Disclaimer: I do not own YGO 5Ds
Goodwin motioned a guard over, whispered something, and the man left with a bow. I sat still, sipping on coffee that have cooled to room temperature and examining the short contract Goodwin had typed up in the meantime.
"Jack," Goodwin smiled and stood up as the arrogant pointy-haired blond entered.
"Goodwin," Jack acknowledged the Director with a curt nod, "so who's this chump I'm supposed to beat this time."
Dressed in a simple black tank top and form-fitting white leather pants (that would have made me drool if I weren't so distracted), Jack Atlas took command of the room as soon as he walked in. He automatically became the centre of attention, even the guards naturally gravitated towards him. I guess that's what they call 'star quality'.
"That would be me," I said with an absent-minded smile. I had more important things on my mind. There were a thousand things I wanted Zigzix to work on, and a million ways to divide his time. Poor scheduling might significantly impact our productivity. Translated into language people understand, that means food, shelter and real weapons that would prevent me from being kidnapped by the City at will. Those considerations instinctively took priority over a teenage idol and a children's card game, however important that game might be.
"You're kidding me, right?" Jack turned to Goodwin with a scowl, "you want me to duel this, this kid? I won't duel a kindergartner. The King doesn't duel small children!"
"You know," Still distracted by ZigZix, I accidentally said what was really on my mind "If Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler had a kid, you would be that kid."
Goodwin snickered, covering his mouth with one gloved hand.
"Who in the world is Joey Wheeler?" Jack demanded angrily. I looked back at him innocently, it was an honest comment.
"Ahem, I believe he was friends with Yugi Motou, and a great duelist in his own right," Goodwin spoke with a sincere smile on his lips, I don't think I've ever seen him like this, in the anime or this world.
"Or a blond Vegeta," I added as the thought suddenly occurred to me. Focused slightly and perusing the contract Goodwin handed me, I continued the disorganized train of thought "duel, Jack, Zigzix."
"She can't even talk straight," Jack objected, "I can't duel her! The sight of my dragon would sent her home crying for mommy."
It took everything I had to hold back the 'why don't you go home cry to your mommy,' joke.
"Jacky, Jacky, Jacky," I smirked, it was the only way to hide the huge grin I had, "It's truly unfortunate for me that you left the Satellite so early, before I could win your Red Dragon Archfiend from you."
"In your dreams kid," Jack scoffed, obviously not taking the threat seriously. Regardless of what I've done, my lack of dueling success is enough for many people to write me off in this world. This is a very messed-up world.
"It would hardly appropriate for the King to turn down a challenge from a kid," I had a hundred and one ways to force Jack into a duel, this felt the most fitting, seeing as it originated from Seto Kaiba himself. "I can see the headlines now, 'Jack Atlas, Master of Disaster, flees from 13 year-old girl at top speed."
"You take that back!" Jack growled. He's cute when he's angry.
"Make me!" I challenged, he'd have to level up quite a few times before he was a true threat in a duel.
"Fine, you got your wish" Jack growled, "Jack Atlas is going to crush you."
"Of course you are," I answered complacently as though speaking to a small child, my eyes still glued to the contract in front of me. "Everything looks good," I pushed it back to Goodwin, "sign it, give me a copy, email a copy to my account and we can begin."
"Don't ignore me!" Jack raged, rushing up and grabbing me at the collar. "How dare you ignore the man who Rules the Duels, the Master of Faster? I am Jack Atlas, and I shall not be overlooked!"
"So I've noticed," I commented drily. "How very, energetic of you."
"What's that supposed to mean!" Jack demanded again. At least he wasn't the type to spit while he talked.
"I hope you can maintain that energy after my monsters are through with you," I smirked and patted him on the cheek, made possible despite our height difference because he was still holding me up by the front of my shirt.
He grunted in protest but put me down.
"Samurais?" Goodwin asked while emailing the virtual copy of our contract to my Satellite headquarters, "That is the deck you use?" I couldn't tell if he was trying to give Jack a heads up or hint at how much he really knew about me.
"It was," I admitted, slightly embarrassed, slightly defiant, "I mean it still is, but I left my decks in the Satellite, just in case I didn't make it back."
"So you're dueling me with, what, your backup deck?" Jack demanded, I could almost see the steam rising off his perfectly-groomed pointy hair.
"Actually," I admitted, "I'm not dueling you with anything at all if I don't somehow put a deck together first." But that's not my problem, Goodwin wanted the duel, let him worry about it.
"Here!" Jack tossed me a virtual tablet displaying duel monsters cards while plopping himself onto the sofa, "I will not beat you until you're at your best. Pick whatever cards you need for our duel and Mina will get them for you."
"Are you sure?" I looked at him skeptically, scrolling down the list. There must have been several thousand cards listed, many of which was better than the cards found in his own deck.
"Jack Atlas never lies!" Jack jumped up, being challenged, then questioned by a younger girl must have set him off "Mina offered me a complete selection, those were only the cards I rejected from my deck."
Right, I thought sarcastically, Jack Atlas never lies, except everything about his history, and to his friends. I would be the first to admit Atlas was hot, especially with the accent. I still wasn't sure if it was Australian or British, but I'll take it. I will also admit that I didn't like him, not even the improved version later in the show. He was probably my least favorite protagonist as far as personality was concerned, so I would enjoy teaching him a lesson.
"How generous," I said instead, instilling all the sarcasm from my private thoughts into those two words.
"If you want my generosity, you're gonna have to earn it!" Jack positively exploded at my comment, just realizing that offering your opponents the cards you rejected might not be the best way to show off, "if by some miracle you manage to beat me, you can keep whatever cards you chose." He said with his nose in the air. If he bent his neck back any further, I might be able to see the bottom of his chin.
"Are you sure?" I was extremely tempted of course, but I needed to seal the deal while I had the chance.
"Jack Atlas is a man of his words!" He repeated, "You can pick any cards you want!"
Considering his financial situation after Goodwin's death, he probably didn't own any of these cards, but I wasn't going to turn down Goodwin's private stash. Instead, I'd confirm the deal while I had the chance.
"Thank you so much, Jacku-sama! Thank you too Goodwin-sama!" I stood up, cupped my hands under my chin and bend one leg backwards in a typical anime fashion, then leaned onto Goodwin to glomp his arm. Half-mockingly, half sincere. No, I wasn't above flattery. After my duel with Crow, I gave back the cards I borrowed from Kalin (without his knowledge), so I was once again without a deck, which means I had no way to defend myself against the Sector. It sounds ridiculous even in my own head, but by Ra it was the truth. Thanking Goodwin would prevent him from rescinding on our agreement after the duel, plus, hugging Jack felt too much like harassment.
Jack hmmphed, Goodwin sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose but made no objections. He really doesn't think I could defeat Jack Atlas, I realized.
I hesitated at the deck selection menu. Of course I needed a decent enough deck to defeat a protagonist, but if I get to keep the deck in the end, I also wanted to add as many powerful cards as I could. 60 cards (yes, I've already discarded the notion of a 40 card deck) could fix up quite a few decks in the Satellite, and as much as I hated to admit it, dueling was the best way to get rid of Satellite gangs and Sector Security.
A Chaos deck then, I finally decided amongst the numerous possible archetypes (okay, Chaos-Dragon-Lightsworn). It felt appropriate, it always does when getting back what's yours. It's also easy to add a variety of powerful monsters to this deck, and worked reasonably well with a 60 card deck.
By the time I was done, I could see Goodwin's smile freezing and about to fall off his face.
"Thank you Goodwin-sama!" I said again sweetly, "and thank you too Mina-kun!"
"You're very welcome, Yuki-chan," the blue haired girl smiled, patted me on the head. While fully aware of the cost of my deck, she was just happy to carry out the orders of her beloved Jack. "I have to warn you though, no matter what cards you get, you'll never beat Atlas-sama in a duel."
"That's right!" Jack agreed, "thank you Mina." The blue-haired girl blushed.
"Was that truly necessary?" Goodwin asked wearily, gesturing to the cards I just received "This can't possibly be better than your last deck. I should think you've evolved beyond this by now."
"I'm sorry that we satellites don't have everything at our fingertips," I snapped back, "I need to grab every card I could at every opportunity."
"You're not going to manage to beat me with that deck!" Jack exclaimed, honestly offended. "You put it together in fifteen minutes! A deck doesn't just need powerful monsters you know, it needs a balance, you need to rely on every card in your deck in order to win." Duelists here don't get enough powerful cards, thus they rarely make significant changes to their deck, so Jack was obvious surprised at me using a deck other than the one to which I was accustomed. The truth is, if I hadn't made similar decks before, I wouldn't have been able to select an even adequate deck based on imagination and presumptions either.
"Yeah, this deck might clog a little," I admitted, a little ashamed at how greedy I got, "and I'd get a couple of dead-draws here and there, but it'll be worth it."
"You do remember you'll have to beat me to keep the deck, don't you?" Jack asked skeptically.
"Right," I nodded again, not at all concerned. I've seen enough of Jack's duels to know, I could defeat Jack Atlas. He wasn't going to be a threat until he rejoins Yusei at least. After all, I knew more about this card game than he could dream of, and Yugioh was a game all about knowing. After he gained the power of the Crimson Dragon, maybe he'd be a challenge, it's impossible to tell at this point, the whole magic thing confuses me. Right now though, especially without the help of the Crimson Dragon anymore, he was barely a Joey.
The room fell into an uncomfortable silence broken only by Mina coming in and out, bringing the cards I requested. I stared at the beautifully piercing purple eyes in front of me and found myself wondering, why did Goodwin put Jack on a pedestal? Surely there were better ways to train a duelist. It was not necessary, nor was it attempted, for any others Signers. The money angle also seemed obsolete, considering Goodwin was trying to destroy this world through magical means.
I can't ask that question though, without risking revealing the depth of my knowledge regarding his non-human involvements.
"So Jack," I decided to strike up a conversation with the striking teenager in front of me before Goodwin could ask me any uncomfortable questions, "are you still using your first duel runner?" I was thinking of getting (/hiring/blackmailing) Yusei to make a duel runner for me too, almost nothing else would run on Satellite roads.
"As a matter of fact I am," A vein on his forehead popped, "what's it to you?"
Oops, forgot that was a sore spot.
"Jack has won every duel he was in since he came to Neo Domino City," Goodwin defended his pet project, "so with little damage, we have had no need to replace his duel runner."
"One more question," I couldn't help stirring up a little more trouble. "I'm assuming that Jack here is making you a small fortune, where is that money going?"
Jack certainly didn't get it, not if his future finances were any indication. Rex Goodwin had no need for money if he wanted to destroy the material world.
Jack froze at the question.
"Jack gets a cut of course," Goodwin answered smoothly, "and the rest goes to Domino City's public reserve."
"Hmm," I wrinkled my nose in thought, "so none goes into your bank account?"
"Why would he need a private bank account?" Jack wondered aloud, "Directors have full access to all city funds."
"Of course," Goodwin rubbed the bridge of his nose again, it can't be easy dealing with Jack Atlas, "only so I could better serve this city."
"What about when you retire?" I pressed with an innocent smile.
"Why would he quit?" Jack jumped in again before Goodwin had answer, obviously mocking my ignorance, "These are life-long positions you know."
"No, no, I did not know that." I responded stiffly, shocked speechless by the current state of Japanese politics.
"That's the last of it," Mina came in and unknowingly broke the tension, handing me the last most powerful cards in my newly-picked deck.
I marveled at the makeshift deck, with many cards I didn't even have in the other world, when this really was just a children's card game.
"Let's go then," Jack stood up impatiently, "I'm going to show you how a real duelist does things. I'll even let you go first."
I merely followed with a smile, there's no need to bicker at this point. I was also concerned he'd take my precious deck away if I pissed him off too much before defeating him. Mina showed us into apparently a private dueling arena inside the government building. Either Domino City had absolutely no financial auditing, or none of the auditors saw a problem with the decision to dedicate a large area in the center of a government building in the middle of the City for private card games. Knowing this world, both were equally likely.
Akiza stepped swiftly off the boat, mildly irritated. She hated going to the Satellite by boat, she hated the uncertainty of it all, the feeling of not being on solid ground and not in control, but Sayer never seemed to notice. Akiza checked her surrounding offhandedly, more out of habit than caution. She had been here several times at Sayers request, as experience had told her time and again, nothing here could harm her. Nothing at all could harm her unless she let it, as the Black Rose, she was invincible.
Stepping into an alleyway to avoid gawkers, she released her powers and felt them responding to her control.
"Fallen Angel of Roses (lv7, 2400/1300), come forth," she selected the monster from her deck and the monster responded. A seven feet tall humanoid monster crossed into this dimension and appeared out of thin air. Dressed in a white dress and black leggings, her wings and hair were both a deep lavender, vines of the same color extended from her arms, and wrapped harmlessly around her body, though the occasional sparks of magic would suggest otherwise. She floated in front of her mistress, waiting for her orders.
"Take me to where the Magicians are," Duel monster were so simple, Black Rose didn't need to worry about wording, or tone or the nuances that dictated human interactions, her thoughts were directly transmitted into all those she summoned, and they obeyed without question. Her monster extended a vine to hold Akiza up, and rose above the buildings to fly towards their destination.
Sayer had long reached an agreement with Goodwin that Sector Security would 'neglect' Akiza's use of her powers. In exchange, the Director of Domino City requested tight control over Satellite-Domino borders, which is why even she was forced to cross under legal pretences.
"The witch!" Her landing provoked agitation and terror amongst the residents of this dump, as it always does. Witch is one of the better names she'd been called. Black Rose dismissed her audience as inconsequential, none of them would understand her, and none of them deserved the chance to even try.
"The Black Rose!" One muscular purple-haired man ran out of the house that was her target, "What do you want?" He demanded. His pretense of courage was laughable, she thought, she could smell the fear dripped down his body, and according to her experience, there'll soon be something a lot less pleasant dripping down also. Akiza wrinkled her nose, an absolutely adorable expression completely hidden by the flailing long hair that covered her face. That's one of them, she nodded, Sayer had shown her pictures of her targets.
"I want you to die!" She responded vehemently, her voice was an ear-splitting roar that inspired nothing but fear and despair. They didn't deserve a duel from her, Black Rose decided, they barely deserve to breathe the same air as she did.
Chaos didn't hesitate as he ran away from the house, out of the front yard and towards the witch who appeared without warning.
"Run!" He shouted, "It's Black Rose!" There were maybe 50 people in the extension wing they just added onto the house, and twice that many in Hogan's classroom nearby. Under the best case scenario where the Black Rose was after him alone, an ensuing stampeded might still kill half a dozen people. Instead, the members of the house filed out from the living room where they had congregated after finding nothing upstairs.
As Chaos dodged each attack more precariously than the last, they stood by helplessly, not even able to reach the Black Rose, as she was held up by her monster hovering fifteen feet above ground.
Kalin stepped into the shadows and with a wave of his hands, blended perfectly into his surroundings. Since you're so eager to let her rot, let's see how you fare without her, he thought cynically. Completely ignoring the fact that Yuki would be worse than useless in a situation like this.
"More?" Black Rose shrieked triumphantly upon seeing the new arrivals, her hazel eyes filled up with blood, now a dark auburn. "The more the merrier! Welcome to my world!"
Cyril kicked open the door to the shed, grabbing a few shovels and handing them out. More psychological than anything else against the monster in the air with her mistress, attacking the mortals on the ground with vines stronger than steel.
"You want to escape from your fate?" Black Rose screeched, "That just won't do! I didn't escape from mine, why would you get to escape from yours? Let's see, I know! Say hello to this beauty, Revival Rose (lv4, 1300/1300)"
For a second, the wonderment of the situation overwhelmed their despair as a giant shrub rose quickly out of the ground, several rose budded at the top and immediately came into full bloom, just tall enough to parallel the second story window and shooting explosive seeds.
"I wonder if you can eat it," Felice mused aloud, she had vegetables a couple of times. By some miracle, a batch had managed to grow on Satellite soil for two years. They were delicious.
"Teddy," Vincent's eyes focused on the youngest of their group, "get Nervin to evacuate the factory, and Hogan to evacuate the school. Take Greiger with you." He added as an afterthought. Greiger was a spy for Domino, so if the Black Rose was sent by Rex Goodwin, the kids were less likely to be attacked with Greiger by their side.
"But," Teddy looked at the giant stalks of plants and the tiny humans determined to fend them off.
"Go!" Cyril pushed him back inside the house, "We'll buy you as much time as we can." He'd be surprised if the evacuations hadn't started already, but they can't have all the Magicians dying together, somebody has to spread their name, carry the torch so to speak.
No sooner did his words fall when Chaos was finally grabbed by the tentacles of Revival Rose while diving out of the way of the explosive seeds shot from its flowers.
"Think they're pretty? Well don't forget all roses have thorns!" The Black Rose cackled in a shrill voice before commanding her plant to discard of the human they captured. Revival Rose tightened its grip on its mortal captive, its thorns digging into flesh, then threw him towards to wall. Chaos managed to turn slightly in midair, so he crushed into the hastily-constructed extension wing instead of the main frame of the house, planks and dirt in the wall crumbled under impact and broke his fall. The ex-nightwalker crawled off the ground with a groan, barely managing to get out of the way as another whiplash was aimed in his direction. At least the extension wing is empty, he thought a little hazily as he made his way back towards those monstrous plants, in front of which the other four people were huddled together, beating off the toying attacks of Black Rose's monsters. If Nervin managed to get out of the way, certainly Hogan would have taken the kids three blocks away by now.
"Get out of the way," Nervin struded out of the front door with an uncharacteristic smirk, "and let a professional handle this."
"Why are you still here?" Galen shoved the taller arachnid-haired engineer back into the house, "you're supposed to evacuate!"
"Wait, wait, watch the backpack," Nervin struggled against the smaller but much stronger pink-haired teenager, as well as the weight of his oversized, overstuffed backpack. "Look, I got Teddy to lead them away, okay? Now let me work my magic." He braved the skeptical glances shot his way with surprising grace. Standing behind the group, he carefully placed his five-foot-tall backpack onto the ground, took out a glass bottle (labelled K-Fizz) the size of his arm and lit the cloth stuffed at the opening of the bottle on fire. He handed it to Chaos standing in front of him and instructed simply, "Throw."
Chaos obliged, tossing it twenty feet away and crushing the bottle on one of Revival Rose's rigid thorns. The contents of the glass burnt upon impact and stuck to the plant, spreading the blaze quickly. The plant writhed as though in pain, its vines quickly retreating trying to beat out the flames.
"And that," Nervin drew himself up taller, waiting to bath in the admiration and adulation of his peers, "is what you call a Molotov cocktail."
"Let me try!" Galen shoved him aside and grabbed another bottle out of his bag.
"Careful with that!" Nervin admonished, "it'll will burn if the bottle breaks, if you banged it against anything or if you so much as throw it too fast."
Galen was a little weaker, and this time, the plant was smart enough to block the glass with its vines. But the bottle broke on impact and the flammable contents of that bottle stuck onto it like over-chewed gum on the underside of a desk. The flames roared.
"It's all in the choice of adhesives," Nervin added proudly as he lit another one on fire and handed it to Cyril.
The plant shook and flailed its numerous vines in what was presumably pain, though it did not look anywhere close to being defeated.
Holding a lit bottle in his hands, Vincent gave Chaos a meaningful look, not wanting to talk in case Black Rose could overhear them with her superpowers. Chaos nodded, picking up the next bottle with his uninjured left arm. Aiming at its roots, Vincent threw first, Chaos immediately followed, giving Vincent enough time to throw the next one, soon enveloping the main stem of the plant in a scalding gasoline-fueled blaze.
Black Rose had watched with some amusement at the pitiful struggles of these people, they always struggle, but they'll never win. This one's different though, she's never seen this before, her monsters were actually hurt!
"Come back to me, Revival Rose!" Upon her words, the plant disappeared, leaving the flammable semi-liquids stuck to it to fall harmlessly onto the ground and quickly burning out. Black Rose spoke a little more calmly, though the malice in her words were unmistakable, "Come forth! Rose Tentacles (lv6,2200/1200). And just for the heck of it, I think I'll summon another Revival Rose! All your attempts are futile! You are helpless in my presence! My powers and my monsters are infinite!" An unharmed Rivival Rose appeared exactly where the first one had been, as another even larger, more vicious looking plant erupted from the ground. With one swing of its vines, it crushed the roof of the second floor and half the walls, revealing Yuki's cherished teddy bear blanket for all to see.
The mortals paled and began eyeing the house thoughtfully. Now that evacuations were complete, their best chance of survival is to flee separately, using the house as a temporary barrier. With any luck, Black Rose can't catch up to all of them even if her monster could fly.
"Buy me one minute!" Felice said quickly, rushing back into the house. That witch had a point, defeating her monsters wouldn't help at all when she could just summon two to replace it. The white-haired girl dug through Vincent's pile of scraps to uncover his motorcycle. Chaos is injured, plus he's too big to fit through those two plants, so's Vincent. Neither Galen nor Cyril could ride as well as she did, so if this is going to work, it has to be her. She conveniently left Nervin out of her deliberations.
Felice closed her eyes and took a deep breath, tuning out the chaos outside and focusing only on the runner in front of her. Adjusting the seat so her feet could reach the pedals, she claimed the driver's seat and accelerated towards the front door.
"Coming through!" She shouted, grabbing two unlit bottles out of Nervin's hands as she passed, accelerating past her friends and onto the twisted roots of Rose Tentacle as she made her way diagonally upwards along the tilted stems of the plant. Both plants took a couple of swats at her, but along its main stem, protected by its many convoluted shoot and leaves, she was safer than outside. Until, Felice aimed towards the gap between Rose Tentacles and Revival Rose, the entirety of which was under the guard of their swinging vines, and felt her runner leap into the air.
Both plants aimed for her, swatting at her like trying to kill a fly with spoons, many many spoons. She ducked Revival Rose's seeds, but not before one appendage from Tentacle Rose hit her in the back, her direction was adjusted just a little, just enough for her to be in the way of a vine she had already dodged.
Felice turned her runner, so the vine hit the motorcycle instead, snatching it and smashing it onto the ground. Vincent's gonna be so upset when he sees this, Felice mused. She had let go of the motorcycle half a second before it was grabbed, the momentum kept her flying in the air, past the defenses of both plants, and she saw her chance. The Magician threw one bottle, then the second one more forcefully then than the last, letting the two collide in midair as momentum drove them into the witch.
Had Akiza been more experienced, she could have dodged, or blocked, or literally anything else given her almost complete control over duel monsters. But she never had anybody fight back like this, nor was she prepared against it. Without any orders, Fallen Angel of Roses saw the approaching flame and closed her wings to protect her mistress, inevitably setting the very-flammable feathers ablaze. With a loud shriek, the duel monster flapped her burning wings as she fell towards the ground with Akiza, managing to lower the redhead to a slightly safer height before disappearing with a pained wail. Akiza's monster kept the flames away from her, but she broker he leg in the fall, that and the shock distracted her from the control of her magic, causing both plants to dissipate back into thin air.
Felice thought she was up maybe 30 feet in the air before she started falling again, she saw the roof of their house (what's left of it), the newly constructed dorms that stood out against their dreary background, and then her friends on the ground growing bigger and bigger.
"Over here," She heard somebody whisper in her ear as she fell into Kalin's waiting arms.
"How?" She asked confused, the impact alone should have broken his arms or her back.
"Magic," The Dark Signer's lips curled up.
Akiza ran. She wasn't sure if she could summon another monster at this point, and she wasn't going to risk her life to try. The Magicians watched the retreat Black Rose cautiously as they dumped whatever dirt they could to douse out the flames, they weren't crazy enough to test if the witch had any tricks up her sleeves.
A/N: Yes, the 'crying home to your mommy' is from the Abridge series. If you haven't watched it yet, you really should.
A/N 2: Jack definitely looks like the result of a SetoxJoey pairing. XD I still don't like him though, I mean he tied Rally onto a frigging boat at set it out to sea! What if Yusei didn't jump into the waters to save him? What then?
A/N 3: I"m not great with battle scenes, or descriptive scenes in general, I much prefer light banter. But I had the idea of fighting real-life duel monsters with modern technology and I couldn't resist. And no, we haven't completely upgraded from cards to Molotov cocktails. Too lazy to change it, should have added an RPG.