey. And Yugi is good as I doubt any hat could contain that hair. Unless he put one on every one of those spikes and I doubt he'd want to try and balance all those caps. So?"

As Pegasus told him that yes, there were hats, and he could actually see about getting them some, The Spirit spoke up within Yugi. 'Do you see how he jests and makes this all out to be a game?'

'So? Joey makes jokes all the time. I honestly think you just look for a reason to hate him. Which isn't right. If we had judged Joey by how he was, instead of looking for the good in him, he'd never become our friend.' He thought back to how he'd first encountered Joey, with the taller teen tormenting him, beating him up, stealing a piece of the puzzle... 'Can we really say that Edwin is worse than Joey was? And Joey is now my best friend in the entire world!'

'I suppose you are right.' The Spirit watched as Edwin began to try and get free t-shirts for them all as well. 'Still, he is annoying.'

'I'm not denying that!' Yugi thought with a chuckle. "Edwin? The duel?"

"Right." He was silent for several moments. "That's my pick. The right most hat. Sorry, should have been clear. Knightfall!" His monster actually looked back at him with a 'are you kidding me?' look before he lashed out with his sword, releasing an arcing blast of energy that shattered the first hat... but thankfully no Dark Magician. All that was left was a bit of smoke rising up from the spot the hat had been sitting.

Yugi let out a sigh of relief. 'I was worried there. If Edwin finds the right hat we are done for!'

'We have to put our trust in our ability to win this duel,' The Spirit told him. 'We are fighting for a noble goal... we'll succeed. We have to.'

'Yeah,' Yugi thought before adding in a softer tone, 'but Kaiba thought he was fighting for a noble goal too.'

The Spirit that shared his form didn't have an answer.

"I set this card and end my turn," Yugi declared. "Another chance Edwin!"

"Let's see if I can make it count! The middle hat!" Edwin declared and once more Kngihtfall slashed out with his blade... and like before got nothing.

"Yeah! Good job, Yug!" Joey cheered.

"Don't be so happy, Joseph," Mai said from where she stood. "Edwin might keep missing but Yugi's done nothing to actually stop him. All he's done is prolong things."

"Yeah but that just gives him the time to come up with a plan!"

Tristan though was less hopeful. "But he doesn't have forever, Joey. Each turn the odds of Edwin finding the right hat increase."

"What are ya talkin' about?"

"Simple math, Joey," Bakura stated. "Edwin had a 1 and 4 chance of finding the Dark Magician."

"Right, and he missed!" Joey said before pumping his fist in the air. "Cuss Yug is awesome!"

"Right, but now there are only two hats."

"So?"

"So now he has a 1 in 2 chance."

Yugi looked over at Edwin. "We can continue-"

"No no... I kind of want to watch this." He leaned on the platform, resting his face on his fist, a bemused look on his face. "It's like watching a dog try and figure out how to get a huge stick through a door."

Yugi scowled at that before looking at Joey, who kept tilting his head from side to side as he considered what Bakura was saying. And in his mind's eye he couldn't help but see Joey replaced with a golden retriever, a befuddled look on his face as he stood there trying to reason out why the big stick couldn't get through the doorway.

'Heh.'

Yugi's eyes shot open wide. 'Did... did you just laugh?' he asked the Spirit.

'No!' his other half said quickly. 'Of... of course not.' He gave a little cough that made it clear he was lying.

"Wait!" Joey finally called out. "This next turn Ed has a 50/50 shot at destroying the Dark Magician!"

Pegasus clapped his hands. "Even the slowest horse eventually finishes the race."

Yugi's friends couldn't help but giggle at that while Joey's face went beet red and he turned towards Pegasus, roaring and shaking his fist, "Hey! No one asked ya, ya fruity looking-"

"JOEY!" Edwin roared, cutting off his rant, making every leap back in surprise. "Don't insult the man that can trap souls in cards!"

"EEEEEHHHH!" Joey exclaimed, leaping back with a panicked look on his face. "Right... uh... sorry there Pegasus. I mean Mr. Pegasus I mean... I'm just going to shut up now."

"The second smart thing you've said during this duel," Pegasus said glibly before gesturing for Edwin and Yugi to continue.

But Edwin wasn't quite done, his focus now on the creator of Duel Monsters. "That said, Pegasus... how about you sit there like a good host and not insult your guests. You know... before I decide to make life difficult for you?" He took out his phone and wiggled it. "I haven't forgotten all you've done. And rest assure when I beat Yugi that won't mean the end of things where he is concerned. Everyone deserves a champion... I don't mind being his."

Yugi was struck by that. "You'd do that for us?"

"Of course. Mokuba would never forgive me if I left his brother a trading card. No matter who wins here Pegasus-" their host arched an eyebrow at that, "-is going down."

"That seems rather unfair, Eddy-Boy. I thought we were friends."

"Friends can disagree. And sometimes a friend needs to bash another friend's head in to get him to stop being an idiot. Or kidnapping innocent people." Edwin narrowed his eyes. "So don't think you're getting off easy because you didn't kidnap someone I care about. Because you hurt Mokuba and I made a promise, Pegasus... for that?" He leaned forward. "I'm going to burn Duelist Kingdom to the ground."

The Spirit quietly said, 'It seems... under all his bluster... there is a good heart that beats in his chest.'

'I told you,' Yugi told him smugly before turning his attention back to the duel. "Alrgith Edwin! You're move!"

"And I choose the right hat again!"

"No Dark Magician, no Dark Magician, no Dark Magician," Tea repeated, eyes squeezed shut as she prayed.

"Come on Edwin..." Mai whispered.

The hat exploded in a shower of sparks.

Everyone held their breath.

The world went quiet.

Knightfall... cried out as he was caught in the Spellbinding Circle.

"You activated my trap!" Yugi said in delight. "The Spellbinding Circle reduces your monster's attack down to 2400 and locks him in place, making it impossible for him to move. Which means he's now completely trapped and unable to dodge this! Reveal yourself Dark Magician!" The purple mage leapt from the last remaining hat and charged up his specter. "Dark Magic Attack!"

Edwin shielded himself, skidding back a few inches as the blast tore apart his monster in a blast the left a cloud of purple smoke on the field. (Edwin-1000)

"Wait..." Yugi said as the dust settled and he could see across the field towards Edwin... who was smiling. "Why are you smiling?"

"Because your little partner made such a big deal of Exemplar," Edwin said with a mocking growl, "and then you forgot all about her!"

"Oh no!" Yugi exclaimed, the Spirit echoing his fear as they noticed for the first time the Spell Counters the female mage had been hiding in plain sight amongst her robes. "That means-"

"Oh yes!" Edwin said with a wide grin, like a shark's. "You did well Yugi but this is the end for you! Exemplar, I remove 7 of your Spell Counters to allow you to perform one of the mightiest spells in all of Duel Monsters: MONSTER REBORN!" Exemplar threw back her head as she channeled the power, thrusting out her hands and crafting a pit of light in front of her. He threw his arms out wide and cried out to the heavens, "RETURN! ENDYMION THE MASTER MAGICIAN!"

~MC~MC~MC~

I'd seen plenty of monsters return from the graveyard on the show. And frankly in real life it wasn't that big of a deal; I'd played my Vampire Deck plenty of times and if there was a turn where I wasn't screwing around with the graveyard then I'd obviously drawn a bad hand. A monster coming out of the graveyard was nothing. Just another play one could make.

Only this time... this time was different.

The explosion of energy rocked everyone, nearly sending all of us off our feet. Endymion burst from the floor and onto the field with a bellow, magic crackling along his staff as he rocketed into the air, reaching the top of the ceiling before tossing his staff and then doing a roll that ended with a superhero 3-point landing. His hand shot out and caught his staff before he snapped his head up and glared at Yugi and the Dark Magician, making the purple mage actually take a step back.

'Fuck,' I thought to myself. 'I know the Dark Magician is actually the soul of Atem's dear friend and advisor... and the Blue-Eyes has the white haired girl's soul within it. That's why they are so life-like even on the most primitive of the dueling platforms this world has where the monsters stop moving the moment they are summoned.' Endymion rose with dignity before LOOKING RIGHT AT ME. 'If that's the case... who the fuck is in my card?'

"Wow," Mai whispered, opening her mouth to say more only to end up snapping it shut with a click. Yugi's friends had gone utterly silent as well and even Pegasus had leaned back on his throne. His servants in the halls had stopped their tasks (or at least pretending to run around doing tasks and not watching the duel), leading to what would have been comical sights of them trying to balance dishes or stopping half way through dusting pictures to crane their necks in order to see what had just happened. And there was Yugi, staring at me with utter shock. Not tears like when he'd lost the duel with Kaiba. Not broken down despair like Atem had felt when Yugi's soul had been taken by Dartz. Just... shock. Empty shock.

Hell, I was feeling the same way. I had not expected that kind of arrival.

Swallowing I forced myself to regain my calm before stating, "I send one spellcard to the graveyard in order to activate Endymion's effect, targeting your Dark Magician for destruction." But I took a moment to breathe and actually consider what was about to happen. 'I'm going to do it. I'm going to defeat Yugi Moto. I'm going to go face Pegasus and I'm going to beat him. He won't be able to read my mind and my deck is designed to get around his Toon Monsters. I'm going to be the damn King of Games. This... this is it. No turning back now.' I looked into the abyss, filled with my fear of altering destiny and throwing myself into the unknown... and nodded. "Endymion... Spell Power Sweep!"

Everything seemed to go in slow motion. My magician charged his staff, spinning it about in wild patterns before finally swinging it in a wide arc. The moment the spell left it I heard everyone crying out. Joey and Tristan and Tea and Bakura all called out Yugi's name. Mai let out a roar of victory. Pegasus actually gasped. The spell raced forward crossing the field in both a second and an eternity.

And when it struck the Dark Magician's staff, which he'd brought to defend himself, the spell crackled and hissed and the purple mage fought hard against the emerald light. He grit his teeth and locked his legs and tried to send it back, to deflect it, to shove it aside and save himself. But I could see... we all could see... he was going to fail. His rod shattered and he was thrown back with a bellow, shattering.

He was done.

I'd done it.

"Activate my trap: Hallow Life Barrier!!"

And Yugi Moto found a way.

Not the Pharaoh.

Little Yugi.

I couldn't help but smile and shake my head. "I should have known," I said, bemused and weary at the same time. I had been ready for it to be over and to now find it continuing on, Yugi having played his trap... it was like someone who was seconds away from leaving work, their coat on and their lunchpail in hand, only for their boss to catch their arm and tell them they needed them to stay just a little bit more. All the energy left me, my shoulders slumping, and yet there was no anger. Even though I should have been enraged I wasn't. There was only...

...acceptance.

Because I knew, in the depths of my heart... I wasn't going to get another turn.

"This trap card, at the cost of one card in my hand, negates all effect damage I take this turn!" Yugi said before he himself leaned against his platform, panting. "Edwin... this has been... the hardest duel I've ever fought."

"The same," I told him honestly.

"You are pushing me to my limit... no... beyond."

"Plus Ultra," I muttered with a smirk.

The Millennium Puzzle flashed and I found myself once more facing Atem. "Whatever you call it... you have shown that you can duel with the very best of them. And I know that if you were to face Pegasus... you would defeat him and save all those that Pegasus has captured. Thus what I do not isn't out of malice or out of spite... but respect. For you deserve to only be beaten by my very best!" Atem lifted up a card high into the air. "I activate Reborn the Monster! Return to the field once more my Dark Magician!"

There was a swirl of light and the Dark Magician leapt high into the air, emerging from the card graveyard with mystical smoke billowing in his wake. He easily flipped and landed before Endymion, twirling his staff before pointing it right at my mage in a posture of pure challenge. The only way he could have been more overt would have been to do the 'come at me bro' hand gesture.

"Next I summon to the field Gaia the Fierce Knight!" Atem declared and the warrior on the purple stallion appeared along side the Dark Magician though compared to the two entrances we'd had before it was rather lackluster, all things considered. Just the horse striking the ground with his hoof. "Now I activate this: Polymerization!"

"What?!" Joey exclaimed. "The Dark Magician and Gaia? They can fuse?"

"No way!" Tea exclaimed.

Mai was just as startled. "That's not possible... that is merely a myth!"

"It is no myth, Mai!" Atem declared. "For it is possible... to merge the wisdom of the spellcasters and the great strength of the warriors into one single being!" On the field the spell activated and the Dark Magician leapt into the air once more. But rather than most fusion displays this one was far different, actually showing what was happening to Yugi's monsters.

First Gaia turned into pure energy, leaving his armor and flying into the Dark Magician, who grunted as his skin turned blue and his hair become a reddish yellow. The armor floated off of his steed for a moment before launching itself at the Dark Magician, slamming into him and merging with his robes, creating a more plate-like garment that reminded me a bit of the Dark Paladin. The spikes and spines that had been on Gaia's armor burst through the Dark Magician's armored robes and his staff disappeared in a burst of energy, Gaia's lance flying into his hand. The knight's steed let out a neigh and galloped forward, the magician landing upon his back as the stallion reared back, forelegs kicking in the air.

"He did it..." Mai whispered his shock. "He actually did it. He summoned-"

"THE DARK CAVALRY!" Atem declared. "This monster gains 100 attack points for every spell in both out graveyards, and if it attacks a defense position monster it automatically deals damage to your lifepoints equal to the difference between the two. And by activating Quick Attack I am able to attack your monster with my fusion monster this turn!" Atem looked down, taking a breath. "Edwin... you dueled with honor... so I will spare you the pain of losing Endymion again."

"Thank you," I said before flashing a smile. "I expected nothing less from the future King of Games. Now do it Yugi! End this duel so you can meet your destiny!"

"Dark Cavalry! Mystical Charge against the Magical Exemplar!"

My mage never stood a chance. The mounted magician piercing her and shattered her, the explosion nearly sending me flying off my platform. But I held on, which allowed me to catch, just for an instance, Endymion glancing at me and raising a single eyebrow. The question he didn't say but I knew he was asking rung through my mind.

'Next time?'

"Next time," I whispered as my lifepoints went down to zero. (Edwin-0000)

"Yugi Moto has defeated Edwin Chaos and will move on to face Maximillion Pegasus in the final battle of Duelist Kingdom!" Croquet declared.

I didn't begrudge Yugi's friends rushing over to congratulate him. Frankly I was bone tired from all the excitement of going through two duels that had been wildly different. Instead I allowed him to have the focus and the glory and decided to slink off and get something to eat and then take a nice long nap.

"Edwin!"

Too bad the gang decided not to let me have that.

Mai was the first to reach me, giving me a hug before suddenly leaping back. For all her flirting and teasing I realized that such a gesture of affection, one that was completely innocent, was actually rather startling for her to make and she was embarrassed by what she had done, unsure of herself. I let out a small sigh, a ghost of a smile on my lips, and reached over, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her in for a side hug.

"Hey," I said huskily, weariness filling me.

"Hey," she echoed. "You almost beat him."

"You did too. We could form a club. The 'Almost Beat Yugi' club."

Mai scrunched up her nose. "Do we have to invite Kaiba?"

"Only if he provides every member a free car."

"And what do you need a car for, moneybags?" she teased.

"Hey, moochers aren't choosers!" I shot back with a laugh.

"Edwin!" Tea called out, hurrying over with everyone else. "That was... that was amazing! You nearly won!"

"Yeah," I said with a little laugh.

Tristan slapped my shoulder and I resisted every urge to cringe; god did I hate being touched. There were very few people who I didn't mind letting close to me. "You did good. You have nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about."

"Thanks."

Joey was next and he nodded, a smirk on his lips. "Ya know, I always knew that Yugi would clean my clock if I took him on."

"Don't be so sure of that, Joey," I said. "I think you could easily take him down, if you drew the right cards. One good day... that's all any duelist needs."

The blonde though rubbed the back of his head. "If you say so, man. Still, the fact that you beat me and nearly beat him... makes my loss not so bad. You understand? I nearly beat you and you nearly beat Yugi... it shows how much I've grown."

"And we'll just keep on growing," I told him.

Bakura remained off to the side, merely smiling as the others congratulated me for a good duel. That left only the Pharaoh to walk up to me.

"I... these last few days have shown me that I've been wrong about a great number of things. How I duel and how a treat people... sometimes I can become far too focused on one thing and lose sight of what matters. And that makes me miss much... and also only see what I want to see. I said you didn't have honor-"

"I don't remember you quite saying that," I said, trying to remember if he had actually used that insult.

Atem actually stammered a bit at that before rallying. "Still... I thought it and that was wrong. You showed you have honor. Not just in this duel but since we met. You helped us with Weevil, you saved Mokuba and Mai, you stood up to the Spirit of the Ring-" Mai shot me a look at that last part but I didn't bother to try and explain, "-and you did all you could to try and help Serenity. I am sorry for what I said and I hope you can forgive me."

I took a moment before taking his hand but I didn't smile. "I can't give you forgiveness. Not yet. Forgiveness is both given and earned. And you still need to earn it. Or perhaps it is just trust. Trust is what you need to earn."

"Then I will do what I can to prove that I will not forget again that you are on our side." His jaw worked for a moment before he added in a lower voice, "But I meant what I said, Edwin... I saw the goddess that has laid claim to you. She says that you are hers. That you belong to her. And I don't believe she is one to take kindly to others trying to lay claim to you."

"Then let her try," I said. "She and I... will have words."

"Be careful, Edwin... it seems the gods have taken an interest in you."

~MC~MC~MC~

'Indeed we have.'

Bakura remained behind the group, watching all that happened, a polite, bland little smile on his face. But inside...

'You might believe you can stand up to the wrath of a goddess, trickster,' Yami Bakura mentally hissed, 'but how can you hope to face the likes of her when you barely survived facing me?' Oh yes... he knew who he was and the small role he played in his greater self's plot. And Edwin Chaos had threatened it and delayed it. 'And with you out of this tournament... I think it is time you and I have another chat!'

~MC~MC~MC~

Beyond the vale of life and death, in the realm where no mortal could ever hope to tread, Holactie, the Creator of Light, watched on as her champion spoke with her sister's beloved.

'If they hadn't before,' she thought, feeling as many of the immortals who had been casually keeping an eye on her battle with Zorc suddenly made it a point to observe not just the Pharaoh but the man known as the Guardian Devil, 'they do now. But not just Edwin Chaos, Pharaoh... all of you have entered a world far bigger than you can imagine. Be ready.'

~MC~MC~MC~

'I look forward to us having words, my love,' Selene thought.

It was the greatest irony of it all... that her dear Edwin, so used to how this world had played out in his universe, never considered that other immortals might do as her brother Zorc had done and choose to disguise themselves as a mortal. It was so easily... like drifting off to a peaceful rest. She allowed herself to fall into a slumber and her other half, herself without any memories of her godly powers or the immortal life she'd lived, took over. The perfect disguise because they truly were utterly separate now despite being the same person.

She could read his thoughts and knew that in his world, where these events were nothing more than a children's cartoon, things had gone quite differently, with that tale merely having her continue on with a human life, drifting away from the adventure when it bored her and allow her brother and sister to fight their battle. She'd never revealed herself and simply lived out her mortal life before it was no longer needed then merged those aspects of her human form and her godly form back together into the full and perfect Selene.

But that was fiction. This was real. And her love would soon realize that he couldn't trust his memory of that anime. No... the only thing he need to put his trust in... was her.

Selene smiled and snuggled up next to Edwin before allowing her godly mind to fade into the background once more, forgetting all she had been thinking of.

"Want to grab a bite to eat, Mai?" her Edwin asked her. "I'm hungry... don't know about you."

"Famished!" she said, all memory of her other self gone once more as Edwin and her headed to get something for lunch.

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