Chapter 51 - 51

Chapter 51

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"I forfit."

I could feel Renard's scowl burning on the back of my neck but frankly I didn't fucking care. Rather than even glance his way I instead walked over to the young man I had just dueled in the quiet out of the way alley... no. I wasn't going to be that arrogant to call it a duel. I hadn't even had a chance to do more than set a single card of the field before my opponent, a 17 year old who used a Mole Deck of all things, had set his hand back on his deck and surrendered.

Just as we'd agreed to.

"My two locator cards, rather than giving up my rarest card." He walked up to me, adjusting the heavy goggles that were pressed on his forehead, holding out the two clear pieces of plastic. He was dressed in heavy leathers, from his long coat that was splattered with old mud to his work pants. He even looked a bit like a mole, with his round face and the wispy beginnings of a mustache.

"Thank you," I said, accepting the two cards before casually pulling out my checkbook. "And by the way I really like those gloves. Don't suppose you'd be willing to sell them."

"$10,000."

"Deal," I said with a smile, quickly filling out the check. "Thank you Mr. Lutum."

"No," the Mole Duelist said, his nose actually twitching as he took off the gloves... which, clumsy me, I dropped on the ground right in front of him, "thank you Mr. Chaos!"

"Alright Renard, you have several hours to bitch... let's go," I said with a wave of my hand, trying to keep my tone flippant and wondering how bad I was failing. I never liked being told I was wrong as I much preferred to catch my own errors and mistakes and correct them before they became a problem. More so I hated it when people told me I had made a mistake when in fact I was in the right. I enjoyed a good debate or fight but when someone was clearly coming at me not from a philosophical disagreement but a factual one, believing they were correct and I was wrong and that I must change, that set my teeth on edge.

"It wasn't honorable, Captain," Renard said simply as I slid the locator cards into my duel disc, signaling to the KaibaCorp computer system that I had collected all six and thus was now a finalist. "And before you say anything it is my duty as your second mate to inform you when you have errored so you might correct yourself and move on."

"And that is all well and good when I have errored," I said coolly.

"You still believe this is right."

"I didn't break a single rule," I pointed out. "The rules are clear there must be a duel. I had one."

"That wasn't a duel that was a farce."

"Oh, I agree that it was a farce of a duel but that still makes it a duel, Renard. I so do love technicalities." My bodyguard though glowered at that. "I had the duel. That should be all that matters."

"You bought your way into the finals."

"I bought some gloves," I said, patting my pockets. "That I lost. I am silly like that."

Renard though merely growled at that. "Do not insult my intelligence-"

"I bought the gloves," I said. "Because if I had bought the locator cards I'd be banned from the tournament. But there was nothing about other deals. And what is the Devil without his deals?"

"It was without honor, Captain," Renard repeated.

"Do you know what honor is, Renard?" I asked. "Do you know what it truly is?"

"A code one lives by to live a good and just life."

I nodded as we reached the street and began to walk, the crowd flowing both with us and against us though rather than be swept up by it the two of us forced everyone else to move. We were large stones in a river, forcing the water to rush by rather than shove us along with it. "That is the most basic definition. The nice clean black and white version of it. But just like with good, evil, and me... there is something in the middle. Something far more nuanced and detailed. For starters there are two kinds of honor."

"I speak of the honor of a duelist that all-"

"I'm not going to bring up cannibals and how its honorable for them to eat their dead. That's too easy of an argument. I'm taking about..." I paused. "Renard, that's a cute baby."

He followed my gaze towards a mother who was busy watching a duel and her baby who was currently reaching up from his stroller (though thanks to reading far too much Buffy the Vampire Slayer romance fanfics my mind wanted to call it a pram) to play with a small stuffed toy that dangled above his little head. The baby was just nearing the peak level of cuteness, that time between it being a squalling potato and a loud annoying mini person.

"It is," Renard said, brow furrowing as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Is this about how the baby has no understanding of honor and we teach him what is right and wrong?"

"Nope," I said with a casual shrug. "Just saying he's cute."

"Oh."

"...kidnap him."

"Pardon?"

"Kidnap the baby."

Renard stared at me.

"You swore to aid me, Renard. You gave your WORD. Now obey your captain and kidnap that innocent baby."

My bodyguard glowered at me. "You are making a point."

"A good one." I gestured between the two of us. "There are two kinds of honor. External and Internal. External honor is that of society, both given and followed. It can then be broken up into horizontal and vertical honor. Horizontal honor is respect among peers. You dueled hard against me during Duelist Kingdom and thus I showed you respect. I honored you as a worthy foe. PaniK, on the other hand, was a cheating piece of shit and he received a Mind Crush for his trouble. Vertical honor is elevating people below you or honoring those above you with respect. A knight bowing to his king or a lord granting lands to a loyal servant. That sort of thing.

"That feeling of distress you just had? It was external and internal honor going to war. Your internal honor would never let you kidnap a baby... and frankly it made my own internal honor shudder just suggesting it as an example. External honor demanded you obey because you have given me vertical honor as your Captain. When those two clash... it can create a kind of disconnection between reality until you figure out how to make the two things work together. Even if they make no sense. It is how a man who reads the Bible and believes in the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus can happily bayonet a defenseless man."

Renard nodded at that, looking rather pleased that I hadn't actually wanted him to kidnap a baby. Even if I was getting annoyed that the mother wasn't paying attention to her child.

"Yugi and his friends... even you... believe in External Horizontal Honor when it comes to dueling. That you respect your opponent, they respect you, and that nothing outside of the duel is done to influence it. Internal Honor is about doing what you know is right in your heart, even if the rest of the world will view it in disgust." I paused. "Kaiba's duel with Yugi. When he decided to step onto the battlement and force Yugi to decide against losing the duel and risking Kaiba's life... that was the perfect example of External and Internal Honor on both sides."

"What do you mean, captain?"

"On Kaiba's side he knew that what he was doing was wrong. That he wasn't going to win through skill he was going to win through dirty tricks. It's why he has never claimed that he truly defeated Yugi and that their feud is settled. In his mind Yugi still has one up on him. But his Internal Honor screamed at him to do all he could to save his company and avenge his brother. That won out in the war. Same with Yugi. External honor stated that Kaiba had cheated and deserved to be punished... no different from PaniK being mind crushed. After all... I don't think PaniK is ever coming back so Yugi has killed before."

Renard nodded. "His internal honor though said that killing was wrong. Especially when he understood that what Kaiba was doing was through desperation, not cruelty."

"Exactly," I said. "And when Yugi almost finished the attack... external vertical honor came into play. Tea Gardner called out for him to stop. Someone... though I guess Yugi would never think of her this way... that looked to him as a leader called for him to stop. That what he was doing was WRONG. And she could not see him as a leader if he did that. All that honor..."

"Caused him to lose his grip on who he was and thus why he had so many problems against Mai," Renard said, having watched the tapes the finals at my place one night.

"Exactly," I said. "The thing though is, Renard... I hate external honor. Because it is a horrible thing that is so often used to oppress." I paused. "You ever hear of the tale of Arjuna and Krishna?"

"I have not."

"I am going to butcher it. Arjuna was commanded to fight in a war against his own family. To slay kin... that is a stain against one's soul. He wondered if he should do it... if it wouldn't be better for him to set his weapon down and walk away. His driver was taken over by Krishna, a deity, who told him he must fight... that it wasn't for him to think such things and that he must do as he commanded by those above him, for honor demanded he obey. He would be rewarded in his next life even for doing something that he did not want to do in this one."

Renard frowned. "That sounds..."

"Like horse shit?"

"I wasn't going to be so colorful with my words." Renard shook his head. "But I assume your issue is that this god basically told a mortal... how to put it..."

"Know your role and shut your mouth," I said, quoting the Great One himself. "A happy little story about how honor demands you never strive for more. You never question something you have a problem with. Just accept and in the next life that none of us will be around for you will get your reward." I rolled my eyes. "Horse shit."

"Somehow we have gotten off of you cheating-"

"I worked within the rules to gain an advantage. No different than Seto Kaiba dueling in his own damn tournament, one where he wrote the rules for, and which he designed around him holding a powerful card that can't be defeated by anything but raw power." I scowled, shooting Renard a side-eye glance. "Do you even know WHY I did that? Because it has nothing to do with prize money or rare cards." Renard, after a moment, shook his head. "The Rare Hunters. They aren't going to let up for a second. In fact things are only going to get worse. I had to fight Marik in the mind of one of his minions and after a few minutes he went and fully took over another and nearly killed Yugi and the Pharaoh with some monster who, apparently, holds an actual part of a god's power in it!

"This... this isn't a tournament anymore, Renard. This is a war that is being fought and Marik might not be winning but he certainly isn't losing. He attacks, we react. I'm sick of that. Especially because it's clear that as I tweak his nose he gets bolder. More desperate to win. He is going to come after people, innocent people... and I need to be ready to step up and stop him. And I can't do that if I am worried about finding people to fucking duel!" I gestured at my locked deck box and the 6 locator cards inside. "Now I have my spot secured. We have-" I checked my watch, "-5 hours to find the others and make sure they are safe and aren't captured or mindwiped or anything else. And that is worth every scrap of meaningless external honor that exists in this fucking world."

I panted, struggling to catch my breath after unleashing that rant.

"Do you understand, Renard?"

"Better than you might suspect," He said, nodding his head backwards... towards the reedy looking man that was now pressing a dagger against the small of his back.

"My employer would like to meet with you," he said, his voice tinted with a Hispanic accent if his tanned skin and bushy hair hadn't already been a giveaway.

"...yeah, that seems about right," I muttered before slowly lifting my hands up to show I was going to come peacefully.

~MC~MC~MC~

"And that is all of them!" Mai said with a grin, though it wasn't quite as bright as Yuri would have expected from her friend seeing as she'd just gotten all six locator cards. The last duel had helped clear her head a bit after the whole 'you have a goddess living inside your brain' reveal but she was still a touch shaken. "Keep the card, kid," she said to her opponent, a young woman probably around Tea's age, who had used a deck focused on flowers. "I just need the locator card."

"Oh... well, okay. I guess thanks for that."

"You'll do better next time," Yuri told her gently but the girl didn't seem to hear, instead walking off in a bit of daze as it slowly dawned on her that her time in Battle City was over.

"You aren't going to claim I was too hard on her, are you?" Mai asked as she slotted in her locator cards, beaming as it projected the location of the finals.

"Not at all," Yuri assured her. "You weren't malicious when it came to your moves. You also weren't coddling of her. You dueled hard."

Mai's smile became a bit more eased at that, tension leaking from her features. "I was... a bit worried that I was being too hard on her. That I was..."

"Stop that," Yuri told her. "You aren't Selene. You just found out something about yourself but that doesn't change who you are."

"Change what about you?" Tea said, running up to them.

"Nothing," Yuri said.

"Apparently I'm a goddess," Mai said bluntly.

Tea blinked.

"Uh," she said, looking at Yuri, "is that her being boastful or honest? Because with Yugi having a ghost living in his puzzle, alternate realities, brainwashing, and Tristan being a werewolf-"

"I think that was just Renard messing with him," Yuri said, shaking her head and smirking.

"-I can't tell anymore what is metaphor and what is real."

"Oh, this is real," Mai complained. "Turns out I'm some moon goddess. Or, rather, I'm the moon goddess when she decided to block off her memories because she got bored being immortal and wanted to find out what it was like to be human." She threw her arms out in frustration. "And apparently Edwin is the reincarnation of her dead Greek lover and she wants to turn him into a god as well and... I don't know, bang in the clouds for everyone to see."

"Don't visual that," Yuri warned her sister.

Tea tilted her head before looking slowly skyward.

"And of course that doesn't mean I get any nifty powers or anything. NooooOOOoooo! I am just the mortal she gets to play around as like a bad cosplay until she finally decides I don't matter and she... erases me or something and steals my boyfriend."

"That's not the sense I got when it came to how that worked," Yuri said gently. "When we spoke it was more like you just... remember everything. She clearly has your memories."

"So I'm just a tiny piece of the bitch," Mai growled.

"If you are so blessed why work for Marik then?" Tea asked and Yuri became amused when she saw the twins flinch at that little bullseye. "I would think to wealthy and powerful nobles as yourself wouldn't need to stoop to working with the likes of him."

Evelyn quickly rallied, her face becoming an arrogant mask once more. "We do work with him... with... because he has offered us the ability to right the wrongs of our family."

"And those are?" Yuri pressed.

"Our inheritance," Eugene said darkly. "Stolen from our family. What is rightfully ours will be returned to us. But that doesn't concern two low class wretches such as yourself. So, while you might have all the time in the world to stand about filling your empty heads full of nothingness... we have other matters to attend to so please, if you wouldn't mind, hurry up so you might lose."

"Okay then," Tea said. "I summon the Agent of Miracles, Jupiter, to the field." The burly warrior angel appeared, giving out a low growl as he stared at the twins.

But Eugene merely rolled his eyes, reaching up to push his bangs back from his forehead. "Such an uncouth creature, even if it does try to drape itself in the culture of the ancients. I will enjoy destroying it and taking out your lifepoints."

'Not with Tea's field spell on the field,' Yuri thought to herself. "Sanctuary in the Sky reduces all battle damage her Fairy monsters take to zero, meaning that so long as she has one fairy on the field they can't harm our lifepoints through straight battle against her.' Her jaw worked. 'Meaning that they will be coming at me as the weaker link. Which is fine... I just need to buy Tea time to set up some deadly moves in order to win this duel.'

Eugene lazily held out a card. "Only the reckless and uneducated rush in. It is far better to begin the dance slow. Circle your opponent and look for a weakness that you can exploit. As such I will start by setting this monster in facedown defense mode and one card in my spell and trap zone face down." He paused, looking at his sister. "Tell me... does this not remind you of Berlin?"

"I believe I see where you are coming from."

Yuri ran her tongue across her front teeth; code. Fucking code. When she'd been attempting to get moved into undercover work she'd studied code. It hadn't even come into play for work, as her father had made sure she stayed at a desk and thus out of danger, but now it let her see what the royal pains were doing... and how to do it herself.

"Tea and I have never been to Berlin, though our father did promise," Yuri said before glancing at her sister. "Before he threw everything away..."

It took only a moment but then Tea nodded. "Yup. Not a great loss though. I hear it's a boring place."

"Boring?" Evelyn complained. "That only proves your low class upbringing that you think-"

"Card Destruction!" Yuri called out, slapping the card onto her duel disc. "This card forces us to send all the cards currently in our hands to the graveyard and then draw from our decks new cards equal to the ones we tossed away."

Eugene merely chuckled. "Tossing away bobbles matters little to me."

"...or me, beloved brother," Evelyn said, not sounding as convincing as her brother on that matter. "But it matters not because-" A shriek ended her comment and Yuri merely smirked, not needing to look behind her to know that the ghostly form of one of her fiends had appeared behind her.

"Something the matter?" she teased.

"What... what is that beast?"

"That beast is the fairest creature in all of Dark World. Snoww, the Unlight of Dark World. When she is discarded from my hand I am able to add one Dark World citizen from my deck to my hand." She took out her deck and looked it over before nodding to herself. "And... I'm not done." Another cry of horror from Evelyn bubbled up as the woman squeezed her eyes shut just as a new Dark World monster appeared, only this one was bursting from the ground. "And when I discarded Beiige, the Vanguard of Dark World to the graveyard he was able to special summon himself to the field in defense mode. Now I'll just set one card in my spell and trap zone... and end my turn."

"Such horrid beasts!" Evelyn bemoaned. "How can you stand to be around them?"

"I don't know, how does your brother stand being around you?" Tea asked, surprising Yuri with her vicious quip.

Evelyn sneered at her. "You will pay for that little insult."

"If I had a nickel for every two bit thug that had told me and my friends we'd pay for some seen slight I'd be as rich as Edwin," Tea commented. "Get some new material."

The female Rare Hunter face screwed up in disgust before she let out a harsh breath of air. "Very well... allow me to show you the power of my deck. I start by reveal this to you, the grand ruler that will be your end. The one that all monsters bow to: Erebus, The Underworld Monarch!" She held up the card. "By revealing my royal ruler I can use Tenacity of the Monarchs, which allows me to add one Monarch card from my deck to my hand." She took out her deck and idly thumbed through it before finally selecting a card. "And now I play the field spell card Domain of the True Monarch!"

The Sanctuary in the Sky rumbled as a new building formed in its center. It was a grand keep, with stain glass windows showcasing each of the Monarchs in their domain. "This card allows me to reduce one Monarch's level by two... and I select my Erebus! Costing only one tribute..."

"Oh sweet sister, please use my monster," Eugene said.

"Thank you beloved brother. I sacrifice his downface monster to summon forth Erebus!"

A giant ebony throne appeared before the Keep that dominative the landscape behind the twins and upon the throne sat Erebus, cloaked in his obsidian armor, head resting on his fist as he projected an air of utter boredom.

"Next I send two Monarch spell cards to the graveyard in order to activate his effect. Erebus now gives out his royal decree, exiling your Jupiter from your field back to your deck!" Erebus raised a single finger and tapped it down on his throne, releasing a wave of energy that struck Jupiter and caused the angel to struggle to remain on the field before he was sent flying off. "And now I think I will take away nearly all your lifepoints! Erebus, attack that guttersnip directly!"

Yuri held out her hand. "Reveal my facedown card: Dark Scheme!" She smiled as the monarch, half risen from his throne, was forced to pause. "This card allows me to discard two cards and then draw two cards, and then forces you to do the same."

"A piffle," Evelyn said.

"For you. For me it allows me to protect my sister. The two cards I have sent are another Beiige, the Vanguard of Dark World, and one of Dark World's powerful generals; Silva, the Warlord of Dark Wold!" The two monsters appeared, Beiige crossing spears with the other Vanguard while Silva merely waited, hand on his sword. "And I have my first Beiige move to intercept your monster's attack!"

Erebus rose and slowly raised his foot before bringing it down, causing another wave of energy to rush out and shatter the Beiige Yuri had sacrificed... but leave their lifepoints safe.

"Thanks," Tea muttered.

"Make it up to me next turn."

Tea... flashed a slight smile. One that Yuri recognized far too well. She'd sent it her sister's way when Tea was 5 years old and Yuri had turned just as she was getting ready to enter the doors of her school on the very first day of class and seen the kindergartener hadn't listened to her when she'd told her to go to the door with the happy suns on it and instead spend 10 minutes following after her like a duckling. It was the smile Tea had used when Yuri had been looking for her favorite jacket only to learn that not only had Tea borrowed it but she'd left it at Yugi's place and it was 10pm at night and there was no way she could call and get it at that point. The smile Tea always sent when she was trying to break it to her gently to her sister that no... things weren't going to work out EXACTLY as she wished.

Yuri merely took a breath before focusing on the twins. It would do no good to let them know that Tea wasn't moving towards some epic combo that would win them the duel.

"I set this card in facedown defense position and end my turn," Tea declared.

"I understand wishing to protect your sister," Eugene said as he drew. "I truly do. It might be the only noble thing you have done so far, peasant. But... even the bonds of family can not stand against the right of royalty. And now you will come to understand that fully. Starting with this: Pantheism of the Monarchs! This card allows me to send one spell card that focuses on Monarchs to the graveyard to draw two cards." Eugene did just that. "And then I activate The Prime Monarch, which allows me to send two of the Spell Cards I have sent to the graveyard back into my deck and draw a card." He did just that. "And now I will leave it to you, sweet sister."

"Thank you beloved brother, I will do you proud. Far more than that little girl did her sister."

Yuri growled at that, eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I have always been proud of Tea and I always will be. She is one of the best people I've ever know. Never allowing my father's wealth to spoil her. Never letting the prestige our family name gained to corrupt her. She could have been an upper class snob but instead she has humility and grace; two things you freaks don't have."

"My word!" Eugene gasped, horrified by the name calling.

"Cram it!" Yuri snapped, drawing. "I activate Dark World Dealings. This card forces every player to draw a card and then discard one." Everyone did just that, though Yuri looked the most pleased. "And if you haven't figured it out by now... I so do love sending my Dark World monsters to the Graveyard. Because that is just another piece of their shadowy home... and they can work out so many deals and schemes there. Such as this: because I discarded Grapha, The Dragon Lord of Dark World, he can now give the command for the forces of the underworld to drag your Erebus to the card graveyard!"

"You dare lay those filthy hands on royalty?" Eugene exclaimed.

"Oh... I dare," Yuri taunted as Erebus shattered thanks to the shadowy claws of her fiends dragging him down. "And the Dark World... it is a place of constant feuding. Much like the games of you upper class. Appearing all friendly and polite when in reality you scheme to ruin each other. So even as one Dark World monster is sent to the grave another works to take advantage and rise up! Silva, attack Eugene directly!" The warrior fiend nodded, drawing his weapon and racing forward.

"I am afraid I can't allow you to do that!" Eugene said, holding out a card high above his head. "For it is not merely the Underworld you face... but the heavens above! I banish my Pantheism of the Monarchs from my graveyard to summon forth Ehther the Heavenly Monarch!"

From the sky came a great burst of light, forcing Tea and Yuri to cover their eyes. When they were finally able to see again they saw a great ivory throne had appeared on the field and sitting upon it was a monarch cloaked white and gold, a great staff held in his hand.

Yuri tapped her duel disc, stopping the attack.

~MC~MC~MC~

"I think we're far enough away now," Mai said, looking back down the alley they'd gone down. "Definitely lost those Rare Hunters." She pulled out her phone. "I'm going to call some backup. Edwin should- Hey!" She snapped her eyes towards Namu, who had smacked her phone out of her hand. "What is the meaning of... oh no, you're a Rare Hunter too."

"How clever of you," Namu said with a smirk while Bakura suddenly straightened, his weakness gone as he leered at her. "Though not quite as clever as you might think, seeing as you haven't just allowed yourself to be captured by a Rare Hunter... but their leader."

"Marik," Mai said, eyes narrowed. "And let me guess... you're that Spirit of the Ring Edwin told me about."

"Indeed," the Spirit purred. "And we want to have a chat with you, Mai Valentine. Concerning your paramour, Edwin Chaos."

"He has been a thorn in our side for far too long," Marik said, stepping towards Mai and forcing her to back up into a wall. "Embarrassing us both. We thought long and hard about how to defeat him and I do believe that you will be the perfect weapon to do that."

"And you expect me to do so willingly?" Mai asked with a huff, trying to hide her nerves at the two men that were flashing slasher smiles her way.

"Oh, if you won't we can always make you," Marik said, pulling out the Millennium Rod. "According to my spies Edwin has been locking down minds with his Key... but I am willing to try bringing the full might of my Rod and Bakura's Ring against his defenses and seeing them shatter."

"That may destroy your mind though..." Bakura said.

"Or you might be bluffing and know you can't crack what Edwin did," Mai shot back.

Marik never lost his smile. "That may be... but can you really trust Edwin... when he's been lying to you?"

"You might be enjoying your time together... but it can't last," the Spirit taunted. "There is another who has laid claim to him. A goddess... and she doesn't share."

"You're right," Mai said... as the memories flooded through her brain. Her eyes went black and silver and she sneered at the two. "I don't."

Before the two could even react Mai snapped her hands out and grabbed them by their shirts, lifting them up and holding them in the air before tossing them across the alley and into a wall. Marik was the first to get up, rubbing his head and groaning slightly. He was used to taking hits, his father having more than once struck him when he didn't do exactly as the 'Head of the Tombkeepers' demanded of 'the glorious heir'. The Spirit was slower to rise but was getting there but Marik couldn't pay attention to him as his focus was on Mai... or rather the being that had been parading around as Mai Valentine.

Every step she took seemed to cause her to change. Her poofy blond hair lost its height, becoming a pale golden river of locks that fell down to her hips. Her body grew taller and stronger, not overly muscular but with enough strength to show that she could back up her words with physical might. Her smile lost all warmth and become as cold as the depth of space and her skin radiated pale waning light as she finally came to a stop. She towered over them, 8 and a half feet tall, with every angle and curve of her body now designed to make mortals drop to their knees in adoration. She fingered her jacket before letting out a huff, waving her hand and causing it to form a thin silver dress that slide down her curves like mercury, her shoes disappearing and leaving her barefoot.

"I warned you before, Patchwork," the woman before them said with a voice that was at once soft and thunderous, "that it was unwise to harm that which is mine. And now you not only attempt to harm my Endymion... you bring along the Pharaoh's servant to harm ME?" She let out a laugh devoid of joy and mirth. "I am Selene, titan of the moon. Your bones will be dust and your names forgotten and I will remain. You could produce a thousand sons and a thousand daughters and command them to journey across the world and spread your essence and still your bloodline would die before I would feel even a second of eternity pass. And you dare to try and harm me?"

Marik quickly held up his hand. "We were going to use Mai Valentine, goddess. Your mortal vessel-"

"I am not the Nameless Pharaoh, nor the Patchwork that sits beside you. I have no vessel. Mai is me and I am her. She allows me to walk amongst the mortals with my Endymion... who you were going to TAKE FROM ME!" The ground under her soles cracked and buckled as she doubled in size and the pale light around her pooled together into runic tattoos of silver that blazed along her unnatural features.

"Apologies," Marik said and, despite his disgust at groveling, he bowed his head till it touched to ground. "We did not know. We thought her a rival, goddess."

The Spirit nodded, slowly rising, though Marik remained kneeling because he was no fool. The Spirit could find another host body... he could not. "Indeed, sister, we did not know that you and Mai Valentine were... the same."

"I am not your sister," Selene said with a dismissive sniff. "You are a fragment of my captured brother, Patchwork." Marik felt her gaze burning on his skin. "Were you aware of that, servant? Did you know that this Spirit is no mere phantom... but he is also not a god? He is a sliver of my brother Zorc, bonded to a piece of a vengeful mortal's soul and hidden in the Millennium Ring. The rest of him is trapped within the Pharaoh's puzzle, unable to escape unless freed by him to destroy this world. I do not know what he claimed he desired but I will inform you now: it is the death of every living creature, so he might reclaim the title of the God of Death that was taken from him."

Marik forced himself to remain still even as his mind raced. He had through that the Spirit was merely a ghost of the Pharaoh's enemy, much as the Pharaoh himself was just a phantom taking over Yugi Muto's body. But... he was part of a god? One that wanted to destroy the entire world? He had sworn he just wanted revenge and they could work together. This... this was not a partnership! He was USING him!

"And you seek to stop me?" the Spirit growled.

"As I told the Pharaoh I do not care what happens to this world. By the time you free my brother I will have returned to the Heavens, Endymion with me. I believe I will take Yuri Gardner and Renard Volpe with me... Endymion and I will need our priests and priestess. Perhaps a few other mortals will be spared the destruction, to serve in my palace. Otherwise enslave humanity or burn them or consume them. It matters not. Another god will arise and create more and the cycle will begin again." She paused. "Though... not for the two of you." Marik chanced a look up and saw her eyes blazing with cold fire. "You continue to threaten my Endymion. Send your Rare Hunters after him. Try and banish his mind to the Shadow Realm or maim his flesh. His soul is MINE. His flesh is MINE. HE is MINE. Mine to take to my bed, to bring me pleasure and joy. And you... dare to take that from me?" She raised her hand up high, swelling even larger, taking up so much of the alley that all he could see if he looked straight ahead were her legs and feet. But it were her fingers that concerned him as around them swirled dark magic and he knew if she dropped her hand he would be smited.

"No!" Marik said quickly. "The opposite!"

Selene... paused.

"Explain."

"We wish to help you... to work with you. Edwin... your Endymion... he is not one who will easily abandon the world, no matter what you think."

Selene considered that. "He does show an odd devotion to life here..."

"Then let us rid him of that," Marik said. "Let us leave him nothing but you and those you wish to take with you."

Selene lowered her hand.

"...your goddess is listening."

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