Chapter 98 - 99

Chapter 98: Chapter 99

Time froze as Joey stared at Edwin's fallen form.

One moment he'd been right there, talking with them, gleeful they had found Yugi. Everything was getting back to normal. Joey knew there was so much he needed to say to the man, to make up for what he had done to him. He wanted so badly to mend their friendship. Selene had played him for a fool but he'd allowed himself to think those horrible thoughts about Edwin when he should have known that his friend would never do anything so vile. Joey wanted Edwin to know that, to understand how sorry he was.

And then... in the blink of an eye... he was gone.

The only surprising thing was that it wasn't Joey who acted first.

With a cry Yugi suddenly rushed forward, a sword and a shield appearing in his hands as he lashed out at Ishizu. The Egyptian Woman hadn't been expecting the teen to try and attack her and thus stumbled back as Yugi began to strike at her, forcing her to bring up her spear to try and block his blows.

"You dare try and attack me!?" she snarled as she caught one of his blows. "A servant of the Pharaoh!"

"You are no servant of mine, Ishizu!" the Pharaoh bellowed, his voice causing the world around them to tremble. The darkness actually shook from the command in the Pharaoh's words. "From this day forth you are nothing to me but an enemy!"

"You don't know what you say, Pharaoh!" Ishizu declared even as Yugi launched himself at her again. Joey watched, stupefied, as his best friend went mad with rage, lashing out again and again at Ishizu, forcing her to pay attention to him even as she argued with the Pharaoh. "I have served you loyally... helped you defeat your enemies... and together we will destroy the great darkness-"

"The only darkness is you!" Yugi shouted in her face as their blades locked. "You locked me in that distorted world!"

"I gave you everything you had ever desired! Your perfect world!"

"It wasn't real!" Yugi cried out. "What I want are my friends! They are real! And you just took one of them from me!"

"I have slain Endymion... with him gone his threat had been ripped away, never to trouble you again!" Joey frowned as he realized that even thought it had been Yugi who had been speaking it was the Pharaoh she was addressing. Despite everything she still could not show Yugi even that respect. Ishizu suddenly lashed out, kicking Yugi back, causing him to skid towards Tristan who caught him. "You will thank me Pharaoh!"

"I will never thank you for harming my friends, Ishizu!" the Pharaoh said and in his hands a staff appeared, which he twirled before pointing it right at her chest. "You think this ends with Edwin's death? What will Selene do when she realizes that you have killed the man she desires? Moon will not take kindly to this! Her wrath will be terrible and swift!"

"She is nothing compared to you, my Pharaoh!" Ishizu proclaimed. Joey shuddered at the gaze she sent the Pharaoh's way; it was full of madness, yes, but there was a hardness to it as well. It reminded him very much of his father during the worst of his binges, how he would get combative about even the most minor thing and even agreeing with him wasn't an assurance that he wouldn't lash out.

'She just wants a fight,' he thought to himself, looking around at his friends. 'That crazy witch is just lookin' for a reason ta attack us! Ta hurt us! Ta-'

He stared down at Edwin's still form.

"Then it should come with ease for me to put you down," the Pharaoh said darkly as he moved forward, spinning his summoned staff before his eyes changed to black and gold. The sight of them, for the first time, gave Ishizu pause.

"What did he do to you?" she hissed, clutching her spear. Yugi moved to rush her again but Tristan held firm, preventing their friend from going on a half-thought out attack. "What did the Guardian Devil do to you?"

"He showed me the way," the Pharaoh said before leaping at her, firing off magical volleys with his staff, forcing Ishizu drop her weapons and begin crafting magical shields to try and block the assault. "And you are wrong, Ishizu Ishtar. Edwin Chaos is not the Guardian Devil." The Pharaoh slammed his staff into the ground, causing a shockwave that sent Ishizu flying back. "I am."

"Yugi, calm down," Tristan said, holding the struggling teen.

"NO!" Yugi shouted and Joey could see the tears in his eyes. "Do you know what she did to me? She wasn't lying... she gave me the perfect life! Your dad supported you, Tristan! He let you explore the world and figure out what you wanted to do instead of just telling you what you had to do without a care for your thoughts or feelings!" He glanced at Tea. "Your dad wasn't in jail! He was a good man who fought for justice!" He swung his gaze towards Joey. "And your dad-"

"Wasn't a bastard," Joey said, already knowing what Yugi was going to say.

"Pegasus' wife was still alive and Kaiba's stepfather was a good man and Mai and Edwin were married and going to have a baby and... and..." Yugi squeezed his eyes shut. "My grandpa... he was my dad. I had a parent. I wasn't abandoned and dumped on him. He wasn't forced to raise me. He wanted to."

"Yug..." Joey whispered, heart shattering for his friend. "Man, listen-"

But Yugi cut him off, eyes snapping open and revealing a fire that Joey normally only saw when he and the Pharaoh were dueling the worst of the worst and were ready to make them suffer. "But it was all a lie. She forced me to accept that. And now she wants to shove me back in there and hurt the rest of you... and I'm NOT going to allow that."

Tristan, much to his own surprise as everyone else, simply let go.

"...how?" Joey finally said, nodding towards the sword and shield Yugi still had.

"This is our minds," Yugi said. "The only limit is us. Edwin taught me that."

And with that he rushed back towards Ishizu, Joey seeing that she had begun to summon Egyptian Warriors, wearing ebony and golden and ivory armor to try and take out the Pharaoh. To hurt him or to simply restrain him so she could work her freaky voodoo on him too Joey couldn't say. Yugi, without a second thought, attacked one of the constructs before moving onto the next, focused only on getting to the Pharaoh and Ishizu.

"The mind's the only limit..." Joey whispered before he focused... and a large two-headed battle axe appeared in his hand. It was light as a feather though, not weighing him down, and he smirked as he gave it a heft even as he pictured in his mind his gear from the Virtual World and felt his clothing shift to the garb. He glanced over at Tristan who had gone the opposite route, changing his clothing to something more futuristic, his right arm replaced with a cannon that he charged before nodding to his friend.

"Let's do this."

"Right with ya pal." Joey turned towards Tea. "You gonna-"

He words died as he saw her clutching Edwin's body, rocking back and forth as she hugged it close.

"He... he was my brother," she said in an almost child-like voice.

Joey could only turn away, not wanting Tea to see his own tears.

~MC~MC~MC~

"No no no no no!" Yuri screamed, fingers fumbling around Edwin's neck. Moments earlier his body had suddenly jerked... and then Yuri had realized he wasn't breathing anymore.

And she couldn't find his pulse.

"What... what's going..." Mai asked, looking about wildly, trying to figure out what had happened. But Renard was already racing out of the room while Yuri, instincts taking over, ripped opened Edwin's shirt and tore his jacket and vest off, leaving him bare from the waist up. "Yuri!"

"He's not breathing!" Yuri shouted as she got onto the table Edwin was lying on, kneeling beside him as she began to press down on his chest. 'Steady. 2 inches deep. 30 reps. 2 breaths.' She began to count them out, wincing as she felt his chest crack under the first couple but knowing that all he had to do was morph again and he'd be fine.

He'd be fine.

"What?" Mai asked before Yuri FELT the raw power suddenly come off her friend. "What have they done?" Selene demanded as she looked at her. "What have they done to him?"

Yuri shook her head. "I don't know but we aren't losing him!" She lifted Edwin's head back and pinched his nose but when she moved to breathe into his mouth Selene grabbed her shoulder.

"What are you-"

"CPR you demented bitch!" Yuri roared. She went back to chest compressions. "30 reps. 2 breaths. But you just cost me that!" She didn't dare speed up to get Edwin oxygen sooner, knowing that right now the heart was the most important thing. Had to try and keep it going even if it refused.

"Doctors are coming!" Renard shouted as he returned back in the room. "I have an AED." He held up the square black box and Yuri nodded, moving to Edwin's mouth only this time the moon goddess did nothing to stop her as she gave two deep breaths, Edwin's chest rising... then remaining still.

Selene backed away and when Yuri stared at her she saw her looking terribly lost. "No..." she said softly before she looked to the ceiling. "NO!" she roared and the entire blimp shook. "You will not take him from me!" her eyes began to glow. "ZEUS! You hear me? The deal was struck with him! He chooses his death, not you or any other! You will honor your word and you will return him to me!"

The skies suddenly went dark and lightning cracked in the distance even as the blimp began to pitch.

Renard worked to place the pads of the AED on Edwin's chest.

"ZEUS!" Selene thundered and from her back burst a part of pale white wings even as glowing runic tattoos covered her body, Yuri had to twist herself away from the goddess, the light she was projecting so bright it was blinding, and she shuddered as she felt another surge of power rip through the room, causing alarms to go berserk. "I swear, Thunderer, I will tear down Olympus myself if you break your word! Return my love NOW!"

Yuri and Renard shared a look and began to work harder.

~MC~MC~MC~

A Titan was raging on the flying vessel.

Wielders of the Dark One's magic were battling within the arena of the mind.

None of this mattered to the servants that began to appear on the dueling platform of the KaibaCorp blimp. Be they skeletal creatures in rusted armor, shadowy little limps that did not so much walk but rather scurry, beautiful women with golden hair dressed in silver armor and bearing war horns, pixie-like creatures that giggled and sang even as the prepared to buzz about, or oozing things that rolled like jelly across the deck, their mission was the same: claim the soul.

It was a touch unusual for all of them to appear in the same place, but not impossible. Usually when a mortal died they were called by their masters to collect the soul, with it falling into the domain of the god or goddess who the soul best fit with. Their actions, their beliefs, their sins, their glories. All determined where a soul ended; paradise or pain.

But sometimes a soul was a match for more than one and it became a race. And sometimes one was so... interesting... to their lords and ladies that they wanted to stake claim even if the soul wasn't truly one that should go to them.

And the Chaotic being that had just died?

All of the afterlife desired him for their own. The great halls and chambers would hold feasts for him, the fields and plains would embrace him, the pits and darkness would examine him.

All that mattered was who got to him first.

By an unspoken signal all of them began to race across the top of the Kaibacorp blimp and those below, who still drew breath, shuddered as they felt death LITERALLY approaching them. They slinked and slithered and thundered towards the door, baring their weapons, ready to break their own rules and slaughter those whose time had not come yet if it only meant that they got claim to the world traveler. The Chaos Lord WOULD be theirs!

Titum titum titum titum

The gathering of the dead collectors all paused at that sound. Familiar yet not heard for so long.

They all frozen, utterly still, as from the doorway came not a death gather... but a death god. Wearing once more his ancient blacks, a skull-like mask over half his face, and his eyes burning with the faded embers of a thousand dying stars.

Brom Bones held out his hand and from the nothingness of reality appeared his weapon. He drew his sword and slammed it into the ground before wrapping his hands around d the pommel, eyes hard and mouth set in a firm line as he barred the doorway.

"No."

He didn't say another word. He didn't need to. For the shock came all the same: the Lord of the Dead... was refusing to let a soul pass on.

The gatherers murmured before sending messengers to their lords and ladies.

Brom remained standing... waiting to see if he could hold out against his brothers and sisters who would now be racing to meet him.

~MC~MC~MC~

I looked about, brow furrowed as I stared at the white void I suddenly found myself in.

It was stupid and cliché but I still couldn't stop myself from reaching down and patting my chest where the spear had burst through my chest, making sure I still didn't have a bunch of steel sticking out of me. Finding that to not be the case I let out a sigh before I turned back to looking about the utter... nothingness.

No walls. No ceiling. No floor. I could have been floating for all I knew. There was just... nothing.

"So... this is death," I whispered. Because I knew that there was no doubt I had died. As much as I had tempted fate with a smirk and a wink... I knew that a spear through the heart was it. My end.

"Its not as scary as you thought, huh?"

I froze.

"Death isn't the terrifying end. Its just the next step. And on the other side it isn't a goodbye... it's a hello."

Turning towards the voice was the longest, most exhausting thing I had ever done.

"Hi Kevin."

"...mom," I whispered before rushing forward, wrapping my arms around her and breaking down, clinging to her. She hugged me back, murmuring in my ear as I pressed my face against her shoulder, legs nearly giving out as I hugged her tight.

"Shhh. Its okay... its okay," she assured me, letting me take my time. "I'm here... I'm here."

"Mom..." I gasped out.

I don't know how long I held onto her but when I finally pulled away enough to see her through my tears I found she was exactly as I remembered. Not that last horrible year... but how she remained in my mind and dreams. Perhaps the only difference was how small she was compared to me; in my mind she was always so much bigger, with me looking up at her as I held her hand, trusting her to keep me safe.

"Shhh," she said, stroking my cheek. "Its okay."

"I... I thought..." I stammered, not sure what I even wanted to say.

But as always my mom knew exactly what was wrong. "You thought you'd never see me again? Because you were in this new world?" I managed a nod at that; it had been the fear that I hadn't even been able to whisper within the recesses of my mind. That because of me being ripped from my reality and placed in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! if I never found my way home and ended up dying in that world... my afterlife would be whatever existed there. Perhaps a woman with my mother's face... but not really her. Not my mom. It had-

My mom laughed softly.

Hold, hold on, hold onto me

'Cause I'm a little unsteady

A little unsteady

"MOM!"

"Goodbye Kevin."

"MOM!"

~MC~MC~MC~

Mother, I know

That you're tired of being alone

Dad, I know you're trying

To fight when you feel like flying

The doctors had just taken over for Renard and Yuri, the two falling to the floor, exhausted. Selene was still raging, calling upon every god or goddess she could think of, demanding they heed her warnings and demands. It was only because they were so focused on the pale form before them, lifeless and still, that they paid the goddess no attention.

"Hades!" Selene roared. "He's-"

Selene went still, eyes widening... before she dropped her head down and Renard and Yuri knew Mai back.

"Edwin?" she said, startled.

The body jerked before his eyes snapped open and jaw dropped, light bursting from them as every lightbulb in the room exploded.

~MC~MC~MC~

But If you love me, don't let go (hold)

Whoa, if you love me, don't let go (hold)

Brom turned his head, a soft smile forming on his lips even as the Wolf, with a snarl, suddenly disappeared.

"Welcome back, Edwin Chaos."

~MC~MC~MC~

Hold, hold on, hold onto me

'Cause I'm a little unsteady

A little unsteady

Hold, hold on, hold onto me

'Cause I'm a little unsteady

A little unsteady

One moment she was holding his limp form.

The next Edwin's body began to spasm and shake, skin glowing brightly as he seized. Tea clung to him though, refusing to let go even as his body jerked.

"Tea!" Yugi called out, seeing what was happened. "What-"

Edwin's body shot out of her hands, rising in the air.

His eyes snapped open as beautiful golden-white light radiated from him, chasing away the darkness of the shared mindspace, turning it into a brilliant blue-white sky. Tea had long gotten used to Edwin tapping into the shadow realm, his eyes going black and gold when he used the Key. But this time it was different. Now his eyes burned gold with white rings and as their light hit the Millennium Key the gold burned away. The flakes flickered in the breeze and until her dying day Tea would SWEAR she heard gasps of relief and prayers of thanks from a hundred voices coming from the ashes before they went quiet, revealing the Key. Still gold... but she could tell it was different. Made new. Reforged and gleaming.

From Edwin's back burst multiple sets of glowing angelic wings.

Ishizu narrowed her eyes, still looming over them all.

"You think this little trick will help you?" she demanded. "I killed you once!" She lashed out, driving her fist towards Edwin's body.

He held up a single hand and blocked the blow.

"We forgive you, Ishizu," he said softly, sadly, his voice overlaid with multitude others. "And he will save you too."

With that he thrust out his hand and Ishizu was sent flying into the darkness, her horde fading away.

Edwin let out a breath... and then the glow was gone. The wings too. And he fell, Joey leaping up and catching him.

"Ed?" he whispered and Tristan came over, Tea feeling her heart plummet as she saw his eyes closed once more. Had that been the final act before he was gone? His last gift? But no... Tristan checked his pulse before nodding. "Thank god," Joey whispered. "Just unconscious."

"But... how?" Yugi asked.

"Let's return to the real world," the Pharaoh suggested. "We do not know if Ishizu will return..."

"Right," Yugi said. "Tea?"

She was still facing where Ishizu had disappeared, staring into the nothingness. Except... there wasn't...

It was like spotting something in the middle of the night. One moment it wasn't there, the next it was.

A woman. Smiling at her.

Hold, hold on, hold onto me

'Cause I'm a little unsteady

A little unsteady

"Please," she whispered, "love my son."

And then there was a flap of wings and she was gone.

"Always," Tea promised before she woke up on the blimp once more. The room was FAR more filled than it had been when they'd entered the puzzle and Tea saw doctors staring at them all with wide eyes. There were shards of glass everywhere and the lights weren't working so someone had been forced to open a door so they weren't in complete darkness. "Edwin..."

"He's here," Yuri assured her, suddenly at her side. Tea looked at her and it was like Yuri had aged 20 years... but she was still smiling all the same."I don't know what-"

Tea burst forward, hurrying to Edwin's side, watching as he groaned, blinking his eyes.

"Hey," he said, groggily. He managed a smile as he struggled to sit up. "That... really hurt."

Tea laughed even as she hugged him tight. Because of course that's how he would respond!

Mai was on his other side, head pressed against his bare shoulder, body shaking as she sobbed, clinging to him like a child would a favorite toy. "Don't ever do that to me again," she got out. "Even Selene isn't strong enough to survive that again."

"...okay," Edwin got out. "Yugi?"

Tea turned, blushing as she realized that in her panic she'd forgotten the original reason they had gone into the Puzzle. She turned and smiled when she saw her boyfriend was already moving towards her, putting a hand on her shoulder and just... with a single gesture he silently told her that everything was okay and she didn't need to worry about him being upset.

"Thank you for coming for me, Edwin," Yugi told him. "And I'm sorry-"

"The only... only person to blame is Ishizu."

"Ya really mean what ya told her, man?" Joey asked, joining the others in forming a knot around Edwin. Tea dimly heard a doctor telling them to break apart, to give Edwin some space, but none of them made the first move. "After what she did... you forgive her?"

"She's sick, Joey," Edwin said softly. "I know you probably can't understand but... it isn't her fault. There is something... twisted in her, that is making her take these actions. If she were thinking clearly she'd be horrified. Same with Marik." He shook his head. "We have to save them."

"Odd to hear you say that, Captain," Renard told him gently.

"I died, Renard," he said and him saying those words so casually, with so little regard for himself and what his death had meant... it angered Tea. Not because she was thinking of herself and mad he wasn't considering her feelings... but rather she was mad that he thought so little of himself. "That... puts things in perspective."

"They say," Brom Bones said, startling Tea because she hadn't heard him come in, "that when one is brought back from death a part of them remains... while something else comes back with them."

Edwin merely nodded with that. "Yeah..." He rubbed his bare chest, right where Ishizu had stabbed him. And because it had been only in the mindscape there was no wound. No scar. That... bugged Tea. It felt like there should be some sign of what they had all gone through. Some proof. "Yeah..." In a softer voice he whispered, "I don't think... that is..." He shook his head. "The Guardian Devil is dead."

"I think we should let Edwin get dressed," Tristan said though from the way Mai was clinging to him, desperately refusing to let him go, Tea didn't think he would be left alone for a while. Hell, she didn't plan to let him leave her sight for some time herself.

"We had to destroy your clothes, Captain," Renard said. "I can get your spare..."

"Get me a t-shirt at least," he said and Renard nodded, heading out of the room. "Tristan... can you go with him? I don't want Renard to be alone."

"Yeah," he said. "I can do that." He hurried out of the door and Edwin leaned back on the table he'd been laid out on.

"This is really uncomfortable. Why didn't we think about finding some nice beds before we did this?"

Mai let out a choked laugh. "I am going to be so very mad at you when I'm done crying."

"I know," he said quietly, looking up at the ceiling.

Quiet took over the room.

Joey shifted from one foot to another. Yugi was looking off to the side, most likely having a mental conversation with the Pharaoh. Tea wondered what he would think of the powers the Pharaoh had unlocked during their rescue mission. Brom loomed in the corner like a gargoyle, a faint smile on his lips. The doctors, realizing that they were not going to be able to look over Edwin for a while, sighed and made their way out of the room, glass crunching under their feet and before Tea could wonder what that was about Renard returned with a shirt and a broom, Yuri grabbing it and making herself busy by sweep up.

"Edwin?" Tea finally said, finding her voice as she thought of the woman she had seen... the one she was VERY sure was his deceased mother. "While you were..." she couldn't bring herself to say the word. "Did you see..."

"Yeah," he said hoarsely. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Yeah... I... I saw some things."

"Take your time," Mai assured him before shifting up so that he could actually sit up. Tea pulled away as he rose, taking the white shirt that Renard offered him.

Tea gasped.

"What?" he asked even as Mai shifted behind him. Tea heard her take in a sharp inhale and she didn't blame him.

'The Guardian Devil is Dead.'

That's what he said... and now she understood.

For tattooed on Edwin's back... were a pair of fold angelic wings.

"What power would hell have if those imprisoned here would not be able to dream of heaven?"

-The Sandman