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

Chapter 25: The Freedom and the Explanation

Third Person POV

The demons looked at May shocked. "What're you doing here, angel?" asked the first guard.

"And I would tell you, why?" May replied and they growled.

"We'll tear a little shrimp like you apart!" yelled the second and the two attacked.

May easily knocked out the first while Yusei jabbed the second, neutralizing him before knocking him out.

"You're not half bad at hand to hand combat, Yusei," May praised.

"Let's just focus on getting Era back," he responded. "After that, we'll deal with everything else."

May nodded and they walked to the door. They pushed on it but not a sound was made as it opened. As they entered, they saw Brehnam traced his fingers down Era's entire body as she winced and tensed at the dark energy.

"Back away from her!" Yusei ordered surprising Brehnam.

The demon king turned to the two angels. "I knew you were attached to your mate but I didn't think you would go as far as entering the Underworld," he said.

"I'll never abandon, Era. I promised to keep her safe and I'll keep it," Yusei retorted.

"And what about you, May—Am I correct?" Brehnam asked.

"I owe everything to Era. I won't abandon her either," she answered.

"Do you really think you'll be able to take me on and get out of here with Era?" Brehnam asked.

"Bet on it," Yusei replied. Brehnam's hands glowed with an attack while Yusei and May got into defensive stances.

"Yusei," May whispered. He looked at her slightly, thought kept most of his focus on Brehnam. "I'll keep Brehnam busy while you deal with Era and get her out of here."

"I'm not leaving here without you, May. Era will kill me if I do," Yusei responded.

"But…" May began but paused. "Fine. But at least get Era out of those chains and free her so we can make an easy escape."

Yusei nodded. He turned and barely avoided a ball of dark energy being shot at him. He looked at Brehnam who had a confident grin on his face. May then shot an attack at Brehnam, turning the demon's attention to her. Yusei took that time to run over to Era. He sliced the chains off with a spell and Era relaxed a bit.

Yusei grabbed her and pulled her in to a tight hug. Era felt so weak and frail in his arms and it made him sad to feel how weak she was now. "Let's get out of here," he told her. She nodded. He looked at May. "May, let's get out of here!"

She nodded and a portal opened to the left of Yusei. He stood up and brought Era into his arms. He reached under her and picked her up bridle style. Era set her head against his chest.

"You're not leaving here!" Brehnam called.

"Watch us!" May responded and they ran through the portal.

. . .

Yusei walked out onto the overlook with May next to him and Era in his arms. Yusei kneeled on the ground and held Era in his lap.

"Era…" he muttered. She looked at him. "Are you alright?"

"Now I am," she answered sounding weak. Yusei used a healing spell to help her a bit. "I'm sorry about this, Yusei, May."

"It's fine, Era," May reassured. "I don't think you wanted this to happen."

Era gave a small grin. Yusei brought her in tight again. Era whispered to Yusei, "I knew you would come for me."

"I would never abandon you and leave you, Era," Yusei responded. "You know that."

"I know," she agreed. "Thank you for coming for me," she told both of the other angels.

"Don't worry about it," May told her. "It's what angels do. Besides, I owed you after all you've done helping me." Era smiled at her.

"Can you get up, Era? The others are probably worried," Yusei told her. The angel nodded and slowly stood up.

"Come on," May called and they flew away to the garage.

When they arrived, Jack, Crow, and Bruno all stood up alert at the sign of Era who was still slightly weak.

"Is she alright?" Crow asked.

"Yeah," Yusei answered. "Just a bit weak."

"Are you alright?" Jack asked. Yusei nodded. "What were you thinking? Suddenly going into the Underworld alone!"

"I was thinking about getting to Era as fast as possible," Yusei responded.

"Like I said, stubborn as a Belanchi," May responded.

"That's a good and bad thing sometimes," Era commented.

Yusei looked at her slightly worried. He led her to the couch where he got her to sit down. He slowly sat down beside her when she leaned into his chest.

"So what exactly happened, Era?" Bruno asked.

"I had caught up to Lazar and was about to confront him when a couple demons came and cut me off. They were extremely powerful demons, too. They reached to get me and I tried to fight back but I eventually had to run because they were too powerful at the time. But they chased me for a while until I found somewhere to hide. They passed by my hiding spot and I had thought I lost them when they grabbed me. After that, they through me into a Demon Cage and brought it to the room where Primo and Brehnam came," Era explained. "At one point, they came in arguing about something."

"What?" Yusei asked.

"Brehnam didn't want Primo to activate the self-destruct sequence that he did as he wanted you to find me. But Primo didn't want you to find out about his plans," Era paused for a moment nervous.

"What plans?" Crow asked.

"He's going to create more Ghosts and used the program we made to make them," Era explained.

"Make more Ghosts?!" Jack exclaimed.

"Please tell me this is some sick joke," Crow stated but Era shook her head.

"But I was confused by what Primo said Brehnam threatened to tell Jakob and Lester early," Era responded and they looked at her with eyes prodding for more information. "He said he couldn't be possessed."

"But the only things that can't be possessed are…" May trailed off.

"Robots," Yusei realized.

"But I don't know how. He could think and act like a human. So it doesn't make sense. And if he really is a robot, does that mean the other two are as well?" Era wondered.

"We'll worry about that once you recover," Yusei told her. She looked at him. "But we'll figure it out and stop it."

"Yusei's right. We'll stop them and this Ghost army. We've beaten the Dark Signers and the King of the Underworld, after all," Crow responded. "But you need to rest and stop trying to go on your own. You need to let us help you too."

"But… I don't want you to be put in danger," Era retorted gently.

"I don't care about the danger. I promised the Crimson Dragon I would protect you at all costs and I'm keeping that promise," Yusei stated.

"And besides, I owe you one after all the help you did. Just helping you get out of the Underworld isn't enough for all the help you gave me, in my opinion," May stated. "Plus, you hold our lord's heart and power inside you. As a subject to him, I have to protect you just as much."

"And we're your friends. And friends help each other," Crow stated.

"Right," Jack agreed. Era groaned in defeat.

"It'll be alright, Era," Yusei responded holding her closer and a bit tighter. Era gave a slow nod. "You need some rest. I'll take you to the bed for now. Alright?"

"Alright," Era agreed, still too weak to argue too much more.

Yusei helped her up and held her to him as he walked to his room.

Jack asked May, "Think she'll be alright?"

"Yeah. Era's tough. She has been around for over a hundred years. Angels are just able to get physically weak easily. But mentally, Era's too tough for that to weaken her," May explained. "And with Yusei by her side, I think she'll always be strong."

"Yeah," Crow agreed but none of the humans seemed completely convinced.

. . .

Yusei lied Era down and pulled the covers over her. He sat next to her and just stared into her eyes.

"Get some rest, Era," he told her gently. He began to stand up when Era grabbed his hand. He looked at her once and could tell what she was thinking by the slight fear and wanting in her eyes. He sat back beside her and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I'll stay right here, Era. Is that okay?"

"Just don't leave," Era told him. "And Yusei, Brehnam told me that we're…"

Yusei finished for her, "Mates?" She looked at him shocked. "May told me in the Underworld, right before I got into the room you were locked down in."

"If I had known, maybe I could've…" she began but Yusei cut her off.

"Era, I don't care that we're mates now. It just means I'll have you with me forever," he told her with a soft grin at the end.

She looked down a bit. "But I don't want to tie you down like that," she responded. "Especially when we've only been dating for just under a year. How do we know if we truly want that for a fact?"

"Because if I wasn't sure I didn't want to be with you until a demon killed me, I wouldn't have become an angel. And if I wasn't sure I loved you and wanted to protect you with everything I have, I probably wouldn't have subconsciously wrapped my wings around you, would I?" Yusei replied. Era just looked at him slowly. "I'll protect you and keep you safe, Era. I promise I'll never let you go. Can you trust me with that?"

"Yes," Era answered.

Yusei gave her a kiss on her forehead before slowly pulling back to look into her eyes and say, "Get some rest, Era. We'll worry about everything else once you're back to normal and can work properly. I'll stay right here, okay? I won't leave you." Era nodded and closed her eyes. It wasn't long before she was asleep. He lightly caressed her face making her give a small grin in contentment in her sleep. "I'll be right here when you wake up and I'll always be by your side."

Yusei looked outside at the setting sun. 'And I'll do anything I have to in order to keep Brehnam away from you. If I have to, I'll kill Brehnam just like any other demon,' he thought with a determined face.