Author's Note: I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'm glad everyone seemed to like how I ended it. I'd also like to apologize for yet another delay in updating this story. I had intended to have this chapter up yesterday, but I ended up getting sick over the weekend. I'm starting to think this story is jinxed somehow.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, and the character of Raven is the creation of sammycrusinix.
Chapter 14: Everybody Hates a Clown
The night had grown calm once again. The disturbance that had caused the marks of the Signers to burn so intensely had ceased not long after it had begun. Yusei and the others weren't sure just what had happened. From Greiger and Raven's reactions, it had seemed like the feared Crimson Devil they had spoken of before had started to awaken. Yet everything was still peaceful. If such a demon had awakened, the city most likely would've erupted into chaos of a supernatural kind. But everything was still normal.
The only thing that Yusei and the others were sure of was that Jack was somehow involved. Despite the late hour, most of the group decided to go search for Jack to find out just what happened. Leo and Luna stayed at the mansion, as it was far too late for them to be out of bed. Crow and Raven stayed behind as well, as the earlier disturbance had hit Raven so bad that she had thrown up that evening's dinner. The rest of the group searched the city in three teams, with Bruno and Sect taking one part of the city, Kiryu and Greiger taking a second, and Yusei and Aki taking the remaining part. Yusei and Aki made it to the boardwalk where Jack and Carly's duel had begun.
"Help! Someone!" a female voice called, getting the couple's attention.
Yusei and Aki drove their D-Wheels towards the voice. When they arrived, they found Angela and Mr. Pitts still dangling from the construction crane Carly had hung them from. Acting quickly, Yusei went over to the crane, switched it on, and gently lowered the two captives to the ground. Afterwards, he came back over with a pair of bolt cutters that happened to be lying around and freed the two from their bonds.
"Are you two okay?" Aki asked them. "What happened?"
"That psycho bitch Carly, that's what!" Angela complained. "She was going to kill us!"
"Who's Carly?" Yusei asked.
"This girl who used to work for me. Not much of a reporter." Mr. Pitts explained. "I fired her, and I guess that's why she did all this."
"We'd be dead right now if she hadn't been saving us for last." Angela added. "She wanted to deal with Jack Atlas first."
"Jack was here?" a surprised Yusei asked. "Where'd he and this Carly go?"
"They started a Turbo Duel and took off towards the other end of the city." Mr. Pitts answered. "Don't ask me where they went. I'm getting out of here before I get into this any deeper!"
"Me too! I'm so out if here!" Angela agreed as the two of them stormed off.
"Well they were a big help." Aki sarcastically remarked. "A little gratitude would've been nice at least."
"We better tell the others that we've got a lead on Jack." Yusei decided as he went over to his D-Wheel.
"Say, wasn't that woman that one TV reporter?" Aki asked. "Angela something, I think."
"Oh yeah, I guess it was." Yusei replied as he pressed a few buttons on the consol. In moments, images of Greiger, Kiryu, Sect, and Bruno appeared on the screen. "Hey guys, Aki and I just got a lead on Jack. He was dueling some girl named Carly."
"That might explain the other Earthbound Immortal Kiryu and I sensed towards the end of whatever that was." Greiger theorized. "Whoever he was dueling probably had a connection to it."
"Well it looks like that connection was driving this Carly off the deep end, just like what happened to Kiryu." Yusei assumed. "She was planning to kill a couple people when Jack showed up. One was her old boss, who fired her. The other was that reporter, Angela someone. Don't know what grudge she had against her."
"Wait, you mean Angela Rains?" Sect asked. "Tell me something man, was she as hot in person as she is on the screen?"
"I didn't notice." Yusei replied.
"Yusei, do you know where those two went?" Kiryu asked.
"Not a clue." Yusei answered.
"I can run a search to see if I can find out where this girl, Carly, is living." Bruno suggested. "There's a chance they might be at that location."
"That sounds like a good idea." Yusei agreed. "In the meantime, it's pretty late. We should probably all call it a night and head back."
"Sounds good. We'll see you back at the house." Kiryu replied before the screen went dark.
"So, you really didn't notice how attractive that Angela woman was." Aki observed as she and Yusei mounted their D-Wheels.
"I guess I didn't take the time to look." Yusei shrugged. "Why, was she really that good-looking?"
"She was okay, I guess." Aki shrugged. "…You have noticed how I look though, right?"
"Of course! You beautiful Aki." Yusei assured her.
"But you didn't notice how Angela looked." Aki replied.
"No, why?" Yusei asked.
"Oh, no reason." Aki smirked. "Let's get going."
"Yeah, okay." Yusei agreed with a raised eyebrow.
Crow turned his head to look at the clock on the nightstand. It read 4:12 AM. If he was going to do what he had been planning to do, the time was now. As quietly as he could, Crow got out of bed, being careful not to disturb Raven. In moments, Crow was fully dressed and began tiptoeing to the door.
"Stop right there, Crow!" Raven spoke, just as Crow reached for the doorknob, causing him to freeze.
Crow slowly turned his head to see Raven sitting up in bed with her arms crossed. "Raven, honey. I was just… stepping out to get a glass of water."
"You got fully dressed just for that?" Raven asked in a very skeptical tone.
"…Fine, I was going to sneak out and break into Goodwin's office." Crow admitted. "I figured I might find a clue there to what's really going on."
"Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what would happen if you were caught?" Raven pointed out. "They'd probably throw you in the Pit this time! And you have more than enough of those marks on your face!"
"Hey, remember who you're talking to here." Crow smugly reminded her.
"Oh, I know who I'm talking to alright. But… you do have a good point." Raven admitted with a sigh. "So I'm at least going to go with you to make sure nothing bad happens."
"Are you nuts?" Crow told her. "After what happened tonight, you're in no condition to come with!"
"I'm feeling a lot better now that I've had some sleep." Raven assured him. "Now I'm going with you and that's final!"
Crow sighed heavily. He knew there was no way he was going to win that argument. "Fine, let's go."
Within a few minutes, the couple had gotten their D-Wheels from the garage and headed out to Goodwin's office. It was a fairly short and quiet drive out to the building. Crow and Raven arrived to find the place practically empty. It was a simple matter for Crow to pick the lock to the main door. He was after all a practiced hand at that sort of thing. After a short elevator ride up, the two had made it up to Rex's office. The first thing they noticed was the large hole that had been broken through the window.
"Whoa! What the hell happened here?" Crow wondered.
"It looks like something was thrown through the window." Raven deduced. "Though it doesn't look like anything's missing from the office."
"Oh dear, it seems we have a few more uninvited guests here tonight." A familiar voice interrupted. Crow and Raven looked to see Jaeger walking out of the darkness of the room.
"Yeesh! It's Goodwin's creepy little minion!" Crow observed.
"The name is Jaeger." The clown reminded him as he cleared his throat. "And I'm afraid that the two of you have landed yourselves in some very deep trouble. It's fortunate that Director Goodwin called me in to keep an eye on his office after it was broken into this evening. Though not very fortunate for you, I'm afraid. I'm going to see to it that you're both thrown to the very bottom of the Pit."
"Fat chance, clown boy!" Crow declared.
"Oh really. And just how do you intend to stop me?" Jaeger grinned.
Crow glanced down at his own duel disk and smirked. "Hey clown, you ever duel much?"
"And what if I do?" Jaeger asked.
"How 'bout this, you and I have a duel right here and now." Crow proposed. "You win, you can take us in. But if I win, you not only let us go, you tell us what we want to know."
"Interesting. It has been awhile since I've enjoyed a leisurely duel." Jaeger admitted. "Alright Crow. I accept your challenge."
Suddenly Jaeger produced a duel disk and placed it on his left arm. The two duelists took their positions in the room while Raven remained by the door to watch. Once Crow and Jaeger drew their opening hands, the duel started.
"I'll start things off." Jaeger announced as he drew his first card. "I summon Fiendish Clown-Tricko the Sneak in Defense Mode!"
Appearing on the battlefield was a short clown with a spherical torso, yellow eyes, and an insane fanged gin. It had short orange hair and atop its head was a very small top hat. Its outfit consisted of a pink and blue polka-dotted jacket with an oversized green bowtie, along with green and yellow vertical striped pants and oversized black shoes.
"Great, another creepy clown." Crow observed with a look of disgust.
"I'll set one card on the field and end my turn." Jaeger announced.
Crow drew his first card. "First I summon Blackwing-Mistral the Silver Shield in Attack Mode!"
Materializing to land on Crow's side of the field was a fairly large black bird with a very large silver mask covering its head. The mask gave the bird and almost shield-like appearance.
"Next, because I have a Blackwing monster on the field, I summon Blackwing-Bora the Spear!" Crow announced. The lance-wielding bird warrior landed on the field. "Now I tune the level two Mistral into the level four Bora for a level six Synchro Summon!"
Mistral flashed orange and turned into two rings of green light. The rings surrounded Bora and converted him into four balls of white light.
"Swirling dark winds become the storm to tear through all barriers!" Crow chanted. "Synchro Summon! Take flight, Blackwing Armed Wing!"
The lights flashed and became a new warrior with black-feathered wings clad in black armor. On his head was a large mass of orange feathers that went back like hair, and in his hands was a rifle with a bayonet.
"Armed Wing's ATK is 2300, making him three-hundred points stronger than that creepy clown you played." Crow pointed out. "But when Armed Wing attacks, he not only gains 500 ATK during the battle, he also inflicts battle damage!"
"Impressive." Jaeger admitted. "Too bad you won't be able to use that power. I activate my Trap, Cotton Candy Cannon!"
Suddenly appearing Jaeger's side of the battlefield was a large death ray-like weapon mounted on a red rotating turret. The primary part of the weapon was shaped almost like a football and was yellow and covered with green polka dots. Two red cables came out of the back of the device and went down to the base, while the end of the ray was a glowing ball that shot out a crackling beam of pink energy. The energy hit Armed Wing, causing the bird warrior to spin around at a fast speed. When Armed Wing finally stopped spinning, his head was still visible, but his body was encased in a cotton candy cocoon. With its target hit, Jaeger's cannon vanished.
"What the hell just happened?" Crow asked.
"My Cotton Candy Cannon has just prevented your monster from being able to attack at all." Jaeger explained. "Further more, Armed Wing's ATK is now cut in half."
"Dang it!" Crow cursed. "Fine, I'll end my turn."
Jaeger chuckled as he drew his next card. "I activate the effect of Tricko the Sneak! By sacrificing Tricko, I can summon two more copies of him from my deck in Defense Mode!"
Tricko suddenly began to giggle madly as his body expanded like a balloon. In moments the clown's body exploded, showing the battlefield in confetti. Two identical duplicates of the clown had appeared in the original Tricko's place, giggling with insane glee.
"Oh man, that is not right!" Crow declared.
"Then I have a feeling you're not going to like this next move." Jaeger grinned. "I sacrifice my two new monsters to summon Fiendish Clown-Crusho the Strong!"
The two clown monsters shattered into confetti and a whirlwind appeared on the field. The wind died down to reveal a muscular creature that looked to be about nine feet tall. The fangs protruding from the creature's jaw made it look like a cross between a clown and an ogre. The clown was shirtless and wore green overalls with yellow polka dots, and a pair of oversized red shoes. It had small tufts of blue hair on the sides of its head and wore a red beanie with a propeller. In its hand the creature held an oversized yellow mallet with a red star on the face of the head.
"Yeesh! That's the grossest monster I've ever seen!" Crow exclaimed.
"Crusho, attack Armed Wing!" Jaeger commanded. "Big Top Hammer!"
The giant clown lumbered forward and raised its hammer to strike. The giant mallet came down on Armed Wing, crushing him flat. Crow's life points dropped down to 2250. When Crusho raised its hammer though, Bora had appeared in Armed Wing's place.
"Hey! What the…?" Crow began to ask.
"When Crusho destroys a Synchro monster, I can summon one of the materials used for it to my opponent's side of the battlefield." Jaeger explained. "And when I use this effect, Crusho gets a second attack this turn."
"Crud!" Crow exclaimed.
"Crusho, attack Bora the Spear!" Jaeger commanded. "Big Top Hammer!"
Crusho raised its mallet one more time and swung it down hard on Bora. The bird warrior was crushed flat and Crow's life points dropped again to 1350.
"I'll set one card on the field and end my turn." Jaeger announced.
"Hang in there, Crow!" Raven called.
"I'm trying, but this creepy clown and his freak show monsters are throwing me off!" Crow replied.
"Yeah, they are creepy." Raven admitted. "But just focus on the duel, okay?"
"Clearly you simpletons have no appreciation for the noble art of clowning." Jaeger huffed.
Crow took a deep breath and drew his next card. He looked at what he just drew and smirked. "I activate the Spell card, Cards for Black Feathers! By discarding a Blackwing monster, I can draw two more cards!"
"Seems you've gotten your second wind." Jaeger observed. "All right then, show me what you've got."
"Because I have no monsters, I summon Blackwing-Sirocco the Dawn!" Crow announced. The black-feathered bird warrior appeared on the field. "Next, since I have a Blackwing monster on the field, I summon the Tuner monster, Blackwing-Gale the Whirlwind!" Crow's green-headed bird creature appeared on the field next to Sirocco. "I now tune the level three Gale into the level five Sirocco for a level eight Synchro Summon!"
Gale became three rings of green light and encircled Sirocco. Sirocco in turn became five balls of white light.
"Darkened gales become the wings that soar from resolved hope!" Crow chanted. "Synchro Summon! Soar, Black-Winged Dragon!"
The lights flashed and became a twister of black wind. The twister subsided to reveal a large black-feathered dragon with the head of a bird. It had large wings and six grey almost insect-like legs.
"Impressive." Jaeger complimented.
"I'm not done yet." Crow continued. "I set one card on the field. But then I return that card to my hand to summon the card I discarded for Cards for Black Feathers in Defense Mode, Blackwing-Zephyros the Elite!"
Appearing on the battlefield was a warrior clad in blue with orange-brown armor and large black-feathered wings. On his head he wore a bird mask with long blue feathers and a white face that had a long beak.
"When Zephyros is summoned, I take 400 points of damage." Crow revealed. "But thanks to Black-Winged Dragon, that damage is negated and Black-Winged Dragon gets a Black Feather Counter that reduces its ATK by 700."
"What's the point of that move?" Jaeger asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I set a card back on the field, which causes Zephyros to be destroyed." Crow announced. Zephyros shattered to bits as soon as the large card appeared on the field. "But by returning the card I just set to my hand, Zephros comes back to the field in Defense Mode." Zephyros reappeared on the battlefield in a kneeling position, and at the same time the feathers of Crow's dragon had started to glow red. "And because Zephyros returned to the field, Black-Winged Dragon gains another counter and loses another 700 ATK."
"I still don't see the point of this maneuver." Jaeger told him.
"You'll see." Crow grinned. "By the time this combo's finished, this duel will be over."
Crow destroyed Zephyros three more times, and three more times he summoned it back to the field. By the time he stopped, Black-Winged Dragon's ATK had dropped to zero and almost all the feathers on its wings were glowing.
"Now I activate Black-Winged Dragon's effect!" Crow announced. "By removing all his Black Feather Counters, I can decrease the ATK of an opponent's monster by 700 points for each one. And my opponent takes the same amount of damage!"
The dragon's wings stopped glowing and it opened its large yellow beak. Black-Winged Dragon fired a blast of pitch-black energy at Crusho the Strong.
"Ah, an impressive combo. Too bad it's going to fail!" Jaeger chuckled. "I activate my Trap, Funhouse Mirror!"
A split second before the black blast struck the clown ogre, a mirror with a wavy surface appeared in front of Crusho and blocked it. The mirror absorbed the energy and glowed with a brilliant white light. It shattered to reveal that Crusho's muscles had grown to twice their original size.
"What the hell?" Crow exclaimed.
"When one of my Fiendish Clowns is targeted by an effect that would reduce its ATK, Funhouse Mirror lets me negate the effect and have my clown gain the same amount of ATK it would've lost." Jaeger explained. "Furthermore, the damage I would've taken is also reversed. Meaning I now have 6800 life points."
"Say what?" Crow exclaimed.
"A valiant effort, my dear Crow." Jaeger chuckled. "But I'm afraid I'm going to clip your wings in this duel."
Author's Note: I ended up using the anime effects of Cards for Black Feathers and Zephyros, rather than their real world effects. It was the only way to make the duel work. As for Jaeger, I ended up giving him a deck of my own creation rather than having him use his cards from the anime or manga. I took a little inspiration from the horrible 80s movie, Killer Klowns from Outer Space when it came to Jaeger's cards. Though I have been rereading the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga lately, so a little inspiration might've come from there as well.
Please review and let me know what you think.