Disclaimer: ^sighs and hangs up sign that says 'WookieeBeta does not own Yu-Gi-Oh!' in big bright capital letters^
Unknown Identity
Chapter Twenty-One
"Master, please," the Dark Magician pleaded. "I do not have the strength or the skill to do this alone!"
"To do so would be to break the rules of the Game, young apprentice," the Chaos Mage said sternly. "You know this as well as I."
"But Master – "
"Chaos Mage," Yami interrupted. "I know this is beyond the scope of the Game. But the life of a duelist is at stake – the duelist whose deck you reside in. If he falls, you and all of your companions will remain in the Shadow Realm for all of eternity, and there will be no more duels. Is that the future you want for the Dark Magician? Or for your other apprentice, the Dark Magician Girl?"
The Chaos Mage looked at the ancient Pharaoh for a moment, then sighed.
"All right. But on one condition only."
"What is that?"
"I want an opportunity to clobber the person who started this entire mess."
"I'm afraid you may have to fight your apprentice for that one," Yami laughed. "Ryou, he's your yami – the decision is yours."
"You two are welcome to him," the pale-haired boy said, grinning slightly. But the smile disappeared as Yugi moaned.
"Yugi!" the Dark Magician and Yami exclaimed simultaneously.
"We must hurry," the Chaos Mage said. His eyes closed in concentration as he prepared to cast one of the most powerful and least-known spells in the Game. "Prepare yourselves… Three…two…one…now!"
The Dark Magician and Yami both poured as much of their magical energy as they dared into the spell, combining their strength with that of the Chaos Mage. He shouted a single unintelligible word. Yugi's eyes blinked open.
The Chaos Mage shouted another word, this time slightly louder, and a point of brilliant light appeared in front of him. It expanded slightly, elongating, and he shouted the same word again. The light expanded slightly more. He continued doing this for several minutes.
"It's not enough," Yami grunted. "At this rate, we'll never succeed!" The two mages didn't answer, but the Dark Magician's eyes narrowed in determination. Ryou could see the strain in all of their faces. The Chaos Mage was obviously struggling to keep the spell going.
"We have to end this soon!" the Dark Magician muttered. "I can't go on much longer." The Chaos Mage nodded in agreement, then shouted a third unintelligible word. The strip of light solidified and fell to the ground. The Chaos Mage bent to pick it up, but seemed to think better of it.
"Perhaps it would be best if you had the honor," he said to his apprentice. The Dark Magician glanced at him in surprise, but nodded and bent to retrieve the crystalline sword. The Chaos Mage held his staff for him as the less powerful mage began slicing through the bars of energy that held Yami and Yugi captive. Ryou could see that both spellcasters and Yami were pale and sweating, and he knew that even though the first part of the spell was done, they still had to use all of their strength to maintain it.
"No!" the Dark Magician exclaimed as the sword began to disintegrate in his hands. He had only managed to slice through five of the horizontal bars – all fifteen of them had to be cut apart before the Shadow energy would disperse. The Chaos Mage whispered something, and the sword reformed.
"Hurry," he urged his apprentice – not that he needed the urging. Band after band of deadly energy fell apart before the blade's diamond-hard edge.
Just three more, Yami thought. And then we'll be able to get Yugi out… But his heart sank once more as the sword all but disappeared.
"I can't…" The Dark Magician didn't get the opportunity to finish his sentence before he collapsed, falling dangerously near to the deadly Shadow energy.
"No!" the Chaos Mage shouted. Yami suddenly understood just how much the older mage cared about his apprentice.
"You have to…finish…the spell," he gasped. The Chaos Mage lifted what was left of the sword and swung it through one of the remaining bands. As always, Yami felt the Shadow Realm drain more of his energy to compensate for the loss of its own. His vision swam. No! he thought. We can't give in yet! The blood rushing in his ears made it impossible for him to hear Yugi moan softly behind him.
The Chaos Mage jerked, startled, as the sword once more became completely solid in his grasp.
"Do it now!" Yugi and Ryou gasped together, sweat breaking out on their faces as they shared the strain of maintaining the spell. The blade cut cleanly through the last two bands and disappeared. The Chaos Mage fell to his knees by his apprentice.
Head spinning, Yami gathered his other into his arms and stood. The brilliant light of the cage faded into the blackness of the Shadow Realm, and the bands of energy dissipated harmlessly into the murk.
"Oh, no…" he murmured as he knelt by the Dark Magician. The mage was hardly breathing. He placed his hand on the Magician's sweaty brow. "Come on, don't give in yet," he urged. He allowed nearly all of what precious little energy he had left to flow into the Dark Magician's trembling form. His eyes blinked open slowly and came to rest on Yami's exhausted face.
"Yami…"
"Come on, Dark Magician," the ancient spirit said. "It's time that you and I went back to where we belong."
A/N: And no, I just can't see the Chaos Mage as being all quiet and sinister and stuff – he's the Chaos Mage, after all! ^grin^ And chaos is good…we like chaos…. ^gets strange gleam in eye^