Crimson let out a scoff as he looked over the men that were gathered up to help him reclaim what was his. They weren't the best of a bad lot. They weren't even the worst of a good lot. Or even the worst of a bad lot. They were the scraped remains that had been pulled together to try and make something.

Back in the Good Ol' Days he would have been able to hire the best goons he could in order to take care of things. He didn't even have to do that though as just knowing that Crimson was after you had people willing to just bow and give in to his demands. But with how everything had fallen apart after that fucking clown had escaped...

'No one wants to work for me anymore knowing that they might have to deal with that fucking Prince,' he thought bitterly to himself. 'Never expected the weakest of the Princes to turn to his sister to bail him out… I thought he had more guts and pride than that. But apparently not… and now that bitch is sending her mutts after me and mine!'

There was a reason why so many demons liked to have Hellhounds around… and a reason why so many demons did all they could to keep Hellhounds down. The simple fact of the matter was that of all the Hellborn the Hellhounds were the closest to Sinner Demons in terms of power. They tended to be stronger, faster, could take more punishment… their only real weakness was their impulse control. Their control over their emotions wasn't the greatest so they tended to just… reaction. It made it that if they didn't have a strong outside force to direct them they ruined whatever they were trying to set up. That was why it was so rare for a Hellhound to rise up in Hell Society.

But… they still made for some of the absolute best trackers, guards, and assassins in Hell.

Something Crimson was unfortunately well aware of by that point.

'The fucking gluttony bitch has been sending her people against me… pissed I upset her brother and his little clown butt plug. They have been tearing apart everything I've built up.' He grit his teeth until he was dangerously close to snapping his fangs. 'And then there are the robberies.'

He didn't know how they were doing it but every single store room he had in the Pride Ring had been hit and robbed. Emptied completely out and left with nothing. He'd been forced to move what he could to the Sloth Ring… you didn't leave anything you actually cared about in the Greed Ring, after all and Pride was SUPPOSED to be safe because the Overlords didn't care about Imps like him. But Beelzebub had apparently decided it wasn't enough to sick her dogs on his best hired guns and scare them off and as such he had been left with funds slowly dribbling away… plus wasting more money making sure that he could move things to more secure locations.

How the fuck she did it though…

~MC~MC~MC~

Layla smirked as she and several other thieves swiftly moved through the vault belonging to Darnana, small time hood and corner man. He mostly dealt with drugs and was rising up the ranks of Hell… which was why Edwin had commanded them to strip his vault empty.

The ghostly thieves so did love their new partner. It was nice to get back to work.

~MC~MC~MC~

'But it doesn't matter because we are finally going to take care of this shit once and for all!' Crimson said.

Except… that was a total lie.

He knew that this wasn't actually going to do much to fix his problems. He still had to deal with the fucking Princes. Still had to deal with the thefts. Had to deal with all that shit. And then there were other problems as well, ones that he couldn't even begin to think about handling at the moment.

'Like my waste of a cum-shot son,' he thought bitterly to himself before shaking his head.

Later.

He'd deal with Moxie later.

For now he needed to get his new crew an easy win. Needed to get them feeling good and confident. And he needed to show the other crime bosses that he wasn't on the downslide anymore; if he didn't he might as well just pack it up and be like every other shlub who meekly allowed the rest of society to stomp on their testicles and then pay up for the privilege. Beating down some morons who were squatting on his property would go a long way to helping this new lot of thugs feel big and bad… and hopefully encourage others to hitch up with him and bulk back up his ranks.

"Alright fuckers," Crimson said as he checked over his gun, "we got a bunch of newly arrived Sinner Demons who have decided that my warehouse is their new flop house. And that is not going to fly at all. So we're going to go in there and get rid of them in the most violent, messy, graphic way possible." The goons all murmured and grinned at that… good. At least they had a taste for violence and weren't a bunch of weak little pussies. "This is my fucking warehouse so don't think of even scratching one of the walls though! We drag the fuckers outside and then we fill'em full of lead and trample down their corpses, ya here me?" He shot a glare at them all and, receiving nods, smirked. "Get in the fucking cars then… let's go."

The goons hurried to load up, boasting about how creative they would get when it came to dealing with the squatters. It was all pathetically boring stuff, showing just how green they all were. Honestly, they might as well have algae growing from their gills. But they would learn… and this would be their first true chance.

'This is just the first step to getting back on top. And when I am… oh… Hell better fucking watch out!'

~MC~MC~MC~

"So you see you are utterly doomed!" Wallace declared, gesturing at his side of the field. "With my trap card working with my field spell to protect my monsters as well as redirect all battle damage back to you… there is simply no way you can win!" He cackled. "You might as well just give up now! There is nothing you can do to escape this!"

"Inferno Fire Blast," Aria said casually, placing the spell card on the field. "I win."

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"Inferno Fire Blast," she repeated. "Does effect damage. You lose. I win."

"Again, I'm confused."

"I win game. You no win game." The disguised hellhound huffed. "Seriously, its not that hard to understand!"

"…can you try and explain it one more time?"

Edwin just shook his head and moved on. "I swear to god-" several demons around him stiffened and hissed at that, "-what? I tell'em to go fuck themselves." That caused the demons to relax and get back to just… mingling. Honestly he wasn't for sure what they were doing though it was clear they were out of the tournament.

There was a sense of urgency running through the duelists around him as they tried to get in just one more duel. Net one more win. The third round had gone through well enough, basically like Round 2 but with a smaller pool of potential duelists. But then Cecelia had announced that making it through from the 3rd Round to the 4th would be much harder and the demons had… well, they had panicked. Begun to do what they could in order to win enough duels to ensure they continued on.

And Edwin understood their worries. They had come rather far now and the prize was far closer. It was the difference between being told that there was an ancient relic somewhere in the jungle… and being told you'd found the temple and just needed to get through it. Both would be difficult but you so much closer and turning back…

"How are things?" Charlie asked, suddenly appearing on Edwin's left.

"Fucking hell!" he explained, leaping at the just… being there… without warning. "I'm going to put a bell on you!"

Charlie giggled at that. "Sorry… I do that at times. And I have tried bells but I tend to get distracted by them, you know?"

"…yeah, I can see that," Edwin admitted. Charlie had a rare blend of being an air-headed idiot and the smartest and sanest person in the room. It felt like the staff of Hazbin all had one brain cell and they took turns passing it along to each other… and when Angel got it he gave it weed.

"Well?" Charlie asked.

"Good," Edwin said, realizing she wanted an answer to her question. "Another two duels locked up, which I think will be fine." He shrugged. "And if not who cares? I have no problem winning this tournament but I'm not going to bust my behind to claim a single brand new card or a title."

"But… it's a new card!" Charlie said.

Edwin though merely reached over and patted her shoulder. "And in six months some new super duper amazing card will be released and it won't matter anymore." He chuckled. "There will be other tournaments, Charlie. Other prizes. I'm not going to lose my head over this one. Because when you become obsessed with this card game and make it your everything… well, I've seen what that can do to people."

Charlie's smile dimmed at that. "You have, haven't you? Seen it, I mean."

"Oh yeah," Edwin said. "And it is not pretty. The obsession… it can make you do dumb things. Lose sight. Nothing wrong with being competitive but…" He shrugged before suddenly narrowing his eyes, tilting his head. "Speaking of…"

He had felt trouble brewing through his bond with one of the souls he held… and knew just who was the problem-creator.

~MC~MC~MC~

"You know…" Yuri said as she looked over her plate and the massive set of ribs that lay upon it, then at her own hands. Namely the fact that under the light of the skull-shaped moon they were sitting under she couldn't see any flesh or muscle or anything like that on his hands. Just bone. She knew from the reflection she'd seen earlier that she looked like that all over: a walking skeleton with a faux hawk and goth clothes. "…this just raises… so many questions."

"How many questions?" Brom asked with a slight smirk. "I don't mind answering them."

The afterlife they found themselves in was, at once, terrifying yet also peaceful. Terrifying because the word was bathed in blacks and dark blues, trapped forever in twilight. Above them in the sky hung a great skull-shaped moon, leering at them all. Though she knew there was nothing in its eyes, having searched for nearly ten minutes, she still felt like there was some kind of sharp light hidden in the depths of its eye sockets, buried deep within the shadows of those holes. Every single person there was a skeleton, their eternal rest to be stripe of their muscles and flesh. The moment Yuri, Renard, and Brom had walked through the great black gate to that underworld they had transformed and despite Brom warning them it would happen Yuri had still be terrified.

And yet… there were no wails or cries. No one weeping in sorrow. No punishment or damnation. All the skeletal souls simply… went about their lives. Or unlives. Or deaths. Yuri couldn't settle on a term.

Even more interesting was that everyone was happy. Even as they worked they were happy because everyone was doing what they enjoyed. The cook that had given them their food had looked just so tickled pink to be able to get them their meal. The waitress had laughed and welcomed them. The dish washer in the back was singing as he danced about with his rag. It was true for everyone else that was there in that afterlife. Everyone worked but they ENJOYED the work so they didn't care they had to do it.

'They all just want to work together, to make this place special,' she thought, looking over to see a skeleton woman chatting with a child. From what she had gathered adoption was a big thing here, with souls taking in newly arrived children until their parents joined them years later and even then the adopted parent would remain a part of their existence, creating great webs of families. 'I… I don't think I would mind this being my afterlife,' she thought to herself.

Brom had told them both that they could stop at any time. That Edwin himself would never hold it against any of them if they decided they wanted to rest and enjoy the afterlife they found. That he'd rather they be happy.

But Yuri would never stop.

She would FIND him and then they'd find a way to make this right.

"Your questions?" Brom prodded.

"Right," Yuri said, realizing she had been daydreaming. "So I get that the moon in this afterlife makes us all… skeletal?" She frowned or… tried to. It should have been impossible for her to frown. Yet she could feel the bones in her face shift so that her jaw formed into a frown. Even her teeth moved. That was proof that the moon wasn't making it look like she was a skeleton, the light making all but her bones invisible. She could feel the changes… heck, a few moments earlier she had accidently knocked her hand against the table and caused her finger bones to tumble off, needing to 'stick' them back together. "But why are YOU skeletal?" She gestured at Brom, who was just as much a walking skeleton as her.

"Gods can choose when they are immune to things," Brom answered. "I don't feel like having everyone stare at me as we eat, so I am allowing this world to affect me." He gave a shrug and Yuri repressed a shudder at the sight of his bony shoulders moving his long coat. It looked so much looser on him thanks to the loss of his muscles, dripping off of him like a wet towel. Considering though that so many of the other dead spirits that were wandering around were wearing such clothing, despite the fact that they had been in that world for years, perhaps even centuries based on what they were wearing, he didn't stand out at all.

"So why is this meat not just… bone?" she asked, poking at her ribs.

"Specially bred cattle that live on the skull moon, raised by Tuma-Ko, the lord of this place."

"And WHY does he bred cattle for skeleton people who are dead and don't need to eat?"

"Sometimes its nice just to eat," Brom reasoned before lifting up his ribs and taking a bite from them.

Yuri tilted her head. "And… where does the meat go?" She gestured at his ribcage. "I mean, there are people eating things without shirts on and I don't see food plopping down onto the ground because there is no stomach to catch it!"

"It returns to the cows," Renard said, sitting down next to them, having gone with a large slab of meat on a single white bone for his meal.

"What are you, Fred Flintstone?" Yuri asked as she stared at the food before shaking her head. "And it goes back to the COWS?!"

"They don't mind," Brom said.

"I got the sense they actually like it," Renard stated.

"…that just raises further questions!" Yuri complained.

Brom and Renard chuckled at that and Yuri sighed and began to eat her food.

"Any luck here?" Renard asked.

"Yes and no," Brom stated. "Edwin, of course, isn't here… but I am hopeful-"

A skeleton at the table next to them leaned over. "You mind if I turn up the volume on the TV? There is this new card game tournament that they've been broadcasting all day and it looks like its back to showing matches."

"That's fine, thank you for asking," Brom said before turning back to his companions. "I am hopeful that we can learn more about where Edwin is here. There have been… rumblings… about a man fitting his description."

"Rumblings?" Renard asked.

"Why didn't we hear about this?" Yuri pressed.

"I didn't want to get your hopes up. I heard it on the Plains of Sorrow-"

"I found them more morose than sorrowful," Renard commented idly. "You would have thought there would be more crying…" he shrugged and licked his fingers before going back to his food.

Brom merely smirked (and that looked so WRONG on a skull!) before continuing. "I heard that there are whispers about someone in an afterlife that is cutting deals. This might not sound like much but apparently he is VERY careful in his wording…"

"Yeah, Edwin of course would begin making deals after dying," Yuri said with a roll of her eyes.

"And then there is the fact that I've checked with several other afterlifes… and those that should have appeared in their's from our world are also missing."

"Like who?" Yuri pressed.

"Gozaburo Kaiba. Malik Ishtar. Keith Howard. Cecelia Pegasus." Brom ticked off the names. "Those are a few of interest that you might recognize, though there are others I know of who are important to our world."

"Such as?"

"Kin to the Pharaoh," Brom stated, much to their surprise. "But there are others as well… completely random but still not where they belong. All missing from the roll calls and the like. My brothers and sisters, as well as their attendants, the Death Gatherers, have been looking for them as well because they KNOW they dropped them off at the right afterlife… save for Gozaburo."

"And that matters?" Renard asked.

"Yes… because apparently he was still alive when it started."

THAT startled Yuri. "No… no. I remember when he died, it was a big deal. People were wondering if the Big 5 or Seto himself killed him. He jumped out a window to his death."

"Yet he lived," Brom stated. "And died very recently only the Death Gatherers couldn't find him." Brom leaned in. "And he died AFTER Edwin."

Renard considered that. "Then something or someone was slowly draining away important people, ones that mattered, sending them off to this mysterious underworld or afterlife… and then when Edwin died they began to take them at the moment of death?"

"Yes," Brom stated. "And now the death gods are frustrated and angry because something is claiming souls the moment they die."

Yuri's eyes went wide at that. "Wait… you mean-"

"Yes. Edwin was the first but no only soul from our world has gone where it should after his passing. And they are taken right at death."

Renard rubbed his chin. "Except the two of us?"

"Yes, and only because I was there the moment you died."

"What could do this?" Yuri asked.

"That… is the question," Brom commented.

~MC~MC~MC~

Edwin broke away from Charlie but the Princess of Hell quickly followed after him, catching eyes with Vaggie who hurried over to her. "What's going on?"

Charlie frowned. "I'm not sure… Edwin spotted something, I guess. Or he sensed something. He suddenly became hyper focused on… something." They pushed past several demons that had formed a tight knot, Charlie honestly marveling at how Edwin was moving through the crowd. For someone so tall (and it felt like every few days he was gaining another inch or two) he was slippery as an eel, easily weaving around people and ducking arms and hands that were waving about.

Vaggie opened her mouth only to sigh when she saw just who was up ahead. "I think I have an idea."

"Oh no," Charlie moaned as she saw a demon that looked like an angler fish leaning in close to Angel Dust as they sat in a corner booth. The new demon was wearing a black suit that was studied with lights and decorated with chains which swayed and moved every time they shifted. There were two red Xs over his chest and his fedora had a hole cut into it that allowed his glowing antenna to pop out. The demon were easily three times Angel Dust's weight and the way their arm was slowly reaching around Angel's shoulder made clear that they wanted the porn star even closer.

But most telling was how Angel wasn't oozing into their embrace, like Charlie had seen them do a dozen times previously. No… Angel was clearly trying to play it calm and cool while trying to break away from the demon. Every time the angler fish demon moved an inch towards him Angel would slowly slide an inch away. The problem was that there were three other Sinner Demons, dressed in suits that were covered in red Xs, that were on either side of the booth, not letting Angel slide out. In fact when Angel reached the end of the booth one of the bodyguards glanced at him before slowly sliding his eyes to his gun… and Angel let out a weak chuckle before going still, allowing the angler to slither closer to him.

Charlie narrowed her eyes.

"Listen…" Angel said, Charlie getting close enough to hear him, "I'm all for trying new things but, uh, this might be a bit out of my wheelhouse which is saying a LOT, you know? I'm all for giving you the old fish and chips but-"

"That isn't what we agreed to," the angler said, his accented voice filling the air and setting Charlie's teeth on edge. "Yous said anything goes."

"Right, and I know I said that," Angel said quickly. "But when you said you wanted to get kinky I was thinking you meant whips and chains."

"Oh, those will be involved," the angler said… before pulling out an Angelic Steel knife and slowly running the flat side of it along Angel's arm. "But I want things to get real wilds-"

And that's when he spotted Edwin, with Charlie and Vaggie just a few feet behind. Charlie glanced over and was surprised to see Husk and Niffty hurrying towards them, Aria quickly coming up behind them. When she raised an eyebrow Husk merely shrugged but before she could ask how he had known to come over here, that Angel was in trouble, Edwin spoke.

"Angel, I think its time we got back to the tournament."

"And I think you need to mind your own business, pretty boy," the angler demon said.

"This looks to BE my business," Edwin replied.

"Me and Angel here made a deal. He lost the duel so he has to pay up."

Charlie wanted to ask if the angler had gotten Valentino's permission; for once make the moth demon holding Angel's soul work for them rather than against him. But she didn't want to hurt him by bringing that up, knowing it was a sore spot for Angel. But a part of her did wonder how the angler would react to knowing he was dealing with someone coveted by an Overlord.

"I'm sure we can work something out," Edwin replied. "Angel has some powerful friends."

That made the angler laugh. "Yous expect me ta believe this cum soaked whore has friends? He has johns, that's what he has." The angler looked at Edwin. "That what's got your fur in a twist? Mad that your favorite whore is gonna be with a real man?"

Husk narrowed his eyes and stepped forward but Vaggie grabbed him by the shoulder and slowly shook her head; Charlie could tell she wanted to get in on the action but saw that the angler still had his knife near Angel's bare arm; attempting to do anything from where they were standing would most likely get Angel hurt.

Edwin merely smiled before looking at the guards. "You have the Princess of Hell in front of you. Lucifer's little girl. And she isn't the one moving against you. That would be me. Ask yourself… just how dangerous can I be that Charlie Morningstar has no problem with letting ME handle things?"

The guards considered that for a long moment.

"What are yous threes idiots doin'?" the angler demon snapped. "I don't give two flyin' fucks if its Lucifer himself who is here! Get rid of these idiots."

Edwin let out a sigh as a guard reached for him. "I wouldn't-"

Charlie started when the guard grabbed onto Edwin's arm… and burst into flames.

One moment the guard was all tough and buff and the next he was screaming his head off, a shrill cry coming from his lips as blue flames engulfed him fully, hiding him from view. She could feel the heat suddenly coming off of Edwin and vaguely saw the glass sitting at the table begin to bubble and boil. The fires were done in about 20 seconds and when they disappeared there was nothing but a pile of ash and twisted metal to show the bodyguard and his gun had been there.

"I don't like to be touched," Edwin said before glancing behind him. "A chair?"

Aria scrambled and grabbed a chair for Edwin, who sat down at the table across from the fuming angler.

"Hi," he said with utter politeness.

"Yous thinks that's gonna scare me?" the demon said. He chuckled, pulling out a cigar and lighting it, taking a long drag from it. Smoke though came out of his gills, rather than his mouth, as he reduced a third of the cigar into cinders and ash just with the first swallow. Of course the entire time he still had the angelic steel knife out, pressed against Angel's wrist. "Ya know how many times I've killed those three? Sometimes I does it cuss I'm boreds." He leaned over made a show of slowly passing the dagger to one hand while the other reached up and wrapped around a squirming Angel. "Course… I don't use the good stuff on them. They're justs da help."

Charlie felt her fury beginning to boil her blood and it was only Husk placing a hand on her shoulder that kept her from leaping at the demon that was tormenting her friend.

"I'm Boss Lure. I run things down by the way stations. Everything that comes inta da Pride Ring is here because I lets it come in. Ya understand? So best turn arounds and walk away and maybe I'll forgets about this little insult ta me."

Edwin… reached into his coat and pulled out what Charlie would later learn was a Flock 22 Angelic Steel gun, before shifting slightly and drawing from his ankle a simple yet very deadly Angelic Steel Dagger. She'd also learn later on that hidden in his gloves were Angelic Steel studs.

Charlie started when Husk pulled out an Angelic Steel Revolver, casually spinning the loaded barrel before pointing it right at the demon. She opened her mouth to ask where THAT had come from only to spot Aria slipping on a part of studded Angelic Steel knuckles,

"You think that's gonna scare me?" Edwin replied, throwing Boss Lure's words right back at him. "Now… maybe you are able to take off Angel's hand-"

"Uh, could we change that to he can't?" Angel said nervously even as Boss Lure pulled him in closer.

"-and maybe I am able to get off a shot through that blubbery head of yours while Husk kills your other guards and the one I burned gets recruited to my side. I bet he'd like a boss that doesn't kill him for funsies." He rolled his eyes at that. "Now… what exactly was the deal you cut with Angel?"

"Nothing toos big…" Boss Lure replied which caused Angel to snicker until he remembered the knife. "Just a night with me, anything goes."

"I didn't think that would mean knife play…" Angel admitted.

Edwin slowly nodded at that. "Right. Shake hands and all that?" Boss Lure nodded. "Hmmm…"

"So ya sees, its all nice and legal."

Edwin let out a laugh at that. "This is Hell, Fish and Chips. The only law is power."

Charlie winced at that but had to admit he was right. She had seen time and time again that the only way things got done was because someone with power commanded it. It was why the Overlords even existed and, more importantly, how Pentagram City had managed to remain standing. If not for those with power squeezing their hands and setting up the laws and rules everything would have descended into violence and destruction. And even then… the law could change with the rise and fall of the different power players.

"Still… I get it. Angel gambled and he lost. Sure, he should have found out what interested you first but sometimes he sucks off more than he can swallow." He shrugged. "So why don't you and I settle up his debt in a more mature way."

"Ah, of course," Boss Lure said, finally letting go of Angel. "The only way men like us can settle things."

"That's right a-"

"Duel!"

Edwin's face fell at that. "I… uh… was going to suggest-"

"We shall duel to determine what happens with this ones here!" Boss Lure said. "And… all your Angelic Steel, of course."

Charlie took a step forward. "I can't-"

Edwin though waved her off. "Yeah yeah… should have seen that one coming. And hey, official tournament duel and all that." He took out his deck. "Alright then… let's duel."

~MC~MC~MC~

"Aw man, this looks like its gonna be a fun duel!"

Yuri shook her head, tuning out the skeleton sitting at the table near them. It was only them at the café at the moment and she wasn't going to be a bitch to him just because he was getting excited. Still…

"I can't believe that Duel Monsters reaches across the multiverse in terms of popularity."

"Well, according to the Captain there are multiple universes where the game is played," Renard stated as he finished off his food.

Brom nodded. "Sometimes worlds need such things in order to deal with the stress and pressure that comes from the dangers that plague the lands."

"Card games help with that stuff?" Yuri asked.

The Death God nodded. "You see… there are elemental forces in every world. Its… rather complex, you must understand, so I am going to try and keep it as simple as possible. The metaphors aren't actually correct at all but they are the best way to explain them."

Yuri sighed. "This is like telling a 3 year old that storks bring babies… it's the only way to explain it to them."

"I wouldn't want to offend…"

"No no, I get it," she assured him. "So… Elemental Forces?"

"The building blocks upon which existence is built upon. There must be life. There must be death. There must be creation and destruction. Order and Chaos. Love and hate. These things need to exist and they need something to direct them and drive them. Sometimes whatever life exists shapes what these elements use to express themselves and sometimes… well… they are forced to do it themselves. And that can lead to some very bad things."

"What do you mean?" Yuri asked.

"There are worlds where, simply put, there are no happy endings. Destruction and death will always win and it is merely a battle for life and creation to remain steady. There can be no growth anymore. The heroes of those worlds will know pain and suffering. Innocents will die needless deaths. So on. Other times…" he smiled, "instead of giant cannibalistic monsters or huge mechs powered by the braindead bodies of the pilots' loved ones… it is a card game."

"…fuck," Yuri whispered. "I guess then people being obsessed with Pegasus' game isn't all that bad, huh Renard."

Renard didn't answer.

"Renard?"

"…my god," he whispered and Yuri turned to see him not looking at her but at the TV.

Yuri turned and stared at the duel that was currently playing out.

It wasn't anything like Battle City. The two were just sitting at a table. One was a fish man with a bone white… woman? Man?... next to them looking rather awkward. Across from the fish man though was…

He was bigger.

His hair was blue.

He was wearing a very different outfit.

But Yuri knew him all the same.

"Edwin…" she whispered in shock.