"Feel so bad... I want to die… and he's right in front of me… ready and willing to grant my wish."

Hell had just about finished Yusei Fudo, if Damian didn't finish him off on his next turn then a heatstroke, dehydration, or sulfur poisoning would. It seemed utterly hopeless. Earlier this evening he had agreed to a turbo duel on Hell's highway with the intention of saving his friends from eternal damnation, but he was putting his own soul on the line to do it. He didn't know what was more terrifying; the concept of being in life threatening conditions, or the fact that on his next turn Damian would complete Exodia. As his runner moved slower and slower down the road all of Hell's demons started laughing at him.

"I've no speed counters, no means of destroying that trap card, and there's nothing in my deck that can take on that hulking horror of a monster…"

Suddenly Yusei heard Lucifer's voice.

"What's wrong now Yusei? You look so sad. Don't worry, losing your soul doesn't feel that bad… Your little friends have told me so…"

Yusei's vision was blurred, but the devil's words reminded him of why he was here in the first place. He looked over the edge of the highway and into the fiery pit below; there were millions of deformed souls warped beyond recognition down there, experiencing torments he didn't want to imagine.

"No… I will not let that be Akiza… I WON'T!!!"

"So… The boy wants to go out like a man…" said one of Lucifer's lieutenants "You were right master; his soul is a perfect prize."

Yusei knew he was probably going to die even if he finished this duel, but that didn't matter to him, all that mattered was that Akiza and the others would be free. He called on every last bit of strength and willpower within him to finish the duel, he was either going to save his friends or die trying.

"It's… my… turn…"

Yusei had to think, Damian had more life points, more speed counters, a hulking big monster with over thirteen thousand attack points, and to top it all off a trap card that would summon Exodia on his next turn. Yusei had to stop Damian from summoning Exodia, but he said the ritual couldn't be stopped. Just then Yusei remembered that in order for The Forbidden Ritual of Revival to work Damian needed to have Exodia Necross on the field, so Yusei needed to find a way to destroy it.

"But how? Not only does it have 13200 attack points, but it's also invulnerable to spells and traps… Wait a minute… only spells and traps? Maybe I can still use..."

Unfortunately Yusei didn't have the card in his hand. He'd have to draw for it.

"Hello God… It's Yusei Fudo… I don't know if you can hear me… or if you even care… but… my friends are on the line… I don't care what happens to me… please… just let me draw the card I need to win this duel…"

Yusei drew his card… when he looked at it he could almost hear a familiar voice speaking to him.

"Go Yusei!"

"It's go time… Alright Damian, I switch my two face down monsters to attack mode! Hyper Synchron and Fortress Warrior!"

(ATK: 1600 DEF: 800)

(ATK: 600 DEF: 1200)

"Since I have a tuner monster on my field I can special summon Quillbolt Hedgehog from my graveyard!"

(ATK: 800 DEF: 800)

"Next I'll activate the Graceful Revival trap card, with this I can special summon one monster from my graveyard, as long as it's level 2 or lower, and I choose Speed Warrior!"

(ATK: 900 DEF: 400)

"Now I'll tune my Hyper Synchron with my Quillbolt Hedgehog and Speed Warrior to synchro summon Stardust Dragon! Let's rev it up one last time!"

(ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000)

"And since I summoned him with Hyper Synchron, he gets an 800 point attack boost."

(ATK: 3300)

"Plus I activate my face down trap, Synchro Strike! With this Stardust Dragon gains an additional 500 attack points for every monster that I used to synchro summon it!"

(ATK: 4800)

"Impressive Yusei, but I'm afraid it's too little too late. Your dragon's attack power doesn't even come close to that of my Exodia Necross."

"Who said anything about attacking with Stardust Dragon? What I'm attacking with is Fortress Warrior!"

"I know all about your little rock, once per turn you can keep it from being destroyed in battle, or you can let it be destroyed and take no damage, big deal!"

"Oh it's a very big deal, and he's not attacking alone… he's gonna have a little help… from Turbo Booster!"

(ATK: 0 DEF: 0)

"By offering this monster as a tribute I can destroy one of your monsters that engages one of mine in a battle this turn. You said your Exodia Necross couldn't be destroyed in battle or by the effects of spell or traps cards, but you never said anything about monster effects!"

"What!?! This can't be!!!"

"It can be and it is… Now Turbo Booster, launch Fortress Warrior!!!"

Fortress Warrior was sent flying at Exodia Necross, when it collided with the monster nothing happened at first, but the boost it got from Turbo Booster forced it through the behemoth's chest, leaving a great big hole in it. For a moment Exodia Necross just stood there motionless, then it gave out a loud wail of pain and collapsed into the lava.

"Your Exodia Necross is no longer on the field so you can no longer use the Forbidden Ritual of Revival, and since you already used it to remove four Forbidden One cards from play, you can no longer summon Exodia."

"NO!!! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!" exclaimed Damian "HOW COULD YOU!?! YOU COULDN'T!!! MASTER, YOU SAID THAT WITH THE CARDS YOU GAVE ME MY DECK WOULD BE UNSTOPABLE!!!"

"Oops, had my fingers crossed." said Lucifer.

"And now… for the grand finale..." said Yusei "Stardust Dragon… Show him how we do things in the satellite! This one's for Akiza!!!"

The force of Stardust Dragon's attack sent Damian flying from his duel runner and plummeting into the fiery pit below.

"NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

(Damian: 0)

"I did it… I… AAAAGGGGGHHHH!!! My… My heart…"

Yusei fell off his runner and onto the highway's stone road. He clutched the place where his heart was. At that moment everything just started shutting down, and he knew it was over. As his vision faded he saw Akiza's face smiling down at him.

"Goodbye… I love you…" he said.

"Poor Damian." said Lucifer smiling as he looked over the edge where moments ago Damian had fallen into the pit.

"You wouldn't have let him go even if he had won?" asked one of his lieutenants.

"No, I've never once given up that which I have taken… This was all engineered to see if Yusei Fudo would make a fine addition to my collection." he said standing over Yusei's body "He truly has proven himself to be the greatest duelist in the world. He had the strength to overcome all Hell in order to save his friends… now he is too weak to resist me… and now he'll never leave."

Lucifer reached out to take Yusei's soul, when suddenly there was a blinding flash of light. All the demons screamed in agony as they tried to shield their eyes.

"LUCIFER!!!"

"That voice…"

When the light faded there where four people standing a few feet away from him, all of them had huge eagle like wings, three of them were wearing robes, and one of them was dressed head to toe in golden armor and wielding an elaborate sword.

"Michael… Gabriel… Uriel… Raphael" he hissed "What the Hell are you doing here?"

Lucifer knew very well why they were here. Gabriel had obviously come to deliver a message, Michael and the others had obviously been sent to make sure he listened.

"Lucifer…" said Gabriel "This is a good and pure soul. By command of our lord on high, he is not to be taken."

"I'll take what I want!"

"This abomination will not come to pass!" said Michael.

Uriel raised his hand and there was another flash of light, while Lucifer and his demons were blinded Raphael rushed over and picked up Yusei's body.

"You dare…"

"The only reason we did not interfere earlier is because the boy came here of his own volition. Now you will release him and the others."

"I'll release his friends as per the agreement." said Lucifer "But I never said I'd allow him to return to the world of men, so I don't have to do anything."

"But you will nonetheless." said Gabriel "And he shall enter neither kingdom today. The lord still has plans for him."

"You know the law as well as I do." growled Lucifer "No mortal may enter my realm and return to tell of it."

"He won't." said Michael "He will have no recollection of this place or anything that has taken part here whatsoever. Now you can either release him and the others, or I have my orders to strip you of your kingdom."

Lucifer clenched his fists together in rage.

"Fine… take him and the others… now get out of my domain."

"With pleasure." said Michael.

With another flash of light they were gone.

(To be concluded)