A/N: Hello again! And thanks for the review! Sorry for the cliffhanger last chapter! And YAYZ I updated 2 times in 2 weeks. I'm so happy… Hehe. Enjoy the chapter!

Darkness Within
By SpacePirateGirl

Three Days

"Edo's standing right outside the school campus."

Shock froze her for an instant before she shook her head, hardly understanding what he had said. "What?!"

"Edo's here! He's the one those guard people were talking about!" Judai explained quickly.

Ding.

The bell had rung, signaling class time to be over. Lisa still didn't move, staring at Judai as if he was speaking a different language. Edo Phoenix standing outside? No. Impossible. Unbelievable. Absurd.

Ding.

She heard students spill out into the halls, and Judai grabbed her arm, pulling her out from under the table as he, too, stood. She heard commotion coming from the hallway, and soon enough she recognized her peers entering the cafeteria.

"Why now of all times, Judai?" she asked. "Why would he be here now?"

Judai shrugged as he gently pulled her away from the cafeteria and toward the school entrance. "How am I supposed to know? Let's go see, at least."

Lisa knew that students enjoyed eating outside during classes, so maybe Edo was planning to disguise himself amongst the crowd. But considering his appearance and his reputation, she highly doubted he would go unnoticed, even with a disguise. Which could only mean . . .

"What if it's a trap?" Lisa demanded. "What if he only wants to duel you to get you on their side, huh?! Then what are you gonna do?!"

"I'm gonna duel him obviously," Judai answered without a moment's hesitation. "And win."

Frustrated with him, she sighed, but she didn't offer any further resistance as he pulled her along. Finally they reached the outdoors, and immediately noticed a huge crowd gathered along the wall of the campus, a crowd that would gather in a crime scene, or murder scene.

Edo was in the center of the crowd, Lisa knew. She ran ahead of Judai, needing to see him, needing to make sure he was all right . . . She pushed through with ease, noting that the rest of the students seemed to stunned to be much of a hindrance.

"Edo!" she screamed as she broke through the crowd.

Her eyes warily saw his feet, and she followed the legs, to his body, to his face. His appearance hadn't changed at all. He still wore the same duel disk, had the same silver hair and blue eyes. But the way he moved, the way he looked at her wasn't Edo.

She bit her lip before glancing at the ground around Edo Phoenix. Momoe—was that her name? Momoe was lying on the ground unconscious as Junko knelt beside her waving frantically with her hand in front of Momoe's face. As if she was trying to get the path of air to her.

Lisa looked back up toward Edo's face and shook her head, taking a step backwards. "Edo . . . What . . . What have you done?"

His eyes were impassive, and so was his face. Edo didn't portray a single amount of emotion; he was blank yet somehow cold.

"Edo?"

"Tell me where Judai is," he ordered, his voice not the clear, perfect voice she had once known. It was dark and angry.

She shook her head again, a habit when she was stunned. "Wh-why . . . ?" her voice croaked, and she almost choked on her own word.

He didn't answer but merely stared at her as he awaited an answer.

Her feet took half steps toward him until she was a foot away. She stared at him, assessing his figure, observing his darkness. Had he done something to Momoe?

She flinched as his hands reached out, and suddenly her breath was lost. She gasped and struggled, but he had her neck in his grasp. "Tell me where Judai is," he repeated.

"Edo . . ." she pled, the sky spinning above her. "Edo . . . please . . ."

Can't breathe.

She barely heard the gasps and shouts from the crowd around her. Now the ground was spinning.

Can't breathe!

"Where is Judai?"

"Edo . . ." she gasped again.

He wasn't letting go.

"I'm over here," a voice stated suddenly. Judai. "You can let her go now."

The grasp around her throat released, and her body crashed to the ground. Lisa gasped for air immediately, choking on the abundance of it.

"What do you want, Edo?" Judai's voice demanded, sharply yet formally.

Edo was smirking when Lisa looked up at him. "I want to duel."

"Right here and now? Sweet!" Judai exclaimed as he activated his duel disk. "You've got it!"

"Judai, no!" Lisa yelled before Edo could activate his duel disk. Then she turned to the silver-haired Professional standing behind her. "Edo, come back, please. This isn't you. You wanted to save people, remember? Not hurt them!"

His icy, blue eyes glared down upon her, and she flinched, though kept her eyes just as fiercely upon him. He was hurting himself with all of this violence. Whoever the mastermind behind everything was, she wanted him gone, away from Edo. She wanted Edo back.

"Come here when the sun sets in three days. You'll duel then," Edo explained to Judai as he took his eyes off Lisa. "There's too many spectators right now."

Judai frowned, yet a smile grew on his face. "I'll be there."

"Good," Edo agreed. "Because if you aren't there . . . Well, you'll know the stakes when the three days are up. If you have any bit of intelligence within you, of course."

He took a step away, but Lisa grabbed his leg before he could go any farther. "Don't leave, Edo! Don't you remember who you are?!"

Edo glanced back at her, his face impassive and dark, dark as the midnight sky. "I don't have time for this," he stated coldly.

Then his foot moved unexpectedly toward her face and nudged her off. She knew he could have kicked her instead if he had wanted to . . . But something had stopped him, Lisa realized. There was still some bit of Edo in there, still in control.

But he was gone; he had taken to the forest, just as the nurse arrived and knelt beside Momoe.

Lisa tore her gaze away from the spot she had last seen Edo and glanced at the still unconscious Momoe. "Is she all right?"

The nurse said nothing but nodded. "Just fainted is all. She should be fine."

Lisa sighed in relief. She knew that technically she was to blame for all of this. Hadn't she been the one to allow herself to be taken over by Tanjiro, only to curse Edo after he saved her?

"Are you okay, Lisa?" Judai asked as he held a hand out for her.

She took it gratefully and stood up. "Yeah . . ." Knowing she was physically, Lisa didn't bother explaining how she felt mentally.

A smile appeared on the brunette's face without warning. "I take it you want to save Edo now?"

She couldn't help but smile, as well. "Yeah." Her smile wavered as she remembered Edo's blue eyes, tinted with darkness with hate—hate for Judai. Hate for her. That hadn't truly been him, had it?

Judai saw the sad look on her face. "Everything will work out in the end." His grin grew wider. "It always does around here when I'm in charge!"

"Yeah."

A/N: Sorry this was kinda short. I had intended to put a little more detail into it, but my brain was dead (not literally, of course!)…. Hahahaha…ha… I'll try to make it longer next time!! Thanks for reading! And thanks in advance to whoever reviews!! THANKS!!

P.S. Who thinks 5Ds is boring? Hehe.