Chapter 26 - 26

Chapter 26

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"This isn't right," Tea said for the tenth time as we reached Mr. Stitch's Fine Clothing Store (because of course his name was Mr. Stitch; everyone in this world had a pun name of some kind if they weren't a main character; honestly I'm surprised Tea's family wasn't a bunch of farmers that grew green tea). She was wringing her hands together, looking about nervously like she expected at any moments the cops to come storming up to us with handcuffs.

'Of course, considering this world it was far more likely it will be whatever gang controls this street and extorts the shop owners,' I thought to myself as I twisted the knob and swung the door open.

"How did you do that?" Tristan asked. "That door was locked." He tried for a minute to force his way in before I'd been able to convince him to let me give it a try.

"The Millennium Key," I explained as we stepped inside. The place was dusty and the lights were out but it was filled with all sorts of clothing, still hanging on the racks as if the store was just waiting for someone to flick a switch and flip the sign to OPEN. I pressed my hand to the door and felt the lock twist, knowing that what I'd just done had not just locked the door but sealed it tight so no one could get in unless I let them. Handy, that. "As long as I hold it nothing is locked for me." Which was frankly terrifying to think about. I'd done some experiments after getting back from Duelist Kingdom and later after the VR World, when I had accepted I was now the master of the Millennium Key and embraced all that meant. Before I had been hesitate but now that I had come to an... agreement, for lack of a better word... with the item the power it held had magnified a hundred fold. The way I'd been able to deal with Serenity-

'No, don't think about that,' I thought, fighting a shudder that threatened to rip through my entire body.

"That's handy," Tristan said.

"What else can it do?" Yuri asked.

"I can make any doorway into a... well, a portal I guess. I grab a doorknob, think of a place I want to go, and the door now leads out to there. Mai and I were able to travel from Pegasus' island to Paris that way."

Yuri instantly perked up at that. "Then you can get... no." She instantly soured. "You'd have gotten us out of this world already if you could just make a portal."

"Yeah," I said, trying not to sound concerned. "Remember when I disappeared for a second, back at the hospital? I was trying to get to Serenity's room and it was completely empty. I can move about this world perfectly fine but I can't get us back to where we came from."

And that worried me greatly. Because best case it meant the rules of the Key didn't allow it to cross dimensions. But worst case, and that was where I was leaning, there was something... or someone... blocking me from escaping this world. And that was a massive problem.

"We shouldn't be here," Tea said, biting her lip. "We're breaking and entering. Why are we here?"

"It's not breaking and entering. I didn't break anything. We're just entering." That didn't ease Tea's mind at all. "Listen, if it makes you feel better it is very likely that Mr. Stitch was evil. Probably like that bicycle shop owner who invited Gary Coleman over for snacks."

Somehow hearing that someone she knew was probably a pedophile didn't make Tea fell better either. There was a reason why I'd decided not to become a psychologist.

"Anything else?" Yuri pressed. "I'm looking to see what we can do to defend ourselves and right now it looks like you have the best weapon."

I summoned the Key out and began to finger it. "Well, it can't be taken from me unless won in a duel or I freely give it up... and I don't plan to do either."

"Wait, are you sure? Because I was able to take the Millennium Ring from Bakura just fine."

"Take the Key then." I removed it from my neck and held it out.

"Uh... okay," he said, walking over and grabbing the Item from me... only to watching shock as it instantly disappeared from his fingers and reappeared around my neck. "Wait, what?"

"The Items can only be given away freely to a new bearer or taken by force as right of victory. You didn't do either so I was able to call it right back."

Tristan paled at that. "Then you mean Bakura-"

"Still has the Ring, even if he doesn't realize it." I held up my hand as Tristan and Tea opened their mouths to protest. "I'm not happy about it either but unless someone manages to beat him in a duel to claim the Ring he's stuck with it. And even then there are ways to weasel your way out of it... believe me, I've already been thinking of wording that would allow me to reclaim the Key." I shrugged as I let it reabsorb into my body, which was a sentence I'd never expected to say. "As for other powers? I am able to lock people's minds or open them up." I saw Tristan and Tea both start at that and I hurried to assure them. "Not like Pegasus. He can read your thoughts... or could when he had the Eye. Instead if I press the key to your head I'm able to enter your mind and see a representation of it. Or at least Shadi was when he looked in my mind."

"Shadi?" Yuri asked.

"Gravekeeper. Ghost."

"Of course ghosts are real. Because why not." I chuckled at that because yeah, we lived strange lives. "And the locking part?"

"It creates a wall around my mind. I did it before I went to Pegasus' castle and he couldn't read my thoughts. I'm also willing to bet I could lock myself down so that Yugi couldn't Mind Crush me if he wanted... or maybe tether myself so I can't get sent to the Shadow Realm." That was something I needed to try out because with Zorc gunning for me having that added protection would be nice. I was already secure against Marik trying to brainwash me but I would never say no to more protection.

"Is... is that what happened to Serenity?" Tea asked quietly.

"No." And I turned and walked away because I wasn't in the mood to talk about that... bad enough it was eating away at my soul.

When Pegasus had tried to invade my mind he'd hit the giant golden door that had formed around my brain thanks to the Key and, well, that had been that. He hit the wall, saw no way into the Citadel, and left. Nice and easy, lemon squeezy.

But Serenity? When she'd hit the wall something had... appeared. Something powerful and taunting. I would have thought it was the goddess that apparently had decided I was her champion or whatever but it had been a decidedly male voice that had attacked her. Something I was very sure was myself yet not myself. A piece of myself.

'Heh, I'm probably going mad,' I thought to myself with a bitter shake of my head. 'Yugi, Marik, Bakura... knowing my luck I'm developing a Yami Edwin myself.' And that... was a very bad thing. Because I didn't want to be possessed. But that might have been the better option over a Marik situation. If all my darkness had become sentient? That was bad for the entire world. Because an evil with my knowledge of this world, the power of the Key, and having no problem going violent? Oh, that was just asking for me to go God Mode on the world and everything would burn. One little walk into a nuclear missile silo...

Whatever that thing had been (and I REALLY wanted to know what fucking demon language it/I had spoken at the very end to Serenity) it had decided it simply wasn't good enough to kick her out. No... what had happened to her was what made me fear that it was truly a piece of myself that had decided to take control and protect my mind, because it was out of a movie. The film?

Doctor Sleep.

Fucking hell.

It/I had grabbed Serenity's soul, ripped it out of her body, and in keeping with the Key metaphor thrown her into a casket and locked it up nice and tight, wrapped in chains and covered in padlocks and then covered in concrete that had binding spells drawn right into its surface; I had no fucking idea how I KNEW those binding spells but I had and that was something else to worry about. Then it/I had kicked her still screaming eternal lifeforce into the deepest sea the Shadow Realm had, to sink forever more. Her last words in the hospitals lobby had been a shell crying out from the void with a whisper before she'd been gone, her body living because it was too stupid to know that nothing was coming back.

'Rather like this place,' I thought to myself darkly, looking at my reflection to make sure that I still looked like my self. Thankfully my hair wasn't getting longer or spikier, and there was no weird face distorting that happened with Yami Marik so that was a plus. The only sign so far that I was taping into the Key's power, according to the Pharaoh, was my eyes going all freaky. Which, I had to admit, was a badass look but I couldn't go around looking like that 24/7. 'Still, good indicator that I'm losing it.'

"I hate this," Tea complained. "Our friends fighting each other... Serenity stole Joey's soul..."

"It's not our Serenity or Joey," Yuri reminded her sister, wrapping an arm around her. "Just keep reminding yourself that. "This is another dimension."

"But they looked like them."

Tristan crinkled his nose at that. "Uh... not really." Tea shot him a look and he held out his hands, urging for calm. "Hey, you know I'm right! Joey looked like a gangbanger and Serenity was-"

"Mad Max Fury Road?" I asked. The others stared at me and I rolled my eyes. "I am going to find a dimension where they get my references."

Tea frowned at that, forgetting her concern for her Evil!Joey and Evil!Serenity for a moment. "You mentioned that before. That you've traveled to other dimensions... you mean with that Key?"

Hell, when someone offers you a perfectly good lie might as well use it. "Yes," I said with a nod. "Not like this though. I wasn't sucked into a fucking space vagina."

Tristan tilted his head. "You've been cursing a lot recently... what's up with that?"

"Remember how I used to say odd things? Find me in the alps and all that?" He nodded. "Was trying to quit. Censored myself. Didn't take so fuck it. If I'm your role model you are in for a world of suffering and pain."

Yuri let go of Tea and began to walk around the shop. "So you mind explaining to us against exactly what this dimension is? Because it is really throwing me off and you just saying, "Good is evil and evil is good" isn't helping clarify things all that much."

"Right," I said, clapping my hands together. "Okay, history lesson, kiddos! We are in what is known as a Mirror Universe. It is where morality has shifted. Those that are morally gray... not really changed all that much. So the general public is the same but now a bit more evil than good. More prone to snarl at each other or look the other way when a husband beats his wife. But the big heroes? They are now the Big Bads. And the Villains are now the heroes of this world." I paused, sucking on the right corner of my mouth. "The question is what kind of Mirror Universe are we in."

"Oh, good, there are more of than one kind of dimension where our friends are criminals," Tristan said sarcastically and I couldn't help it... I chuckled. Give a gold star to Tristan for his snarky behavior, because that was a good one.

"There are three main kinds of Mirror Universes... or Anti Matter Universes... or Earth 2s. Whatever you want to call it. The first is the most simple: the world is reversed. It preaches that being bad is the best way to get what you want so people become bad. And the rebels of our world become rebels here because they believe in goodness and kindness." I pointed at Tristan. "If you were told that it was alright to push around kids and steal their lunch money... in fact it was expected and the teachers thought it odd that you didn't do that, what would you do?"

"Point taken," Tristan stated. "The second?"

"A different person fills in a similar role, one that doesn't have the same morality as the people we know. So, for example, let's say that Prof. Hawkins got hold of the Millennium Puzzle instead of Yugi's grandpa. And he gives it to Rebecca and she solves the puzzle. She gets the Spirit but she teaches him jealousy and vengeance because she wants her grandfather's Blue Eyes back."

"I could see Rebecca doing that," Tea quietly fumed, clearly jealous already of the girl who was a rival for Yugi's affection and what the serious fuckity fuck she was 8 years old or some shit and Yugi was 15! That was Bill Cosby levels of creepy. "And yeah, I see what you mean. Or what if Mr. Muto got a different card from Mr. Hawkins, so Seto never went after him but someone else, someone who wasn't as forgiving and hurt him."

"Exactly. Chaos effect."

"Roll Credits," the ass from CinemaSins declared via my phone and I fought the urge to snap the fucking thing in half because dear lord it wasn't goddesses or Zorc or anyone else that was a cheeky bastard fucking with me it was my god damn phone that had a sense of humor!

"And the final one?" Yuri asked.

"Similar to the second. Instead of someone else stepping into the role it's the people we know making different choices that lead down different paths. Yugi solves the puzzle but he doesn't forgive Joey for taking that piece and instead Mind Crushes him. Pegasus is able to get his wife to the right doctors, they save her life, so he never uses the Eye to try and resurrect her." I shrugged. "We are all the complete sum of our actions. But you change one part of the equation and the solution is altered. A one becomes a zero and everything is altered."

"So, what do we do now?" Yuri asked.

"Get answers," I said firmly, looking over the racks of clothing. "And we start by getting out of these scrubs." I pulled off my top and picked up a purple dress shirt. "And word of advice? Subtle isn't done in this universe. Not if we don't want to be shaken down. We hide by being the center of attention." I smirked as I eyed some rather fancy looking suits; it was time for me to live up to my title of Devil.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Do I really need to wear this?" Tea complained, Yuri smirking as she passed her a shirt to try on.

"As much as the ass might annoy me at points, Edwin was right about it being best for us to stand out in order to hide." She'd glanced through the cracks of the shuttered windows of the shop and confirmed that, indeed, people seemed to dress a bit more wildly in this world. At least the ones that weren't looked about with frightened gazes, wondering if they were about to get held up.

"But this isn't... me," Tea complained.

"So if Yugi is so powerful to rip out souls... is it really wise to march into one of his gambling halls?" Yuri asked.

"So long as we make it quick we'll be fine," I said with a shrug.

"No need to go that far, good sir," a voice called out behind us, distorted and metallic and filled with mockery. I turned and noticed that the sidewalk had gotten rather empty, with only a single figure standing there. A man dressed in gray, with goggles and a wide brimmed cap and a Bane-like mask hiding his features. From the way he was staring at me I could tell that he was striping me naked with his eyes, trying to determine exactly who I was and what the worth of my organs might be. "If you wish for information on the King I would be more than happy to provide it."

"Well... that's neat," I said dryly. "For a price?"

"For a price," the man stated before giving a low, deep bow. "The Professor, advisor to his Highness the King of Domino. You are?"

"The Guardian Devil," I said simply. If he wasn't going to give me his real name then screw him I wouldn't give mine. I wondered who might be under that outfit. Kaiba perhaps? His stepdad was a hero in this world and I could see Seto being this Professor, working under Yugi rather than being his rival. It could also be Pegasus, considering the flair and sense of the dramatic the Professor had. Hell, with that title he might be Prof. Hawkins.

I didn't like going into things blind.

"Such an interesting title. Rather lofty don't you think?"

"Maybe I'm being humble with it," I said, subtly motioning with my right hand for the others to begin backing away. They couldn't run, not yet, but no need for them to be in the crossfire, especially since I was the only one who had their brains locked down. 'Fuck, I should have done all of them with the Key before we left.' I had no idea if my soul was safe but I had a feeling it was; that went I'd hit my brain with the Millennium Key I'd protected my soul as well. Hadn't Shadi gone into Yugi's soul room rather than his mind? That's what I'd been picturing...

"Oh, you are an interesting one... with even more interesting company." The Professor took a step forward, motioning towards the others. "I see at least two of the dead with you." He pointed at first Tristan and then Tea before focusing on Yuri. "You though... you are the one that will breed a lot of questions."

"Like how the fuck you look like me," Yuri said... one that wasn't standing beside me.

"No..." Yuri whispered as her own doppelganger moved to stand next to the Professor... wearing the uniform of Chief of Police.

Because of course in this reality SHE was the corrupt head of the Domino Police Force.

"I asked you a question," Evil Yuri demanded, taking a step forward, her facial muscles rendered to utter stone as she glared at our horrified Yuri. "Why do you look like me?"

"You look like her, actually," Tea said, having found her nerve in the face of someone attacking her sister. "Just... worse."

"Tea," Evil Yuri said with interest, stopping her approach and considering the teen carefully. "Finally grew a bit of a backbone I see. So odd... you always were a coward. Taking the coward's way out. You look so different from when I last saw you..."

'Considering The Professor said that I was with two dead people looks like this world's Tea decided to make friends with a noose.' Out loud I said, "Hey! Bull Connor. Eyes on the real threat, huh?" I snapped my fingers, knowing that I was being an idiot again and taunting someone that could kill me... but damn me and my white knight complex. "My people are my concern, not yours."

"They are my concern when they wear the faces of dead people... something I mean to rectify." She unclipped a collapsible baton and flicked it out, a twisted sneer on her face. "I wonder if her blood looks the same as mine."

"Well, last I checked her veins weren't filled with Krispy Kreme glaze so I'd say no."

"Really?" The Professor asked. "A cop and donut joke?"

"Would you prefer I began slut shaming her? I felt that to be more tasteless but if you want me to begin talking about how she must have rose up through the ranks by showing off how limber she was and how many cucumbers she could swallow then I can go that route."

"Is this really the best idea?" Tristan hissed.

"It was when I was hoping you'd idiots would have begun running by now," I growled back.

"We're not leaving you behind," Tea said firmly. God damn friendship forever bullshit!

Yuri however was staring at her Evil alternate self like it was a funhouse mirror that she could force into projecting her true reflection if she just looked at it hard enough. "So... what did you have to sacrifice for power, hmmm? How much of your dignity and your self-worth did you give up just so you could be the top dog?"

"Dignity is something rich people made up to keep the poor down in the muck," Evil Yuri fired back. "Honor? Rule of Law? You think those are basic rights, huh? Oh, I've dealt with people like you before, who come in and think they can shake up the system and change it so it works in some noble pathetic fashion like all the scum in the slums think it should. Don't take a bribe, don't beat down that man giving you lip, always have your partner's back. It's cute... till you realize that's how the world works."

"It's how you think it works."

"No, its how it works. If the people on the street didn't want to be shaken down they would have risen up long ago and kicked us out. Newsflash, dream girl, they outnumber my boys 100 to 1. They storm the buildings and they could kill us all. But they won't... because that would be acting for the whole group and they are focused on themselves. And even if they did... if I were eliminated tomorrow and a new system put in place... it would be just as corrupt. Because that's the secret you don't want to admit: people are shit. All the rules and laws and talk of honor... they were things created by the powerful in order to keep society running how they wanted." Evil Yuri smirked, eyes flashing in self-held victory. "I just decided that I should be the one making the rules."

"Might makes right, huh?" Yuri said in disgust.

"Might makes might. Who the fuck cares about what's right?"

"So you claw your way to the top in order to change things and then decide to just let the system continue on." Yuri shook her head. "Now whose the coward."

Evil Yuri's face twisted into a look of rage. Oh... my Yuri had hit a tender spot it seemed. "I am no FUCKING COWARD!" She took a step forward but I moved to block her, wagging my finger.

"I don't think so, Commish," I told her with a smirk. "I'm not done talking so how about you back the fuck off, okay? Breathing room."

"You think you can order me around."

"Me? No... but I think he can," I nodded towards the Professor. "You aren't in charge here, are you? For all you claim of being the top dog you aren't the one calling the shots. You work for the King, right? And the King, if he wanted us dead, would have had you just kill us. No... he wants us alive. And I am willing to bet he wants us strong enough so he can suck out some souls. You get a bit too swing happy with that baton and you might send us fluttering off to Heaven and he wouldn't want that. So Professor-" I looked toward that gray garbed man, "-call off your dog."

"You-"

"Enough," the Professor stated with mock sweetness. "You know he's right, Yuri. Our liege wants us to bring him the Guardian Devil... and I image he won't go if we harm his companions. So please stand behind me and look fierce but let someone with a brain actually handle things."

Evil Yuri turned towards him, trembling with rage and for the briefest of moments I actually thought she'd attack him. But then, with an aggressive yanking of her coat to straighten it, she walked back over and stood behind him. Though that didn't prevent her from shooting daggers our way with her eyes.

I didn't say a word. Oh, there were so many taunts I could have made. Jokes and insults as I needled the woman wearing our Yuri's face. I was pissed because from my interactions with Yuri I knew that the woman before her was her worst nightmare. That she'd end up like her dad, part of a vile system created to oppress and take advantage of others rather than help them, all in the name of greed. I wanted to tell her it would be alright and if I were someone who liked hugging (seriously, Tea had to stop doing that it gave me the full body shudders) I'd give her one and tell her it was alright. This women, Antimatter Yuri Gardner, was a slap in her face and it had my papa wolf instincts on full alert, the beast within curling back its lips to reveal its fangs and snarling threats.

But I stayed silent. I didn't say a word. I didn't even look directly at Evil Yuri. Because I knew for a woman like that it was the worst thing I could possible do. I'd dismissed her. I'd looked at her, found her wanting, and moved on to the true 'Boss'. And that was eating her up from the inside out.

"So Professor," I said casually, acting like we were co-workers who'd stumbled upon each other in the breakroom, "what are your thoughts on all this?"

The gray garbed man considered me carefully before stating, "You are from another world, aren't you? A dimension like our own but different. Not clones or magical constructs... you are from a world adjacent to our own." He paused, studying me once more. "Why are you here, Guardian Devil? To be a hero? A liberator? A conqueror?"

"I'm just a guy trying to get back home," I said honestly. "Me and my friends have no problem walking away from all this and going back to your dimension."

"Really?" The Professor said, intrigued. "Just like that?"

"Just like that. This world has its own rules... not my business to force my morals onto it."

"Bullshit," Evil Yuri snapped, the Professor though holding up a hand to silence her.

"I believe you," the masked fellow finally replied. Even with his distorted voice I could tell he was utterly surprised. "I believe you," he repeated. "How very strange. That is the last thing I thought you'd say, I don't mind telling you. I thought for sure you had the foolish idea of liberation in that head of yours. Our enemies have tried to find allies to drive us back many times... I considered you were just another attempt to take control for themselves and force their ideals upon the world. But you aren't interested in that at all... you just want to go home."

"We do," I said, mentally adding, 'and then lock our dimension up tight so you can't come marching in to invade.'

The Professor let out a sigh. "All the pity then that we find ourselves here. Had you found me first, been a bit more quiet in your arrival, I would have helped you achieve just that. Sent you on your way."

"Would you?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest, making it clear I didn't believe him.

But the Professor nodded his head. "Oh yes. But you see the King... he has gotten it into his head that he must see you, Devil. See the man that so easily defeated Serenity Wheeler. And what the King wants... the king gets." The Professor shrugged helplessly. "And so it is."

"And so it is," I replied. "You expect me to just follow you?"

"No no no... you're too smart for that." He jabbed his finger at me, mockingly. "A duel. That is how everything is settled here in our world. Not one for your soul... again, the King wants to see you first. I think a simple duel to decide if you follow me or not. Nothing more or less."

"Interesting," I said before nodding. "Deal."

"Wonderful!" The Professor said, snapping his fingers. One of Evil Yuri's officers, who I suddenly realized had been lurking in the shadows, brought the Professor a duel disc which he snapped onto his wrist, the man pulling out his deck and shuffling it. "I do wonder, Devil... have you figured it out yet?"

"Figured what out?"

"What's right in front of you." With that the Professor reached up and removed his hat, setting it on a bench he was near before grabbing onto the left lens of his goggles and pulling it away, the piece snapped off the other so it could twist and slide so that it tucked behind his ear, leaving a grayish blue eye visible. A few strands of dark blond hair fell from beneath his hood as he then gripped his mask, clicking several latches so that, with a hiss, the piece detached from his hood so he might pull it away, revealing his face.

"Oh my god," Tea whispered.

"Is that-?" Tristan gasped

"It can't be," Yuri said.

"It is," I replied quietly, wondering how I hadn't guessed at all who the figure who, despite having scars around his mouth rather than a beard, wore a very familiar face.

Mine.

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