Chapter 30 - 30

Chapter 30

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I folded my arms across my chest and stared down the two teens that had just decided to approach me while I was minding my own business and begun to talk to me.

To me. Not with me. Because that would imply that I was actually able to say a few words.

It was becoming a rather annoying occurrence, honestly. Yugi was the King of Games and with that hair of his should have been recognized whenever he stepped out of his door. Yet he managed to go unnoticed for much of the time, able to happily live his life. Well... happily live his life with evil duelists constantly wanting to rip out his/his friends/his ghostly buddy's soul and stash it in the Shadow Realm. But me? Even though I'd come in 2nd place at Duelist Kingdom I got spotted all the damn time and had to deal with fans, suck ups, and people who wanted to hitch their wagons to my star.

"We just really think you'd love the game," the first teen told me excitedly. "And it would really help if you played it and promoted it!"

"Very easy to learn!" the second declared.

"So easy."

"Insanely easy."

"Uh huh," I said dryly, already feeling my brain trying to chew its way out of my skull and escape this conversation.

"So the first thing you need to understand is the Dice Pool."

The second one chimed in. "Or maybe the Crest Pool."

"But Crest Pools are connected to the Dice Pool."

"That's true but the Dice Pool is just the basis, the Crests are the most important."

"Well the Dice Master is also important."

"Oh, so important."

'That's it, I'm out of here!' I heard my brain say, following by the sounds of footsteps, a door opening and closing, and then a car screeching off into the distance. I suddenly understood what it was like to be Joey.

Originally I hadn't had much planned for the day... which, sadly, was how my days had been going for the last few weeks. After the events of the VR world things had calmed down and I found myself stuck in the Land Between Filler, the worst land to be in. At least with Filler Arcs something happened. But with me ducking out on meeting Rebecca there had been nothing really interesting for me to do. Normally I would have been able to do my job but... well... my job at the moment was staying out of Seto's way.

No, seriously. He'd actually presented me with a contract that said my job as minority shareholder in Kaibacorp was to stay out of his way unless there were board meetings. It'd even been notarized.

Apparently realizing that thanks not just to Pegasus' lawyers but also Mokuba's relationship with me that there was no way he'd ever actually be rid of my smirking face Seto had set about doing all he could to keep me far... far... far away from him and his projects and tasks. Not that I honestly minded as I'd never had the technical interest like Seto; I was creative and while I could woodwork, sculpt, and write working on complex computers had never been my thing. So I hadn't been chomping at the bit to be given a division of Kaibacorp and running it. Seto's contract had made it clear that unless I was asked for I was to sit at home collecting a massive paycheck. Oh, I had power... I could push to bring in a new investment or make suggestions. And with Pegasus and Kaiba butting heads I could easily play one against the other and pretty much control the company if I was subtle enough.

But at the moment there really wasn't anything to do meaning my days were spent trying to keep busy and fight off the boredom. Mokuba had been busy with school, getting done with the wind down for the year, while Mai had taken a trip up North to be interviewed for a fashion magazine and do a photo shoot. Yugi and his friends were also in school and my uncle had Chaos Communications which meant I was stuck finding ways to keep busy all on my own.

I was... handling it well.

~Two Days Earlier~

"Its okay Dil, I can plays right down here!"

"WHY!" I screamed at the TV as Tommy Pickles hugged his brother. "Dil hits you and never helps you out and still steals your toys! Why would you want to play with him! Why would you still love him! He's a bad baby!" I fought the urge to shake the tv and Shadow Realm energy burst from my body. "YOU SHOULD HAVE FED HIM TO THE WOLVES!"

~Present Day~

...fuck Dil Pickles.

So when I'd seen an advertisement for a new entertainment store called the Black Clown having a grand opening that entire week I'd decided to check it out rather than plot out how to murder fictional babies who were horrible and deserved to be punished for being horrible.

Of course that had meant slipping out of my uncle's place without being notice, which was easy with the Millennium Key. He was still looking for a bodyguard for me, as me being trapped on an island, nearly set on fire, and then fucking stabbed had made him a touch... protective. And that was without him knowing that I'd been trapped in another dimension for a day. He'd told me that he'd found the perfect person and were waiting for them to arrive and the Abed part of my brain wondered if I was going to get my own John Wiggle.

...which would mean Mai would soon be replaced with Felicity Smoak and that was going to fucking suck.

While the Black Clown advertised itself as a 'Game Shop' it was more like a comic book store and an FYE and a Spencers/Hot Topic merged into one massive multistory shop. There was a section for comic books and graphic novels and another for DVDs. A cd section and records for those that wanted to be hipsters and counter culture. A whole half floor dedicated to different graphic tees. And of course the toys which is where I had decided to camp out and figure out just what I wanted to fill my days with.

I'd past by the Diamond Muppet figures (getting the oddest thought about me dressed as Rick Sanchez yelling at Yugi for some reason) and was considering getting back into Legos ('cool, Lego Sesame Street set!') when I'd gotten accosted by two 'fans' of mine that were trying very hard to try and get me to endorse some new game.

"Now the hearts are important because you have to protect those," one of the two teens told me, shaking me out of my thoughts. "But to do that you have to make a path with your dice-"

"Oh fuck," I muttered to myself as I realized just where I was: Duke's Game Shop. And it was the grand opening which meant-

'Do I stop Joey from dressing like a dog or not?' I thought to myself as the two teens, not noticing that my eyes had glazed over and I wasn't focusing on them at all, continued to try and explain how Dungeon Dice Monsters worked. 'If I could even get him to not challenge Duke. Joey was one of the most stubborn people I've ever met-'

"Hey Ed!"

"Speak of the Devil," I muttered and, seeing the two teens had turned towards each other and began debating... something, I honestly didn't know, I made my escape and headed over to where Joey was standing with Yugi, Tea, and Tristan. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"Just checking out the game shop after Joey's duel with Duke," Tristan said. "Mr. Muto's might be more cozy and friendly but WOW does this place have some amazing things!"

"I'm trying to figure out how to sneak some of this stuff up to my room... my grandpa will have a fit if he finds out I was shopping here."

Tea let out a sad little sigh. "There are a lot of things I'd like to buy but..." she trailed off, looking anywhere but my direction... and especially my stomach where the wound from her father's knife was still healing up.

"Well, I suppose now is the time for some late birthday gifts," I said with a smirk, walking over to some pegs and grabbing four $100 gift cards.

"No way!" Tristan said excitedly. "Seriously man?"

"It's technically Kaiba and Pegasus' money," I pointed out. "So why not spend it?"

"I don't know, Edwin," Yugi said slowly, shuffling a bit. "It feels wrong-"

"Not to happily accept!" Joey said, wrapping his arm around Yugi and giving him a shake. "Right, Yug?"

"Heh... yeah," Yugi said, taking the hint.

"You sure about this, Edwin?" Tea asked, shifting from foot to foot.

I smirked. "I'm not in the habit of giving away money if I don't mean it," I commented as I went to the register and set about paying for the gift cards. Glancing over a Joey I remembered the mention of the duel and realized that must have been his battle with Duke. Except... he seemed to be in a great mood and NOT dressed as a furry so something was up. "So duel, huh?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as I could.

Joey rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah... didn't do that well."

"It was a brand new game you've never played before, Joey!" Yugi told him. "You did as well as you could."

"And aren't you glad you didn't make any insane bets?" Tristan asked.

"Insane bets?" I asked as the cashier finished the order and I passed out the gift cards. Without anyone saying a word it was decided that since I had been the one to buy the gift cards the teens would follow me around until I was done shopping, as it would be rather rude of them to demand after such a gift I left my browsing so they could spend my money.

"Aren't you a little too old for that?" Tristan asked as I grabbed a cart and put the Lego Sesame Street in there.

"You're just mad you can afford one," I pointed out.

"...maybe."

"Insane bets?" I repeated to Joey, causing the blonde to sheepishly rub the back of his head.

"Heh... yeah. So the guy that owns this place... well, actually he doesn't so much own it as his dad does and he just helps him run it but that doesn't matter... anyway, his name is Duke and he came to take a look at our school, to see if he wanted to transfer there in the fall. And he was acting all smug and getting all the girls to curl up next to him and coo about how wonderful he was and..." Joey shook his head in frustration. "This game shop is cool and all but it's hurting Yugi's Grandpa and his card shop and I was thinking I would do something to help out."

"You were going to challenge him to a duel and force him to close up shop!" Tea complained.

I shot Joey a dark look; even though he said he HADN'T done that and I knew from canon he attempted just that it still annoyed me and I had come to realize that I had to be the voice of reason for the group and get them to actually act like mature adults.

So, grabbing of the Winnie the Pooh Lego Set I had spotted I stared Joey down and waited for him to explain just what he'd been thinking.

"Yeah it was dumb, okay!" Joey exclaimed in frustration, racking his fingers trhough his hair. "I was just annoyed at that Devlin guy and thinking about poor Mr. Muto and..." He sighed. "But then I remembered what happened on the boat when we dueled and how I almost cost myself a card from my deck for no reason. And then I thought about what happened with Kaiba and the money for my sister's operation and I realized that I just couldn't do it. I mean... what if Duke demanded that Mr. Muto close his shop down? Or that I had to give him every dime I had."

"Or forced you to wear a dog costume."

The four teams blinked and slowly stared at me.

"...what you and Mai do when you're alone-" Tristan began to say only for Tea to elbow him in the gut.

"The point," Joey finally said, "is that I realized that I couldn't do that. Too big of a risk. So me and Duke just played his new game and did it for bragging rights." His shoulders slumped. "He totally took me out."

"But you still did really good for a first timer!" Duke called up, walking over to us. I was a bit surprised to see that Duke was all smiles... I remembered vaguely from the anime that he was pissy with Yugi because he blamed him for Pegasus never answering him back about his game. But I didn't get the sense of that here... he seemed rather polite and friendly, just like in Battle City.

"Eh," Joey said with a blush, "I did the best I could... but next time my best will be better than your best!"

"We'll see," Duke said before greeting Yugi. "Have you decided when you want to take me on?"

"I think maybe a week or two. I'd like to read up on the rules so I can really put on a great performance. Give the viewers something exciting to watch!"

"Viewers?" I said in confusion.

"Oh!" Tea said, pressing a hand to her mouth. "Edwin wasn't here when we talked about this!" She turned, gesturing at Yugi and Duke. "After seeing Joey's duel Yugi suggested he and Duke duel and they find a way to show it to people all over, to help get interest to build up in Dice Monsters. You know, get the buzz around it so then someone picks it up?"

Duke nodded. "I came up with doing a stream online... the Creator vs. the King of Games. That will get people super excited no matter who wins."

"And it will be fun to learn a new game."

I raised my eyebrows, impressed. "Well... I'm glad that you guys are able to become friends over this."

"Yeah," Yugi said, bobbing his head. "I was a bit worried when Duke mentioned that he looked up to Pegasus... I was afraid he'd blame me for what happened to him. But Duke was really good about it."

"Pegasus is clearly busy so I know it might take him a bit to get back to me. And with Yugi helping me when he DOES contact me I'll have a stronger hand to bargain with."

'Duh!' I mentally scolded myself. 'Last time Pegasus was able to escape and for a long time people thought he was dead. Because of my Uncle though Pegasus is on a World Apology Tour... so Duke has no reason to hate Yugi at all!'

"Wait a minute," Tristan said, scratching his chin. "What do you need to wait for Pegasus at all?"

Duek smiled at that. "I could try and market the game myself but a lot of the monsters I use are based on ones found in Duel Monsters. If Pegasus says no I'll look into finding an artist to create new monsters for my game but I think it would be a lot better if I was able to use monsters people were familiar with."

Tristan though just shook his head. "That's not what I'm getting at. Why not just get Edwin to produce the game."

"Say what now?" I asked.

"Hey man, Ed might be loaded but you can't just go from him givin' us these gift cards to him bankrollin' a game!" Joey complained.

"That's not what I meant," Tristan snapped back, annoyed. "Industrial Illusions and Kaibacorp merged, right?"

My eyes went wide. "Ooooohh...."

"And Edwin is now the entire Board of Kaibacorp..."

"...fuuuuuuccckkkk..."

"So that makes him the board of directors for Industrial Illusions too!"

"....meeeeeeee," I moaned as what Tristan had figured out crashed right down on me... and Duke judging by the way he was looking at me, utterly starstruck.

"Oh... oh! That's... that's perfect!" He ran up and grabbed my hand and I suddenly understood animals that would gnaw their own foot off to escape a trap. "We have to discuss the game!"

'A day talking about Dungeon... Dice... Monsters,' I thought. 'I should have let Tea's father finish me the fuck off.'

"Hey Duke?" Yugi called out, waving his hand as the teen began to drag me away. "Maybe it would be better to tell Edwin about it after the two of us dueled. Then he would be able to at least understand the game having seen it played?"

"Oh... yeah, that's a great idea!" Duke said with a grin. "You'll be able to see us battle and then we'll spend the rest of the day going over the game and my ideas on how to expand it."

"Oh. Goodie," was my dry response. Luckily Duke didn't detect my... less than joyful desire to spend time trying to learn his confusing game and left us after a few minutes.

"Thank you," I said with a sigh. "Though I get the feeling you only gave me a stay of execution."

"Aw, come on Ed! Duke's game is a blast! I just wish you could have seen my time playin' it!" Joey puffed up his chest and jabbed his thumb at himself.

"Uh huh. You two do realize that I might actually like to do things OTHER than play games, right?"

Joey and Yugi just stared at me.

"Have other hobbies?"

They blinked.

"Something that doesn't involve Duel Monsters? Or a spin off?"

"I am the master of the God Cards," Marik snarled.

"You're burglar who made his name through theft and falsehoods. You've sold your Rare Hunters on tales of a New World Order that will never come to pass. You dream of defeating the Pharaoh... a long dead man who doesn't even know you exist and didn't awaken in our world again until long after all the pain you suffered happened. You're angry... I get that. But you can't rage at people that had nothing to do with your sorrow."

"You know nothing of what I will do." He was still trying to push this, that he was the innocent party when he was literally forcing a man to be his slave.

"You're a liar... and a thief."

"Shut your mouth."

I let the next words roll of my tongue, a vindictive purr. "Murderer."

I could tell I had hit a cord there.

"Oh yes... I know the lie you tell everyone... even yourself."

"Quiet."

"Your father wasn't killed by the Pharaoh," I said, standing up and leaning over the table.

"I said be quiet."

"YOU killed him."

Marik let out a roar and Stephen grabbed the table, flipping it over and advancing on me. "Seize him! Break his bones if you have to! Then bring him to me my servants! I will dig the secrets out of his head."

'Me and my fucking big mouth!' I groaned, realizing that I had just taunted Yugioh's version of a mob boss. I looked towards the closest door and went into a dead run only for one of the Rare Hunters who I hadn't pegged yet, possibly not one featured on the show at all, tackled me hard.

And that's when my phone began playing a song and I knew I was screwed. Because this wasn't a 'Oh, he's rallying and kicking ass!' song or a 'Here comes the great escape!' song.

It was 'here is a melancholy tune to hear as Edwin gets his ass kicked' song.

When the night has come

And the land is dark

And the moon is the only light we'll see

No, I won't be afraid

Oh, I won't be afraid

Just as long as you stand, stand by me

The blows came hard and fast once the Rare Hunters realized I was actually down. I curled in on myself as they kicked and clawed at me, trying to get me to stretch out so they could more easily knock me out, do some damage, and drag me to Marik where he most likely hoped to just use the Millennium Rod on me or cast me into the Shadow Realm. In a detached part of my brain, the part that currently wasn't registering pain as boots were slammed into my lower back, I was utterly thankful I'd not only locked my brain down with the Millennium Key but also done the same thing to my chest, locking my soul in place to keep it from being ripped out again. One time with Bakura sending us into the cards was enough for me.

Of course that meant my soul was stuck in a body currently getting tag teamed by five guys who were eager to prove they were the best at dishing out agony.

So darling, darling stand by me

Oh, stand by me

Oh, stand now

Stand by me

Stand by me

I could feel the Millennium Key within me calling to be let out. That it could help me. The problem with that wasn't my fears of using it. Yes, dark magic always came with a price and ripping a hole into the Shadow Realm and unleashing who knows what... that would come with a mighty big price tag, I was sure of it. But the problem was that using the Millennium Items was all instinctual or based on belief. You either had to trigger a power by accident or believe that an item could do something. Yugi commonly did the first, I did the second. But I had no idea what the Key could do in this situation to help and I couldn't get a moment to focus in order TO do something.

I was too busy crying out and struggling not to bite through my own tongue as Marik's thugs laid into me.

If the sky that we look upon should tumble and fall

Or the mountain should crumble to the sea

I won't cry, I won't cry

No, I won't shed a tear

Just as long as you stand, stand by me

"Enough!" someone called out and the blows stopped for a moment, allowing me to catch my breath. But if they thought I was going to just uncurl and let them have at my softer bits they were sadly mistaken. And I was sadly mistaken thinking they actually thought that as it was clear that Marik, still in control of Stephen, had enough sense to realize when a plan wasn't working and alter things.

Hands with iron grips grabbed onto my wrists and ankles and began to tug.

And darling, darling stand by me

Oh, stand by me

Oh, stand now

Stand by me

Stand by me

I fought to stay curled up, thrashing a bit as they pulled and yanked, but with the four of them each taking a limb I soon found myself pulled into an X hold with Stephen himself, face utterly blank and eyes still glazed over, staring down at me.

"You should have taken my offer, Edwin," Marik told me. "Had you accepted this could have been a lot less painful for you. And I would have been kind and allowed you to keep your mind, had you merely served me willingly." Stephen raised his foot up. "But now I will rip your mind into pieces and reassemble it into the weapon to defeat the Pharaoh-"

And that's when a new player broke into the warehouse.

"Get away from him," a heavily accented voice called out.

"Re... Renard?" I murmured, my head turning to stare at Renard Volpe, the former Eliminator. His coat flared out behind him and the man stared down my attackers... then cracked his knuckles.

Renard charged forward.

And darling, darling stand by me

Oh, stand by me

Oh, stand

Stand by me

Stand by me

The two nameless Rare Hunters let go of my arms, moving to intercept the professional duelist, only for the self proclaimed swashbuckler to level them both with a twin clothsline. I wasn't idle either, though, choosing that moment to grab onto Stephen's ankle and yank hard, tripping up Marik's current puppet and causing him to topple to the ground before grabbing onto his skull and slamming him facedown into the concrete, feeling his nose shatter.

Whenever you're in trouble

Won't you stand by me?

Oh, stand by me

Oh, stand now

Stand by me

Renard quickly showed that he wasn't merely someone that knew his way around a deck. He a daredevil and a fighter and he proved it. Lumis and Umbra, startled by Stephen falling and the other two Rare hunters getting stiff arms to their throats, let go of my legs and moved to attack Renard only for the former Eliminator to throw the shorter one over his shoulder before doubling over the larger one with a solid haymaker right to his stomach. He crumpled and Renard smirked before suddenly spinning around and giving Shorty a kick to the side of his head, toppling him to. By that point Stephen had gotten to his feet, clutching his bleeding nose, but Renard grabbed his head and slammed it down into his kneecap, sending him one more to the floor.

And darling, darling stand by me

Oh, stand by me

Oh, stand now

Stand by me

"Come on!" he roared, pulling me up. I winced and hissed in pain but forced myself to move, Renard wrapping my arm around his neck and helping me make my towards a door.

"Hold on," I groaned, focusing. "Just trust me... getting us the hell out of here." I tapped into the power of the Key and touched the door before Renard pulled us both through.

Whenever you're in trouble

Won't you stand by me?

Oh, stand by me

Oh, stand now

Stand by me

Stand by me

~MC~MC~MC~

A few hours later Edwin sat in his living room, a heating pad on his back and several bags of ice littering his bruised body. Luckily nothing had been broken during that little rumble and all he had to deal with was ache, pains, and splotch marks on his skin. All that would go away soon enough... sooner, in fact because the anime never let injuries linger unless you were Solomon Muto.

Renard was puttering around the kitchen, fixing himself a sandwich, much to Edwin's amusement though he didn't really know why. It just seemed so odd yet also made a lot of sense. He was hungry, why not get a snack? Yet it also seemed so odd that Renard had suddenly appeared, seemingly out of no where, saved him from the Rare Hunters... and now was making a BLT.

"So," Edwin finally said, shifting to look over the couch towards the kitchen only to grimace in pain at the way his muscles protested that move, "what brings you back to Domino? Or have you ever been to Domino and this is your first time?" He paused, wiggling his jaw. "What did you give me as a pain reliever? Think its making me ramble."

"No, I think that is merely how you always are," Renard teased.

"Fair enough."

"And yes, I have been to Domino many times. For business, for pleasure, for boredom and excitement."

"And this time?" Edwin asked as Renard walked over and sat down on in an easy chair, setting his sandwich and a class of milk on the coffee table.

"Business. Your uncle contacted me. He remembered what I had done for Mokuba, how I helped you get the boy off of Pegasus' Island. He was impressed by that and the other work I have done. Both in the dueling and in the... other matters."

"Do I want to know what those other matters were?"

"Most likely not," Renard said with a smile before taking a bite of his sandwich. "Mmm... very good." He took another bite before continuing. "You have not had an easy time of it since we last saw each other, my friend."

"Stabbed, kidnapped... all good." Edwin went silent for a moment. "Damn, I need to call Tea and let her know I'm okay."

"Already done. I handled it." When Edwin looked at Renard in confusion the former Eliminator shrugged. "She contacted your uncle and he contacted me."

"You're the bodyguard he hired."

"I am. My duty is protect you, to ensure that you are safe. I see you will make this task very interesting."

"I'm sure my uncle is paying you quite a bit to put up with my annoying behind."

"I would have done it for free." He leaned back in his chair, a smile forming on his lips. "Do you remember what we talked about back on Duelist Kingdom? Our dreams?"

Edwin nodded. "Haven't quite reached the point where I can make clear to the immortals that I brought more good to the world than they ever did... but I'm getting there."

Renard smiled at that. "Mine has always been to find my crew. Those I would die for... for I know they would die for me. And thus we would all live. I saw what you did for Mokuba Kaiba... how you sacrificed wealth and fame to ensure that a boy was made safe. How you trusted me with that dream and as a result we brought good into this world." He let out a pleased little huff, setting down his sandwich. "I have thought long on this and the answer is now clear."

And with that Renard pulled himself from his chair and dropped to one knee, head bowed.

"You... are the captain I have long searched for."

"...no."

Renard looked at him, disappointment flashing through him only to see Edwin had stood up and was now holding out his hand.

"If we're going to work together... if I'm to be your captain? There is a rule: we are equal. You don't kneel to me. The world kneels to us."

With a smile Renard thrust his hand up, taking Edwin's in his own and sealing with a handshake what was destined to be a life long bond of friendship.

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