A/N: This chapter has been a long time coming. It's taken months to complete it. Without some help from one of my dearest friends, this chapter may have never come out. Also, a special thanks once again to SuperNova23 who wrote the framework for the duel that is taking place between Joey and D.D. And in addition to this, I am really sorry it takes me so long to update this story. This is a hard one to write guys. A lot of emotional digging goes into this particular work since I made the bold (and somewhat boneheaded) move to make Mina descend into madness. I do not know when the next chapter will be up, as I have not started writing it yet, but I am determined to finish this story. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Thanks again to my friends who helped me get through this one.

Warnings: Everything is tame up until we get to Mina's section. In her section expect heavy blood, gore, psychological trauma...and in times like this, this story may not be the best thing to read right now...but if you've been waiting for an update well...I have bad timing okay. Point is...reader discretion is advised for this chapter. It's violent and full of high scale drama as well as raw emotion that's difficult to process...even for me, the writer of the mess. READER DISCRETION ADVISED! Things are about to get extra real up in here. Also this chapter is pretty long.

Disclaimer: We don't have time for this today. These properties belong to their respective owners. I only own the original characters like E.E. Now let's get a move on! You guys have waited long enough!

Chapter 49

Monster Part 6

REBOOT COMPLETE

NOW RETRIEVING DATA...

RETRIEVAL COMPLETE.

DATA DOWNLOAD COMMENCING...

DATA DOWNLOAD AT 20%

"This is taking far too long. The enemy may catch wind of our presence if we do not take our leave soon."

"And I grow bored. Your king does not appreciate the lack of entertainment."

Kara ignored the two malevolent men for the sake of continuing her work on the super computer their little group had found during thier infiltration. The data download was processing pretty quickly, but her companions were less than patient making the wait seem ten times longer than it actually was.

DATA DOWNLOAD AT 45%

61%

80%

95%

99%

That last percent seemed to drag on for an eternity. The detective bit down on her tongue to quiet the irritated groan that wanted to slip through her lips.

DATA DOWNLOAD COMPLETE.

With that message on screen, Kara yanked out the flash drive. She could decode the letter more thoroughly on her own personal computer, but first she needed to be able to read the rest of it and she was going to read it now. The two knuckleheads with her were just going to have to wait. This evidence was far too important.

"Come on, let me see it," she muttered, typing in the keyword "monster" to more easily find the poem she was searching for in the database. This time she hoped all of it would appear without the system bugging out. If it didn't work this time she would have to cut her losses and investigate other areas of the tunnel, perhaps even track down E.E. herself.

In slow bits, the poem began to appear line by line on the screen.

Every night when I went to sleep, I would see a monster in my dreams.
The monster was ugly, scary, and mean,
It stalked the land whispering, "Who will my next victim be?"

My heart beat was agony as I searched for safety,
A refuge from the beast's wretched symphony.
The monster screamed,
The monster cried,
And eventually, the monster died.

Each day I woke with relief inside

But one day I awoke and found despair.

Beneath my feet lay my loved ones
I looked at my hands and saw their blood.

Kara glanced down at the mouse icon and noted a loading indicator next to it. There was still more to this strange poem but it appeared the computer wasn't going to bug out again.

"And so the wait begins once more..."

Picture it. Azabu Park, December 23rd, 1999. In less than ten days a new century would begin for the inhabitants of Earth. For some, the turn of the century marked the end of the world, but most were excited to see a new century come to pass. It was a neat thing to know you lived in two separate centuries. Not a very important thing of course, but neat nevertheless.

The area is in much the same state as it was the year before, only colder. It had been an oddly cold holiday season, so much so that there were very few people in Azabu Park on this particular day.

A woman sits on a nearby hill, writing poetry. A brave jogger runs along the pavement by the lake...

And on a bench with the best view of the lake, a foreigner with blonde hair and blue eyes has her gaze fixed on a novel penned by a Japanese author. Though she's reading the Japanese copy, she has an English translation close by. A small notepad rests in her lap. Words are scrawled along the paper. Some in English, others in the kanji the woman is still trying to get used to.

In a bag resting against her ankle are a couple of parenting books. There's a noticeable but small bulge around her midsection, indicating that she is pregnant. She takes a sip of the coffee she's holding in her left hand before sitting it down on the bench beside her.

She's waiting for someone.

The man she is waiting on is standing a few paces behind the bench where she sits, preoccupied with her reading and studying. Though her facial features have changed somewhat, he can recognize the beautiful woman he had fallen in love with years ago.

His heart aches. He can feel the weight of the silenced handgun in his pocket.

Toshido Aino came to Azabu Park to fulfill his promise, but he didn't expect for Cecelia Ashford to actually show up. He expected her to be smart, to hide herself away, to keep her distance from him regardless of whatever sentiment she had towards him. She was going to be a mother after all. Shouldn't she have put the child's needs above this silly promise?

Of course, he could say the same about himself. He had no reason to be here either. He had been given a special assignment from his former commanding officer, Ophelia Hyuga, to hide what appeared to be a medical journal in France. He had already done so; therefore, under normal circumstances, he would have returned to the Geass Order.

But these were not ordinary circumstances.

And so, just like Cecelia, he ran away to Japan.

Thanks to Ophelia, he was warned to never return to the Geass Order after completing the objective she'd given him. All operatives under E.E.'s special forces, for reasons unknown to him, were told he betrayed the order by releasing classified information to the EU. While this wasn't the case, the immortal demon had a keen ability to falsify information whenever she needed to.

On top of that, she ruled over her subordinates with an iron fist. If they questioned her at all, death would be the result.

And so, the woman had ordered he be killed on sight.

While Toshido could guess the true reason she wanted him dead, he had no way of knowing when or where he would be targeted by members of the order. So far, only one had found him...

That one being Cecelia.

Truth be told, Toshido had hoped Cecelia wouldn't be here today. This was the end he didn't wish to see and the dark future he had hoped to avoid.

His Geass power, while not the most practical one, was one that played to Toshido's natural intuition. He had the ability to sense where and, in some cases when, people would die.

Again, not the most practical power or even the most useful for E.E.'s schemes since he had to see a person's face and engage with that person in conversation before the power could take affect. It was because of the uselessness of this ability that he was gifted a second Geass later after proving his worth through his combat skills.

His original Geass told him a year prior, when he and Cecelia had met for coffee, that this place would be the place of her death.

He never dreamed he would have to be the one to make that vision a reality.

Even so...

Cecelia lowered the book she was reading onto her lap, sensing that she was being watched. "Toshido?"

The Japanese man closed his eyes. "Hello, Cecelia."

She surprised him by laughing. "It appears we both kept our promise, didn't we?"

"Yeah...we did."

The silence that followed those words was tense, not at all like the comfortable silence they had shared one year prior.

But eventually, Cecelia broke the silence. "So, what now?"

Toshido let out a soft sigh. "You have orders to carry out, don't you?"

"I do."

"Then let's hurry this along, shall we?"

"Do hurry with your move Wheeler, I have orders to carry out."

"This is it," I thought, drawing my next card. The second I glance at it, I know I have a chance.

"Alright! I summon Baby Dragon in attack mode!"

Baby Dragon ATK: 1200
Baby Dragon DEF: 700

D.D. scowled as the Baby Dragon appeared on the field. "Seriously?"

"I'm not done," I answered, revealing the card I'd just drawn. I'll also play my Time Wizard and activate his Time-Roulette ability!

"Ah, so a game of chance?"

"Yep. I'm putting all my cards on the table..." I trailed off and glanced at the cards floating in front of me. "Well...putting all my cards in the air actually, but you get the point."

"You do understand what will happen if the Time Wizard's arrow should point to a skull, right?"

Boy did I ever. It's only happened once, back at Duelist Kingdom when I faced Bones and his zombie deck, but if the Time Wizard's arrow lands on a skull, he and my dragon will be time warped off the field and half of their attack points will both be dealt to me as damage. It's an extremely risky move that could cost me big time, but I gotta chance it if I'm going to have any hope of winning.

"Well, then, summon it if you think you're brave enough to take the gamble," D.D. commanded, clearly trying to intimidate me. Well, I'm not gonna let his mind tricks get to me. I gotta keep fighting no matter what.

"Come forth Time Wizard!"

The card Yugi gave me before the Duelist Kingdom Tournament began burst onto the field in a bright show of magic. Nearly brought a tear to my eye honestly. This could be the very last time I play it.

So I hope and pray that this card will come through for me here. It has to. Otherwise...

"I'm waiting..."

"Can it bird-brain!" I shouted. "I'll go when I'm ready."

"Hmm, does the prospect of death frighten you that badly?" D.D. questioned. "You didn't seem that bothered a few minutes ago when you were asking if I would still let you see Mina if you managed to win. You know you're going to die no matter what the outcome, so why keep fighting? This duel is pointless. You may as well forfeit now."

"No way," I told him, narrowing my gaze on his. "If there's one thing I've learned from all the duels I've fought until now, it's that you keep fightin' until the very end. And that's not just a good lesson for Duel Monsters but for life too."

D.D. merely chuckled. "Naive fool. What do you know about life? You've barely lived any of it."

"I may not be an old geezer like you," I answered, "But I know a thing or two about how to survive through hardship and abuse. I've looked death in the eye before and as scary as that is, facing the knowledge that one of my best friends has lost herself in despair to the point that she's willing to leave a pile of corpses behind her is a lot worse. It may be too late to stop her from committing those acts or fix the damage she's causing, but it isn't too late to save her from herself. There's still time, so I don't plan on wasting much more of it on ya. " Without another second of hesitation I set my sight on my Time Wizard.

"Time Wizard, activate Time Roulette now."

In a private plane headed for Japan.

"Due to inclement weather, this aircraft will be redirected to..."

"You're not re-directing this vessel anywhere!"

"But Mr. Kaiba, this storm is far too dangerous for us to fly through. I'm sorry, but for your and Mr. Muto's safety we have to redirect our flight to Egypt until the storm passes.

Hey isn't that where our Millennium Items originate from?

Yami, who had taken over again for Yugi after they'd switched places at the airport as a means to breeze through security and handle emergency bathroom business, didn't answer Yugi's question right away. He was concentrating on getting a feel for what was happening in Japan.

And, from what he could tell currently, Joey was dueling. He could sense his fighting spirit, but beyond that he had absolutely no idea what was going on with him.

Mina on the other hand was a different story.

Though he didn't know the full details, he could sense that she wasn't in her right mind anymore. The screaming he and Yugi had been hearing had transformed into maniacal laughter. It was a disturbing sound, which is why he'd used some of his influence over the puzzle to keep Yugi from hearing it.

A detour to Egypt wasn't one they could afford, but with the weather what it was, there seemed to be no choice.

Yami? Hey! Are you even listening to me?

"I'm sorry Yugi," the Pharaoh replied. "I just sensed that Joey is in a duel. He's drawn the card you gave him before Duelist Kingdom, but beyond that I don't know how he's doing."

He's dueling? At a time like this?

"The other duelist he is battling has a strong, evil presence. I fear Joey may be in grave danger himself."

But we can't get to him any faster with the storm blocking our path...

"I should have you fired for insubordination!"

"Mr. Kaiba please understand! I am trying to keep both of you safe."

"I AM NOT ASKING FOR SAFETY! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! YOU WILL FLY THROUGH THAT STORM OR HEADS ARE GOING TO ROLL ON THIS FLOOR! DO YOU HEAR ME!"

"If Kaiba gets his way, Yugi, we'll either find ourselves in Japan or dead."

Yugi just sighed. I just hope we won't be too late.

"You and me both, Yugi."

I'm laughing.

From the depths of my soul I'm laughing and yet...

There's no emotion behind it.

I'm not even sure if the one laughing is really even me anymore...

I've forgotten...

The reason I've fought until now...

The reason I hated E.E. so much...

Does it even matter now? All the bloodshed and despair...is there a point to any of it?

I don't know. I don't think I care anymore.

The power coursing through me feels good. The adrenaline pumping through my veins and the weight of the sword in my hand has released me from whatever rage I felt before.

I feel free.

That's all that matters to me right now...and yet...

There is no joy inside of me.

Physically, I feel more alive than I have in months, maybe even years.

Emotionally...I may as well be dead.

There's nothing left inside of me but the instinct to kill.

E.E. must die by my hand, not because of any noble cause or quest for vengeance. Those motives have left me. Maybe they were never really real to begin with.

Perhaps what I sought all along was an excuse to hurt someone. It didn't really matter who.

Right now...I just want someone else to feel the pain I've felt for so long. I want them to feel the despair and rage. I want to hear screams of anguish. I want to see tears of unspeakable sorrow.

I want to feel the blood of the damned on my hands.

E.E. just happens to be in my direct path. I'll kill her first.

Then...then I'll go after the ones that betrayed me. Who abandoned me. Who considered my feelings as less than nothing...

All of them will pay for their part in turning me into this monster.

That's my only mission. I don't care about anything else. Not anymore.

As a wave of calm washes over me, I center my gaze on the immortal demon while slamming my sword into hers. She only has one flesh arm. The other is a useless skeleton arm with bits of muscle and nerves hanging from the limb. That's right. Her body is still trying to recover from the damage Ophelia did.

So, E.E. is already in a weakened state. However, I have no intention of underestimating her as I did before.

When we started fighting earlier, the rush of raw power sent me flying into attack mode. I can't say I gave any of my movements much thought. I used my new weapon, an item that appeared basically out of nowhere, in a frantic, haphazard way without a real clue of how to use it adequately. But now, the weapon feels more familiar in my hand, like it's always been a part of me.

Maybe it has...

I don't know.

I don't care.

E.E. sidestepped away from my next attack then countered with a parry that caught the edge of my blade. In a single, elegant motion she slid the flat side of her blade across the top of mind as a means to catch me off guard so she could either stab me in neck or chop my head clean off, but I reacted to her movements by lifting my right foot and slamming it into her stomach. The action created some distance between us, but the tip of her blade still managed to nick the skin just below my collar bone. A sharp stinging sensation filtered through my consciousness, but beyond that I can't say I felt the attack. The internal emotional numbness was beginning to affect me physically too. Good.

"I'm stronger now,' I thought, laughing softly to myself as I readied my sword once more. The weight of the weapon is heavier than what I'm used to, but if it was straining any of my muscles, I didn't notice. Everything that could hinder my movements or the strength of my attacks wasn't much more than a mild irritation. Like a small rash easily fixed up with hand lotion or an empty stomach in need of food.

I would feast on bloodshed and malice tonight. I would devour the despair that had taken over every aspect of my life and inflict it on anyone in my way.

E.E. performed a couple of one-armed cartwheels while dodging another one of my attacks. Then with a groan of effort, she conjured up a series of blue flames in her flesh hand. I stopped moving for a moment to assess how to best react to her move.

While I stood in a more defensive stance, she began to speak.

"Perhaps we should stop this now before things get ugly."

"Isn't it too late for that?" I quipped, not the least bit unsettled by her words. "Perhaps you should have considered the consequences before making a mess of my life, E.E.."

E.E. snickered. "Oh, I have. You're the one who hasn't thought things through, but that will become much clearer to you in due time Mina...that is if you survive this night."

"Whether I live or die now is meaningless to me," I told her, smirking as I held my new sword in a horizontal position in front of me. "And you know, all of a sudden I'm not all that interested in revenge either. At this point..." I paused upon picturing the woman in front of me as a mangled corpse. "I just want to kill you for the fun of it."

"Not so noble anymore then, are we?"

The golden sword began to glow. "I suppose not."

E.E. responded by hurling the blue flames in my direction. Using the power of my sword, I simply cut through the magic and started running towards her. The immortal demon seemed to expect it though because she immediately parried every swing I took at her. She hasn't broken much of a sweat yet, though I wouldn't have been able to tell if she had given the whole "no face" thing. It's too bad too. I would have liked to see some expression on her face in this moment. It'd be great to see some real fear in her eyes.

I can't wait to gouge them out of her skull.

"My my, such dark thoughts..."

I slammed my blade against hers again, not bothering to reply as she began her counterattack with a series of slashes I blocked with my golden sword before quickly tumbling backward against the floor.

You have powerful magic at your disposal now. Use it!

Bakura's voice? Heh. Don't know. Don't care.

Raising the sword once more, I spun it in the air above my head as fast as I could until it was nothing but a blur of magic. Then, with a strangled cry, I hurled it forward like a boomerang toward E.E. She sidestepped away from it, but not before the attack tore through the floor, creating a large crater in the stone as it looped up into the air and came back around, catching E.E. off guard long enough for me to activate one of my gloves and lunge forward toward her chest.

I heard her sword fall to the ground before truly registering what had happened.

Had I done it? Already?

Blinking I stared down at her chest where I'd plunged my blade and part of my hand through. There was blood. I could see it. I could feel it.

There was a red splotch expanding over her torso. It was dripping steadily down to the floor, a more than obvious indicator of the mortal wound I'd just inflicted. E.E. wasn't moving either, and had she been anyone else, I would have thought the fight over.

But I knew she wasn't dead from that alone. Even if I had pierced straight through her heart it wouldn't have been enough...because she's immortal.

In that instant it started to dawn on me...how would I even do it? How can I kill what's essentially un-killable?

"Something wrong?"

I gasped as her flesh hand grasped me around the neck, cutting off most of my air.

"Gah!"

"You're a wretched little thing." E.E. stated blandly, tightening her grip to the point where I could feel the bones in my neck begin to crack as she lifted me from off the ground. The pain from it and every other wound I'd received tonight was suddenly unbearable to the point that I wouldn't have been able to scream out even if I'd had the capability to do so.

Thankfully, that unbearable sense of pain didn't last long. Something otherworldly took over again as I began to lift my right arm. Once it was fully extended in front of me, my shiny new sword appeared in a flash of golden light. The metal gleamed and pulsed with an intense crimson aura that mesmerized me into a calm, serene state where death wasn't something to be afraid of but something to embrace. Even so, now was not yet time to fall into the pit that's destined for my miserable soul.

No...first I have unfinished business to take care of.

My lips curled into a smile as I slashed at the eye socket holding E.E.'s remaining eye.

"GWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Her grip loosened enough for me to breathe and maybe talk, but she was still holding me up above the floor in an unrelenting grip.

I slashed at the eye socket again. E.E. screamed and I attacked again in a haphazard slicing motion. An eyeball went flying in a small stream of blood seconds later, and the sight was so out of the blue in my eyes that I couldn't stop myself from giggling.

Looks like I got my wish.

The scarlet liquid poured down the side of E.E.'s skeletal mask face as her discordant screams shook through the room. When I tried to slash at her again she threw me to the floor then kicked against my rib-cage so hard that I felt the bones crack as my body rolled along the purple carpet that cut through the center of the room. For a few seconds I laid there, breathing heavily and chuckling softly to myself. Though the impact was painful...a part of me enjoyed it.

Of course, what I really enjoyed was hearing E.E. wail like the pathetic baby she truly is. I'll make her wail some more! Maybe then I'll feel real joy! Maybe then this emptiness won't consume me!

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! You filthy, wretched spawn!" E.E. roared out her words between mangled screeches of agony that were a pure delight for me to hear.

Lifting my torso off the floor, I stared at the immortal demon sitting a ways away from me, her flesh hand pressed against the newly bleeding eye socket.

"You...had it coming," I breathed, my voice raspy thanks to the choke-hold she'd had on me before. Being careful not to aggravate my cracked ribs, I gently picked myself up from the ground with my new sword in tow. "Consider that a little taste of what A.A. made me do to my mother."

E.E. didn't reply to my words; however, after another minute, those blood curdling screams transformed into a joyous chorus of giggles that were almost child-like.

The sound would have chilled me to the core if I'd had any fear left in me.

If there was anything left inside of me, I wouldn't have smiled right back at her.

But I did. I smiled. I laughed right along with her. Why not?

We're the same now, aren't we? A pair of monsters looking to make the world burn for what it's done to us?

"Are you finally starting to see who you really are?" E.E. questioned, still giggling as she stumbled into a standing position. "Well, that's fine and dandy, but I will pay you back for that stunt you just pulled."

"I don't know E.E," I muttered, allowing my chuckles to taper off. "You look like you could use a nap." The smile I'd been sporting slowly slipped away along with my laughter. "A permanent one."

E.E, having recovered from the pain of losing her remaining eye shook away the blood dripping from her flesh hand. "You forget that I'm immortal again? Not only will my eyes grow back, but my array of Geass abilities allow me to sense you easily. I don't need my eyes to defeat you."

My grip on my sword's hilt tightened. "As far as I can tell, your little mind games are all you have left to fight with. So by all means, give me your best shot, E.E. They may have worked on me before, but they won't now. You've already destroyed my mind."

E.E. took a step forward. "Have I though? Have I really? To be honest, I think you can break even more, Mina.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

She disappeared from my sight without answering, but even though she was gone, her laughter continued to echo all around the expansive room.

How predictable.

"Alright, I'll play your game. May as well. You've already been playing games with my life and the lives of my family." Putting on the act of a young schoolgirl, I started spinning around in circles shouting, "E.E.? Where are you? Come out, come out wherever you are."

"Foolish girl...you still haven't realized the extent of your madness? You'll see it soon enough."

I turned in the direction where I heard her voice, but she wasn't there. She wasn't anywhere.

"No one likes a sore loser," I muttered indignantly, walking slowly toward the center of the room. "What's wrong, E.E.? Scared of me?"

"No, but you should be scared of yourself," E.E. replied, her voice whispery now and far more distorted than it had been when she'd been right in front of me. "I'm just taking a breather while you get a reality check."

A hand slammed into my jaw, knocking me back a few feet. In the next second another hand jabbed into my stomach, but before I could crumple over from the shock of the blow, a blade lightly slashed against the wound that was already on my back, causing it to sting even more.

"And maybe getting a few hits in on the side while you're distracted. I may only have one hand to work with, but my legs are perfectly fine."

A foot jabbed into the back of my knee, instantly making me stumble before the heel of a boot stabbed into my wound.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Hurts, doesn't it? Maybe I'll go for the eyes next. You haven't felt pain until you've had an eye ripped out of your head."

I still had the golden sword in my hand, so I slashed behind me where I thought E.E. would be standing, but ended up slashing at nothing but air.

"Then again...I think I'd much rather watch this play out."

"Watch what play out, E.E.? What are you..."

"Mina?"

The question I wanted to ask the immortal witch died on my tongue.

This voice was new...but familiar.

Too familiar.

Turning my head slowly, I looked to the wall of mirrors on my left. All the mirrors showed a reflection of me in my bloodied state...all but one.

Standing within the center mirror was an image of my mother. Radiant. Beautiful. Her hair and skin looked healthy and her smile was bright.

Her blue eyes that matched mine, however, were full of hatred.

"Why Mina?" she asked, raising her hand toward me. "Why did you shoot me?"

Her hand pressed against the glass. It was as if she was trapped.

"E.E...this isn't going to work."

"Isn't it though? You're trembling again."

I looked down at my free hand. Sure enough it was shaking involuntarily again.

"Why did you let A.A. carve up my body? Why did you gouge out my eyes?"

My mother closed her eyes and then...blood seeped out from under them like tears.

"Why Mina?"

Inhaling shakily, I activated the switch that released the holster holding my shotgun. Using my left hand, I pointed the weapon toward the mirror. "You're not real."

"Why Mina?"

Without a second thought I pulled the trigger, destroying the glass and the image of my mother within it.

But her voice didn't disappear with the image. The words kept repeating inside my mind over and over and over again until the voice began to change into something more masculine but just as familiar.

"E.E., come out now!" I roared, taking several steps back from the mirrors in front of me. "Stop hiding like a coward!"

"Why Mina?"

My father's voice now. A few panels to the left of where my mom's likeness had appeared, a phantom of my dad stood within the mirror looking at me in abject horror.

"Why have you done this? Why are you using me to justify your sins?"

The image probably should have phased me, and while the shaking in my hands intensified, internally I felt nothing. I wouldn't let myself feel anything anymore.

So just like with my mother's image in the mirror, I pointed the shotgun at my father's face and pulled the trigger.

The sound of shattering glass was almost deafening to me. My ears continued to ring from the sound even after my father's likeness disappeared.

But his voice was still present.

"Why Mina?"

The voice changes.

"Why Mina?"

Rei's voice.

"You've gone down a path of no return."

I shoot at the mirror holding her image. "I already know that."

"Then why keep doing this?"

Serena's voice now? How many more voices am I going to hear before E.E.'s little game is over?

I look at her image in the glass. She smiles in the same way she always has.

It makes me sick.

So I pull the trigger on her too.

"Why Mina?" Lita calls.

"Why Mina?" Ami echoes.

As soon as my eyes lock on their silhouettes in the mirrors I shoot.

But the voices keep coming.

Soon enough I start seeing my other friends: Yugi, Tea, Tristan, Kaiba, Mokuba...

I see them all in the mirrors at once.

They all say the same thing.

"Why Mina?"

In an almost wild frenzy I aim the gun at each mirror I see them in, destroying them all. The glass falls to the floor in an explosion of sound.

My breaths are heavy as I stare straight ahead.

There's only one untouched mirror in the wall of mirrors in front of me.

And deep down, I already know whose voice E.E. is going to use against me next. There's only one voice that can cut through to the core of who I was before this night at this point.

I don't want to hear his voice.

I don't want to see his face.

Illusion or not...I don't want him to see me like this.

"Why Mina?"

Closing my eyes I retreated from the shattered mirrors directly in front of me. Whatever had been keeping me from feeling anything was beginning to fade. The emotions I wanted to bury forever were beginning to surface again.

I can't see him now. I can't...I still need this power. I need it to kill E.E..to kill them all.

My back pressed against one of the mirrors on the other side of the room. I tried to steady my breathing and concentrate on anything that wasn't despair, but it was impossible. Everything in my life is despair now. All I had left was the hope of saving my father and now...now I find out that he worked for E.E. too...he worked for her. He and my mom...both of them committed all sorts of atrocities on her orders.

"Still so judgmental, Mina? After all this? You really are a hypocrite."

"E.E...you will pay for all of it," I cried out, my voice coming out in a feeble, almost broken sob. "I'll make sure you suffer for all of this..."

"Why Mina?"

The new voice was right behind me now. The other wall of mirrors...

With jerked movements I turned around only to stop dead in my tracks upon seeing the image captured within.

"J-Joey..."

Just like my mother, he pressed his hand against the glass, only this time his fingers began to seep through it as if he were a ghost.

I shook my head. "No. This isn't going to work E.E. Stop it right now!"

Little by little Joey stepped out from his mirror, his chocolate brown eyes as kind as they've always been, but they also conveyed a deep sadness. He was wearing his emerald green jacket, a white t-shirt, jeans, and his favorite yellow and black tennis shoes. He was wearing the red dueling glove from Duelist Kingdom too.

"You don't have what it takes to kill me. Not so long as you have attachments like this."

"Why Mina?"

Joey began to walk toward me, his gloved hand outstretched. I took several steps back, not having a clue of what to say or do. Even though I know this is a distortion E.E. has crafted, it feels real. Too real.

She used this on me before. I know this isn't Joey. He isn't here. I made a vow to myself to never see him again, but even so I...

"Stay back," I told him, pointing the gun at this shadow version of him. "I'm warning you. Stay away from me."

Joey just smiled that brilliant smile of his. Closing his eyes and showing off his teeth as if this were a teasing match between us, he answered, "Don't be silly, Mina. I made a promise to ya, didn't I?"

"E.E, I'm not falling for this!"

"Oh? Then why are you still talking to this illusion as if it were real. Hmmm, perhaps it is real. How would you know?"

"Because he freakin' came out of a mirror you psychotic moron..."

My words trailed off as Joey's hand pressed against mine atop the gun. Without meaning too, I'd relaxed my grip on it, long enough for him to gently take it from me.

"You're going to use Joey's likeness to kill me."

The next move shadow Joey made was to put the gun on the ground before taking my hand in his again. He entwined our fingers together and for a few seconds it felt like the real thing.

My breathing quickened as he brought his other hand toward my cheek. I couldn't stop myself from looking into his eyes.

"Why Mina?"

I felt a shock roll through my body as he drew closer, his lips hovering near my ear when he asks me again..."Why?"

My grip tightened on the golden blade in my right hand.

He's nothing to you now. Kill him.

The otherworldly power was starting to take hold again. The emptiness I felt was beginning to return. I would have welcomed it outright if not for what giving in would lead me to do.

I know this Joey isn't the real one...but I can't...

Don't make me do this. Not to him. I don't want this...

A sinister presence seemed to grip at my heart in that moment, almost making it stop.

Kill him.

My right hand twitched.

Stop it.

"Why...did you...do it?"

My eyes widened in horror. "N-no...s-stop."

Joey's grip on my hand tightened. My fingers curl around his involuntarily...

Suddenly, I hear click of the mechanism that activates my gloves.

And then...I hear the sick sound of metal piercing through flesh.

My gaze stayed on Joey's eyes as the life began to rapidly drain from them.

"Why...Mina?"

I force myself to look down at our hands to avoid the horror of his eyes. His hand was still laying atop of mine, but the blade from my gloved hand was extended. It had sliced through the underside of his arm before penetrating his stomach.

The scarlet color of his blood stands out against the white t-shirt he's wearing. For a long time, I can't take my eyes off the stain...

It's an illusion...I know that but...but...

My body started shaking without my consent then, just as my fingers twitched involuntarily to activate the weapon that tore through Joey's flesh...

"W-why?" he rasped.

I stared up at his eyes again. There was nothing left but sadness in his gaze.

"Why did you kill me?"

With a press of a button, I retracted the blade from his torso. His wound continued to bleed as he stepped closer to me, falling against my body as he slumped over...dead.

I didn't move. I stayed completely still until his body dropped to the floor in a deafening crash.

There was nothing I could say for a moment. My breathing was slow. Uneven, but slow.

The Joey lying on the floor in front of me isn't real...but...he very well could have been, and it would have been my fault.

Involuntary or not...I activated weapon.

But worse than the guilt from that action was seeing this image of Joey's body at my feet. Dead because of what I'd done. Why wasn't he disappearing?

Oh? You thought that was an illusion?

"Wasn't it?"

"I don't know," E.E. muttered, emerging from a pillar a good distance away. "The boy's been looking for you. Hoping to save you." She stared down at the body near my feet. "Seems to me he found you. My, my what a mess you've made."

"Huh?" my gaze fell on Joey's body again. "No...you...this isn't..."

"Is it though?"

Suddenly I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure of anything. E.E.'s head games could start and stop anytime she wanted without me even noticing. That's how her Geass works. So then...did Joey actually manage to find this place? Was him appearing out of a mirror part of E.E.'s delusion. Did she trick me into thinking he wasn't real so that...so that...

"First your mother, and now this boy."

"THAT ISN'T POSSIBLE!" I screamed, glaring at her. "This can't be him! You're lying! There's no way he would have found this place..."

"Unless I guided him here," E.E. answered. "I have my ways of doing so after all. A whole host of subordinates, magical powers, the works.

"You didn't. You couldn't have."

"I did. And there he is. Dead at your hands."

"No."

"Oh yes. You killed your mother over this boy only to kill him yourself," E.E. proclaimed, cackling madly. "Ironic twist, is it not."

In horror I bent down and looked at him, really looked at him. He wasn't wearing the green jacket and dueling glove like before. He was wearing one of Kaiba's long trench coats, a thicker white t-shirt and the pants Bruce had loaned him. His shirt was stained with blood and so was the floor all around him. His skin was pale and his eyes were open, lifeless...but the same color brown they'd always been.

"Oh my God..."

"You should have known better than to rampage through here to face me," E.E. stated coldly. "You knew I was immortal and yet you came down here and killed nine of my subordinates. I'm sure you hoped I'd be number ten on your death list, but thanks to a little pre-planning, it seems that Joey has become the last of your victims this evening."

I didn't respond to E.E.'s words. I had to focus on getting Joey out of here. Maybe I can still...

"Save him? Oh honey, he's dead. Dead. Dead. Dead!" Out of nowhere she started laughing again, laughing as I held Joey in my arms, realizing in horror that he would never get to see his sister, Yugi, or the others again. In an instant of stupidity I had snatched away his entire life. Without even meaning to...I killed my best friend. I killed the only person who ever truly stuck by me. How could I let this happen?

"You reap what you sow." Her giggles soared through the room, making my blood boil with each passing second.

The ring activated again and the otherworldly presence from this strange sword in my hand began calling to me once more, but I couldn't heed the call from either item. They're evil. Both of them.

As much as I hate E.E., she's right about one thing:

I never should have come down here to face her like this.

Revenge was never the answer. I finally see that now.

Allowing hatred to rule over all my thoughts and actions was the wrong course to take. I should have known that from the start. At one point I did know that. At one point in my life I would have never thought to go this far for any reason. But in the quest to save my father...

No...in a quest to reclaim all the things I had lost...I ended up losing the core of who I am.

This isn't me. This monster who stormed down here and murdered nine...now ten people...she isn't me.

This isn't the girl Joey called a friend.

Kill! Kill! KILL!

"SHUT UP!" I screeched, shutting my eyes as a way to chase away whatever it was that had invaded my mind. It wasn't Bakura's voice. That much I was certain of. But there's another presence inside of me, an evil one.

Opening my eyes, I finally take a good look at the golden blade in my hand. Beneath the hilt was an engraving of an eye, the same eye that's on the Millennium Ring and Yugi's Millennium Puzzle.

"I don't know where this came from, but it's definitely bad news," I thought, glancing back at Joey's body.

"Well, if it's bad news, Mina," E.E. interjected, clearly reading into my mind. "Why don't you hand over that sword to me. I can assure you it'll be in much better hands. I'll even kill you with it so Joey isn't all by his lonesome in death."

Water began to gather at the corner of my eyes. "Joey...I'm so sorry. I...I won't let your death be in vain. I'll put an end to E.E., this time for the right reasons. That's the last course of action I'll take and then...then I'll join you wherever your spirit is now."

"Well?" E.E. continued. "What do you say?"

"No way."

"Hmmm?"

"Joey didn't deserve that" I told her, while taking a moment to brush Joey's bangs away from his closed eyes. "He didn't deserve what you made me do to him."

"Blaming other people for your choices again..."

"That wasn't my choice," I screamed. "You deluded me into thinking he wasn't real by pulling that stunt with my mother, father, and everyone else first. And on top of that...on top of that you changed his appearance in my mind...all so you could have one last laugh, huh? You think using innocent people as playthings is funny? A thing to be enjoyed?"

E.E. raised up her blade. "Yeah. Why not? You enjoyed it too didn't you? Didn't his presence just make you shiver with delight?"

I closed my eyes, concentrating on harnessing the rage and madness flowing inside of me. For Joey's sake, for the sake of the world, I won't lose control again. Never again.

The ring sent out sparks of energy, breaking every mirror in the room and nearly every chandelier hanging above us. Only one remained, the one shinning above my head.

"There's glass everywhere now," I thought, basking in the solitary spotlight of the darkened room. "Even if she pulls the invisibility stunt again, she won't be able to move about without me hearing her."

The immortal demon slowly disappeared from my line of vision. "Let our final battle begin then."

Crimson sparks began to encircle me and the sword in my hand. The otherworldly, dark presence was fighting to claim my mind, but I wouldn't let it anymore. Instead I concentrated on taking its power for myself. Even though I'm hesitant to keep using it, E.E. wouldn't want it if it wasn't powerful. Maybe it even holds the key to ending her and her schemes once and for all.

No one else will suffer by her hand.

I promise you that, Joey.

You're the only person that believed in me until the end. I won't let your death be in vain.

"You struggle against me in vain, Wheeler! You're going to end up destroying yourself with this move."

"Would you shut up," I shouted, narrowing my gaze on the arrow in my Time Wizard's wand. It's been spinning for what feels like ages and only now has it started to wind down.

D.D. chuckled, but didn't add any more comments since he was fixated on the wand now too.

Somehow...in this moment I know that everything is riding on this.

I'm not going to give up hope. No matter what happens. Whether I live or die...

I'll believe in you until the very end.

I promise you that, Mina.

A/N: This chapter was a monster (no pun intended given the title of this and the five previous chapter titles) to write. Mina's section turned out to be the most difficult due to...all sorts of things. Writing for Mina has gotten increasingly difficult overtime. To write for her in the past I had to really get into her head-space and doing so isn't easy for me like it was in the past, primarily because I have moved on from a lot of the turmoil I have dealt with in my life. Done a lot of inner healing...so writing about someone going insane is difficult to get right at this point. However, thanks to a good friend, I was able to finally get this thing done and I have a plan for the next chapter. I don't know when I'll start it, but I have plans and ideas again, which is good. Hopefully that will result in a faster update. At any rate, God bless you all. Stay healthy during the virus business going on and stay positive to the best of your ability...I know this chapter probably didn't help much with that but...well...my timing is bad okay!

Thanks for reading and for tolerating my whack update schedule. I really appreciate it.