A/N: I OWN NO PART YU GI OH 5DS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE CREATORS!

Chapter 11: The Thieves

Era's POV

Ever since the announcement of the World Racing Grand Prix, crimes involving duel runners have been rising throughout the city. The demonic energy had also increased and Yusei and I were beginning to have to deal with other demons. I was impressed when Yusei was able to destroy a demon on his own.

At the moment, Yusei and I flew around the night waiting for any demons to come by. May had finished her training at the Angel Academy and had decided to join us as the demons continued to pop up.

We were flying around for a while and were talking here and there while focusing on demon hunting at the same time. May was getting to know Yusei well and was definitely happy his highness made him an angel.

Suddenly, the guardian alert locket on May began to glow and she sighed. "I hate being a guardian," she muttered.

"It's alright, May," I told her. "You know you could've backed out at any time."

"But who else is strong enough besides you to step up to the job?" she asked. "I gotta go. I'll see you later, Era, Yusei!" She then flew off and disappeared to the Afterlife.

"Is being a guardian really that boring?" Yusei asked.

"It's a bit responsibility, Yusei. Remember, they decide whether a person is worthy of being nominated to be an angel and be mentioned as a suggestion to our lord," I told him. "I don't think it can be very fun."

"True," he agreed.

We looked down to see Jack chasing a group who had some stolen duel runners. One, who was a leader, pulled a gun out and went to shoot at Jack. I shot down ignoring Yusei's warnings as one of the other gang members tried to go in front of Jack and take the bullets.

My angel side hit its peak and I pushed the gang member out of the way before the bullets hit him. But in the process, steaming, burning pain went through my body as the bullets hit me. I noticed something about the being inside the leader at the same time as the gang member who tried to save Jack roll into a crash while everything went black for me.

Third Person POV

Yusei was immediately down at Era's side as Jack stopped by the down and working angels. Yusei looked at the bullet wounds which had hit her stomach. He immediately felt for a pulse and was relieved when he found one. Yusei glanced at the fleeing gang.

"She alive, Yusei?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "I've mastered all the Combat Angel healing spells, but none of them can heal bullet wounds like this." He looked at the crashed gang member followed by Jack.

"I'll be right back," Jack stated. 'Take care of Era." He went over to the down member and began to question him but he wouldn't wake up.

Yusei watched from the side but mainly focused on Era. When he noticed Trudge coming up, he immediately changed to his human self. Era was cringing in pain and Yusei was trying to subtly use a pain relief spell to help her.

'Come on, Era. Don't make me nearly lose you like last time,' he thought thinking of his duel with Roman.

-Flashback-

Another sound of a crashing occurred but this time they all looked up as Era was thrown through the webbed roof and into the wall of the crater.

"Era!" Yusei called as brought herself out of a hole the impact had made. Equette came in and hovered above Yusei. He then reached a long arm out and grabbed Era before she could move. Era just glared as Equette brought her face to face. "Era!"

"You ready to quit fighting and let me finish you?" Equette asked.

"No," Era replied defiantly. "You just finished yourself." Yusei remember what she had said during the Fortune Cup and immediately got worried. A glow began to surround the two and she began to chant a spell, "Maani Utei Bassi Nu Tun Enla Masa Nami Tunai Eta Monu Sune!"

The light engulfed the room and blinded everyone. But they couldn't ignore the sound of Equette screaming in pain. Once the light disappeared, Era fell down unconscious but everyone could see the particles drifting out of her. Yusei caught her as she was above him.

"Era," he called hoping she would wake up. She looked at him weakly as she became slightly transparent. "Era, it isn't your time yet."

"Yusei, don't give up," Era whispered. "You have a lot of light in your heart. Don't let any darkness grasp it and work to help others in my place, okay?"

"Era, don't leave me yet," Yusei responded holding her close.

"This is goodbye, Yusei," she told him.

"Era, please!" Luna called sadly. "You've been through too much. We can't lose you now!"

"It'll… be alright," Era whispered.

"Era… please," Yusei begged. "I care about you too much to let you go."

"Good… bye," Era whispered before her form vanished into light particles.

"Era…" Yusei muttered holding back tears that wanted to fall so badly.

-Flashback Ended-

'Era… don't do that again,' Yusei thought cradling her pain-filled face in his hand. Era's body and clothes soon switched to her human form.

Trudge rode up to Jack and said, "I know that man. Jack, hold off. We need to get him to the hospital."

"Era needs it more than this guy," Jack said and Trudge looked over where Jack was looking.

Trudge ran over. "What happened?" he asked noticing the bullet wounds.

"When Jack was about to be shot, that man over there was about to take the hit. Era pushed the guy out of the way and took the bullets herself," Yusei explained.

"I'll call an ambulance," Trudge said and immediately made the call. The ambulance was quick to arrive.

Jack stepped by Yusei while the two were loaded. "You ride with Era. I'll get your runner to the hospital so the others don't get any questions," he told him.

"Thanks, Jack," Yusei responded.

"No problem. Era's our main priority right now. And after saving my life, I should at least pay her back by helping her keep the Crimson Dragon's wish," Jack told him. Yusei nodded. They looked at the ambulance.

"I'd better get going," Yusei said. Jack nodded and the angel ran to Era's side.

Yusei's POV

At the hospital, Era was sent into an operation to get the bullets out of her flesh. When she was done, she was put in the hospital next to the man who tried to save Jack. A breather mask was placed on Era's face to keep her breathing stable until they knew for sure that she was alright. I just watched Era worried. Her heart monitor gave its fast beat. I had to explain to the doctors about her naturally fast heartbeat and they recalled the Fortune Cup pretty quickly. After that, the doctors said as long as all goes well, she should be able to get out of the hospital soon.

But even knowing she was okay for the most part, it didn't quell the overwhelming worry in my heart. I knew Era had seen something about the leader, especially since he tried to kill Jack. I saw it too. A demon kept its hold within the leader.

'But with Era down and May being stuck in the Afterlife, there are no other experienced angels to expel the demon from his body. All of the previous Combat Angels are hurt too badly and still recovering from Izoa or are dead due to Izoa's onslaught. And the new ones are still seriously young and in Angel Academy. And from what I've learned, none of them have even started the Demon Exorcist spell yet,' I thought.

I slowly grabbed her hand. "Please wake up," I whispered. 'I need you, Era,' I thought.

I sighed and slowly got up. 'I should go see what's going on with Jack, Trudge, and that other guy,' I thought.

I went to the other room where Jack was watching the man. I noticed the light in him. Era was right when she said seeing the light and darkness in the person would become easy enough where I didn't even need to try to see it before I noticed it. It had truly become a sixth sense.

The two humans looked at me. "Era doing okay?" Trudge asked.

"Still sleeping," I answered. I looked at the injured man. "So what's the story on this guy?"

"His name's Kaz. He was actually an undercover Sector Security officer investigating the thieves," Trudge explained. "And thanks to Jack's interference, he's now in critical condition."

Jack took a card from Kaz's deck and walked off. But not before I called, "Jack, where're you going?"

"To clean up some loose ends," he answered before walking out completely. I sighed.

"Is he going to try to find those thieves himself?" Trudge asked.

"I think so," I answered. "But I think we should let him do this."

"Why?" Trudge asked.

I knew it for a fact, though Trudge didn't know about my Angelic ability to see Jack's darkness so I said my answer in a way that was less suspicious, "Jack probably feels guilty at this point. After getting Era shot and putting Kaz in critical condition, he probably wants to get avenge the two of them by taking down these thieves. If anything, that should at least release some of that guilt."

"Yeah," Trudge agreed. "Think he'll be alright?"

"We'll find out," I responded. I sighed. "I'm going to go check on Era. Keep an eye on Kaz."

"Alright," Trudge agreed and I walked back to Era's room.

As I entered, I noticed my girlfriend was still asleep but seemed like she was trying to wake up. I quickly returned to her side and gently use my left hand to hold her cheek.

Era's eyes slowly fluttered open much to my relief and she turned her face towards me in my hand.

"Yusei?" she responded. She began to sit up but gripped her stomach. I gently pushed her back down.

"Era, you need to rest. You took a few bullets to the stomach when you were protecting Kaz and Jack," I told her sternly.

"I need to find that leader, though," she responded still sounding a bit weak.

"Era, you're in no condition to exorcise that demon," I retorted.

"Then who will? May's busy and most of the Combat Angels we have now can't do the spell," she responded.

"I will," I decided.

"Yusei, no. You haven't fully mastered the spell. Yeah, you're doing better at it and can probably do the test sooner but you still haven't fully mastered it. Yusei, remember, if you fail it, you'll kill the possessed person and demon at the same time and that'll send him to the Underworld," she retorted. "You can't do it yet."

"Era, I'm the only one who can do it. It'll be a few days before you can function perfectly again," I told her. "I'm not arguing in this one. It'll be fine. You just have to trust me."

"But, Yusei…" Era started but I cut her off.

"Trust me, Era. Please," I said.

"A-Alright," she gave in. "Just… don't mess up."

"I won't, Era," I assured her. "I promise."

"And you can keep that promise?" she asked obviously still a bit doubting and nervous. Though her emotions were hard to tell since she was still a bit weak and in pain from the bullets.

"I can. You taught me well," he told her. I kissed her forehead for a moment before I turned back and looked into her eyes. "Don't worry." I knew my eyes shined over because she relaxed a bit and nodded. She sat up a bit to lean into my chest. I kept my arm wrapped around her.

I just sat there for a while until I heard her breathing become more rhythmic and steady. I looked at her and saw she had fallen asleep again. But unlike before, her face was more at peace, despite the pain from her injuries she was probably in.

I gently laid her back down on the bed without waking her up. 'I need to go find their base and draw the circle,' I thought.

I walked out of the room when Jack's voice asked as I turned to leave, "When were you planning on telling everyone that you and Era were a thing?" I turned behind me to see Jack who was leaning against the wall that was bridging the door. I stayed silent. "I could understand the Crimson Dragon telling you to keep you being an angel a secret until you're done training. But what about you having a relationship with Era that close?"

"We didn't want to say anything until we felt everything was calm enough," I replied.

"And when would that be?" Jack pressed.

"Something serious is going on right now, Jack. Other than the Ghost," I answered. "So it wouldn't have been for a while. But we were thinking of also telling you after I was done training."

"What's going on that serious other than the Ghost?" Jack asked.

"There have been a lot of demons coming after Era and I. The reason is because of Brehnam. He was the heir to the King of the Underworld. We met him a couple weeks ago. Brehnam was also attached to Izoa. He said they were locked together in a way that could be similar to marriage, only they can't be separated. And Era killed Izoa and I helped the Crimson Dragon kill the King of the Underworld. But he has it more out for Era," I explained. "With Brehnam now being the leader of the Underworld, Era and I think he gave the creator of the Ghost the Demon Cage."

"Then you two should lay low instead of going full out on this," Jack told me.

"I don't think you truly understand the job of an angel. We have to protect this planet with no rest. Unless we're injured like Era, we don't have a choice. I already had to convince Era to stay put and rest until she's healed," I retorted. "Laying low isn't an option for us. Now I have to get going."

"Where?" Jack asked.

"To finish a job," I answered and walked off.

. . .

I flew around and soon found the base. It was in an old factory and some members were standing guard. I turned myself invisible and walked in.

I activate the future spell and looked around. I immediately saw a period in time where Jack was facing the leader. They were both on the conveyor belt in the back on the room leading two a trash compactor on both ends. I didn't like the situation they would be in but I at least knew the spot where the man, whom I had figured out his name as Syd, would be.

I went onto the conveyor belt and drew the circle silently. I kept an ear and eye out for any demons. When I finished, I stood up and flew out without a sound.