Are we to be two immortal beings locked in an epic battle till judgement day when trumpets sound? – Hector Barbossa, The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Do you fear death? Do you fear that dark abyss? All your deeds laid bare, all your sins punished? – Davy Jones, Dead Man's Chest.
They know they face extinction. All that remains is where they make their final stand.
- Lord Cutler Beckett, At World's End.
He stood at the back of the theatre, and watched. He could not be seen, could not be felt. His onyx coat, ruined by his fight with the abyss, was still wrapped around him. It was a source of familiarity in this place, the darkest of all that could ever exist.
For that, he thought to himself, was the truth. There was nothing worse then this. Point to all the horrors men had unleashed upon themselves, add them all up and it didn't come close to this. People sealed their pain inside themselves, unwilling or unable to bear it. He knew this; he'd done it himself. An eternity ago, just as he was doing it now.
Or, to be more precise, watching himself do it.
He forced himself not to look at the theatre's stage. It was not long ago that he had held that person in his own arms. He'd promised her that he would watch how things turned out.
"You should watch. Somebody should bear witness to it."
"You really care about him, don't you?"
"I care about you. And you're the same person."
"No. We aren't."
She stared, those lovely eyes trying to pierce the walls inside him.
Trying and failing.
"Not yet."
Seeing her like that, just a broken body displayed as an example, made Angel want to vomit. He looked up at the roof, where thy sky should have been. Its curved surface was inlaid with carvings, pictures of horrible, leering demons inlaid into the stones.
How can one person's mind create all this?
Of course, he knew exactly how, and also why. It sounded like something you'd read in a book: Abused Teenager Develops Evil Personality. It would almost be funny, if you took a step back from it. It was obvious how it would go, the kid defeats his alter ego and lives happily ever after. It could easily have been a story, his whole life just a product of some idiot's sick imagination.
Perhaps one day it will be.
He had dispensed with his duel disk. It was no longer his job to fight. No longer his job to play the hero, and keep the evil villains at bay.
No. That was somebody else's job now. His job.
To tell the truth, he almost felt sorry for him. The kid had been through hell and back while he was still a teenager. None of it was really his fault, he hadn't asked for any of this to happen. Yet it was hard to be sympathetic.
He looked at Leon. He whispered softly, even though there was no way he could be heard.
"I think you'll die today. From the ashes shall rise the new spirit."
He leaned against one of the vast pillars that held up the roof, settling into a comfortable position.
Can you accept what is inside yourself, Leon? Can you accept your own creation?
He raised his eyes to the battlefield.
For your sake, I hope so.
"Deals are for the devil, Leon. Maybe if you'd known, you wouldn't be in this mess."
It wore his face, his duel disk, his body. But not his words. Not his voice.
It was him, in so many ways. But it was not him.
My evil half. The other me.
"I know. But there's nothing I can do about that now. All I can do…all I can do right now is fix my mistake. Fix a fool's mistake."
It raised its eyebrows. "And how you going to pull that one off?"
Leon smiled. For once, it was a real smile, instead of the fakes he often used when talking to people.
"The same way I pull everything off."
It nodded.
"So be it."
(Leon: 4000/???: 4000).
"After you, brother."
Leon glared. "I'm not your brother."
It smiled chillingly. "Not yet."
They locked eyes for a moment, a silent battle of wills. Leon sighed.
"Have it your way."
He drew five cards from his deck. The smile disappeared from its face like lightning.
"Now for the main event…the end of the world as we know it."
Leon snorted. He picked up a sixth card.
Hmm.
A faded memory came, unbidden, into his thoughts.
His trap flipped open. The card art was of a pair of scales carved from bone. A severed hand lay in one side of the scales, with the other empty. In the background, two men can be seen. One has his arm bared, while the other presses a knife to his wrist. There was a flash of light, and the Bloodbeast retreated.
"Agony Balance negates your direct attack. More importantly, it combines our Life Points and splits that number in half. Then, our Life Points are fixed to that score. I have one hundred points, and you have thirty-nine. Added up, that's four thousand. Cut that in half, and we're now at…"
He winked again. "Two thousand each. Now cough up!"
It's a little early for this one to be useful. Never mind, guess I'll have to do this instead."For my first trick, I summon my Devil's Servant in attack mode (0)!"
A small, horned, bat flew out of his card, twittering in a high-pitched voice. It bared its tiny teeth, flapping its black wings threateningly.
"The gods themselves do tremble." It said dryly. "Is it going to suck my blood?"
"How about a card from your hand instead?"
On cue, his bat started to shriek loudly. A blast of sonic energy flew towards his opponent, blasting Wyrm Summoning out of its hand. It slid the card into its Graveyard.
"What the hell?"
Leon laughed.
"Trembling yet? If I summon it in attack mode, my Devil's Servant automatically destroys one card in your hand. And if that wasn't bad enough, you can't use a card of the same type during your next turn."
He took another card from his hand.
"I'll put this facedown and leave it at that for now."
Wyrm Summoning was a Normal Spell…so I should be pretty safe for now.
"Pretty good move, Leon. But not good enough!"
It drew, ripping the top card forcefully off the top of his deck.
"I summon my Masked Dragon in attack mode (1400)! Now blast his little bat back to Transylvania!"
His monster, a small dragon with red-white skin and leathery wings, growled at his command. It looked odd, suspended in the air between the two theatre boxes. It spat a fireball at Leon's monster, the flames threatening to swallow it whole.
"Hold on, brother. I have a Trap!"
His facedown flipped up. A massive, golden pot appeared in the path of the fireball, deflecting it harmlessly with a leer. Smoke began to curl from the top of it, choking Masked Dragon. Its knees buckled, forcing it into defence mode.
Its owner hissed impatiently. "A Dragon Capture Jar? That's a low blow."
He merely smiled. "At this point, I'm well beyond playing nice."
"So I see. I'll end my turn."
Now the real fun can begin.
Leon drew.
"I switch my Devil's Servant to defence mode (0). Then I set one more card, and end my turn there."
His card shimmered into existence, hanging in the air.
Come on, you freak. Take my bait…
It picked up a card. As it reached for his deck, Leon pressed a button on his duel disk.
"Trap card open, DNA Surgery. I call a monster type, then all monsters in play will become that type. I call Beast!"
His bat monster seemed to swell, its fur becoming thicker as it grew it size. A hungry look entered its eyes, thinking only of predator and prey. His opponent's dragon remained the same size, but burst out in horrible brown fur, like a mad scientist had grafted it on. It writhed and tried to scratch itself, futilely.
"How very ugly." Its owner remarked. "But you've made a mistake. Now that every monster on the field is a Beast, your Dragon Capture Jar is useless."
Leon shrugged. It narrowed its eyebrows, suspicious.
"I switch Masked Dragon to attack mode (1400). Then I play a Spell card: Big Bang Shot!"
Masked Dragon reared up, surrounding by orange flames. It roared in pain for a moment, but as the fire died away its eyes gleamed scarlet. Its power increased to 1800. Leon's gaze switched from the dragon to his own monster.
That Big Bang Shot will make him cause piercing damage…and my card has no defence points, so…
"Masked Dragon, destroy Devil's Servant!"
Its dragon tried to breath flames, but it could not. It lunged angrily, claws scything the bat down, screaming for blood. Leon staggered back as it lashed out at him, talons dripping red.
(Leon: 2200/???: 4000).
That could have gone better. Still…
"Not bad. But I'm one step ahead of you." He commented.
(Leon: 1200/???: 4000).
It eyed him suspiciously.
"You have no cards out. What gives?"
Leon winced, putting a hand to where the dragon had slashed him.
"When a Beast monster goes to the Graveyard, I can pay a thousand Life Points to summon a certain monster from my hand."
It raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "A certain monster?"
Leon nodded and flashed a card from his hand.
"I summon Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest (2600)!"
A massive green skinned ogre appeared on the field in attack position. The massive monster roared violently, raising its huge tree branch club over its head. His opponent smiled.
"Your bat was not a Beast, so DNA Surgery made it one. Clever. I set one card, and I end my turn."
Leon reached for his next card.
"I activate this Spell, Animal Instinct!"
The card's art depicted a pack of wolves, their leader dead on the ground. They hiss angrily at a rival wolf pack that was responsible. He selected a card in his hand and sent it to the Graveyard.
"After I discard one card from my hand, I can send one Beast from my deck to the Graveyard. Then, I can select another copy of that monster from my hand or deck, and Special Summon it to the field. So I send one Bazoo the Soul-Eater to the Graveyard, and summon another one to the field!"
His purple-skinned baboon leapt from its card, grunting loudly.
"How utterly terrifying." His opponent remarked, sarcasm dripping from his every word.
Leon ignored him.
"Next, I'll remove the Bazoo in my Graveyard, in addition to my Devil's Servant and my Mystic Tomato to activate my monster's effect, giving it an additional nine hundred points until my next turn!"
Three glowing balls of light surrounded his monster. It gobbled them down hungrily, as if starving. It began to grow in size until it matched Leon's Green Baboon, its ATK recalculating at 2500.
"You play with an unbalanced, weak mess Leon. How the hell do you expect to win?"
"It's looking pretty good from where I'm standing." He pointed out.
"True. But think about every duel you've ever played in here. What really got you through those? Luck. Your deck is just a mess of cards you like, there's no plan to it! There's no way you'll beat me, why you'll always be an amateur. Do you know why? Because you love the game too much. Too caught up in the myth and story to acknowledge what you need to do to win."
The words shook him, badly. He stopped.
Is it true? I do love this game…it's given me something to…
Something to live for. A voice in his head said, being brutally honest.
Maybe. And when this was just for fun it didn't matter what my deck was like. But now…
Exodia started to thrash around violently, narrowly avoiding the two duellists as it rampaged. Then, it let out a final bellow, and exploded violently, the shockwave almost blasting them both off their feet.
Taylor looked stunned. "How…you destroyed Exodia! How…how could you…?"
Leon smiled slightly, and pointed to his facedown card, which he had opened at the last second.
"Drop Off. It sends the last card you picked up to the Graveyard. In this case, that's the final Exodia piece- Right Arm of the Forbidden One!"
That duel…if I hadn't had Drop Off, I'd have lost. And it wasn't the only time…"Before Remalis attacks, I use a Trap. Go…Ring of Destruction!"
A ring of fire appeared around his monsters neck. It screamed and roared in rage, trying to break free from the binding.
"NO!"
His father snarled. "Do you plan to kill us all? You're mad!"
"Quite…possibly. But I have one more Trap to play. You powered up your creature, giving me the means to defeat it. This ends now!"
A small figure leaped to Alceme's Graveyard, grabbing a card that ejected from it. It shouldered its pickaxe and screeched madly. It flipped the card to Leon, who held it up in defiance.
"Graverobber! I pay two thousand Life Points to steal Ring of Defence- and I'll use it!"
Cyber Ogre 2 towered over Leon. Its metallic breath stank of oil and death. Its claws were outstretched, ready to gut his monster like a fish. Fire began building in each of its palms, fiery crimson orbs in the wet night. It charged at him, screaming for his blood.
Then, it stopped. Everything stopped.
Cyber Ogre 2 froze in mid-charge. His younger self was also frozen. There was no wind, no movement of the thin trees.
"What happened?"
Lucky bas-
Hey!
"I happened, love. Aren't you glad to see me?"
Both times…luck, that's all it was! If he hadn't played Ring of Defence, if Anima hadn't bailed me out…
He closed his eyes.
I'm a freaking fraud. But still…"Maybe you're right. Maybe it was all luck. Maybe I can't beat you, any more then I could ever beat myself."
It raised an eyebrow. "But?"
Leon smiled. And once more, it was a real smile.
"But it doesn't mean I won't try. Bazoo, attack Masked Dragon!"
Funny how impending death can make you feel alive.
Gathering the power from its defeated friends, his baboon roared gleefully. It sprang forwards, teeth bared in a feral snarl.
"Activate Shrink!" His opponent bellowed.
Leon swore as his beast shrank to half its size. Masked Dragon blasted it away with another jet of fire. He gritted his teeth as the flames hit him, harder then ever.
(Leon: 650/???: 4000).
"Damn it! Green Baboon, wipe that dragon off the field!"
His other monster growled, lunging forwards. The massive makeshift club split Masked Dragon's neck like a twig, spraying blood everywhere. It winced in pain.
"Argh!"
(Leon: 650/???: 3200).
"And you don't get your dragon's ability either!" Leon called, triumphantly, "Because your Big Bang Shot removes it from play!"
It pocketed the card, visibly annoyed by the play.
Leon took stock of the current situation. His opponent had nothing left in play, but had three cards in its hand. He had his Green Baboon on the field, in addition to the now-useless DNA Surgery and Dragon Capture Jar. Only the Agony Balance he'd drawn on the first move was left in his hand. He set it and nodded to his opponent, ending his turn.
It drew, bringing the cards in its hand to four.
"I activate my Spell card, Reverent Funeral. Now I can bury your Baboon, at a cost of giving you its attack points as Life Points. So say goodbye!"
The card art depicted a tomb being borne into a pyramid. The common folk are on their knees, bowing their heads in respect. Thick, white bandages erupted from the card, wrapping up Leon's baboon. It roared in agony as the bandages constricted, squeezing the life from it. His opponent laughed sadistically at the sight. Leon flinched as his monster exploded.
(Leon: 3250/???: 3200).
"You should thank me for that." It remarked.
Leon sighed.
"I sense a large amount of pain on the horizon."
Its eyes gleamed.
"Quite so. Spear Dragon, attack mode (1900)!"
Its large, blue dragon dived from the skies, screeching a battle cry. Leon fought down the urge to cover his ears.
"Dimensional Rescue Operation. I can Special Summon one monster from my removed from play zone. Come back, Masked Dragon (1400)!
A gaping hole emerged in the sky. His red-white dragon dropped like a stone from it, slamming into the ground with a yowl and an unceremonious thump. Leon's heart began to race, thinking how to get out of this mess.
"Game's over, Leon. Spear Dragon and Masked Dragon, attack him directly!"
His two dragons unleashed a combined cyclone of wind and fire, the blast strong enough to wipe him out. Leon's eyes fell to his last card.
It's true, then. Dying is the day worth living for!
"Open Agony- ARGH!"
The blast ripped through him just as his trap let loose a brilliant flash of light. He dropped to his knees, blind, his opponent's high cackle howling like a lunatic over the noise.
"You've done it now! Time to take a trip through time, mate! Time to see what might be!"
"What the bloody hell?" Leon yelled above the laughter.
The cackling continued, growing more and more inhuman as it built to a crescendo, like a depraved clown laugh.
"What could be, what should be, what IS!"
The light from his trap began to fade, but the theatre was gone.
He was standing at the back of a church. Sunlight was gleaming off the pews and through the stained glass windows. The building was decorated as for a wedding ceremony, but there were no guests. Instead, a broad man with scarlet hair and beard stood next to him. Leon waved a hand in front of the man's face, but he was oblivious. Looking down, he could almost see through himself: translucent, almost like a ghost.
"Interesting, isn't it?"
He turned around. His other half was standing next to him, arms crossed in a leisurely fashion. Leon's eyes flicked to the front of the church.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…"
"No way." He whispered.
"Do you take this man to be your lawful wedded husband?"
It grinned, a horrible expression on such a familiar face.
"What could be. Perhaps what should be. Perhaps what will be."
Leon closed his eyes. "I doubt it."
"Through sickness and in health…"
"This is the prize for the victor. To be with the girl we both love, and live happily ever after."
"What do you mean?" Leon asked, curious.
It smiled, with no mockery or anger this time.
"I am you. You never gave me a name or acknowledged it, but that's what I am. What you feel, I feel. Your enemies are my enemies- or were. Who you love, I love."
"I do."
Leon turned away from the wedding. He did not want to accept the truth of what his other half said, but there was truth to it. He stepped towards the church's exit, not wanting to see what he could not have, not watch a fake version of himself have what he truly wanted.
He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
"Remember that, before the end."
The church vanished. Now they were standing in the entrance to a huge duelling field. Two duellists stand, surrounded by a huge crowd, chanting and screaming their names, cheering their heroes on. To his shock, Leon recognised one of them as Angel. His opponent was a stern-faced young man in a white uniform, tall with dark blue hair. A giant, mechanical dragon with three heads loomed above his head, grey-silver in colour. Lightning crackled around it, giving it an aura of power and strength.
The lips of the blue-haired man curled into a sneer.
"Cyber End Dragon, finish him off! Super Strident Blaze!"
His dragon roared in acknowledgement. Bright blue flames built in its gaping maws, swelling until they could no longer be contained. Angel did not move, instead he merely stared into the face of defeat.
"What do you think?" It said. It was leaning against the wall in the same position as before, arms crossed lazily. Leon sighed.
"I think I've gone insane."
It tilted its head towards him. "You think?"
Leon fought down the urge to punch him. It felt…odd, what he was doing. There was an ease to this scene, something he couldn't really describe so much as feel. Standing here, talking to his other half this way…
When did I start thinking of you as that? He wondered.
It felt…oddly right. Talking to his other half in the confines of his own mind, where no one could see or hear them. Of course, he was a twisted, psychotic, murderer, but still…
It raised an eyebrow. "I know what you're thinking."
"And what's that?"
It chuckled. "Based on the look on your face, you either think I'm doing this to shake you up, or you're insanely attracted to me. Someone I doubt either is true."
Leon flushed. It held up a hand.
"I'm kidding. When this little vision quest is over, we'll be at each other's throats again. But right now, mate, you don't need to worry. It's not always going to be this way."
The scene changed again, faster this time. Leon hovered in the air, ghostlike, above another battlefield. He was tag duelling outside with his other half against a black woman and what looked like her aide. The ground was sandy underfoot, like they were in Egypt or somewhere similar.
"It's not…"
Another change. He saw himself, an older version of himself on his knees, cradling Taylor in his arms. Blood was seeping from her chest, soaking him. Tears rolled silently down his cheeks.
"…always…"
Tag duelling with his other half again. This time it was a two on one, the two of them facing a tall, blond man. His eyes were crazed, and blood dripped from both wrists. The wounds looked self-inflicted, disgusting and oozing.
"…going to be…"
Himself, in a mental asylum, screaming in agony and pain, rocking back and forth in a straightjacket. The real Leon shut his eyes, not wanting to watch.
"…this way."
(Leon: 2275/???: 2275).
"Illuminating, wouldn't you say?"
It laughed. Leon rubbed his eyes tiredly. They were back in the theatre, but it had changed ghoulishly. Blood was running down the scarlet curtains, and the carvings had come alive: a hideous audience. Ghoulishly ugly, with mottled grey skin and cracked faces, they cackled gleefully, waiting to see who would triumph. Leon forced himself not to look at them, or at Taylor's body. He narrowed his eyes.
"That's one word for it. Are we at each other's throats now?"
Its face darkened. "Always. Why do you hate me, Leon?"
He glared. "Why do you think I hate you? You put me in a coma, you drag me into a twisted, sick recollection of my past, you force me into duels where the cards are real, you murder my friends, and you've got the balls to ask me why?"
It sighed.
"You still don't get it. I didn't do any of things, because I don't exist. All I am is a collection of all the darkest parts of you. You buried it inside yourself, let it fester and grow rather then deal with it. In time, that created me. So I'll tell you why you hate me: it's because, on the inside, you hate what you are."
It paused.
"You're like a lonely bird…that never learned to fly. The whole purpose of this is for you to learn to accept what you are, and the only way to do that is by defeating me."
The words stung something inside Leon, threatening to crack him. But his eyes sought the stage again. At the blood running from Taylor's wrists, the pain etched into her face. Her eyes, staring. Sightless.
"And that?" he hissed, pointing at the cross. "Do I have to accept that as well? That however much I want to help the people I care about, in the end I can't? That's it's all pointless?"
It shook his head. "It was necessary. Besides, she was expendable."
It was the wrong thing to say. White-hot fury blazed within Leon's heart, washing away any sympathy he might have had with his other half.
"Expendable!?" He roared. "I loved her!"
It just smiled.
"So you did, and so you do. Do you realise that now? It's all your fault."
It spread it hands wide.
"You did it all. You created me to protect yourself from the pain of losing Taylor. You gave me these hands…but you didn't teach me how to use them, did you? You didn't even give me a name. If you had, none of this would have happened, now would it? Anima, Taylor…neither of them would have had to die if not for you."
Leon's hands were trembling with rage. "You…you…"
He's right.
What?
Leon looked at the stage. Taylor's body, though wrecked, was moving. He opened his mouth in shock, but the words wouldn't come. The body raised her head. Leon glanced at his other half, but it just looked normal. He looked back. Two hollow eyes stared back at him. Its mouth moved, and Leon heard it in his head, rather then through his ears.
Leon. Listen to me. I can't hold this for very long. I'm almost gone.
Taylor…
That figure is half of who you are…a very important half. Shutting it away has nearly killed you. These past few years, you haven't been living, have you Leon? Ever since this happened to me…you've been so concerned with helping me live, you forgot how important it was for you to do it yourself. You've let it kill you from the inside out.
I'm sorry. He whispered. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you.
Don't be. You just have to understand one thing. Whatever you do now, whatever you do next, you can't fight this anymore. You need to accept that this exists inside you, even if you don't choose to be like it. He is you, but you don't have to be him.
How…?
Only you can answer that. I have something for you, but it won't work until you stop fighting him.
We're still in a duel. There has to be a winner.
Not always.
I don't understand what you mean…
You don't have to.
Her head fell again, eyes ceased to see and merely stared. The spark was gone. Leon looked at his other half. He understood what was necessary.
But the fight- against himself, to accept what he was- wasn't finished yet.
"A lonely bird that never learned to fly, eh?"
His other half nodded.
Leon smiled and flipped the top card of his deck into his hand.
"Perhaps. But it's never too late to learn!"