SC: (claps) Whoo! Are you guys ready for some action?
Oh, and I also want to apologize for not putting up a warning about the violence in the last chapter. I really was going to warn you all about it, but I forgot… heh heh… I shall console you by telling you that the last chapter was the most graphic one in terms of violence for the whole story. It won't get that bad (or good, depending on how you look at it) ever again.
I am mad at ff-dot-net because they mess up the punctuation whenever one puts sentences between /-marks. I liked that formatting for Mahado's speech! Now I have to change it; stupid site…
On with the show! (dances)
Call to the Gods
Slypher looked up from his dripping hands. He had just finished ripping apart the last inhabitant of his most recently targeted village – not that there had been many inhabitants to deal with. Compared to his previous targets, this village was an insignificant speck. None of the buildings had even been made of stone. Irked by the lack of a challenge, Slypher had unleashed chains of lightning upon the town to set it ablaze. All around him flames roared and tore into the thick beams supporting the tiny houses, all the while belching choking pillars of smoke into the air. Most of the people living there died in the fire, and he took care of the rest manually.
His scales shimmered in the warped, hot air. The heat helped to offset the approaching chill of night. Slypher's first day of revenge was quickly slipping away with the last of the sunlight. The god licked his left fang in annoyance. Nearly twenty-four hours had passed, and he had only taken care of four mortal cities, three of them pathetically small. Furthermore, he felt as though something odd had overtaken his body, a feeling that had not been present in his earlier hours of destruction. He knew it was not the return of the so-called hunger – though he knew that would eventually plague him again – yet he could not put his finger on what it was. He felt… delayed. It seemed to him that his tail strokes were getting slower, or at least his mind was not directing them as quickly as it had been. It wasn't due to weakness, for he still commanded his full power, but what power he had was stretched thinly throughout his frame. Whatever the feeling was made his body eat up more of his energy than normal to perform the same tasks, effectively draining him.
A thought dawned on him. "It cannot be!" Slypher spat in annoyance. "Certainly my divinity is enough to ward off mortal fatigue!" The sudden heaviness of his eyelids and the way the world teetered in and out of focus told him it was not enough. He snarled angrily. "Another troublesome need of this mortal body… one that impedes upon my vengeance. I must focus the souls of my next victims on eliminating it." He looked through the flames at the horizon. In the distance was a stone castle, situated atop a hill. Slypher smirked and snapped his fingers. Instantly the clouds above the burning town darkened, filling with thunder and his crimson lightning. He called a bolt down to himself and was gone a second later.
A crimson fork struck at the base of the old castle. Slypher stepped smoothly through the rusted gate that had once been the door. Inside it was cold enough to see the sparkling mist of his breath each time he exhaled. The walls and floor were damp and the tips of small plants could be seen poking up between stones. As he paced slowly about the great hall he could hear no sound aside from his own footfalls. The castle was devoid of life.
Slypher went all the way to the back of the hall, where the shadows were thickest. He found a place next to one of the towering stone columns supporting the ceiling and lowered himself to the floor. If his mortal body was tired, then for now all he could do was appease it by resting. As he curled his tail around himself for warmth he flashed an unseen smirk. "It is not as though I cannot use this time for my own gain…"
He fell asleep just as the last of the sun faded away.
"Here's how I see it," said Joey as they flew. "Slypher's goin' around to these towns and killing everyone in them. It takes time for him to do that. Since he has to stop and we don't, if we follow his trail we'll eventually catch up to him."
"That's all fine and good," replied Tristan from behind him, "but that still leaves people getting killed."
Joey sighed heavily. "I know that, Tristan. We don't really have much of a choice other than that."
Mai looked over at him. "So what's the plan for when we do catch up to him?" In Yugi's absence, Joey had assumed the role of leader. His eyes narrowed as he stared over Red-Eyes's head at the starry sky in front of him.
"We get him out of Yugi and send him back to where he came from," he answered.
"And how do we get him out of Yugi?"
No one said anything. Truthfully, none of them had any idea how to remove Slypher from Yugi's body. They knew they couldn't just use physical force to shove him out, and they doubted asking nicely would work either.
"We'll come to that when we find him," said Joey quietly.
"If we ever do. We haven't seen any sign of him at all since the last town," said Ryou with a hint of sadness in his voice. "He could be miles away…"
"Or he could be right here." Tristan pointed suddenly to something in the distance. A wavering strip of orange lit the edge of the land like the unfeeling glow of a setting dark sun. A thick cloud of smoke above it obscured the stars' light. "How's that for a sign? It looks like he's having his merry way right over there."
"That's a fire," observed Shimon. "He must be attacking another town."
"Well guys, it looks like here's where we make our move." Joey glared at the nearing horizon with hatred burning in his eyes. "Let's teach that demon a lesson for all he's done!" Red-Eyes roared and flew full-speed toward the flames.
They reached the town and found it completely consumed by flames. The structure of the original houses couldn't be seen at all beneath the blaze. For all they were, they resembled towering fireballs more than the homes of people. The resistance passed over the town slowly, searching for anyone that might have been spared, yet they knew Slypher had taken care of everyone. A solemn silence hung over their heads in respect for those that had died.
"Damn it!" Joey swore suddenly, startling everyone. "We were too late again!" He punched his fist into the opposite palm. "Damn that Slypher…!"
Ryou looked around sadly at the burning town. "But… He must be nearby. Look how high these flames are. They wouldn't be that high if they had been burning for a long time…"
"Look!" cried Fizdis. "Over there on that hill!" Everyone turned and followed her arm to an old, worn castle slumped on the crown of the hill. It was dark, barely visible against the black night sky, but above it were thick storm clouds that rumbled with thunder. Occasional forks of crimson lightning would lash out from the clouds and bathe the hilltop in their deadly light.
Mai swallowed. "You don't think that's him, do you?"
"Creepy castle, a storm, lightning… It's a bit cliché, but I say who else could it be?" Tristan crossed his arms and nodded to himself. "Wherever that dragon goes, his storm's not far behind."
"That has to be him," Joey said darkly. He turned around to face all of his borrowed forces. "Change of plan: we're splitting up. Ryou, Tristan, and I will go in after him alone."
"What?" exclaimed Mai. "You can't be serious! You can't fight a god with three people!"
"But a god can kill seven without breaking a sweat!" he hollered back, and Mai recoiled. "Listen, if we all go in there at once and Slypher kills us, then there'll be no one left to fight him! We'll be giving him what he wants: all his enemies in one place. Even if the three of us go down, then at least you'll still be around to resist him later!"
"No," said Téa forcefully. This greatly startled everyone, for she hadn't spoken a word since they had left the ruined town of stone. Her eyes lingered on the ground. "If we divide up our forces, we'll never be strong enough to fight him. Together is our only chance." She then looked up with fierce emotion shining in her sapphire eyes. "And I'm not going to sit back while you risk your lives to free Yugi! He's my friend too, and it's as much my duty to help him as it is yours."
Joey looked at her sympathetically. "Téa… You won't like what you see."
"I don't care!" she cried. "I have to see him. I can't bear knowing how he is, and not trying to set him free!" Her shining expression and tone of voice told Joey that nothing he said could sway her.
"Me too," said Mai. "After all, you boys would be creamed in an instant without me."
"And us," added Fizdis, motioning between Shimon and herself. "We're all coming."
Joey stared around at all of them, his eyes softer. "Then I guess we're all in for one hell of a fight, huh?" He turned back around to face the stormy hilltop, and a slight smile graced his lips. "I'm sure Yug' would've wanted it this way, anyway."
Red-Eyes growled and lowered his neck so Joey could climb on. Once aboard he thrust his fist forward. "Let's go kick some Slypher butt!"
They stood before the entrance to the weathered old castle as though standing on the brink of life and death. In effect, they were, for they knew that once inside they may never come out again. They stood with determination in their eyes and hearts, but inside were feelings of guilt and dread of events to come. Everyone knew that they were going to have to fight Slypher in order to get rid of him. Fighting Slypher meant fighting Yugi as well, or at least his body. None of them wanted to think about having to attack their own friend, even if it was the only way to save him.
"Everyone be careful," said Joey. "He may already know we're here. He's not going to give us any warning if he decides to leap out and kill us." A lump tightened in Joey's throat. Suddenly he was actually afraid to walk through that door. He remembered all too well watching Slypher take over and turn his best friend into a monster. Now, after witnessing the result for himself, the thought of seeing Yugi as a demon again made his heart hurt. He didn't want to imagine Yugi being the one doing those terrible things, but if he saw those unholy eyes again… there'd be no way for him not to accept the truth.
They stepped through the gateway and into the darkness.
Immediately shivers ran up their spines, and not just because of the sudden icy temperature. The electricity in the air seeped into their skin and settled in their blood, where it smoldered with the lingering essence of great power. It was nearly pitch black in the grand hall, the shadows threatening to swallow them whole.
"Yugi!" Téa called to the open air. "Yugi, can you hear us?"
Something slithered above them in the darkness of the vaulted ceiling. They looked up, but as soon as they did the movement was gone. "Yugi?" Téa tried again, this time her voice thinner against the air. "Where are you?"
"'Yugi…?' So many times that name has been said. Could it be the mortal name of this body?" Hissing laughter came from the darkness all around them, stealing their breath away.
"Oh man…" murmured Tristan.
Again came words like thunder: "You have disturbed this body's need for sleep, and thus disturbed me. I do not savor mortal interruptions." The voice was smooth, just like Yugi's, but filled with a guttural rush of air that made it clear the speaker was of dragon origin.
Téa ran forward several paces. "Yugi, please! Where are you?"
Slypher hissed again, though not in a laugh. "You continue to call for him though you know of my presence. Are you so attached to him that you would face me here?" Slowly the darkness bent and a vague silhouette became visible. Téa saw this and moved to step closer, but suddenly stopped cold. She could see Slypher's eyes, glowing in the darkness.
Vibrant, intense, empty yellow. Sharpened knives of darker gold slanting from the edges of his irises to the center. Slits for pupils, honed to a needle's thickness. They pierced the soul and paralyzed the body, and yet Téa could still almost see Yugi in them. The overall shape of the eyes was still his, that gradual angled gaze that so swiftly could turn from soft to stern.
She took a slow, forced breath. "Yugi…"
The shadows curled away and Slypher appeared, his arms crossed smugly. "I let you mortals go free, and yet you choose to die – truly a result of your retched mortal 'affection.'"
Téa couldn't believe her eyes. To do so would reinforce the heavy pain now clenching her heart. She saw Yugi standing there, and she knew it was Yugi's body, but had she not known these things she would not have believed him to be the same person. Joey, Tristan, and Ryou had explained to her what Slypher had done to Yugi, and even then she couldn't truly picture what they said. Now she had visual proof of all they had told her. Of course those where the obvious changes: those dragonic additions made on Slypher's whim. Though, they had failed to mention the wings resting easily behind him in half-furls.
The way Slypher now stood mirrored Yugi's usual stance only in its radiating confidence. With the god's presence there was a feeling of litheness about his arms and legs, even while standing still, like he was ready to strike at any moment. His frame was shifted slightly forward to accommodate the extra weight of his tail but arched back at the shoulders to support his wings. (1) Téa continued to stare at him agape, her eyes stabbing her heart again and again with what she saw. He truly did look like a demon. Behind her, the others were just as shocked, especially those that had never seen him in his possessed state before.
Slypher took amusement in their paralysis. "So eager to confront me, and yet rendered immobile in my presence?" Each word he spoke revealed the slender points of his fangs.
"SLYPHER!" Joey roared, finally able to work his voice again. "Get out of Yugi's body now!"
Slypher's tail swished through the semi-darkness. "Relinquish such an asset?" He laughed again. It was just as terrifying to watch him laugh as it was to hear it. "I have spent countless hours working to improve it."
"You're just trying to turn Yugi into a monster!"
"Nay, mortal. I'm afraid my goals are far less trivial." He clicked his tongue lightly. "All the souls I have taken are quite an expense to waste on such a pointless objective. I used the energy from those I killed to make these additions when I instead could have strengthened my own power. Even so, I cannot fly just yet." He scanned those before him with hunger in his eyes. "Though you mortals may be enough to remedy that." (2)
"You're a murderer!" Tristan hollered back. "You're killing all these people, and turning Yugi into a demon along with you!"
"I am not a demon, I am a god," Slypher snarled, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "What becomes of this body matters not, for it is mine now."
Joey clenched his fists angrily. "No it isn't! You stole it from him, and now we're here to take it back!" Both he and Tristan took half steps forward into fighting stances.
Slypher sneered. "You handful of mortals, with no power other than your own physical force, aim to fight me?"
"You misunderstand us, Slypher," Téa said rigidly with a tone as cold as the air around them. "We all want him back." Suddenly there were three spurts of light, like bursts of sunlight in the darkness, and Téa's monsters appeared beside her. They were a Dancing Fairy, Dark Witch, and Gyakuten no Megami, all three fairy monsters, but all three instilled with the power of light. Among them, too, appeared Seiyaryu, its blazing eyes as bright in the darkness as Slypher's. It growled spitefully at the one whom would dare befoul his master so.
"Duel monsters!" Slypher exclaimed in surprise.
Téa's monsters were not the only ones to join the fight. Soon all the resistance monsters began letting themselves out. The multicolored light from their jewels lit the room as brightly as if it were day. Slypher recoiled from the sudden light, hissing, and when the darkness returned he faced every monster in the resistance arsenal.
"If you want to keep Yugi," she went on, "you'll have to fight all of us."
She had inwardly hoped that such a display of their forces would daunt Slypher in some way, yet upon being confronted he merely hissed with laughter again. "Are you under the impression that numbers are an asset to you?" He uncrossed his arms and let them fall to his sides. "Iwis, it has not helped my prey."
Joey glared at him. "We're different from the people you've killed. We're fighting back."
"To fight me is to die."
"We'll see about that!" declared Mai. Without warning her Curse of Dragon screeched and released a jet of flames at Slypher. Dark orange and gold flames burned their eyes in the darkness.
"Mai, wait!" exclaimed Joey, but she cut him off:
"We can't be afraid to attack him! He won't hesitate against us!"
Slypher did not hesitate. The flames rushed for him, rapidly bridging the gap between him and the resistance, but even faced with an assault he flashed his fangs. Sparks of red electricity crackled around him; his tail came around to the front and released a horizontal bolt to counter the attack. Both blasts collided, but Slypher's lightning completely overpowered Curse of Dragon's fire. The bolt cut through the jet of flames as though nothing was even there. It struck Curse of Dragon hard in the torso, knocking it all the way back into the wall, where it promptly disappeared in a flash of light. All this happened in a matter of seconds.
Small tendrils of electricity continued to snap at the air around Slypher. "Perhaps I will enjoy killing prey that fights back…" he mused with a murderous look in his eyes. His pupils narrowed to the thinnest of slits, giving him a feral air prime for the killing he was about to partake in.
Fizdis gulped. "Th-that lightning…"
"We must avoid it at all costs," said Ryou, his nervousness evident in his swirling eyes. "If that hits us, we won't be around to fight him any longer." He glanced uneasily at Joey. "Do you have any plan at all for how we should fight him?"
"Me? Not a one."
Ryou groaned. "I was afraid you were going to say that…"
"If you will not make the first move," Slypher snarled over them, "then I shall!" The sparks dancing around him grew and consolidated around his outstretched arm.
"It's now or never!" yelled Joey. "Charge!" The resistance monsters surged forth in a unanimous wave toward Slypher, yet the monsters were not the only ones to fight: at the head of the wave Tristan and Joey ran side by side. Slypher screeched and let loose the lightning bolt he had been charging. With a powerful crack it sliced through the air, soaring just above the boys' heads, to strike Tristan's Machine King. The giant monster was gone in an instant, but in that instant Joey and Tristan reached Slypher.
"Hope you're ready for some pain, Slypher!" Joey cried. In unison they leapt and drew their arms back for their trademark double hook.
Like water parting beneath the wind Slypher slipped out of the way just before being hit. While Joey and Tristan were still airborne he spun and lashed his tail against their backs. They slammed face-first into the ground and skidded a few feet beyond. Slypher laughed before leaping up to dive into the wave of monsters.
Groaning, Tristan peeled his face off the stone floor. "He's fast!" Joey nodded in agreement.
Once among the ranks of monsters Slypher submerged into a fury of destruction. The first thing he got his claws on was the poor, defenseless Dark Rabbit. His eyes filled with dragonic wrath, he slashed at the creature mercilessly until nothing was left but scraps of dark fur on the stone floor. Immediately then he pivoted, targeted the creaking Zombie Warrior, and struck out with his tail. The blow was enough to shatter the skeletal warrior and send bones flying across the floor.
"He fights from both ends!" exclaimed Fizdis as she watched him tear through Megazowler's thick hide before the slow-moving dinosaur could even blink.
Mai looked up and saw her Harpie Lady circling the fight near the ceiling. "Maybe he won't expect an aerial attack! Scratch Crusher!" Her Harpie Lady targeted Slypher and swooped downward in a flurry of feathers. Below Slypher had just jumped out of the way of a fire attack from Blackland Fire Dragon. He straightened to leap back into the battle when something heavy slammed into the back of his head. Sharp hooks raked across his skull. He lurched forward with a pained screech; blood seeped from gashes beneath his hair and trickled down the back of his neck. Harpie Lady had pulled up early from the dive so the cuts from her talons would not be deep, but still she had succeeded in landing a hit on Slypher.
Slypher's eyes snapped up ruthlessly. He called more electricity to his hand and prepared to incinerate Harpie Lady when something else struck him, this time between his wings. His breath shot out of him and he doubled over. Bickuribox cackled as it peeked out from beneath the lid of its box-turned-cannonball. In wake of his success Kaiser Dragon moved forward and wrapped its long body around Slypher while he was still winded. At this Slypher's eyes shot open. His whole frame filled with electricity, which he released in a spherical burst. Kaiser Dragon was thrown off and went careening into one of the stone pillars. Seconds later it vanished in yellow light.
Shimon watched as his last monster, Beaver Warrior, scurried around frantically to avoid the bolts being thrown at him. In the end he was hit directly and destroyed. "If only there were some way to stop his lightning!"
"Stop his lightning…" murmured Téa. Suddenly an idea came to her. She spied her Dark Witch a few yards away, and then saw Joey scrambling to get back in the fight. "Joey!" He looked up at her, surprised. "Follow my lead!
"Okay, Dark Witch! Midgard Bolt!" Dark Witch thrust her wings down and pointed her spear directly at Slypher. Bright blue lightning stretched over the battlefield in an arc, and while Slypher was preoccupied with dodging Gazelle's claws he failed to see the attack coming.
"SHREEALH!" Slypher's screech seized the air and ripped it into tiny pieces. Electricity poured from Dark Witch's staff onto him, enveloping him in its cerulean light. The blast tore through him with enough strength to knock him to his knees. Before any of the remaining dragons could move in to use their fire the lightning crackling around him blazed blood red. He stood again on bandy legs as though unfazed by the attack and loosed a bolt from his hand. It collided with Dark Witch's attack and pushed it back through the darkness. She responded by focusing all her energy on her spear. Blue and crimson struggled back and forth against each other in a show of strength that all the other monsters had frozen to watch. Slypher's lightning steadily pushed back Dark Witch's, until it almost touched the tip of her spear.
"In a contest of lightning, I surpass all," growled Slypher.
"That's what you think," said Téa with a shrewd grin. "Now Joey!"
"Awright Giltia, use Soul Spear!" Before Slypher could react another blast struck him on his right wing. He cried out again and his electricity wavered, allowing Dark Witch's blue counterpart to zoom forward. Hissing angrily, Slypher increased his output of lightning to drive back Dark Witch and, using another bolt from his tail, pushed against the stream of concentrated energy Joey's Giltia was thrusting upon him. Both enemy attacks did little to stop Slypher's as his lightning finally surged forth in an overpowering wave and obliterated them.
Slypher let the sparks around him fade and stood panting in the center of the ring of monsters. "You mortals are fools to challenge my lightning."
"Wrong, Slypher," declared Téa, and Slypher did a double take at being so bluntly contradicted. "We weren't challenging your lightning – we were getting rid of it."
"What?" Slypher tried to call a bolt to silence her but found that only a few tiny sparks came to his palm. "Impossible!"
"Using electricity to drive off those attacks drained you of your lightning. You're a dead battery, Slypher."
The realization that he had been outsmarted by a handful of mortals struck Slypher hard in the chest. He stood frozen as Tristan came forward, cracking his knuckles. "Now that you can't fry us, we can fight our way."
Yellow eyes swiveled to Tristan's and narrowed with rage. "Do not think that you have won just yet, mortals," he hissed, his tail lashing the air again. "Just because I am without lightning does not mean I am without strength."
"Yeah, right! Yugi's a weakling compared to the two of us, right Joey?"
"Right." Joey stared bitingly at Slypher. He clenched his fists: "Let's see you fight this!" He dashed forward and drew his right arm up behind his head. "RAAH!" Joey roared as he closed in on his target.
Smack.
Without flinching, blinking, or moving hardly at all Slypher raised his hand and caught Joey's fist squarely against his palm. It was like punching a brick wall: Slypher did not budge at all beneath his force. Joey gasped; in his astonishment Slypher sank his claws into Joey's hand.
"Do not deem me limited by this mortal body," his chilling voice whispered as Joey cried out from the pain. "I assure you that this body's original traits have been replaced."
Joey struggled against Slypher's hold. "Shut up!"
"Why? Because it pains you to know the one you came to rescue will never return to you?"
"I said shut up!" Joey suddenly jerked and tried to punch Slypher with his left arm, but Slypher brought up his tail to block it. Joey's hand struck the flat of the blade with a loud thunk. He yelled again, and before he could withdraw his arm Slypher wrapped his tail around it and yanked him close. Now their faces were inches apart, and Joey once again stared fearfully into blazing, mirror-like, inhuman eyes.
"Yugi…" he murmured.
"Plea all you wish, mortal, for your cries will not be heard," Slypher said fiercely. His right arm was still free, and he raised it so Joey could see his gleaming claws. "All you will accomplish is to further incite my rage." He then shoved Joey back, still keeping him bound by his tail, and raked his claws across his face. Diamond daggers tore jagged lacerations across his cheek. Slypher laughed as he watched Joey scream.
"Nobody makes Joey bleed but me, snake!" Without warning a pair of arms grabbed Slypher from behind, pulling him away from Joey. Slypher screech-hissed and started thrashing against his bindings, but Tristan had successfully pinned his arms and wings in a tight hug. Despite his attempts he could not break free of Tristan's hold.
"Heh heh, hey Slypher, next time don't possess someone so small!" Tristan said with a smirk. He then called to Joey: "Hey Joey! Come grab his tail before he slices me!"
Joey didn't have a chance to, for just then Slypher hissed viciously and bit down on Tristan's arm. Inch-long fangs penetrated his jacket and sank deeply into his flesh. Tristan yelled and released his captive, stumbling backward until his back hit one of the stone columns. Blood dripped from the ends of his fangs as Slypher turned with intense anger burning in his eyes.
Mai was nearby and ran over to Tristan as he clutched at his arm. "Tristan!"
"You are in my way, girl." She whirled around and saw Slypher bearing down on her. Shadows covered his face except for his glowing yellow eyes and glimmering fangs in his snarl. In a blur too fast to be followed by human eyes he whacked the flat of his tail blade against her skull. She faltered, her eyes dilating rapidly, then swayed dangerously like the last fragile leaf of an autumn tree.
"Mai, NO!" hollered Joey. Her blonde hair streamed behind her as she collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Slypher chuckled and stepped casually over her.
Tristan drew his breath in hisses as he stared Slypher down. "You have some nerve, attacking a girl like that."
Slypher scoffed, "If she defies me, then such is her fate."
"You're sick."
"Maybe, mortal," he said as he licked the blood from his fangs, "but you can do nothing to change that fact."
As they spoke Slypher was slowly closing the gap between them. Each step was so smooth over the uneven stone that he seemed more to be a cobra slithering towards a cornered mouse. Tristan found he could no longer stand the arrogant look on Slypher's face and tried land a punch on him, yet when he raised his arm to strike it felt strangely weighted. Now that he looked more closely, he realized that his vision had been steadily blurring, and that now Slypher was more a smear of crimson and shadow than a definite being. He tried to move out of the way but his legs shook terribly and wouldn't budge.
Slypher noticed his distress and chuckled. "Feeling dizzy, are we mortal?"
Tristan groaned and tightened his grip on his arm. His head had started buzzing with a noise not unlike the drone of old electrical equipment. A wave of heat washed over him, making him feel sick to his stomach. "What did you… do?" he slurred.
More of the hissing laughter slipped into his ears. "So eager to learn of your fate? I have modified my fangs to produce venom. By biting you I have subjected you to its effects."
By now Tristan could barely keep his eyes open. A heavy fatigue weighed down on him and screamed for every bone in his body to lie down and rest. He felt so exhausted… He slid down the column to his knees. Slypher stood over him, smirking. "A pity that bite won't kill you. I have not killed enough souls to make my poison fatal. Although, iwis it is potent enough to render you unconscious…" At that point Tristan slumped to the floor and was out like a light.
Slypher studied the motionless form before him with interest. "I could kill you now… but I have other souls to deal with first." He turned to scour the area, and the first thing his eyes fell upon was Téa. He snarled at the sight of her. "Such as the one who robbed me of my lightning."
Téa felt his obsessive gaze and was suddenly chilled by fear. Even though a fair distance separated them she felt as though Slypher were right next to her, the cold scales of his hands gripping her shoulders as he brushed his fangs against her neck. In his slithering gait he started toward her. Dancing Fairy tried to slow him down by creating a thick smokescreen in front of him. For a moment it seemed to work, as Slypher stopped and hissed angrily at the obstruction: then a moment later his tail cut through the billowing folds of black smoke and he was free to seek his prey again.
Fizdis jumped into his path alongside King Rex and Uraby. "S-Slypher!" she stammered, though she tried to sound brave. "We won't let you hurt anyone else!"
"Naïve girl, move or suffer my wrath."
"No!" she cried valiantly. "We'll stop you right here! Go Uraby!" Uraby roared and sprang forward, his giant jaws open wide and ready to tear into flesh.
Slypher's tail shot forward through Uraby's throat. The tiger-striped dinosaur bellowed with pain; halfway through the sound turned harsh as the rough gurgle of blood replaced it, and Uraby fell limp on the end of Slypher's tail. Slypher then threw him off to the side where Shimon was standing trying to avoid the fight. A ton of dinosaur hit him in the chest, slammed him into the wall beyond, and knocked him out before Uraby vanished in amber light.
"Shimon!" cried Fizdis, but he lay motionless.
"You are the next to feel his fate if you will not stand aside." Slypher's tail arched threateningly. "I do not intend to waste my energies on killing you. My target is the mortal whom you so defend. Stay where you are and you will further provoke my anger."
Fizdis was terrified of his icy stare and acrimonious voice. She could feel in every part of his being that he intended to act well upon his words. This she knew, and yet as she stared fearfully into his burning eyes she also knew that she could not move. If she backed down from Slypher now she would be backing down from saving Téa, saving the villagers Slypher would go on to kill… and, she would be backing down from saving Yugi.
"I cannot do that, Slypher. Here is where I stand."
"Then here is where you die." Like the sleek head of a cobra the edge of his tail blade glinted in the weak light. Fizdis clamped her eyes shut and prayed that everything would at least be over quickly… Slypher's tail struck out and before it had a chance to hit her King Rex barred the way. Fizdis heard twin roars and cracked her eyes open, only to see her loyal monster fall. A great bloody gash split the area between its two necks.
She stared numbly at the motionless monster and didn't notice that Slypher had moved directly in front of her. His tail coiled around her, binding her arms, and tightened with crushing force. She cried out and tried to struggle free, but she could not muster enough strength to counter his. Indeed, her squirming only allowed him to tighten his grip further. She was rapidly losing air to his force; the edges of her cheeks flushed with a suffocating blue…
"Let her go, Slypher!" A loud squawk sounded from across the battlefield, followed by a stream of flames that blasted his tail. Slypher screeched and let Fizdis fall to the ground where she laid motionless. He backed away with his tail curled in front of him. Where Parrot Dragon had struck the scales were shiny and raw. He held the burnt part between his hands, his face still contorted with pain.
"Aw-yeah! Nice shot, Ryou!" Joey punched his fist to the air. "That one had to hurt him!"
Then Slypher's eyes snapped open again, and they empowered the darkness just as they had prior. He looked angrier now than he had at any time previously, a feat difficult to accomplish: the knives of gold in his eyes turned their edges and slashed along with his gaze. "Victory fleeting does not grant defeat eternal, mortal."
Now there was nothing blocking his path to Téa. He was ten feet away from her, easily within pouncing distance should he choose to strike. Eyes as intense with heat as the midday sun locked with those grayed like the winter sky. Staring into his eyes was almost hypnotic; even as they bore into her they flickered with dancing light and hate. She wanted to believe that one of those flickers was Yugi resisting Slypher's control, but she had no way of knowing if he could even see what was going on around him.
Slypher spoke to her in his shadow-curling voice: "I presume you are beside yourself, mortal. You are filled with pride for besting me and taking my lightning. No doubt you feel the courage of a fool in thinking that you may yet accomplish what you came here to do. Before I kill you and add to my power, I will ask this: are you afraid of me?"
She looked right at him, steadied her quivering heart, and answered. "I am afraid, Slypher. I'm afraid that you will kill me. I'm afraid that I won't be able to save Yugi. I'm afraid he might never be able to be free of your control. I'm afraid of all the terrible things you might be doing to him even as we speak… but I am not, and have never, been afraid of you."
His eyes narrowed at the end of her speech. "Wise words for a mortal. A rarity among your kind." He gave a small laugh. "Though you seem to think this all my fault."
"Of course it's your fault!" she countered. "You tricked Yugi into summoning you so that you could possess him!"
"Is that what you believe?" This time Slypher laughed even louder, a laugh of rumbling wickedness. "Your companions must have fed you that lie to shelter you from the truth."
"Shut up, Slypher!" hollered Joey. "There's no one to blame for your evil but you!"
Slypher shot him a murderous look. "You are the one to keep quiet." His tail shot forward and stopped inches from Téa's neck. "Interfere and you will hear from her no longer."
Téa gulped. The blade that had already taken so many lives was now barely away from doing the same to her. She tried not to look at it as she continued to speak. "They didn't have to tell me anything, Slypher. I can figure things out for myself. Yugi's my friend, and I know him better than anyone. That's the only reason for Yugi summoning you. He wouldn't do it otherwise."
"Really?" He faced her again with amusement evident in his smirk. "Such is truly your belief?" The tone of his voice suddenly darkened. "You are a rare soul even for the mortal plane. In honor of your strong heart I will grace you with the truth.
"You remember, of course, that fateful encounter with your so-called enemy in the fields of Marre-Yaa Denn?"
"That was Scott," she murmured. She did remember, or at least she remembered suddenly finding herself sitting awkwardly in the center of her friends with them telling her she had died. "I was killed then, and then brought back to life. What does that have to do with anything?"
"That's right. You died, and at the time you were going to stay dead." Slypher habitually ran his tongue over his fangs. "From that point on I could sense every emotion running through this body. Shock. Devastation. Utter heartbreak. Those were some of the strongest ones, I believe.
"Soon they were replaced by a much more enticing emotion. 'Anger' is not strong enough a word to describe it. No, I would place it as something between absolute loathing and a crazed wrath," Slypher mused, letting his eyes close to savor the memory.
Téa, however, shook her head slowly. "No. Yugi'd never…"
"Oh, but he did." Yellow eyes reopened with intensified delight. "His rage gave me strength, the strength I needed to be summoned. It poured into me with the might of a thousand rivers, providing me with enough power to restore me to my prime." His lips pulled back to reveal his gleaming fangs. "And because he was not aware he was calling me, I was able to coil around his soul and ensnare him."
"But you haven't said why," she said half-pleadingly, desperate for something, anything to take the cause of blame away from Yugi. "Yugi would never do what you say he's done, and even if he did there'd be a reason!"
Slypher screeched angrily and pressed the edge of his tail-blade against her throat. She shuddered visibly at the sound, a new look of terror tearing away at her eyes. "Humans, primitive mortals!" he screeched. His words folded into the dragonic sound so the two could not be told apart, and he sounded less like a human with a dragon's mind behind it and more like a dragon that held a human voice between its teeth. "Always naïve, always so eager to cling to your ideal little truths! What forces drive you mortals? What makes you do what you do? What weak emotion in your pitiful hearts commands your actions, dictates your every thought?"
He jerked his head forward to that his eyes were directly in front of hers. "What makes one soul willing to give up everything, relinquish everything he has for the sake of a single, other soul?"
She swallowed. "Y-Yugi…" It can't be… Could he mean…?
"He was ready to have me destroy everything within radius, just to avenge… his love."
What remained of Téa's strength gave out then.
Her legs would no longer support her and she sank to the ground. She didn't collapse, no – it was a slow, steady movement that matched her sinking heart. Already scarred by Slypher's slashing gaze, what remained of her once-bright irises became thin sheets of dull color darker than the shadows of the room. Tears leaked from them, and though emotion was obvious in each dewdrop tear the rest of her face was a cold void. She lost focus of the world around her. She was too busy being lost within herself. Everything that had happened up to now… all the evil plaguing Yugi, all the sins done by his hands, and the many more planned after… how could that affect her? How could all of those things still hurt her when now she knew the grimmest truth? Yugi had been taken… not by his anger or his hate, but by that one emotion most sacred to human hearts.
He had felt it for her.
As she stayed unmoving on the floor Slypher bent over her. His warm breath struck her ear and carried his words deep into her heart. "You boast of your bond as the courage to save him. How can you believe in that bond when you now know it is the cause of his enslavement? Had you not been so close to him… you may not be where you now stand."
More tears spilled along with hiccuping sobs. Slypher had ripped open her body, taken out her heart, and nailed it forcefully to the ground for all to see. He was right. Everything… Everything was her fault… If she had never died… If Yugi had not grown so close to her… Then maybe…
Slypher straightened and smirked down at her. "A rare soul is none the less a weak one." He raised his tail high above her head. "You shall die knowing of your sins and never seeing your friend's freedom."
"OH NO YOU DON'T, SLYPHER!" roared Joey as powerfully as any dragon. "SHINING PLASMA!" In a shimmer of rustling pink feathers and silver embers, Seiyaryu dove from the air above and released a fireball at Slypher. With speed unmatched by even Slypher's reflexes, the mass of flames crashed into his shoulder. The spite behind the blast was enough to actually knock him off his feet and slam him into the floor beyond. When the smoke cleared he was laying against the stones voicing his pain with rushes of strained growls. Blood, charred bits of fabric, and shining, broken skin mixed together on his exposed shoulder.
Joey froze, thunderstruck. He hadn't meant to do such damage to Yugi, yet before Slypher could get up again he dashed forward, aiming to pin him to the ground. Just as he was about to secure a grip on him Slypher rolled suddenly over, pounced, and caught Joey in the pin he had been attempting. Crimson-scaled hands closed around his throat while his tail constricted his arms. On either side of him his wings hung limply from his shoulders. Even though the look on his face was one of victory the god was panting heavily. It seemed the wear of battle had finally affected him. Where he had once been smooth of voice and demeanor he now looked disheveled at the edges. Going for so long without his lightning had contributed greatly to the problem, for without it he remained unable to heal himself. His fangs stuck out into the air as he gasped in new breaths to replace the old.
"An admirable attempt, your attack," he huffed through his breaths. "You risked your companion's health to weaken me… and yet you failed. Do not worry. I can heal these wounds when my lightning returns to me. For that, you won't have to struggle with your guilt once you are dead.
"Now, mortal," Slypher stabbed the words into his heart, "it is high time I destroy you." His grip on the blonde's throat tightened, diamond claws eagerly trying to pierce his flesh.
Joey smirked. "Says you, you giant snake." Quickly and without warning Joey brought up his knee and slammed it into Slypher's stomach. Slypher choked and gave a ragged cough that sent forth drops of blood to splatter on Joey's face. The blonde used his chance to pull Slypher's hands from his neck and, feeling daring, flipped him over onto his back. Now it was he that had Slypher pinned. He straddled the demon in his friend's body, holding his clawed hands immobile above his head.
A thin trail of blood ran from the corner of Slypher's mouth. Loathing roared in his eyes as they locked with Joey's. "A rash move, mortal. So, you have trapped me... but you did not do a very good job of it." He flashed his fangs wickedly as his tail reared up behind Joey, the blade pointing down at his back. "Die!" he screeched, tail shooting forward.
"Joey, look out!" cried Ryou.
Joey didn't flinch. "Red-Eyes!" he called. His trusted dragon appeared behind him, ruby eyes sparkling with power. The dragon roared and brought his ebony foot down upon Slypher's tail, squishing it beneath his claws. Slypher screeched in agony. The serpentine appendage writhed in a futile attempt to free itself but failed against Red-Eyes's weight.
"Okay Red-Eyes, help me hold him still!" Red-Eyes bent and grasped Slypher's ankles to hold his legs in place. Once they were secure Joey shifted so he was no longer sitting on him, and, keeping his wrists securely pinned, moved so he sat above his head. Growling and hissing, Slypher struggled against his bindings roughly, but he could not muster the strength needed to break free. He fell back to the floor in defeat. Though his panting revealed his weariness, his eyes burned with their full strength.
Ryou moved over to Téa where she was still sitting frozen on the ground. "Téa?" he asked gently. "Téa, are you all right?"
Her eyes swiveled listlessly to where Joey and Red-Eyes held Slypher. Seeing him struggle and cry out with bestial sounds of anger took her away from her own pain, and with that recovery something else clicked: they now had Slypher captive. Hope sparked again in her eyes, and its light dried her tears.
"Ryou… Yes, I'm all right."
"Let me help you." With effortless grace he pulled her to her feet and led her to where the cause of her heart's tumult lay. By the time they had crossed that distance, flames of anger ravaged her expression and stung Slypher with their spite.
"All right Slypher!" hollered Joey authoritatively. "We've got you trapped. You can't get free from us, and you used up all your lightning. Now give up Yug's body!"
Slypher tensed and hissed angrily up at him. "Surrender this body? I'm quite comfortable in here."
Joey growled and pressed his arms down harder. "Get outta' there or we'll force you out!"
"And just how will you manage that, mortal?" he sneered. "The only thing you can do to break my grip on this body is kill it." He smirked when Joey paled. "I know you don't want any harm to befall your friend. You didn't even kick me as hard as you normally would have, for fear of hurting him."
"Grrr... I'll tear your slimy claws off Yugi's heart if it kills me too!" Joey looked around wildly for something, anything nearby that could help the situation. His eyes caught on the burning red orb that rested on Slypher's chest. "That! If that's the thing that summoned you, I'll smash that thing to pieces!" He expected that having found Slypher's weakness would have evoked an expression of fear from the god. Surprise befell him when Slypher began to laugh.
"Do as you will with my Orb," he hissed through cold chuckles. "You will merely be destroying the key: the only key to release me... and the only key to lock me away again. Destroy that, and I shall be free to terrorize the mortal plane as I see fit. Go ahead and lay waste to it, mortal; I should rather like to be forever free of my only shackle."
Joey's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "If that were true, you would have already destroyed it."
"Perceptive: its magic prevents me from laying a finger on it. Only a mortal hand may act upon it. Go ahead and shatter it; shatter the grip of my magic and the soul of your friend along with it."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The Orb contains not only the sealing spell, but the summoning spell as well. The magic of the summoning spell keeps me here in this plane. Your friend's soul is the fuel for that magic. If the Orb's magic is no longer needed to shield me from the sealing spell, then his soul is no longer needed to provide it power. Both would shatter."
Téa glared at him. "Why are you telling us this?"
Slypher glanced at her, and though this time their eyes did lock, his hate-filled gaze could not overpower that of the one before him. "I enjoy witnessing your suffering as you realize you are without hope."
Joey swore. "Damn it!"
"Wait, Joey." The blonde looked up to see Ryou's deep eyes narrowed in thought. "Something isn't right here."
"It's not?" asked Joey and Téa together.
"No. Think about what Slypher just told us. If we break this orb, Yugi gets destroyed, but he goes off spot free."
"So what's your point?" demanded Joey, a little angrier than he intended.
"Here's my point: why would Slypher care? If nothing happens to him, why didn't he just let you break the orb? Why did he tell you what would happen if it would prevent you from breaking it?" He shook his head. "There must be more to it than that."
As Ryou had progressed in his explanation, Slypher's growls had continually grown louder. "Ignorant boy, you know of nothing."
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Ryou studied Slypher's fierce yellow eyes. Though his body had suffered physical damage he still radiated an intense magical energy behind the mirrors of his eyes. "There's something else that happens when the orb is broken that you aren't telling us. You don't want whatever it is to happen, so you revealed to us enough information to stop us from breaking the orb. You need it in one piece."
A rough hiss from his throat: "What does it matter? In either event you are unable to free your friend."
"But now we have you." Joey jerked on his arms roughly. Slypher screeched again as fresh blood seeped from the wound on his shoulder. "Now we're close enough to reach Yugi."
Slypher's gaze swept to him and bored into him like twin blades of molten steel. "You cannot revive him from my control."
"We haven't tried yet." Téa knelt beside his head. She looked straight into his eyes. "Yugi? Come on Yugi, it's me… It's Téa. We're all out here… We want you to come back."
As she spoke Ryou peered into his eyes as well. He watched the aura of magic, searching for any falters in its unbroken surface. He saw none. "Téa, he's not responding…"
Slypher smirked, showing his fangs. "Your friend sees magic: he sees the truth."
"No!" cried Joey. "I won't believe that! Téa, keep trying!"
"Yugi, please," Téa begged again. "Please fight back..."
Slypher's eyes snapped with the ferocity of a blizzard. "Idiot girl; you continue to plea even when all hope is lost! My grip on him cannot be shattered!"
"Yes it can! Yug'!" Joey hollered. "Come on! I know you're in there somewhere–"
"SHRAALH!" Slypher screeched with fury, jerking everyone from his or her position. "Imbeciles; primitive mortals! Your continual hope when there is none to be had is the weakness of your kind!" His anger smoothed into a tantalizing smugness. "My hold is eternal, unbreakable! Your incessant hoping is sooner shattered.'
A hissed whisper past salient fangs: 'For all your cries, he cannot hear you. For all your tears, he cannot see them, nor feel them fall against his flesh. He is wound so deeply in my coils, so far gone under my entrancement..." Slypher licked his fangs airily, "... that he is not even aware that he is possessed." Téa gasped, more tears filling her eyes, while Slypher's laughing echoed throughout the stone hall.
"Damn you!" Joey slammed more of his body weight onto Slypher's forearms. "You damn Demon!"
Mirror eyes reflected his anger. "Pray tell, mortal, what do you aim to do to change that fact?"
"I'll tell you what I aim to do! I aim to make him aware so that he can kick your sorry tail out of there!"
"How will you manage such a feat when he has no connection to the physical world?" Slypher countered. "And you, mortals, you cannot access the spiritual plane! Turn your eyes to the truth: that he is perpetually mine and all your 'hope' is without avail."
Joey growled and swore angrily. Ryou laid a hand on his shoulder. "Getting worked up won't help Yugi get free."
"I know that!" he snapped, causing Ryou to jerk his hand away. Joey looked sadly down at what used to be his friend. "But I just don't know what else we can do…"
Téa too turned forlorn eyes to her friend. Once again despair threatened to lay claim to her heart. Then she saw something on his chest, barely noticeable at all, hidden in the shadows given off by the flaming orb.
It was a dark purple stone.
She gasped. Memories of Tristan and the Maryah-Denn fields came rushing back to her:
"Scott explained it to us. He said these gems were the 'physical manifestation of our soul.'"
Both boys heard her gasp and turned to look at her. "Téa, what is it?"
She stared in disbelief at the little stone. So small, so insignificant… she prayed the idea rapidly forming from her swirling thoughts would work. "Guys," she said, "I have an idea."
"You do?" Joey would have leapt upon her in a hug if he weren't restraining Slypher. "What is it?"
Slowly Téa reached her hand forward; it almost trembled with excitement and fear at the same time. Slypher looked up and saw what she was reaching for. He snarled viscously and snapped at her hand in an attempt to stop her, but she was too far away to land a hit. Her pale fingers slipped around the dark amethyst and raised it up for the others to see.
Joey blinked. "His gem?"
"His soul!" Ryou exclaimed. "That gem is a connection to Yugi's soul!"
"What! Are you serious?"
"With this, we may be able to reach him…"
"It won't work," growled Slypher suddenly. "Even with a connection to his soul, you cannot work through my entrancement to his conscience."
"We don't need to," Ryou said. "If we can touch his subconscious, that may be enough to affect his conscious mind."
"You will not succeed."
"Says you!" Joey shot back. He turned to Téa. "Go for it."
She nodded and leaned in close to the stone. "Yugi…"
"Naïve girl, your efforts are futile," he sneered. "You cannot free him."
"Shut up, Slypher!" Joey jerked on his arms again and sent another stab of pain to Slypher's shoulder.
"Yugi," Téa kept whispering to the gem in hand. "Please, speak to us; give us at least one word to let us know you're not lost..."
Slypher made to hiss at her, yet suddenly choked midway through the sound. One slitted eye squeezed shut while a look of fire filled the other. Through clenched fangs Slypher forced out his voice, strained as though something were holding it back: "Wretched... mortal... what have you done...?" He then was seized by a fit of ragged coughs that forced all the breath from him, and when he gasped in a new wave of air there came a voice that was distinctly not a hissing one:
"Mahado!"
Violet erupted from the previously dead stone around Joey's neck. It rose in a cyclone into the chilled darkness. The whirl of color split down the middle and fell away, leaving the stern-eyed sorcerer floating in its stead.
"The Dark Magician!" Joey and Téa blurted simultaneously.
Slypher had now recovered from his lapse and hissed wrathfully up at the new arrival. "You!"
'Demon! You dare return after being sent away! I will not stand your presence tainting my Soulmaster any longer!'
"You should never have escaped your prison. Did you not enjoy my arrangement?"
'Your attempt to seal me in the shadows failed, demon. The magic of my Soulmaster freed me.' Mahado jabbed his staff at Slypher threateningly. 'I will do everything in my power to release my Soulmaster's heart as he did mine!'
"You never were one of loyalty before. Why so eager to spoil your reputation? Or do you think what you say can change reality?"
"What are you talking about, Slypher?" snapped Joey. "He ain't said nothin'!"
'This reality should not be, demon!'
Slypher noticed that none of the others were reacting to the conversation between Mahado and himself. "Ah, is that it...? This body is so in tune with your energies that it can perceive your mental waves as communication. An interesting little trick."
'I do not need words to defeat you. You do not have the strength to resist me.'
"That may be so," Slypher countered, "but do you have the strength to attack your master?"
Mahado froze. Quickly he shouted, 'I will destroy what hold you have on his heart!'
'You shall not!' Slypher roared back mentally, causing Mahado to cry out. 'There is no way to break my hold, save killing him!'
'That is not so!' Mahado boomed. Slypher shuddered visibly, though not from the sound in his head. A wave of energy had surged through him, ripping up his spine. Joey, Téa, and Ryou flinched.
"Did you hear that?" asked Joey.
"Yes," she answered, "but who...?"
'The friends of my Soulmaster, so valiant in their efforts to rescue him, deserve to hear this more than anyone,' the voice rumbled again. 'I am using my energy to make the thoughts my Soulmaster hears audible to them.'
"I am not your voice!" snarled Slypher as he struggled to remove the force from his mind, but it held stubbornly firm and kept the doors thrown open.
The three onlookers stared up at Mahado in awe. "No way…" murmured Joey. "He talks?"
"It is not so unusual, Joey," said Ryou, though he did look quite as amazed as Joey did. "Their souls are strongly bonded together. Many things can occur when that happens."
Mahado turned to them and bowed. 'Friends of my Soulmaster, thank you for your courage and persistence in combating Slypher. Your strength in pursuing my Soulmaster's freedom is what summoned me here.'
"Um… You're welcome, I guess," said Joey.
"Another soul will not be enough to eliminate me," Slypher spat. "You will fail just as those already present have failed!"
'They have not failed, Slypher, for they have not once given up hope.' Mahado glared down at him. 'It is you that have failed, demon.'
"I have not failed! I am the victor!" Dagger-fangs flashed with rage. "It is I whom still commands this body and claims existence in this plane!'
'Your existence here is a weak one. My Soulmaster is your only lifeline. He is the one that bought you safe passage here, and it was only by chance that you thought to possess him. Otherwise, you would have returned to your prison soon after being summoned.
'You claim that you don't need the Orb. This may be true – it is unnecessary in controlling his body – but you still need it to bind you to him. He is the only one the Orb will work for. He is the only soul capable of housing yours. It takes magic to keep you here. The magic he possesses far surpasses that contained by any other soul on this plane. Those souls with magic would not last long sustaining you. They would die once all their magic was drained. Few other souls, too, have magic: the vast majority have none at all. Any of these souls you tried to inhabit would burn up after you bonded to them. Had you not my Soulmaster, you would be forced to hop from one soul to the next, surviving until each soul in turn gave out. His soul, with its great energies, is the only one you can occupy indefinitely.
'His is also the only one that can survive channeling your power. You transformed his body, made it more like yours, knowing that it would aid the transferal of your power from the heavenly plane to this one. We have all seen the devastating effects this has had on both he and this plane. But even my Soulmaster has his limits. Even he cannot survive your full strength. If you were to cause any further change in him, he would reach that limit and die. You know that, and that is why you have gone no further.'
"Stop it!" Slypher struggled against his bindings to no avail. "No more!"
'If we were to shatter that Orb, you would be torn from him... You were summoned here as a spirit. To shatter the Orb now would leave you trapped in spirit form, without the ability to recover your solid body. You would be forced to hop from mortal soul to mortal soul, unable to access any more of your power from the heavenly plane. Eventually there would be no souls of magic left for you to possess, and you would be forced back into heaven.'
"No!"
'But we cannot break the Orb,' Mahado stressed when Joey moved to grasp it, 'for the tearing apart of their souls would devastate my Soulmaster's. Slypher is immortal, and would survive. Soulmaster is not. He would be killed.'
"So then what are we supposed to do?" he asked desperately.
"There is nothing you can do!" Slypher hissed. "Nothing you can do but despair at his loss!"
'There is something we can do to help my Soulmaster. The only way to separate them safely is to cause the tear internally.'
"Internally?" asked Téa.
'Yes. We can have no effect on their souls from the outside, yet if we disrupt the internal balance, it will weaken Slypher's hold on him.'
"And then Yug' can fight back!" Joey finished.
"There's one problem," said Ryou. "How do we disrupt the internal balance when there is no way for us to reach their souls? Even through Yugi's soul gem, the effect was little…"
'His soul and my own are bonded by a link of deep magic,' Mahado answered. 'I can channel my energies down it and into him, so that he may have the strength to resist control.'
At this Slypher's eyes widened, and for the first time the knives of gold flashed with fear. "No! You cannot!"
'I am.' Mahado closed his eyes and brought his hands together. Quick streams of fluid words spilled off his lips as his whole frame lit with violet light. Joey, Téa, and Ryou watched the ordeal intently. As Mahado's words continued to fill the room it turned eerily silent around them. Prickling energy rubbed against their shoulders in quiet apprehension.
Suddenly Slypher gave a jolt. Magic poured into him from Mahado and penetrated deep down to his very center. The rapid rise in energy made his muscles jerk uncontrollably: his whole body started shivering as though a cold wind had swept over him. His breaths came slowly, shakily, and forcibly – like something was restricting his breathing. He stared unseeingly at the ceiling with eyes thrown open wide and clouded by magic.
Ryou leaned forward slightly to look into Slypher's eyes: within them he saw the shimmering field of Slypher's magic, unscarred as before, but behind it a purple glow was rapidly growing in intensity. It shone through the layer above it as though it were glass. Soon the energy grew too large for its glass container and pressed against the walls.
"Kss!" Slypher drew a hissed breath. He bared his fangs in defiance of the force straining against him. He fought back, trying to suppress it before it grew too daring. When he forced his power against it, however, it would move and stab at him in a different place. It jabbed again and again, leaving cracks in Slypher's magic. Soon many thin lines snaked their way across the crystal wall of force.
"It's working!" exclaimed Ryou. "Slypher's control is breaking!" The cracks chipped and popped, slowly growing into larger crevices. The wall was splitting, straining along its ever-widening seams and groaning in protest to the opposing force.
"No!" Slypher shouted over him before cringing as another blow from Mahado's transferred energy pierced him. He could feel all the boy said, but he was not going to allow it to happen. "I will control this body! It is mine!"
Slypher's magic only barely contained the violet force. Thin streams of it were leaking from some of the larger gaps and moving to attack the wall from both sides. "Not for long," said Ryou.
Just then the barrier shattered.
"SHRAAHEEYAAILH!" An agonized screech came from Slypher. He jerked roughly and his hands almost slipped free of Joey's grasp. Red-Eyes too had trouble restraining his now violently struggling tail. He twisted and writhed, continually screeching as unseen pain tore through him.
Téa flinched each time he screeched. "What's wrong?"
Mahado brought down his hands. 'I have given my Soulmaster the energy to fight back.'
"Then what's going on?"
'The fighting.'
Now the violet force was free to wage open war against the crystalline energies that had once incarcerated it. Even so, the crystal was not about to let itself be overcome without a fight. Simply breaking its wall had not dispelled its presence, and in its freed form it was still extremely powerful. Both colors raged against each other in great gales of magical force. Each clash sent forth waves of agony to ravage Slypher's body, and each wave caused him to thrash about and loose ear-splitting screeches.
Ryou's breathing became heavier and he would occasionally wince. "Slypher's magic is enormous… Its presence is almost suffocating…"
"Can you see it?" asked Joey.
"Yes… but it's so strong that I can feel it, too. Usually I can only see the presence of magic in a person, but the sheer amount of it coming off of him is strong enough for me to feel... just like how I felt the killing spell on Yugi earlier."
"So who's winning?"
Ryou narrowed his eyes at the scene before him. "Neither of them seems to be able to overpower the other. If one gains, the other seizes it back in the next assault." He shuddered as the two forces created a particularly large explosion of their energies. Slypher howled, jerking so madly in Joey's grasp that Téa moved to help hold him still.
Mahado's face looked grim as he watched his master's struggles. 'Every cell of his body is engaged in fighting back Slypher's presence. Each time their energies collide, the explosion of magic created between them tears through his body.'
"So fighting back Slypher is hurting Yugi…?" asked Téa.
'It hurts Slypher when he is in control. It hurts Soulmaster when control is his.' Another hoarse screech came from Slypher. 'It hurts both of them simultaneously, as neither of them ever has total control at any given moment.' Mahado's eyes darkened. 'If Soulmaster does not drive out this demon soon… his body may be ripped apart by their magics.'
"What!" Joey cried. "We have to help him!"
'There is nothing we can do at this point. All we can do is watch, and see whose will proves stronger.'
Téa watched Slypher's struggles intently. So far there had been no sign that Yugi had made any headway against him. If he would just open his eyes, maybe she would see something of him there… but because of Slypher's howling pain, he kept them clenched tightly shut. As he jerked around she noticed fresh blood on his neck that had leaked from the gashes Mai's Harpie Lady had left.
Another screech rose from him: "SHRAALEEYARLH…"
Please, Yugi! thought Téa desperately.
"…Ahgh!"
Her heart stopped. The end of that screech had lost Slypher's dragonic overlay, making it sound more… human. Slypher continued to shriek with pain, but more and more frequently the sound was shifting to the human-like voice. It took several moments of listening intently for her to realize what was happening.
"Oh gods! Yugi!" Another screech wavered back and forth between the two. "He's getting through!"
Now the difference was apparent enough for the others to perceive it as well. "He's beating him!" Joey tightened his grip on Slypher's wrists. "Come on, Yug'! Get that lizard outta' you!"
Ryou kept watching the battle of magics. Though he didn't see any real gain to Yugi's side per say, he did notice something that had occurred without him noticing: Yugi's magic, slowly but steadily, was forcing its way beneath Slypher's. Slypher seemed to have realized this as well and tried desperately to pierce through and keep Yugi surrounded, but each attempt deflected harmlessly off the resilient purple energy.
K-zz!
"Ouch!" Téa recoiled and shook out her hand. "He shocked me!" Crimson sparks started dancing their way over his body, snapping at the air around them. Joey kept flinching, as he was holding on to Slypher still and receiving the bites of many of them.
"I thought we got rid of his lightning!" he complained. "How is he able to still use it to shock me?"
But Ryou did not see sparks of lightning: he saw sparks of the crystal energy being dispelled all throughout Yugi's body. "That isn't just Slypher's lightning…" He thought back to the moment when Slypher had disappeared within red sparks and taken complete control of Yugi. "…It's his essence!"
"What?" blurted both Téa and Joey at the same time.
By now Yugi had gotten all the way underneath Slypher's magic and was now straining upward against it. "Yugi's driving out Slypher's essence! He's going to make it!" Ryou cried happily.
The crimson sparks blazed with rage. They arced back and forth over each other, screaming and trying desperately to get back inside Yugi's body. The flame in Slypher's Orb roared with sanguineous light. The sparks started curling to it, as though attracted by a magnet. As more and more electricity came to it the Orb began to float on the end of its chain.
Slypher's thrashing had grown more intense now as he started losing hold of the body. He screeched; Téa waited for it to shift to Yugi but noticed that she could somehow hear both voices at once. She looked down and saw that it was Yugi's mouth forming his voice, so what was doing the screeching?
Twin sets of jaws gnashed their teeth and rumbled with a dragon's roar, nearly biting her in the process.
Téa paled and jerked back. "Slypher!"
"No… It's Slypher's spirit!" exclaimed Ryou. Téa looked again and saw that the image of Slypher that had nearly bit her was truly that, a transparent image superimposed over Yugi's body. Slypher's long tail coiled around his body, and his clawed hands were closed around where Yugi's heart should be. Their faces lined up, both contorted with agony. The Orb had filled with so much lightning that it was now a solid blaze of red. It had risen high off of Yugi's chest; if the chain were not there holding it down, it could have easily floated away. (3)
"No!" Slypher snarled, through both Yugi's mouth and his own, but their voices had ceased to be a blend of dragon and human. "I will not go back! Not to my prison!"
Téa glared at him with all the ferocity of her heart. "You should have thought about that before you thought to possess him!"
"NO!" The transparent image of Slypher then dissolved into the frantic lightning being pulled into the Orb. A great pulse of crimson light poured from it, staining the entire hall with its bloodied glow. The electricity inside crackled madly and pulled into a single bolt. Against the backdrop of crimson light a rift opened up between the Orb and the ceiling. The air split, becoming a swirling mass of cloth-like gas that led to the endless abyss of the heavenly plane. Slypher screeched again through Yugi's mouth in wild desperation, his tail thrashing, his hands clawing the air though Joey held them tight, all in resistance to his impending fate. The Orb chose then to release the bolt: it lanced upward, plunging into the planar rift, and pulled with it all the stored energy in the Orb. Slypher's wrathful roar echoed over the noise of the lightning as it disappeared within the rift forever. Then the rift closed, the sanguineous veils diminished, and Slypher could be heard no more. The last of the light faded from the Orb and it clinked harmlessly back against Yugi's chest.
His body fell still, no longer thrashing. Joey and Red-Eyes tentatively let go of him and pulled back. Téa threw herself over him. "Yugi! Yugi, are you okay? Please answer us!"
There came no response over his ragged breathing. She moved to shake his shoulder gently when suddenly he lurched. There came a noise like he was choking; then he gave a great cough from deep in his lungs and blood filled his mouth. It splattered to the floor and soaked into the stones.
"Oh gods!" Téa cried. Yugi kept hacking and choking. More of the crimson liquid poured from his mouth to join the puddle now forming beside him.
"Shit! He's hurt!" Joey hollered. All of his coughing had reopened the wound on his shoulder. Though they hadn't noticed it earlier, the burn on his tail had also split and begun to bleed. All the while Yugi kept coughing up more and more blood.
'All of the wounds Soulmaster received are plaguing him at once.' Mahado shut his eyes and looked away from Yugi. He could not bear to see his pain. He could already sense the agony he felt through their bond. 'When Slypher received those injuries, he used his magic to block most of the pain from reaching his body. Now that he is gone, they return full force to strike my Soulmaster...'
"Damn it! At this rate he'll die!" Joey jumped to his feet and turned to his Red-Eyes. "He can't stay here! We have to get him somewhere where we can stop the bleeding!"
Téa continued to seek a response in Yugi. "Yugi, please! Please, say something! Anything!"
Another wave of blood passed from his mouth, and then his eyes flickered. They had not fully opened, nor had they shown any conscious intent, but for a split second Téa saw the one thing that could tell her that Yugi himself was all right:
His eyes were purple.
After that Yugi stiffened, the coughs halting, and in a long exhale of breath he fell slack. All four of them panicked. "Yugi!"
"Wait a minute," said Ryou. "He's still breathing." Indeed he was, though his breaths were quite as ragged as they had been previously. "He just passed out."
"Yeah, but that might be because he's lost too much blood," countered Joey. He looked sternly at Ryou. "We need to get him to civilization. I need Téa to help me take him there, but we can't leave the others–" he motioned vaguely behind him to the other resistance members lying unconscious, "– here alone. Ryou, I don't want to do this, but I need you to stay behind and look after them."
Ryou nodded, his deep eyes taking on their dutiful shine. "Yes."
Red-Eyes bent low to the ground. Téa helped Joey lift Yugi while he continued to speak. "Once we get Yug' taken care of, I'll come back for ya'." He heard a low groan from across the room and saw that Mai was stirring. "Mai'll help you if her headache isn't killing her too much."
"Take care of Yugi!" Ryou called as Red-Eyes made for the door.
"We will," he answered. Yugi was situated between the two on Red-Eyes's back. Téa had her arms around him to hold him steady, careful not to touch the burn on his shoulder. Red-Eyes made it outside and took to the skies immediately.
As they flew in search of a town, Téa gazed down at Yugi sadly. "Don't die, Yugi," she murmured.
"He sure as hell better not die," Joey said, and Téa looked up at him in surprise. "If he does all the lives Slypher took will have no way of being avenged."
(One) – At that point I realized that's exactly how Yugi stands. Stupid me. I decided to leave it because I rather liked that paragraph.
(Two) – A note on Slypher's power and the souls: Slypher is as we know the god of heaven, the sky, and arguably lightning. He gains power when people die not because he absorbs their soul or whatever, but because they pass over the brink of life and death. "Heaven" in the sense of "the god of heaven" refers more to the afterlife in general, as opposed to just the good half where there are a bunch of angels with harps. As the god of the afterlife, then, he gains power when there are more souls actually in the afterlife. He only receives energy from them when they cross the brink, and not continually after they enter the afterlife. That's why he has to kill to gain power, for he can only gain it the instant they die. Just thought y'all would enjoy a little explanation.
(Three) – There is art for this scene on my deviantART journal thing. There's a link to this journal (the archive for all my FBK:HC art) on my profile page. Yay for shameless art plugs!
SC: It's done! I got so close to being done on Sunday, but I couldn't finish because I had to leave. For those of you who don't know, I don't have Internet at my house, so I can only post stuff when I go to my dad's office. He's been out of town for nearly a month, and that's why this chapter is so late. Sorry everyone!
How about that? What a fight scene, eh? How was it?
There will be one more out-of-game-plot chapter after this! Then we'll go back to the game with "Break Free" (the chapter I had to do out of order in order to fit it in better).
Unless you count "Crucial Battle" (which I kind of don't since it's really two), this is the longest chapter! You just read 13,519 words! Aren't you proud?
Thank you for reading, and please review! It keeps me going as I sit though summer school speech class!