A/N: I OWN NO PART YU GI OH 5DS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE CREATORS!
Chapter 39: The Battle
"Brehnam…" she heard Yusei growl while holding her behind him protectively.
"Just calm down, Yusei. He won't touch me," Era told her mate in Angelic.
Without taking his eyes off the smirking demon, he responded, "Do you think I'll be able to relax with him so close to you?"
Era sighed. "No, I don't," she answered. She noticed Jack and Bruno stop to the side and gestured for Crow to join them. He was about to go, seeing no good reason that would make Era allow him to stay, but a couple demons blocked his path. "Brehnam, let him leave!"
"Why should I?" he asked with a devious smirk.
"Because he has no part in the hatred you have for me and Era," Yusei answered.
"But wouldn't your friends want to know what you two have been hiding from them?" Brehnam asked. He got closer to the two angels but Yusei immediately pushed Era behind him. "One of which our little angel here is hiding within her body."
"What's he talking about?" Crow asked.
"Were you ever going to tell them?" Brehnam asked Era. She stayed silent, only giving a glare as a response. He laughed and looked at Yusei. "How much longer do you think you'll be able to keep your mate safe?"
"Mate?" Bruno repeated.
"Yusei! What's he talking about?!" Jack called over.
"We can explain better later, guys," Era replied.
Suddenly, Brehnam flipped behind Era and Yusei. The male mate immediately shot a ball of light at Brehnam's head. The demon, however, was able to dodge it and tried to grab Era but Yusei pulled her away, millimeters from being touched.
"You're not getting her, Brehnam. Get that through your head!" Yusei told the demon king, angrily and protectively.
"You will get separated from your mate, Yusei. For good. And you have two options of which you will have to choose for your mate's fate," Brehnam informed them and the two angels tensed. "One, she will come with me to the Underworld again and will be my little, pampered pet. Or, I can kill her and the child."
"Child?" Crow repeated and the other two seemed thoroughly shocked and confused at that point.
Era glanced at him for a moment before turning back to Brehnam. The male angel and the demon king just eyed and glared at each other, as if waiting for their opponent to make a move.
"Brehnam, why are you even out here during the day?" she asked. "Demons are at their weakest when they are in light."
"And angels are at their weakest when they are in dark. Yet you still go out during the depths of night, hunting down demons," he replied. He looked back at Yusei. "Yusei, why don't we settle this in one final battle?" The angel gave the demon full attention but kept his eyes at a glare. "See who is truly stronger, worthy of having your precious Era."
"I'm not putting Era on the line for anything, Brehnam," Yusei stated. He pushed Era back a bit farther behind him. It was then a dome of light wrapped its way to covering Era.
"Yusei!" she yelled in Angelic.
"I'll finish this, Era. It's the best way for me to know you're safe," he responded.
"Yusei, these other demons are powerful. And you know they won't let Brehnam fight you alone," Era retorted. "You won't win this one. Don't make me lose you, Yusei. Please."
"I won't," he responded before taking to the air quickly followed by Brehnam. His three other friends called for him to stop, but he didn't.
Era tried throwing her weight against the light, but all it did in response was ripple. 'Why am I even trying to break a Light Barrier Spell?' she thought. "Nothing can bring down that spell except the caster.' She punched her fist into the wall of the dome in aggravation.
"Era!" Crow called and she looked as the three humans approached her. "What're you doing?! Use a spell to get to use!"
"Not that easy, you guys. This is a Light Dome Spell. Nothing and no one can break it down or lower it, except for the caster. It's almost like a demon cage, but it's a spell that traps everything and everyone. I can't get out," she explained. "If a demon were in here, throwing their body against the walls would kill them. Angels are fine because we're made up of light."
"What about humans?" Bruno asked.
"Depending on the amount of energy the caster put into the spell, it could either burn or disintegrate humans," she explained further and they went wide eyed in worry. "And even though I can't tell, I can bet you anything, Yusei put a lot of energy into this spell. And that only means he has a lot less energy to give for fighting."
They looked up at where Yusei dodged an attack sent at him by Brehnam. The demons were just hovering in a circle to keep Yusei cornered.
'Maybe I can do something,' Era thought. She silently and subtly sent a communication through her locket, hoping that someone she knew would come in time. Once the message was sent, she turned back to the battle, worry clear on her features.
The male angel watched around him carefully as all the demons eyes studied him, waiting for him to make his next move. Light began to surround Yusei, slowly morphing into two spinning disks around him which created an atom like design with Yusei as the nucleus. He released the blast and it hit all the demons. The blast was powerful enough to kill the other demons but Brehnam was left hovering, but just barely.
"You want to play rough, Yusei?" Brehnam asked with a smirk. "We'll get rough." He shot a dark pulse wave at Yusei. It went by so fast that it hit Yusei square in the chest, forcing the angel back a few meters. Yusei's chest was steaming from the assault but he seemed fine for the most part. But, Era knew all too well that Yusei was hiding a lot of it.
Brehnam sent another attack which Yusei, thankfully, dodged. The demon was obviously running low on his own energy, as he went to attack Yusei physically. Brehnam went to punch Yusei but the angel caught the demon's hand just before it hit. But steam was also rolling off from the contact between the two conflicting energies within each side.
That was when a bolt of light shot between the two, separating them. They looked up to see an angel fly in between them. "Come on, Yusei! You just don't know when to give up, do you?" asked the angel.
"May?" Yusei replied. "What're you doing here?"
"Era sent me a communication of this little problem going on here," she informed. "Did you really think I would let you go against Brehnam of all demons alone?"
"This is between me and Yusei, angel!" Brehnam yelled. "You have no right to interfere."
"I have every right to interfere, Brehnam. You're not my superior in any way," May retorted. She looked at Yusei. "For you though, since I'm on the Guardian Council, I am your superior. So right now, I think you let Era out of that dome so she can come up here and stop worrying about you."
Yusei rolled his eyes but released the spell. As soon as it was gone from around Era, she bolted up to Yusei and wrapped her arms around him time.
"Easy, Era," he whispered.
"Don't do that again," she responded. "You have no idea how worried I was!"
"We'll talk about this when Brehnam's dealt with," Yusei assured her. They looked at the demon king who had a glare. Both Era and May shot a light ball at Brehnam which hit him in the chest. Brehnam was sent flying back and a bit of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. "Get out of here, Brehnam," he ordered. "You can leave now and we can fight at fair terms another day, or you can die here. It's up to you." Brehnam glared before disappearing.
Era released a breath she didn't know she was holding before turning to Yusei. "Why would you even do that, Yusei?!" she asked.
"I needed to be sure you were safe and to try to make sure you were safe from Brehnam forever," Yusei explained.
"Yusei, your stubbornness to protect Era is only going to get the both of you hurt one day," May stated. "Just try to listen to Era about all this, Yusei. I know you want to protect her. But if you were killed, what would Era be able to do about Brehnam?" He paused. "Era would probably be frozen in shock long enough for Brehnam to get her and your friends wouldn't be able to do anything about it." Yusei looked down.
"You may be powerful, Yusei. But you also need to keep in mind the consequences that could become reality if the wrong decision is made," Era told him. "Do you understand what we're saying?"
Yusei sighed. "Yeah," he agreed.
"Good," she answered. "We should probably get back down to Jack, Crow, and Bruno."
"We still need to get you and Crow to the hospital for your injuries," Yusei stated.
"I'm fine, Yusei," Era responded. "Crow, yes. But I don't really need to. It'll heal on its own."
"Fine," he gave in. He knew that with the rapid healing that angels had, it shouldn't be too long before it seals up. It didn't seemed like it needed stitches because the metal was so thin, but it was still bleeding badly.
They flew down and landed. "Yusei, what were you thinking?" Jack asked.
"I was thinking of keeping Era safe," he answered.
"By putting yourself at risk like that?" Crow responded. He moved his arm only to grab his shoulder.
"We'll talk about this once your shoulder's checked out," Era stated.
"What about you, Era?" Bruno asked looking at the injury.
"I'll be fine," she answered.
"Alright," he agreed but seemed a little reluctant.
Yusei, May, and Era flew in the air, Yusei sticking close to Era. Crow rode behind Bruno and Jack took his duel runner. A mechanic had come and taken Crow's runner to be fixed.
At the doctor's, Crow got his arm checked out while a couple nurses practically forced Era to get her shoulder wrapped in bandages at the very least. After a while, Akiza and the twins came to meet the guys, May, and Era.
"We heard Crow got into an accident," Akiza stated.
"What happened?" Luna asked.
"Crow crashed into something and dislocated his shoulder. Yusei put it back in place and we're just waiting to hear how long it'll probably be before he can use the arm again," Era explained.
"Era took some of the hit for Crow," May commented. "If she didn't, I nearly a hundred percent sure Crow would be in a lost worse shape."
"What happened to Era then?" Leo asked.
Era showed her bandaged area. "I got scraped pretty badly and a thin piece of metal got into my shoulder. But it should be healed in about a week," she explained and recovered it.
The doctor and Crow walked out. "I see someone relocated Crow's shoulder, am I correct?" the doctor asked.
"I did," Yusei stated.
"You helped us a great deal with that. He just shouldn't use that arm until it's fully healed," the doctor informed.
"How long will that be?" Era asked.
"It should be fully healed within a month," the doctor answered.
"But the prelims are in three days!" Akiza exclaimed.
Crow began to beg the doctor to let him participate in the tournament, but the doctor refuses. The angered Crow and he moved to take his cast off, only to cry out from the pain.
"Crow!" Yusei called followed by Jack.
"Crow, stop," Era called gently. "You'll just make it worse."
"Why? Why now? What am I going to tell the nerds?" Crow muttered as tears began to fall down his cheeks.
. . .
Era was sitting to the side, talking with May, while Jack and Crow were discussing what they were going to do now that Crow was out of action.
Bruno came downstairs, "You'll lose life points if you continue with only two players," he stated.
"We can't afford that," Yusei responded.
"Then I'll participate," Akiza chimed in and they looked at her. "I'm a part of Team 5D's too. And I have my own duel runner." Crow began to walk out and Akiza called, "Crow, wait."
"Shut up!" Crow yelled. "You don't know how I am feeling right now!" He then walked out with that.
"Akiza, don't take anything he just said to heart. Remember, Crow loves dueling with everything he has. He had been looking forward to participating in this tournament for a while," Era told her. "He just needs time right now."
"Right," she agreed.
. . .
That night, Era and Yusei were flying around. May had to go back as she had her job as a guardian and the two mates accepted.
"You know, we never got a chance to explain to them about us," Yusei stated.
"They'll be talking to us about it tomorrow," Era responded. "I can guarantee you that."
"How are we going to explain it to them? Especially about you being pregnant," Yusei asked.
"I'm… not really sure, Yusei," she answered.
Yusei sighed. "We'll find a way to tell them," he stated.
"Crow's got a serious internal battle in him," she stated.
"I know," Yusei agreed. "But he'll push through it." Era nodded slowly, though it was obvious she was still unsure, and they turned back to scouting for demons
. . .
The next day, Jack, Bruno, Yusei, and Era were on their duel runners (Era behind Yusei) searching for Crow and Akiza.
"Where are they?" Era wondered.
"I'm not sure," Yusei answered.
Era began to focus when she heard something. "Head to the practice tracks!" she exclaimed.
Yusei focused and nodded. He let Bruno and Jack know what they found in terms of hearing and where the two Signers were. They were quick to arrive together and they came in to see Crow drilling Akiza, just as Akiza and Yusei were after the duel against Andre.
As Akiza passed by, she flashed Crow a thumbs up. They all turned to each other as the approaching group stopped in front of the two.
"You can really worry a person, Crow," Era stated with a small smile. Crow nodded.