Reset Reality

Chapter 7

We Meet Again

Daxter Falk shrugged and looked down at Yami.

"So, Joey sent you. I was worried he wouldn't find you." Dax muttered. "Welcome."

"You….Dax. You're the commander of the DRF?" Yami asked. Dax looked around.

"Get up. We don't have much time." He said, pulling Yami to his feet. "And no, I'm not." He whispered in Yami's ear. Yami gave him a strange look, but Dax ignored it and led Yami through the bowels of the museum. They entered a small office, and Dax closed the door, locking it.

"Dax, what's going?" Yami demanded.

"We apologize for our…long-term method of contacting you. But with Kaiba's spies everywhere, we needed to be discreet."

"Dax…what does the DRF want me to do?" Yami asked.

"I don't know." Dax replied. "I'm not their commander, I told you."

"But that man called you…"

"I'm a ploy." Dax explained. "I lead the DRF as a front. Our real commander is someone none of them have seen. He is the one who wishes to see you."

"Where is he? Who is he?" Yami asked.

"He awaits in the Domino Library." Dax said. "Yami, Project Shadow Beam begins in 2 hours. We cannot afford any mistakes."

"And what about Téa?" Yami demanded.

"She is a member of the DRF. She is prepared to give her life for the cause, as we all are." Dax said with a shrug.

"You will do nothing to save her?" Yami roared.

"We can do nothing. Téa is a sacrifice, Yami. One I admit I would rather not make, but it cannot be helped." Dax said coldly. "Yami, Téa cannot be saved, nor can Yugi. If you try to save them, Darek and Kaiba will kill you, and them."

"Then you'll leave them to die?" Yami shouted.

"Yes." Dax said simply. "Yami…I want you to go out that door…look around. Look at what you see. Tell me you will not fight to save what you see. There is a woman to the left, in a blue cloak. Ask her to show you." Yami gave Dax an odd look. But he listened and emerged back in the main base. He looked to the left and spotted the woman in the cloak Dax had mentioned, and stepped forward.

"Dax…sent me to you. To show me?" Yami asked. The woman looked up, revealing sad grey eyes.

"Ah…you wish to see them." She said. "Follow me." She stood and led Yami down another hall of the base.

"They're using Kaa for the manpower here, an attack will not be enough, we'll need to blast."

"Food rations are good for another week. I've talked to Dax about raiding an outpost, but we don't have the manpower."

"I think we may be able to convince a few of the Kaa to fight Darek's control, but with all the humans keeping them in line…" snips and clips of conversation flitted past Yami's ears as he was led down a path only the woman knew. Finally, she led him to a closed door.

"Brace yourself." The woman said, pushing the door open. Whatever Yami was expecting, it wasn't what he got. The large room behind the door was painted bright blue. Red, yellow, and green furniture littered the room, most of it broken or in poor condition. Scattered toys, also in poor shape, littered the floor with some storybooks. What was most surprising were the people in the room.

Children. About a dozen or so children were running around. 3 or 4 appeared to be playing tag. The others were just lounging, coloring or building with a small bucket of discolored building blocks. One had a paintbrush and was painting on a sheet of paper, but had trouble holding the brush that was too big for her.

"Who are they?" Yami asked.

"Refugees, like us." The woman explained. "Rescued from Darek." She gave Yami a pointed look. "He breeds them." Yami turned.

"What?"

"Darek. He breeds them. From age 2 on, Darek breeds them. His men neglect, they abuse, they starve, and frequently beat them. All part of breeding them. They do all they can to mistreat them, and fill their hearts with darkness. The more hatred, despair, loneliness and anger in their hearts, the stronger their Kaa becomes. And when Darek wants a strong soldier, he takes one of them, has it killed, and extracts the Kaa inside."

"Barbaric." Yami growled.

"Yes. We try to free as many as we can, but Darek has many warehouses that keep children like this inside." The woman said sadly. "I have to go." She said, slipping back out the door. Yami watched her go, then stepped into the room. A few children looked up at him, but then turned back to whatever they were doing. Yami walked to the little girl he had seen painting, and looked down.

It was a street in Domino, a normal street with a line of people walking down it. But a jagged line had been drawn down the middle of the page. In the left was the normal Domino. But as the people on the page entered the right side, they transformed into feral-looking Kaa. The Domino of the right side of the page was broken down with dark clouds overhead.

"Shadow Realm." The little girl whispered, looking up at Yami. Yami turned his attention to her. She only looked like she was 8. Children so young should not have been painting such horrifying works.

"I see." Yami said. "Is that was it does?" He asked. The girl nodded.

"Yup. The Shadow Realm makes everything dark. Cities, sky, people…" She said. "My mommy got caught by it when it first came. Bad men took me to a place. It was dark, and they hurt me. Then Mr. Dax rescued me 2 years ago! He said the Shadow Realm wasn't in this place."

"Yes. This place is safe for now." Yami agreed. "I'm Yami."

"I'm Mai." The little girl said. "I used to be called 143 at the bad place, but Mr. Dax gave me a new name!"

"He did?" Yami asked, surprised at the choice of name, especially from Dax.

"Yup! Mr. Dax said there's a woman in the Shadow Realm who looks as cute as me! And he's gonna rescue her too someday! Mr. Dax says the woman is real pretty, and he liked her a long time ago! But she liked someone else that Mr. Dax calls 'Mutt', so Mr. Dax says he wants to save her before Mutt dies so she can see him again!" The girl said with a grin. "Mr. Dax comes here all the time to see me. I want him to rescue my friends at the bad place! This boy Mokuba used to protect me from the bad men! I wanna save him so he doesn't have to hurt anymore."

"Mokuba…" Yami whispered. That couldn't possibly be the Mokuba he knew, could it? If that was Mokuba Kaiba's fate…he wondered if Kaiba knew what had happened to him. Or, given his current status, maybe he knew but didn't care. And Mai and Joey…did either of them know the other was still alive? Who knew Dax could be so valiant…but then again, who knew Téa could be so violent?

"You might not be able to." Yami informed Mai. "You might have to save other people and their friends. You may not be able to save your own." Yami reflected on his choice to save Téa. He couldn't just let the woman die, but if he tried to save her, he may very well lose his life, and his chance to stop Darek.

"Nope." Mai said, shaking her head. "I'm gonna save my friends! I'm gonna go back someday and free everyone, and we'll all be happy. I don't care about other people. Sometimes you have to be selfish, that's what Mr. Dax says." Mai looked up at the door to the room. Yami followed her gaze to see Dax staring at them. "Mr. Dax!" Mai shouted, waving. Dax nodded and beckoned Yami forward.

"Mai, I'll be back." Dax called, leading Yami from the room. "You see? There's more to fight for than just us, Yami." Dax looked to the side and pulled open another door, revealing a small ladder. "You need to go. This leads back to the surface. Go. Find the commander, and do as he says. I'm just a messenger." Yami started to reply, but Dax pushed him through the door and closed it behind him. Yami tried to open it, but it was no use. Frustrated, he climbed up.

The ladder emerged in another cloudy, deserted street. Yami looked around. Well…that was convenient. He walked down the street and up the stone steps of the Domino Library. He pushed open the doors and entered. The area was as dark as a crypt. Yami stepped forward, and a candelabra on a table by his side lit up its three candles. Yami stared at it before he picked it up, and began to walked down the lonely hall.

"Z…Y…X…" Yami droned, noting the shelf labels. All the isles were filled with rubble and fallen books. Some even had a few bodies. Yami continued this path until he found a single isle that was spotless: right between D and C. Yami narrowed his eyes and walked down this isle. No books, no rubble…this isle had obviously been cleared. At the end of the aisle was a large, metal door with a heavy metal latch locking it. Yami pulled up the rusting latch and pushed the door open. It squeaked and slid open, and Yami slipped inside, the door slamming shut behind him, a short burst of air from the closing door blowing out Yami's light.

"Welcome, Yami." A voice called from with pitch darkness of the room. "I've been waiting for you." Yami frowned. That voice sounded oddly familiar.

"You are the Commander of the DRF?" Yami asked.

"I am. And I thank you for cooperating. I am in dire need of your help. I know all about you Yami, and I know you can help me." The voice replied.

"You have a 1 up on me." Yami said. "You know me, but I do not know you." The voice chuckled.

"You know me all too well, Yami." The voice said.

"Then show yourself! I am not in a mood for games!" Yami yelled.

"Well…if you put it that way." The voice muttered. Yami blinked as a series of electric lights on the ceiling lit up, illuminating the room. He looked around and gasped. The room was fairly long, with a table stretching down it. Shelves of books lined the walls. But what had Yami's attention was the man sitting at the far end of the table.

"You…" Yami whispered, glaring. The man smiled.

"Yami…is something wrong?" The man laughed. Yami clenched his fist and slammed his hands down on the table.

"DAREK!" He snarled. Darek held up his hands.

"You were expecting someone else?" He sneered. "Surprise, Pharaoh!"

My next story…is a big one!

Legend of the Dragon Lord

A Mega-Crossover of Pokemon, Digimon, Yugioh and Inuyasha, in that order.

1000 years ago, a powerful sorcerer known as the Dragon Lord nearly conquered the world. However, a brave warrior of unknown name sealed him away. The Dragon Lord's soul was sealed in a red gemstone, and his powers in a green jade amulet, both a half of an amulet the Dragon Lord wore. According to myth, if the two parts should be reunited, the Dragon Lord would be reborn. The two parts were scattered across the world, and this is how they should have remained, forever out of the other's reach. Unfortunately, fate has other ideas…