Disclaimer: The following piece is in no way a claim to ownership of the depicted characters. Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh R, Yu-Gi-Oh GX and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's are owned by TV Tokyo, Konami Corporation and Kazuki Takahashi. This story as presented is strictly for entertainment purposes, both for its owner and readers.
Chapter 9 – Yliaster on the Move, Kyojo vs. Jack Atlus?
Two weeks after the incident at the KC Building, down in the old England-like suburb of Poppo Time, Taiyou and Johan were in the middle of a duel. The gang had managed to find themselves a large empty building that appeared to have been a recreational centre at one point, but now it was a large group home which Yusei, Jack, Crow and Judai had managed to furnish with self-made furniture.
At the duel, Johan had 2 set cards on his field, as well as the ruby, topaz and emerald gemstones in his Magic & Trap Card Zone. He also had his Sapphire Pegasus (ATK: 1800, LV: 4), a whit winged unicorn with a sapphire horn and gems on its wings. He had one card in his hand.
Taiyou, on the other hand, had 3 cards in his hand, 1 Set card, a face-up Permanent Magic, and his Crusader of Endymion (ATK: 1900, LV: 4), an armoured warrior whose limb pieces were held in place with floating rings. His field card, Magical City Endymion, was also in play, meaning the building resembled a mystical city; the card floated in midair with two counters on it.
Johan: LP 3800
Taiyou: LP 4000
"Draw!" Taiyou declared, pulling a card. "I summon Tuned Magician (ATK: 1800, LV: 4)!" From a blue vortex emerged a mostly green and white plant-like magician with a runic ring suspended around its torso. "Next, I equip Superbis to my Tuned magician, so it gains its effect: it is now treated as a Tuner Monster." A bright red aura then appeared around the monster as a counter appeared on the field card.
"Next, I activate Crusader of Endymion's effect, and I place 1 Magic Counter on my Citadel to have him gain 600 ATK (ATK: 2500)." With that the power of the warrior rose as yet another counter appeared on the card, before Taiyou pointed at the monster. "Go, Crusader, attack Sapphire Pegasus!" Jumping forward, the warrior slashed through the winged horse, causing it to explode. It did not form a crystal because Johan's Zones were full, so he instead put it into his Cemetery.
Johan: LP 3100
Taiyou: LP 4000
"Now, Tuned Magician, attack Johan directly!" The monster acknowledged its task by jumping forward and striking Johan with the staff in its hand, making Johan cringe as he took the hit.
Johan: LP 1300
Taiyou: LP 4000
"Next I activate the Trap Card Urgent Tuning! I perform a Synchro Summon in the Battle Phase, to I tune me Level 4 Tuned Magician to my Level 4 Crusader of Endymion!" With a burst of light, the newer magician changed into 4 runic rings, which then became the green Tuning rings to surround the other monster. It then changed into 4 orbs of light, and then a column of light erupted from it.
"Great Warlock of the afterlife," Taiyou chanted, "rise up upon this world and bring the magic of destruction to the darkness. Synchro Summon! Harbinger of Magic, Magician's Deathscythe (ATK: 2800, LV: 8)!" From the light emerged a tall magician whose face was hidden by a reaper-like cloak, one that wore black armour and carried a scythe-like staff. "Now, Deathscythe gains 2 Magic Counters, meaning it has 400 extra ATK from the get-go (ATK: 3200)!" Two purple lights then appeared on the warrior, meaning its power rose suddenly.
"And next, due to Superbis' effect, I Special Summon Crusader of Endymion from the Cemetery (ATK: 1900, LV: 4)!" With a glowing light from his Cemetery returned the armoured warrior in a powerful glow, leaving Johan in what seemed like a dead position. However, he simply smiled as he flipped a card.
"Reverse Card Open: Gem Split! I send Gem Beast Cobalt Eagle from my Deck to my Cemetery, and I halve the ATK of Magician's Deathscythe for this turn (ATK: 1600)." Reaching through his Deck, Johan pulled out a card and placed it into the Cemetery while the power of the black magician fell.
"Even so Johan," Taiyou stated, "You've got nothing to save you from my killing blow!"
"Oh really?" Johan asked. "Reverse card open: Rainbow's Gravity! This card can only be activated while there are 7 Gem Beasts among my Field and Cemetery, and due to its effect I call upon Ultimate Gem God – Rainbow Dragon (ATK: 4000, LV: 10)!"
"What! No way!" Taiyou said, interested to see the legendary monster. With that seven different coloured lights appeared, and then converged into a vertical column of rainbow light. From that appeared his Signature white dragon with gold trim, large wings and two of each different gem along its body.
"Awesome! That's a legendary monster in the Spirit Realm!" Taiyou blurted ecstatically. "I've waited a long time to face that creature."
"Then this is your chance," Johan said, winking as he did so.
"Well, since it's stringer than any of my monsters, I set 2 cards and end my turn."
"Draw!" Johan declared.
"Are you sure this Paradox is the same individual you have been pursuing for the past few years?" Jose questioned of Placido. After the incident regarding the Kaiba Corporation Building, he had sent Lucciano back to the hideout, but had not himself returned. After all that time, he had finally made his way back to them.
"There is no doubt in my mind," was the reply from the man. "He has the voice and the misanthropic speech that marks him in my mind. Paradox is a far stronger enemy than the Signers, but they must still be eliminated first so he can be destroyed."
"What did you mean, when you told Lucciano the Signers had created him?"
"He was himself a Signer. But, the mark was lost to him after his persistent tampering with history. The world he comes from is in ruins, and he's trying to find a means by which to create something other than a desolate wasteland."
"Then to date he clearly has not succeeded," Jose simply stated out of logic. When Placido shook his head to show that it was not true, he Jose and Lucciano were completely stunned. "Then… why does he persist?"
"His own self has become warped through the process of his alterations to the timeline," Placido informed. "His voice has become different, parts of his hair have changed colour, and his mind has become unstable and obsessed. I fear he has become a psychopath, and so he cannot be persuaded or controlled."
"And he truly poses a threat to what we are trying to do?" Lucciano pondered aloud. "If humanity is eventually either destroyed or corrected, would that not satisfy Paradox and make it easier for us to complete our goal? Even if he has had a result that is better than the one he has now, I'm sure he'll stop with something ideal."
"Even if he does know how to stop," Placido countered, "reality can't be rewritten over and over again without consequences. When VCRs and VHS were first made, people would record television programming over and over again on them; but over time, the images would become grainy and the tape would degrade. The same thing will happen to reality if we cannot stop it."
"You're saying it could fall apart," Jose realized. "Then we do indeed need to deal with this threat. But how will we accomplish this?"
"Perhaps if we can destroy the Signers and capture the Crimson Dragon's energy, we can prevent his existence," Lucciano suggested. "What better use for your robot collection, Placido?"
"Funny," Placido replied, clearly unamused though Lucciano giggled at her own joke. "But… perhaps there is something in using X. Perhaps we can draw out X by luring him to our Jack Atlus stand-in; defeating him in a Duel would stop him and release any of his Sins captured."
"Then it is settled," the fake Jack issued from the other side of the room, having just stepped in. His voice had become an exact cop of Jack's, complete with pitch and tone and absent the mechanical distortion. "This Paradox shall become an opponent of the King, and there I shall defeat him."
"You must make sure you improve your power over last time," Jose instructed. "Your one duel with Jack did not ready you for dueling Judai. This time, test Jack's Deck against a number of different opponents through many Riding Duels."
Crossing his arms, the make Jack shrugged and said, "Very well. After all, it is the role of the King to best even his greatest knights. The time is now to ready myself for battle." Uncrossing his arms, the fake Jack stepped out into the hallway of the temple and continued on, his footsteps echoing along the stone.
"Do you really believe that X can defeat Paradox?" Lucciano asked of Placido, who smiled schemingly.
"It does not matter," he answered. "He will buy us enough time to find a more permanent solution; perhaps even collect another of the Infinity series." With that, both the other Infinity members gained the same malicious smile as Placido, who then sat down in his throne while they all looked at the vision orb below.
Back at the Poppo Time, Jack was alone in a moderately-lit basement room, cutting several piece of wood on a chop saw in order to make some cabinets that the gang could sell for spare money. Aki had used her talents as a sketch artist to get him some detailed drawings to follow, and Crow had picked up some good cedar boards to cut up and brought them back on the Blackbird – all Jack had to do was assemble the pieces.
Placing a two-by-ten into the path of the blade, Jack prepared to cut one of the decorated doors by marking out the cut line with a pencil. He then pushed it into position, pressed the trigger, and pulled back the arm of the saw; but just as he was about to plunge it, he felt somebody place an arm on his shoulder.
"What the…!" Jack yelled in surprise as he jumped, making him spin around and release the trigger on the chop saw. It sliced through the sleeve over his left arm, giving him a small slice along his forearm and making him grunt out an indecipherable curse. Looking back, he saw the face of Carly standing there, smiling and looking happy while Jack clutched his arm in pain.
"Oh, I'm sorry, are you alright?" Carly rushed out, turning concerned while she pulled out a piece of cloth from her pocket to tie around his arm.
"Why the hell did you come up to me like that?" Jack snapped at her, half forgetting that it was his girlfriend. When he realized she was hurt, he softened up a bit and said, "Carly, I… I'm sorry; I lost my head there, and I…"
"No, it's okay; I shouldn't have surprised you like that," she stated.
"It's my fault Jack," Judai said from the top of the stairs leading down to the basement. "I told her that she should surprise you."
"When did you get her here?" Jack asked of him.
"She was discharged earlier, but her car was still at her apartment," he explained. "I brought her here on a D-Wheel I just recently bought."
"You what?" Jack asked, clearly not happy with him. "We're supposed to be using money wisely to preserve our cover!"
"It was a used model," Judai clarified. "I got it cheap, and Yusei and I fixed it up. Besides, I needed it for my job."
"That's better," Jack stated as Judai hopped the railing and made the ten foot jump down onto concrete without so much as stumbling or flinching.
"There's something you need to see," he then stated, pulling out an issue of the Daily Duel, the paper for which Carly was formerly employed. Opening the article to page 6, it showed a picture of Jack on his D-Wheel, with his signature dragon by his side, as he ran his opponent off the road. Jack simply looked on in complete shock as he saw this, while Judai said, "I take it you have nothing to do with this."
"Nope," Jack stated. "I have no idea who that guy is, but he's clearly trying to impersonate me."
"Well, it says in the article that the D-Wheeler who looks and sounds exactly like you kept calling himself in the Third Person as 'The King'."
"I haven't called myself that in several months," Jack countered. "But I used to do it all the time for my fans; I'll bet somebody picked it up to use for some sort of prank."
"Prank?" Judai asked, expressing that Jack was taking this too lightly. "The man in that picture was hospitalized with a broken collar bone and a crushed shoulder. That's a little extreme for some prank. Where were you last night when this happened?"
"You're actually thinking I did this?" Jack asked, thinking Judai was in fact blaming him.
"Of course not; but the police will see it that way unless you have a good alibi. Your little investigation with Kyojo has taken you far way from us these past few nights, and the last two nights away even from him. Unless you can give yourself an alibi, you've got no chance."
"Well, last night I went down to the shipping yards to find an informant who said he had spoken with Yusuriha regarding the D-Wheels," Jack recalled. "He told me where he'd be via cell phone. He never showed up, though."
"That's not going to help you," Judai informed. "Unless somebody else can verify where you were."
"Kyojo rejoined me at around midnight," Jack informed, making Judai nod. "Where and when does the article say the attack took place?"
Judai looked quickly back at the paper, and said, "Around 1 a.m., near the shipping docks like you described."
"By that time I was already back here and asleep," Jack stated.
"You don't need to convince me," Judai pointed out. "Right now the police are thinking it's just a publicity stunt, a few young delinquents making viral videos with fake cards and a few good impressions; but I get the feeling there's more to it than that."
"You think Placido's behind this?" Jack asked rhetorically, getting a nod on reply nonetheless. "Well, I guess we need to figure out just what it is they plan to do before…"
"Hey, Judai!" Yusei yelled down to the red-headed duelist, getting the attention of everyone downstairs. "There's something you need to see!" With that Yusei ran back into the darkness of the above floor and Judai, Jack and Carly followed suit, running up their stairs and down the hall to a den in the building where a television was running. Johan, Aki, Yusei and Taiyou were all there, watching intently as the story blared.
"What's the big fuss?" Judai asked, his reply coming from Aki pointing at the Television. On the screen was a female reporter with the headline "Mysterious Duelist Stealing Cards."
"At least two duelists have already been attacked by the assailant," the woman stated, "including professional duelist Tenjoin Fubuki and Corporate Tycoon Kaiba Seto. Both men disappeared approximately two weeks ago and have just recently resurfaced; but both claimed to be missing a single card from their Decks. Mister Tenjoin claimed to be missing a signle copy of Red-Eyes Black Dragon while Mister Kaiba was missing one of his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons."
"One of those cards is missing?" Judai said aloud, watching as the story went on.
"Both men describe the assailant as wearing a white and black drama mask with patterns over the eyes, a black cloak and using a deck of cards with "Sin" in their names. Mister Tenjoin also claims the figure never spoke to him, while Mister Kaiba claims him to have a deep, low voice."
"Sin?" jack asked aloud. "Anyone here heard of these cards?" When everybody shook their head "no", he looked back to the television.
"The Director of the Public Security Maintenance Bureau, simply known as Placido, has stated that he is devoting his utmost resources to eliminating the threat." With that the man himself, wearing his white suit and black eye patch with his red iris and black hair, appeared and said,
"It is in the greatest interests of Neo Domino City that we do everything we can to stop this menacing individual before he causes more serious injury or even death."
"Mr. Placido," a reporter said in the background of the interview, "do you believe this incident to be related to the alleged Jack Atlus imitations going on?"
"I can tell you that at this time no connection has been drawn between them, but duel to confidentiality policies I can tell you no more than that."
"What?" Jack asked in a rage. "Even Placido is acting like he knows it's an imitation, and worse still he's asked about it in such a trivial way?"
"Calm down Jack," Yusei instructed. "Why would this individual be stealing single Normal Monster Cards if he had access to their whole Decks? It just doesn't make sense."
"Did you see Placido's reaction when he was asked about it?" Taiyou asked, causing everyone to look at him.
"When he was asked about the Jack incident?" Johan asked getting a glare from the man himself.
"The whole time," Taiyou clarified. "I've learned to pick up on lying rather well. What he said about devoting resources seemed genuine, but the look in his eyes… it told me he knew more than he was letting on. I think he lied about not knowing this masked weirdo."
"And you think he lied about it being connected to Jack?" Judai asked. When Taiyou nodded he further asked, "You think this Jack imposter is the cloaked card thief?"
Taiyou shook his head. "No, but I do think there's a connection. Notice that the Jack incident started up very recently, after those two came back from wherever it was they were. Perhaps Placido knows who or what this figure is, and is trying to… well, I'm not sure. But I do know there's more going on than he's saying."
All of a sudden, a story came on the television that got everyone's attention. "Police have issued an arrest warrant for Jack Atlus after another incident of Riding Duel attacks resulted in the death of an undercover cop named Syd."
"What? Syd's dead?" Jack shouted, unable to grasp what was going on.
"Syd was found dead with his skull crushed in and his entire deck shredded after an anonymous tipster e-mailed a video of the Riding Duel to the local police." Suddenly some of the video, shot from a rear-view perspective, came onto the screen and showed a dark grey version of Jack's Wheel of Fortune riding behind Syd and his D-Wheel.
"Hahahahaha!" The Jack-like individual laughed, strong and insane-sounding. "Feel the true power of the King!" With that a Synchro Summon animation brought forth a familiar-looking grey and red dragon, which dove upon Syd and punched him in the head. The video cut out at that point.
"Police had until recently discounted the possibility of Jack Atlus being the culprit due to the character of the man and the fact that his signature monster, Red Daemon's Dragon, had never been used. However, this has changed now that the monster has appeared. This marks the first death in the Jack Atlus incident, and the first time footage of the event has been produced."
"This is bullshit!" Jack yelled in a fit of rage, punching the wall.
"Isn't it convenient that shortly after Jack spoke to Syd he became one of the victims?" Yusei asked suspiciously. "Did Yusuriha ever learn of the incident with him?"
"Yes she did," Jack recounted, "when we interrogated her. But, as far as I know, Yusuriha never regained consciousness after you found her at the KC Building."
"The KC Building!" Judai said, snapping his fingers. "Kaiba disappeared the night Yusuriha went to the KC Building, which we've established was under orders from Placido."
"You think she was a victim of this assailant?" Taiyou asked; that being his turn to pick Judai's brain after Judai picked his.
"No," Judai clarified, "but that means Placido would have been there when Kaiba was attacked, and it also means he saw her after we moved locations. That's probably when he learned of Syd. We assumed right from the beginning that she was harmed by Placido, but maybe not before he got something out of her."
"And what does that have to do with this mystery assailant?" Taiyou pondered.
"I bet it's no coincidence that he had Yusuriha meet him the night Kaiba disappeared. He knew something was going to go down and he arranged that meeting as a cover, so we wouldn't figure out what he was really doing there."
"It was the elimination of a loose end," Yusei realized. "Placido's real target was that individual."
"Exactly. Maybe if we get to the bottom of this Jack incident we'll find out what's really going on."
"Where's Kyojo?" Jack asked out of nowhere, looking through his cell phone for Kyojo on his contacts. When no one answered him, he pushed the button and got a hold of Kyojo, asking him the same question.
"I'm near the docks," he answered.
"Wait there for me; we have to meet and discuss a plan of attack." With that Jack closed his phone and started to leave, but Yusei grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him. "What do you want?" Jack asked in irritation.
"You're honestly going out there with an arrest warrant issued for you?" Yusei asked.
"I think Kyojo might be the next target for this imposter," Jack stated. "I have to make sure he's alright."
"Then Kyojo would get arrested too," Judai stated.
"And he's be safe from that thing," Jack issued. With that he broke free of Yusei and ran farther out into the hallway, at which point Yusei called out his name again and got him to stop.
"Take this!" Yusei yelled, tossing him a card. Jack quickly caught it, looked at it, and said,
"Trust Guardian, eh? Thanks; this might come in handy." With that he ran off, only for Judai and Carly to start running after him.
"We might need to keep Jack and Kyojo safe," Judai said with a thumbs-up.
"And maybe I can clear Jack's name," Carly added, right before both ran off in the same direction as Jack.
Down at the wharf, Kyojo had begun doing tight laps around the roads and buildings awaiting Jack, his D-Wheel GPS on and searching for Jack's signal. Even the thrill of circling buildings at 200km/h had begun to lose its thrill, and so he began grumbling to himself waiting for Jack to arrive.
Suddenly, his GPS picked up on a signal coming nearby. Because it caught him off guard, his head snapped down to the GPS screen and he looked at the signal. It was one he did not recognize; it was one a similar frequency as Jack's Wheel of Fortune, but it had no serial number. Then, just as he pondered, he heard the roar of an engine in front of him and looked up.
"What in tar nation?" he asked rhetorically just before the headlights of the oncoming D-Wheel switched to high beams and blinded him. Seconds later he felt the D-Wheel crash into him head-on and the sound of a familiar, deep-throated laugh, Jack's laugh; but it was more malice than he remembered. Spinning himself around, he gave chase to what he then saw to be a dark grey Wheel of Fortune; but since it was nightfall, he could not tell that and he asked, "is that you Jack?"
"How dare you address the King so casually!" came the roaring reply in Jack's voice, in a way far more hostile than Kyojo would have thought from him. Suddenly, he remembered the news articles and the despicable thought entered hid mind.
"Hot damn, it's that imposter!" Kyojo yelled out at that point.
"Imposter? The only imposter is you, Ryukishi Kyojo! You're nothing more than a Court Jester who put on a brass crown and called himself a King. Bah! You're the King of Fools!"
"Shut it, you damned buzzard!" Kyojo yelled, getting nothing more than the deep laugh as a reply. Grunting in frustration, Kyojo then issued, "Alright, how's about I give you incentive to shut up! Duel me!"
"A feeble knave who has the gall to challenge the King is a fool," the imposter yelled back, "But the King must respond to may challenge. I accept!" With that both players pulled Decks from their pockets and inserted them into the Deck Zones of their D-Wheels; then they pressed a button on the console.
"Speed World 2! Set on!" they both yelled as the autopilot kicked in and the vehicles then set into a holding pattern around the docks, and they both then drew 5 cards. "Riding Duel! Acceleration!" the two men then bellowed, declaring the game on.
Kyojo: LP 4000
Enemy: LP 4000
"As the pursuer, it is your first turn so you may entertain the King!" the fake Jack yelled back to Kyojo, making the man grunt. However, he then noticed the Infinity Symbol quickly form encircling the two D-Wheels, making him realize what was going to happen.
"Fine, I draw!" Pulling a sixth card, he took it and another 3 cards and jammed them into slots. "I set these 3 cards, and I summon Masked Dragon (ATK: 1400, LV: 3)!" Three cards appeared on either side of Kyojo and disappeared, two to his right and one his left, and then a blue vortex opened and released a mostly red dragon whose body had many-jointed wings, spiny ridges and a mask-like face. I end my turn!"
"That's the best the so-called Former King can do?" the fake Jack scoffed. "Such moves are hardly fit for rank amateurs. Let me show you a true King's move! It's my turn! Draw (Kyojo: 1 SPC/Enemy: 1 SPC)! I Special Summon Vice Dragon (ATK: 1000, LV: 5)!"
From a blue vortex before the fake Jack emerged a purple dragon with a dinosaur-like body that included massive jaws and limbs, as well as thin green-membrane wings. "I also summon the Tuner Monster, Flare Resonator (ATK: 300, LV: 3)!" Right beside the dragon emerged the robed demonic creature with glass red orb rod, flaming back and raccoon-like face. "I tune my Level 3 Flare Resonator to my Level 5 Vice Dragon!"
Banging its Tuning fork into its glass rob, the creature changed into 3 white orbs that became green rings, which surrounded the purple dragon and made it into 5 white orbs. These then formed a vertical column of light. "The ruler's heartbeat will now file through here," the fake Jack chanted, imitating his namesake's chant. "Take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Daemon's Dragon (ATK: 3000, LV: 8)!"
The white column of light then burst into flames, releasing an almost blackened version of Jack's massive grey and red dragon that clenched its fists and roared at Kyojo, showing more hostility than usual. "That's the combo Jack used when he partnered with me," Kyojo realized. "How dare you mock my friends?!"
"Your friends are worthless pawns to the King!" the fake Jack yelled. "Due to the effect of Flare Resonator, Red Daemon's gains 300 ATK (ATK: 3300). Now go, attack Masked Dragon! Absolute Power Force!" Forming a burning fist, the dragon punched and shattered its smaller foe just as red electricity consumed Kyojo, making him grunt in pain.
Kyojo: LP 2100
Enemy: LP 4000
"That's some real fine damage right there," Kyojo stated. "With real pain, just like with Jack and the fake Judai. But, you're helped me too. Trap Card Open: Damage Condenser! I discard Minkie Dragon from my hand to Special Summon 1 monster with 1900 or less ATK from my Deck! Come, Lava Dragon (ATK: 1600, LV: 4)!" Placing a card from his hand into the Cemetery, light emerged from his deck that conjured a long Salamander-like creature with 8 legs and a growling mouth of teeth.
"Next, due to the effect of Masked Dragon, I Special Summon Twin-Headed Behemoth from my Deck (ATK: 1500, LV: 3)!" With that another dragon joined Kyojo, one who had a human-like body and a pair of different heads for arms, which growled at Jack. "See? I can swarm the field with Dragons too!"
"Your masochistic strategy to use your damage to fill the field is a great one indeed," the fake Jack complemented, "but its wastefulness makes it unworthy of the King!" Pulling two cards from his hand, Pedigree of the Destruction God and Nightmare Daemons, he jammed them into the slots of his grey Duel Tray and said, "I set 2 cards and end my turn."
"Then it's my turn!" Kyojo yelled, drawing a card (Kyojo: 2 SPC/Enemy: 2 SPC). "I activate Speed Spell – Angel Baton, so I draw 2 cards and discard 1!" Pulling his 2 cards, he saw a monster he could spare, so he placed it into the Cemetery. "I change Lava Dragon to Defence Position (DEF: 1200)!" With a growl, the long creature turned blue and curled up its limbs. "Next, by releasing this creature, I Special Summon 2 Masked Dragons, one from my Cemetery (ATK: 1400, LV: 3) and one from my hand (ATK: 1400, LV: 3)!"
Changing into a neon orb, the creature released two beams of light that formed two red and white dragons identical to the one he had just called forth. "Next, I summon Debris Dragon (ATK: 1000, LV: 4)!" Kyojo then called forth his white dragon with green wings and armour and 4 orange orbs. "Through its effect, I Special Summon Minkie Dragon from my Cemetery (ATK: 400, LV: 2)!"
Once again, Kyojo was joined by another dragon; this time, it was a small wooden-looking one with a painted form and a long segmented neck. "It's hammer time! I tune my Level 4 Debris Dragon to my 2 Level 3 Masked Dragons!" Growling, the dragon's wings released 4 green rings as it disappeared; two surrounded each dragon and made them into 3 white orbs each. Then they formed a vertical column of 4 rings and 6 orbs, which formed a column of light that burst into flames.
"The minions of hell will now rise up from the earth," Kyojo chanted, "to destroy the forces of evil and ignite the pyres of dogma! Synchro Summon! Incinerate, Trident Dragion (ATK: 3000, LV: 10!" From the light exploded a massive red serpentine dragon complete with white underbelly, three heads each with a short black horn, no limbs and massive compound wings. This creature growled demonically and loudly, almost intimidating the dragon before the fake Jack.
"That's certainly a large and dark creature," he stated, "and one worthy of the King's battle! Come!"
"Ask and ye shall receive, hoss!" Kyojo declared. "I activate Trident Dragion's effect: When this card is Synchro Summoned, I destroy 2 cards I control so that he gains 2 additional attacks this turn! Go, Satan's Militia!" Roaring loudly, the image of a card back appeared beside the small two-headed dragon right before two of the three heads bit down on those two and crushed them; then, each of the heads let out its own Satanic roar.
"Because the set card was Dummy Marker," Kyojo explained, "I draw 1 card!" Pulling his card, he quickly looked at it and declared, "Next I exclude my Minkie Dragon so I can Special Summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon (ATK: 2800, LV: 10)!" Turning into a neon orb, the wooden dragon released a large black wyvern with red trim and encrusted rubies along its segmented form, which was completed with a metallic coating.
"Once in one turn, Red-Eye Metal allows me to Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type Monster from my hand or Cemetery, Revive, Dark Horus Dragon (ATK: 3000, LV: 8)!" From the Cemetery slot of his Duel Tray erupted a beam of black flames that released a black metal bird-dragon, with a feathered and a lizard's tail, talons, a blue gem on its forehead and red eyes.
"Finally, I activate my Trap Card: Dragonic Enrage! All Dragon-Type monsters I control gain 400 ATK until the End Phase for each Dragon-Type monster that exists in my Cemetery; at this moment, there are 5 Dragons, so that's a 2000 Point bonus for all of my monsters (ATK: 5000) (ATK: 4800) (ATK: 5000)!" All five of his monsters were then lit up by powerful red flames, making them absorb energy and roar out loudly.
At the top of the building nearest where Kyojo and the fake Jack were Dueling, the real Jack, Judai and Carly pulled up on Jack's and Judai's D-Wheels, looking down upon the events. "Kyojo's got this duel in the bag," Judai stated. "The cards that guy set were Nightmare Daemons and Pedigree of the Destruction God."
"How do you know that?" Jack asked. "We're too far away to see their cards."
Judai's eyes then flashed over into Yubel's and he explained, "I have the ability to see what cards they both have using these powers."
"I see," Jack stated. "Then Kyojo's about to win."
"Go, Trident Dragion! Destroy that imposter! Lucifer's Firestorm!" The centre of the three heads of the gigantic red monster then began to form a ball of red, purple and black flames in its mouth, at which time the fake Jack sneered and laughed. "What's so funny?"
"You've fallen into the King's trap, you petty knave!" Reaching for the button of the zone where Nightmare Daemons was, the card itself became fuzzy as its makeup shifted. At that time none of the regular humans could see it, but Judai felt it and said to Jack,
"Something's up about his card."
"What do you mean?" Before Judai could answer, however, the fake Jack pressed the button and yelled out,
"Trap Card Open: Roar of Pride!" the image of said card then appeared where Nightmare Daemons should have been.
"What?" Kyojo and the others all yelled out in unison.
"By paying Life Points equal to the 1700 points of difference between our monsters' attack strengths," the fake reminded everyone, "Red Daemon's gains that amount plus an additional 300 points; therefore, it gains 2000 ATK (ATK: 5300)!"
"No!" Kyojo yelled out as the dragon on the fake Jack's field formed a fireball on its fist and jumped up to the mouth of the dragon which was gathering energy. Punching into it, the dragon created a huge explosion that bathed the red creature in flames, roaring out demonically as it exploded. The shockwave then knocked Kyojo's face forward into the console, making his head snap back and dizzying him.
Kyojo: LP 1800
Enemy: LP 2300
"Damn it!" Kyojo said aloud. "My monsters can't defeat his dragon now, so I have to end my Battle Phase."
"Then you must skip to your End Phase," the fake Jack pointed out, "where the effect of that Trap destroys your dragons!" Both of the black dragons behind Kyojo then exploded and made him duck, but at that point a blue vortex appeared beside him.
"Yes, but in the End Phase my destroyed Twin-Headed Behemoth returns (DEF: 1000, LV: 3)!" Through that vortex appeared the crouching humanoid dragon, this time blue. "I end my turn."
"Then I draw (Kyojo: 3 SPC/Enemy: 3 SPC)! And it is time the King brought this show to a close! Red daemon's, attack Twin-Headed Behemoth! Absolute Power Force!" Once again the large dragon formed a burning fist and swung it into the opposing creature shattering it. Kyojo's D-Wheel was knocked into the corner of a building by the shockwave, causing it to crash and eject Kyojo from his seat.
"No! Kyojo!" Judai yelled down as the fake Jack, who has pulled around half a kilometer ahead of Kyojo, sneered and spun around to face Kyojo with his Dragon.
"The end is now for you, knave! I activate Pedigree of the Destruction God!"
"This is bullshit!" Jack yelled out, revving his D-Wheel's engine.
"When my opponent's Defence Position monster is destroyed, my Level 8 monster gets to attack twice this turn!" Just as the imposter said this, his D-Wheel pulled around in the loop to below Jack, at which point Jack jumped his D-Wheel off the building and onto his faker, making both D-Wheels go in opposite directions and crash into walls.
"Jack! You're here!" Kyojo yelled out as his friend hit the wall just ahead of him, the faker hitting the wall of a building opposite that one.
"I call bullshit!" Jack yelled to the faker, who looked up and at him with a sneer. "That card wasn't Roar of Pride when you set it! It was Nightmare Daemons!"
"What?" Kyojo asked. "Is this true?" he yelled up to Judai, who nodded with his eyes still as Yubel's. Turning back to the faker he yelled, "Why you cheating fucking huckalero!"
"It was a necessary task," the imposter said proudly, the mechanical distortion returning to his voice. It was at that point everyone realized he was the same type of entity as what duplicated Judai, but it was what it said next that shocked everyone. "I had to ensure that some imposter didn't earn the title of King when they deserve only to die and rot among the riffraff of this world!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Jack yelled. ""Shut the fuck up, you robotic imitating piece of shit! You lose because of that little stunt, so now Yusei and I can dis-fucking-mantle you!"
"Is that what you want?" the faker asked, sneering. "Kyojo's reputation will fall apart, having won by default if he otherwise would have lost."
"You're wrong!" Jack yelled, offended by this ploy. "I'll continue the duel in Kyojo's place, and fight for his honour!"
"Then you start with his Life Points and SPC, and a fresh hand."
"I'll take it!" With that both Jacks pulled themselves out from the wall and revved their engines, getting to a single position.
"Jack!" Kyojo yelled, tossing a card to Jack. Taking it, Jack saw Kyojo's copy of Red Daemon's Dragon, which he nodded to and slipped it into his Extra Deck.
"Dueling with the card of the false King?" the fake Jack said. "How foolish!"
"The only false King is you!" Jack roared. "I'll show you: that a true King is one who fights with the power of his friends, because true victory is to be shared among a King's subjects!"
"Then enough methodical quibbling!" the fake yelled. "Let's go!"
Both duelists then yelled, "Riding Duel! Acceleration!" and shot off along the track, getting up to speed quickly.
"I set 2 cards and end my turn," the fake issued. "Now, show me your power, if you claim to be a real King!"
Card of the Week – Kyojo
Trident Dragion
Type: FIRE
Level: 10
Sub-Type(s): [Dragon/Synchro/Effect]
Effect: 1 Dragon-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Dragon-Type Monsters
This card cannot be Special Summoned outside of a Synchro Summon. When this card is Synchro Summoned successfully, you may destroy up to 2 cards you control. If you do so, this turn, this card may attack that many extra times.
ATK/ 3000
DEF/ 2800
*Behold, a true King's duel! Review if you wish.*
