Chaos Effect

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Two Months Later

"Why do we have the lights off?" I asked.

"Shhh!" someone, perhaps Tristan, I couldn't be for sure, hissed at me.

"But seriously, why?" I asked again, this time in a softer voice.

"It's supposed to be a surprise," Joey said. "I explained this to you Ed."

I nodded shifting my body back and forth. Back in the real world age had begun to get to me and kneeling for too long just killed me. I was simply too tall, too much leg, to be squatting down on the ground. That was a lot of space to rising up through quickly. In this world I was over a decade younger and didn't have the aches and pains that I'd developed in my real life but that didn't mean I enjoyed crouching in the dark behind a sofa.

"This is stupid," I finally said, standing up.

"Ed!" Joey hissed as I flicked on the lights. "Come on man, you're going to ruin things!"

"That isn't very nice," Tristan pointed out.

I shot him a dark look. "We don't need to be doing this."

"Edwin," Yugi said, trying to be the calm member of the group, "we're doing this for Serenity. We want her to have a special day."

"I get that," I said. "But… okay, trying not to be rude but Serenity is blind right now, right?"

"She ain't blind!" Joey snapped in frustration. "Her eyes are just real bad and she has to keep them wrapped before the operation."

"Uh huh. But she still can't see anything?"

Joey growled and balled up his fist. "Listen here-"

"So if she can't see anything," I said quickly, throwing up my hands, "why do we need to hide and turn off the lights?"

Joey… stopped dead in his tracks.

His friends all turned and stared at him, jaws slack open as it dawned on them just what I'd said.

"Oh… heh," Joey said meekly, rubbing the back of his head.

"For my part," Yuri Gardner said from where she sat on a couch, "I figured that out a while ago. I just thought you guys were doing it for giggles." She grabbed a magazine and began to flip through it; the detective had been a bit sullen as of late.

'Your father arrested for attempted murder tends to do that.'

Tea rounded on Joey, grabbing him by the shirt and giving him a shake. "You mean we hid in the dark for 15 minutes for no reason!"

"Come on, I didn't think it through, that's all!" Joey said with just a touch of terror. Yugi was trying to yank Tea away from Joey while Tristan just backed away out of fear for his life. Yuri continued to read her magazine. I, meanwhile, realized that Joey had just come up with the words for House Wheeler: I didn't think it through.

"That much is obvious!" Tea exclaimed.

I chuckled before stepping forward. "She can still hear though, Tea." That caused the brown-haired teen's eyes to widen and she instantly clapped her hand over her mouth, like she thought she could force the words back down her throat. "So, why don't we just all stand or sit or whatever we want to do before…"

Foot steps echoed outside the hall.

"HIDE!" Joey exclaimed, diving behind the couch Yuri was sitting on.

"…seriously?" the Detective asked, leaning around to stare at Joey.

"Now come along, Serenity," the nurse said, guiding the young girl into the conference room we'd arranged to use for this little event. And she was a girl. Not a teen… a girl. It was easy to forget when watching the anime because there you were either a tiny pipsqueak girl or a Playboy bunny. There was no in-between. I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if had Tea one night went to bed looking just like Rebecca, spun a cocoon around herself, and burst out of it the next day with curves and titties bouncing about. But being here in the anime, living in it, I could see what the animation had missed. I could see the youth and the innocence. Yes, Serenity had clearly developed early. But she was still a child. Someone who was closer to playing with dolls than being an adult.

And it burned me to no end that this poor child had been through so much fucking shit in her short time on this planet.

"I thought we had all the tests done," Serenity said as she walked past me and I gestured at the others to stay silent.

"Yes but there is just one more for you… something very important-"

"Surprise!" we all called out. Not yelling it because that would have been cruel… but enough to cause the young teen to jump a bit before Joey bounded over the couch and gave her a hug.

"Joey!" she said, recognizing her brother without him even needing to say a word. "What-?"

"You didn't think I was gonna let you spend today by yourself and not have a party, did ya?"

I smirked as I looked around. Yes, we had decorated despite not needing to but that just felt… right. The balloons and streamers around the punch and the cake and the fresh pizza that had arrived. All of it under a large banner done up in all the colors of the rainbow:

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY SERENITY!

"Joey, you… you didn't need to do this," Serenity said, voice wobbling a touch.

"Yeah I did," he said as Tea snapped some pictures, so Serenity would be able to see the party after her operation. "And when my friends heard what I was doing they said they wanted to help you celebrate. We knew your friends from school couldn't come but I hope my friends are good enough."

"Hi Serenity," Tea said, stepping forward and taking the young teen's hand. "I'm Tea."

"And I'm Yugi."

"Tristan."

"Yuri," Tea's sister said, setting down the magazine and getting a bit of her normal energy back at the sight of the clearly emotional teen. "I'm Tea's sister."

"And this is Ed," Joey said, turning Serenity towards me. "He helped me arrange all this."

"Happy birthday, Serenity," I said, taking her hand in mine and giving it a gentle squeeze.

Serenity beamed, twisting her head about. "Oh, Joey has told me so much about you! And the pictures he sent me… before I had to get my eyes wrapped I studied them…" she turned towards me. "But I'm sorry… I don't know what you…"

"Here," I said, fighting off my hatred of being touched by strangers and lifting her hand to my face. She rubbed her hand along my cheek before touching my beard which caused her to giggle and jerk back in shock before reaching out again.

"Oh… you're older than Joey, aren't you?"

"I am. I'm-" I stopped, almost saying my real age before catching myself, "-22. I met Joey at Duelist Kingdom."

"That's right… you two dueled in the semi finals."

"And he nearly beat me. Did he tell you that?"

Joey blushed. "Ed, man…"

"It's true. Come on, we have food and presents. I'll tell you how your brother almost beat the Devil."

The next hour was spent showing Serenity the best birthday she could possibly have at the hospital. Pizza was eaten in ungodly amounts (with Tea somehow being the one that ate the most… the image of her basically deep throating a slice would replace the whale in my nightmares), pop was drunk, and stories were told. After I gave Joey an ego boost but telling Serenity all about how our duel had gone I sat back and let the others tale their stories. Childhood adventures back before Joey and Serenity's parents had broken up. Tea sharing the time her and Yugi had gotten stuck in a closet at school and been forced to climb through the ceiling to get out. Tristan telling us of his vacation a year ago to America and him asking me if I knew a random black man he'd met in New York because apparently everyone in America knew each other.

The only one that stayed silent was Yuri. Tea had insister her sister come and I'd actually run into them outside the hospital as Yuri tried to convince her sister to go on without her. I didn't know too much of what had happened after her father had decided to stab me; even with me being operated on while in the VR world I'd needed a hospital stay and first Seto and then my uncle had kept me busy. Seto was pissed about what had happened and demanded I help him go over all the employees at Kaibacorp to find 'the no-good traitors who still cling to the Big 5 and their false promises of wealth and glory'. That had been a fun two weeks. Then my uncle had wanted to go over getting me a bodyguard to protect me, something I was honestly not opposed to but it had to be the right person. It wouldn't do if I needed to use the Millennium Key and I freaked out the poor suit my uncle hired by using magic. I needed a John Diggle to my Oliver Queen.

Magic.

That was another issue I had been forced to deal with.

It seemed that when I'd finally hit my Level Break in the VR world and fully embraced being the holder of the Millennium Key it had done more than simply break the 4kids censor and at long last allow me to swear. No… there were changes as well. Just as Atem would gain the Eye of Horus on his forehead when he used the Millennium Puzzle sometimes I too now had a tell: if I got too emotional the Key would react. And it reacted right now by not merely pulling itself from my fucking body but giving me black eyes with golden rings instead of irises and pupils.

'I look like fucking Gambit,' I'd thought the first time I'd seen it.

But Yuri… things had clearly gone bad for the Detective and I felt a stab of guilt at that. It was my fault this had happened. My mere existence had caused her family so much trouble. And that killed me even as I smiled and the gifts were passed out.

Everyone had been very thoughtful. Yugi got Serenity all sorts of art supplies, telling her that when she was done with the operation she should try painting, so she could truly enjoy the world. Tea had gotten her clothing; nothing too sexy or outlandish, thank god, but still something a young teen would like. She said it was from her and Yuri but I doubted that; I had a feeling the party had been sprung on her. Tristan had gotten her a new jacket, admitting Tea had helped him pick it out, and while Joey sputtered over how tight it was cut Serenity loved it and thanked him for it, causing him to blush.

Then it was my turn.

"When my mom was in the hospital one of the things that bugged her and my dad was how boring it could get," I told her, doing my best not to dwell on that year. If I ever got stuck in a Hell Loop I knew it would just be repeating that year, from her diagnosis to me sobbing as she passed away nearly a year later. "People tried to help with getting her games and stuff but sometimes you don't want loud and complex things. Sometimes you just want something simple to forget what's coming." I handed her the box and Serenity, with Joey's help, tore off the wrapping paper and pulled out an MP3 player. "I got you a ton of audio books. A whole collection, covering genres. Jurassic Park, The Lord of the Rings, the complete library of Sherlock Holmes. Mai helped pick up some stuff as well…"

"Whose Mai?" Serenity asked.

"She's-" I paused, unsure of how to answer. After I'd gotten out of the hospital Mai and I had gone on a couple dates but then she'd received word of a tournament down south and she'd left to compete. We'd video chatted every couple of days… and one time, much to my own surprise, had gotten rather... adult… in nature. But I still had no real idea what we were. A couple? Two friends who were confusing closeness with love? A temporary thing or something deeper? My nervousness with relationships left me frightened to actually declare us anything, just in case I ended up jinxing it.

"-his friend," Joey said. "I told you about her, remember."

"Oh, right," Serenity said sweetly. She turned to me and smiled, holding the MP3 player close. "Thank you Edwin."

"Enjoy it. And if you need more books let me know and I'll come and download some more. And I can show Joey how to do it too."

"Might be better if I did it," Tristan teased. "I've seen Joey make the microwave crash."

"One time!" Joey complained. "Anyway, I saved the best gift for last!" Joey pulled out an envelope from his pocket, from which he produced a handmade bundle of papers. "This, sis, is a coupon book of all the fun things you and I are going to do once your through with the operation." He began to flip through the book, holding it up for her to see… forgetting she couldn't actually see it. But considering where his heart was no one called him out on that. "So this one is for a day to the beach. And this one will be a movie marathon, no matter how girly. And this one is an amusement park…"

"Joey, this is great!" Serenity said with a grin, giving him a hug. "We'll have to plan out when you can come to visit-"

"No need!" Joey said, puffing up with excitement. "I'll be able to come whenever you want!"

Serenity tilted her head in confusion. "But… that can cost a lot to come visit…" It hurt my soul that in Japan, the land of trains, a ticket to go visit his sister was a major expense that Joey couldn't pull off. I knew his life was shit thanks to him being the scrappy underdog archtype but for fuck's sake he wasn't Yusei living on the streets!

"Like I said, already handled." Joey jabbed his thumb to his chest. "Your big brother won the KaibaCorp International Youth Lottery! $10,000 bucks, sis! More than enough to do everything in that book! And all on Rich Boy Kaiba's dime! Heheh!"

"Oh Joey!" Serenity said, now falling under the same excitement as her big brother.

After that came cake and ice cream and general good times. Feeling like I was the adult babysitting the kindergarteners, I began to slowly edge my way towards the back of the room, letting the teens and Serenity have fun without me hovering about. Yuri must have felt the same way as she walked by, nodding towards the door and gesturing for me to follow. With a shrug I finished my cake and headed after her as we walked down the hallway leading to the small enclosed garden walk the hospital had.

"So," Yuri said, "the best name you could come up with was the International Youth Lottery?"

"Figured that one out, huh?" I said, not denying for a second what she was implying.

"How much did it cost you to set that all up?" Yuri questioned.

"About double what Joey got. A few websites to make it look legit, the forms, hiring a van to come to his home with the giant check… that he actually tried to cash at a liquor store in his neighborhood…" I chuckled at the memory of Joey trying to figure out how to get the massive 5 foot long check through the door only for the owner to tell him to go to a fucking bank with the real, smaller check.

"You know you could be in for legal trouble if anyone else entered," Yuri pointed out to me, ever the cop.

"Already saw to that. Website only worked with Joey's IP address, everyone else got an error message. And the legal disclaimer, if you read it, references Form 729, which itself references Form 12H. Which states that only Joseph Wheeler of Domino can win the contest." Yuri shot me a look. "Lay off, detective, the boy deserves a win for once."

Yuri narrowed her eyes at me before finally sighing and settling down on a bench. "Sorry. Yeah, I get it. Just… another case of rich people doing what they want."

I sat down next to her, leg bouncing a bit with excess energy. "I was going to pay for Serenity's surgery, you know? Made a deal with Seto Kaiba to pay for it."

"What changed?" Yuri asked.

"Joey couldn't accept charity and dueled Kaiba. He lost so Kaiba ruled I had to keep the money but couldn't use it to help the Wheeler family. By the time Yugi won Joey had learned his lesson and accepted."

"Then why not give Joey the cash instead of doing… this?"

"Because I'm not his best friend Yugi Moto," I pointed out, unable to stop the touch of bitterness that entered my voice. "I'm Edwin Chaos. I'm the schemer who tricked Pegasus into giving me part of KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions. That makes for a huge difference when it comes to accepting charity." Yuri shot me a look and I sighed in frustration. "Ignore me. I'm a friend but I'm not part of the inner circle. They all say they are willing to work with me, to trust me, but I'll never have a chance to actually have instant belief. There will always be that worm of doubt. I'm the Devil… and they can't help but remind me of that."

"So you're not leading the charmed life the papers make you out to have."

I laughed at that. "My uncle is the papers… and the tv stations… and the websites. And what you are seeing is him watering down what the editors really want to put up there. I'm right now the darling of Domino, the new freak to stare at through the bars of the cage. Believe me… things haven't been easy."

"Right," Yuri said quietly. "I… haven't had a chance to apologize."

"And you don't need to. Sins of the Father is bullshit."

Yuri looked down at her shoes, kicking at a small pebble that had made its way onto the sidewalk. "It doesn't feel like that most days."

"I told my uncle to leave your name out of it," I informed her, though the moment I said the words I winced because it sounded like I was fishing for thanks.

But Yuri didn't even notice. "Thanks for that. But no… it's the department that is the problem."

"Oh for fuck's sake," I groaned. "Blue Wall of Silence?"

"Blue Wall of Silence," she agreed. "I went against another cop, even if he works for the Police Commissioner. And with my dad arrested the government types are now digging into his connections, rooting out dirty cops."

"And naturally we can't have that because every dirty cop is the nicest guy who helps everyone out and all they did was make a few 'innocent mistakes'?" She nodded and her dark mood earlier made a ton of sense. "And for you?"

"Paid leave. Indefinitely. They can't fire me as that would be a mess-"

"They do and I'll drop the fucking hammer of god on them." Yuri glanced at me, surprised by the venom in my voice. "I don't like the little guy getting pushed around for something they didn't do. Now that I'm one of the Big Guys I don't plan to forget the trenches."

"I was more startled the Guardian Devil was referencing God in a positive way."

"You don't know what God I was referring to," I said. In the back of my mind I remembered Atem's warning that there was some goddess out there who had taken an interest in me. 'Probably should be careful with calling for divine vengeance… I might actually fucking get it.'

I couldn't help but glance around for storm clouds.

"But the long and short of it is I'm done," Yuri said bitterly. "They'll probably offer to pay me my salary for the rest of my life as a 'we're sorry your dad was a corrupt bastard but no one will work with you so here you go, have some money' apology."

"You want to keep working."

"…yes," Yuri finally said before shaking her head. "But that's just a pipedream. If I went on a case now I'd be lucky to get through the year alive. Someone with ties to my dad or the Big 5 or any of the other criminals that are now being rooted up would shoot me in the back and claim it was a criminal who did it. I love my job but I don't have a death wish."

I hated that. I knew she was right but I hated that. "So what now?" I said, trying to keep my voice neutral. Not full of pity as I figured that was the last thing she'd want but also not light and breezy as that would just be patronizing.

"I have no idea," Yuri admitted.

"Hey!" Tea called out, walking out to join us, Tristan following with a piece of cake. "We were wondering where you two went off to."

"Careful Edwin, Mai might get jealous!" Tristan teased.

I rolled my eyes. 'Oh for fuck's sake that's all I need… Yuri falling for me and now I'm in a god damn love triangle. Might as well give me blue eyes and pink hair and make me a protagonist in some high school romance manga.' Out loud though I said, "Figured I'd give you guys some breathing room without having the adults lurking about."

"Well, the party is breaking up," Tea stated. "Yugi and Joey are going to clean up and divide up the leftovers. Serenity had to head back to her room to rest since visiting hours are over. So we figured we'd begin making our way home."

"Right," I said, standing up and stretching, Yuri moving to stand next to Tea. "Anyone need a ride? My uncle won't let me go anywhere without one of his drives shuttling me around. Not until he hires my new bodyguard. So I can give you guys a lift."

"I drove us," Yuri said.

"I could use a ride," Tristan said. "I rode with Joey here and was going to take the bus back so-"

And that's when the world ripped open with a crack of lighting and energy.

The four of us were blown off our feet. The winds swirled like we'd been caught in a maelstrom and the colors began to invert and revert all around us, bathing the garden in blues and greens and blacks and sickly yellows. And in the center of it all was a fissure right in the middle of the air; a jagged slashing wound in the fabric of space and time that bled plasma. And beyond it was only darkness that yearned to suck us in. Which it was doing as I could feel my body slowly being dragged towards the portal.

"What is that?!" Tristan shouted, trying to grab onto potted plant to keep himself from falling into… whatever the fuck had just appeared. And then, just because the world decided that "Hey, we haven't screwed around with Edwin enough recently!" the fissure shifted, the cut becoming less jagged, smoothing out into a pulsing opening with a thick border of energy and a blinking nub at the top…

"I don't know but I really don't want to end up in space's vagina!" I shouted over the roar of the winds, which were getting louder till it felt like my head was going to explode. I kicked and pushed against the ground but it was like trying to climb a brick wall; the fissure's gravity was drawing me in and I had no hand-holds to grasp onto-

Tea let out a scream and that was it. She was yanked forward but none of us could even call out her name as the giant dimensional quim flexed and ovulated and suddenly we were all ripped from the ground and tossed about in the air, passing through the vortex and into a swirling hurricane of light and energy. I saw Yuri tumbling head over ass and Tristan spinning like a top and Tea flailing about and I did all I could to try and stop-

And then I did.

With a bone rattling thud.

"FUCK!" I called out in pain, slowly rising to my feet. "I could have done without that! FUCK!" I began to look around for the others. "Everyone else here? Sound off!"

"I'm okay," Tea said, rubbing her head. "Or at least I will be. Ow."

"Ugh, that was not fun," Tristan said, having ended up lying on a bench.

Yuri got to her feet, a bit unstable but quickly coming around. "Same here. Anyone want to clue me in on what the hell just happened?"

I looked around us carefully, taking everything in. The first thing I noticed was that everything was darker. Not to an extreme, like it was night when it had been day. But rather that it seemed like the shadows were just a bit deeper. The plants were far more overgrown and wild than they had been in the lovingly cared for garden we'd just left. The bench Tristan was laying on as he worked to catch his breath had chipped paint and cracks on the wooden seat. Weeds had begun to grow up through the stone walkway that meandered through the little spot of green within the hospital's structure and dark stains crept up the walls. Following that up I saw the windows were dirtier than they had been in the other garden. Again, nothing to an extreme but just enough that one would notice. Where before the garden had been something clearly cared for and loved so that the patients forced to make extended visits had something beautiful to look at the garden I was standing in was a monument to neglect.

"What was that?" Tea asked, looking about and rubbing her arms nervously.

"I have no idea but whatever it was its gone now," Tristan said.

Yuri caught my eye and gave a little side nod towards the garden. I quietly nodded back; leave it to the detective to notice that things weren't on the up and up. To notice the changes. She glanced up and then pointed for me to do the same; I quickly got why she'd taken interest in the sky. It too had been altered. Where before everything above us had been a pale baby blue with a few whispy white clouds hanging overhead now the sky was a deeper cerulean and the clouds were heavier, thicker and more fully formed with gray tint. There was something… unnatural about that sky. I couldn't figure out what it was that made my skin crawl but it was like everything was just sucking in shadows and reflecting them back rather than light.

"Something's not right," Yuri finally said.

"What do you mean?" Tristan said. "Well… I mean other than us getting sucked into that portal. That was wild but-"

"And you think it just spat us back out where we started?" I asked with a shake of my head. "Alternate dimension. 100%."

"Alternate dimension?" Tea said, screwing up her features in disbelief. "Those aren't real."

"But ancient Egyptian artifacts that can read people's minds are real?" I charged, though without any real anger. More mild annoyance, if anything. "Tea, Pegasus summoned the Shadow Realm during his duel with Yugi."

"Yeah…" Tristan said, "but that was different!"

"I'm sorry, Shadow Realm?" Yuri said in confusion.

"How is it different?" I pressed.

"Don't worry, I'll explain later," Tea told her sister.

"That… well… that was a realm and you said another dimension." I just glowered at Tristan and he finally backed off. "Er… okay, I guess they are a bit the same."

"Just a touch," I said sarcastically, looking about. "Other dimension then. And from the state of things not quite like the one we left."

Yuri, the one with the least amount of experience with the supernatural of the four of us, just shook her head. "Have a lot of experience with alternate dimensions?"

I couldn't help it. I began to laugh. Tristan and Tea looked at me, a touch concerned but I couldn't stop the chuckles that burst from my lips. Because I had Tea Gardner's sister asked me about traveling to alternate dimensions. Tea Gardner… of the anime Yu-Gi-oh!.

"Oh yes," I finally said, getting control of myself. "I've lived an interesting life." I moved towards the door but Yuri hurried forward, stopping me before I could open it.

"I'm not going to argue about all this because we just got sucked into a…er…"

"Space vagina."

"I'm not calling it that," Yuri stated. "But whatever is happening I'm getting bad vibes." She placed her hand on the door. "Let me go first. Everyone be quiet."

The rest of us nodded and Yuri opened the door, creeping into the hospital proper, looking about before motioning for us to follow. The first thing I noticed was how utterly quiet it was. The normal sounds that I remembered from my visits to hospitals (sadly far too many than there should have been in my 30 plus years of life) weren't there. Normally unless it was late at night there was always people moving about, dull conversations heard in the distance, the sounds of machines and alarms echoing through the halls. Oh, occasionally you'd hit a dead spot, where everything was silent save for your footfalls, but that was a rarity and for the most part people were going about their lives as best as they could even as they waited for surgeries and treatments.

We were greeted by the quiet.

'If I see a door that says DON'T OPEN DEAD INSIDE I'm getting the fuck out of here,' I thought.

"Where is everyone?" Tea whispered.

"I don't know… everything is too quiet," Tristan stated.

I turned and glared at the two of them. Yuri had told us to be fucking silent… could they maybe turn off the anime character 'I need to talk about everything around me' instinct for just a fucking minute?

"Sorry," the two said and I rolled my eyes before following after Yuri. She was sweeping the halls, checking doors to see if they opened but all of them were locked and sealed which was different from what we'd seen in our dimension. Many of these doors had been open to the public, as they'd either been waiting rooms, conference centers, or been for patients who were staying at the hospital.

Finally Yuri turned a corner and we found that we weren't the only people in the hospital.

"What… what is-?" Tristan began to say only for Tea to clap her hand over his mouth. Which was good because I really didn't want him saying a word at that moment. Just as much as I desperately wished we HAD been utterly alone in the hospital.

The hall was filled with bodies.

Some had a few makeshift beds to lie out but others were just strewn on the ground, tossed there and left to rot. They'd been stripped of their clothing and put in gowns but they all laid there, silent and still, not reacting the slightest to our presence. Tea froze up in horror, her hand pressed to her mouth and Tristan looked like he was going to be sick. I didn't blame them… this was something I had feared coming across. Yuri walked over to the nearest one and placed her fingers against the side of the man's throat, frowning before looking up and nodding to me, making the situation all the more worse: the people were still alive.

'Oh goodie… we're in for one of THESE dimensions,' I thought as I began to back away, extending my arms to force Tristan and Tea to retreat back, Yuri being the last. Once we returned to the quiet hallway we quickly picked up the pace and hurried back down towards the garden, this time going in the opposite direction. I could tell the teens wanted to say something but the fear that Yuri and I were feeling at that sight was showing them that at the moment silence truly was golden. Which was good because I had a sneaking suspicion that this place wasn't as empty as we thought and I wasn't referring to the bodies lying on the ground.

Finally Yuri found an open door and pulled us into a break room clearly meant for nurses. There was a TV and a couch and scrubs folded up on a counter as well as a vending machine in the corner selling candy and chips and booze-

"What the…" I muttered as I stared at the cheery little bottles of vodka that were available for purchase.

Tea had other concerns. "What the heck was that back there? Why… why were all those people just laid out in the hall like that?"

"Ran out of room," Yuri said coolly, sweeping the room and checking the sole window to see if there was anything outside that would give us clues.

"Still," Tristan said with a shudder. "That was creepy as all get out! What happened to those people?"

I licked my lips nervously. "If I had to guess? Their souls were ripped out."

"W-What?" Tea exclaimed.

"Edwin, now isn't the time to be sarcastic," Yuri warned me.

"I'm serious," I shot back. "I've seen that before."

"You have?" Tristan said in horror.

"Interesting. Life." I didn't feel the need to explain to them that I'd seen it on their show during the Doma Arc. This had all the makings of Dartz. Which made me really worried that we'd somehow jumped forward in time instead of crossing over into another dimension. I knew Dartz had caused a lot of problems for the world during his time as villain, collecting a massive wall of souls. But that hallway… my mind kept going back to it. There was something I was missing.

"That's horrible," Tea whispered and Yuri walked over and gave her a hug, murmuring softly as Tea fought back tears. "Who could do something like that?"

"A lot of people, sadly," I muttered as I began to pace. I had too much nervous energy to just stand around and do nothing. I scanned the room, looking for something that might trigger an idea or a thought. I didn't want to turn on the TV even though that would be our best bet for information as I didn't want to alert anyone that we were in there. We were going to stick out like sore thumbs. Thanks to the party we didn't need food so no need to stock up on stuff from the vending machine, which I noticed took American currency for some reason as well as Japanese. The window, as Yuri had seen, offered nothing but a view of the parking lot… 3 stories below us. I didn't feel like trying to make that jump. Otherwise-

My eyes went back to the vending machine.

"Oh," I muttered. "Oh please no. Not this." I walked over to the graphic depicting what money the machine would accept.

"What is it?" Tristan whispered, walking over to me. "Is that alcohol?"

"Yeah, but that's not what has me concerned," I muttered. "Look at the money there."

"Huh?" Tristan said, squatting down and nearly pressing his face to the machine. "What's the big deal?"

"Who is on the American dollar?" I asked.

"George Washington."

"Right," I said, staring at the image of Benedict Arnold that appeared on the graphic of the dollar. "Oh fuck me."

"You curse a lot recently," Tristan said. "You notice that?"

"I tried to quit. Didn't take." I tugged on my beard in agitation. I knew what kind of dimension we were in and this was not going to be fun in the slightest. "And I like the Crime Syndicate."

"Huh?"

"Nothing." I glanced at the counter again before quickly nodding to myself. "Alright, costume change kids." I walked over and tossed Tristan a set of scrubs. "Pink or blue, Yuri?"

"What?" the cop asked, letting go of Tea. "What are you talking about?"

"We're in a hospital and some freaky shit is going on. I've seen this movie and it ends with one of us missing a few fingers while a naked zombie doctor tries to kill us. Most likely Tristan. I'd like to LEAVE said hospital without ending up like those poor bastards in the hall. That means disguises and not in the Scooby Doo variety." I tossed her a set of blue scrubs and gave Tea the pink ones, counting on Anime Rules to mean that the clothing would just naturally fit. For myself I grabbed a pair of deep purple scrubs. Noticing some backpacks sitting near the area for people to hang their coats I walked over and dumped the contents of one on the ground, ignoring the fact that I was pretty sure the bag contained herion. "We'll stuff our valuables in here. Tristan, get another bag for any clothing you guys want to keep."

"You can't steal from an innocent nurse, Edwin," Tea scolded me.

I rolled my eyes. "Tea, there is a very good chance no one in this hospital is innocent. But if you want to leave a note apologizing for me taking this, go right ahead. Will buy the rest of us some time to flee while the alien invaders tear you apart." I unbuttoned my plaid shirt and stuffed it into the bag before undoing the buckle on my pants. "Now, unless you want to see what kind of underwear I've got on turn around and get dressed!"

"I don't like it either," Yuri whispered, "but Edwin is right-"

"Of course I am," I sang.

"There is something very wrong going on here. Every instinct I have is screaming at me right now for us to get the hell out of here. If that means we need to break a few laws… we'll make it up to everyone later." Tea didn't like that answer, I could tell even without looking at her, but soon enough her and Yuri were changed and all of us were standing around in scrubs. I put a cap on my head and handed Yuri a random clipboard I'd found laying around before heft the backpack onto my shoulder.

"Let's move."

We used the stairs (as there was no way I was getting trapped in a small box in this place as every horror movie had taught me elevators WEREN'T a good idea), making our way towards the ground floor. We could hear others in the stairwell but never saw a soul… and that was more terror-inducing than if we'd run into an actual zombie. Just the ghostly footfalls and murmurs of distance conversations above us. I was tense, muscles straining from anticipation that'd need to suddenly begin running. Yuri, who was carrying the duffle bag with the rest of our clothing, spotting an open Fire Emergency Box and pulled out a fireman's axe, testing its weight before shoving it into the bag. Tea and Tristan stared at us in horror but I glared at them and they remained silent as we finally reached the lowest level.

"Alright," I whispered as we made our way out the stairwell. Up ahead we could hear a dull roar of a large group of people. "If I remember right this will lead us to the balcony over the ground floor entrance. We just need to go down the stairs to the left and get out. I'll go first, see if we need to backtrack and find another way out." I started forward and was only a few steps away from them when the fools began to follow me… because of course they did. Too anxious though to scold them I just continued on, hoping that at the very least they'd stay quiet.

Turned out that we could have marched around playing the tuba. No one was going to notice us.

Not with them focused on the cage match-style duel that was happening below us right in the atrium of the hospital.

"What in the world…" Tristan whispered as he moved to join me at the balcony, staring down at the battle that was taking place. A crowd ringed two duelists, a guy and a girl, who were going at it right in the middle of the entranceway. They were an odd collection, the audience; some were hospital staff while the rest looked like they belonged in a Mad Max movie. Leather, wild haircuts, pipes and knives at the ready… the fact they were mingling with doctors and nurses was definitely eyebrow raising. "How are they dueling without a platform?"

"Duel Disks," I murmured. But certainly not ones I'd ever seen before. They were black and gold, with glowing cables running from them to each duelist's arm. They were also far sharper and spikier than anything Kaiba had created… like if Rob Liefeld had been put in charge of designing them.

"Is that… Joey?" Tea asked. I tilted my head as I took in the duelist to the right. The sides of his head were completely shaven and his hair styled more in a Mohawk than Joey's puffy haircut. He had on a studded black leather jacket and a few piercings in his ear but otherwise it was Joey Wheeler. A Joey Wheeler who was leering as his opponent with a grin that would have made Yami Marik tell him to tone it down. "Why does he look like that?"

"Alternate dimension," I reminded her. "And I have a bad feeling I know what this one's gist is."

"Time ta take ya down!" Joey declared, flexing his hand. "It would have been better for ya if ya'd just followed the rules and known your place. But now I'm gonna show ya why I'm Second in Command in Domino! I fuse the Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Summoned Skull in my hand ta summon forth my Black Skull Dragon!" The duel monster appeared but there was something… off about it. All at once it looked more aggressive, more violent… but also more real. I could make out the scales on its arms and the veins running down its neck and feel the heat of the hellfire coming from its mouth-

"Oh fuck," I whispered, finally noticing the purple mist the lingered at the ankles of the audience. "It's a god damn Shadow Game!"

"A what?" Yuri said a bit louder than I'd have liked, even with the crowd below cheering and screaming for blood.

"It's something the Millennium Items can do," Tea told her sister. "Pegasus did it on his island to Yugi. He turned their duel into a Shadow Game."

"And the penalty for losing isn't just lifepoints… but your life itself!" Tristan added.

"On my next turn my Dragon is going to wipe you out! And then all of this, your little rebellion against me? It will have been for nothin'!" Joey declared. "Ya tried to take me out, to move up in the ranks, but ya should have started small. Not set your eyes on a prize you were never going to win!"

"Oh, come now big brother," his foe purred. "Don't count me out just yet."

"S-Serenity?" Tristan stammered as Joey's sister held up her hands, her supporters braying and crying out for her to finish Joey off. She was even more radically changed than Joey, which is why I hadn't realized it was her. This version of Serenity Wheeler had buzzed her hair short so that she was nearly bald and was wearing a sleeveless turtleneck shirt and baggy pants, several gaudy gold rings on her fingers. The skin we could see was covered in tattoos; spirals and twisting foreign symbols that I had a feeling didn't say "Have a nice day" in their native tongue. Most startling though was the fact that, like our Serenity, this one had bandages wrapped around her head

"After all… it is my turn!" She declared, drawing a card. "Peeeeeerfect," she said with an arrogant smirk. "First, I'll use Evil Eye Remergence, allowing me to summon one Evil Eye Token to the field." A lidless demonic eye appeared on the field, looking about wildly before settling on Joey's dragon. "But it won't be staying for long! I sacrifice it and my Medusa to summon forth the bringer of your doom! Say hello to Zerrziel, Ruler of the Evil Eyed!"

The monster that appeared before us was a tortured thing. Demonic in nature, it appeared to be a failed fusion of man and dragon that was barely holding itself together as its raw power ripped it apart at the seams. The only thing that looked even a bit stable was the flicking large eyes that dotted its body, from the massive ones on its arms to the one in the dragon's skull on its chest. In fact the only place that didn't have one of those eyes was the monster's head, which was covered by a helm leaving him sightless.

Joey though merely scoffed at that. "You always were a stupid little girl, you know that? Thinking that you could just tag along with me and keep up. Do… do you realize how many times I forced myself to slow down, just so you could catch back up? Knowing if I didn't mom would beat me because precious little Serenity had to have her way. Had to tagalong. And after all this time you are still doing that. Still trying to keep up." He threw his arms out wide. "Look at the field, little sister! My dragon is more powerful than your Zerziel. And even if he wasn't I have 2000 more lifepoints than you!" He took a step forward and shook his head, a dark smile flashing across his lips. "No more slowing down for you, Serenity. No more holding back just so you don't feel bad for not keeping up."

"It's still my turn, big brother," Serenity taunted, making that term for Joey feel like ooze dripping down my throat; I wanted to gag and vomit from how vile she made it seem.

"I hate this," Tea whispered, tears in her eyes. I didn't blame her. This was just… wrong.

"It's not them," Yuri quietly told her, glancing at me. "Right?"

I nodded "Another dimension. Different versions."

"Jerk versions?" Tristan muttered.

"Morality flipped. This world… good is evil and evil is good." I locked eyes with him. "And it's only going to get worse."

"You're just a bundle of sunshine sometimes, you know?"

"Yeah, I've been told. Why do you think so many people already want to destroy me?"

Serenity slapped a spell card onto her duel disk. "I activate the Evil Eye of Gorgoneio and equip it to my monster!" A bejeweled eyepiece appeared, pressing itself to the head of her monster, who turned skyward and bellowed in pain as the piece grafted itself to him before he snapped back to stare at Joey's dragon. "This card increases my monster's attack points equal to the difference in our lifepoints, bringing my fiend to 4600!"

"My dragon!" Joey cried out, a hint of fear now in his voice.

"And that's not all," Serenity taunted. "When my monster has this equip he gains a special ability: he can seek out and destroy one of your monsters before his attack!"

"That will leave me open for a direct attack!"

"Oh Joey," Serenity said menacingly, "always stating the fucking obvious. Its one of your more amusing traits. I will miss it when you're dead."

"Wait! Wait!" Joey began to plea, all bravado disappearing in the face of his sister's monster. "Hold on sis… we can talk this out! We can end the duel right now! We…heh… we don't have to do this!" He was a nervous wreck. Trembling. Frightened. All the fight gone from him. "We can use one of them!" he pointed to the audience. "We can bring him ten of them! All of them! I'll give them all us! That will be worth it, right? It will show just how powerful you are!" The crowd hissed and snarled at that, sounding more like wild beasts than humans.

Serenity giggled. Not a sweet, girlish sound. No. This was the cries of a broken soul that had forgotten how to scream in torment properly. It made Tristan cringe and Tea bury her face in her sister's shoulder. Yuri was utterly still, watching the scene below us like it was a train wreck happening in slow motion. And I just stood there, studying the entire thing, detaching myself from my emotions. I could break down later… right now I needed to see what the fuck was going on with all of this so I could figure a way out.

Serenity tapped her chin. "I'm trying to remember the last time I heard someone beg like that. Oh, there have been so many recently that have pleaded with me. The sheep, of course. The cattle. 'Please don't duel me! I can serve!' But they do serve. They fuel all this, after all. The greatest service there is." Joey was trembling, trying to speak but so shaken he couldn't. For my part I was having a very bad feeling that my comment about the bodies back in that hallway, of it reminding me of the Doma Arc… that I had hit the nail on the head without even realizing it. That I'd been more right… but also so terribly wrong. "But no, not that. I understood their cries. They were out of fear. Then I thought maybe it was from the champions and enforcers I've taken out in order to claw my way to here. You remember them, don't you? You sent me to take Mako's forces hoping I would die. He told me that. He knew I was coming and tried to set a trap. I didn't let him though. Sloppy, sloppy Joey. But when he begged there was just as much anger as there was fear." She tapped her chin. "Where have I heard this kind of begging before?"

"Please," Joey whimpered.

Serentiy's face lit up. "There it is! Now I remember. Oh, I remember as clear as day." Her eyes narrowed. "When you would sneak in my room at night, when mom was passed out drunk and dad was off someplace hiding so he didn't need to come home. I'd pull the covers tight to my throat and hope that would be enough to stop you. But it never was, was it big brother? You always ripped everything away. And no matter how much I begged and pleaded I'd still feel your hands all over me-"

"Fuck me," I hissed.

"So if you didn't listen to me then… why should I now?" With that her monster attacked, first using the Evil Eye to shatter the dragon before attacking Joey directly. The blow lifted him off his feet and sent him crashing into a wall, a sickening CRUNCH echoing even amongst the cheers of the audience before Joey toppled down like a broken doll to the floor, the crowd parting so Serenity could walk towards her brother. Joey was bleeding badly and his back was clearly broken but he was still alive. The poor bastard.

"You… you won't get away with this!" Joey tried to scream but it came out a rattling gasp. "I'm his right hand man!"

"You're nothing but a braggart he pitied," Serenity hissed, forcing Joey's head up. The duel disk he was wearing flashed and Joey cried out as the cords leading from his arm to the device began to glow golden, the connection points causing his skin to burn. "A complete and utter failure in everything. You were given a chance to be someone great but you remained the school yard bully happy with pushing around the weaklings. He needs someone strong. Someone that can fight. I guess…" she reached up and began to remove the bandages that covered her face, "that is why he gave me… this." The last one fell away and my stomach rolled violently.

The Millennium Eye flashed in Serenity's left eye socket.

Unlike Pegasus though this was… wrong. Done improperly or hastily. Or maybe this was just the cost that came from using one of the items in this screwed up dimension. The eye itself was as it had been in our dimension. Pure gold, without a single flaw, shining brightly, almost innocently. A mockery of purity amongst the ruin of Serenity's face and I knew that it was the eye that had caused the damage. The skin around it was puckered and green, bloated in spots and sunken in others, Rotting right off her skull from the power that was currently pulsing through her. Angry blackish purple veins throbbed under the decaying flesh and it wasn't even to a rhythm like a heartbeat. No, it was erratic and crazed, some of them quick and others slow. Pus oozed from the corners of her eye socket like yellow tears, leaving slime trails along her cheeks. She reached up and idly scratched at her face, not even caring as her nails tore away bits of festering skin and muscle.

Joey opened his mouth to say… something. We'd never know as in that moment his duel disk flashed and he let out a scream before his eyes went utterly glassy and I knew that his soul had just been ripped away. Serenity calmly put her foot on his chest while gripping the duel disk in her hands, kicking at him. His fingers snapped but Joey never said a word, falling bonelessly to the ground in a heap. Serenity smirked before lifting the disk up, the crowd screaming like the damned.

"Bow to your new mistress," she proclaimed and as one the audience fell to their knees and ducked their heads, Serenity sweeping her gaze at her new minions…

…and then locking eyes with me.

"Oh shit," I muttered.

"What is this?" she asked, trying to keep her tone light as she looked me. "A new challenger already? I don't recognize you."

"Just passing through," I called out. "Took a wrong turn at Albuquerque." Because I'd already mouthed off to Zorc's skin puppet why not add being a cocky ass to Anti Matter Serenity who'd just sucked her brother's soul out. 'Me and my big mouth.'

"I don't believe you," Serenity said. "I think you are here to size me up. There is something… hidden about you. Something… golden." She grinned and the Millennium Eye flashed.

"Yeah, what you are about to do? Not a good idea."

"For you."

"Nope," I said just as she entered my mind-

~MC~MC~MC~

Serenity had entered many minds since she'd been given the Millennium Eye. She'd wanted to show she deserved it, deserved the trust that had been given to her. She refused to be weak like her brother. Joey had ruined so much… he'd been given a place at his side and had squandered the chance. She wasn't going to make the same mistake. So she'd had the few followers Joey had been willing to grant her round up sheep for her to experiment on, to learn how to use the eye. Testing just how much power to use, what it was like to sift through thoughts and memories. It had been a long and painful process but it had worked and allowed her to gather loyal minions that served her fiercely. That was how she'd tricked Joey to coming to the hospital and won through Right of Conquest all he'd controlled.

And now this new challenger appeared.

No matter, she had thought. She would just go into his mind, learn all his secrets and then defeat him in a duel as well and claim his soul for the Great Project. Simple enough, really.

Except instead of the swirl of memories and thoughts like she normally encountered she found herself standing in darkness with only a great golden wall before her.

"No," she said. "Not a wall… a door." She ran her hand across the surface, which was carved with Greek letters and Egyptian symbols. There was only a key hole within the door… no handle or knob or anything. She focused and tried to blast through the door but it remained solid and still, not budging in the slightest. She pounded against it with all her might and it didn't budge. "What is this?" she muttered.

"The way is shut."

She whipped around, seeking out the voice that had just spoke.

"It was made by those that are dead."

She turned back to the door and the need, the drive, the absolute certainty that she had to get through the door and to the other side filled her. She began to attack it, clawing at it with her trying to tear it apart piece by piece. But it was ungiving. The door cared little for her.

"And the dead keep it."

Drums. She could hear drums. War drums. The beating of some great beast's heart. There was something in the dark… something in this stranger's mind. Something old and powerful that was slowly shaking off a deep sleep and while not fully awake yet it was aware and was still dangerous. A great power thought lost to the ages returning once more.

"Until the time comes."

This had been a mistake. A terrible mistake. It shouldn't have been like this though! She had the power! Not this stranger! How dare he appear in her moment of victory!

"The way is shut."

"Where are you!?!" Serenity screamed just as she felt hot breath on the back of her neck.

"Ακριβώς εδώ," it whispered.

Serenity Wheeler screamed as it sank its fingers into her soul and dragged her from the door and into the darkness.

~MC~MC~MC~

The audience took a step back in horror as Serenity screamed, grabbing her head and thrashing about, golden light pouring from her natural eye. The Millennium Eye throbbed and buckled against her rancid flesh before bursting out like a popped boil, smashing and shattering on the ground in a burst of pus and liquid gold. The teen fell to her knees, jaw slack and opened, staring sightlessly at the man on the balcony. From his chest came another Item but far different from her own. Older. Stronger. It was like a seasoned general compared to a fresh recruit. The blond man looked at them all, his eyes black with rings of gold and behind him, for just a moment, a crescent moon appeared, terrible and beautiful. Music filled the air and had any of them asked for the title they would have received this reply:

Words

Win

Wars

"Who are you?" Serenity whispered with the last of her lifeforce.

"Who am I?" the man said as she collapsed to the floor, dead. "I am the Chaos Lord. I am the holder of the Millennium Key. I am the Dimension Walker. I am the Master of Magicians. I am the man who tricked the God of Darkness and walked away then looked the champion of the light in the eye and told him to fuck off. I… am the Guardian Devil." A surge of magic blasted through the new player in the great game and he looked down at them all with a sneer even as the glass in all the windows shuddered. "So unless someone else wants to take a swing at me like her I have a single suggestion: run." The crowd stiffened and stared at Serenity's corpse. The windows exploded as a blast of shadow magic radiated from him. "RUN!"

The crowd screamed and bolted.

~MC~MC~MC~

In the throne room of the King of Domino the gathered attendants shifted, nervously wondering what their lord's reaction would be to this new information.

Joey being dead was nothing. At one time the King had cared for him but those days were long past. Elevating him had been a folly of a young reign, before there was even a reign to be honest. Had Joey grown with the regime then perhaps it would have been seen as a wise decision, the bedrock upon with their criminal empire had been built, but he had not. All attempts to teach the punk had failed and thus his death was merely cleaning up loose ends.

It was Serenity Wheeler's defeat that was troublesome. The King had watched her rise and thought perhaps she would serve better than Joey. She was hungry for the chance to prove herself and in his wisdom had decided to reward that. She would never be as high as Joey was… the Wheelers would never be given that position again, despite what the girl had thought. They could be power brokers but their family would only rise that far. In fact she was lucky the King had given her the Millennium Eye to use and the only reason he'd done so was to taunt Joey, who had begged for one of the items himself but been denied.

But now she was dead.

"How?" the King asked, keeping his voice low as he sat in the shadows.

The Professor shrugged. He had always been arrogant and cocky… and a bit of a showboat. Where others tended to go with either fine suits or outlandish leather outfits he wore garments more fitting a plague doctor than a scientist and advisor to the criminal empire the King had created. Gray slacked and a long gray coat, a wide brimmed hat and hood under that to cover his head. All of which designed to hide his features though not as much as his mask and goggles did. The lenses of the eyepieces were green and thick while the mask was a strange twisting thing made of black tubes and straps that hid his face and distorted his voice.

He didn't bow to the King like others. He stood there, all knowing he was smiling behind that damn mask of his as he spoke with the same casual air the sheep might use when discussing the weather. The King would have killed him the first few days he'd appeared if the man wasn't so fucking brilliant.

"According to those I talked with," the Professor stated, "the man calls himself the Guardian Devil." He chuckled. "Arrogant, I suppose."

"I suppose," the king grumbled. "And where is he now?"

"They lost sight of him," the Professor said with disappointment. "Failures, the lot of them, for not keeping an eye on him."

"You want them I suppose?" Miss Valentine asked from her place at the left side of the king. She reached up and adjusted her glasses before looking down at her clipboard, prim and proper as always. Every button done up tight, not a single lock of hair out of place in the tight bun she always wore, her naked lips pressed in a fine line. "For your experience?"

"For the good of us all, of course," the Professor said with a flourished bow.

"Have them." The King turned and looked at the head of his enforcers. "Take our dear Professor out to the city. Bring this Guardian Devil to me."

"It will be done," his head enforcer said with a bow.

"Do not fail me, Commissioner Gardner."

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