#3: Responsibility
Title: The Limit
Author: cheeky_eyes
Rating: PG
Theme: # 3- Responsibility
Warnings: None
Word Count: 1438
Notes: Originally written for the gx_contest on livejournal, but it fits the Responsibility prompt so here it is.
Summery: There was no question about it, he had to save Sapphire Pegasus! Giese, however, was not making it easy for him.
There were only a few things he could never forgive. Harming his family was one, harming any Duel Spirit was another. Harming his friends was slowly rising up the list, but this was due to not having any really close friends before.
Giese was two for three at the moment, but Johan suspected that was only because Juudai was practically passed out at the foot of the building and none of the others were close by as Shou was taking his sweet time finding water. Even his tactics were dirty and underhanded; there was no respect in what he was doing at all. They weren't just tactics to him; he was using them to deliberately hurt others. Johan knew he couldn't let that pass. Stealing Sapphire Pegasus crossed the line twice. Giese would not get a way with it!
xxx
If he hadn't been annoyed before, insinuating that he only used the Gem Beasts for the rarity that would be Rainbow Dragon was outright insulting. Once the shock that someone like him even knew about the card passed he could barely keep the scorn out of his voice. Money had never even occurred to him, not once since he got the Gem Beasts. He loved them far too much to even consider it. And of course he wanted Rainbow Dragon, he would love for his family to be complete and he knew that they wanted to be too.
"Just how many millions would Rainbow Dragon be worth? I'm sure you thought the same thing too," Giese taunted. He could see his opponent getting riled up. Johan of course reacted instantly.
"Nonsense," he yelled back, as he caught sight of his family trapped behind enemy lines. He loved them, as much if not more than he had his human family. They were gone, but the Gem Beasts weren't, and he'd do anything to save them from anymore harm.
Of course, Giese wasn't going to make it easy for him. Not only was he trapped by his dirty tactics, but he knew exactly what to say to make Johan angrier then he could ever remember being. Although, Giese had been expecting his opponent to sink into despair and hesitation, not too push his berserk button. He was a little thrown off, but not enough not to try to use it to his advantage.
The only reason Johan was able to think straight as he looked up to see Sapphire Pegasus struggling was because of the calm presence of Emerald Turtle in his mind and hand. He couldn't communicate telepathically with his family, but the presence of the Spirit was enough to make him focus. He had to save Sapphire Pegasus! He couldn't afford to lose sight of that and soon he had Giese cornered. His bluffs weren't going to work, when things didn't go his way Johan noted that Giese deflated a little, as if he doubted himself. Soon the last attack was up.
"I summon Lure Phantom in defence mode," was the bitter move. Johan smiled; at least Giese wasn't going to be a sore loser. Or so it seemed. He glanced up at Sapphire Pegasus; at least he was close now.
Emerald Turtle successfully defeated Lure Phantom, Johan knew he would. All that was left was for Topaz Tiger to attack and then Sapphire Pegasus would be free. Not even Giese's request to hold it could remove how relived he felt.
"You're not going to ask me to spare your life are you?" Johan asked despite the fact that he was the only one risking anything here as Giese doesn't have a dis-belt to worry about. Giese's next words worried him though and removed any relief he had felt. The duel was far from over.
"It's not my life I'm asking for."
In his hand Giese held Tom's long lost kidnapped Jerry Beans Man. Johan felt sick looking at it, as he realized what Giese was going to do. Once more anger rose in him as Giese failed to even try to understand the bond any Duellist could feel with their cards. And when Giese said the awful words that confirmed he was going to use Jerry Beans Man as blackmail he had no choice but to call off his attack. There was still time to save Sapphire Pegasus, but how much he didn't know and as long as Giese held Jerry Beans Man he couldn't attack.
Of course there was no real choice. It wasn't just Jerry Beans Man, but all Spirits he duelled for, and the Duellists they bonded with. He would do almost anything to save them if he could. But Giese almost had him at wits end. He couldn't abandon the other Spirit, but Sapphire Pegasus was in pain and didn't have much time left. He desperately wanted to save him and in order to do that Jerry Beans Man had to be safe first. He could do that.
It hurt that he was so close, but Giese defiantly had him trapped for now. And because of that Topaz Tiger joined Amethyst Cat and Amber Mammoth on the other side as the duel continued. Once his turn came around again Giese gleefully reminded him of the stakes.
He was practically helpless. In theory the suggestion to sacrifice Jerry Beans Man sounded good, but in reality it wasn't that simple. It was true he would do anything for his family, but there was a threshold he had to reach first, and the desperation in the other Spirits voice was more than enough to hold him back; to remind him of his promise to Tom, and himself. He couldn't do it. He just could not condemn another Spirit to its death. As long as Sapphire Pegasus remained standing it wasn't even an option. No matter the small part of him that desperately wanted to, if only to save Sapphire Pegasus. At what point does his family really come first? He was coming dangerously close to finding out.
"It doesn't have to be a miracle, but please let me be able to save that Spirit!" he was almost crying. Sapphire Pegasus should've been safe by now and the duel long ended. He hoped with all his heart that someone heard him. Anyone! Never had he needed Divine help more than at that moment.
He was more than a little shocked when Juudai answered as the last he's seen of him Juudai had been all but unconscious. As shocked as he was he was also grateful. With Juudai here he wouldn't have to make that awful choice between his family and his morals and promise. And once that burden was lifted, he wasn't going to hold back. Juudai soon had Jerry Beans Man safely in his grasp, and Johan had been waiting for this moment for years, for Jerry Beans Man to be safe at least. He still couldn't comprehend how someone would even want to hurt other Spirits, let alone actually do it. Finally he would be able to fulfil his promise to Tom.
Now all that was left was his family.
xxx
He couldn't sentence an innocent to death, but as he watched Giese be devoured by the shadows he didn't feel that much remorse or any inclination to help him. Giese had brought a lot of it on himself, and as he'd essentially been forced to choose, Jerry Beans Man was worth more to save. It wasn't until much later he realised that he had sentenced him to death, even if the world had still obeyed the laws of physics and their conceived notion of reality at the time. However Juudai was quick to point out that Giese had killed many Spirits before Johan had come along, so he wasn't really to blame. Especially considering neither of them had known it was a Shadow Game or some equivalent thereof and that there would be others looking for revenge themselves. In the end all it did was strengthen Johan's resolve to become a bridge for Duel Spirits and humans, so no one had to go through what he did again and so no one was twisted the way Giese had been. He would help these people on any way he could, but that wasn't until much later.
Johan too was forever grateful that Juudai had shown up when he had, for if he hadn't he never wanted to think of what he might have done.
For there was definitely a point where his family came first and if the time ever came where he was pushed to it he did not want to think about the consequences.