Chapter 62

Tea sighed as she leaned back away from her desk, running her fingers through her hair. Her back was aching from leaning down over her desk for so long, the muscles screaming thanks to the tension she had caused in them from remaining locked in a single position for nearly…

"Holy crap, has it been an hour!?" Tea exclaimed, spinning in her chair to look over at her best friend. "Yugi, I am so sorry!"

"Its fine, Tea," the young man said, looking up from the book he was reading. "I know how you get sometimes… and I know how important it is for you to get your deck ready for the tournament."

"That doesn't excuse me for ignoring you, Yugi," she told him, shoulders slumping. "You're my best friend… I shouldn't be ignoring you because of…" she waved her hand in the direction of her deck.

"It happens, Tea," Yugi assured her. "And besides, if everything we learned from Nico is true then its all the moment important you get your deck ready for the Battle City tournament."

"Maybe… but it's also not going to do me any good if I spend all my time worrying about it and don't find a way to relax. That's why I invited you over in the first place."

Yugi got up from her bed and smiled. "Well, why don't I call up Serenity and Miho and see if they want to come over. We could watch some movies… maybe Sylvester Stalone's Predator?"

Tea crinkled her nose. "Not in the mood to watch action. Maybe a good comedy? I heard Donnie Walhberg was good in Ted."

"You think your sister will let us watch an R rated movie?" Yugi asked.

"After what happened with Pegasus and her island? Yuri has been a lot more lax with me," Tea assured him. "Why don't you go call the gang and I'll clean up in here."

Yugi nodded and headed downstairs, leaving Tea to stare at her deck. 'I hope my deck is ready. I'm trying not to think about it but what Nico told us about the tournament…'

"Everything will be fine, Tea."

The teen turned and smiled at the ghostly form of her partner and friend. The Spirit looked so much like how Tea wished she could be; while everyone always commented about how pretty she was Tea wanted to be strong and tough and be able to handle herself. The Spirit was all those things. Over 6 feet tall with solid muscles, lean yet powerful legs, a hard washboard stomach, and most importantly of all a fierce glint in her eyes even when she was relaxed, the Spirit of the Millennium Belt was truly a sight to behold. Where Tea could charm the Spirit could utterly dominate and always exuded raw confidence and determination.

"I hope you're right," Tea said. "I'm just worried about what Nico said. The Rare Hunters are bad enough after we took on Vivian Wong in that Warehouse…" Tea's mind flashed to the duel with the brainwashed woman and how, after she'd managed to defeat Vivian, the woman had snapped out of whatever hypnosis had taken her over and fled from the warehouse in a panic. Her flight had caused a chain of events that had caused the entire warehouse to begin collapsing, sending Tea and the Millennium Belt plunging into the Domino Bay. They'd have drowned if Serenity hadn't dove in to save her. "But then she mentioned Cassandra…"

"No matter who comes against us we will defeat them, Tea," her friend informed her. "Your sister's deck is strong and the new cards you've added to it will only strengthen our Amazoness Queen. But more than that… we have our friends."

Tea smiled. "Yeah." She thought of Serenity, who had done so well at Duelist Kingdom. 'She always has my back… and I have her's. That's why when she needed the money for her brother's operation, to help him restore his hearing, I didn't mind giving her the prize money. And then there is Miho and of course Yugi…' She looked at the Spirit. "We are lucking to have so many people willing to fight at our side. Not just our friends but other duelists too. Seto has gotten better…"

"If he can ever focus on actually dueling and not signing autographs," the Spirit muttered; she wasn't a fan of the playboy duelist who was constantly seeking out more fangirls to flirt with.

"Rebecca has helped us a lot." She paused. "And there is Josiah."

The Spirit frowned. "I still don't know if we can rely upon him."

"He's a good person."

"He is too calm and collected. Even during the worst situations he never really reacts. I don't like people I can't read."

"That's just the way he is," Tea teased. "Trust me… I'm glad with have Josiah Chaos on our side."

Location: Earth 77

~MC~MC~MC~

I looked around the bunker that Edna had brought us to, still a bit wobbly from having to leap to another universe and then back to the one we'd been on in order to do so. "You know, I thought the Key was annoying when it wouldn't get me off Earth-2 but I'll take being able to go anywhere on my Earth over having to constantly jump to multiple realities in order to get to the place you want to go." I shuddered as I remembered just the brief look at Earth-855, where vampires were the norm… and sparkled.

"You get used to it," my female counterpart said.

"Do you really?" Yugi asked Yoki, the young woman shaking her head.

"I saw that!" Edna shouted in annoyance as she threw open the door and led us down to a small bomb shelter. "You are supposed to be on my side, Yoki! Come on!"

"They have a point… I still am not used to warping around with you."

"Amateurs," Edna grumbled as she fired up a computer. "Give me a moment, okay? I promise to explain but I want to touch base with our home universe." She pulled out her phone and set it into a charging dock on the computer. "Okay Annie, let's get linked up."

While Edna got the connection going I looked over at Yoki who had moved to one of the few chairs in the bunker, taking a seat and fiddling with the buttons of her pink school jacket. "So… how odd is it to see a male version of yourself?"

"THAT I'm actually getting used to," Yoki admitted with a slight smile. "I think we've only run into one other reality where we are all the right gender. The rest are all flipped flopped like the two of you."

"We're the flip flopped?" Yugi asked.

"Be nice," I warned him. "To her we are the wrong ones." I smiled as I moved to another chair, sitting down myself. "So, should we compare notes to see how different our lives our?"

Yugi frowned at that. "What do you mean? I though you said they were us."

"They are us but that doesn't mean they are mirror duplicates. Its entirely likely that they have different experiences and outcomes." I gestured at Yoki. "If you want to go surface level… she's female and you are male. That can change things." I paused. "In your world is it more male or female dominated?"

"Female. So weird to see so many sports stars and government officials be men."

"But do the men of, say, my world act like the women of yours?" She stared at me, confused. "Right, sorry… uh… okay, which gender is usually seen as more aggressive."

"Men," Yoki stated. "That's why women have to run things… men are too irrational with their need to constantly fight."

Edna called out. "But the wars on our earth take longer! WWII lasted nearly 20 years."

"Interesting," I said, wanting to ask more questions but knowing I needed to focus on explaining to Yugi how the universes could have gone different. "So you have a society where women tend to be the leaders, like men in our world, but they still have the traits our world sees as stereotypical for the genders. So my scheming and Edna's might be entirely different."

"Actually Edna tends to react first…" Yoki said only to earn a glare from my female counterpart.

"I do not! I just prefer inprov and flexibility."

"While I prefer to plan out things to the smallest detail," I said. "Fascinating."

Yugi's brow furrowed. "So we might be the same person but… not?"

I sighed. "Sometimes I wish you'd been on Earth-2. Easier to explain… so Yoki is generally the same person as you. Similar likes, dislikes, so on. But her's are all colored by her experiences, both because of her gender and just small changes being made leading to larger ramifications. Chaos Effect… heh."

"Does your version of Irene Malcolm suck too? The book version I mean." Edna typed away on the keyboard while my phone played the theme to Jurassic Park. "God I hated her rants."

"Yeah, seems like Book Malcolm sucks no matter the reality," I said before looking at Yugi. "Do you understand? The multiverse… it is us choosing the different path, sometimes the smallest change. You put your cards in a slightly different order… and that single change can alter all of reality. The duel goes different, forcing you to summon Summoned Skull instead of Dark Magician."

"And it's not just you," Edna informed us. "In one world your grandpa bought stock in the right company and you are the rich one while Kaiba's stepfather went out of business. In another you never got to duel because you were so poor you needed that money to eat. One reality you were never born because the events needed to see your mother meet your father never came to be… and the universe next door never saw humans come into existence because the fish that could have wiggled up onto dry land never had the gotten the courage to do so."

"So… what is your world like then?" Yugi asked Yoki.

"I guess it depends on where you are right now," she said. "Time moves differently in the dimensions. What was the last thing you were doing?"

"My friend Joey and I were forced to duel by Marik."

Yoki grimaced at that. "I remember that day. Moswen forced Josephine to duel me, taking control of her mind."

"That's not what happened with us," Yugi said, startled. "Joey was never mind controlled. Marik kidnapped my grandpa and Joey's sister and made us duel to decide who lived or died."

Yoki blinked in surprise at that. "Wow… that's really different from us."

"I locked down Joey's mind with the Millennium Key," I told her.

"Oh… that would have been handy. Edna ended up creating portals under us the moment the duel ended, so that Joey and I landed in the Shadow Realm. She brought us right back…"

Yugi glanced at me and I turned my head away as he said, "That… wasn't how our duel ended." Before I could begin dwelling on the lives I had taken Yugi asked, "So where are you right now then?"

"Far in your future," Yoki said. "The Queen is gone."

"The… you mean the Pharaoh?"

"Yeah."

At once there was a bright flash and the Pharaoh made his presence known, taking control of Yugi's body. "Then you know about my past… how I ended up in the puzzle!"

"Except she doesn't, Pharaoh," I told him. "The Queen and you might be similar but you led different lives."

"Edwin…" he warned, it clear that his hunger for knowledge was making him not think straight. "Yoki, you must tell us-"

"No, she must not," Edna said, standing up. "Edwin is right. What we went through and what you will… they'll be different. Yoki's duel with Joey was completely different from your duel with Joey. And I doubt your Pegasus was finally convinced to stop because her adopted daughters begged her to stop hurting people anymore. Similar but different."

"But-"

"We don't have time for that, Pharaoh," I said coldly. "Are are you forgetting about the guys that froze our world and caused this entire series of events to happen?"

It took a moment but finally the Pharaoh nodded. "Yes… you're right Edwin." He turned to Edna. "Can you explain who they were and what they wanted?"

"We can do our best but to be honest we're still in the dark on a lot of things when it comes to the dueltroopers."

"Dueltroopers? Seriously?" I asked. "I see on my world we're better at naming things."

Enda laughed. "They named themselves, believe it or not." She grew more serious as she delved into the full story. "It happened just around the time the Queen and Y… when the Queen finally left us and was put to rest. I had taken a liking to the Millennium Ring and decided I wanted to keep it. Wasn't in the mood for it to become buried and forgotten once again. So I decided to use my Ring to find a world that had one currently not in use."

"Is that possible?" the Pharaoh asked.

"It is," I confirmed. "I have the Millennium Ring of Earth-2 locked up… didn't trust Aiden Order with it."

"That was you on that earth!" Edna exclaimed. "I was trying to track you down but I missed you by two weeks." I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant by tracking me down but the female duelist shook her head. "We'll get to that in a moment, okay? I want to take things one at a time." When I nodded in agreement Edna continued. "I found a Millennium Ring and used that for the… well, you know." The Pharaoh clearly had questions but Edna was wisely not letting him get a word in, edgewise, and just continued on with her tale. "So after she left I was the only person on my Earth with a Millennium Item. And everything was settled so..." She trailed off, embarrassed, but I understood at once.

She had tried to find a way home.

I'd considered doing the same thing with the Millennium Ring I'd stolen but Battle City and the chaos that had brought had seen me far too busy to actually try. But the urge was there and I didn't blame Edna for just wanting to return home.

"I began to explore the Multiverse, leaping from world to world. The problem is the Ring is… finicky. I try to go where I want but it more often takes me where I need to go."

"Like the TARDIS," I said.

"Exactly," Edna stated. "The first ten or so worlds I went too… I think it was the Ring showing me how big the Multiverse was. The variations that existed and how it wasn't going to be easy for me to simply leap where I wanted because I was trying to find a grain of sand on a beach. It was as I pressed on that I learned about the dueltroopers and Enigma."

"Well, that sounds like a pleasant person," I said sarcastically.

"Who are they?" the Pharaoh pressed.

"No one really knows," Edna stated. "They just began showing up in universes and… for lack of a better term…" She rolled her hand about.

"Freezes them?" I offered.

She grinned and jabbed a finger at me. "Would it be arrogant to say you were fucking brilliant?"

"Possibly. Of course there is the old question-"

"No, it's not masturbation. It's just really fucking weird."

"Fair enough," I said with a smirk that fell after a few moments. "They froze our world. Yugi and I were the only ones not affected."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Yoki stated. "All the worlds I've gone to with Edna… "

"We'll get to that," she said. "I don't want us to get too far ahead. See, I began to find worlds that were frozen and had Annie begin looking into things."

"Annie?" the Pharaoh asked.

There was a bing and a holographic woman appeared… one that looked just like Alison Brie… and grinned at us. "That would be me! Nice to meet you all!" She turned and frowned. "Sorry, was in the middle of work, need to get back to that. But we can talk later!" With that she disappeared and I looked at Edna.

"Yeah, that's gonna happen."

"Fuck," I muttered as I felt my phone buzz and knew it was Troy celebrating that he was going to be pulling an Andromeda soon.

Edna chuckled. "Believe me, for how annoying it can get its helpful to have her around. Nice to have someone watching your back."

"I have Renard for that."

"…who?"

That made me blink. "You don't have a… well, not Renard but a female version of him? Eliminator from Duelist Kingdom?"

"Eliminators?" Yoki asked in confused.

The Pharaoh shook his head. "I think we should limit our questions for later… we will be here all day if we keep getting distracted."

"Good point," I said, motioning for Edna to continue.

My counterpart nodded. "So what Annie was able to figure out is that there is someone out there, going by the name Enigma. He travels from Earth to Earth, freezing them in place and then searching them with his dueltroopers."

"What are they looking for?" the Pharaoh asked.

"The Primes," Edna stated. "That's what they are called by the dueltroopers at least. We haven't been able to figure out how to determine if someone is a Prime… or even what it means to be a Prime. Sometimes we think that we have it figured out and can protect a world… and then they bypass it completely and go to a different Earth and target someone we'd completely written off. So far they've taken a Mokuba, a Tristan, a Duke, and a Joey. And those are just the ones they make a big deal out of getting."

"No connection?" I asked.

"None. We've looked into them and there is nothing to connect them. Some are rich, some are poor. Some are the best duelists of their world, others never even played the game. There's… nothing. We just know that none of us," she gestured the four of us, "are considered Primes by the dueltroopers."

"Because we've been touched by the Millennium Items," Yoki stated.

"That's why we weren't frozen," the Pharaoh said. "And why we had that weird reaction." When Edna raised an eyebrow at that the Pharaoh stated, "When the world frozen Edwin was able to see both myself and Yugi."

"Interesting," Edna said. "We haven't tested that out yet but I guess it makes sense… both of your souls are connected to the puzzle."

"They also really didn't seem fond of me," I stated.

"Dueltroopers can do all sorts of things on frozen worlds. Sometimes they just look around and then leave; if they unfreeze the world or not seems to be up to their personal moods at that moment." She sighed, leaning back in her chair. "There are… a lot of Earths out there that have been frozen by them."

"Lovely," I growled in annoyance. "And Chaoses?"

"Death sentence. Kill on sight."

"Bloody fucking wonderful."

"And Millennium Item holders aren't liked all that much either," Edna told us. "They aren't killed instantly but that doesn't mean they are treated with kindness. Some get captured, some at assault, some they kill."

"And Chaoses who are holders?" I asked. Edna opened her mouth only for me to hold up my hand. "Nevermind, I can already guess that it really doesn't end well. Heads, Spikes, Walls?"

"Pretty much," Edna said. "That's why I had Annie warp you two here as soon as we detected the dueltroopers on your world; if we hadn't grabbed you the troopers would have kept hunting you. No matter how hard you run… they will just keep going after you. That's why we had to warp you two through several worlds, in get them off your back as otherwise they would have been able to trace you."

"But what exactly is your plan now?" the Pharaoh asked. "How do we undo what the dueltroopers did to our world?"

Edna sighed. "I don't know."

"You don't-"

"Pharaoh," I warned him. "She is one woman dealing with magic and technology that no one understands outside its creator. The fact she was able to at least save us is a mark in her favor. Just… lay off her, okay?"

The Pharaoh narrowed his eyes at me, clearly not liking my comment, before finally letting out a sigh. "Yes, you are right. I apologize Edna."

"I understand," she said. "It's a stressful time for everyone. This is… unusual, to say the least." The important thing is we are safe and now we can figure out what we do next. I have Annie scanning this world, so we can figure out how it works." The Pharaoh once more shot her a look and Enda merely shrugged in response. "We warped here ourselves just as you were bringing you in. And different Earths… the rules can be odd and things can get real bad if you don't know how to play the game."

Yoki nodded quickly at that. "We were on one Earth where if you beat someone in a duel you claim them as your servant for a year unless they can work out a way to pay off their debt. I dueled that world's version of Kaiba and suddenly had to deal with him following me around offering me cash in order to get out of his servitude." She grimaced. "And then when I did accept he wanted to duel ME to make me his slave because he was NOT going to let some 'foolish Yugi fangirl beat me in a duel and get away with it'." She shook her head at that. "It was a… long week."

"Funny on my end," Edna said with a grin. "Screwing with Kaibas kinda gives me life."

"I'm the sole member of the current Kaibacorp Board of directors," I informed her. "And my contract states I'm not allowed to do any real work. That means I either buy toys online, bug my employees, or find new ways to annoy with Kaiba. Last week was real fun."

~One Week Ago~

"Chaos," Seto said as he passed by Edwin, who was sitting in one of the breakrooms playing on his phone. "You're not working on anything, are you?"

"Not at all, Sito."

"Good." He turned to walk away before slowly glancing back at Edwin. "What did you say?"

"I said 'not at all'. I'm not working on anything."

"…hmmm." He turned on his heels.

"Bye Sito!"

Seto narrowed his eyes.

~MC~MC~MC~

"You are on the Board of Directors?"

"I am the Board of Directors," I stated. "Sometimes I like to stand in my office and just declare in a sinister voice. "I AM the Board!". I have not plotted the murder of a sect of magical warrior monks… but I am prepared to do so, considering my life."

Yoki looked at Edna and laughed. "He is like you! A regular Chloe!"

"A… what now?" I asked.

"Chloe," Yoki said. "The Devil?"

I raised an eyebrow. "…her partner is a no-nonsense cop named Lucifer, isn't he?" Yoki nodded and I grinned; sometimes I loved the multiverse.

"You mentioned you were looking for Edwin," the Pharaoh said. "Was there a particular reason?"

Edna nodded, pointing at the Millennium Key. "It's rare for a Chaos to get a Millennium Item. Those that do… they tend to be very important. Aiden Order managed to breech the Multiverse, I am trying to save it, Wyatt Chaos is doing… well, I'm not sure what the Gunslinger is up to." She shuddered at that. "And I really don't want to find out what that bastard-"

Alarms began going off and Edna quickly moved back over to the computer.

"I suppose those aren't happy alarms," I muttered as I moved to stand next to Edna as she typed away on her computer. "What's going on?"

"Dueltroopers."

"Already?" Yoki said in surprise. "I just loaded this place up…"

"I thought you said we had lost them," the Pharaoh stated as Yoki began to move about the bunker, grabbing different gear from… well, seemingly out of nowhere because I hadn't noticed it being there. Yet she came back with her arms full of stuff and quickly placed it on a table before snagging more.

"We did," Annie said, appearing before us once more. "Trust me, when I have to figure out a string of warps to throw off those Stormtrooper wannabes I don't mess up. If they are here its probably one of your fault. I blame Edna, of course."

"What did I do?" my counterpart complained.

"I don't know, I just like blaming you!" Annie flashed a grin before looking off to the side. "OH! Data is tabulating… mmmm."

I frowned as I watched Annie run her hands through her hair. "Is she-?"

"Yeah," Edna said with a put upon sigh.

"Does that always happen?"

"Yup."

"…well, at least Troy will just make a few grunts and then want to take a nap," I replied as Annie let out a passion-filled cry, throwing her head back.

"Is she okay?" the Pharaoh asked, concerned.

"She's fine," Edna said. "Just doing something you'll never encounter."

"Ah."

I smirked and elbowed Edna. "Nice."

"I try," she said before focusing on Annie who finally bent over, putting her hands on her knees and panting.

"That… was a rush!" she said gleefully. "Okay boss, here's the deal. They still have orders to go after Edwin here and you of course still remain high on their Most Wanted List but they didn't track us."

"Then how did they find us?" I asked.

"They didn't. This is just bad luck." She waved towards the computer and images began to appear. "Looks like they are going after this world's version of Solomon Muto."

I glanced at Yoki and Edna. "I hope the next words out of your mouth are a plan on how we stop them."

"Oh yeah," Edna said with a smirk. "We aren't going to let these guys hurt another Earth if we can help it."

"And with you two we'll have an easier time pushing them back," Yoki stated. "We try on every Earth but sometimes they just have the superior numbers."

The Pharaoh nodded at that. "We will help you. These dueltroopers… they invade Earths. Tear apart families. Leave damage in their wake and seek to harm all those that-"

"You can give speeches later!" I declared, moving towards the door. "Let's go before they grab Solomon."

"Edwin!" Edna called out, stopping me before I could leave. "Hold on… just a moment. I have goodies." I raised an eyebrow but turned around, seeing Edna strapping some gear that… well… I assumed was important to her body, Yoki doing the same though she was hiding her equipment more than the my counterpart was. When I came back to the table Edna reached over and grabbed my left arm, twisting it and undoing the straps of my duel disc, removing it and tossing it aside without a care. The tech that probably cost several thousand dollars landed in the corner… and just kind of laid there because when Kaiba made something he makes it LASTS. "Somewhere Seiko just looked up from her desk and cursed my name and she doesn't know why."

"Why are we leaving our Duel Discs behind?" the Pharaoh asked, Yoki far kinder in getting him to take his off.

"They are useless here," Edna said. "You are basically wearing a really expensive paperweight at the moment."

Yoki, deciding to be a bit nicer when it came to giving us information, added, "You can't connect to the KaibaCorp network. You'll just get an error message. We used to have Annie hack into whatever system was running to get our Duel Discs linked up but about a month ago we ended up in a world where time was really far ahead of ours."

"Neo Domino,"Edna supplied and I nodded at that; 5Ds world where everything had a cyberpunk aesthetic would have some nice toys. "But about a hundred years after Yusei. We took the time to… liberate… some of their Duel Bands."

"Duel bands?" I asked as Edna handed me a silver band. It felt a bit like metal but also was very much stretchable, easily sliding over my hand and onto my wrist. I rotated my hand, impressed at how the band managed to cling to my skin but not cut into my flesh, moving with me rather than acting as a hindrance.

"Think 'Duel Disc'," Edna said and the moment the thought popped into my head the metal began to twist and stretch and unfold, extending out from the band until it formed a full duel disc, no different than the one sitting against the wall. I glanced over at the Pharaoh and saw he'd activated his own Duel Band, eyes wide in shock as he stared at the device. "Empathetic Memory Metal. It can take your thoughts and shift to your desire. It also automatically links up to any system, meaning that there is no need for software updates or the like. The perfect tool for the person leaping from dimension to dimension."

"Impressive," the Pharaoh said to himself, looking over the Duel Band while I quietly shoved a gobful of them into my pocket, the bands shrinking down to ring size as I did so.

Edna shot me a look and I smirked. "If you didn't want me to grab them you shouldn't have left them lying about. I have friends who are going to love these."

"Touché," Edna said as the Pharaoh returned his Duel Band to normal. "You can change colors too. Designs as well. I've met versions of us from Duel Academy, Neo Domino, and cities that will never exist in canon. The Duel Band can mimic any of their Duel Discs. That weird golden capsule shooter too."

I nodded and made the band revert to its standby mode. "And… other items?"

"Clever boy," Edna said, patting my cheek before retrieving her phone. "Doing us proud, brother."

"Thanks sis," I said sarcastically, following after her as she headed up the stairs. "Do we know where we are going?"

"Annie is figuring it out while she preps locking down the bunker. We'll do a few jumps-"

"Or I can use the Key and get us instantly there if Annie can get me a photo of the dueltroopers' current location?"

"…ah."

"I'm more than a pretty face."

~MC~MC~MC~

Tea frowned before giving Yugi another shake. Her friend though just stood there, completely frozen, not reacting at all to the movement.

"What is going on?" she whispered, glancing at Miho and Serenity. They were also frozen in place, with Miho mid throw to toss some popcorn in her mouth while Serenity had been rising to go get some more pop when everything had just… stopped.

"I don't know, Tea, but I don't like it," the Spirit said, crossing her arms over her chest. "The television stopped playing too. And look… the clock isn't working anymore either."

"It's like everything has just froze." Tea spared a glance at her friends before walking out of her family's condo, making sure the lock the door before heading down to the lobby; she'd tried to use the elevator but it didn't respond, forcing her to use the stairs. And when she'd arrived she had found everyone frozen down there as well. "Something is very wrong," she whispered. She saw Yugi's grandpa locked in place, his hand moving to open a door. "What could have caused this?"

"I don't know but I feel… odd."

"Odd?"

The Spirit nodded. "Yes… I thick whatever happened here is affecting me too. I feel far more… solid, for lack of a better word. Yet I know that isn't the correct turn." She grit her teeth in frustration. "I just don't understand!"

"We need to- whoa!" Tea ducked around a corner as she spotted a group of masked figures suddenly appear in the lobby, scanning the room but thankfully not noticing her. They were black body suits with black armor plates on them with blue accents. She couldn't see their faces for they were wearing blank masks with a single V shape cut into the center where the eyes should have been. And on each of their arms was a massive gauntlet that they were scanning about the lobby… before settling their focus on Mr. Muto.

"He's the one," a woman said, her voice distorted by her helmet. "Wake the Prime up."

Another of the strange intruders nodded and aimed their gauntlet at Mr. Muto, causing him to become covered in a golden light for a brief moment before he blinked and continued walking as if he'd never stopped. But that lasted only a moment before he blinked and looked about, realizing that he was surrounded by people that hadn't been there moments before.

"Who… where did you come from?"

The woman who had been giving orders stepped forward and pressed her hand to her chest and gave a slight bow. "Greetings Solomon Muto of Earth 77. I am Troop Commander 572 and I bring an offer from my master, Lord Enigma."

Solomon frowned at that, slowly taking a step back. "Lord… who now?"

"Lord Enigma and do not worry about not knowing of him. On this world he is an unknown. Much like yourself." 572 began to circle him, tilting her head as she reached over and plucked at a thread on his shirt. "Haven't you ever had the feeling that you were meant for something far more? That you had a destiny but were not achieving it? That if you only had been given the chance you could have done some much more? People tell you that you should be happy with your life. Be satisfied. Accept what you are given with a smile and make the best out of it. That all it takes is a bit of work and you can find that happiness. That you need not focus on it and just find your joy."

She leaned in close, voice dropping to a whisper.

"But they're wrong. You were meant for so much more."

572 pulled away and began to circle Mr. Muto and Tea was struck with the image of a buzzard flying high above a dying man in the desert, waiting for him to die.

"Did you know that on Earth 145 you are a famed archeologist?" She tapped her gauntlet and Tea's eyes went wide as it projected the image of Mr. Muto only he was wearing a suit, talking to a class of students that were hanging on every word he said. "On Earth 371 you discovered the lost vault of Pharaoh Mahad and used the wealth within to take control of several rather powerful businesses, including KaibaCorp… though I suppose it is now called MutoCorp." Another holographic image showed that Mr. Muto standing in a massive office, smiling as he looked down upon Domino. "On Earth 1256 polygamy is allowed and you have 14 wives, all nubile and beautiful, who see to your ever need." Tea scowled at the image of herself, Serenity, and several other rather young women feeding Mr. Muto grapes and rubbing his feet, all of them dressed in garments that barely hid their nudity. "Time and again there are Solomon Mutos who found fame, fortune, love, and power…" 572 paused. "And then there is you. The lonely man whose wife left him, whose son doesn't need him, and is now little more than a failing shopkeep who looks forward to driving his grandson around because it means he might be able to have a touch of human interaction."

Tea let out a deep harsh breath. Mr. Muto was NOT any of those things. Or… he was but he was so much more than them. He was Yugi's grandpa. He was a shopkeep yes but a talented one and the cards he'd helped her get for her deck had ensured her victory in Duelist Kingdom. He was a good honest man and she didn't like at all how the stranger was belittling all he did, making it sound like it didn't matter and his entire existence was meaningless.

"What if I told you… there was a way to correct the mistakes of fate? Lord Enigma… he knows how to do so. To take back the lives you were meant to have." She held out her right hand. "All you have to do… is come with me."

Mr. Muto seemed to be in a trance, staring at the different projects that were floating about 572, each one showing him a different life he might have led. His arm, like it was being pulled by an invisible string, slowly began to rise up.

Tea leapt from her hiding spot, the Spirit joining her.

"Get away from him!" she commanded, glaring at the intruders. Her cry seemed to snap Mr. Muto out of his daze and he backed away, staring at Tea in surprise before looking about, blinking his eyes rapidly. "I mean it… I don't know what you are planning but it's not good. Now undo what you've done to everyone and get out!"

"Another Item Holder," 572 said with a weary sigh. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I was just hoping you were far enough away that I would have to bother with you and your kind." She shrugged before the gauntlet on her left hand formed into a Duel Disc. "Well, I suppose draining your potential will make the delay worth it-"

A door slammed open and one of the intruders cried out as they were thrown across the room by an energy blast.

"Hello bad guys!" A tall blond man with a circle beard declared, his black and gold eyes flashing as he smirked and marched forward. His arm was extended and wrapped around his hand was a red and gold gauntlet, much smaller than the intruders'; it looked like the one worn by Robert Downey Jr. in that failed Iron Man movie.

"It's a Chaos!" one of the Intruders declared and he threw out his own hand, his gauntlet charging before he unleashed a much larger blast of energy. But before it could strike the new arrival a portal appeared in front of the newest arrival, swallowing up the blast before another portal opened right behind him, causing the energy to hit him in the back of the head; Tea knew that if it weren't for his helmet the man would probably have died.

"More than one!" a woman that looked to be the first arrival's sister said, grinning as she walked to stand next to the man's side. "Oh I so love playing with portals."

"The Chaos of Earth-3," 572 said coldly.

"OH, you know of me?" the woman said, giving slight bow. "Flattered." Behind her two more people entered; siblings as well only one looked like an older version of Yugi. More intense and confident than her friend…

…and then her friend appeared beside him.

"I have the feeling this is going to be a long and complex story," the Spirit said with a huff. "And annoying too."

Tea smiled slightly at that before turning her attention to the original intruders. "I mean it… get away from Mr. Muto."

572 snapped her gaze at her. "You delayed us… that is going to cost you."

"Hey!" the blond man said, snapping his fingers. "Pay attention to the two that have Kill Orders on them." He gave a cheeky wave with his gauntlet-covered hand. "Edwin Chaos, the Chaos of Earth-1. This is my sister from another dimension, Edna."

"We are here to kick ass and chew bubble gum," Edna said. "And we're all out of bubble gum."

"Oh joy," the mature Yugi said, "there are two of them."

"Now… back away from the old man and let's talk," Edwin declared, stepping forward. "I have so many questions."

"You should learn to accept being disappointed," 572 stated. "You and your kind taught us that."

"Well, that's ominous."

Edna moved now, stepping in front of 572. "You know who I am. You know how much I've interfered in your little searches. I imagine defeating me would be a feather in your cap." A silver band on her wrist rippled and Tea's eyes widened as it turned into a duel disc. "Unless, of course, you're all talk and no game."

"I am going to enjoy defeating you," 572 declared. "I will harvest your potential and it will fuel us for a hundred Searches. The potential of a Chaos… it's legendary."

"Dear lord this is going to be annoying if you keep talking like that," Edna snarked before reaching into her pocket and pulled out a deck. "Load up your deck and let's duel!"

~MC~MC~MC~

"Well, this is going to be an interesting duel," I commented as I slowly moved to stand beside Tea and her… well, I guess her ghostly spirit partner. "Edwin."

"Tea," she said, grabbing my arm in a warrior's grasp. "This is the Spirit of the Millennium Belt."

"It is very odd that you can see me," the Spirit stated.

The Pharaoh spoke up. "It seems that whatever these dueltroopers do to freeze the world allows spirits to become visible."

"Not sure how to take it," Yugi admitted.

"So where did you guys come from?" Tea asked. "And why do you two look like Yugi?"

"Oh," I said with a lazy roll of my hand, "just alternate counterparts from different realities. On my world, for example, Yugi holds the Millennium Item with the soul of an ancient ruler in it and you are his best friend who only recently got into dueling."

"That… sounds unlikely," the Spirit said, staring me down, muscular arms folded over her chest.

'Note to self: don't let Mai know how much Tea's Spirit Partner is turning me on.' I managed a light smile. "You'll find that the universe is rather large and… strange."

Tea nodded. "I suppose it would be wrong for us to dismiss what you said, considering all we've seen."

Before she could say more the duel began, with both the head Dueltrooper and Edna drawing their opening hands , Edna going first. "I'll start by summoning in defense mode my Witchcrafter Genni!" On her side of the field a blond woman appeared, clearly a mage thanks to her holding a staff that glowed with power but rather than the ornate robes most mages and magicians wore Genni was wearing tight pale green clothes (which resembled lingerie more than standard clothes) that were designed to allow her to easily move. Strapped to her were all manner of tools, including scissors, knives, measuring tapes, and other pieces of equipment that one would use for the art of creation.

'Interesting,' I thought to myself. 'Not a gender swap of Endymion but the Witchcrafters. The sister deck of my own… poetic.'

"But she won't be staying on the field for long," Edna declared. "I tribute her and send my Witchcrafter Collaberation from my hand to the graveyard in order to summon Witchcrafter Edel in defense mode!" Genni gave a bow before she disappeared, in her place appearing Edel. She was a spunky looking woman, wearing a beautiful purple dress and holding a massive wrench-like staff with a massive ruby held in its grip. "And thanks to the effect of my Witchcrafter Collaboration I am able to add it right back to my hand at the end of my turn."

The Dueltrooper chuckled before drawing a card. "That was a lot of flourishes just to set up a monster that will be destroyed this turn. I start by summoning Ruddy Rose Witch in defense mode… and like you she won't remain, as I will tribute her so I can add my Witch of the Black Rose to my hand, whose effect allows me to summon it to the field." First one, then a second chibi little magical girl appeared on the field, the red and white one replaced by one with black and white as her motif. "And now I can draw a card and so long as it isn't a spell or trap card I can add it to my hand." She drew and smiled, holding up her Rose Princess. "And thanks to adding her to my hand I can now special summon her to my side of the field." A more mature looking woman with rose blooms for hair appeared on the field. "And with both my Rose Princess and my Witch of the Black Rose on the field it is time to show you why it was foolish to ever challenge me! SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

Green Rings appeared above the Dueltrooper and her two monsters rose into the sky, the rings turning them first into only white glowing frameworks of themselves and then condensing those into orbs of light. The two balls collided together, creating a great pillar of energy that slammed into the ground behind the trooper, making the building we were in tremble and shake.

"Come forth Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!" the Trooper roared. The familiar sight of the Black Rose Dragon, only this one bathed in the pale moonlight and shadows of midnight, appeared behind her, letting out a challenging roar.

"No… way…" Edna whispered.

"Have you figured it out now, Chaos?" the dueltrooper asked, reaching up and removing her helmet so we could see her wine colored hair, pale skin, and intense eyes. "Do you realize who you face? I am Akiza Izinski and I have come to bring destruction upon you and every Chaos in existence!"