Chapter 24 - 24

Chapter 24

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/UzumakiLegacy

Mai let out a sigh as the Ancient Flying Machine continued to cruise towards the Castle of Dark Illusion. "You'd think we'd be there by now," she muttered. They'd taken off an hour ago and despite the Castle appearing to be only a short flight away they were no closer to reaching the lair of the Mythic Dragon than when they'd started. In fact it seemed like no matter how far they flew the Castle got no closer. The Princess' castle was a different story and it was the fact that Mai could look down and see it only as a tiny spec on the horizon that told her they were moving at all. The Castle of Dark Illusion though? That just hung there, still the same size.

Yugi and Joey had been just as confused but Edwin had suggested that it might be like a loading screen on a game.

"We're fast traveling to a new location," he'd theorized, "so maybe this is the game loading up the new level. Or it could be we're about to get a cutscene. Who knows?"

They'd all accepted that and settled off to their own spots on the deck, waiting for the Castle to finally begin coming close to them again. The problem though was that waiting was making them all stir crazy and making their nerves all the worse. Mokuba had been taken, so they were all worried about the little guy, and then there was the fact that Edwin had let slip that he'd heard rumors of what they were going to be facing: the Mythic Dragon was the 5-Headed Dragon.

Mai shuddered at that even as she sat there on the deck going over her cards.

'The most powerful monster known in Duel Monsters,' she thought. 'More powerful than even the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.' Edwin had argued that there were stronger monsters in terms of attack but he couldn't actually NAME them; just assured her that there were. Joey had then asked him if he actually HAD any of those monsters in his deck and the silence had spoken volumes. 'We're flying on an air ship to take on the most powerful monster in the game... and it is in control of five men that had no problem teaming up with Pegasus to try and take out Seto Kaiba... who they've managed to already capture.' She bit her lip in worry. 'We're so underleveled and I wish we could have spent more time preparing but we can't. Mokuba is up there... and I won't let any kid become their prisoner. It's not just because Edwin cares for him either... I know what it is like to feel like you are at the mercy of someone more powerful than yourself. I can't sit by while any kid is put at risk. Especially Mokuba... poor boy can't catch a break.'

The battle to come was affecting the others as well. Yugi had grown quiet, moving off to go over his deck as well while Joey... Joey was just quiet. He was leaning against the rail, his earlier bravado gone, just looking at the castle like he could will it to come closer. Or to shatter and no longer pose a threat. As for Edwin he had taken out his lute and begun to quietly strum a few notes, the only sound to fill the air other than the wind around them.

'I hate this,' Mai though to herself. 'It feels too much like the final match of a tournament... expect there is no thrill at the victory that is to come. Just the dread of what will happen if we lose.'

Edwin looked over at her and she stared back, giving a weak smile and a shrug. But rather that bring him comfort Mai was startled to see him set his jaw and square his shoulders before standing up and moving to the center of the flying machine.

"Okay... I didn't want to do this but I have something that might help us."

"What's that?" Yugi asked, looking up from his deck.

"And why didn't you want ta do it?" Joey said, speaking for the first time since they'd gotten onto the Flying Machine.

"Because it is very risky... very dangerous. But I think for what we're about the face we must try it." He pulled up his inventory menu and retrieved, of all things, two sets of ear plugs. "There is a ritual I can perform, to ask for a blessing from the divines above. But it requires three people. Joey, Yugi, will you help me with it?"

"Of course!" Yugi said quickly, nodding his head.

"What do we have ta do, pal?" Joey asked.

Edwin nodded. "Mai will be The Listener. She must hear the Song of Ritual. I will play it on my lute and channel my power into the Ritual. You two will need to, on my signal, repeat the Movements of the People. First raise your hands to the sky, to praise all that is above us." Yugi and Joey nodded. "Next you much gesture towards your heads-" he showed them, keeping his arms up but bending his elbows so his fingertips could touch his skull, "-to remember that we have minds that can aid us. Then the symbol of the crescent moon-" he showed them this position as well, "-and finally the high prayer position. Understand?"

The two teens practiced a few times and finally nodded, Edwin passing them the earplugs.

"You can't hear the song... only the Listener and the Player can. But I will signal you with a wave of my finger, okay? When I do that shut your eyes and perform the ritual movements."

"Got it!" Joey said, giving him a thumbs up and putting the ear plugs in. Yugi did the same and Edwin led the two to stand behind him.

Mai though swallowed. "Are you sure about this, Edwin? You said it could be dangerous."

"Very dangerous... but it will be worth it." He checked his lute over. "Ready?"

She steadied her nerves. If Edwin was nervous about this then she had a good reason to be worried. But if it could work... "Ready."

"Good." He lowered his head and began to play, the music steady as, thanks to his powers in the game world, multiple lutes and a bass drum joined in with the pounding music...

...and then Edwin's serious face twisted into the doppiest open-mouthed smile one could have as he rocked back and forth with the music.

"Young lad, there's no need to feel down. I said, young lad, pick thyself off the ground. I said, young lad, 'cause thee be new to town. There aren't need to be un-joy-ful. Young lad, there's a place thou may stay. I said, young lad, when thou lack thy pay. Thee can stay there, and I'm sure thou will find many ways to have a good time."

Edwin raised his hand and gave the gesture, Yugi and Joey quickly performing the 'Ritual Moves'.

"It's fun to stay at the YMCA!"

Mai couldn't help it... she burst out laughing.

"It's fun to stay at the YMCA!" Edwin began to dance around her, making ridiculous faces as Yugi and Joey, oblivious, continued to perform the YMCA dance. "They have everything for you men to enjoy, you can hang out with all the boys! YMCA! It's fun to stay at the YMCA. It's fun to stay at the YMCA."

Her entire body hurt. Mai was clutching her sides, tears leaking down her cheeks as she screamed out her laughter, Edwin bouncing about like a loon.

"You can get yourself clean, you can have a good meal, you can do what ever you feel!"

"Stop... stop!" Mai begged, gasping for air, but Edwin kept singing.

"Oh Mai, are you listening to me? I said, oh Mai, what do you want to be? I said, oh Mai, you can make real your dreams! But you got to know this one thing! I am making a fool of myself! I said, oh Mai, laughter's good for your health! I just tricked Yugi, to do YMCA! That's where Pegasus spends his days!"

"I'm gonna pee!" Mai whined.

"It's fun to stay at the YMCA! It's fun to stay at the YMCA! They have everything for Joey to enjoy! He does hang out with all the boys! YMCA! It's fun to stay at the YMCA! It's fun to stay at the YMCA! I hear Seto goes there, without a single care, and shakes his derriere!"

Finally Mai launched herself forward, grabbing Edwin's hand to stop him from playing, before collapsing with him, shaking so hard from laughter she made him tremble as well. It took several minutes for her to finally catch her breath, with a few times seeing her almost succeed only to break down again when she saw Joey and Yugi still doing the YMCA. But she finally did settle her nerves and when she did so she looked down at him, the grinning jerk just staring right back at her.

"That calm you down?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," Mai said with a sigh, resting her head on his shoulder. "Thanks. Not tell those idiots to stop dancing."

"Right." Mai rolled off of him and Edwin got up, brushing off his outfit before walking over to Joey and Yugi, tapping them both on the shoulder. "Ritual performed. Hopefully it will work."

"Man, I hope so," Joey said, rubbing his arms. "All those movements really gave my muscles a workout!"

Yugi though turned away from them and stared out at the Castle of Dark Illusion. "I think it worked a bit... the Castle is getting closer. I can now see it better." He frowned, taking a step closer to the rail. "See... there is the cloud that surrounds it." He pointed towards a dark misty mass that huge around the Castle of Dark Illusion, swaying and shifting as they drew in closer.

"That's no cloud," Edwin whispered and Mai instantly saw what he meant as the 'mist' suddenly began to race towards them, breaking up not into smoke or fog but into dark bodies. "Looks like the Big 5 don't want us to land! Everyone get ready!"

Mai instantly leapt to her feet and began to summon Harpie monsters while Joey sent out a few smaller dragons and Yugi his Gaia the Dragon Champion. Edwin, for his part, began to throw out trap cards to try and thin the ranks while also summoning a fiend named Lilith to help in the attack that was to come.

It didn't take long for the horde of winged beasts to descend upon the Flying Machine, as well as their air mines that began to strike the ship, causing it to tremble. Edwin's traps, including things like Mirror Force, were helping to drive back most of the blasts that were coming at them but still enough of the horde was able to sneak in and give them problems. Joey leapt and grabbed the wheel, desperately trying to steer them out of danger, while Mai and Yugi focused on the beasts that were out to end their journey.

"Earu!" Yugi cried out and Mai turned to see him clutching Princess Adena's fairy companion, who was lying in Yugi's cupped palms, gasping faintly before shattering into pieces. "No..."

"We have more coming!" Edwin called out. "And I can't throw anything else at them without risking the Flying Machine!"

"Yugi!" Mai called out, "get your head in the game-"

"It is, Mai," Yugi said, suddenly far more determined and focused. He strode past her, jaw set as his Puzzle faintly glowed. Remembering what Edwin had told her about the Millennium Items Mai realized this wasn't little Yugi Moto anymore but the Spirit that dwelled within the puzzle. The confident, determined duelist who never backed down from facing a foe. "Joey... take us straight ahead. Edwin... the moment you sense we can't wait anymore... unleash all you have."

"Right," Edwin said, snapping his mask in place and drawing two cards from his deck, arms held out away from him as he tensed.

"We're hitting the barrier!" Joey said and a second latter the entire ship shuddered. "I'm trying to break us through-"

"EDWIN! NOW!"

"Right," the older duelist declared, the two cards he'd drawn flashing. "Brace yourselves! SOLEMN WARNING AND SOLEMN JUDGEMENT!"

Twin bolts of holy lightning rocketed from the storm clouds above them, crashing into the barrier and the ship. The forcefield around the Castle became visible and shuddered violently before finally collapsing in a rain of mystical shards falling to the ground below as well as the deck of the Flying Machine. Around them the next wave of Castle defenders were caught in the blast and were destroyed and Mai dimly realized that they were getting massive amounts of EXP as Edwin's traps mopped up dozens of monsters.

Then the Flying Machine lurched violently to its left.

"We just lost the left enginge!" Joey cried out, fighting with the wheel. "I'm trying to keep it steady... I think we're goin' down!"

"WINGED DRAGON OF THE FORTRESS!" The Spirit roared out, throwing out a card. Joey and him leapt onto the dragon while Mai's Harpies darted over to her and lifted her up while Edwin was grabbed by Lilith who yanked him from the deck just as the Flying Machine began to go into a tailspin, fires breaking out all over its surface and sending smoke billowing into the clouds.

"Don't think we're getting our deposit back," Edwin joked as their monster flew them the rest of the way into the castle.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Wake up, Kaiba."

Seto groaned as he looked up at his jailer. The monster knew he was awake as there was nothing he could do to wake Seto otherwise. The elf had been trying to break his spirit for months now but Seto hadn't been giving him the pleasure, choosing to quickly use the Sleep Option to rapidly skip forward, checking to see if rescue had come for a few seconds before leaping forward another 24 hours. While the game world had gone on for over a year (the Witty Phantom had used the passage of time to try and make him despair, to claim everyone had abandoned him, forgetting that Seto remembered how time moved in the virtual world and thus knew only hours had actually go by for those outside the game) for Seto it felt like it had only been an hour at most. Wake up, see if anything had changed, close his eyes and try it again. Sometimes he stuck around for a few minutes so the Phantom could taunt him, if only to see if the elf would drop any information, but otherwise Seto was willing, at the moment, to merely wait for his chance for freedom.

People would have been shocked by that, expecting Seto to instantly leap into trying to escape, but he understood how useless that was with him being unable to access his deck.

'But once I can...' he thought to himself darkly.

"Come now Kaiba, you'll like this... I brought you a friend." The Witty Phantom pointed at the ground and with a shimmer of light Princess Adena appeared... only to leap to her feet and toss off her dress to reveal-

"Mokuba!"

"Hold still, Seto! General Wayne!" Mokuba threw out a card and his Ice Barrier Warrior appeared. "Cut my brother free!"

"Wait!" the Witty Phantom called out in horror but it was too late and the chains that had been holding Seto in place shattered, allowing him to rub his wrists before he waved his hand in the area, summoning his inventory menu. Sure enough all the gear he'd gotten at the start of the campaign had merely been locked away, not taken, and with a few gestures Seto was wearing the white wizard robes that gave buffs to all his Spell Cards. "No... you can't do this."

"Oh, I can," Seto said darkly, drawing a card from his just returned deck. "Let's go with this... Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

The screams of the Witty Phantom as he tried to flee the White Lightning attack were music to Seto's ears.

"How did you get here?" Seto asked as they fled the dungeon. He knew Mokuba would come and rescue him but he wondered just who else had joined him.

"Yugi and Joey and Mai! The four of us came to rescue you and Edwin, Seto!"

"Edwin? He got taken by the Big 5 too? Why am I not surprised that fool fell for such an easily spotted trap?"

Mokuba though shook his head. "Edwin was attacked by Tea's dad. He stabbed him and we put him in the VR machine to save his life."

"Tea's father STABBED Edwin?" Seto said in surprise.

"Uh huh. He was going to pin it on you, Seto!"

"Of course he was. That man must be in league with the Big 5 too. I'll add him to the list of people that will suffer for this. Where are Yugi and the rest of the dweeb brigade?"

"Keep that up and I'll think you should be in Team Rocket!" Edwin called out as they rounded a corner and nearly collided with the other group, pulling off the strange carved mask he was wearing.

"Chaos," Seto said with a scoff. "Took you long enough."

"I actually was leveling up while you were tied up, Seto," Edwin said tauntingly. "So why don't you pick on Joey instead."

"Yeah!" Joey declared. "Why don't ya pick on Joey-HEY!" Wheeler whipped around and shook his fist at Edwin. "Thanks for throwin' me under the train there, pal!"

"Seeing the setting shouldn't it be throwing you under the carriage?" Mai asked with a smirk.

"I did change the lyrics to YMCA to fit this world," Edwin said, rubbing his chin.

Seto just stared at Edwin in utter annoyance. "I was held captive for months and you were dancing around to fruity disco music the entire time."

"Not the entire time. Most of it was spent NOT getting captured like a newb."

"Please," Kaiba said with a wave of his hands, "the Big 5 wanted me, not you, so they left you alone. If given the chance I'd have already slain the Mythic Dragon and freed us both before you figured out how to get out the tutorial."

"Uh huh. I'm sure the Big 5 totally weren't interested in me. That's why Tea's father STABBED ME IN THE FRIGGIN' STOMACH!"

"Whoa man!" Joey exclaimed, grabbing Edwin before he could launch himself at Seto. "I'd like ta clean the jerk's clock too but we need ta focus on gettin' out of here!"

"Joey's right," Yugi said firmly, looking between the two of them. "We can settle any feuds outside of this world. We need to get out of here now."

Mai smirked. "Hear that, Edwin, Yugi gave you permission to punch Seto in the real world."

"Let him try. As for getting out of here," Seto said with a cocky smile, jerking his thumb back towards the torture chambers. "The conditions for the summoning of the Mythic Dragon are that the sacrifices must be sent into the lava pools by a certain time. Because Mokuba and I have already escaped that means there won't be enough sacrifices and as such the dragon can't be defeated. The game is beaten!"

"Alright!" Joey declared, letting go of Edwin who straightened his clothes.

"Well done, Kaiba," Yugi told him.

"That works out nicely," Mai added.

Mokuba was all grins. "Uh huh, me and my big bro have this-Edwin?" He stopped as Edwin moved forward, once more putting on his mask. "What's wrong?"

"Get ready," he said cooly.

"I told you, Chaos, I stopped the ritual."

Edwin though drew a card. "Two problems with that. First... have you EVER heard of a video game where you can just stop the final boss from appearing?"

"No... but I programmed this game!"

"Which leads to point two: you aren't the one controlling it right now."

"Well said, Mr. Chaos, well said," a familiar voice called out, booming all about them. "It is so pleasing when there is at least one competent person in the room."

"Leichter," Seto hissed, tensing as he turned and tried to find where the disgraced Kaibacorp Board Member was. "Come out of the hole you were hiding in? I thought you were gone forever."

"Because of you, Mr. Kaiba, we did have to leave," Nezbitt stated. "Forced into this childish game, our only escape."

Edwin scoffed. "Yeah, being punished for your crimes sure is a kick in the teeth ain't it?"

Johnson spoke up next. "Everything we did was above the board, I assure you. Perfectly legal."

"Kidnappin' kids is legal?" Joey asked. "Keep tellin' yourself that, bud."

"It doesn't matter what any of you think!" Crump declared harshly. "What matters is that you are here now!"

Yugi stepped forward. "And what does that mean, exactly?"

"We sacrificed our bodies in order to come to this world, to make those that wished to imprison us believe we were gone forever," Gansley told them, finally joining in on the conversation. "We lost everything... at the very least we can ensure that we wipe you six out from both the real world and the digital world!"

"Digimon, digital monsters, digimon are the champions," Edwin sang, strumming on his lute. Everyone turned to stare at him and he sighed. "You are all so very uncultured." Putting his instrument back on his back he tilted his head and made a 'come on' gesture with his hand. "Well? Hurry it up and get with summoning the 5-Headed Dragon."

"I told you," Seto snapped, "they can't do that even if they wanted to! The ritual was stopped-"

"They control the friggin' code, Seto!" Edwin exclaimed in exasperation. "We're lucky they haven't... wait, no, not giving them any ideas."

"Mr. Chaos is quite correct though, Mr. Kaiba," Leichter said with a laugh, the entire Castle of Dark Illusions being ripped away, leaving them in a void that looked like the circuitry of a computer system. "We do control the code and with it we are able to bypass the ritual and summon forth our perfect new form: the 5-Headed Dragon!"

"With nothing on my tongue but hallelujah."

"We never stood a chance," Leichter whispered.

Edwin cocked back his fist.

"Hallelujah"

He leapt forward, the Dark Head trying to blast him but the giant duelist merely took the blow, not even slowing as his wings flared out and his fist slammed into the 5-Headed Dragon's belly.

"Hallelujah"

The Water Head tried to wrap around his throat but lightning sparked around Edwin's horns and with a jolt he called down the judgment of the heavens, the Big 5 all screaming as their nerves were fried.

"Hallelujah"

They tried to leave the 5-Headed Dragon, to abandon it and retreat to cyberspace, but Edwin, as if sensing that, drove his clawed hands into the beast's shoulders, his palms branding them and searing their souls to that of the beast, preventing them for their escape. They could tear themselves free, if given time, but he wouldn't let them.

"Hallelujah"

He smashed his knee into the dragon's stomach and the old men gagged and coughed as they felt their insides twist and spasm. Knowing they didn't have any time left, that they had to do something NOW, they whipped their heads around and fired on Edwin point blank range.

"Hallelujah"

They were silent, the giant duelist not moving. Even the song stopped.

Had they done it?

Then golden light burst from Edwin's eyes and he let out a primal roar.

"Hallelujah"

A punch to the Earth Dragon's head, shattering its jaw clear off.

"Hallelujah"

The devices that made up the Wind Dragon's bones were crushed in his grip.

"Hallelujah"

The Water Dragon was reduced to mist under the intense heat of his strikes.

"Hallelujah"

The Fire Dragon cried out as he dug in right under its neck, into the golden body, and ripped out the source of its flame and cast it aside.

"Hallelujah"

The Dark Dragon could only howl as he wrapped his hand around its throat and tore it from the body before using the severed head as a cord to tie up the other appendages.

"Hallelujah"

The ground cracked and broke but Edwin instead reached UP so he might drive his hands into the roof of the Castle of Dark Illusions, tearing free a massive chunk of stone that he brought down on the Big 5.

"Hallelujah"

Again.

"Hallelujah"

And again

"Hallelujah"

And again.

And finally, as the form stopped twitched and everything went quiet Edwin released all the power he'd taken in, his form shrinking back to normal as he slowly slide off the mangled body of his foe.

"Hallelujah," he whispered through cracked and bloodied lips before passing out, the Castle of Dark Illusions crumbling around him.

~MC~MC~MC~

If you ever find yourself in an anime and have a chance to let out all your bottled rage and heartache by giving a giant dragon a beat down know that while it is rather stress-releasing when it is happening... but the come-down is a Florida bitch.

The first sense to begin kicking back on as I awoke from my rather lovely blackout was touch. I was lying on something both hard and soft ('that's what she said, heh... ow, hurts to feel joy'), still mostly stripped down, someone pressing their hands to my face but I was too drained to shove their grubby hands away, and still trapped in the Virtual World because all those sensations were utterly muted. It was more like my brain was telling me, "Hey dipshit, you're lying on a padded floor" than me actually sensing that I was lying on one.

Smell and taste never kicked in but I'd expected that as I hadn't really smelled or tasted anything since I'd been shoved into this world. So hearing only made sense and I decided to just lie there and try desperate to reorient myself.

And I heard... singing.

Which, considering my phone had turned this world into something James Gunn would probably direct, wasn't that much of a surprise. Except for the fact that it wasn't some pop song but rather ethereal chanting.

"Please tell me no one is summoning Mothra," I moaned.

"I don't know who that is but if she's something you've been seeing behind my back I'm going to be rather upset."

I turned my head in the direction of that sound, trying to open my eyes but finding that the light was far too bright and it was easier just to keep them shut.

"Mai?" I groaned out.

"One and the same," she said as the hands on my face were suddenly yanked away. "Thanks for bringing me back and for healing him up, elf, but kindly remove your hands from him, okay? Okay." I was suddenly yanked up and forward and felt Mai pulling my head onto her lap. "Hey, you alright?"

"Insert a joke about a truck hitting me," I muttered.

The Pharaoh chose that moment to speak up. "Edwin has been through a great deal. He fought the 5 Headed Dragon on his own, slaying it and saving this world. And all of us."

"I could have managed without him easily enough," Seto protested somewhere to my left.

Finally opening my eyes I glanced around, smiling in relief as I saw Joey and Mokuba also standing by us. "Well, next time I'll let you get everything drained out of you by hacking into the video game."

"What did ya do, anyway? Yug here tried ta explain it but I got a bit lost."

"Yeah!" Mokuba said, excited. "Is it why your eyes are all funny?"

"Huh?" I said, blinking. "What about my eyes?"

"They're... oh!" Mokuba's brow furrowed. "They're back to normal."

"From what?" I said slowly, getting annoyed that no one was bothering to actually answer my fucking question. "My eyes? Like to know what the hell happened to them?"

"Then went black and had gold rings, who cares?" Seto said because of course he wouldn't care in the slightest that my friggin' eyeballs had apparently decided to pull a Gambit! "The Big 5 are done and I'd like to get back to the real world." As he said that a massive black void opened up behind all of us. "The exit portal."

"Did... did you honestly make the way out of here Satan's asshole?" I asked.

"You certainly have a potty mouth today," Mai teased me and I blinked as I realized that I had just managed to swear.

"Hey, hold on Kaiba!" Joey called out. "You forgetting something?"

"What?" Seto asked in annoyance.

"Edwin here is injured... in the real world. We go back through there and he could wake up in the middle of surgery!"

"Let's NOT do that!" I exclaimed in a panic, Mai holding me down before I bolted like a bunny rabbit.

Seto scoffed. "He'll be fine."

Mokuba turned to us. "The moment I'm up I'll tell them to make sure you are out cold, Edwin!" And before I could point out that time moved differently in the real world and here and that would mean possibly waiting weeks by the butthole Mokuba and his brother walked right into Lucifer's Anus and disappeared.

"Well, ain't that just typical!" Joey complained.

I grunted and began to shove myself up. "It's fine Joey, its fine. Let's just get the hell out of here."

"A moment," the Pharaoh said, kneeling down and reaching out to me... and fingering the Millennium Key that was still hanging around my neck.

"Fuck," I muttered. "So... mind crush?" I said weakly, Mai quickly wrapping her arms even tighter around me, protectively. I didn't need to look up to know she was glaring right at the Pharaoh, daring him to try something.

"Where did you get this?" he asked and I took it as a good sign that he wasn't snarling at me or thrusting out his hand to try and banish me to the Shadow Realm.

Seeing as I had no idea if the Pharaoh had encountered out ghostly friend yet I decided to play this 100% straight. "A tomb keeper named Shadi approached me before I made my way into Pegasus' castle. I'd just gotten Mokuba on the boat when he took this-" I held up the key, "-shoved it against my forehead and the next thing I knew we were in my mind."

"Inside your mind?" Joey asked, clearly dubious.

"We're in a virtual world right now Joey and THAT is the part you have trouble believing?" Mai asked.

"Well... this makes sense," Joey argued and I had to admit he did have a bit of a point. Not much of one... but a point all the same.

Before Mai could dig into Joey's little comment I decided to continue on with my tale. "After rooting around in my mind, visiting the best and worst moments of my life-"

"You're mom?" Mai whispered, low enough for only me to hear.

"Yeah," I murmured back before saying in a voice loud enough for the others to hear, "he asked me if I wanted a Millennium Item, I told him fuck no, and he still gave me this damn thing. I can't get rid of it... even in digital world." I wiggled the key before dropped it down against my chest. "And that is that."

"...so does it give you laser eyes or anything sweet like that?" Joey asked. The Pharaoh shot him a look and Joey shrugged. "Hey, come on, it's a legit question ta ask! And maybe the Key will do cool things, unlike you're puzzle, Yug."

"We have more important-my puzzle is a powerful mystical artifact, Joey."

"That does jack squat," Joey complained. "Okay, you can 'mind crush' people, Yug, but that ain't much. Pegasus could read minds! And summon the Shadow Realm!"

"I think all the items can summon the Shadow Realm," I told Joey. "Granted, I haven't had the urge to try..."

"So what does the key do, Ed?" Joey said excitedly.

I shrugged. "So far? I was able to lock my mind up so Pegasus couldn't read it-"

"Clever," Mai muttered.

"-and any door open to any other doorway I can think of. So basically I can teleport."

Joey beamed at that. "So like... a bank vault?"

"We aren't using Edwin's key to rob a bank, Joey," the Pharaoh told him sternly.

"Well... okay, ya, that wouldn't be great but... just think about all that money." He rubbed his hands together. "Maybe Kaiba's bank vault? That's all I' m suggesting. He'll never notice if we help ourselves..." He looked up to see me, the Pharaoh, and Mai shooting him dirty looks and grimaced. "I'm, uh, gonna go make sure Kaiba and Mokuba made it back okay."

"And then there were three," I said dryly as Joey run right into The Devil's Poop Shoot. "Feel free to follow after him," I told the Pharaoh who only stared at me. "Or not."

"I encountered Shadi as well in Duelist Kingdom. Originally he was checking to confirm that Yugi was worthy to house my spirit. I weighed his soul against a feather... the feather dropped like a stone, meaning that Yugi has a pure heart."

"I could have saved him some time and told him that," Mai said with a roll of her eyes.

The Pharaoh nodded at that but didn't smile. "Then he weighed my own soul. He was... startled by what he found. So was I." Atem looked down, clearly still stricken by the encounter. "The feather and my soul weighed the same."

"...and?" Mai asked.

I spoke up. "In Ancient Egypt it was believed that a soul was lighter than a feather so long as it was unburdened by evil. But the more darkness you placed within a soul the heavier it grew. For a soul to weigh as much as a feather..." I shrugged, not quite knowing what that meant.

The Pharaoh provided the answer, however. "It means that I sit at a crossroads. My soul is burdened by darkness but not so much to doom myself."

"Everyone has sinned," Mai stated.

The Pharaoh shook his head though. "This isn't sin. The scales do not weigh what you have done but what you are, deep down. Good men sin, evil men show kindness. But that does not change who they are deep down. I... could fall either way. Rise up like Yugi... and sink." He shook his head. "Shadi did not expect that."

"I wouldn't worry too much," I told him. "Shadi seemed to be flying by the seat of his pants. I don't think I was ever a candidate for the Key... he just had grown too desperate to wait a second more so he tossed it to me and called it a day."

"Perhaps... and perhaps you have a role to play still." The Pharaoh stood up. "I do know that I am willing to give you a chance Edwin, to prove that Yugi was right to call you his friend." And with that he stepped into the Lord of Hell's Stink Eye and disappeared.

"That... almost sounded like a compliment," I muttered. "Or at least a nice thing to say."

Mai chuckled at that before helping me to my feet. "Well, right to head back to the real world?"

"So long as I don't wake up with some doctor digging through my guts." I swallowed nervously. "Of course with how this is going to go I'm most likely going to step through and black out. So... uh... see ya when I get out of the hospital?"

"You'll see me when you wake up," Mai promised, kissing my check. "You owe me dinner and I' m not letting you weasel out."

And with that the two of us stepped through the portal, leaving the Virtual World behind.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Where... where are we?" Nezbitt said with a groan. The last thing he remembered was looking up through the eyes of the dragon head he controlled and seeing Edwin Chaos about to crush him... "Are we dead?"

"That depends on your definition of 'dead'," a voice called out.

It was Leichter who spoke up. "Noah Kaiba?"

"The very same." The world rippled and from the darkness there formed the green haired son of Gozaburo Kaiba, a smirk on his lips. "I saw what the usurper and his friends did to you and I decided to bring you here. Don't bother getting up... I haven't given you bodies."

The Big 5 suddenly realized that all they were... were thoughts. No body. No form. Nothing. They began to scream and yell and Noah listened on before slamming his fist into his open palm. "ENOUGH!"

The businessmen quieted.

"Now then... you failed because you played Seto's game. I intend to not do the same. We have centuries to prepare for their return, gentlemen." Noah grinned. "And I intend to be ready."

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