Chapter 77 - 77

Chapter 77: Chapter 77

Hey Edwin?" Mokuba asked as he took a seat next to me, a cookie wrapped in a napkin clutched in his hands. I, for my part, was just playing on my phone while I waited for Seto to get to the dining room and announce the next duel; for someone that had whined and bitched about people forcing him to delay having the next match he was certainly taking his sweet time coming down to start it.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Where did you get that cool wrist band thing? And how does it fold up your duel disc into it?" He peered at my left wrist and I shifted my sleeve slightly so he could get a better look at the silver band that adorned it.

"The duel disc isn't actually in this," I told him with a smirk. "This is a Duel Band. Its Sympathetic Memory Metal... I think of something-" I wiggled my fingers and the band oozed over my hand, forming into a knight's gauntlet, "-and it becomes it."

"Whoa!" Mokuba said, eyes wide as he prodded the gauntlet, checking to make sure it actually was real and I wasn't just messing around with him. "That's so cool! Where did you get it?"

"From another universe," I answered as I turned the band back into the silver circlet.

Mokuba's eyes went wide at that little comment. "The one you originally came from?"

"No... Yugi and I visited a few of them briefly yesterday and I grabbed a few of them."

Actually I had stolen well over a dozen of the little buggers and didn't see fit to return them to Edna. Of course I was sure my female counterpart would have never let me leave with them if she didn't want me to have them so it wasn't so much stealing. At least that's what I told myself.

"You want one?" I asked.

Mokuba looked very tempted... then shook his head. "No... at least not right now." He looked at his duel disc. "Its really important to Seto that we showcase the new duel discs he made and I wouldn't want to disappoint him. This whole tournament is about the duel discs."

"Mmmmhmmm," I said slowly, not wanting to break it to the kid that Seto had other reasons for throwing money around and turning Domino in Duel Land USA. "Ready for the next set of duels? We both are still up to be picked."

"I think so," Mokuba said. "I went over my deck again with the program that Seto set up to help me figure out the best strategy... of course I need to figure out who my opponent is first and then make some changes."

"Well, that might be hard with some of the people," I stated. "We have no idea what decks some of the finalists have."

Mokuba nodded, his brow furrowing at that. "Yeah... it's really weird. Those people from Egypt... it's like they never dueled in the tournament!"

Once more I stayed silent. Mokuba had 100% hit the nail on the head but I didn't want to get him riled up into a tizzy by revealing that Ishizu, Marik, and Odion had basically cheated to make it to the finals. I remembered how he had been on the show when he just had an official role during Battle City, making sure the rules were followed. He had taken to it passionately, seeing the success of the tournament as a victory for him and his brother. The last thing I needed was for him to confront Marik about cheating and get himself hurt. No... better to just not say a word and let him believe that everything was fine when it came to our Tombkeeper friends... even if they were absolutely in the wrong.

'Even Yami Bakura managed to have a single duel... the crazy murderous bastard.' I adjusted my glasses. 'Maybe Ishizu had a duel but Marik and Odion certainly didn't, having the Rare Hunters gather up locator cards and- Wait... why didn't they just take all 8 slots up right away? Or take up every slot except one and then throw themselves at Kaiba, get his god card, and then challenge Yugi? Marik had enough Rare Hunters lurking around to kidnap people, set up circuses, rig buildings with explosions... or Shadow Realm magic, who knows with the censor nowadays... and still get him and Odion in! They could have selected 6 more duelists and just... bought their way to the finals. Huh... that... is a massive flaw in the tournament set up in this world.'

"Edwin?" Mokuba said, looking at me. "Uh, Edwin? You zoned out there for a moment."

I shook my head rapidly (feeling my face go rubber for a moment thanks to cartoon logic... that would never stop feeling odd) before looking down at him. "Sorry about that, was thinking about something else. So... duels?"

"Yeah," Mokuba said. "Seto's program has me mostly set up. I have strategies for you, Mai, Rex, Joey, Brom... but I'm missing everyone else."

"Programs and strategies are good and all but sometimes the most important thing is what you do in the moment."

"What do you mean?"

"There is a phrase: No plan survives the battlefield. Take Mai for example... you know her Amazoness Deck, right?"

"Yeah!" Mokuba said. "Its really cool. Pegasus even made an Amazoness card based on her because she did so well in the last few tournaments... she showed it to me last night."

I smiled at that. While I doubted she had been a giddy wreck like I would have been if I had a card based on me (and Endymion didn't count) it was nice to hear she liked something.

~Last Night~

"Look at it!" Mai squealed like a child on Christmas morning. "It looks like me but she's so cool and awesome!" She hugged herself as Mokuba and Tea looked at the card. "Oh, I am so dressing up as her during the next Halloween Filler Arc!"

"That's really cool Mai!" Tea said only to blink. "Filler Arc?"

~MC~MC~MC~

"So let's say you prepare to duel her," I said. "You get your deck all set up and ready for her Amazoness cards. Counters for warriors, maybe a spell to stop her from fusion summoning... and then she begins summoning Harpie monsters."

"But... she's using Amazoness cards..." Mokuba said only for his eyes to widen. "And you use a ton of different decks!" He began to tick them off. "Endymion, Lair, Starry Knight, Mystical Beast, Ghostrick."

I nodded, not bringing up my Kaiju deck... that one was remaining locked up until I took on someone with a God Card.

"Exactly. There is no rule saying that a duelist has to use one deck or the other. So Mai could swap decks suddenly. It might actually be smart to do so if she wins the first round, because that way no one would know how to handle her new Harpie deck."

Mokuba nodded only to look down at his lap. "I... only have one deck, Edwin. Does that mean I'm going to lose?"

"Of course not!" I assured him. "Because switching between decks can be confusing. I have to remember what the strategies are for each of my decks... they are vastly different, after all. That can be a disadvantage itself." I smiled. "Don't worry at all... you'll be fine."

Mokuba beamed at that but before he could say anything else Seto swept into the room, Mokuba instantly running to his brother. Seto, for his part, patted him on the shoulder before clearing his throat, demanding we all shut up and pay attention to him.

"Let's hurry this up... I want to get to the next round so I can actually begin dueling again," he declared.

'Keep making friends, Seto,' I thought to myself as he activated the Bingo Machine.

"The next duel of the Battle City Finals will be..."

The balls bounced about before one popped into a Blue-Eyes' mouth.

"Mokuba Kaiba..."

Another ball bounced.

"...vs... Edwin... Chaos."

I blinked at that.

"Aw fuck."

~MC~MC~MC~

"So those two know each other?" Koyo asked as he and Joey road the elevator up to the dueling arena on the top of the blimp. "Well, I mean... I know they know each other... that much is as clear as day. I just mean... they know-know each other?" He let out a sigh of frustration. "You get what I'm trying to say?"

"Ya, I get ya pal," Joey said as the Elevator came to a stop and they disembarked; the rest of Joey's friends had already arrived, as Joey had wanted to grab some snacks to munch on while he watched the duel. "And ya, Ed and Mokuba know each other. Back at Duelist Kingdom Pegasus decided ta use the tournament to hide the fact he was tryin' ta take over Kaiba's company. At the time people thought Rich Boy might have offed himself so that made Mokuba the majority shareholder. I don't quite know how it all worked but Pegasus needed Mokuba to sign paperwork over to give him control of the company, what with his brother gone."

Koyo looked over where Pegasus was chatting with Yugi and Tristan. "And we... are okay with this?"

Joey's brow furrowed before he caught on to Koyo's point. "Yeah but... no." He let out a frustrated huff. "Listen there were... other circumstances. You wouldn't believe me if I told ya."

"Try me."

Joey swallowed. "Er... magic?"

"...ah."

Koyo smirked as Joey stumbled midstep as his casual acceptance. "Wait, wha?"

"Joey," Koyo said slowly, "Yesterday I saw Edwin use magic to burn several robed cultists alive. I'd have to be a fool not to believe in magic."

~MC~MC~MC~

"Big brother?" Mokuba said, watching as his brother stopped in the middle of his speech about how he would utterly destroy Edwin.

"Sorry... I just sensed someone insulting me."

~MC ~MC~MC~

"Man, yar takin' this better than I did!"

"I kind of had a crash course in all of it," Koyo admitted it. "Give me a week and I'll panic then."

"Heh... right."

"So," Koyo said as they joined the others on the edge of the field. Edwin was already taking his spot, head pointed forward so he didn't have to look at the edges of the blimp, Mai beside him whispering in his ear. "Who do you think is gonna win?"

"Ed, for sure," Joey declared. "I mean Mokuba's a good duelist... he had ta be ta make it this far. I get some people might think Kaiba did him a favor but that ain't Rich Boy's style. He is all inta tough love in all that."

"He does care for his brother, Joey," Tea said, joining the conversation.

"Of course he does! I ain't disputin' that." Joey's pressed his lips together, clearly put off by that assumption. "Listen, I think Kaiba's an arrogant jerk who has all the personality of a wet rock but he loves his little brother. Won't ever hear me sayin' otherwise."

"I think you mean," Duke stated, "is that Kaiba doesn't believe that one helps their family byjust giving them everything."

"Exactly!" Joey said, pointing at Duke. "Kaiba ain't gonna just give Mokuba a free ride."

"But..." Koyo said slowly.

Joey shrugged. "Ed man... he's somethin' else." He paused, his eyes glassing over slightly as he became lost in memories. "I remember when the two of us dueled in the Duelist Kingdom finals. He would counter every move I had... the only chance I finally got ta put him away was with my Time Wizard."

"Which failed," Tea said. "I'm so glad you don't gamble like that anymore."

"Heh," Joey said, rubbing the underside of his nose with his index finger, "yeah I switched things up after that. But still... even if it had worked... I don't think I could have considered myself the victor. Ed... he goes beyond so many of us. I'm glad I ain't takin' him down this round."

"That's very sweet of you to say, Joseph," Mai said as she walked over to the others. "Now... who wants to root for Mokuba?"

"Huh?" the teens said as one.

"What do you mean, Mai?" Yugi finally asked.

"Edwin said that he doesn't want Mokuba to feel like we are all against him. Since we're all friends he wants it to be fair."

Koyo looked over at the field, seeing that Edwin had suddenly decided to walk away from where he had been standing, moving to where Mokuba was fiddling with his duel disc. He knelt down and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, whispering to him softly even as Kaiba glared at the two. However Koyo could tell that Mokuba wasn't bothered by the words and instead his shoulders, which before hand had been slumping due to clear nerves, rose up as a determined glint flashed in his eyes.

At once he understood. 'Edwin and Mokuba... they are mentor and student. And this is a test for them both. To see how much Mokuba has learned. To see how well Edwin has taught him. Even if Mokuba doesn't win if he can give a strong performance here that will be victory enough.'

Thus Koyo declared, "I'll cheer for Mokuba."

"Me too!" Tea said with a grin. "Tristan?"

"Eh, why not!" the tall teen said with a shrug.

He paused.

"And that brings me to six."

Mokuba felt his stomach drop, knowing what was going to happen.

Edwin though pressed his lips together and shook his head. "No Mokuba... no tears. No sadness. You lost today but you went out in the top 16 and you took me to the very edge! That is something to be proud of!"

"Yeah!" Joey, of all people, called out. "Ya did great Mokuba!"

"You were amazing!" Yugi added.

"Way to string Edwin along, kid!" Mai cheered.

And soon everyone was calling out encouragement. Mokuba looked about, a smile slowly growing on his face before he finally turned to Edwin.

"I'm ready Edwin... let's end this."

Edwin gave him a two finger mock salute. "Hear hear. I remove six spell counters from my Citadel to summon Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic to the field, and then activate his first effect, which allows me to destroy cards on your side of the field equal to the cards I have that can have spell counters. So I destroy Reflect and your Ice Barrier Dragon, leaving you wide open for a final attack!"

Mokuba never stopped staring Edwin down even as Endymion leapt forward and thrust out his hand, sending a wave of magic at him that took his lifepoints to zero (Mokuba-0000)

"And the winner is Edwin Chaos!" the ref declared.

Mokuba took the time to deactive his duel disc and put his cards away, not looking up as he did so. He was conflicted... he was sad that the tournament was done for him but on the other hand Edwin was right... he had done amazingly well for it being his first tournament! And if he had to lose to someone he was glad it was Edwin... only Seto would have been better.

Seto.

'I wonder-' he thought only to look up and see that everyone was gone save for Edwin, who was half in the elevator.

"The cameras are off Seto... I'll keep them occupied for as long as you need."

With that he let the doors shut and Mokuba turned to see his brother had approached him.

He swallowed.

How would Seto handle him losing? He knew that Seto valued winning more than anything. He knew how important it was to represent the Kaiba family name. He-

"I lost my first chess tournament," Seto said.

Mokuba started at that.

"Everyone said I was a prodigy. You were just a baby, Mokie." And wow had it been a LONG time since Seto had called him Mokie. "That's why you don't remember. But everyone said I was so amazing, picking up the game so young. I begged mom and dad to let me go." He shut his eyes... and smirked. "I lost my first match. I was stunned. I was ready to storm out, to give it all up. But do you know what dad said to me?" He shook his head. "He said he was so proud of me because I'd held my own against adults who were so much more experienced than me and that one day I'd be the best. And then he found some people who had also lost and asked them to have some games with me so we didn't have to go straight home."

Mokuba had never heard that story.

"I'm proud of you, little brother. Your first tournament and you made it to the finals. Edwin wasn't kidding... you had him on the ropes just as much as he had you. Be proud of that."

"...okay," Mokuba said.

He swallowed.

"Seto... since I am out of the tournament and you don't have to duel for a while..."

"Yeah?"

"Could... could you tell me more about mom and dad?"

Seto slowly reached up and touched his lapel. "Chaos?"

"Yeah?" Edwin said after a moment.

"Give us an hour, okay?"

"You got it."

Seto nodded and held out his hand, Mokuba taking it. "Mom was the one that first taught me to play chess..."

~MC~MC~MC~

Chaosverse Omake

The mistake that so many who wish to change the world make is trying to force their movement. To demand people follow.

Now, there was something to be said about getting attention. No revolution can exist if it is a secret. The revolution will not be televised? It wasn't because it never came to be. But one had to be smart about how they gained attention. Block off a freeway so no one could drive on it? You got noticed but more often than not turned all that might have listened to you against your cause. No, you wanted to entice people to come to you, to notice you. The sirens didn't go grabbing sailors, they sang to them.

A movement couldn't be forced. Couldn't be created like a marketing plan. It had to develop naturally. And the best ones weren't actually created but rather grew like grass, slowly spreading until it covered everything.

Midoriya Izuku had heard the whispers for a while now. People speaking in hushed voiced. Knowledge that wasn't shouted but rather murmured. Allowed to spread. To creep. To find the right ears.

Change was coming.

He had always been an observant child, noting everything about the world around him. People thought he was merely obsessed with quirks but in reality Izuku noticed everything around him, to the point that sometimes it overwhelmed his senses. It was why he was always muttered, as he had to try and process all he was experiencing. And he was seeing and hearing that something was coming.

The clerk at the store being a touch nicer to him when he shopped with his mom, even though only months earlier he had scowled at him for being a 'worthless little boy' because he didn't have a quirk. A businessman on the street one day hushing his daughter when she mentioned seeing a particular hero fight. The news brushing over the fact that Black Frames, the Number 7 Hero in Japan, hadn't been seen patrolling for nearly half a year. Flyers popping up with a simple word printed on them: Konton. A mother at the park firmly telling her son not to pick on Izuku while twisting a ring that was mostly gold save for a small section that was blue; only later, after he'd seen the ring several more times and taken to drawing it, had he realized that with the blue there the gold part formed the English letter C.

And as he sat in his ome room on the first day at Aldera Middle School, his teacher telling the rest of the students in a mocking tone how they would have to be 'careful' around Izuku since he was so much more 'weaker' than the rest of them, he found himself unable to focus on the hurt the words were bringing. Because... something was coming.

When it did it came not as a murmur or a whisper... but the shrill screech of the PA.

"Attention staff of Aldera Middle School," a voice called out, the accent clearly American. "You have been chosen for a demonstration. Do not attempt to contact the authorities... all signals in and out of a 2 mile radius have been jammed. I control all and yet... what happens next is on you and you alone."

The students began to murmur and Izuku saw his teacher pale considerably. And based on the noise out in the hall it wasn't just their class hearing the message.

But before their teacher could say a word, be it to calm them or to panic, there was a flash of light and all the students turned to stare in horror as a beam of energy shot down from the sky like a thunderbolt from a wrathful god. It lasted only a moment but when it was done a charred circle roughly 30 feet wide had been blasted into the parking lot.

"There is an orbital satellite currently aimed at your school. On my command it will fire again and it will reduce Aldera and all inside to ashes."

Several students began to scream and far more cried. Kaachan gotto his feet, explosions popping from his hands, but Izuku could tell he had no idea what to do.

"However... not all need to die this day." They all waited silently, the pause seeming to stretch on forever. "Send the students out and my satellite will not strike YOU down, teachers of Aldera."

"...what?" a girl, Izuku didn't know her name, whispered in horror.

"Send them to the crater. Send them into the blast zone. And I promise my satellite will not fire upon your school."

Izuku turned towards his teacher... and saw the gears turning in his head.

"Fuck that!" Kaachan shouted. "If I'm going out there its to fight that fucker! Stupid dipshit will-"

It happened so quick that Izuku would later swear his teacher must have had a speed quirk. In seconds he was on Kaachan, lashing out and striking him with his syllabus so hard that the edge slashed Kaachan's cheek. Izuku watched his friend slowly reach up, his anger gone as he looked at the blood oozing from his wound, unable to understand what was happening.

"Get out," the teacher said, trembling.

The students didn't move.

"GET OUT!" their homeroom teacher screamed, moving to strike another student.

The next few minutes were a blur. Izuku was out in the hallway, a mass of sobbing frightened students pushing him towards an exit. He heard pleading and screaming and saw other teachers using their quirks to force the students towards the doors and stairways. How he got down to the first floor he had no idea and by the time he was outside he was missing a shoe and his hair was covered in a glue-like substance a panicked teacher had shot at him. He ended up next to Kaachan who was still looking about with dull glassy eyes, fingers pressed to the cut on his cheek, a bruise beginning to form.

But everything went still as Izuku looked past the mob as they entered the crater... and saw HIM.

The gold and blue armor.

The glowing eyes.

The weapons trained and at the ready.

Chaosbringer.

Someone beside him let out a high pitch whine and Izuku began to tear up. Others were looking fearfully up at the clouds, wondering when the satellite would fire. Others frantically tried to call their parents, getting nothing but static.

The Symbol of Change spoke.

"I want you to remember that they didn't care about your quirk. Strong. Weak. Heroic. Villainous. No quirk at all. It didn't matter to them. Mutation or none. Trained or unable to master. They looked at each and every one of you... and decided you were nothing."

And then Chaosbringer lifted his arms...

...and rained death upon Aldera.

He hadn't lied. He didn't have his satellite fire.

No, he destroyed the school himself.

His shoulder cannon tore a great line through half the building. His gauntlets fired all manner of explosives that detonated in the school. Fires raged at once and then Chaosbringer rose in the air and fired upon the few staff members to tried to flee, reducing them to smears.

For five minutes he smote Aldera until nothing was left.

"A true hero does not sacrifice the innocent," Chaosbringer informed them before rocketing away.

Five minutes later the first parents arrived. They all told the same story: they received a phone call saying they needed to come and pick up their children. And that as they had hurried to get there they had heard recordings of Chaosbringer's demands... and the teachers letting out sighs of relief and congratulating themselves for sending children out to die.

Kaachan's parents got there before Izuku's mom but he didn't mind because Kaachan's dad hugged him tight while Kaachan's mom alternating between cursing out their 'fucking coward teachers!' and cuddling Kaachan close; his friend told her to knock it off but didn't actually try pushing her away. And when his mother did arrive there she and him sobbed so hard that izuku didn't think they'd ever stop crying.

The news covered the tragedy. They of course blamed Chaosbringer for all the death, labeling him Japan's most wanted villain. But there was just as much hatred directed towards the dead teachers, especially when the students gave their interviews about what had happened. Of how not a single teacher had tried to save them; how all had been willing to let them die.

Izuku remembered what Chaosbringer had said. Remembered how he had shown that it didn't matter the quirk... on that day they had all been equal. And as the Symbol of Change began to appear at other locations in the following weeks, attacking places that were revealed to discriminate against the quirkless and those with mutation quirks... he found himself listening again.

And when one of his mother's co-workers quietly asked him one day when he came over to go over some paperwork from her if Izuku liked his gold and blue ring...

...Izuku asked, softly, where he might get one of his own.