Ride 9: Junk Berserker
Gally walked into the room with confidence, Jeager trailing behind her looking pissed off. Godwin exhaled and narrowed his eyes at the her and Gally decided to play dumb, jumping over the couch and crossing her legs as she sat next to Jack.
"How's the duel going?" Gally asked. Jack looked over to her, bored.
"Bommer thinks he's won, but that's where he's about to slip up. Yusei might be in a pinch right now, but watch this." Jack said as Yusei drew his card. According to the announcer, it was Yusei's 'Final Destiny Draw!'
Yusei drew the card, and Gally saw a ghost of a smile on his face as he declared what it was.
"Speed Spell – Synchro Return! If I have five or more Speed Counters, I can Special Summon a Synchro Monster that was removed from play! Return, Junk Warrior!" Yusei yelled as his monster appeared above him with a grunt, blasting down the track (5/2300/1300).
Yusei's previously summoned Arms Aid broke apart, becoming a black gauntlet with sharp red fingertips as it equipped to Junk Warrior's wrist (5/2300 → 3300/1300).
"Arms Aid gives the equipped monster one-thousand extra attack points!" Yusei explained.
"Junk Warrior! Power Gear Fist!" Yusei roared as his monster blasted towards Bommer's own Synchro monster, Dark Dive Bomber.
The next sequence was the most brutal display of holographic violence that Gally would ever see in a game of Duel Monsters, as The crimson jet bomber themed monster fired a barrage of missiles towards Junk Warrior, but with a roar, Junk Warrior emerged from the orange explosion with increased velocity.
Junk Warrior held up it's glowing – and now outstretched – palm as it ignited a blazing yellow, expanding until it was a massive hand of light, grabbing the wide-eyed Dark Dive Bomber. The energy claw distorted the other monster's frame, engulfing the Synchro in it's grip as the rival monster exploded.
Then Junk Warrior extended it's fist, a secondary blast of yellow grabbing Bommer's own D-Wheel and reducing the man's life-points to zero as Yusei explained it's effect – dealing the destroyed monsters' attack as damage to Bommer's life-points.
The crowd cheered a bit louder than Gally expected for the man with a marker, more from surprise at the upset victory than for the man who'd just won.
Bommer's D-Wheel spun out of control and ground to a halt as Yusei stopped as well. Then the commentator was cut off as Bommer's voice could be heard speaking through the microphone.
/
The next things happened in a blur as Bommer revealed footage of his hometown being enveloped in an explosion that consumed the entire area he'd projected on the viewing globe for the audience to see, telling Yusei and Jack not to trust Godwin and that the Director was to blame for his village's destruction.
Then he declared that a tragedy like that would never happen again as he took off on his D-Wheel – driving up the sloped edge of the ring and blasting off as he rocketed towards Godwin himself.
"Bommer!" Yusei yelled as he did the same, flying off from an opposing angle to intercept Bommer's D-Wheel, the two bikes colliding in mid-air as one of the 'Chariot Pile' spikes that Bommer had equipped broke off, hurtling towards Godwin. Jack wasn't sure even someone as tough as Gally could react in time – yet she didn't need to as Godwin himself grabbed the spinning projectile, stopping it cold as it tore through his glove – revealing gun metal steel beneath the glove as he squeezed and stopped it's rotation.
And that's when things got weird.
/
Yusei was in the middle of telling Bommer that pursuing revenge would make him just as bad as Godwin when Bommer suddenly tensed and the D-Wheel the tall man was on melted and warped around him the gigantic frame completely swallowing him.
Bommer yelled in surprise as he fell into the twisting metal as cables and tubes formed around him, covering his body in a chassis of armor, the three huge legs of the D-Wheel he was on remaining as they extended to raise Bommer higher into the air as the man's helmet shifted and warped, becoming fused to the man's face. The hybrid of man and machine let out a chilling shriek part mechanical and part human as it raised an arm, pointing it towards Godwin. On it's wrist was mounting the second Chariot Pile, which began to rotate slowly.
/
"Cut the footage and seal the track from the bleachers. Set the hologram around the stadium to idle. We need to contain this now. If we can do so, we can say it was a holographic failure." Godwin said quickly, assessing the situation as calmly as he could.
"What's going on, Godwin?!" Jack stated, surprised at the events below. Covering them up would do little to hide what he just saw, as Bommer merged with his craft to become a mechanical devil.
"Kya-ha-ha!" Nova exclaimed and everyone looked to the source of the sound. Nova appeared with an ear to ear grin as he looked around the room.
"My next gift to you! Godwin! You wanted to see what I could offer you, and here it is! I present a man given the gift to fully act on his own Karma." Nova said with a bow.
"Gally! You have the strength alone to oppose him but be careful – the slightest show of your true and terrible power of that Imaginos body could throw the whole place into chaos!" Nova said, looking to Godwin with a smirk.
"And you! What can you do to stop this, Director?" Nova asked as the hybrid of Bommer and the D Wheel roared. "Your smoke and mirrors can only go so far? What will you do if Bommer tears your golden boy down there into a bloody pulp? Or ignores him and goes right to kill you?" Nova asked.
Godwin glared at Nova now, a terrible fury like a calm before a storm. Gally looked down at the monster that Nova created and frowned. It would fall on her to clean up Nova's mess now, wouldn't it? She thought, hoping this time it would have a happier ending for her.
"Graaaaah!" The cyborg fusion screamed, blasting off to personally kill Godwin, ramping off the track a second time, now guided by the fusion's own will power, no miraculous red D-wheel to stop him this time.
Bommer didn't get that far - as Gally leapt down from the hole created from the first Chariot Pile, meeting Bommer in mid-air. The spinning blades of Chariot Pile clashed with a pair of her own Damascus Blades – one on each arm. The fusion was bulkier and moved with the strength, but also skill, simply lowering the spinning blade to try and cut Gally to ribbons. Luckily this meant that his trajectory was changed, falling towards the ground. But unfortunately for Gally, that meant she'd have to avoid it's wheels, never mind the spinning weapon of death.
She hated to admit it, but if she didn't want to make a scene, she'd need some help.
Gally made it to the ground first, skidding backwards before Bommer landed. The hulking cybernetic fusion slammed into the ground, shaking the area as Gally stood up, creating her skates as she looked over to Yusei, who had begun backing up in reverse at the sight of the thing, a look of shock on his face.
"Yusei!" Gally yelled out, reversing herself so that she was beside him – backing up at the same pace.
"I could use some help!" Gally said, grabbing a device off of her back and tossing it at Yusei's Duel Disk. The device magnetized to it and Yusei could barely register what was going on as Gally spoke next.
"The best way I can think of stopping that thing is together. My body can produce a Collapser – nanobots that can break down cybernetic tissue. It could be a way to save Bommer. But I need you and Junk Warrior to distract him if you can. Duel Monsters started this, so they should help to finish it!" Gally said.
"Junk Warrior?! But Solid Vision won't do! I'm no Psychic Duelist!" Yusei said, speeding up his machine as the fusion of Bommer and his D-Wheel looked at them and began to accelerate.
"That device I attached to your Duel Disk is Nova's! It turns your monsters as solid as they can go! Nova wanted to see if he could weaponize Duel Monsters and that was his result! Now can you help me stop him?" Gally asked as the machine hybrid tried to mow them down, both combatants spilling up to avoid the gigantic wheels and now, fists, of the machine containing Bommer's rage.
Yusei caught a glimpse of Bommer now, the man's body completely covered by mechanical parts. First, the silver cow skull on the front of the craft had become a chest-plate of sorts, while the ram-horn helmet expanded to become a second metal skin, the red visor glowing as though it were a single eye. Then Bommer's arms had been covered, giant pile-driver like pistons protruding from his forearms, a claw on the end of one and the spinning drill of Chariot Pile in the other.
The base of the D-Wheel remained structurally the same, three large wheels supporting the bike's gigantic frame, like the marriage of a tricycle and a monster truck.
"Yeah. I'll help you stop this. We have to save Bommer!" Yusei said.
Yusei decided to give it a try – without his cards, he just had himself and his D-Wheel, and the Yusei-Go had barely been able to stop Bommer before he'd merged with his machine. But now –
"Junk Warrior!" Yusei yelled turning his D-Wheel around when he got the chance and accelerating away from the hybrid as Junk Warrior appeared in front of it, Arms Aid equipped as his monster grappled with Bommer punching and tearing at the back of the D-Wheel body, sending scraps and cables flying as it did so. Unfortunately the machine body Bommer was inside of made them about even, as Bommer's upper body pivoted one-hundred and eighty degrees so he could engage Junk Warrior face to face. Rectangular metal arms rose from the frame of the D-Wheel, striking Junk Warrior back and leaving sizable dents in the monsters' purple armor as it pushed him away.
Bommer gave out a roar, and Giant Bommer AIRRAID, his ace monster, along with Dark Dive Bomber, his dark red and streamlined robot - reappeared above him.
Yusei didn't even want to ask if those were Solid Vision or not as they started shooting a combination of bullets and missiles at Junk Warrior. Yusei banked hard to the lip of the track to drive around Bommer as The Black Storm himself pursued Gally.
Junk Warrior broke Bommer's hold and followed his lead, doing his best to shrug off the barrage of missiles and hail of bullets both of Bommer's monsters sent the Synchro Warrior's way.
"If I have to fight Bommer's arsenal of planes, I need something else!" Yusei thought as he disregarded any rules of Duel Monsters he knew of at the moment and drew again, looking at the card with uncertainty.
"This might work, but I'll need some set-up first." Yusei thought, setting the card in question as the areal fighters kept up their pursuit.
/
The scene before Gally was quite nostalgic, the Motorball games fresh in her head from the bought with Jack - and now the cybernetic fighter in front of her brought up those same feelings. The only thing missing was an actual ball.
"I only used the Collapser once before – against Zapan in the Berserker Body. Synthesizing it using my brain's memory of the stuff is dangerous – but it's the only thing I can think of that could save Bommer!" Gally thought hastily as she kept out of reach of Bommer's pile-driver claw and drill weapons, each leaving an impact on the walls and pavement of the track as she avoided them.
"Nova, why did you do this?" Gally yelled into her comm. She heard the man laugh. "I got bored. And Godwin wanted to see results!" Nova said and Gally growled, forming a jet of plasma as she tried to burn through the arm holding Chariot Pile.
"Now that he's seen what I can do for him, I don't think he'd be interested in a partnership. No matter – Make the Collapser from scratch or fight the merged Bommer yourself!" Nova said. "Pick one or neither!"
She hated to admit it, but Nova had a point. If only she'd had more experience using this body in the past, she'd be able to handle the situation with ease. But for now she'd have to make due.
Gally bared her teeth as Bommer struck where she was headed, the piston knocking her down. But she was not out yet as she grabbed a horn of the cow-skull chest-plate and kicked off of it, landing in front of Bommer again, this time driving away from him in reverse as she focused everything on synthesizing the Collapser.
/
A gigantic bomb fired from Giant Bomber AIRRAID towards Junk Warrior, the Synchro monster disconnecting Arms Aid from its right arm to let the equip Synchro card take the hit instead, the large explosion detonating far away enough not to cause any damage to the Warrior.
Then a trap opened up beside Yusei and a massive silver blaster rifle appeared in Junk Warrior's hands, a support belt strapping around the monster's waist as it grabbed the beam rifle with two hands, pointing straight at Dark Dive Bomber.
"Synchro Striker Unit – Lock -on!" Yusei yelled as Junk Warrior rose higher in the sky and got in position, slamming the tip of the rifle into Dark Dive Bomber's chest.
"Fire!" Yusei yelled and Junk Warrior pulled the trigger, the ensuing ball of electricity blasting from the rife's tip - slamming through Dark Dive Bomber as it was created. The fighter plane robot was knocked back, as the blast of energy itself rammed into Giant Bomber AIRRAID as both monsters exploded from the single attack, the solid vision debris scattering into bits of light.
With his air support gone, Bommer was alone and Gally might want assistance if the operation was to succeed.
"Junk Warrior, keep him occupied!" Yusei yelled, his monster grunting as it fired a shot into one of Bommer's wheels, making him veer to the side as Gally zipped away down the track.
Yusei and Gally were hurtling towards each other, Yusei banking to the side so Gally could grab the canopy that hung over his seat, using it to swing around and perch on top of the D-Wheel as though they'd practiced the move. "If we load the Collapser in that Junk Warrior's rifle, we can administer it directly!" Gally said now that he could hear her.
"But for now, do you have a ball I could use?" Gally asked him.
/
Bommer could only feel rage and pain. There were no senses he had now other than the faint memory of a duel and his two dear siblings – Max and Annie, erased in a swath of flames. The only thing that could sate his rage would be more death. The death of Godwin. Bommer knew that it would not change anything really. Yliaster would just put up another puppet Director, but it would be satisfying to him for that brief moment. Bommer heard sounds of battle, far off and away. He was safe right now, in some kind of cocoon. But something was calling him. And it was not done with his rage just yet.
/
The wheel of Bommer's machine that Junk Warrior had blasted righted itself and began to shift back in place. Gally groaned. She was afraid of that.
"How did he get ahold of the restorer robots?" She asked and Nova seemed confused.
"I don't know! I just gave Bommer's D-wheel some modifications last night. It shouldn't be able to call them – unless!" Nova stopped for a moment.
"Unless that D-Wheel model is connected to him on a deeper level! Then it might perceive the damage to the mechanical parts as damage to Bommer himself! The levels of karma that man radiates are fairly powerful! How was I supposed to know he could use my restorer robots on himself?" Nova asked. It was a fair point, but it did nothing to help the current predicament.
"Since the restorer robots automatically repair damaged tissue and machinery, that means they must be locking onto him – the only target to repair other than yourself, Gally. The boy's monster can't kill him with brute force. On paper, he's invincible." Nova finished.
Gally looked to her right hand, the one not grabbing on the side of Yusei's D-Wheel at the moment as a syringe come out of her palm. "I can inject it manually, but-" She thought better of it as Bommer tore up the track, zig-zagging to avoid Junk Warrior's next shot. Yusei exhaled as Junk Warrior's power fell (5/2500 → 1700).
"Each use of Synchro Striker Unit takes up some of Junk Warrior's power, as its effects in Duel Monsters seem to be affecting it here too. We only have two more shots of it before Junk Warrior's attack power is practically drained." Yusei explained.
Bommer closed in on them, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow blocking one of his attacks as Gally used the make-shift ball Yusei had given her, throwing the rounded tuner monster, Turbo Synchron at Bommer's head. The green and squat Tuner struck true, cracking the visor and leaving Bommer open for a kick to the neck from Gally. Still, she noticed that the plating was too thick for a needle to work as she sank into the kick to set up a leap.
She flipped back and landed again on the top of Yusei's crimson bike. "I'm going to create a bullet from pure matter using this Imaginos body. Can Junk Warrior fire it at Bommer from that cannon?" Gally asked.
"It's some kind of energy blaster." Yusei said, glancing to the face-up card of Synchro Striker Unit. "I have no idea how it works, it's some kind of science fiction weapon." He said with a straight face as Bommer growled in a machine roar, surprised as Scrap-Iron Scarecrow blocked him a second time around.
"In that case, I'll administer it through pure plasma!" She said, looking up at Junk Warrior.
"Tell the big guy to grab me!" She said and Yusei complied, yelling to his monster.
"Junk Warrior! Let Gally hop on you. She's going to give you a special bullet for your rifle!" Yusei commanded.
Junk Warrior grunted in agreement, flying away from Bommer and hovering down so that Gally could leap up and grab around one of his thin ankles. She had put the canister of Plasma that her body had created in between her teeth as she climbed up the Synchro Warrior's body.
The rifle was easier to access than she'd feared once she'd perched herself on one of Junk Warrior's shoulders, sliding the bullet into the gun with ease as she looked to the round face of the scrap-iron fighter.
"I'm gonna distract him with some more Panzer Kunst and Motorball moves while you get the shot ready. Don't worry about me." Gally said, leaping off the purple machine's back as she hit the ground and picked up the fallen Turbo Synchron a second time.
/
Jack found himself very entertained watching the spectacle, only wishing he could be there as well. Yet now he was too awestruck to move as Junk Warrior shot Bommer in the back, this time the blast was blue and had lingering lightning around the composite D-Wheel duelist. All Jack could really do was look through the broken window as it was the only place that the holograms weren't censoring.
The machine Bommer shot the last Chariot Pile at Junk Warrior, the bladed projectile slamming into Junk Warrior's left arm, causing it to drop the Synchro Striker Unit rifle. The Pile scraped by, cutting a chuck of the Warrior's body out and Jack could see Junk Warrior was struggling to keep aloft.
Meanwhile, Gally was improvising another attack, leaping through the air and slamming Turbo Synchron into Bommer a second time, this time an overhead dunking maneuver. She leapt back and spun, throwing Turbo Synchro again at Bommer. It struck true, and Bommer began to slow down.
"Bommer! Listen! You can fight it!" Yusei yelled and Jack wanted to laugh hearing him forever remain a voice of reason, even when things got this bad. No matter the circumstances, his previous friend would remain the same.
"Bommer, fight it and win! We need you to fight it with us!" Yusei urged, driving next to the fused D-Wheeler. "Don't lose to your hatred!"
Junk Warrior's body slammed into the track as it could no longer keep flying. The warrior dispersed into golden flakes of light as it broke apart. Now it looked like Gally and Yusei were both on their last legs as Bommer began to contort – a mechanical scream coming from the cyborg fusion.
Then the metal plates opened up, the tubes, piping and wires inside of the mechanical husk retreating from Bommer's body as they receded into the D-Wheel, the damaged frame halting as Bommer's body emerged, still in his duel gear and looking passed out.
"Ooohh! Looks like you kids did it!" Nova said from the comm. "Thank God." Gally thought. "If he'd fully merged with that D-Wheel, the Collapser would've surely killed him."
"Bommer!" Yusei yelled in relief as he stopped his own machine, dismounting to check up on Bommer.
Gally looked up and turned to Jack and Godwin, giving Godwin a hard stare.
"Let's hope the man in the clouds is as happy as you are, Professor." Gally said.
/
"I suppose the assassination attempt will be hand-waved as part of his machine's unexpected transformation." Godwin said while Nova smirked at him.
"Never mind that – what about your hand?" Jack asked and Godwin smiled, producing a white spotless glove from his pocket that he fit over the cybernetic fingers and wrist.
"That's another story, from my past." Godwin said cryptically. "Though we should recover Bommer in any case. Although it seems an arrest is a bit out of our reach at the moment." He said, looking at Jeager who nodded with a salute.
"In any case, let the public know that Izayoi Aki's next duel will continue on the scheduled time. We can repair the track after the next series of standing duels are completed." Godwin said. "
Then the hologram faded to reveal the track in it's damaged state. Godwin gave a speech and his honeyed words that he'd protect the people, even at the cost of his own life seemed to pacify the crowds despite the damage to the track.
/
"I'll stay with Bommer to make sure he's ok." Yusei said, disconnecting the Solid Vision device from his Duel Disk and throwing it to Gally, who caught it and nodded. A medical team arrived, loading Bommer on a stretcher and Yusei followed the vehicle once he'd put away all of his cards, making sure he kept the man in his sights – who knew what Godwin could be planning with that level of foreign technology?
/
The lab was empty now, save for Nova, looking at a diagram. Then something hard and made of metal slammed suddenly into the floor. Nova kept the goofy smile on his face even as he turned to the souce of the sound - the blunt impact of the Chariot Pile Fragment.
Godwin stood over the fallen scientist and narrowed his eyes as the man smaller man didn't seem intimidated by him in the least.
"Director Godwin." Nova said with a smirk on his face. "I take it you're not pleased with what my genius has to offer?"
Godwin looked down on him. "If that had gone on any longer – if the holographic projectors weren't functioning – you could have shut down the entire event." Once again here was his anger, disguised as intelligence as Godwin would undoubtedly keep listing all of Nova's character defects.
Nova yawned and Godwin stopped, surprised at the brazen breach of decorum.
"So you're threatening me, is that it?" Nova asked and Godwin stopped. "No. I think we both know that this is past just a threat."
Nova laughed at him. "Well by all means! Kill me if you're so ready to be rid of me!" Nova said, wrinkled face twisting in joy as he laughed at Godwin's confused reaction.
"Fine then! If you lack the conviction!-" Nova pushed a button on the control panel he worked on and the Momentum reactor began to hum slightly louder, the rainbow either inside of it fluctuating at a greater speed. "Then I'll do it myself for you!"
Then Nova walked to the edge of the device and turned to smile at Godwin.
"Good luck, Director! I predict you're going to have quite a large amount of karma come your way soon!" The mad scientist said as he leapt over the edge, laughing as he fell into the rainbow abyss.
Godwin was shocked, moving quickly to shut down the reactor and looked down the now dark shaft: there were no remains as he'd expected, the reactor likely atomized Nova's structure down to the slightest molecule. But still, the eagerness and sheer fearlessness of Nova was maddening. Like he'd done the same thing before, but that was impossible.
Then Godwin found out he was targeted far too quickly to process as Gally grabbed him, jumped across the room, and pinned him to the wall. She was somehow able to hold him up with just one hand, burning through part of his collar with a glowing blue finger.
"I don't really care what your station is, murderer. You have the power to let Yusei's friends go. And I swear that I'll end you right here if you don't do that." Gally said, glaring.
"Well now, it seems you're not thinking straight." Godwin said with a grin. "What, pray tell would Yusei think if you were the cause of his friends' demise? Make no mistake, Gally. I appreciate your help in stopping Bommer, but at the moment you're not in a position to make threats, especially seeing the results of your ally's insanity first-hand. Do consider that a simple phone call from me could throw Bommer in prison if I willed it."
Gally tisked and let go. "You don't want to underestimate me. Especially after you've seen what I can do."
"I don't underestimate anyone. I merely fail to see why you're so caught up in someone's problems. You already made your point clearly going after Jeager." Godwin said, straightening his jacket and standing to his full height.
Gally frowned. Evidently she hadn't made it clear enough to him as she glanced to where Nova had been working.
"I will be monitoring Miss Izayoi's next duel. I pray for your sake that you do not interrupt me again, or there will be more consequences, though if not for you directly than for others." Godwin said, looking away from her. Gally didn't need to see his face to know he was grinning as he said every word.