And the grand stage... the end is here!
Destiny changes this day!
The first song is 'Hikari' by Utada Hikaru. I like this version more than the English one.
The second song is the Christina Vee version of the Touhou Project song 'Bad Apple!' if you must know.
I tried using the Romanji version, but it would've been too confusing for non-Japanese readers, and so though it loses something in translation, I put up the English lyrics. It is... strangely appropriate, in hindsight. I can't believe no one has tried to use 'Bad Apple!' with YGO yet.
Enjoy!
Epilogue: Changing Destiny
By sundown, the blood had disappeared.
Apollymi Hunter had been taken to the Gotham General, where he still lay, catatonic and unaware with a grieving Diana. The Dark Knight had been informed that Apollymi Hunter was not expected to survive.
Kaiba took the news with relative neutrality. "I see," the CEO had grunted. "At least the man has insurance."
"People died," the Bat hissed at him. "Are you seriously going to do this again?"
"Apollymi Hunter is the man who had killed more than that, and sympathy is given only for the deserving, not for one betrayed by his own monster," Kaiba scoffed. "In the end, he would have killed us. At least, he has a chance of survival."
The Batman was silent for a moment. "Where are the rest?"
"Excuse me?"
"The rest of Apollymi's followers." Batman clarified. "The justice system would prosecute them for domestic terrorism."
"I don't know," the KaibaCorp CEO stoically replied. "To ensure Mokuba's safety, they keep my involvement strictly above-board. I don't know, and what I don't know can't be used against me. However... those people... are repenting. That much I know. They are where they would want to be now."
The Batman was about to argue further until the CEO turned towards the centre of the Gotham Stadium, where the Duel field was established. "Look, it is your city."
It is. Every part of Gotham is known to him, Gotham is his as much as he is the city's and every part of it... the shadows reach.
Instinctively, he steps back.
Seto Kaiba sighs, seemingly older than his tender years. "It is a new day. The final battle begins."
"The finals of the Sixth Battle City will now commence!" the referee's voice boomed across the stadium to be faintly heard from the hospital, to the roars of fans from across the globe, even in broadcasts and local networks. From the field, two near-identical figures standing on opposite sides of the field raised their hands in salute.
Back in Metropolis, the Flash groaned about his injury once more as Mr Terrific cursed the laughing Crass Clown hovering across the latest computer terminal.
"Will Yuugi Mutou keep his crown, or will there be a new ruler?" Isono yelled. "Start!"
"Duel!" Both called simultaneously.
In the Metro Tower, Superman and company clean up from the freak flooding of downtown Metropolis.
Only one is left to his own devices. The Flash is injured, and very much so, thus they leave him alone as he watch the games over the Internet.
Beside him lies a newspaper. The Gotham Gazette reports the death of Apollymi Hunter that night, survived by his sister Diana.
The League already knows this. They know who killed Apollymi Hunter.
However, there is no way of ever bringing them to justice, for...
...how can one punish justice for carrying out the required?
So the Pharaoh walks free. So the monsters continue to waltz around humanity and play with the fates of men to screw lives up and ruin men and women and every human alike.
The League stands firm. It waits. It is strong, and patient, and resourceful.
And soon, it shall move and the monsters of injustice will flee before it..
Its justice shall live in the hearts of men who were disillusioned by it before again.
That time is not now, though.
Not today.
Diana was informed by the heart monitor flat-lining, the sound dull to her ears. It was tuned down, and something warm draped over her shoulders. Her fingers brush the material; leather. The smell is familiar... petrol?
Rafael, then.
"Guardian," she murmurs to the warm presence.
"Di," he replies, holding her close.
To both who have lost family, to both who remain alone and drifting in the world, they can only cling onto each other now.
Yami: LP 4000
Yuugi: LP 4000
"We face each other here today, Yuugi," Yami softly states as he looks at his hand. "Stand firm. I challenge you once more."
"I will accept your challenge," Yuugi replied.
"Good, good." Yami's eyes sharpens. "I draw!"
The tension in the air was palpable as they duel on.
"This is... a fight between equals," Bakura chuckles from the sidelines. "The unstoppable force meets the immovable object. What shall happen, then?"
"I shall begin," Yami decided. "I draw! I play the Spell, Ancient Rules, to special summon Dark Magician [2500/2100],"
There was a vortex of sparks as the ancient magician himself appears upon the field, to general applause.
"I'm not finished," Yami winks. "I tribute Dark Magician to special summon Dark Eradicator Warlock [2500/2100]."
The new magician was similar to the original in that he wore purple robes and a conical hat, but that was where the resemblance ended, from the broad shoulder pads to the long cloak to the huge executioner's axe in his hands.
"I then summon Herald of Creation [1800/600]." Yami declares as a slim-looking magician in gold armour appears, gleaming in the sun. "Once per turn, I can discard a card in exchange for the return of a level seven or higher monster from my graveyard to my hand."
"No wonder," Yuugi remarked, impressed as Yami retrieves the Dark Magician. "So, like this, you can indefinitely recycle Dark Magician."
"I place one card face-down and end my turn," Yami smiled. "Show us your moves, King."
"I will, then," Yuugi confirmed. "Draw! I summon Silent Swordsman Level Three [1000/1000]. I activate the Spell, Double Summon, allowing me to summon twice...?"
The executioner's axe swung mightily before Yuugi as he was speaking.
Yuugi: LP 4000 → LP 3000
"Dark Eradicator Warlock specialises in burn damage," Yami informs him smugly. "Every time a normal Spell is activated, you get one thousand damage to your life points." the annoyed look Yami shoots towards a suddenly very nervous purple-robed magician was enough for Yuugi to forgive him.
Yuugi swallows as he steps closer to the field. "I see. I still summon anyway, and I shall choose Silent Magician Level Four [1000/1000] to do so. Then I place two cards and end my turn."
The tiny white-robed magician that materialises onto the field looks tiny before the Dark Eradicator Warlock, but she stands strong, for the silent magician knows soon enough that given time, she shall be the strongest of magicians.
It still does not stop her from staring at the warlock anyway.
"My turn, draw!" Yami declares, and Silent Magician gains strength as a light shines on a jewel on its robes [1000/1000 → 1500/1000]. "I play the Spell, Pot of Greed!"
Silent Magician glowed as it gained power [1500/1000 → 2500/1000], but Yuugi suspiciously glanced at Yami as the executioner swung the axe again.
Yuugi: LP 3000 → LP 2000
"There is more than one way to inflict damage than simple battle," Yami murmurs, though his eyes hold concern. "Because it came through a card effect, I can special summon Watapon [200/300]."
The very cute pink puffball that would have had many questioning his masculinity appears on the field.
"Now, I tribute Watapon to summon Summoned Skull [2500/1200]!" Yami commands, and the demonic-looking skull demon appeared next to him in a crackle of lightning. "Dark Eradicator Warlock, attack the Silent Swordsman!"
"Trap activate, Magic Cylinder!" Yuugi hotly shoots back and Yami recoils as the axe hits him, though not by much.
Yami: LP 4000 → LP 1500
"Next, Summoned Skull!" Yami replies. The monster quickly finishes Silent Swordsman off.
"Ah," Yami sighed. "Then I play Allure of Darkness, to draw two more cards before removing from play a Dark monster. Silent Magician gains more power [2500/1000 → 3500/1000]. But of course, damage is inflicted."
Yuugi: LP 2000 → LP 1000
"I end my turn," Yami declared.
"Draw!" Yuugi announces. "Silent Magician, attack the Dark Eradicator Warlock!"
The executioner was killed with a single blast of white.
Yami: LP 1500 → LP 500
"Now, because I can use Spells again, I play Gold Sarcophagus," Yuugi states. "I remove from play a card, and if you use the exact same card, I can negate it, okay?"
Yami nodded. " I know, aibou."
"I then place one card face-down and end my turn," Yuugi decided.
Yami nods. "Of course. I draw! I activate the Spell, Monster Reborn!"
"You don't learn, do you?" Yuugi asks, revealing the card hidden in the gold sarcophagus. The all-too-familiar ankh stares back at him.
Yami recalls all too well, the duel in the tomb, the fight for a past and a future, and the ultimate end...
Will it change?
The ankh dissolves, and he lowers his head. "I end my turn."
For it to go accordingly, now, the summoned demon is in place, as is the card...
The card that would change everything...
"Silent Magician!" Yuugi's voice is clear despite the nostalgia and the pain reliving. "Attack!"
"Reverse card open!" Yami's voice boomed throughout the stadium. "Change Destiny!"
We must get back, he had whispered through the Shadows as they prepared the rite of separation once more. If not, we will risk the imbalance of worlds.
We know, the thief and the lunatic had shared. But our lights... it hurts to leave.
Time, fellow darkness, is on our side. One day, we will return.
Even so, he found himself praying for a miracle.
As the white fire of creation danced from the wizard's fingers, his first thoughts was: The prayers have been answered?
"No," he had breathed in disbelief.
"Yes," the Thief had cackled.
And as they invested their own power within, for a moment, a single glorious moment, light and darkness merged into chaos again before separating. The ancient god-king could hear the roar of Osiris, Obelisk and even the cry of Ra as the warm, heavy weight of the light rested upon him for once, yet he was safely ensconced in the darkness that was he.
Was this all a game to you, lords of the world? Or was this a plan of greater design?
Does it matter, our own? The whispers of the divine whispered. You are together again.
… No.
You have always done well, Our own. Rest with him as you await our orders. The lone divine light that wanders the earth need be alone no longer. He is yours to watch, to care for, to take until the end comes and you move on to the next stage together.
…Thank you, my lords.
You have done well, Our own, and will continue to do so down the ages. And who will we be, if we did not care for our own?
For him I will do anything.
Anything.
"Reverse card open!" Yami called. "Changing Destiny!"
"What?" Yuugi yelped as two doors, one blue and one red appeared before him. Before him, the Silent Magician struggled to escape from the stance forced upon her as she knelt.
"I can negate the attack of a monster and then you choose and activate one of two effects," Yami elaborated. "Either I gain life points equal to half that of the monster's attack, or you take damage equal to half that. In this case, you choose whether I gain seventeen hundred fifty life points, or take the same as damage."
Crimson eyes gleamed. "It is entirely up to you now."
"All of it," Yuugi realised. "Everything... was for this?"
"You sealed the Monster Reborn card for a purpose," Yami whispered. "I played this Trap for a purpose. I do not know any more if I am a peaceful soul, or a conflicted one. You have set me free, and it is of my choice and volition that I return for you. You can accept me. You may not. I do not care if you no longer need me... but I will be there, even if I must defy fate. You will take everything from me, but I choose anyway."
Yuugi grimaced momentarily, and when amethyst eyes looked across, the choice was made.
"I choose to take damage!" Yuugi declared.
Yami blinked slightly in shock. "What?"
As the red door glowed with red light, he also pressed a button. "I activate the face-down Trap, Doppelganger! In the case where I take effect damage, the same damage is also inflicted to my opponent!"
As red light shot from the door to Yuugi, and a figure with sharp claws emerged and clawed Yami through, both Duel Kings staggered back, smiling.
Yami: LP 0
Yuugi: LP 0
The stadium went up in cheers at that.
"I don't believe it!" Isono cried, his voice booming. "A draw! A draw!"
"A... draw..." Yami wearily smiled as Yuugi tackles him in the midst of the entire stadium.
When the unstoppable force meets the immovable object, they cancel each other out.
Light. Darkness. Balance.
It is as it should be.
There are three outcomes in a Duel; win, lose and draw.
In a draw, no one wins. No path is made, for two equal forces have collided and they remain static forevermore, until one gives way, and that is not likely.
Until they do, the paths do not unravel, and that is fine, for destiny long ago had predicted this.
Superman pored over the pictures of blurry colours and monsters and people from what little the Batman had managed to hack from KaibaCorp's mainframe. "You suspect that they're involved in a secret society of magical card game players?"
A beat of pause. "Yes."
Superman blinked. "That... would sound ridiculous."
There was an uncomfortable pause amongst the founders and the lone magical consultant, Zatanna.
"Does anyone propose raising these concerns with the government?" Lantern raised. "We need to protect innocent people from these things."
Shayera bit her lip. "From what I understand, their society is a secluded one, and limited. If we inform them, another fiasco like CADMUS might appear again."
"The United States lies in the New World, where the powers of the land fluctuates." Zatanna advised. "The laws of the magical worlds are very much of the Old World. The President to them is just another human leader that will step down soon. This is just another example of the magical world mixing with the normal world. They've proven with the Hero City mess that they can protect themselves and other people well enough, so I'd advise to leave them alone."
"What about justice? What about the rule of law?" Superman defended. "They're breaking the law like this!"
"The magical world does not obey human laws," Zatanna explained. "Even with the League's current significant magic backing, it's not enough to contain all the powers of the Old World. Batman's evidence," she waved the file. "Only proves the point, that we stand too much in the light sometimes to do anything meaningful."
Batman sat there, never really talking except when presenting.
There was nothing, and then there was a presence, and it murmured quietly. Sometimes, we need people who are willing to walk with their backs to the light, to take a step into darkness.
If J'onn noticed the presence, he never said anything.
Donna toki datte
Tada hitori de
Unmei wasurete
Ikite kita no ni
Totsuzen no,
hikari no naka me ga sameru...
Mayonaka ni...
There was a set order and pattern to Gotham parties, one that Bruce himself was intimately familiar with.
Bruce Wayne downed half the flute of champagne, aware that he was, to put it mildly, lost at sea.
This was not a typical Gotham party.
Shizuka ni, deguchi ni tatte,|
Kurayami ni, hikari o ute
He spied the tall form of Seto Kaiba stalk over towards him, white trench coat billowing out and cerulean eyes glaring at almost anything and everything the blond boy he was quite sure was Katsuya Jounochi flirting with an older woman, Mai Kujaku, and by the side was Diana Hunter in her own casual attire, sipping water from a flute delicately.
Imadoki yakusoku nante,
fuan ni saseru dake kana,
Negai o, kuchi ni shitai dake sa
Kazoku ni mo, shoukai suru yo,
Kitto umaku iku yo!
In particular, Kaiba's glare seemed directed towards the two almost-twins who had tied the tournament and were now engaged in acts of public indecency that Bruce partly wished they wouldn't quite do in public. There was only so much the secret vigilante could take without breaking out the hard stuff.
Donna toki datte,
Zutto futari de,
Donna toki datte,
Soba ni iru kara
Kimi to iu,
hikari ga watashi o mitsukeru ...
Mayonaka ni...
"Mr Wayne," Kaiba grunted at him, and once again Bruce felt a flash of intent scanning him.
Somewhere in his mind, there was a sigh that he would deny ever existed.
Kansei sasenaide,
Motto yokushite,
WAN SHIIN zutsu totte,
Ikeba ii kara
Kimi to iu,
hikari ga watashi no SHINARIO...
Utsushidasu...
Kaiba smirked. "I see you invited yourself. Mingle, but no shenanigans," One corner of his mouth turned up in a half-smile-smirk. "You'll find that female Duellists can take care of themselves and don't take anything, even from you."
He then stalked off, and there was the distant roar of a dragon.
Bruce blinked, no longer relaxed even as his eyes wandered out to the Gotham skyline illuminated against a backdrop of city lights – as many stars as in the skies, once – and the shadows of the city seemed to reach out invitingly, Gotham in her puffy torn black lace tulle and bodice inviting him into the night...
Donna ni yokuttatte,
Shinji kirenai ne,
Sonna toki datte,
Soba ni iru kara,
Kimi to iu,
hikari ga watashi o mitsukeru...
Mayonaka ni...
The translucent form of the spirit appeared to him, one hand pointing. Bruce followed the line of sight to by the dancing kings, where Bruce could just faintly see the outline of a spotlight, and in its midst...
Gotham needed him. He who protects the Dark City.
And the Batman takes the stage, the voice whispered.
The after-party for the Sixth Battle City had a huge turnout, for its attendance being people from other places than Gotham. Music played, servers and waiters wandered about serving hungry Duellists and drinks flowed, and there was a party.
In the midst of the event, were three pairs of male dancers, one shorter than most with hair in black, red-tinted and blonde bangs, another had long hair the colour of bleached bone, and a third was made up of cackling dark-skinned blonds.
They move fluidly as they danced through the opening beats, to the start of the song.
Ever on and on, I continue circling,
With nothing but my hate in a carousel of agony,
Till slowly I forget and my heart starts vanishing,
And suddenly I see that I can't break free—I'm
Slipping through the cracks of a dark eternity,
With nothing but my pain and the paralysing agony,
To tell me who I am, who I was,
Uncertainty enveloping my mind,
Till I can't break free, and–
Their dance attracted the eyes of many, yet they danced alone, in the centre of their own universe, eyes only on each other.
Maybe it's a dream; maybe nothing else is real,
But it wouldn't mean a thing if I told you how I feel,
So I'm tired of all the pain, of the misery inside,
And I wish that I could live feeling nothing but the night.
You can tell me what to say; you can tell me where to go,
But I doubt that I would care, and my heart would never know,
If I make another move there'll be no more turning back,
Because everything will change, and it all will fade to black!
Their was desperately increasing in intensity, like as if one was dancing to their deaths, each so desperate that the air was palpable.
Will tomorrow ever come? Will I make it through the night?
Will there ever be a place for the broken in the light?
Am I hurting? Am I sad? Should I stay, or should I go?
I've forgotten how to tell. Did I ever even know?
Can I take another step? I've done everything I can,
All the people that I see I will never understand,
If I find a way to change, if I step into the light,
Then I'll never be the same, and it all will fade to white!
The climax of the song rolled around, each executing their own signature freestyle move, all in a dance that dictated the balance.
Light. Dark.
There was nothing else that truly mattered more, as sons of light and darkness danced the night away in a city shrouded in shadows and darkness.
If I make another move, if I take another step,
Then it all would fall apart. There'd be nothing of me left,
If I'm crying in the wind, if I'm crying in the night,
Will there ever be a way? Will my heart return to white?
Overhead, the Dark Knight of Gotham stood as the clock struck twelve, the bells tolling about as the night winds howled and his cape billowed out, the fearsome dark sentinel of a dark city.
Unseen by almost all, a warrior in green armour and blue cape stood in his shadow.
Can you tell me who you are? Can you tell me where I am?
I've forgotten how to see; I've forgotten if I can,
If I opened up my eyes, there'd be no more going back,
'Cause I'd throw it all away, and it all would fade to black!
The legacy of the game…
There was a popular game three thousand years ago in Ancient Egypt. This old game could predict the future of mankind and the king like magical rituals that decided fate...
They were known … as the Dark Game.
With the unlocking of the Dark Door, some special individuals has inherited the Dark Game... chief amongst them three with the hearts of light and darkness, split souls who guard the Shadows as penance...
The paths of destiny changes each and every while, but meet and part they shall. You might walk ever onwards, but you might look ahead and see nothing, or look back and see only the darkness.
Today, destiny decreed, a hero lives.
Conclusione della storia.
Please hold on for the afterword and deleted scenes!