Chapter 50 - 50

Chapter 50

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"27 minutes and 10 seconds. 27 minutes and 17 seconds. 27 minutes and... 25 seconds-"

"Must you keep doing that?" Crowler complained.

Joey though merely continued to follow after the man, occasionally glancing at the small timer he'd found on his duel disc that showed how long he was locked out for.

"27 minutes and 52 seconds-"

"I am not going to duel you!" Crowler snapped in annoyance, finally turning and shooting a dark glare at Joey.

"And why is that, pal? Afraid ya might lose?"

"Hardly. There would be no challenge in it. I know exactly what you will do."

"Oh really," Joey asked with a huff, folding his arms over his chest... before sticking out his tongue and wiggling his eyebrows. "Bet ya didn't see me doin' that!"

"I didn't mean..." Crowler said before rolling his eyes skyward. "I wasn't referring to being able to see just what foolish think you might do at any one moment. I was referring to your... and I say this only because there is no other word I can think of to describe it... skill when it comes to dueling." He began to circle around Joey, reaching out and lightly running his finger along the teen's shoulder like he was a butler inspected a piece of furniture to determine if it had been cleaned properly. "I can predict clearly what you will do if the two of us were to actually have a duel. You would send out a few monsters that you believed to be rather stronger but only in terms of attack points, reveal a single trap card and believe that to be some bold strategy, and then flounder about before risking it all on a gamble." He shook his head. "You would fail, of course. Against a duelist of actual skill you would be defeated rather quickly. So no... I don't think I will duel you at all."

And with that he turned and walked away.

"Yeah well... I can predict what you would do, ya coward!"

"No... you really can't," Crowler said dismissively.

Joey though merely smirked, not bothering to follow after Crowler. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Crowler said, slowly slightly.

"Nothing at all. Because it's like ya said... ya won't duel me... but not for any of the lies you'll blather on about. Ya can claim all sorts of things about how I'm beneath ya or how it would be a waste of your time but we both know that truth: ya know it would actually be a challenge. It would mean having to actually put yourself to the test, to see if you can actually win."

"I have no idea what you are trying to say," Crowler said, now actually coming to a stop.

"See pal, I've dealt with all sorts of people like you, who claim all sorts of things about how great they are." Joey's mind began to flash through faces from the past and present. "Some are jackasses about it but I have ta admit... they can actually duel." Kaiba's face floated in front of his eyes, arrogantly calling Joey a dog... and then backing up his comments by unleashing his monsters on Joey's; not even his best monsters at that. "Others treat it like fact; not cruelly, just that it's a fact... and you damn well realize they are right." Edwin cutting deals like the Devil he claimed to be appeared in Joey's mind, showing that every claim he made was simply true, like saying water was wet. "And some will tell you how they are the best... and then teach you how you can be the same." Yugi's grandpa destroying Joey and then explaining just how he'd done it appeared before him like a vision. "And then... there is you. Yeah... I've dealt with plenty of people like you, pal: ya talk this huge game, but it's because ya know ya can't back it up."

Crowler narrowed his eyes as he turned to stare Joey down. "Excuse me?"

"I think my pal Ed would say... those who can't do it, teach it?"

"That's not-"

But Joey cut him off. "Ya talk a big game about how amazin' you are and how there is nothin' I could ever do ta hope ta beat ya but we both know the truth: ya ain't that skilled at all. You are just some bigmouth hopin' that no one ever calls ya out!"

"You... you think... I have no skill?"

"Oh, ya might have some skill," Joey said, rubbing the bottom of his nose. "Just... not as much as me."

Crowler trembled with rage before activating his duel disc. "I am going to enjoy defeating you. You and I will duel and the winner is going to the finals!"

"Now that's more like it!" Joey said as he stepped back. "So come on... its time ta duel!"

~MC~MC~MC~

"Amazoness Queen! Attack and finish this!"

Yuri raised an eyebrow as Mai's monster took out her opponent (some guy who was using thunder dragons and was dressed like an old fashion fighter pilot). It wasn't that Mai was winning that was surprising; rather it was that it had taken her that long.

'I spotted at least three times she could have ended the duel in a victory,' Yuri thought as Mai took the duelist's locator card and his rarest card, a spell card of some kind,Yuri wasn't for sure, and began to walk back to where Yuri was standing. 'And she isn't basking in the crowd like she usually does... damn it, Selene is messing with her bad.'

"Well," Mai said, trying to force a bit of false cheer in her voice, "that is my final locator card. Think we can focus on you..."

"I'm good, Mai, you know that," Yuri assured her. "I only accepted the invite into this tournament because it made it easier for me to back you up."

"And it has nothing to do with worrying about what I would do to you if we met in the finals?" Mai teased.

"Not at all," Yuri said as the two of them began to walk away. "Surprised though you aren't crowing about it to everyone. Chances are you might be the first person to get all five locator cards. In fact..." Yuri pulled out her phone and began to scroll through it. "Yeah... you are the first."

"Of course!" Mai said and Yuri wondered if she was trying to sound confident for her own sake or for the world's. "Whose the next closest?"

"Tea."

"...seriously?" Mai said, nearly tripping over her own feet, she was so shocked by that little reveal.

"Yeah," Yuri said. "Tea has five Locator Cards. Just got her latest one. Then there is a big bunch up of duelists for third place. Yugi Muto has four locator cards. Same as Seto Kaiba. Joey Wheeler-oh!" Yuri stopped, smiling. "Edwin just got two more locator cards."

"Well, I suppose I'll have to... tease him," Mai said, her smile faltering for a moment.

"Mai," Yuri said, catching the other woman's arm. "Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Acting like everything is fine," Yuri said.

"Everything-"

"No, it isn't," Yuri said firmly. "I can tell... you are freaking out over what you found out." She gave her bicep a squeeze. "It's okay Mai... you don't have to act tough. If you want to scream or cry or curl up in a ball... that's perfectly. I'll be here for you."

"But I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because you guys aren't fine either!" Mai exclaimed, causing several people nearby to jump and glance at her. But Mai's calm demeanor had shattered and she was now gripping her head, fingers digging into her scalp. "You are all acting like this is just fine and is completely normal! Edwin is telling me how he still trusts me!"

"And you... don't want him to?" Yuri asked.

"I want you guys to be freaked out about this! I'm a goddess! Or part goddess! Or a goddess erased her memories and that's me and at any moment she might decide to put them back in my head and what happens? Do I become her? Do we merge? Or will I just remember what she remembers but I'm different enough that it will just drive me insane instead? I don't KNOW! And I keep looking at all of you and you are handling it so well so I feel like I need to handle it well too even though I'm losing my mind!"

Yuri quietly led Mai to a bench, sitting down with her. "Do you want me to say I'm freaking out?"

"...no," Mai whimpered. "Because if you do then I have to be strong and pretend everything is alright."

"Like you are now?"

"Exactly!" Mai exclaimed. "I... I don't know what to do! I don't know how to feel. Everything... everything has been torn to shreds and I can't get a hold and I'm getting angry at you guys for being supportive and calm."

Yuri sighed and wrapped an arm around Mai, letting the other woman rest her head on her shoulder. "We are freaked out. But not because of Selene." Her face screwed up. "Okay, because of Selene. But more because of you. We're worried for you and want to help you and don't know how. But please know... we are worried too."

"Except Edwin," Mai said. "I kind of hate him for handling things so calmly and rationally."

~MC~MC~MC~

I let out a scream, Shadow Realm magic blasting out of my body as I tore into the warehouse. My eyes were blazing gold and it felt like I had molten lava flowing through my veins even as my nerves froze from the icy touch of the Shadow Realm but I didn't care!

"That's it, Captain, let it all out," Renard said calmly from the door, watching me as I blew off some steam.

"Fucking Selene! Fuck fuck fuck fuck!" I roared. Shadow Realm fissures formed on the floor around me as I threw my back..

"I would suggest fucking her might solve your problems but relations with a deity never work in myth-"

"FUCK!" I grabbed a chair, turned towards a door, and opened a portal into Kemo's jail ceil, the thug having JUST enough time to stare at me and moan 'not again!' before I threw the chair at the wall beside him before closing the portal. "I was trying to avoid this Mary Sue bullshit when I found myself in this dimension! Keep a low fucking profile, have some fun duels, don't become the center of the god damn universe! And instead... oooooooh... instead I am minority shareholder in the two biggest fucking companies on the planet, I have a god damn magical item that lets me do magic, and not only am I dating the sexiest woman in this world but she's secretly a goddess that wants to make me immortal while I plunder her snoo snoo and there is a secret society that was founded by my previous incarnation!"

"... you aren't from this dimension?"

"Yes yes, I'm not from this world, nobody cares!"

"I kind of care."

"And I want to know why you are a human Don Carnage but I learned to not ask those questions."

Renard just stared at me. "I'm... I'm going to just give you a few minutes."

"Thanks," I said, panting, before opening up more portals. "Troy, give me some music to rage to."

My phone was silent before letting out a beep.

"I threw a wish in the well/Don't ask me, I'll never tell/I looked to you as it fell/And now you're in my way."

I stared down at my phone, my rage dialing down for a moment.

"I trade my soul for a wish/Pennies and dimes for a kiss/I wasn't looking for this/But now you're in my way."

"The only way to defeat a god: Give them exactly what they want."

~MC~MC~MC~

'Man, this ain't good!' Joey thought to himself as he carefully looked over the field. 'I still have my Wyvern but I can't even hope to defeat that giant metal mook with just him. My Red-Eyes was my best hope... a fusion could have overpowered that Golem but with him now in the graveyard... jeez, what am I gonna do?!?'

But then Joey balled his hand into a fist, smacking his calf with it.

'No... that is thinking just like how Cowerly thinks I do. That I'm an idiot who can only win by brute force.' He shook his head. 'But I'm better than that. Yeah, in the beginning I didn't know how to duel properly. I just sent out powerful monster after powerful monster. Heck, even when I made it into the Duelist Kingdom Finals I still tended to rely upon brute force and a few lucky gambles.' He frowned as he remembered how his last time using the Time Wizard, which had helped him defeat Mai and Rex, had failed and cost him in his duel again Edwin. 'But things are different now. Mr. Muto has taught me how to be a better duelist. I've come to truly understand this deck and how it works. I showed that when I took out that Rare Hunter and I'm gonna continue to show it here! This guy... he doesn't get to define me.' He narrowed his eyes. 'I define myself!'

Looking over his hand though he forced himself to turn away from the normal strategies he might use. He had Yugi's Summoned Skull but it would still be too weak to defeat the Ancient Gear Golem and there was the fact that it didn't have an effect; he honestly needed to figure out better cards to use with it so he didn't rely upon just having that monster wait in his hand until he could fuse it with his Red-Eyes. No, Joey instead looked over his hand and decided to try something new.

'I only tested this out with Mr. Muto... I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull this off against Crumbler here. But I'm gonna try!'

"Alright, first I set this card face down on the field and then I'll summon a new monster from my hand: my Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight in defense mode!" On Joey's side of the field the black armored knight appeared, his futuristic metallic armor gleaming as he knelt with his bladed shields at the ready to defense himself. "I'll add a face down as well, while I'm at it. And finally I shift my Wyvern into defense mode and end my turn. So even if ya do attack my monsters my lifepoints will remain intact!"

"Is that supposed to worry me?" Crowler asked with a sneer... no, that wasn't quite right. A sneer would imply that he was actually feeling enough strong emotions to look down and belittle Joey. No, Crowler was just dismissing him, like one might dismiss a plate of food at a buffet before moving on. "I'm afraid that your pathetic defensive tactics won't assist you."

"Whatcha talkin' about? My lifepoints are complete safe!"

"My Ancient Gear Golem is able to deal damage to my opponents even if it battles a defense position monster."

"That mean's-"

"Correct!" Crowler declared. "All you've done is provide a different means to defeat you! Ancient Gear Golem, destroy this delusional dullard's Gearfried!" With that the antique robot braced its feet before rearing back, steam escaping before between the breaks in its armored form as it clenched its fist before driving it forward...

...only to stop as a chain wrapped around its wrist.

"I activate my Red-Eyes Fang With Chain!" Joey declared as Gearfried grabbed onto the chain and tugged. "This trap card was made from a tooth of a dead Red-Eyes, beaten and molded into a powerful weapon... one that also had deep and powerful magiks merged into it."

As Gearfried tugged the fang sank deeper into the armor of the Ancient Gear Golem... and red lines began to appear in the metal. Not cracks... but glowing magical runes.

"What... what are you doing to my Golem?" Crowler demanded.

"See, here's the thing," Joey said with a smug smirk of his own. "By sending the Red-Eyes Fang With Chain to the graveyard I activate the magic embedded in it, which take your monster and turn it into armor I can them add onto my Gearfried! So say goodbye to Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight and say hello-"

The Golem exploded into pieces, the gears flying all over, only for the armor pieces to fly over to Gearfried as the chain and fang turned to dust. Gearfried stiffened as each piece slammed into him, locking into place until it was difficult to see where his original armor had once been. Instead he stood there, wearing the Golem's armor, his shields replaced with a gear and a piston he held like a mace.

"-to Gearfried the Red-Eyes Ancient Gear Iron Knight!" Joey rubbed his nose. "And yeah, that might be a mouthful... but it's worth it when that armor also boosts my Gearfried's attack up to what your Golem's was!" A projection appeared showing Gearfried's attack and defense were now 3000/3000.

Crowler, unable to do anything else, merely set a card in his spell and trap zone and ended his turn.

'Alright,' Joey thought to himself, 'I could shift my Wyvern into attack mode and go after his lifepoints after my Gearfried attacks his Wyvern... but...' he looked across the field. 'He thought he had me but my facedown totally turned the tide against him. I don't want to take a risk with my Gearfried... if I lose him I'm sunk. No... I think I need to for once place it safe.' Out loud Joey said, "Alright, Gearfried, take out Crowbar's Ancient Gear Wyvern!"

"It's Crowler."

"Oh, sorry man. Take out Crowbar's Ancient Gear Crowler."

"...you are doing this on purpose," Crowler complained as Gearfried swung his new mace and shattered the Wyvern.

"Maybe," Joey said, tapping his chin and adopting a totally fake smile.

"...hmm," Crowler said with a sniff. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. When a duelist runs out of tricks it is only natural to regress to petty name-calling. That is the reason why rather than mock you I instead choose to focus on how I am going to defeat you right here and right now! And it starts with me summoning another Ancient Gear Wyvern to the field, which allows me to add one Ancient Gear card from my deck to my hand. Next I will equip my Wyvern with this: Ancient Gear Tank." A rather basic looking tank, which was little more than a wheeled wagon with a cannon and some plating on the front for protection, appeared on the field, the Ancient Gear Wyvern landing on it. "And now I will special summon from my hand the source of all my machines' power: the Ancient Gear." A small, rather simplistic gear robot appeared on the field. "I can bring this monster out so long as I have an Ancient Gear Monster on the field. And it allows me to activate the card I set last turn... the card I tricked you with."

"Aw man!" Joey bemoaned. "That wasn't some trap at all, was it? That was a regular old spell card!"

"A very powerful spell card: my Spell Gear. This card allows me to send three Ancient Gear cards from my side of the field to the graveyard in order to activate its enchanted effect: Summoning one Ancient Gear Golem from my hand and another from my deck to the field!"

"WHA?!?!" Joey exclaimed. "Two of 'em!" He watched as the Spell Gear caused the three Ancient Gear Cards to break into pieces only to swirl about before they reformed into twin Ancient Gear Golems. "Aw man, it was hard enough takin' out one of those tin can creeps!"

"Indeed," Crowler said. "And you will find that now with two of my mighty Golems on the field your hopes of defeating me have come crashing down..." The older man couldn't help but smirk, "...much like your Red-Eyes Wyvern. Ultimate Pound!"

Joey shielded his face as the Ancient Gear Golem launched his fist right at his Wyvern, shattering it and leaving a crater in the field... and his lifepoints. (Joey-2000)

'Man, just when I think I've lucked out this jerk pulls out a move like that!' Joey thought as he looked over the field and considered his options. 'Right. So if I do nothing he's gonna just attack my Gearfried next turn and then wipe out my lifepoints with his other Ancient Gear Golem. But if I attack now I'll be completely defenseless. Except with those Golem's abilities to attack even defense position monsters and do damage that means that I can't even lay a monster in defense mode to protect my lifepoints!' Joey swallowed. 'Is this it? Is this where I get kicked out of Battle City?' He looked at his deck. 'No... no, I can't think like that. Its just like Yug always says: ya have ta believe in the heart of the cards!' He reached for his deck. 'Come on... give me somethin'...'

Joey drew.

"Alright!" he exclaimed as he saw the card he'd drawn before he looked over at Crowler. "Looks like this duel ain't over quite yet! I'll start by tributing the Red-Eyes Retro Dragon I have in my hand in order ta summon my Red-Eyes Alternative Black Dragon!"

The beast that appeared on the field clearly was a cousin to the Red-Eyes Black Dragon but there were enough differences to truly make it unique. It was bulkier, with a heavier body. Rather than standing on its hind legs it crouched down, flaring out its wings and having its neck parallel to the ground. It was more beastial than the original Red-Eyes Black Dragon but there was still something majestic within it, if only due to how primal it appeared.

"Am I supposed to be frightened of that monster?" Crowler taunted. "It is still a weakling at only 2400."

"Maybe," Joey said, holding up a card. "Or maybe its gonna destroy ya next turn when I activate this!" He set the card on the field. "But until then I'll just have my Gearfried attack your Ancient Gear Golem to get rid of one of those monsters! Gearfried, attack with Noble Shield Strike!" Gearfried nodded and launched himself forward, the collision between himself and the Ancient Gear Golem causing an explosion that destroyed the both of them.

"Hmmm... that might have been impressive if you hadn't revealed your strategy to me. That card you've set on the field is a dangerous one... which is why I will go the next step and defeat you completely and utterly right here with this: Ancient Gear Fusion!"

"WHA!?!" Joey exclaimed. "What the heck is that?!?!"

"This card allows me to fuse together Ancient Gear monsters into a new, more powerful form. And if one of the monsters I am using is an Ancient Gear Golem on my side of the field I can use monsters from my deck as well. Thus I am able to fuse my Ancient Gear Golem with Ancient Gear Monsters from my deck to summon forth the Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem!"

Joey watched in shock as metal swirled onto the field, slamming into the Ancient Gear Golem and enhancing it. The robot's legs were torn from it but more were quickly added as its original plated form was enhanced until it had become a centaur-like creature that let out a deep echoing bellow. Its left arm became a spiked weapon, different in color than the rest of the machine but just as deadly and Joey took a step back as he stared at Crowler's creation.

"And now I will use the spell Quick Attack to allow my fusion it instantly attack you! And with its 4500 attack points your Red-Eyes Alternative Black Dragon will be no more along with your lifepoints! Now-"

"I activate Red-Eyes Perseverance!" Joey declared. "I can't activate traps and spells when your monster attacks but I can do so before that thing does! And this card will reduce the damage I take down to 1000 this turn at the cost of swapping one Red-Eyes Monster from my graveyard to my deck while sending a higher level monster from my hand to the graveyard. So I send my Summoned Skull to the graveyard to send my Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight back to my deck and lock you into 1000 points of damage."

Crowler though merely scoffed. "It hardly matters. Next turn you will fall!" His Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem lashed out with his bladed left hand, shattering Joey's Red-Eyes Alternative Black Dragon instantly...

...only for the shards to remain on the field.

"Did I forget this part?" Joey said with a smirk. "When you destroy my Red-Eyes Alternative Dragon that causes my original Red-Eyes to return to the field from the graveyard! Come on back Red-Eyes!"

The dragon let out a roar as he reformed, not caring at all that he was now facing a fair more powerful opponent. (Joey-1000)

"And since you used your own Fusion card... I guess I can use my own!" Joey held up a card. "I activate Red-Eyes Fusion, which allows me to fusion summon one fusion monster using monsters from my deck, field, or hand. So I'll now fuse my Red-Eyes Black Dragon and the Gearfried that I returned to my deck in order to summon my Red-Eyes Slash Dragon!"

Gearfried appeared on the field for a moment before the knight faded away, leaving only his armor that slammed into the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, causing the drake to let out a roar as he began to transform. The dragon grew more muscular, its wings gaining a metallic sheen, while its claws became pure steel. Gearfried's armor swelled and grew to fit the Red-Eyes Black Dragon until the drake was completely armored.

"Now, since my Red-Eyes Slash Dragon can't attack this turn I'll shift him into defense mode. And to protect him further I'll equipped him with this: the Black Metal Dragon!" The liquid metal dragon appeared on the field before flowing over the Red-Eyes Slash Dragon, creating a metallic shell over him... but his defense didn't rise at all. Only his attack did. "Aw man!" Joey exclaimed. "I thought the defense would increase too!"

"Why am I not surprised you made such a simple and pathetic mistake?" Crowler asked. "You couldn't even bother to research your own card and now you are going to pay the price for it." He shook his head and let out a weary sigh. "I do think this might be for the best... you'll only hurt yourself with your weak dueling. Ensuring this is as far as you get, forcing you to set your sights on goals more your... level... is a kindness you'll one day understand." Crowler tapped his duel disc. "Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, attack with Ultimate Dissection!"

The Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem raised its left hand, steam hissing from its pistons and gears as it launched the blow... only for the liquid metal that had formed around the Red-Eyes Slash Dragon to latch onto it and begin to sliver up the arm of the machine.

"What... what is this?"

Joey chuckled. "I knew ya'd think I was dumb enough to not just make that kind of mistake but admit it out loud ta ya... so I laid it on real nice and think just ta trick ya into attackin'!"

"...no," Crowler whispered.

"Yeah. See, when you activated your Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem's piercin' effect that allowed me to activate my Red-Eyes Slash Dragon's effect, which takes an equipped card and turns it into a weapon that destroys the monster attacking it! So say goodbye to your Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem!" The liquid metal, at that point, completely solidified around the Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem, freezing it in place before cracks formed and the machine shattered. Only when it did so the original Ancient Gear Golem stood there.

"And when my Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem is destroyed the original Ancient Gear Golem remains, still strong enough to defeat your monster!"

Joey though merely raised an eyebrow. "And my Red-Eyes Slash Dragon still has one last surprise: when he was summoned my Gearfried become an equip as well. So I can destroy his armor in order to eliminate your Ancient Gear Golem before he even has a chance to attack!"

Crowler could only watch as the Red-Eyes Slash Dragon's eyes began to glow before it fired off the Gearfried armor, the metal cutting into his final machine monster like saw blades and reducing it to mere rusty relics. Arms fell off, legs were cut into chunks, and with a final slash the Red-Eyes Slash Dragon's armor took off the head of the Ancient Gear Golem. The now armorless Red-Eyes Slash Dragon slammed his foot down upon the Golem's cranium, crushing it under his talons. Crowler narrowed his eyes even as Joey, with a grin, switched his Red-Eyes Slash Dragon to attack mode and fired a blast of fire at him directly, taking out the last of his lifepoints.

"Well... it seems you were able to muddle your way to a victory," Crowler said, clearly disgusted that he'd been beaten by the likes of Joey. "Very well... take one of my Ancient Gear Golems along with a locator card. But don't think this means anything! Soon you'll show just what kind of duelist you truly are."

Joey walked over to Crowler... and took only the locator card. "I'm good with just this."

"...what? But... you earned it."

"Yeah... and I think it's gonna drive ya even more mad when I win Battle City without your monster."

And with that he turned and walked away.

"You... you... you're nothing but a slacker, you here me! Getting by on the bare minimum! And I will not rest until I put you and all those like you in your place! You hear me?"

Joey rolled his eyes. "Geez, glad I don't got him teachin' me who ta duel."

"I will punish all slackers!"

~MC~MC~MC~

Somewhere in Domino Jaden Yuki looked up, feeling the oddest feeling of dread before shrugging and going back to drawing his dream Duel Monster.

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/UzumakiLegacy"