Attaku

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Note: This is the FINAL CHAPTER, to be followed only by an epilogue! I hope you enjoy the (almost) end to this saga!

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Chapter 28

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"I think he's… gone," Pegasus said, frowning slightly.

Aura was huddled in a corner of their safe room. "There's still fighting going on outside," she pointed out.

"He's left his army behind," Pegasus said, daring to peek out of their shelter. "But Ra has flown away."

"What does that mean?" Croquet wondered aloud.

"I wonder if he's discovered where our friends are," Mako fretted.

"He has," Cecelia said, closing her eyes. "One of your friends must have used a Millennium Item to cut through Ra's barrier of Shadow Magic around Akuma. Ra is flying there right now to-"

"Oof!" Aura gasped as an attack hit their shelter. The walls suddenly pressed tightly around them, as the outside of their shelter was crushed under a blow. Aura was momentarily squeezed next to the strangest inhabitant of the room, and felt her cool, jelly-like skin squishing up against her arm. Then their shelter bounced back into its original shape, and everyone fell back on the floor again.

Aura looked up and exchanged sheepish glances with the girl she had been pushed up against.

"I think that deserves some return fire," Pegasus said, clearly annoyed.

Toon Mermaid nodded. The giant clam that they were all hiding in opened slightly; Toon Mermaid poked her head and upper body out, fired three arrows in rapid succession, and ducked back inside. The clam slammed shut again, protecting Toon Mermaid and the humans hiding in it: Mako, Aura, Pegasus, and Croquet.

"How much longer will we be protected in here?" Mako wondered aloud, shaken from that last assault.

"For as long as the battle continues, I dare say," Pegasus replied lightly. "How long that may be… I don't know. Now that Ra is gone, our troops may have a fighting chance."

"Can you have another look at the second battle?" Aura begged Cecelia. "Where the storeroom used to be? I know it's a mess…" her voice trailed off as Cecelia obligingly floated out into the chaotic fight.

"If Ra is headed to Akuma, perhaps we ought to use Different Dimension Dragon to take the battle there," Mako suggested eagerly.

They had sent Different Dimension Dragon away before the battle began, fearing that if Ra came and Summoned it with no direction, the Dragon would cause all sorts of havoc. They also didn't want Ra to know that Different Dimension Dragon was there; who knew what the god could do with power like the Dragon's. While the Dragon wasn't necessarily on Ra's side, the others weren't sure he was on their side either. The Dragon had so far seemed to do what it pleased. Cecelia thought, however, that the Dragon could be prevailed upon to answer specific transportation desires as well. With her help, they had Summoned the Dragon and sent it into another dimension. Pegasus planned to use the Dragon as an emergency escape route, should the battle go poorly.

Pegasus pursed his lips. "You have a point," he admitted. "However, I think we should wait. If our troops are going to be outmatched by Ra's, we don't want to bring the rest of Ra's army straight to Akuma, where they will help him fight Yami and the others. If, however, the battle goes our way… I'm sure that Yami could use our reinforcements."

"I really hope the battle goes our way," Aura said needlessly, as they hunkered deep into the clamshell to await the news from Cecelia.

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In mid-flight, flapping his way swiftly to Akuma, Ra passed an exhausted Winged Messenger. The Messenger tried to approach Ra, to deliver the news of the Pharaoh's breach into Akuma; Ra, who had already divined the information by his own means and who was in a furious rage, opened his mouth and sent a jet of fire streaming over the hapless Monster, his own faithful servant.

There would be no mercy.

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"Mokuba, you'll stay in that castle for the entire duration of the battle, do you hear me?" Seto demanded. For once, Mokuba didn't put up a fight, merely nodded meekly. He was intimidated already by the sounds of the rebel skirmishes in the woods; the news of the Pharaoh's arrival in Akuma had spread, and Mystical Elf had moved the rebel army to right outside the main gates, preparing for the moment when the shadow-barrier came crashing down. Ra's Monsters still dramatically outnumbered the rebels, however, and the fighting was fierce.

"I'm leaving Hyozanru with you," Seto said, lowering his voice. "If things look bad, I want to you get out of here, okay? Ride Hyozanru as fast and as far as you can, and don't look back."

"But-"

"Kaiba, you can't leave him in the castle," Téa interrupted worriedly. "I don't know if Slifer and Obelisk are as big as Ra, but even if they're not, Ra alone is huge enough to stomp the rest of the building into rubble. It's unstable enough as it is; the whole thing could come crashing down."

Seto paused, remembering exactly how large the God Cards were. "You have a point," he admitted, his voice filled with urgency. "We need to find a safe place for everyone who isn't fighting."

"What about underground again?" Mai suggested, joining the discussion.

"Same problem as the castle," Bakura rejected. "If the gods stomp hard enough, anything underground will get caved in or crushed."

"The air?" Serenity suggested tentatively.

"I think anything flying overhead might just be a giant bulls-eye target for Ra," Odion said apologetically.

"Maybe a Magic or Trap Card then?" Mai suggested. "I know we rejected the idea of using them to get into Akuma, but now that we're on this side, maybe it would be safe to Summon one?"

"I'll try it on myself first," Seto said decisively. As expected, he met with arguments, but received unexpected support from Yami. Together, the two of them tried using Sword and Shield to switch places, as well as set off a variety of Trap Cards. "Everything seems to be working," Seto said at last, then turned to Mokuba with a determined glint in his eye. "Now, as for protection for you…"

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Thirty minutes later, Mokuba and Serenity were in a shallow ditch behind the castle (but not too close to the wall), with a Millennium Shield covering their heads. Much to their surprise, Marik had graciously given them a Revival Jam as protection; it squished around happily above them, wearing a Ring of Magnetism, so as to attract the brunt of the attacks. There was a Trap Jammer, Magic Jammer, Mirror Force, and assortment of other Trap and Magic Cards waiting to be sprung around their hiding spot. Seto had stopped just short of giving them all three Blue-Eyes for protection, when Yami pointed out reasonably that the dragons would make it quite crowded in the hole.

Serenity sat gingerly on the ground, afraid of accidentally setting off one of the traps. It was still noisy outside, as the battle outside the shadow-barrier raged on and their friends ran around preparing. Everyone else had decided to stay out and face Ra head-on, even if they didn't have a deck; but Serenity and Mokuba, frightened beyond anything they'd felt before, didn't put up too much of a fuss about being sent off to relative safety.

"I'm scared, but I'm glad we're here," Serenity said quietly. "I would hate to be somewhere far away and not know what was going on."

Mokuba nodded in assent. "At least here we can-" he broke off as Téa's voice rose above the babble.

"He's coming! That's Ra you see on the horizon!" There was only a half-a-second pause, in which Téa sucked in a horrified breath, then she continued: "Look how fast he's coming! Hurry, Yami, we don't have time – Summon Slifer and Obelisk!"

"Do it now!" Bakura yelled.

Mokuba and Serenity reflexively grabbed onto each other and stared, wide-eyed, at the crack of light between Millennium Shield and the dirt wall of their shelter. Suddenly, the light was blotted out by a huge shadow. The ground shook violently beneath them as something enormous dropped onto the earth, and the wind whistled fiercely, sending boulders tumbling like cotton balls as something huge flew through the sky.

Obelisk the Tormentor and Slifer the Sky Dragon had arrived.

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Ra saw the appearance of his two once-comrades, and it was nearly enough to make him falter. He and Obelisk and Slifer had once ruled together, the three of them enormously powerful together, powerful enough to even work their influence over the mortals holding their Cards. But now Slifer and Obelisk were under the control of the Pharaoh, and they would fight him.

I have always been the mightiest of us all, he decided, pushing firmly on. The miles flew beneath him; he would arrive at Akuma soon. He sent his Magic ahead and removed the shadow-barrier surrounding his city; immediately, Monsters began to swarm in. I will defeat those two in battle and prove my strength, once and for all. Then I shall rule this realm – ALONE!

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Slifer and Obelisk easily took down the first wave of Ra's invaders. In fact, the only danger was that they would also be taking out Yami's allies as they knocked aside twenty Monsters with one lazy flick of hand or tail. Yami and his friends were chiefly concerned with not getting crushed underfoot, at first.

"Hail!" Mystical Elf cried, leading her troops to join up with the array of Monsters that Yami and his friends had Summoned.

"Hail!" Yami responded, pleased, and clasped her hand. "I owe you great thanks for taking up our cause. You have fought most worthily."

"And we will continue fighting until the end," she responded, eyes blazing. Her words were brave, but her army had been reduced to practically nothing; Ra's allies, even now streaming in from all the surrounding lands, vastly outnumbered all of the defenders, even with Yami and the others' decks.

And then Ra himself arrived, tearing into Slifer in the air, both of the Gods screeching their challenges. One of Slifer's two huge mouths clamped down on Ra's wing; Ra responded with deep, vicious slashes to Slifer's flank. Obelisk swatted away a few more of Ra's minions, then reached a massive hand into the air and swiped at Ra's feet.

Yami whirled around and ordered his Magicians into action. Dark Magician Girl and Dark Magician immediately flew to cover the rear of the army. Seto Fused his Blue-Eyes White Dragons into Three-Headed White Dragon, which began savagely plowing through the opposing army, followed closely by Joey and Ryou's Monsters. Mai's Harpy Ladies led the Dragon into a group of Land Monsters, over which they had the advantage. She was backed up by Kimo. Duke and Tristan immediately assimilated with Mystical Elf's army and took over the remaining Machine Monsters, issuing orders and deciding where the Monsters' abilities could best be put to use. Yugi, Ishizu, and Shadi joined forces with a group of spellcasters to manipulate the Magic and Trap Cards. Marik and Bakura and Malik, who knew the God Cards best, ordered various Monsters to assist Slifer and Obelisk. Odion, Geoff, Ezra and Téa assisted with the defense of the group, protecting the fragile humans; Anuba viciously guarded her mistress.

The field quickly became covered in black smoke as two opposing groups of Fire Monsters met and set half of the ground aflame. Obelisk slammed through the remains of the castle, sending rubble flying everywhere. Odion tackled Ishizu and Shadi, pinning them both to the ground in safety seconds before a rock would have taken off their heads.

"There's a Canon Soldier taking aim at Mystical Elf!" Téa shouted. "We need a Trap Card like Mirror Force!" Ezra dashed into the fray, grabbing Yugi's arm and enlisting him and Magician of Faith in protecting the elven general. Moments later, when Canon Soldier fired, the rounds ricocheted off a Mirror Force.

Several of Ra's troops stormed their way to the center of the rebel army, beating their way through by sheer force. A Hane-Hane swung at Duke with the blunt end of his staff, sending him toppling backwards. Tristan shouted and went after him, at the same time that Ra and Slifer shot crackling balls of pure Shadow Magic at each other. The balls collided and exploded, sending streams of Shadow Magic everywhere. One of these hit Duke, and he was promptly banished to the Shadow Realm. Another hit Three-Headed White Dragon, which disappeared amidst a howl of rage from Seto.

Ra recovered from the explosion first and took the opportunity to sink his teeth into Slifer. The Sky Dragon shrieked with pain and toppled from the air, landing heavily on the ground, where swarms of Ra's minions covered it. A contingent of Needle Worms crawled onto Slifer's belly and began stabbing it. Ryou directed what remained of his Deck to hurry to Slifer's assistance, led by his Greenkappa. Espa Roba tried to lead the psychic Monsters over to aid Slifer as well, but became caught up in a skirmish with Ra's Machine Monsters. Tristan led the rebel Machine Monsters over to aid Espa.

But for the time, only Obelisk stood to fight Ra, and the Winged Dragon had the high ground, and his assaults from the air were not easily defended against. A particularly vicious assault sent Obelisk stumbling backwards, nearly stepping on half the army. Seto, Mai, and Yami hastily sent their Flying Monsters into the air, aided by the rebel Flying Monsters, but Ra swatted the small attackers away like flies. He swung his tail and knocked Dark Magician Girl off her wand. The Harpy Lady Sisters streaked after her, and caught the small spellcaster right before she hit the ground. Yami hurried to kneel by her side, making sure Dark Magician Girl was okay.

Ra swooped down on Obelisk and dug into the Tormenter's shoulder with sharp claws, making the giant blue god double over in pain and grab at his wound. Ra landed on the battlefield, carelessly crushing his own warriors and his enemies alike. Yami looked up to see an angry, triumphant golden eye staring down at him, and Ra opened his mouth to unleash a devastating assault upon the Pharaoh.

But even as Ra drew in a breath, a swirling hole appeared in the air between Yami and the god. A glittering green dragon shot out of nowhere, swooped over the battlefield, and disappeared again; in the next second, a castle appeared in midair and dropped down to the ground with a thud. The whole castle jiggled alarmingly, bending out of shape, and then resolving again; when Ra, in surprise, released his assault, it bounced off of one of the castle's turrets and went ricocheting harmlessly into space.

"You're kidding me," Seto sighed, coming up behind Yami and forgetting the battle for a moment.

"Yoo-hoo!" Pegasus called, waving from a balcony. "We thought you might have need of us!"

Yami grinned fiercely. "We've never needed you more, my friend!" he called.

Mako Tsunami, in a blur of bulging muscles and dark hair, leapt over the edge of the balcony and landed astride Fenrir, a giant Water-type wolf. Both of them looked positively thrilled to be escaping Toon World, despite the danger of the battle they were dashing into.

"Mako insists on joining the fight," Pegasus called, counting on Toon Gemini Elf to protect him from the attacks being launched at the Toon World castle, "And I'll help out how I can from up here. But if any of you are in need of a safe place to stay, I've left Croquet and Mako's friend Aura inside Toon Mermaid's clamshell. It's nearly impenetrable!"

A very familiar looking Monster flew out of the castle and tackled the Mystic Horseman about to lower his axe onto Seto, who was gaping at the castle. Seto quickly shook himself out of distraction, caught sight of the Monster, and stared again. Finally he jerked back into action. "Toon Blue-Eyes!" Seto shouted, winced, then overcame his instinctive distaste. "I need you to go find my little brother – he should be hiding with a girl named Serenity Wheeler – and bring him to safety inside the clamshell!"

The Toon Blue-Eyes waved adorably in consent, then wiggled away, its body stretching and weaving through the fighting crowds.

Yugi was manipulating a Trap Hole into place with the help of Magician of Faith. He saw the castle appear, and reinforcements come streaming out of it; his heart lifted for the first time in hours. They had been on the verge of losing, but Pegasus brought new hope. A few minutes later, Yugi blinked quizzically as he beheld a strange sight in the sky. Toon Blue-Eyes buzzed happily through the air, with a startled and nervous Mokuba and Serenity perched upon its back, carrying them into the safety of Toon World.

Mako and Fenrir led Pegasus's reinforcements over to Slifer, still trying to struggle off the ground. At the same time, Toon Goblin Attack force descended on Obelisk, freeing the god from all the other Monsters trying to bring him down. Finally, with his assailants otherwise distracted, Obelisk rose to his full height.

Slifer, too, escaped the attacks of the other Monsters. Leaving Mako and Ryou to deal with Ra's minions, Slifer launched himself over the ground, running at an amazing speed, flapping his wings to make himself run faster. He caught Ra by surprise; the Winged Dragon was still on the ground, attempting to combat Toon World once again. The two gods went rolling across the ground, squishing the ditch where Mokuba and Serenity had just been hiding, and smothering the flames left over from the Fire Monster clash. Obelisk lumbered heavily after them.

For a long while, the fight of the gods was obscured in a thick cloud of dust and smoke. The rebels concentrated on the battles immediately before them; a flock of winged beasts, mostly Tornado Birds, launched an aerial attack. A group of Ra's Earth Monsters also lumbered slowly over to where Tristan and Espa Roba were still battling with the opposing Machine Monsters, but before the Earth Monsters reached the fight, a well-timed Fissure Magic Card unleashed by Shadi, Ishizu, and Summoner Monk swallowed up most of them.

The Fire Monsters suddenly renewed their assault, directing their attacks on Seto's remaining dragons, as well as Ezra's Luster Dragon. Geoff ran through the battlefield in search of Mako, to enlist Water Monsters to deal with the firey threat.

Yami, for his part, ducked and weaved his way through the battlefield, accompanied by a dazed but determined Dark Magician Girl and Dark Magician. Mai and Kimo kept surreptitious backup, fighting threats to Yami's path but without calling attention to him. Joey and Bakura staged a very noisy diversion, commanding their Monsters to make as much noise as possible, and centering most of the battle around themselves.

Yami cleared the edge of the battle and climbed atop a pile of rubble. The dust was starting to settle around the gods, although they were still roaring viciously. The struggle had slackened now. Slifer had wound his long, long body all around Ra, squeezing him into submission and pinning down one of his wings. Obelisk had grabbed the other wing with one massive hand and had Ra's head feathers squeezed in his other fist, effectively stilling Ra's head. The Winged Dragon still kicked his legs fiercely, and clacked his beak and roared, but his struggles were slowing down.

Yami met Ra's eyes for a moment. "It didn't have to end like this," he whispered, knowing that the god could hear him. "If you had been willing to listen… to cooperate… I didn't want the Duel Monsters to be oppressed either. We could have worked together to build a universe of peace for humans and Monsters alike."

Ra's eyes snapped in anger, and Yami decided it wasn't safe to linger any longer. He leapt to the ground, landing next to the tablet he'd singled out earlier, now half-buried under kicked-up dirt. Trusting Mai and Kimo to watch his back, he sank into a cross-legged position, his hands on the tablet, closed his eyes, and began to chant.

Several long minutes later, silence fell, not only over the field where the gods had been wrestling, but over the entire city of Akuma. Yami opened his eyes and studied the tablet in front of him, now engraved on the surface with an image of a snarling, vicious Winged Dragon of Ra.

He brushed his hands off, and stood, and there was still silence. The Pharaoh recalled Slifer and Obelisk to their cards, and tucked them safely in his shirt pocket for the time being.

The silence prevailed for a few more seconds, during which the entire battlefield seemed to hold a collective breath. Joey, in the middle of the field, gave a shout of joy; Téa burst into tears; and humans and Monsters alike erupted in a cacophony of ecstatic applause, exclamations, impromptu victory dances, and warm embraces.