47. Yomotsu % Yuri

Lifting his shaking hands in front of his eyes, Yomotsu glanced back and forth between them and the man standing before him. Yomotsu clenched his hands into fists and observed the simple protrusion of his knuckles. He immediately noticed the golden glow, and he figured that had to be part of Olivia's powers. No one ever told him he had a golden glow, so it probably was not just how he looked.

Yomotsu took in Light's appearance and presumed that the wings were a new addition. He also figured that the red eyes were something unusual too.

"Yomotsu…" Light narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me…"

"I can see clearly now, the blindness has gone~" Yomotsu cut in, grinning. "But if you don't want to hear about that, then I suppose I should refrain from telling you about all the AWESOME POWER surging through me right now as well! Olivia rocks!" He bounced forward on his right foot and back on his right foot, then back and forth as he threw a few punches in the air. Yomotsu looked over at Yuri and waved in his direction.

"Yuri! Wow, you look a lot less ugly than I always thought you looked!" Yomotsu chuckled. "Hope you don't mind if I take over from here, eh? I've been asked to stop Light, and this ability to see has an approaching expiration. I would love to simply talk right now, so very much, but justice is at hand!"

Yomotsu watched Yuri's stunned, exhausted expression for a few more seconds before turning to Light, who was already making a preemptive strike. Yomotsu noticed the blade closing in on him and grabbed the scythe's shaft with both hands. The tip of the blade was inches from Yomotsu's neck, but he held Light off by pushing against the swing.

"Hyyyyyyy—yah!" Yomotsu whooped as he forced Light back and caught him off guard in the process. While Light was still reeling back, Yomotsu darted forward and delivered a roundhouse kick to Light's face. "Ta-da-da-dum!"

Light's butt landed hard on the deck. He looked up at Yomotsu, who was summoning a weapon made of crystal in each hand. The weapons were short blade-shaped weights that worked well for close combat. Light took a deep breath. "Some things can only be conveyed through battle…"

It hurt to say it, but he could not feel hurt now. There was no time for hurt. He could not process the full weight of what he was saying. He was only dimly aware of its meaning, but the awareness he had of it was what provoked him to say such a thing at all. If Light had any humanity left, he would feel something. Perhaps something could be awakened, or at least something could be taken advantage of for this fight.

Light responded by rising with a surprise uppercut. Yomotsu was sent flying backward, and before his feet could touch the ground, Light swung his scythe and caught Yomotsu mid-air. The blade cut against Yomotsu's side, and as Light finished the swing, Yomotsu's fall was redirected by the motion of the scythe. Yomotsu hit the ground and immediately rose.

He charged at Light and slammed one of his crystal weights at Light's chest, then slammed the other in the same place. The edges of the weapon were blunt; they were not meant to draw blood but to inflict crippling pain. Light withstood valiantly.

"Enough!" Light shouted. A pulse of energy was released from Light's body, throwing Yomotsu back. Yomotsu landed on his feet. He watched as Light's wings began to flap again, and Light rose. "Yomotsu—it's over." Light aimed his scythe for the sky, and a massive ball of dark energy began to form at the blade.

Yomotsu bent down and leapt high into the air with a mighty, "T'cho!" He jumped all the way up to where Light was, some 15 feet in the air. Once on Light's level, he smacked Light in the head with the weight in his right hand, and the impact was enough to cause Light to lose control over the ball of dark energy. The ball exploded, throwing Yomotsu one way and Light the opposite. Light went flying toward the end of the deck, and his back collided with the invisible wall he had created.

Yomotsu landed gracefully on the exterior wall of the Castle's upper floor. He clasped onto the wall and miraculously was able to hold the grip. "I'm just like Spiderman!" He realized with giddy. He looked up and saw two helicopters circling the scene—a camera crew reporting live! Everything would be illuminated.

Light's wings flapped steadily, and Kira rushed forward. As he dragged his scythe through the air, it began to collect a bright red fire along its blade. Yomotsu leapt from the building and toward Light—they met at the midpoint. "Evil shall never triumph!" Yomotsu shouted as his crystal weights began to frost over and emit a cooling glow.

When Light swung his scythe, Yomotsu met the blade head-on with both his weights. The collision created a small release of energy, which sent them both back. Light brought his hands and weights together and brought them both down at once toward Light's head; Light raised his scythe to defend against the attack. This generated another miniature release of power. Again they were sent back, and Light made another move, which Yomotsu defended.

They continued to go back and forth in his manner, until suddenly Kaede appeared and fired a concentrated blast of energy at Kira's back. Light shouted as the surprise attack suddenly ended their relentless clashing. Light looked back at Kaede, who was emitting the same golden glow that Yomotsu possessed. Yomotsu took advantage of Light's distracted state and smashed his opponents head by beating him on each side of the head with a crystal weight.

Light's wings stopped beating, and Light began to drop. Yomotsu descended with him, charging up an attack even as they fell. He was concentrating Olivia's energy around his hands. Meanwhile, Kaede sent a barrage of attacks at their shared opponent. Each attack took the form of a disc charged by Olivia's powers, and each disc sent a shockwave of pain through Light's body.

When Light finally hit the deck, he hit the stone surface with a heavy thud. Kaede held off on her attacks, providing room for Yomotsu to close in for his charged attack. While still managing his descent, Yomotsu released all the energy he had been saving up in one continuous stream. A rainbow energy beam was fired from Yomotsu's palms and pummeled Light's body. The colors alternated as the power streamed from Yomotsu's hands; it was as though he was a demi-god of the LGBT community. Kira began to writhe under the attack, but quickly his body prepared a frightening counterattack.

A beam of dark energy, comprised of black and purple hues, shot forth from where Yomotsu's attack had been concentrated. Light's counterattack pushed back Yomotsu's charge, and steadily the dark column overtook the powers of Olivia/possibly gay rights. Yomotsu heard Light laughing from down below, and this only proved that Light was anything but disabled by what Yomotsu had thought would have been the ultimate attack.

Light stretched out his hands, as though to make snow angels on the deck. Dark tendrils shot out from his fingertips and shot all the way up to where Kaede hovered. The thin black ropes wrapped around Kaede and dragged her against her will toward where the twin energy beams were at their standstill.

Noticing what Light was doing, Yomotsu had no choice but to cease his attack. He feared what might happen to Kaede if she was caught in this direct crossfire. Yomotsu relinquished his attack, and immediately Light both overtook Yomotsu with his dark beam and hurled Kaede into the same catastrophic force.

Yomotsu spun in the air as his body came crashing down to the deck; similarly, Kaede was limp as she fell. Yomotsu felt an incredible fatigue overtake his body, even as he felt the remaining power surging through his body. He was at one hand more exhausted and physically hurt than he ever had been in his life, but he was also more powerful and full of living energy than ever before. He was able to rise to his knees, at which point he turned to look at Light.

His fated opponent, the one because of whom he had even come to Graceville at all, was standing proud over Kaede's body. Light waved his hand over her, and dark thorns cracked through the deck and securely bound her. She appeared to be thoroughly unconscious. Yomotsu looked over at Yuri, who was in turn looking through the invisible wall beyond them.

Yomotsu saw Murmur fending off simultaneous attacks by Anemone's water cannon and Wi-Fi Man's flame thrower. Rocco was checking up on Akise, who appeared to have sustained an injury to his arm. Yomotsu looked back at Light. Light was looking straight at him.

"I must pass righteous judgment on this world," Light insisted, almost breathlessly. His eyes were wild. "Don't you see? This is what I was chosen for! You— you were never supposed to be a serious threat… You're supposed to be a joke, a false hero of the masses… But Olivia is giving you these delusions! Kira is justice, don't you see that yet…? You can't change the world like I can!"

Yomotsu ran his fingers through his hair. "The only one who has delusions is you, and you have no one else but yourself to blame for your immanent defeat. You've invoked the righteous justice of Olivia! Surely you didn't think you could ever succeed?"

Light snarled. "I tried to make the world a better place!" He swiped his scythe through the air. "I still am going to rid the world of evil, but first… I have to eliminate you, all of you protectors of evil… You want the endless fight between good and evil to continue, because you're afraid of a world in which only good people live! You're afraid of what will happen to you, when no more heroes are needed, when the only one the people will need is Kira! Perhaps that is what Mercy saw, that the days of the hero are coming to a close, that the only one who can protect her is Kira, is god!"

Light raised his left hand, and more thorns cracked through the deck and began to twist around Yomotsu. He cut the thick vegetation with his blades, but as he cut apart one thorn, another emerged nearby. As he kept swiping, he cautiously observed Light's approaching walk.

"Isn't it tragic, Yomotsu?" Light started using another, but still familiar tone. He sounded mock-sympathetic, on the verge of breaking out into laughter. "Isn't it sad that, even when your Goddess has given you the ability to see, you are still going to die without ever seeing the face of the woman you loved, the woman who entertained that childish puppy love of yours? In fact, the last thing you will ever see is my face—the face of the man Mercy will spend the rest of her life with. As for how long her life is, ultimately, that will be up to me…"

Yomotsu released a burst of energy that stunned the vines. They fell limp at Yomotsu's feet; he turned to block Light's swift scythe attack with one crystal weight. While the right hand managed to hold back the scythe, the left hand began to radiate a kaleidoscope of colors.

"Taste the rainbow!" Yomotsu shouted, as he overpowered Light and shoved him back and, in the same rapid series of movements, rushed in and clobbered Light in the face with his left weight. Light withdrew and clasped his face. His astonishment was written all over his face. His hand pulled away from his face, and his hand was bloody. Both his nose and lip were bleeding.

"Even if I saw Mercy now," Yomotsu said, "I don't know who Mercy is anymore… It would still not be the young woman I fell in love with. The Mercy I knew would never have returned to you! For all I know, you might be lying—and yet, even if she has not returned to you… It would not be the same, to see her. It hurts, and in time it will hurt even more, but Olivia is right in not having me see Mercy… I would have that face burned into my mind forever, even after my vision has long gone."

Light appeared to be far more concerned with the fact that he was actually able to be wounded by Yomotsu than anything Yomotsu was saying. Instead of using his powers to heal his wounds, Light clasped his scythe tightly with both hands. He smiled serenely and rushed forward—slicing Yomotsu's throat with the blade of his scythe.

Blood sprayed from the initial cut, and when the scythe was dropped by Light, its blade was coated in fresh red. Yomotsu stood with a wide-eyed, almost blank expression. His hands remained at his side as blood continued to stream from his throat. Yomotsu felt his senses fading and darkness closing in once again.

He saw Light snickering at him, and then Yomotsu saw behind him that the other 12ths were shouting after him.

"Meilag…?" Yomotsu muttered. "I just noticed… There's four…"

Yomotsu could not hear anything. He could not hear what the 12ths were saying. Or what Yuri was saying. Yomotsu looked over at Yuri, and the judge turned Lunatic was running toward him. Yomotsu thought he saw Yuri crying, but that could not have been it. Yomotsu turned his head toward him.

He held out his hand. "Yuri…"

Halfway between where he had been standing and where he was going, Yuri had to watch Yomotsu fall to his knees. Blood soaked down and through his white shirt, while his eyes went from being alive and focusing on Yuri to being closed shut. Yomotsu then slid from his knees to lying flat on the surface of the deck. Yomotsu was unresponsive; a pool of blood began to concentrate around his head.

Yuri stopped when he reached the body. His feet halted before the shoes could touch the blood. Yuri's eyes rose to meet Light's. Light was breathing heavy, slouched forward slightly. His nose and lip were no longer bleeding as excessively. The only sign of a response on Light's face was the twitching of his lips.

"Heh… I guess… He wasn't the chosen one, after all…" Light was glaring at Yomotsu's body. Yuri kept his eyes on Light. Yuri's fists trembled at his side. In an instant, they were burning blue-green. Yuri lost his cool: he let out an out almost primal scream and tackled Light to the ground.

Yuri smashed his right fist into Light's face, while his left hand firmly clasped Light's neck and neutralized Kira's squirming. The wound on Light's nose opened up worse than before, and blood started gushing down, swelling over the ridge between his nostrils and upper lip. Light's own blood seeped through his slightly parted lips. Yuri continued to slam his fist into Light's face.

"Stop!" Light cried. "Don't… You don't know what you're doing!"

Yuri held back his fist for a moment. His eyes were burning just like his hand was. "I know exactly what I'm doing," Yuri assured him. He looked deep into and then straight on through Light's eyes, before making another swing.

This time he felt a force pulling his arm back, even as his knuckles were ready to pound Light's face. Yuri tugged harder against the force, but he could not overpower it. He glanced over at his shoulder, and he saw that the ghost of Mr. Legend was holding back his attack.

"Father!" Yuri snarled.

Mr. Legend tightened his squeeze on Yuri's arm, and then he threw his son back with his famous strength. Yuri tumbled back and rose to his feet as soon as he could. He had been thrown clear over to where the bone chair used to be located. He saw Mr. Legend standing with his arms crossed, and through the apparition, Light rose by the strength of his own heavy shoulders. Light was leaning forward dramatically, almost like one of his own undead soldiers.

"I thought you were through with this," Mr. Legend said. "I thought you didn't need me around anymore. I was just about to leave, but then you go and do something like this… Yuri, you have to shape up. Don't you want to be like your old man?"

Yuri's thoughts screamed, "I don't want to be anything like you," but all that came out was a desperate whimper. He whined like a dog. Yuri watched Light stagger right on through Mr. Legend—he was carrying his scythe again. Blood dripped from the blade. With each massive step Light took, another pool of blood formed in his wake.

"I know you only reacted that way because of your friend," Mr. Legend resumed. "So I guess I'll let you off the hook. You're an adult now, and you can make your own decisions. As for me, I think it's about time I finally retire. You've got enough to worry about, so I promise I won't intrude on your life—maybe just on the holidays! Ha, ha!"

Light reached into his jacket.

The ghost of Mr. Legend smiled. "It's over, son."

Yuri looked up at the red moon above the Castle, then back down at Light. Light was holding his scythe with an unsteady grip using his right hand, while his left hand was waving the Diary in the air.

"The Diary told me justice would prevail," Light screamed. "You never could have defeated me, never! The Diary told me that I would be immortal!"

Light suddenly charged forward, raising his scythe high into the air over his target.

Mr. Legend closed his eyes. "Goodbye, Yuri."