Heroes of Justice

by Masterdramon

On the eve of one of the most fateful duels of his life, pro-duelist Edo Phoenix crosses paths with a young French girl with whom he feels an implacably strong sense of kinship. Reading "The Devil and the Star" beforehand is highly recommended; one-shot.

Heroes of Justice

Disclaimer: In case you haven't figured it out yet, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. All Yu-Gi-Oh!-related characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi.

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Of the fifty-three nations that Edo Phoenix had visited throughout his life, France was undoubtedly among his favorites.

Edo liked to consider himself a man of fine tastes – comparative to much of the company he kept these days, at least – and France in general and the City of Lights in particular seemed almost tailor-made to service them. Fine food and fine wine were a stone's throw away wherever he walked, and the Parisian sights were absolutely breathtaking, particularly once the sun set and the city's bustling nightlife was reenergized. Of all the cities that Edo had born witness to across the years, only Las Vegas came even close to matching Paris in sheer beauty in the pitch-black of night…and in any event, that was a rather different kind of beauty.

Given this, Edo always made a concentrated effort to include Paris in his extensive worldwide tours whenever possible, a fact that both his manager and the Pro-League sponsors had been quick to pick-up on and accommodate. Indeed, it had been their overwhelming leniency in allowing Edo to chart the majority of his own tours as he saw fit that had led him to jump ship from the mainstream Pros to the Marufuji brothers' upstart league during the past year.

Well…that, and the prospect of the duel to which he was now making sojourn.

When KaibaCorp had made a similar leap as a sponsor as Edo had as a competitor, Sho and Ryo had received an inconceivably enormous influx of money and resources, which the elder brother had elected to put toward a truly spectacular annual championship within the league. Edo had himself been having a riotously good time over the past few months, traveling the world and taking apart numerous other pros before crowds of thousands upon thousands.

And now that he had used the cardboard traces of his father's legacy to crush Sommelier Parker just an hour prior, Edo was currently slated to appear in the explosive finale of the 2010 Championship Cup: a climactic showdown to be held in a colossal stadium in Beijing. And all signs now pointed to his opponent being none other than league founder Ryo Marufuji himself, a match-up that was making the media salivate almost as much as they had when Yugi Muto had announced his retirement two years ago in the form of one final, awe-inspiring clash with Seto Kaiba.

Of course, while Edo Phoenix hardly bought into any of the corresponding media hype, he had his own very good reasons for looking forward keenly to this rematch. His first bout against Ryo Marufuji hadn't truly been a fair contest of skill; rather he had seen the former Obelisk Blue champion as merely a means to an end in his mocking of Judai Yuki, and the humiliating defeat he had dealt out as a result had not been becoming of a true duelist's honor. The rather startling transformation that the self-proclaimed Kaiser had undergone following their match was proof, and though Ryo had clearly patched things up with his brother and friends since that time, setting him on the downward spiral that had seized and throttled his respect for the game – and worse, nearly wore out his very life in the relentless pursuit of further victory – was a mistake for which Edo had never really been given a chance to atone.

Taking another sip of his crimson wine and absentmindedly leafing through his deck, Edo Phoenix made a silent resolution that this duel would be a different story. With the eyes of the world upon them the two master duelists would meet on even ground and fight to the finish, making certain that, regardless of the outcome, every spectator on Earth would learn the true meaning of the soul of competition.

"Excusez-moi, monsieur," rang out a small voice to Edo's right, causing him to break out of his reverie and regard a young girl with layered blonde hair and intense green eyes. "Désolé, mais j'ai perdu la vue de mon gardien, et mes parents m'ont dit que si je m'ai perdue dans la ville, je demanderais pour la aide d'un adulte dès que possible. Pouvez-vous m'aider avec le trouvant, s'il vous plaît?"

"Pas problème, mademoiselle," Edo replied kindly, his accent a bit strained but his comprehension holding fairly steady. He was, after all, not doing anything more important until his flight that evening, and it was clear that this child was in need. "Où avez-vous perdu la vue de ce gardien? Qu'il ressemble?"

The girl opened her tiny mouth to answer these queries, but her eyes became averted to the card gleaming at the top of the deck in Edo's palm: Destiny Hero Diamond Guy. "Je reconnais cette carte!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Les héros des destins…ça signifie que vous devez être le duelist légendaire, Ed Phoenix!"

Edo chuckled heartily at this, before responding, "Oui, c'est vrai. Vous-êtes une admiratrice?"

"Oui! Oui!" she cried out, nearly jumping up and down with glee; all worry over her current situation appeared to have dissipated instantly in the glow of meeting one of her dueling idols. "Je ne vous reconnais pas d'abord – je n'attendrais jamais une célébrité comme vous-même d'être dans un café moyen, comme une personne normale!"

"Eh bien, les célébrités ont besoin de boire comme tous les autres gens," Edo quipped, still laughing. "Mais nous ne devrions pas devenir en distrayant. Dites-moi autour de ce gardien que nous avons besoin de trouver."

"Il s'appelle Kenji Mizoguchi," the little girl answered promptly. "Il est le majordome de ma famille et mon garde personnel du corps – un très grand gentilhomme japonais qui porte un costume noir. J'ai perdu la vue d'il quand je suis descendue du train il y a quinze ou vingt minutes…je pense que j'ai choisi la station faux."

"Alors allons-nous à la station des trains et cherchons pour Monsieur Mizoguchi là," Edo suggested, relieved that she hadn't wandered too far from where she had been separated from her guardian. By foot the train station was only about ten minutes away, and so with what he hoped was a warm smile the professional duelist took the young child by the hand and led her across the crowded Parisian sidewalks. In an effort to keep the girl's mind occupied with small-talk, he then found himself asking, "Donc votre famille ont un majordome japonais? Ça est…assez insolite."

"Mes parents ont embauché Mizoguchi pendant qu'ils sont en affaire dans Kyoto," she explained cheerfully. "Il même m'a enseigné beaucoup autour de la langue de japonais! Ici, écoutez…"

The girl then cleared her throat and recited confidently, "My name is Sherry Leblanc. I am six years old, and I love horses and dueling. My favorite duelist in the world is Edo Phoenix, because he's always so confident and self-assured."

Her Japanese accent was nearly flawless, and certainly worlds better than Edo's attempt at a French one. "I'm quite impressed, Mademoiselle Leblanc," he replied, tipping his hand to her. "I'll make sure to report to Monsieur Mizoguchi that you've clearly learned well from him. But you don't need to speak Japanese on my behalf – I'm completely comfortable conversing in French."

"No, no, I wanna practice!" Sherry protested earnestly. "I never really get the chance to speak Japanese with anyone else, outside of when Mizoguchi teaches me. Plus, this way, I can hear all your authentic dueling cries! Can you do just one for me, please?"

"Oh, alright," Edo yielded indulgently. "But after this, we need to head down to the train station straightaway." Then, posing himself as if head-deep in the midst of a heated battle, he dramatically pronounced, "Spell Card, Fusion! Destiny Hero Dogma Guy, Destiny Hero Bloo-D…Fusion Summon! Appear now, Dragoon D-End!"

Sherry clapped enthusiastically at this display, before obediently allowing herself to continue being led by the hand, star-struck wonder still dancing through her emerald eyes. "I've always wanted to know…what's it like, being such a famous pro-duelist?" she eventually asked, squeezing Edo's fingers affectionately.

"It…has its ups and its downs," Edo admitted, turning the corner onto the street where the nearest transit center lay. "On the one hand, I get the opportunity to travel all around the world, duel incredible opponents from across the globe, and make enough money to provide for my every comfort and desire. But then there're things like the paparazzi following me everywhere, the constant media scrutiny and lack of privacy…and not to mention the price I had to pay just to enter into this life in the first place…"

"What do you mean by that, Edo-sama?" the petite blonde questioned, staring up in confusion.

"Oh! Err…nothing, mademoiselle," Edo stammered unconvincingly. He had momentarily forgotten exactly who he was talking to, caught up in his musings over the darker side of his meteoric rise to fame, for under no circumstances were the events that had led to the genesis of his dueling career appropriate for a six year-old's ears. Attempting to change the subject, he drew Sherry over to a station attendant and calmly requested, "Je suis en cherchant pour le gardien de cette jeune fille, Kenji Mizoguchi. Il est un grand homme japonais, avec un costume noir. Voyez-vous n'importe qui de cette description récemment?"

"Non, monsieur, mais je pense que j'ai l'information que peut vous aider," the attendant responded helpfully. "Approximativement il y a cinq minutes, un attendant de la station prochaine nous a envoyés un message qu'un homme de ce nom est en demandant autour une petite fille qui est descendue du train à la station incorrect. Le train qu'est en arrivant maintenant vous transporteriez là assez rapidement. J'appellera mes confrères à l'autre station et les dira que vous êtes en venant, d'accord?"

"Merci beaucoup, monsieur," Edo thanked him shortly, before rushing Sherry onto the imminently departing train. Fortunately the vehicle wasn't inordinately crowded at the current hour, and the pair managed to find a pair of decently comfortable seats without much issue. Consulting a map diagram near the ceiling told the silver-haired duelist that they had about half-an-hour of travel before they would arrive at the station where Mizoguchi would hopefully still be waiting, and Sherry seemed determined to make the most of the time.

"So, about what I was asking earlier…" she began again, tugging lightly on his sleeve. "You seemed really…sad at the end of it. Did I say something wrong?"

"No, not at all!" Edo reassured her. "It's just that…not all of the history behind my dueling career is caviar, roses, and fine champagne. There's some stuff in my past that someone of your age simply isn't ready to hear."

"If you don't wanna tell me because it's private, I understand," Sherry said tenuously. "But you shouldn't hold back just because I'm young. I may only be six years old, but I still know a lot about the world – I mean, I watch the news and stuff." Seeing Edo affixing her with a mixture of bemusement and disbelief, the young girl sighed and recited tonelessly, "Yesterday there were four deaths and numerous injuries during riots over elections in India, seven deaths in a targeted United States missile attack in Pakistan, and hundreds of arrests in Serbia during the nation's first gay pride event in nearly a decade. And yes, I do know what all that means."

"I'm…impressed," Edo stated honestly, his eyebrows perched slightly. "I wouldn't expect most six year-olds to know what Serbia is, much less keep tabs on its current events. You're certainly a…unique young woman, Sherry Leblanc."

Perhaps it was his reference to her as a "woman" rather than a girl, but Sherry's face glowed with pride at this compliment, and with stern confidence she pleaded once more, "I really wanna know made you into such an incredible pro-duelist, Edo-sama. Maybe I can do the same things and be just like you one day!"

Edo pinched his brow and shook his head, before staring back into the child's wide eyes and making a split-second decision. "Trust me…you wouldn't want to," he told her. "But if you really want to learn about everything that made me the duelist I am today, then I guess our story starts with this little guy."

Drawing and flashing his Destiny Hero Bloo-D, he went on, "My father, Orville Phoenix, was a successful card designer and graphic artist for Industrial Illusions. His specialty was retooling the general models of American superheroes with an eye to Japanese sensibilities, and out of that talent he produced the 'Hero' cards. Most of them – the Elemental Heroes, Vision Heroes, and Masked Heroes – were mass-produced and released to the public, but the 'Destiny Hero' series…they were special. Father created them exclusively for me, and I couldn't get enough of them. Even around your age they already rendered me a nigh-invincible duelist, but he wasn't satisfied. Father wanted to ensure I would have the most powerful deck of all time to fulfill my dreams of glory, and to that end he began developing the ultimate hero…the Bloo-D."

Edo appeared almost wistful as he related these details of his early childhood, the tracks rumbling softly beneath them while he slowly thumbed through the cardboard reminders of his father. He was smiling now, and not the indulgent grin he had worn simply because he was dealing with a child several moments ago…

But that smile also brought with it a trace of great sadness, and slowly Sherry asked, "What…what happened then?"

"One day an early design for Destiny Hero Bloo-D happened to blow out of an open window, where it was discovered by a small-time thief named Dominic Drake…or as he called himself on the Underground dueling circuit, D.D.," Edo explained with a distinct air of disgust. "I managed to retrieve the paper, but not before the damage was done; D.D. had been wanting to break into the world of pro-dueling for a while, and for that he felt he needed the power of the Bloo-D. So later that night he broke into our home and stole the card…but one little snag appeared that tied up his plans of escape."

"What was it?" Sherry whispered, her face rapt with attention. She could sense, vaguely, where this story was heading…not the least since the very corners of Edo's azure eyes were rapidly filling with liquid.

"My father discovered him right as he was finishing up the deed," the pro-duelist continued, breathing heavily. "Given how perceptive you've proven to be, Mademoiselle Leblanc…well, I think you can fill in the rest of the blanks yourself."

If pressed at that very moment, Edo Phoenix would have found it very difficult to explain just why he was telling his story to someone who was barely more than a stranger to him, given his general reticence on the subject. Only Saiou and Judai had so far proven themselves worthy of entering his confidence (and even the latter relationship was…tenuous at best), and yet there was something about this girl that gave him the undeniable impression of a kindred spirit. This was further evidenced by her reaction to this latest revelation – rather than give the empty words of comfort that Edo had grown to hate as an aging orphan or acting out a dramatic scene of shock, Sherry merely gave a subdued, "Oh." And then, a few pregnant moments later, "What did you to him?"

"To D.D.? Nothing, at least for a while," Edo responded, somewhat surprised by the query. "I had no idea, for much of my life, who it was that had actually killed my father. And D.D. wasn't high-up on my suspect list, considering that he adopted me right after the whole affair was over with. Turns out that was his plan all along, of course…he wanted me close by so that he could keep a constant eye on the investigation, and make sure none of the evidence ever traced back to him."

"Wouldn't that card he stole give him away immediately, though?" Sherry questioned shrewdly. "I mean, if he was gonna use a one-of-a-kind monster like that for the Pro-Leagues, the police would have to notice pretty quickly, right?"

"D.D. was always careful to avoid using Bloo-D anywhere where there might be witnesses who could identify him," Edo elaborated. "My father's death derailed any plans he might have had to utilize his ill-gotten gains in the Pro-Leagues, so instead he used it to continue dominating the Underground circuit, slaughtering his opponents one after the other and purloining their best cards in order to push himself forward in more legitimate circles. For years these dual paths constituted D.D.'s entire lifestyle, and he encouraged me to follow suit. Soon enough I was rising like my mythological namesake through the Pro-League ranks, aided and abetted by D.D. every step of the way…but all along I remained unaware of his darkest secret, up until the night of the 2006 world championship."

The silver-haired duelist stopped here for a moment as he considered where to take his narrative next, before delicately asking, "Mademoiselle Leblanc, are you a believer in the more…extraordinary aspects of the world?"

"Of course!" she exclaimed brightly. "Mizoguchi tells me stories all the time of the Crimson Dragon and the Earthbound Gods and the Æsir and all sorts of other neat stuff…and why would he tell me anything that wasn't true?"

Privately Edo thought that it was perhaps time for this otherwise quite worldly girl to learn the difference between bedtime stories and reality, but instead he merely commented, "Very good, then. In that case, I should probably fill you in on a few of the missing details regarding the night my father was murdered."

Holding out Bloo-D again for her closer inspection, he went on, "This card once became the vessel of a destructive alien force, known as the Light of Ruin. It was a sentient glob of light that was expelled by a white hole and fell to Earth, where it slithered into the Bloo-D and waited for an unwitting host to touch it. That host, of course, was D.D. And so as soon as the sneaking thief placed his fingers to this card, the Light possessed him utterly, driving him into the fit of madness that…took my father's life."

"What did the Light want with him?" Sherry inquired, shivering slightly at the language Edo had chosen to use.

"It wanted nothing particularly special from D.D.…just a host to unwittingly spread its essence elsewhere," Edo answered. "In any event, the Light of Ruin lived within him for years, subtly influencing his actions and amplifying his already-numerous negative traits, until finally it all boiled over on the night I mentioned earlier.

"D.D. was facing off against a man known as Doctor Collector, and in as dire straits as he was the Light forced him to play Bloo-D," he continued to explain. "Traces of the Light's power remained within the card, and so the attacks of the monster ended up decimating the stadium and killing Doctor Collector. After that the Light assumed complete control of D.D. and had him invite me to a private cruise ship to catch up on old times…merely a thin pretext, it turned out, for an attempt on my life."

"It appears not to have worked, then," Sherry observed, and despite the gravity of the events he was now relating Edo couldn't help but give a low chuckle.

"The Light of Ruin underestimated me, there's no doubt about that," he rationalized. "It was a grueling battle, but eventually I took down D.D. and purified this card of the last remnants of the Light's influence, before escaping the boat as it burned to cinders. As you might expect…D.D. didn't fare quite so well."

"So that was it then? You defeated the Light and avenged your father?" the petite blonde surmised.

"Well…yes and no," Edo replied. "I guess I'd be remiss in telling this tale if I ignored what happened right afterward…but first I've gotta go right back to the beginning for a bit. See, when D.D. was on his last legs he informed me that in his state of ensuing madness he had consulted with a boy who claimed to be a seer, in hopes that he might be able to divine the hidden secrets of the card he had stolen. That boy…was my oldest and dearest friend, Takuma Saiou."

"And he got infected with the Light stuff too, huh?" Sherry inferred, again surprising Edo with her remarkable sagacity. "I mean, you said that it took over D.D. so that he could spread it around, and who better to possess than a psychic?" Pausing for a moment, she then added timorously, "Were…were his powers real?"

"Real, and more powerful than any other psychic I've ever met in my life," Edo said seriously. "And trust me, I've met a fair few. Saiou and his sister, Mizuchi, have a support organization for hundreds of them back in Domino City…they call it the Arcadia Movement. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Point is, yeah, you're right on the money with that deduction," he credited. "Both Saiou and his sister had been cast out of their home at a very young age, disowned by a superstitious family that feared and resented their burgeoning powers, and they'd had to make a meager living on the streets ever since. D.D. paid well for Saiou's services, so he dutifully took a look at the Bloo-D as soon as D.D. produced it, and the moment that his skin made contact with that card the Light knew that it had found the perfect permanent host. Only a small sliver of its essence remained inside of D.D. – just enough to drive him completely insane – while the vast majority of its power overcame Saiou and convinced him to take revenge on the world that had wronged him for nearly all of his life."

"How did it plan on doing that?" she asked, still completely engrossed in the narrative.

"The Light of Ruin first set about manipulating me into doing its dirty work. And I'm ashamed to say that it did a fairly good job at that," he admitted, shaking his head. "You see, with no knowledge of the killer's identity other than that he must have been in possession of the Bloo-D, I had spent a good portion of my dueling career venturing out at night in disguise and shaking down card thieves, from Ghouls to simply pickpockets, in hopes that I might find the lowlife scum who murdered my father over time."

"You sound almost like…like a superhero!" Sherry observed excitedly.

"Well, that was indeed where I got the inspiration," Edo declared with a small smile. "As with the Heroes that dwelled within my deck, I too drew influence from the American superhero tradition…particularly the ones that grew out of the conventions of gritty, pulp detective stories, like Batman. As the Dark Knight was often fond of saying, criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot, and I used this to my advantage for years as I embarked on a one-man crusade against the dueling villains of the world. Unfortunately, the Light was well aware of this, and as my mission drove me to gradually become more and more arrogant and self-righteous, it forced Saiou to point me in the direction of its targets."

"What was it like between you and Saiou, Edo-sama?" she interrupted suddenly. "I mean, how'd you meet and everything?"

"Despite all the horrid actions that he committed under the Light's influence – and to me included…Takuma Saiou remains the dearest friend I've ever had," he answered with steadfast conviction. "He first sought me out after reading his own fortune through his tarot cards, and realizing the dangers of the Light that dwelled within his body. Those same cards pinpointed me as the Hierophant…an administrator of justice. Saiou hoped that, in time, I might be able to save the world from the destruction he believed he was fated to bring to it.

"We both saw use in each other from the very beginning, so I took him on as my manager and together we ascended to the very highest ranks of the pros," Edo continued. "The Light wouldn't allow Saiou to tell me what I needed to do to stop him directly, but he did manage to inform me – in rough terms – of his destiny as a destroyer, and mine as his savior. Destiny was always a concept that resonated heavily with me…it's certainly the reason that my father chose to name the last pieces of his legacy the way he did, after all.

"Of course, in the beginning, this preoccupation with fate only made it easier for the Light of Ruin to tug at my strings," he spat nastily. It was clear that from Edo's point of view, manipulating him using the body of his close friend was only a few notches below attempting to destroy the world on the Light's list of crimes. "Several years back it sensed the presence of its mortal enemy, a schoolboy named Judai Yuki who carried within him the only power that could defeat the Light permanently. And so, in order to take him down, the Light had Saiou convince me that Judai was an obstacle in my quest for justice, so dutifully I took him down without question. That's when the Light really made its move."

"What'd it do?" Sherry wondered, in awe of the rising passion in Edo's story. "Try to hurt you?"

"Worse…it just dropped me from its plans altogether," Edo growled. "Without my knowledge Saiou began to draw up a cult from Judai's schoolmates at the original Duel Academia, brainwashing them with trace amounts of the Light of Ruin and compelling them to worship him as a God. Within weeks the Society of Light's grip on Academia Island was all but absolute, and I was left gaping like a fish out of water. Not knowing about the existence of the Light at that point, I had no way of explaining why my best friend had suddenly up and decided to go off the rails like that…at least, until D.D. challenged me.

"I had some hope, though," he appended with a considerably more upbeat tone, though the wetness in his eyes still remained. "A few nights before the D.D. incident Saiou appeared to me as I slept – the true Saiou, that is, rather than the puppet that parasitic Light had turned him into. Somehow he had managed to break free from its control for a brief period, and if there's one thing I can say about Saiou it's that he's never one to waste an opportunity."

Holding his fingers a few centimeters apart, he explained, "See, the Light's ultimate plan turned out to be using the Society as a front to get its hands on a laser-equipped satellite labeled S.O.R.A., with which it intended to blow up the Earth in order to 'purify' humanity or some…bull like that." He had meant to use a rather more "colorful" version of the substituted term but had managed to catch himself in time, given his audience…not that Sherry appeared to be unaware of this, as her eyebrows were raised and her lip was curling in amusement. The effect made her look almost startlingly mature.

"Well anyway, the Light needed a couple of small keys to actually fire off its big space gun, which Saiou was kind enough to give to Judai and myself as soon as he came to. He knew that I wouldn't be letting such a thing out of my hands without a fight, so once I took down D.D. and learned the truth about everything I raced off to Society headquarters and confronted the Light. I thought that this was my moment, the culmination of all the promises I made to Saiou when we were just a couple of little kids sharing an umbrella, but…" he trailed off, shaking his head shamefully.

"But what?" Sherry questioned confusedly. "I mean, you won, right? You're the hero…you have to win!"

"I was a hero…just not the hero," he corrected her sadly. "I came so close that day…so, so close…but ultimately, I failed. I was knocked out cold by the Light's curse, my key was stolen, and were it not for Judai swooping in to somehow salvage everything at the very last second, the world would have ended that day. That thought…still haunts me sometimes. It's my greatest failure, and I've strived every day since then to make sure that I never make another."

At that moment the train came to an abrupt halt, and another glance at the map told Edo that they had only one stop left before they converged with Mizoguchi's position. "Everything turned out well enough in the end though, right?" Sherry beseeched hopefully, unfazed by the cessation of movement that had thrown most of her fellow passengers several feet forward.

"More or less, I suppose," Edo equivocated. "Judai beat the Light – though for the life of me, I wouldn't be able to tell you how – and expelled it from Saiou's body, while some of his friends managed to prevent Saiou's subordinate from firing off S.O.R.A. in the meantime. All in all, I guess we all came out of that day smelling like roses, but it was far too close of a call for my sense of comfort. So ever since then, I've been doing everything in my power to prevent Judai from having to shoulder that kind of responsibility by himself ever again…especially where Saiou is concerned."

"How is he now?" she asked softly.

"Saiou? A lot better," he told her, another rare smile appearing across his face. "Like I said, he and Mizuchi have been working on mentoring the next generation of psychics through their Movement, and the experience has clearly been making him happier than he's been in decades. He's smiling and laughing a whole lot more, reading and writing for pleasure more often…Hell, I even caught him telling a joke last time I visited their headquarters. And trust me, there's nothing more out-of-character for a guy like Saiou than engaging in light humor."

This point, more than anything else in Edo's lengthy diatribe, lit the silver-haired duelist's expression aglow, the various miseries he had laid bare just moments prior melting away in an instant. Sherry studied the look carefully and recognized it almost immediately – it was the very same look her papa gave her mama every night before they retired to bed, and before she had a chance to analyze that notion more closely she found herself inquiring, "Edo-sama, you and Saiou…are more than just friends, aren't you?"

One of the things that Edo Phoenix prided himself on above all else was his perceptiveness – at very least, it was probably the reason why he had taken being duped by the Light of Ruin so personally. Most people were open books before his azure gaze, their every secret spilling out in the minute spasms that Edo had trained himself to read with acute accuracy, or else being forced to the surface through measured intimidation. As such, the fact that Sherry had managed to ask the one and only question in the entire compendium of Japanese vernacular capable of bringing his fair skin to a flush only served to prove that he had indeed located a kindred spirit in this unassuming little French girl.

Rather irritated by the warmth now spreading rapidly through his normally rigid cheeks, Edo swallowed and responded, "Can't get anything past you, can I?"

"I'm just glad you managed to find someone who truly understands you, Edo-sama," Sherry reassured him, placing a tiny hand upon his wrist. "From what you've described, Saiou seems like a great man, and it sounds like you both have been through quite a lot together. Young I may be, but I am still a true Frenchwoman; I don't place judgment upon love."

"It is indeed rare that I meet someone who understands even an ounce of what makes me tick," he agreed. "Living the life of a celebrity, surrounded by millions of fans who couldn't care less why I'm dueling, so long as I make a spectacle out of it…it ends up becoming almost impossible to find someone whom I can speak to as simply Ed Phoenix, rather than international superstar Phoenix Edo. More than anything else, I think that's what keeps drawing me back to Saiou's side, no matter how far I progress in my professional career. Judai's too, when I can find the idiot…not an easy task these days, I can assure you."

Placing his own rough hand on top of hers as the train began to slow to a gradual halt, Edo added, "But today…well, I guess I didn't realize how much I needed to get this entire story, start to finish, off my chest. Not until you coaxed it out of me, Mademoiselle Leblanc."

Taking out a small piece of paper from his pocket and quickly scrawling a note upon its surface, the slender pro-duelist afforded her one last warm smile and went on, "I don't know if I'll ever see you again, la petite femme, but even if I never do I cannot thank you enough for giving me this chance to cast off the full weight of that ordeal. Now that the tale of my dealings with the Light is told, I feel like I can finally move on from all the pain it caused me in the past, and focus more on rectifying the mistakes I made under its manipulating hand."

Handing the paper over to Sherry and moving to his feet as the vehicle's doors slowly slid open, he then concluded, "Here's the private number for my current manager. I expect you won't have time to make it to China and witness me take the first step in righting the wrongs I exacted unto others in my younger days, but should you ever wish to see any of my duels in the future she should be able to hook you up with first-quality tickets free of cost. It's just my little way of saying thanks…for listening."

Edo then took Sherry's hand and led her through the bustling crowd anxiously hurrying to either board or depart their train car, his eyes scanning the horizon for black suits and Japanese features. This station was quite a bit larger than the one they had initially visited, however, so this task was proving rather quite difficult, and subsequently it was several moments before he realized that the girl was responding to him. "Edo-sama…do you remember when I said that I wanted to be just like you one day?" she spoke, not making eye contact; despite her rather lower vantage point, she was likewise searching the crowd for any signs of her bodyguard. "Well, nothing you've told me today has changed my mind in the slightest."

This assertion struck Edo as so irrepressibly odd that for a moment his gaze snapped back to her face, which remained relaxed but impassive. Evidently Sherry wasn't finished, however, as she then elaborated, "I pray deeply that I never have to experience everything you were forced to face at my age; I love my mama and my papa more than anything else in the world, and the thought of losing one or both of them like that…so needlessly…"

Her voice drifted off for a moment before returning with even greater conviction, declaring, "But if – by some cruel twist of fate – I find myself in your shoes one day, I can think of no greater method for dealing with the pain than to do what you did: become a hero of justice." Her verdant eyes shone bright at this term of endearment, though her vision remained resolutely forward. "You didn't shirk back and let the investigation into your father's murder fall by the wayside…you had a clue and you pursued it to the ends of the Earth, letting no one stand in your way. And when you found out that you had been duped into targeting some of the wrong people, you actively fought to fix your errors and save your friend from himself. So what if you weren't the guy who ended up delivering the finishing blow? You still acted like a true hero to me."

"I…err…never really thought about it along those lines," Edo admitted, climbing up on a stone stairwell in order to survey the farther reaches of the crowd. "But a 'hero of justice' shouldn't make mistakes…not ones that nearly cost the Earth its life, at least."

"So far as I'm concerned, your only real mistake was not trusting that Judai guy from the start," Sherry pointed out, joining him on the higher ground as she did. "Don't you think?"

"That's another point I never really gave much thought to," he responded. "Is that him over there, by that doorway?" he asked after a short pause, pointing.

"No, Mizoguchi has gray hair," the petite blonde informed him. "And he was wearing a bowtie today, not a necktie."

Mentally filing these additional descriptions away, Edo considered Sherry's latest observation for a few moments before finally murmuring, "Now that I think about it, that's exactly right. So if you truly do still think of my actions as ones to be emulated, then I guess I just want you to remember one thing from this day: that heroism isn't a lone venture. Not by a long shot."

Sighing deeply as he continued to crane his neck around the expansive station, he pensively reminisced, "I spent so many years exacting justice from the shadows that when I met a boy who didn't have any trouble remaining in the spotlight and yet still saving the world, I was quite eager to disbelieve him. After all, he was a member of Duel Academia's lowliest tier, a slacker with no real interest in improving his academic record one iota. But in focusing on that, I managed to completely ignore his bravery, his determination, his sheer gall…in short, everything that made him just as much of a 'hero of justice' as I was, if not moreso.

"So I pushed him aside every chance that I got and went it alone against every opponent I could find, from random card thieves to D.D. to Saiou. And the result was that I nearly lost the entire world…not to mention the person I cared about more than anything else on it," he lamented.

A beat passed before Sherry's eyes lit up and she gestured to a figure in the distance. "Wait, I think I see him!" she exclaimed. "Yeah, over by that light post!" She gave a broad wave that the enigmatic gentleman returned, and the duo began to double-time their way through the throng of rushing travelers. Over the din she then asked, acutely aware that their introspective dialogue was rapidly coming to a close, "So what is it exactly that you're trying to tell me, Edo-sama?"

Edo had to word this quite delicately, because he saw both nigh-infinite potential and nigh-infinite danger locked behind those tiny green eyes. The silver-haired duelist had certainly never met another six year-old with either her level of acumen or awareness of the harsh realities of the world around her; at the very least, he was pretty sure children that young shouldn't be contemplating what they would do should their parents be murdered. Evidently she was looking to him as some sort of role model, now more than ever, and while he would much rather not be placed on such a pedestal he knew that that status carried with it a responsibility to ensure that she would not end up making his same mistakes.

"All I'm saying," he advised tenuously, "is that regardless of wherever your life's path ends up taking you, you shouldn't be afraid to trust. Not everyone who stands in the way of what you perceive as your goal must be an enemy, and indeed many of them can turn out to be powerful allies if you merely make the right overture. Seek out those allies, even the ones whose vision of justice might be a little different from your own, and I guarantee that one day you'll be a greater hero than I ever was."

There was no way to tell how well these words landed, however, because a few seconds later the pair had finally arrived at Mizoguchi's position, and within moments the burly butler was tightly embracing his charge, both of them exchanging soft words of apology for the events that had led to their short period of separation. Then the stern-looking gentleman returned to his feet and turned to Edo, saying gratefully, "Thank you very much for bringing this young lady back to me, Phoenix-sama. I hope doing so did not cause you too much trouble."

"Oh, she was no trouble at all," the pro-duelist returned, unsurprised that the Japanese national had recognized him immediately. "You have a truly delightful little girl under your charge there, Mizoguchi-san. She was quite eager to converse with me throughout the entire trip in near-fluent Japanese, which I commend you for being able to teach so quickly."

"She's a natural, that's what she is," Mizoguchi stated brightly, though the scowl across his face still remained; Edo wasn't entirely sure he even had any other expressions to choose from. "French, Japanese, math, science, history…this young lady is an absolute prodigy in every field I've been instructed to tutor her. She will be going places, I assure you of that." As if to punctuate the point he then affectionately patted Sherry upon the head, which elicited a giggle.

"I'm sure she will," Edo agreed, before bending down and extending a hand to the young girl. "Now Mademoiselle Leblanc, I don't know whether or not we will ever be fated to meet again, but in the interim I want you to remember everything I've told you, alright? Promise me that you won't forget…particularly that last part."

Bypassing the proposed handshake entirely the tiny blonde instead rushed forward and hugged Edo tightly, whispering as she did, "I promise."

Those were the last words spoken before Mizoguchi and Edo clasped hands and then departed from each other, the elder gentleman and his charge making their way back to the Leblanc family manor, and Edo to the Charles de Gaulle International Airport, more ready than ever to face the next leg of his destined journey.

[-]

While Sherry had made it a point to watch the Pro-Leagues Championship Cup for the past couple of years, she awaited this particular match with far more anticipation than usual. The young girl was a great fan of the more technical side of the game, so regardless of the identities of the participants she could usually be counted on to enjoy the general back-and-forth, but this climactic battle meant all the more to her now that she had become personally familiar with one of the combatants. Following their discussion on the train Sherry had gone straight to the internet (with more than a little help from Mizoguchi) to research the previous clash of Edo Phoenix and Ryo Marufuji, and armed with her knowledge of what other events had been transpiring during that period she felt she understood vividly why Edo-sama would have considered his treatment of the blue-haired duelist to be a wrong requiring recompense.

She had been a little late to tuning into the live coverage of the event that morning; her father had been out working on a top-secret new R&D project for their family's corporation, Leblanc Gaming International, and had requested that she fax over some paperwork he had neglected to retrieve from his home office. As such, Sherry was fully expecting to be treated to the sight of one of the competitors taking their second or third turn…fourth, at most.

She had not been expecting the reporters screaming in grieved anguish as a ten-story fireball engulfed the entirety of the Beijing stadium.

"Sources from within KaibaCorp insist that this calamity was due to a major electrical malfunction," a woman read off, openly weeping. "For those viewers who are just joining us now, I will repeat: casualties number…over four hundred-thousand. Confirmed among the dead are pro-duelists Marufuji Ryo and Phoenix Edo, as well as the entirety of their management and support staff. I…"

The reporter choked up here, apparently unable to continue, before she managed to squeak out, "I…have never witnessed anything remotely comparable to this, in all my years of reporting. The prayers of this station go out…to the families and friends of the deceased. Please…"

If she went beyond this, Sherry did not hear it, for at that moment she was already slamming down the power button on the remote in bitter frustration and tearing across the mansion to Mizoguchi's quarters, where the aged butler was enjoying a steaming cup of tea. Throwing herself into his lap, tears of both grief and implacable fury burning in her tiny eyes, she found herself shrieking incoherently into his chest, reaching volumes that she hadn't touched for several years.

"Shhh…calm down, my lady," he attempted to instruct her, but she was in hysterics. Unable to channel the whirlwind of emotion swirling through her head any other way she was pounding her petite fists against her guardian's lapel, until finally her stamina wore out and she collapsed into his comforting hold. "What has happened?" he whispered after a few moments, watching as the normally well-adjusted six year-old continued to sob violently into his crisp suit.

Incapable of bringing herself to explain the tragedy at hand she merely led the Japanese gentleman back into the media room and flipped on the news once more. Unsurprisingly, the exact same coverage was still blaring on all stations; Sherry very much doubted that any other story would be touched for days.

Kenji Mizoguchi, for his part, watched the broadcast in stoic silence, before muttering several words under his breath. Several of them sounded like words Sherry knew she definitely wasn't allowed to say, even in situations like this, while the last sounded something like "Ill-ee-ass-ter." She didn't bother to ask, however; her prior distress was rapidly transforming into a vague sense of numbness.

The rest of the day passed mostly in silence. Out of concern Mizoguchi cancelled all of their planned lessons for the afternoon and instead spent the time waiting on Sherry's every whim, though she limited her requests to a sandwich and a glass of juice. The well-dressed butler made it perfectly clear that he was open to listening should she wish to vent further, but Sherry waved him away with as much politeness as she could muster up.

The phrase "never meet your heroes," at least as she understood it, meant simply that one's idols were merely human, and thus could never hope to live up to one's highest expectations. But the problem with her brief adventure with Edo Phoenix – such as it was – was quite the opposite; learning about the person behind the heroic duelist only made her appreciate him more…and amplified the pain of his infuriatingly pointless demise even further. All that hope he had had to avenge the mistakes of his youth and become an even greater crusader for justice…all of it had been rendered moot in one catastrophic instant.

The most rational part of Sherry's brain was telling her that she shouldn't be feeling such exorbitant levels of grief in response to the death of a man she had personally interacted with for less than an hour, but in this case it was certainly the quality and not the quantity that mattered. Edo-sama's tale, in all of its inspiring ups and downright terrifying downs, had had a profound impact on her young mind no matter how the situation was parsed, and more to the point she had made a promise to him. In the Leblanc family, promises meant something, and so by giving her word that she would take his advice to heart she had absolutely ensured that she would do so. It was, after all, the only piece of his legacy he had left to her – apart from the number of his manager, of course, which she very much doubted she would ever make use of.

That thought cheered Sherry up slightly, though it took her a few moments to get her head around why. Edo Phoenix's campaign for justice upon this world might have ended this day, but that didn't necessarily mean his particular vision or style of heroics had to die with him. Should the occasion arise for her to do so (and while she very much hoped this would never be the case, she had seen far too many of the cruel realities of this world to consider the charmed life she now held to be unassailable), she would be ready to carry on Edo-sama's work as a hero of justice. Perhaps she could convince Mizoguchi to start instructing her in some basic self-defense and martial arts, in addition to her academic curriculum…

But in keeping with her promise to the man who had spoken to her so little and yet had taught her so much, she would learn from his self-admitted failures and errors in judgment, as well as his victories. Though she was fairly confident that she would never meet Judai Yuki in her lifetime, she felt quite sure that someone in that general mold of pure and bold heroism would someday cross her path, and if and when that occurred she would be sure to co-opt them into her mission of justice. Trust would remain a commodity which she would not divvy out lightly, but at the same time she would be divvying it out, fully and wholeheartedly, to any allies willing to prove themselves deserving of it.

As of today, Sherry couldn't really be sure…but she was almost certain that that's how Edo Phoenix would have wanted his memory to be honored.

[-]

French Translations:

- "Excuse me, mister. Sorry, but I have lost sight of my guardian, and my parents told me that if I got lost in the city, I should ask for the assistance of an adult as soon as possible. Could you help me find him, please?"

- "No problem, miss. Where did you lose sight of this guardian? What does he look like?"

- "I recognize that card! The Destiny Heroes…that means that you must be the legendary duelist, Edo Phoenix!"

- "Yes, that's true. Are you a fan?"

- "Yes, yes! I did not recognize you at first – I never expected a celebrity like yourself to be sitting in a regular café, like a normal person!"

- "Well, celebrities have to drink like everyone else. But we should not let ourselves get distracted. Tell me about this guardian that we need to find."

- "His name is Kenji Mizoguchi. He is the majordomo of my family and my personal bodyguard – a very tall Japanese gentleman wearing a black suit. I lost sight of him when we were getting off the train fifteen or twenty minutes ago…I think that I chose the wrong station."

- "Then let's go to the train station and search for Mister Mizoguchi there. So your family has a Japanese majordomo? That is…somewhat unusual."

- "My parents hired Mizoguchi while they were on a business trip in Kyoto. He even taught me a bunch about the Japanese language! Here, listen…"

- "I am looking for the guardian of this young girl, Kenji Mizoguchi. He is a tall Japanese man, with a black suit. Have you seen anyone by that description recently?"

- "No, sir, but I think that I have information that might help you. Approximately five minutes ago, an attendant from the next station sent us a message that a man by that name was asking about a young girl who got off at the wrong station. The train that is arriving now will transport you there fairly quickly. I'll call my coworkers at the other station and tell them that you are on your way, alright?"

- "Thank you very much, sir."

…And for any of my native French-speaking readers out there, my utmost apologies for any butchering of your language's grammar and syntax I may have committed. While my three semesters of French in college have made me at least mildly competent in writing the language conversationally, I'm hardly fluent, and I tend to mix up tenses pretty heavily. XD

– Masterdramon