Author's Note: Here it is at last...the final chapter of Chaos Wars part III! Yes, I know it's very late...but last month was National Novel Writing Month, so...okay, I have no excuse. Sorry for the delay, my muse abandoned me! But it's back now...so hopefully section 4 will be up soon. And it won't be as creepy/gruesome as this one. The characters should be much more familiar, as well. So...enjoy the end of Yuugi's incarceration.

Chapter 16--Piece de Resistance

"Y'mean…today? As in…TODAY?"

"Shh—keep your voice down!" Yuugi whispered. "And yeah--we need to get everyone together today, and do the final plan. We have to pick a time, too…I'm not sure when would be best…"

Scat was still trying to catch her breath. "It's just…I dunno…I guess it never seemed like it would actually…happen. But…today. This…is the last day, then. This is it. After this…if we can't…if it goes wrong…we'll be…."

"…yeah."

They were standing in a wide courtyard, paved with smooth slate flagstones. The Chaos Army was unable to grow enough food to support itself without imports in the soil of Dark World, but they kept a small herb garden for various purposes: emergency medical supplies, components for spellcasters who needed them, a supplement to the base's own supplies. Yuugi and Scat were watering and pruning the plants, although without the aid of pruning shears--the Chaos Army was wary of giving slaves sharp objects and leaving them unattended.

"But you're right," Scat said with a shrug, hoisting the watering can. "We have to do it before the Lieutenant realizes his card's missing. I'll try and get word around…it'll have to be tonight. And it'll have to be fast--we'll need enough sleep if we're going to fight a battle tomorrow."

They were both looking much better now than they had a week or so ago--Scat's bones were starting to recede beneath a layer of renewed fat and muscle, her skin looked much less like a loose sac. All of the Resistance members were starting to look healthier, although the changes were small--it hadn't been long enough to make any vast difference. But something was better than nothing, and they felt ready…or at least, as ready as they could hope to be.

"So…what do you think?" Yuugi said, brow furrowed in thought. "Attack at night? Or would it be better by day?"

Scat frowned. "Day, prob'ly. More troops outside the base, everyone's off working, more confusion. Everyone can get there, we'll just have to act fast."

Yuugi nodded, his mind elsewhere. After tomorrow…it would all be over, whether they won or lost.

"…hey. Do you…think we really have a chance?" Scat said in a would-be casual voice. Her hands were shaking.

Yuugi was silent for a long time. He had been having some second thoughts himself; if he was wrong…he was dragging all of them into it. But…

"I…don't know. Even if we do have a chance, it's not much of one. But we can't just…wait like this. We can't keep just waiting to die. We have to act, and now's the only time--now, while everyone feels confident, like they have a chance. Our only hope is that they'll be caught by surprise, really. Then we might have a chance of escaping. But still…"

"…yeah," Scat said, not wanting to finish the inevitable thought: that no matter how lucky they were, how much the Chaos Army was surprised…it was likely that some or even most of them would die.

It was a chance they had to take.

--o--o--o--o--o--

"Today!?"

Brent and Whir were just as shocked as Scat had been. No one could tell if Fletch even registered the news; he didn't so much as look up. Yuugi and Scat had managed to find division 19. It was easy for them to blend in--division 24 was always scattered around working with the other divisions, and the members of the Chaos Army had no reason to keep track of every last slave in the base.

Yuugi nodded. "Yeah--in a few hours. We have to think of a signal, something to alert everyone..."

"How about when the next shift is called? A bell rings for it, and everyone is changing shifts, it's pretty crazy...we'd be able to surprise them, right?" Whir said.

"Hmm...sounds good," Yuugi replied. "Keep spreading the word, okay?"
They all nodded. Before long, everyone in the little rebellion would know.

Brent grinned conspiratorially. "It's all set," he whispered, glancing around to make sure no Chaos Army overseer was watching. "The flag looks great, by the way. And here."

He handed Yuugi what looked like a bandanna. On it was embroidered a silver star with seven points.

"What is it?" Yuugi asked, turning it over in his hands.

"We didn't have time to make uniforms...hope this'll do, captain," Brent said, saluting jokingly.

Yuugi smiled, but he couldn't find any words. It didn't matter. They knew what he meant.

--o--o--o--o--o--

Yuugi, Scat, Brent, Fletch, Whir, and Skitter were huddled together in a storage room. The door was opened a crack, and the lights were off. It was in the same large hall as the room that held the gating devices. Soon the changing of the shift would be signaled, and the other slaves in the rebellion would arrive. For now, however, the six of them were waiting together. They were seen as the leaders of the rebellion, the chief instigators, and it was a fair judgment. Yuugi, Scat, Whir, and Brent had been the driving force behind the gathering of weapons and food, the theft of the keycard, and even the very convincing of the others to join them. Skitter was, of course, a hero to all of them: she had stolen from the Lieutenant himself. Fletch never said anything, but he was rarely seen out of Brent's company, so he was mentally lumped together with Brent.

"Not much longer now," Brent muttered. He had been saying this every five minutes or so for the last half-hour. The others didn't protest, however; they were just as nervous as he was.

Yuugi's heart was beating so loudly he thought the Chaos Army might well locate them by the sound alone. He had been in battle before, yes, but he had never had to lead a battle, much less a desperate escape. Yuugi glanced at the tattoo on his arm, or rather, the scar. 24741...a number. They had called him a number.

...I won't be a number. Whether I live or die today...I'll do it as myself--as Yuugi. Not as a number that they called me.

Yuugi tightened his grip on his weapon. Most of the slaves' weapons were fairly shoddy--trowels with their edges sharpened, a few hammers, some chisels, the poles from brooms. For Yuugi, however, the slaves had managed to steal a blade that was somewhere between a knife and a short sword. The blade was engraved with a rose in full bloom, and the hilt was made to look like it was entwined with vines.

Yuugi raised the blade. The others turned to him curiously.

"What's up, captain?" Brent said. He had taken to referring to Yuugi alternately as captain, commander, fearless leader...it seemed to entertain him.

"...I won't be a number anymore," Yuugi said softly. Taking a deep breath, he put the knife to his arm.

"...that's disgusting," Scat commented mildly. She had seen much worse. "And now you're bleeding like anything--not the brightest thing to do before a battle."

"...I don't care..." Yuugi said through gritted teeth.

Whir sighed. "I understand," she said softly, pulling out some strips of cloth and bandaging his arm. "And I agree with you--no more being numbers. But don't anyone else cut yours out, I don't have nearly enough bandages for that..."

Yuugi sat down on a crate, taking deep breaths. It was really only a superficial wound--he had scraped his arm just deep enough to get rid of the number-scars. It bled freely and it was painful, but it hadn't done any real damage. Besides...they didn't have much chance of fighting their way out of this one. The plan depended on speed, not force.

There was a loud chime, and the sound of many voices and tramping feet. The work shifts were changing.

With a wild yell, Yuugi's little army exploded into the hall. Each one wore an armband with a star, and Skitter was carrying the flag, tied onto a broom handle.

There was confusion for a moment, but the Chaos Army responded quickly. Yuugi's friends had gotten perhaps halfway across the room, toward the gating device storeroom, when Chaos troops met them with weapons in hand. But the slaves struck back fiercely; they had no fear for their lives anymore. The time for fear was long over.

Shovel met axe, broom met sword. In the mad rush, it was hard to see what was going on. Slaves went down with gaping holes in their chests, the sounds of gunfire deafened everyone, and not a few Chaos troops were felled, their skulls shattered by blunt force trauma as slaves pummeled them with jagged stones, rusted iron bars, and even their empty fists.

Yuugi and Scat, followed by Skitter with the flag, were making progress toward the storeroom. It was slow-going, and they had to stop every few moments to fend off Chaos troops, but there was so much confusion that they were able to keep going. They had almost made it...they were yards from the door...feet from the door...they could see it...

The doors of the hall slammed open. Lieutenant Gash strode in, his cape billowing around him, his famed Chaos Sword naked in his hand.

The Chaos troops cheered wildly, and struck out with renewed vigor. Already the floor was slick with blood. The Lieutenant cut a wide swath with his blade, and no one--slave or Chaos troop--dared to block his path. He cut apart everything in front of him without so much as batting an eye.

There was a shriek of pain as Gash bowled Skitter over with the hilt of his blade and brought the sword up for a fatal slash. Yuugi dashed toward her and blocked Gash's blow with his smaller blade. He was sent sprawling by the force of the blow, but he quickly scrambled to his feet.

The Lieutenant looked at him grimly, not a trace of surprise in his face. "I must end this now," he said to Yuugi, raising his sword again. Yuugi raised his own weapon, gripping it tightly to keep his hands from shaking. He knew he had no chance against Gash--the Lieutenant was a more experienced fighter than him, his weapon had a greater reach than Yuugi's, and he was quite a bit taller than Yuugi. But Yuugi had to keep fighting. He had led his friends into this battle, and there was no way the Lieutenant was going to kill them. The only way the Lieutenant would hurt any of them was over Yuugi's dead body.

Which, Yuugi realized, was all too likely. But that wasn't going to stop him.

Then there was an unfamiliar voice chanting strange words. A wave of heat flashed through the room, a brilliant light grew, and there were screams of pain from several of the Chaos troops. The battle ground to a halt as everyone turned to see what was going on. They were just in time to shield their eyes from the explosion.

The high windows shattered, the roof was damaged, the floor buckled. It was magic, powerful fire magic that had destroyed a large number of the Chaos troops and had also done a great deal of damage to the room itself. Yuugi squinted through the smoke--it was...

It was Fletch.

He was standing over Brent, his eyes burning with a fury hotter than the fire he had summoned. Brent seemed to have a leg wound, and was unable to get up. Fletch must have stayed to save him.

Whir pulled Brent to his feet, and the two made their way toward the storeroom. Fletch ran over to Yuugi to help him as the Lieutenant turned back to the matter at hand--killing Yuugi.

Fletch was carrying a bow, probably stolen from the weapons area. He had only a handful of arrows left, but he was a master archer; he would make them count.

Gash cried out in pain as an arrow pierced his left shoulder. His sword dropped to the floor with a clatter. It was meant to be wielded with two hands, and Gash couldn't manage it with only one; although he could lift it with his right hand alone, he would be unable to use the sword to its full extent.

Grimacing, Gash pulled out a shorter blade--he always had a backup plan. Yuugi struck forward with his own sword and slashed Gash's legs while the Leiutenant was distracted. Gash forced himself to stay standing and assumed guard position.

Things seemed more hopeful for the slaves now--the exits to the room had been blocked by the explosion, no more troops could reach them for now, and together Yuugi and Fletch had a decent chance of holding of the Lieutenant now that he had been wounded.

Yuugi held the sword in front of him, and Fletch began preparing another spell. But a tremor struck the building--one of the Chaos troops was also a mage, and he was striking back. A strong wind forced all of them to struggle to keep their footing; Yuugi, Fletch, and the Lieutenant braced themselves.

Something slammed into the ground amidst them. All three were knocked to the floor. Yuugi hurriedly pushed himself to his knees. His ribs felt like they might be broken. Gash also rose to his feet, but Yuugi wasn't paying attention to that. He had eyes only for Fletch.

Fletch was lying on the ground, blood matting his black hair. His face was pained, but he was smiling. Yuugi knelt at his side, too horrified at first to speak.

One of the cieling beams, loosened by the first explosion, had been knocked free by the wind. It had fallen and had pierced Fletch's abdomen. He was skewered, already dying, and Yuugi had no way to help him. Yuugi had seen plenty of horrible things already--Faran Dak's beheading was certainly high on the list--but this was disturbing in a surreal way. It seemed like something that only happened in action movies...not in real life, not to one of his friends...

Fletch coughed feebly, and forced himself to draw breath. "If...you ever see him...tell him...tell Benjamin...that Iankeru died well..."

Another rattling breath entered his lungs and left again. "I will," Yuugi said softly, tears running down his face. "I will..."

Fletch--Iankeru--smiled. His eyes shut.

He was gone.

Yuugi pushed his grief aside for the moment; there were other lives at risk now. Wiping a hand across his eyes, Yuugi turned to face the Lieutenant.

"You will die," Gash said simply. "Will you surrender, or shall the battle continue?"

Yuugi met his gaze steadily. "I know I don't have a chance of beating you," he said, his voice shaking only slightly. "But I'll never stop fighting!"

Then, to Gash's surprise, Yuugi leapt forward and slashed through--his pocket? What possible purpose could he have in cutting open Gash's pocket? He wasn't carrying anything important, was he...?
Then Gash realized--he had been in his quarters when the alarm was called, studying...the Millennium Puzzle. Without thinking, he had shoved it into his pocket.

At least one of us will survive this, Yuugi thought, grabbing the Puzzle. Glancing up at the windows, he threw the Puzzle as hard as he could. It sailed up, through the empty panes, out of the building...

"We'll find it anyway," Gash said. But just as he finished saying it, there was a faint splash. Gash mentally cursed himself for a fool. The Sea had taken it...they had no way to retrieve it now. Even he, the Chaos Lieutenant, wisely feared to disturb the oceans of Dark World.

"It doesn't matter," Gash muttered. "You at least will die--"

"Gotcha!" Scat cried, holding up a gating device in triumph. "Everyone, over here!"

Scat began tossing the devices to the others, and many of the slaves vanished. To where, they had no idea--all that mattered was that it wasn't here. Mack and Tam grabbed one and disappeared together, Whir took one and left, still supporting Brent. Scat turned to Yuugi.

"Catch!" she cried, and threw it towards him. She then disappeared with Skitter, using another of the devices.

Yuugi caught the glittering object in midair. He punched in the familiar coordinates of his home world and activated it as quickly as he could. There was a brilliant flash of light.

The Lieutenant's sword passed through the space where Yuugi had been only moments before.

Gash surveyed the room, taking stock. A fair number of slaves had escaped using stolen gating devices. Several Chaos troops had been killed, and more were wounded. A large number of slaves had also been killed or wounded. The building had taken severe damage. He, Gash, had lost two key prisoners.

The Lieutenant shrugged. He would leave the base captains to report this one.

--o--o--o--o--o--

Solomon pushed aside a stack of papers with a sigh. He had meant to catch up on his accounts, but he couldn't concentrate on them. His mind was elsewhere. Where in the world--or rather, in the Multiverse--was his grandson? He had been missing for weeks now...and Vice still had no idea where to even begin looking. Solomon knew the man was doing his best, but it didn't make him feel any better about it.

"Yuugi...where are you?"

Little did he know his question was about to be answered.

There was a blinding flash of light, and something--or rather, someone--slammed into the floor with a cry of pain. Solomon rushed over to his grandson's side. Yuugi was bleeding heavily from one arm, and he was holding a sword. He was only half-conscious at this point; the journey had been a difficult one.

Solomon was about to grab the phone and dial 911 when he realized that was probably a bad idea--how would he ever explain what had happened? Instead, he called Tea, Joey, and Tristan. At least they might have some idea what was going on.

"Don't worry, Yuugi--it's going to be fine. You're going to be fine. It's...fine," Solomon muttered, pacing frantically.

Yuugi couldn't really hear him at this point. Just before everything faded to black, one thought echoed in his mind...

I lost it...the Puzzle...it's lost.

Two of them had been captured...but only one had made it home.