Chaos Effect

"Now come on, pal, you must know that it is rabbit season."

"Sorry, but I think you are a bit mixed up. See, its actually duck season."

"No no no… that ended days ago. You'd know that if you actually read a calendar. Its now moved to rabbit season."

"Fraid I can't agree. See, ya forgot about leap year. Don't worry, everyone does. Point is that its now duck season."

"Rabbit season!"

"Duck season!"

"Rabbit season!"

"Rabbit season!"

"I say its duck season and you should fire!"

Maximillion started when he heard the gun blast. He blinked his eyes and frowned when he saw the blown up image of Elmer Fudd holding a shotgun, Daffy Duck's bill spun around so that it was facing the wrong way. Daffy narrowed his eyes before he reached around and pulled his bill back into place.

"I hope you realize this means war," he said coolly.

Blinking Maximillion tilted his head, taking in just where he was. 'This is the old theater that was near my family's estate,' he thought to himself. 'My parents used to let me come down here and watching movies on the weekends. It was one of the only times I was allowed to escape from the tedium that was our upper class lives and feel like everyone else.' He would never complain about his childhood; he knew he had been blessed growing up as he had, with the wealth that had been given him. And while his parents might not have been as close to him as he'd have preferred… they still had cared for him. He thought of how Little Yugi's mother had basically abandoned him, how Joey Wheeler's father was a beast in the shape of a man, and so many others who had never had loving parents and counted himself lucky.

But… those days where he was able to sneak away and sit in the dark theater watching the repackaged Looney Tune cartoons were some of the best of his entire life.

'It can't be though…' he thought as he looked around the theater. 'It changed… the seats are different now. Heated and with a recline feature. The screen is bigger. The walls were redone…' He stared at the theater, looking at it as it had been in his childhood, and rather than being consumed by memories of the past he found a sense of utter wrongness permeating his very being. It was like walking into a sealed tomb only to find a Snickers wrapper on the ground. Something that utterly should not be right there sitting there, looking innocent and unassuming and speaking of utter dread.

He shut his eyes and opened them again.

And then… do so once more.

Then shut his right… and was able to still see.

"That's… impossible," he whispered as he reached up and touched the unmarred flesh around his eye. No scars. No tears and puckered flesh. And when he waved his hand in front of his left eye he saw his fingers.

Because… he had back his left eye.

"Mr. Pegasus?"

At once Maximillion put aside his shock at being able to see once more from both his eyes, turning towards the frightened young woman that was seated beside him, looking about with terror-filled eyes.

"Do not worry, Serenity," Pegasus told her gently.

"Where… where are we?"

He frowned. He almost said that they were at the theater but he knew that was wrong. His mind went back to Edwin's warnings and Noah Kaiba's comments.

"I'm afraid we've been drawn into the Virtual World."

Serenity began to wring her hands together. "Mai was telling me about that. How they got trapped in there…"

Maximillion nodded, mind racing as he went over the info he'd learned from Edwin. There wasn't much… namely that the Virtual World operated rather differently when it came to fighting against foes and enemies. How cards were your tools and your lifepoints the only thing that mattered. That you had to be careful what cards you tossed out as they would take time to recharge and how time moved slowly.

"Do not worry, Serenity," Maximillion said, reaching out and patting the scared girl on the back of her hand. "I will make sure we all get out of here safely." She nodded at that and smiled. 'This is my chance… at long last I can make up for all the cruel and horrible things that I did to Yugi and his friends. I can protect Serenity, gather up the others, and take the fight to the Big Five and Noah. Help them drive them off and prove at long last that I truly have joined once more the side of the angels.'

"Thank you-"

"Hey!"

Serenity and Maximillion snapped their gaze towards the screen, where Bugs, Daffy, and Elmer were watching them with annoyed looks on their features.

"We are trying to entertain you rubes and you can't show the common decency to actually pay attention?" Daffy demanded. "That's just rude."

"So very rude," Bugs quickly agreed. The trickster glanced at his rival and smirked. "Ya know… I think we should look at the hunting guide…"

"Mr. Pegasus…" Serenity whispered.

"Get ready to run," Maximillion whispered.

"What?"

"We are going to need to run," he repeated as Bugs pulled out a large book with the words HUNTING GUIDE written on the cover, a pair of half lenses glasses perched on his nose.

"Uh huh… uh huh… oh my." Bugs pointed to a spot in the book, Daffy stealing his glasses to read it over himself.

"Well, I'll be plucked."

The two slowly turned, smiling maliciously at Maximillion and Serenity, before taking the hunting sign they had been rotating and giving it a hard spin. It whirled about several times before, at last, it came to a stop with pictures of Maximillion and Serenity's faces on it.

"Why, it does appear that its Pegasus and Serenity season!" Daffy said with mock shock.

"You're right!" Bugs declared before glancing over at Elmer. "Well, ya saw the sign."

"Eheheheheheh, I sure did," Elmer said, pointing the gun directly at them… and through the screen just as the words PLEASE PUT YOUR 3D GLASSES ON NOW appeared.

"RUN!" Maximillion shouted and Serenity let out a scream as she ducked down, the two of them racing out of the theater, the sound of explosions chasing after them.

~MC~MC~MC~

'There has to be someway out of here,' Yugi said as the Pharaoh, currently in control of their body, looked over the walls of the room they were trapped in.

'And we will find it,' the Pharaoh stated. 'But we must be patient, Yugi.'

'But our friends are trapped in the Virtual World!' Yugi exclaimed. 'They are trapped in there with Noah and the Big 5! They are trying to take their bodies! We have to help them!'

The Pharaoh took a moment to stop and actually listen to his partner. 'Yugi… Noah is manipulating you. He wants us to panic, to not think straight, to rush ahead and give in to despair. We can't do that.'

'But-'

'We must trust in our friends,' the Pharaoh said firmly. 'Noah and the Big 5 have made a grave mistake… they believe that our friends are weak duelists and thus will be east targets for them to defeat. But we know that all of them have grown very strong. The only one who isn't a duelist who is trapped in there is Serenity and she has the others. They will protect her.'

'But what if they realize that and decide to forfeit the games and just take their bodies?'

'I don't think they will do that,' The Pharaoh stated. 'I believe that the Big 5 and Noah have created the Virtual World to have certain rules… and one of them is that a duel MUST be held in order for them to take one of our friends' bodies.'

Yugi actually paused at that, considering what the Pharaoh had said. 'I… I think you're right. When Pegasus and them staged their takeover of KaibaCorp the Big 5 could have easily just stated that Pegasus had all the shares and he was in control. They had Mokuba at that point… Pegasus could have forced him to sign the contracts to finalize things. But they didn't. They wanted… needed… Pegasus to defeat us!'

'Because we defeated Kaiba,' the Pharaoh said and he began to go back to examining the walls, using the power of the Millennium Puzzle to truly see how the room worked and find the hidden secrets that would allow them to escape. 'The Big 5 value power… they can not allow themselves to be governed over by someone they view as weak. And currently skills in Duel Monsters is the best way to determine that.'

Yugi chuckled. 'You know, if Edwin were here he'd make fun of that.'

The Pharaoh smiled. 'Perhaps. But he'd also see that focusing on Duel Monsters has given us an advantage. The Big 5-'

He stopped.

'Pharaoh?'

'Yugi… the Big 5 aren't duelists.'

'Well… I mean we did battle them in the Virtual World the last time but… they didn't actually duel against us. They just had the Five Headed Dragon.'

'But Noah made clear that they would be dueling… and the Big Five aren't duelists.'

'Maybe they had time to learn?'

But the Pharaoh shook his head. 'I don't think so, Yugi. How did they deal with Seto, after all? Did they duel him themselves?'

'No… they kept getting others to duel him and us. Relied on Pegasus…' Yugi's eyes went wide. 'Pharaoh! Do you think there are others in the Virtual World that are going to duel our friends?'

'I don't know Yugi… but I fear that this entire event has become far more complicated than we first imagined!'

~MC~MC~MC~

Tea groaned as she slowly pushed herself up off the beach. "Okay… I can't help but feel slightly annoyed."

"Only slightly?" Tristan said as he came too. It was an odd feeling for him… one moment he'd been completely out of it and the next he was wide away. It wasn't like after one had been asleep… no, it was rather like blinking your eyes and suddenly finding yourself in a completely different place. Except that for Tristan he knew that the time when his eyes had been closed had been a long one.

"Yeah," Tea said with a grumble. "I mean my dad worked with the Big 5 and they know he loves me. Still loves me." Her voice dropped at that.

Tristan reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. He knew it was still a touchy subject for her, the fact that her father had done so much bad… but was still her dad. Still cared for her. She hadn't been able to bring herself to visit him in prison but he had been allowed to write emails to her and Tea had responded back; nothing about the case against him or how long he was looking to spend in jail for trying to kill Edwin. Just about her day, what she was doing. He had sent a message when they'd gotten on the blimp congratulating her and Tea had broken down sobbing, Yuri quickly whisking her away before everyone saw.

'Its hard to know that someone you love is a horrible person. Hard to hate them when you love them and they love you. And even worse when they can't see that you never wanted them to do the evil things they did.'

Because that was the worst thing, even if Tea never admitted it: he father still didn't believe he had done anything wrong.

Or, perhaps, he couldn't understand why Tea would have a problem with him trying to kill Edwin.

'He saw it as business. A way to help the family. 'Like a provider should'. That's what Yuri said.' Yuri had come down far harder on their father, making it clear when he'd been hauled away that he was dead to her and she hoped that what he suffered in prison was far worse than all the dark things she could think of. But Tea… Tea still loved her father.

Knew what he had done was wrong. Vile. Disgusting.

…but still loved him.

"So I'm a touch annoyed that they aren't pampering me just a little bit!" She shouted that up at the sky. "I mean, come on, I didn't turn him in! So maybe a nice beach chair? A drink?"

"You do realize you are throwing your sister to the wolves, right?" Tristan hissed.

Tea blinked at that before quickly whispering, "Yuri will be fine… I'm sure."

~MC~MC~MC~

"RUN FASTER!" Yuri screamed as her and Renard dove for cover.

They had awoken to find themselves back at the blimp. Yuri had done a few tests to see if they were in the real world… namely grabbed Renard and giving him a kiss. Confirming she could taste his mouthwash (and leaving Renard rather bemused by the entire thing) the two duelists had decided to try and find their friends.

Only to realize Noah had left them right in the middle of another one of his weapon system's firing range if they tried to leave the tower they'd found themselves in.

"Its almost impressive that he still has bullets to fire," Renard said as they dove behind some metal shipping containers, the sound of the guns blasting into the metal making their ears ache. They looked at the door and tried to figure out if they could make it back in…

~MC~MC~MC~

"I'm just saying, I don't understand why I got dumped on a beach," Tea complained. "Sure, you guys want to take over my body and I am going to resist that but you could at least show a little bit of consideration!"

Tristan looked around.

Nothing happened.

"I don't think they heard you."

"They heard you," a dry voice said and the two whipped around to see-

"Martin?" Tea said in confusion, staring at the odd confusing figure before her. Tristan was just as befuddled. He remembered Martin from Edwin's birthday party and later the KaibaCorp Christmas party (and he vaguely had the sense that those things shouldn't have been separate but then the thought was gone). He seemed like a decent enough guy. Level headed and all that.

Which didn't explain why 1) he was in the Virtual World 2) he was talking like someone had drained all his emotions away 3) he was dressed as a surfer dude.

"Martin, what are you doing here?"

"I am here to get some sick waves, bro," he said but it was in the most stilted and pained tone possible that it came off as utterly alien and false. He held up a surfboard that depicting a man… doing his taxes. "But if you would prefer to take up the conditions you've found yourself in I would be more than happy to present you to my master."

"…that doesn't sound good," Tristan stated. "Uh… can we choose NOT to see your master?"

"No."

"Thought not," Tristan said before looking at Tea and, without any prompting, the two began to run.

~MC~MC~MC~

The air around her was growing colder. She could feel the chill seeping into her skin and settling on her bones.

Selene… found it oddly amusing.

'I wonder what happens if they try and subject me to conditions that should, in a mortal, kill me. My mind believes that this is cold but I also know this is worthless. Not just because it isn't real but because my body is too powerful to be done away with a normal chill.'

She smirked and threw out her arms.

"Fools!" she said with a laugh. "You think this will harm me? I am the Moon! The cold isn't an enemy… it is a loving pet bumping against me, whimpering for pats on the head!!"

She continued to walk through the forest, watching as, thanks to her own words, the snows began to fall heavier, making the tree branches bend and sag under the weight. The goddess found herself now wondering if this was a case like those silly movies where 'you die in the game you die for real'. She knew that her Mai persona had been gravely harmed during their last trip to the Virtual World… but hadn't felt any affects when she'd returned to the real world.

'And I doubt these cretins want a potential vessel harmed… hmmm.' She tapped a finger to her chin. "I wonder what would happen if I allowed one of you to try and enter my body. Would you be able to exist for a few seconds before my power knew you were an invader and drove you out? Or would you instantly be smited?"

"Someone has a high opinion of themselves."

She turned to see a VERY large man, both in terms of height and girth, staring at her. He didn't seem at all disturbed as the snows began to land heavily upon him, covering on his shoulders as he watched in with deep soulful eyes.

"Of course," Selene said. "Why shouldn't I?"

"We are well aware of who you are, Miss Valentine. Or… should I say… Miranda Roberts." He smirked slightly at that. "Born to Albert and Wendy Roberts of Kansas you ran away from home when you were 12 years old, traveling the globe. You have worked on Mississippi gambling boats, dealt cards in Vegas, modeled in New York, Paris, and London, and had a small bit part in the film When Is Enough Enough, which caught the attention of Jean Claude Magnum. You are a skilled duelist and hold several championships."

The man stepped forward.

"But that is all. What power you have now comes from a deck and from the powerful men you have attached yourself too. You are little more than a fish clinging to the underside of a Great White Shark. You have wasted your potential and when my master claims your form he will make sure to make better use of it."

Selene… snorted.

An utterly undignified sound but one that was utterly perfect for the situation she found herself in.

"You know all too little and like every braggart you try and fake your way through in hopes that no one will notice. But now you've encountered someone that will call you out on your ignorance… and it will continue to be painful for you, mark my words, if you continue to press me." Selene took a step forward, face twisting into a sinister smile. "Mai Valentine is my human disguise… a way for me to experience the human condition. But I have, and always will be, Selene. Titan Goddess of the Moon. Lady of the Night. The pale light upon your cold grave… that is my gaze and it will be all you know.

"So if you are the master or merely the servant it doesn't matter. Know that I will drive you into the ground so that by the time you are retrieved only your bones will remain. And then… I will find Noah… and it will not matter if he is a child… if he has harmed my love… if he has done anything to keep me from my Endymion… I will visit upon him a thousand times the pain he has brought him!"

She took another step forward, eyes narrowed, daring him to attack.

"…we shall see," was the man's only response before he turned and began to walk away.

Selene darted forward, trying to catch him, only for the man to move between a set of trees and at once disappear. She was left with only the snow that was quickly filling in his footprints.

"Then let the games begin," Selene muttered to herself before giving chase.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Finally!" Joey declared as he finally came upon the courthouse. It was… a bit odd… just standing in the middle of a beach, but he figured there was no real logic to anything in the Virtual World. 'That creep Noah and dem Big 5 nuts can put anything da want anywhere, I guess. Put a gym in the middle of a mountain range or in a volcano…'

He paused.

'Wait, is dat just Pokemon?' He shook his head. "Nah I need ta focus. This creep is suin' me for my body and I can't let 'im have it! I'm gonna have ta take him down and make sure he don't get any of Joey Wheeler!'

With that he squared his shoulders and marched up the steps of the courthouse, face a grim mask as he prepared himself for what he was about to face…

…only to nearly stumble and fall when he opened the door and found that there was nothing there other than a rocky field.

"Wha?!?" Joey said, looking back through the door to the beach and then through it again towards the plain filled with black sharp rocks. His brow furrowed and he stepped away, letting the door shut before he tried again.

Rocky field.

Joey shut the door and then walked back a few feet before trying once more. When he found the same result he decided to walk around the building, see if there was another entrance. But there was nothing. So he began to run around, looking for an open window… or even a window he could look through. But there was nothing; all the glass was frosted so it was impossible to see through it. All there was in terms of entrances was the single main door.

"Man, this is some freaky stuff even for da Virtual World!" Joey declared before deciding it wasn't worth it. "Man, if that creep wants ta duel me he can come and find me!" And with that Joey walked back down the steps, having decided that he would look around and try to find someone else. 'Maybe my friends are around here and I can find dem. Then we can figure out how ta get out of this topsy-turvy-'

Joey let out a yelp when, as he attempted to cross the street, a massive semi nearly ran him over. He flung himself backwards, landing on his rear, panting a bit before he leap to his feet once more, waving his fist in anger at the retreating semi.

"Watch where ya're goin', ya great big hunk of metal!" He glowered for several seconds more before giving a firm nod. "There… told him!"

He moved to take another step only for another semi to nearly run him down.

"WHOA!" He spun around that time, a dizzying amount that left him a bit woozy. "Hey! Ya watch it too! You're friend almost ran me over as well!" He ran his hands over the front of his shirt. "Crazy drivers."

Another move to cross… another semi.

"What is goin' on here? There some sort of convoy happenin'?" This time he made sure to look both ways, determining that there were NO semis that were going to be crossing. When he saw only empty road he let out a huff and took a step-

HONK HONK!

"GAAAAAH!" Joey screamed, flinging himself away from the street as he came within inches of being turned into roadkill. Just as quickly as before he leapt up and began screaming, "GRRRRR! I don't know what is goin' on but I know I don't like it! So knock it offs, all of ya!" Joey marched back to the road, this time ready, and thus when the next semi blared its horn he didn't leap back but merely shifted out of the way. He tried again and a semi once more blasted past him. He stuck his foot out with no intention to go forward and watched as a semi cam close enough to nearly clip him… but didn't.

He blinked.

"Huh." He stuck his leg out. Semi. He pulled it away and tried again. Semi. "Ya pull your left foot in-" A semi blared its horn as it drove past, "-ya pull your left foot out." The trucks were gone and it was just another empty street. "Ya put your left foot in… and ya shake it all about!" Yet another truck barreled past him. "Ya do the hokey pokey and ya turn yourself around… dat's what its all about!" He snickered at how he had managed to game the system.

"Use the crosswalk, you idiot!" a young woman that looked oddly familiar called out from the steps of the courthouse.

"…oh yeah!" Joey chuckled at that and walked over to the crosswalk sign, pressing the button.

Across the way a small sign lit up, counting down when it would be okay to cross.

10,000

9,999

9,998

Joey stuck his hands in his pockets and began to rock back and forth.

~MC~MC~MC~

I frowned as I came to.

It was nearly instantaneous… which concerned me greatly.

'I can tell that I blacked out… but I shouldn't have awaken this quickly. So either it happened really quick or Noah is really fucking with my brain.' I frowned at that. 'Or I am worrying for no reason… that's also a possibility… fuck, that might be part of his mind game, to make me worried for no reason. Or he wants me to think I should not be worried but in actuality I should be very worried! But I, as a cunning man, would know that he would switch the glasses so the poison must be in this one! Inconceivable!'

Shaking my head at that I looked around and found that I was… nowhere.

Or rather, to put it more accurately, I was in the middle of nowhere.

The ground I was lying on was just plain smooth cement. There weren't even any blemishes. Just a single solid plane of gray that stretched out for as far as the eye could see. Above me were some clouds and the sky but that was it… the clouds themselves were rather nondescript, like the background elements in a cartoon.

In a word there it was… boring.

"Well, I guess Noah didn't pay the animation department," I muttered to myself.

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd be up."

I looked over to see Noah standing now before me, arms folded behind his back and a smirk on his face.

"And we both know that you controlled when I 'woke' up," I commented.

"That's true," Noah said with a tittering laugh. "Still, I felt like I had to say something."

I nodded at that, accepting the point. Lord knows I tended to fill the air with useless chatter plenty of times. "Noah… I know this seems like a good idea but I can't stress enough… it isn't."

"Oh, is this the part where you appeal to my better nature?" he taunted. He began to circle me and I in turn began to move with him; I'd always hated standing still and it had the added benefit of forcing Noah to try and keep one step ahead of me. "Thinking that if you plead hard enough you can get me to stand down? Maybe release you and your friends?"

"That is my hope," I admitted. "But I am also hoping that maybe I can get you to see this isn't a path you want to go down. Not in turns of hurting us… but hurting yourself."

"Hurting myself?" Noah said, raising an eyebrow. "What do you know about hurting? You have had the entire world handed to you on a silver platter! Given minority control of MY company. Your uncle has named you heir of CCN. You are dating Mai Valentine. You spend money like it is meaningless and treat grand achievements like they are nothing. People fawn over you and you act upset because you have to take the time to listen to them." He scoffed while I wondered how he had come to those conclusions. He… wasn't wrong… but I still wondered how he'd come to them. "So tell me, Chaos… what do you know of pain?"

"A lot," I said softly. "If you've looked in my file… you know that I do."

Noah looked about ready to make a comment… only to stop himself. "I… will give you the pain you felt because of your mother's passing. I… know what that is like as well and won't mock you for that."

"Thank you," I said. "And for what it's worth… I'm sorry about your mother." I didn't know WHAT had happened to her but the fact that she had never been mentioned in the show or been discussed in any other media…well, I figured that Gozaburo, for all his faults, hadn't knocked up some woman and then kidnapped the child. 'Actually that's entirely possible, now that I think about it…' I banished THAT line of questioning from my brain and focused instead of Noah. "You were dealt a horrible hand. The worst possible one. You didn't deserve any of this. I get your anger… I get it, Noah. If there was a way to bring you into the physical world… I'd do it and I would give you my shares. Because you are owed that.

"But this? It isn't the way. Stealing people's lives like yours was? You won't be able to live with yourself. I know you won't." I took a step forward and to his credit Noah didn't back away nor puff out his chest in a challenge. He just stared at me. "Do you want to know a secret, Noah?"

"And what is that?"

"I sometimes feel like I've stolen someone else's life. That I've taken the existence that belonged to another person and I've made it my own. And it eats me up inside because most everyone sees me just as you described… and I don't feel like that person. I don't feel like Edwin Chaos." I took another step forward. "And that's what is going to happen with you, Noah. That's what you're going to go through. You take my body and you are going to try and live but it will be just a lie. A fake. And it will eat you up until you want to scream from the mountaintops the entire truth."

It didn't matter that my mom had said she had brought me to this world. Didn't matter that Selene said that I was originally from this world, the reincarnation of Endymion. I hadn't been born in the world. The people that called me their son and brother… weren't my true father and brother. They were out in the multiverse, dealing with their own problems. Had I been forced into their lives? Was I like Dawn Summers and everyone's minds had been overwritten to include me? Or, and it was the thought that left me truly feeling dread, was there another Edwin Chaos of this world? One who had died and now found himself unmourned as I cheerfully lived his life? Or was he still within me, my soul overtaking and consuming his own, so that it was like he had never existed?

Imposter Syndrome… on the most literal scale.

"Noah…" I said gently, "I just want you to truly think about this."

"I… I have," the boy (and he was a boy; a child forced to grow up far too quickly) informed me, trying to sound strong when he wasn't at all. "What was taken-"

"Shouldn't have!" I exclaimed. "You should be… I don't know how old you were when you ended up in this world but I have to imagine that it was old enough that by now YOU should be running KaibaCorp! That you had gotten to experience so many things… but this isn't the way, Noah. And… I think you know that."

Noah stared at me for a long time.

"I wasn't for sure about you," he finally said. "The Big 5… they warned me that your greatest weapon was your voice. That you could talk someone into anything. That's why… we aren't going to duel you."

It was only then that I looked down… and realized I had no duel disc on my arm.

No cards.

Nothing.

And with that Noah disappeared.

"Its too much of a risk. And I've come too far now."

"Noah!" I shouted, looking about… only to stare at the sky as a dome of pink energy began to slowly form around the area I was in, bloating out the sun and cutting through the horizon.

"It was the second thing I had to agree to," Noah informed me, sounding more arrogant and sure every second he was away from me. My speech had rattled him, nearly caused all his plans to fall off the shelf and shatter on the floor… but now the earthquake was done and he was setting them back in place. Some dust shifted, maybe not exactly in the position they had been before, but they were back roughly where they had started. "First was that all six of us would get bodies. They understand that is up to them… all I can do is give them the chance. They have to win their bodies on their own. While it would be easy to give you all decks that were filled with nothing but useless trap cards… but they are all about power. Dominance. And now they need to do just that."

He paused.

"Or," he said with a dark chuckle, "their little servants will."

"Servants?" I called out as I began to run towards the horizon, hoping I could, perhaps, beat the dome before it fully sealed me in. I knew it was a lost cost but I still wanted to try. I refused to stand there and do nothing.

"Oh, something that the Big 5 set up before your first arrival in the Virtual World: Brain scans of every member of the KaibaCorp staff. Industrial Illusions as well. They have been combing through the files and are selecting their champions from those brainwave patterns; the ones that will fight for them." Noah scoffed. "As if I would resort to that. I've had a very long time to master my dueling skills and I will instead be claiming my new body through my own skill."

The dome continued to grow, racing towards the plain I was on.

"As for you? You were the second clause. The Big 5 demanded that you suffer, Edwin. You bruised their egos when you defeated them… now they want blood.

"Noah!" I shouted… just as the dome slammed into place.

"This section of the Virtual World has been separated from the rest of my kingdom… and here I have full control. In a moment I am going to change the time dilation… where before days and weeks passed in the span of minutes… now years in here will be seconds in the real world."

"Noah…" I said as it fully dawned on me what he had done.

"You barely kept your sanity when you were in the Virtual World the first time," Noah taunted, any humanity that I had managed to dig at buried once more in indignation and self-centeredness. All about him. The only one that mattered. "I wonder how you will do when all you have… is yourself."

And then… he was gone.

"Noah…" I said, looking around as the full weight of the trap fell upon my shoulders. "Noah!"

I threw my head back and screamed.

"NOAH!"

~MC~MC~MC~

Chaosverse Omake

Flinging himself off of Battle Cat, Prince Adam, otherwise known as the Champion of Eternia He-Man, swung his sword hard, cutting through the wiry tendrils that Trap Jaw had fired at the peasants who had been trying to flee from him. The Sword of Power easily cut through the nano-infused tentacles, causing the endings that were no longer attached to Trap Jaw to wither away within seconds.

"I still don't know why all of you are doing this," He-Man said as he turned to face Trap Jaw; Tri-Clops and Two Bad moving to up to join him. "I would have thought word would have reached you already. Skeletor is defeated and now is imprisoned. Motherboard's head was found at Castle Grayskull and the rest of her was just as quickly disposed of. Hordak was slain by Skeletor. The Horde has fled. Your "glorious" robotic revolution is over and done with. Why continue on with this?" He took a step forward. "I know in the past we battled but the new Eternia Government is ready to offer you amnesty."

"You think we are so weak that we would accept that?" Tri-Clops declared, still wearing the robes he had taken to wearing when he had served as the High Priest of Motherboard. "You think we have so little honor?"

"There is honor in peace," He-Man stated. "We are talking with Merman now and-"

"Save it!" Trap Jaw snapped. "We aren't interested in that or you!"

"Definitively not you," the right head of Two Bad said.

"Not in the slightest."

But Tri-Clops shook his head. "Actually… I am interested in you."

"…whaaaa?" Two Bad said as one.

Tri-Clops smirked. "Indeed. For you see I had heard you had gained a bit of an upgrade." He gestured at He-Man's more mature and, though it was now not accurate considering he was no longer a prince, "regal" outfit. Thanks to the work by Gwildor He-Man's armor and powers had changed, drawing not merely from the power of Grayskull and Zoar but the Nameless God of Peace, the great Saber Tiger that was said to have forced Ka, Zoar, and Havok to finally stop their feud. "As such we need to see just how strong you are now so we can be better prepared to defeat you and convert you to be a vessel for the spark of technology."

"We've fought before," He-Man stated. "And while it might look like its three against one…"

There was a flash of light and Teela, in her Tri Sorceress garb, dove down to join him, along with Orko, Duncan in the Man-At-War armor, and Battle Cat.

"…you should know I never fight alone."

Tri-Clops though didn't look concerned. "And you should know we are never defenseless."

From the ground a field of blue hands burst forth and the Heroic Warriors all took a step back asFakers began to claw their way out of the earth.

"Do you like them?" Tri-Clops asked. "Unlike the single one that Skeletor made these Fakers are grown from nano seeds. I am able to fertilize great swaths of land and produce hidden armys within moments!" The Fakers drew forth corrupted swords and axes, preparing themselves for battle. "Once you are converted I'll be able to perfect them… perhaps even make variations. A Sorceress and a Man-At-Arms would be a delight."

He-Man heard screams of fright and whipped around to see that the villagers had been forced to stop their flight by the Fakers, which were now approaching them.

"Of course to grow them I need the right materials… these villagers should do the trick!"

He-Man braced himself. "I will take these three… four… however you count Two Bad in the mix. All of you worry about helping the villagers. We can't-"

A shrill sharp whistle filled the air.

All, Evil Warriors and Heroic Warriors and Villagers, all turned to see a cloaked figure drop down from a tree on the very edge of the forest. They walked towards them without fear, brushing past a few Fakers that stared at the new arrival but didn't act, unsure of how to handle the intruder.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" the left side of Two Bad demanded.

"Someone that's been hunting you three for a very long time," the figure, a woman based on her voice, said. She threw back her hood to reveal a mane of curly blonde hair, full of body and bounce, and a beautiful face with sharp eyes. In her hand she held an ornate golden bow but there was no quiver on her back.

"Well you've found us… be proud of that," Trap Jaw said before lifting his arm, turning it into a blaster. "Now die!"

He fired but the woman suddenly spun before swinging her bow and striking the blast, causing it to rocket back and strike Trap Jaw, making his gun explode.

"Who… who do you think you are?" Trap Jaw demanded in shock.

"A champion," the woman said with a smirk before lifting her bow into the air. "But not the kind you're used to." She pulled back the string and a golden arrow appeared. "For the Glory of Graymoon!"

"For the Glory?" Teela whispered.

"Graymoon?" Duncan added.

The woman fired the arrow which raced into the sky… and suddenly a moon, far different from Bright Moon and Dark Moon, appeared in the sky. The arrow flashed before separating into 4 arrows, which all raced right back down at the woman who made no move to leap away.

"I HAVE THE POWER!" she bellowed.

The arrows struck her and she was consumed by light, forcing all to cover their eyes. When it faded the woman had changed; she had already been near 6 feet tall but now she was He-Man's height. Her muscles had increased; not as bulky as Adam's but certainly more fit than Teela or many of the men in Eternia. Her outfit had also changed, with her gaining dark blue armor and a golden cloak, a snarling canine head on each shoulder.

"I don't care if you have an army!" Trap Jaw shouted. "You will pay for what you did to me!"

"Funny you should mention an army," the woman said as she drew back her bow and began to fire. Arrows ripped through the air, piercing Fakers and causing them to shatter into blue and gold bits. The arrows didn't stop at one either, taking out ten or so Fakers with each pull of her bowstring.

He-Man and the Heroic Warriors, knowing that the tide of battle had changed, leapt into action. Within a few minutes they had destroyed all the Fakers and Trap Jaw had been captured, though Two Bad and Tri-Clops had managed to escape.

"Thank you for the assist," He-Man said, extending his hand to the woman. "I mean it, Miss…"

"I am Hun-Tress," the woman said.

"If you don't mind me asking," Orko said, "where did your power come from? I've never heard of Graymoon."

"We are used to drawing from the power of Grayskull," Teela stated.

Hun-Tress nodded. "I suppose so. But I am the Champion of Graymoon, servant of Hupus."

"Hupus?" Teela said, startled. "The three headed wolf god?"

"Wolf God?" Duncan said, startled.

Teela nodded. "Its supposed to be just a myth… while Zoar, Ka, and Havok fought and were later brought together by the Tiger God its said that Hupus, the Wolf God and Lord of Observers, watched on."

"Yes," Hun-Tress stated. "But as my Sorcerer has decided… the time for Hupus and his champions to remain hidden is over."

"You're…Sorcerer?" He-Man asked… just as a great gold and blue wolf raced out of the wood. The Heroic Warriors tensed but Hun-Tress merely smiled and watched. At the last moment the wolf suddenly shifted, collapsing onto itself and forming into a new figure. He wore pants and a shirt that would have been well suited for Eternia's court but had a golden cloak trimmed with blue and a furry blue collar. Upon his head was a helm, the top of which formed into a wolf's head similar to how Teela now had a headpiece that resembled the Tiger God. His bracers also resembled wolves heads, as did the breast plate he wore. And in his hand he held a Staff of Power, this one topped with three small wolf heads, a fourth larger one pointed up and silently howling. He was as tall as He-Man and Hun-Tress, though not as bulky as Adam, and had short blonde hair and a neatly trimmed beard that encircled his mouth and grayish blue eyes.

"My Sorcerer, Kahus," Hun-Tress said before leaning in and giving the Sorcerer a kiss.

Introducing Kahus, the Sorcerer of Hupus and Protector of the Secrets of Gray Moon

…and Mayna, the Heroine Hun-Tress, Champion of Gray Moon

The Chaoses of Earth 83

"Because in some universes… Mai does find her Edwin"