Chapter LVI: Desperation!
Welcome back, everyone! Wow! It was wonderful to see reviews from some old friends of our Yugi-verse! We're so glad that you keep returning and giving such kind reviews. And we're also honored to have so many people still with us after a journey that began almost 2 years ago with the premiere of "A Guy's Worst Nightmare." Anyway, again we thank you so much for your continued support! And so… we continue!
Last time, many members of the group awoke from long slumbers in varying moods. Dr. Alex Nakamura revealed that Bastion might be suffering from depression due to his illness. This confirmed what the younger members of the group already knew, though the group's exhaustion meant their guard was down. As the chapter closed, Bastion's inner demons got the better of him and he seemed to be attempting the unthinkable…
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Authors' notes: There are a few incidents that might be considered out of character in canon. But since this is our own universe where events have altered our characters' mental, physical and spiritual journeys, things are different and in character for their development here. We hope, nonetheless that you enjoy the development that has occurred for someone in the gang. Thank you!
However, as if the powers that be were watching and had deemed the group tortured enough, someone entered the room just as Bastion reached the window. Violet had been eating with the others, and had wondered if Bastion was up yet. Knowing he'd want some cake, she'd come into the room with a slice to give to him. "Bastion, are you— Bastion!"
Violet was so shocked to see him out of bed that she accidentally dropped the cake, but didn't even notice it splatter onto the tile. "Bastion, what are you doing out of bed? You..." She suddenly became speechless. Violet realized; he was by the window, one leg partially lifted, hands gripping the sill weakly. He had been about to jump. "BASTION!!! No, don't!!" she shrieked, panicking as any sane person would. Running over to him, Violet locked her arms around his waist and held him back. Had he not been weakened by his illness, he could have easily broken out of her grip.
"Violet..." That had broken what strength he had. His foot, partly lifted, landed back on the floor as he sank to his knees, head spinning as his battered lungs struggled to keep up with what he'd almost made his body do. "Violet... just...." He could speak no more, panting against her.
The gang had heard Violet's shriek, and Jaden raced into the room. "Violet?! What..?! Bastion, what are you doing out of bed?!" His eyes widened in shock. "Violet? What's going on? Why is Bastion on the floor?"
Violet had fallen to her own knees, arms still wrapped tightly around Bastion as she buried her face into his heaving back. Her shoulders shook as tears formed in her eyes, dripping steadily down her face and formed from any number of emotions. She couldn't find the words to answer Jaden's questions, and even if she could, she could barely speak after what she'd just witnessed. "B-Bastion... J-Jaden, he... he tried to... oh, Bastion!!" she sobbed, entire body trembling.
Hiro and Katai, along with Scout, Fonda and Alex were back in the room. "Bastion? Sweetheart?" Katai asked, kneeling beside them, trying to make sense of it.
And then Bastion regained his voice. "Just... let me... go... Mum... Violet... better off... I was trying..." Everyone heard that and their faces blanched.
"Bastion... let's get you back in bed," Alex said firmly. "And you will stay there if we have to restrain you..." Such a threat was unnecessary as the young man was so physically weak, he was going limp.
Hiro, as white as the rest, managed to regain himself enough to help his wife coax Violet away from Bastion so that he could be moved. "I-it's all right, Violet. He's okay now... come on, let's get you a chair," he murmured shakily. Violet, still crying, wiped at her eyes with her hands and allowed her father-in-law to help her onto her feet.
Scout, Fonda and Alex lifted Bastion from the floor and got him back to bed. He was so worn out, he was asleep even before a sedative was administered. "How he even found the strength... Did he give any indication that he was thinking this way before he was taken?" Scout asked, covering him with a blanket.
"I did warn you guys about this...." None other than Mary had stated this, appearing behind her tangible counterpart.
Violet, having calmed down significantly by now, tensed and whirled around to look fiercely at the spirit. "M-Mary!! You didn't... you said you wouldn't... you..."
The doppelganger cringed, visibly wincing and holding up her hands in surrender. "Sorry, Vi... they made me..."
"Violet... don't get mad at her," Zane said tightly. "She's trying to save you too... And maybe more of us... Think about it... if something happened to Bastion, something would happen to you... And then who else would be affected?" His gray eyes held her in a laser-lock.
Violet wilted under the look the same way Bastion had to her arms, frowning as she tried to look away. "I... I-I... d-don't know..." she stammered, head hanging.
"Think about all of us... And think of who is sleeping right now, exhausted because she fought right alongside you as Bastion fought for his life," Zane reminded her. "If something happened to you, Annie would break."
Violet buried her face in her hands, slumping over in her seat. "I... I know," she whispered, almost inaudibly. And as if to illustrate his point, a loud scream from the classroom where Annie and Sy had been sleeping ripped through the air. Annie had awakened abruptly from a nightmare...
NIGHTMARE PHANTASM NIGHTMARE
"Time of death... 2:05 AM," Scout Rhodes murmured, tears coming down her cheeks as she laid Bastion's now very limp hand on the bed.
Katai was crying too. "Bastion... not my baby..."
Annie had moved next to Violet, crying too. "Violet, we just... it was too bad," she sobbed brokenly. Between the hypothermia and Bastion's lungs, his body could take no more. Despite the best efforts of the doctors and Miss Fontaine, Bastion's body had given out and he'd died. Annie stood, worried at her best friend's fate now.
Hiro had his arms around Katai, eyes closed as tears slid unbidden down his cheeks. Unlike her real life reaction to when Bastion seemed to die, Violet was quiet instead of hysterical. Perhaps that was worse. She cried harder than she had since Mike cheated on her and hit her, but the only sounds she made were sobs. And she wouldn't let go of Bastion's hand, even though she felt it slowly turning to ice in her grip.
Finally, she had to let him go. "V-Violet... we have to put him in the morgue," Fonda Fontaine said gently. "W-we have to..."
Annie could feel her friend resisting. "V-Violet... we can't... We have to let him go," she added through her own grief. Her mind screamed that this could not be happening... 'Bastion can't be dead,' her mind cried out.
Violet sniffled, shaking her head slightly. In her disheveled, grief-drowned mind, Bastion was still somehow alive if she continued to hold on to him like this. He wouldn't be truly dead unless she let go. "Violet..." Katai moved and laid her hand on her daughter-in-law's, the hand holding Bastion's rapidly chilling one. "He's... he's gone, honey... I don't want it to be, either, but... there was nothing..." She moved one warm, living hand between Violet's and Bastion's, wishing that her son would take a breath and live.
When the contact was broken, it was as if the purple-haired teenager broke as well. A single shudder passed through her body, and then she shattered. Sliding out of her seat and to her knees on the floor, Violet Angeline Haverbrook buried her face into the blankets of Bastion's hospital bed and cried her heart out.
Bastion was irretrievably gone, and the entire group grieved. They made their way back to Obelisk, all deciding to stay together in the same dorm. Annie, Violet and Sy went to the room they had shared with Bastion for an entire year. "Violet... do you want me to stay with you tonight?" the dark-haired girl asked gently, wanting to do what she could to help.
Violet refused, choosing to be alone, and Annie and Syrus had gone to bed. But in the morning, Annie headed to Violet's room... "Violet? It's Annie... I have..." She had brought breakfast, but dropped it on the floor at the horrible sight that greeted her blue eyes. Violet lay on her bed, at first glance appearing to be in a peaceful sleep. However, at second glance one could easily see that something was wrong. Her normally pale skin was as white as the sheets she laid on, and her normally pink lips were an icy shade of blue. Violet's chest remained still, neither rising nor falling to signal her breathing. On the end table beside the bed sat a bottle of sleeping pills she'd had in the medicine cabinet of the bedroom's bathroom. The story told itself within seconds.
"NO!" Annie shrieked, running to her friend and beginning CPR, even though she knew it was too late. And when it became clear her friend was beyond reach...
WAKING FROM TERROR
Annie awoke, screaming. "NO!! VIOLET!!!!" Her eyes were practically popping out of her head as she screamed, tears running down her face.
Syrus nearly jumped out of his skin at the screaming, barely catching his balance as he came quite close to falling out of the bed. His own eyes were wide and his heart pounded in his chest as he looked over at Annie; she looked blurry because his glasses were off. "A-Annie?! Wh-what's wrong? Are you okay??"
But Annie kept screaming for Violet. Back in the room, before anyone could even say a word, Violet was out of her seat and out the door. She ran, even though it was only a short distance, and Mary floated after her. When she got to the classroom and saw her best friend in tears, she was by her side in seconds. "Annie?"
Annie's face was still white and terrified from the nightmare. But she threw her arms around her friend, sobbing. "You're... okay," she hiccupped.
Violet returned the hug, holding Annie close and keeping her grip tight. "I... I am... Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, confused and worried.
"What happened?" Mary asked Syrus as he quickly put on his glasses.
"I-I don't know! She just started screaming..."
For several minutes, Annie held onto Violet, crying her heart out. When she finally managed to speak again, she said, "You... you killed yourself..."
Violet stiffened slightly and paled. "I... I what?"
"I... I dreamed... B-Bastion... died... and you couldn't take it..." The dark-haired girl remained very pale and the fright in her eyes would not abate. "You... went back to our suite... and I didn't check on you well enough... You overdosed on pills and..." The sobs wracked her again, so real had the nightmare been. Violet kept her arms wrapped around Annie, rubbing her back soothingly. She didn't know what to say for a very simple reason. Had Bastion really died, she could see herself doing such a thing. "Don't die, Violet... don't die," Annie whispered, terrified. She knew as well that her dream could very well have shown the past.
"I won't, Annie... I won't. I promise," Violet whispered, closing her own eyes.
Annie knew if Violet said it, she'd fight to make it so. "I need to get up... and see Bastion okay..."
Violet tensed. "Uh, Annie..."
Syrus noticed the change in both Violet and her spiritual twin, and frowned. "Violet, Mary... did something happen?"
"Violet... what is it? Is he..?" Annie asked, hugging Violet a bit tighter.
"N-no, he's not... but he... he almost..." Violet couldn't form the words as she now hugged Annie more to be comforted than to comfort.
"He was about to toss himself out the window, okay?" Mary finally stated, crossing her arms over her chest. Her bluntness obviously stemmed from her discomfort as well as her usual blunt way of speaking.
Annie's eyes went wide. "No... He... He really did, didn't he?"
Violet could only nod, holding back more tears that wanted to spill forth. Syrus's own eyes were wide with shock. "No... no way... Why would he do that?"
"It's what Darkness fed him," Annie managed to say, shivering. "And then... His condition causes depression... it made him worse..."
"If I hadn't gone to his room when I did, he... he might have," Violet murmured, voice shaking at the thought.
"Then... I have to get up..." Annie said clearly moving to get out of bed.
"Annie, wait. Are you sure you're okay?" Syrus asked, still worried for his fiancée.
"I... have to see, Sy," she answered, heart breaking for her best friend and surrogate brother and meeting her love's eyes. "And I have to help..."
He sighed. "All right..."
And together the three headed back to the infirmary, Annie still clad in her pajamas. Fonda looked up from her desk as the three returned. "Annie?"
"Fonda... I have to see him," the girl responded, expression still worried. She had to see Bastion for herself and reassure herself that he was indeed alive. The nurse escorted her into the room, despite the late hour.
"You won't go back to sleep, will you?" the nurse asked kindly. Annie shook her head and then looked at the parents and doctors inside the infirmary ICU. "Hi," she said softly.
"Annie, are you all right?" Hiro asked, remembering the scream from earlier.
The girl was about to nod her head, but shook it, quickly explaining her nightmare and brief conversation with Violet. "... And I had to be sure he was still here," she finished, voice shaking a little. "I... I just... I can't take it..."
Katai, from her position holding Bastion's hand, motioned the dark-haired girl over to her. "Annie... sweetheart... I know you're scared," she said, wrapping an arm around her. "But he's alive... Violet got here in time... And Alex and Scout both think that Bastion didn't have the strength to get out that window. He collapsed when Violet got hold of him..."
"No, he would've found a way... and he still will if we don't do something... I could tell when I stopped him; he won't give up... If we don't do something soon, it'll be too late," Violet stated seriously, though her voice shook from truth of her words.
"Then... we have to work fast," Annie said, her eyes beginning to burn with determination. "We're going to have to do what we did when this all started. If I'd just figured it out before Darkness got you and Bastion, Violet..." She looked at Bastion while saying it, but there was no hiding the guilt in her voice.
"Annie, don't start blaming yourself for us getting caught like we did. It was mostly our own fault... what matters is that you helped the others stay safe, and in the end we got out of there okay," Violet interrupted.
"How was it mostly your fault? And you didn't get out of there okay..."
"Bastion and I knew we had problems. We could have tried to face them, but we were too scared. And when we were confronted, we hardly put up a fight. And as for getting out of there... it could have been worse, Annie. A lot worse..." Violet had wondered more than once what may have happened had Bastion not pulled her up.
"But I didn't do enough... especially after you got nabbed... I was so stupid..." It gnawed at Annie that she hadn't been able to help Bastion pull out of that dive that led to him willingly going to the World of Darkness. "Why didn't I see it..?"
Violet went over to Annie and put her hands on her shoulders. "Annie, stop getting on yourself like this. Anyone else could have figured it out, but they didn't. You should be glad that you did, instead of blaming yourself for not figuring it out sooner."
"She's right," Scout added, looking at Bastion's readouts. "What you realized, Annie, saved so many others... Don't put yourself in danger..."
Annie sighed softly, trying to calm the battle within herself. "I just wish... I could've prevented it..."
"But you did save a lot of people," Alex pointed out, "and I think Violet and Bastion would've been worse if they'd stayed there any longer. But you gave your friends what they needed to get to Bastion, Violet and all the others. Remember that." And Annie managed a smile. They all were right.
"But I don't get how we're going to help Bastion when he's still so weak," Syrus sighed, frowning.
And then Annie looked at Violet. "Violet... we have to start with you... You have to be his strength here... And that means we get you better..."
Violet blinked in surprise, glancing away and fidgeting a bit. "D... do we have to...?" she murmured, unsure.
The dark-haired girl disengaged from her surrogate brother and his mother and turned to grip her surrogate sister's hand. "Yes... Violet, you're stronger right now... Bastion is in no condition to do as we did with everybody else... If we tried now, I think he'd relapse... And if you don't confront this, Violet... you'll fall..."
"B-but... I..." The purple-haired teen sighed, realizing there was no getting out of this. "F-fine..."
"Violet, I know it's really scary, but... this is something you've got to do," Annie murmured. "And it's better if you do it sooner... We'll do it in the morning...."
Katai moved to hug Violet too. "Sweetheart, I'll be with you if you want me to be..."
Violet hugged back, grateful for the offer. "Can you?"
"Of course, Violet... I want you to be happy and free of this pain... And I'll do anything to help you get better."
"Thanks, Katai... I think you'll be a big help..."
Katai hugged a little bit tighter. "I just wish I could do more, Violet..." And then Bastion, through his sedation, cried out unintelligibly.
Violet's full attention instantly switched to her fiancé, all thoughts of what was to come shoved to the back of her mind. "Bastion?!"
The cry was a weak one, but it indicated some sort of fear. Annie shivered. And then Bastion murmured, "Violet... don't... Just let me..."
Violet gently grasped his hand with her own, frowning deeply. "Bastion..."
"He's still thinking about it," Annie murmured, eyes moving to his vital signs. They were stable and indicative of a body on the mend, but the monitors couldn't show the condition of his fragile mind.
"We can't leave him alone again, even if he's sleeping," Violet said softly.
Annie shook her head. "This is not going to be easy... Violet... you've gotta sleep... I've slept for almost two days."
Violet frowned again as she looked at her best friend. "I can't leave him... not now..."
Alex smiled gently. "If you want to sleep in the same bed now... you can."
Violet's face lit up for the first time in a while. "I... I can? Really?"
Alex nodded. "He's off the respirator and you might keep him soothed, Violet."
"Well, in that case... I guess I can get some sleep."
"Good." Alex stepped out, allowing Katai and Annie to help Violet get ready for and into bed.
"All comfortable, sweetie?" Katai asked when Violet was lying next to Bastion.
"Yeah. Thanks," Violet murmured, already beginning to drift with her arms wrapped securely around her fiancé.
Katai started to sing softly as the young woman drifted off. It was, oddly, a song from a little known anime that she knew both the English and Japanese lyrics to. On this occasion, she went with the English lyrics of the lullaby from "Key the Metal Idol." Violet was asleep in less than a minute, feeling more comfortable than she had since before Bastion was admitted.
Scout tiptoed into the room at this moment, flanked by Hiro Misawa, the latter who had been on a school computer, researching all he could to help his only child. "Annie... sweetie, you don't have to stay up. We can take over," the pediatric surgeon whispered, taking care not to wake the sleeping couple.
"But... Bastion and Violet need me," the girl murmured. She really didn't want to leave.
"Annie, we know you want to help. And you will. But right now you can be more of a help by taking a rest and letting us have a turn," Hiro explained calmly and firmly, keeping his tone kind.
Annie was prepared to argue, but saw the steeliness in Hiro's eyes. She nodded, accepting it. The fact remained that she was still seventeen. "Okay... I didn't think... I mean... I'm not even pre-med yet..."
He smiled a little. "It's all right, Annie. I don't blame you for not remembering. You're not in medical school yet, but you've been doing the work of a student."
"Thanks, Hiro... You guys'll wake me if anything happens, though, right?"
"Of course. Now, you go get some more rest. You'll need it..."
Annie nodded and headed out of the room to the great room. No one was asleep yet. Jaden was sitting up on his air mattress with Alexis, still upset from what he'd seen. "I still can't believe Bastion did that..."
Alexis had her arms around him. "His mind's messed up right now, Jay... what he did... He must have thought it was good for us..."
"He was just standing there... Now I know how Mom and Dad felt," he murmured thoughtfully.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"When I was seven and messed up... Mom and Dad caught me before I did it...."
Her eyes widened. She'd known, of course, that her love had gone through a rough patch. However, he hadn't ever told of an actual attempt. "Jaden, you didn't..."
Jaden looked down at the blankets, remembering the evening his parents had realized they had a suicidal child on their hands. "Mom and Dad had taken me to school that day and it went okay for a while. But then... some kids started teasing me, calling me Freak and Curse-boy, telling me to stay away from them because I'd hurt them if I dueled them. One kid said, 'Go kill yourself, Yuki... we don't need you around...' And then some of them shoved me around and the teachers broke it up. And then Dad came and picked me up. That night, I was really upset and I went to Mom's medicine cabinet... I found some pills... and I had some juice and... I started taking them..."
"Oh, Jay... how did your parents know?"
"Dad found me taking them," Jaden explained softly. "He pulled the bottle away from me and they rushed me right to the ER..." He shook a little, and added, "I'd taken 25 pills when Dad found me..."
She hugged him to her, having never thought he truly could do such a thing. "Jaden... you never tried again, did you?
Jaden thought quickly. "No. I was in the psych ward for a few days and then in therapy with Dr. Yancy after that. And I got the idea that it wouldn't make anything better..."
"That's good... I'm glad you realized that and haven't forgotten it. Bastion's going to need to learn the same thing..."
"Yeah... I mean, the feeling came back that I should when... he came," Jaden shivered.
"He??" Alexis asked.
"Haou," Jaden whispered, remembering when the PTSD had returned, and the Supreme King had first appeared, threatening his sanity.
"I'm not surprised... but now he's gone, and you should never have to feel that way again. There's never a good reason for anyone to do that..."
"I know... I just hope whatever's got Bastion... we can free him..."
Annie had just entered the room and gave updates. "He's sleeping now and Violet is too... His dreams are all messed up..."
"Annie, we're going to have to do what we did weeks ago. What we did to get rid of our darkness," Alexis stated.
"We have to take care of Violet first... Bastion's still too weak..."
"When do you think we should do it? It's too late now..."
Annie sank onto a chair as the other young adults and remaining students moved close. "Tomorrow morning.... We have to break through what's hurting Violet... if we don't strengthen her... I don't want to think about what'll happen..."
"And if she's stronger, then she'll help Bastion more. It'll be easier to get him through what's hurting him," Rosa stated thoughtfully.
Blair nodded in agreement. "He needs all of us, but her especially. Annie, were you going to stay in there?"
"Yeah... but Scout and Hiro reminded me of my age and that I haven't even been accepted into a pre-med program yet..." Annie blushed lightly at the admission.
"It's okay, Annie. Things have been crazy for so long," Atticus soothed, sweat-dropping.
"Maybe... we all need to go to bed," Chazz suggested.
"Good idea, bro. We'll need the rest for tomorrow..."
"Yeah..." With that, the gang headed to their makeshift beds.
Annie and Sy settled in with the rest of the group as did Zane. "It's so weird to be in here like this... during the summer," the oldest Truesdale brother whispered to the younger one.
"Yeah... I just hope that after this, we won't be in the hospital again unless it's for, uh... good reasons," Syrus whispered, blushing a little at the thought.
Zane smirked back a little, noticing that Annie had drifted off, despite her nearly two-day nap. "Yeah... you guys have had enough of bad reasons..."
Syrus, flustered, felt like changing the subject. "Um, so... have you found anyone yet, big bro?"
Zane turned a little bit red. "Well.... Jackie and I are really getting serious..."
Now it was Sy's turn to smirk. "Oh? How serious?"
Zane was uncharacteristically blushing now. "Well... uh... Sy... uh... We're... well..."
Syrus laughed, though he made sure it was quiet. "Zane, I've never seen you so embarrassed."
"Well... Mom knows..."
"Knows what? Come on, bro. You can tell me..."
Zane stretched a little and decided he couldn't delay the inevitable. "Sy... Jackie and I are really, really serious... We were talking about just going to Las Vegas..."
"What? Zane, do you mean..." Syrus was smiling and his eyes were lit-up with excitement.
Zane nodded quietly, red from his pajama collar to the top of his head. "Yeah..."
Syrus's smile became a happy grin, and he threw his arms around his brother. "That's great, Zane!"
Zane hugged back. "Yeah... We've practically been living together anyway...."
"You have?"
"Yeah... See, we met not too long after Annie started recovering and we got to be good friends, and then... We had a lot of duels together. We stayed in the same hotels and had dinner together a lot. And then... we ended up staying in a suite together." Zane flushed. "She had a bed and I had one... We ended up staying up half the night watching stupid movies."
Syrus smiled softly. This was a side of his brother he'd never seen before; that alone told him that this girl was special to him. "Well, I'm glad that you found someone, bro. And I bet mom's Happy too," he joked.
"Yeah... Sy, I'm crazy about her... And it's... amazing," Zane admitted.
The younger Truesdale nodded in understanding. "Now you know how I feel about Annie. Somehow, when you find the right person, you just... know."
"Yeah..." Zane looked over at his future sister-in-law, smiling a bit. "You were the best thing that happened to each other, Sy... I was glad you found each other."
Syrus smiled a bit. "I know... I'm glad we met. And that we've made it this far, even after all that's happened..."
Zane took a deep breath. "Sy... listen... I need to tell you something else... Mom and Dad don't know yet..."
The bespectacled teen blinked. "Zane? What is it?"
"Sy... Jackie's pregnant," the older Truesdale whispered, looking around and noticing that Yusuke and Atticus were both sound asleep now. He couldn't help but dread their reactions.
We know, we know… More drama! But at least this might be… happy drama? Is there such a thing? Next time, please join us for "Dramatic Chipmunk!" So until then, please read, review and stay tuned! Thank you!