Yu-Gi-Oh! 5 Deluxe Dragons
Disclaimer: This one doesn't own the Yugioh series.
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Chapter 24 – You're Not Even Good Enough to Be My Fake
After last night's scuffle, which has lasted up to the witching hour of the morning. While their friend is contained, Yusei, Crow, and Bruno are together with Mikage and Ushio as she shows them footage of a night ago. On it, the Wheel of Fortune is breaking into several D-Wheels and causing crashes. His dragon is also on display in duels.
"We couldn't get a view of his face, but the appearance of his D-Wheel and attire is enough."
Crow cups his chin, recounting something that transpired a week ago, shortly before the Linewalker incident; they were practicing their three-on-three dueling when Jack fumbled by not using a card they instructed. When they commented on it, he simply groaned about how he refused to be protected by a weak tuner and threatened to leave the team.
"So that's how it is, huh? You couldn't do anything by yourself so you decide to sabotage others?!" Crow shouts in anger.
"What's that?! Take it back!"
"No way! I'm just stating the truth; you're a big, selfish baby!" Yusei tries to stop him, but the shorter rider ignores him. Eventually, he's taken away.
As news of Jack's arrest spreads, his friends take it differently. Lua defends him against Sly, Aki discourages rumors, and Carly refuses to write an article slandering him. Jack himself is feeling frustrated, as not only is his alibi weak, there's no proof of an impostor. Even Mikage can't do anything for him.
Sitting in his cell, Jack punches the wall. "Damn it all… an impostor is out there pretending to be me… how and why…"
As he grunts and growls, the lock to his cell is suddenly broken. This allows him to open it, and simply step out. 'What the?'
Narrowing his eyes, he takes this as a chance. 'If I can't be proven innocent, I'll do it myself… like the Fugitive!' He then takes off.
In the timeframe, he steals his deck and D-Wheel before escaping. 'I'll destroy whoever is tainting the name of Jack Atlas and Red Daemon's Dragon!'
While out, Jack comes across an esoteric sight; coming up from his six is an exact copy of his Wheel of Fortune. "Wheel of Fortune?"
Riding it is an exact copy of him, even wearing his clothing. "About time you showed up. I thought I would have to wait forever."
"What the hell is this?!" Jack shouts upon seeing his impostor. "Who are you?!"
"Isn't it obvious? I am the king!"
"Don't screw with me! You're the faker who's been pretending to be me!"
"Wrong. I'm the true King! You're the fake I need to get rid of. And best now after I went through the trouble of helping you come here."
That's when Jack realizes he's the reason he escaped. 'So he was after me from the beginning.'
After passing a car that takes a picture of them, the two enter Duel Mode. A Duel Lane forms for them to travel. As the duel begins, a light shaped like the infinity symbol appears below them.
…
"He what?!" Yusei shouts as he receives a call.
Crow looks at him, asking, "What happened?"
"Jack escaped custody." This awakens Aki and the others who were stationed and awaiting them.
"Escaped?! What the hell is wrong with him?!"
"Is there a chance he escaped to find the perp?" asks Lua while rubbing his head.
"I'm a little curious as to how," Bruno adds, showing his concern. "But we have to find him."
"If he is looking…" That's when Yusei and Crow come to the same conclusion.
"THE HIGHWAY!"
Back to Action Later…
"My turn!" The fake Jack begins the third turn of the duel, staring at the Explodewing Dragon that destroyed his Dark Resonator.
"I play Angel Baton. I'll draw two cards and discard one." After his setup, the false rider takes a monster from his hand. "Next, I will special summon Vice Dragon!"
His purple dragon makes an appearance with half its power. "Next, I'll activate Red Carpet!" His first trap opens up, and all of a sudden two different Resonators rise from the graveyard; Dark and Force. "I'll tune my level 5 Vice Dragon and my level 3 Dark Resonator!"
His monsters merge to become the light. "The ruler's heartbeat will resonate here! Bear witness to its earth-shattering power! Synchro Summon!" The shadow of a familiar monster appears.
"My very soul, Red Daemon's Dragon!" In triumph, the red dragon forms on the field. But, there are two problems here; the first is the most obvious, as it appears on the faker's field, and the second is that it's primarily purple, unlike the usual red.
"Red Daemon's Dragon?!" Jack shouts in surprise, seeing his ace appear, towering before his Explodewing Dragon.
"This won't be the ending. To defeat one's opponent with overwhelming power is the only path for the King! You set yourself up for failure the minute you summoned Explodewing Dragon instead of Red Daemon's!"
He pulls a monster from his hand. "I summon Mad Daemon in attack mode!" His next monster appears, revealed to be the level four bone demon. "And I will tune my level four Mad Daemon with the Force Resonator I summoned with Red Carpet!" His monster passes through the two rings before the light explodes.
"The ruler's heartbeat shall filter out the childish! Bear witness as it demonstrates the steps to glory! Synchro Summon!" From the light, appears what looks to be a Red Daemon's. But, this one is entirely enshrouded in gold and crimson flames. "Burn my soul, Red Rising Dragon!"
RRD: 2100/1600 (6)
"Red Rising Dragon?" Jack narrows his eyes, surprised he saw those cards. "That's an impressive attack score, but I'll survive to-"
"Like I said, faker, the King disposes of its challengers with absolute force. There will be NO SECOND TURN FOR YOU." The faker cackles as Red Rising forms flames. Force Resonator appears from the graveyard next to it. "Red Rising Dragon's effect special summons a Tuner from my graveyard!"
And there, Jack's eyes widen in terror. Can he actually-
"I'll tune my Red Rising Dragon with Force Resonator!" His monster roars before turning into six stars. To Jack's horror, his worst fear is realized.
"Synchro Summon! Red Daemon's Dragon!" This time, a blue Red Daemon's is summoned to the field.
"T-TWO!"
"I find it shameful and silly that you refer to me as a fake. You have yet to show to me that you aren't a fraud!" He turns around, driving backward flawlessly. "YOU'RE NOT EVEN GOOD ENOUGH TO BE MY FAKE!"
The blue dragon flies in, using Absolute Powerforce on Explodewing Dragon and destroying it.
Jack: 3400
He shouts in pain, feeling the attack hit hard. 'Wait… I felt it?! Like with the Dark Signers?!'
"Red Daemon's Dragon, direct attack!" The purple one raises its fist preparing to strike down Jack.
"Trap card open, Powerful Rebirth!" Jack opens his trap, reviving his Dread Dragon to protect him.
The impostor activates his trap, Meteorain. This allows the purple dragon to use Absolute Powerforce to strike Dread Dragon.
Jack: 900
The flames of the strike burn Jack, just as the fake's final facedown opens up. Lineage of the Destruction Lord. "NO!"
"It's like I said before; you're the real fake. Shakunetsu no Crimson Hell Flare!" As the blue dragon releases its breath, Jack gets blown off the track and through the hard glass and metal.
As Jack falls into the sea, his skull bleeding, he catches one last look at the fake, unable to accept his defeat. "Goodbye, you false king."
And through the visor, Jack sees the man IS him!
Yusei and Crow reach the area where the duel finished and spot the fake Jack glaring at them. "What the?!"
"Jack!" Yusei notices the menacing look in Jack's eyes. More than that, he notices the two dragons of the same appearance. But, they're both different colors from the original.
On Jack's command, the dragons release flames to cover his escape.
Tomorrow…
With Jack's escape being reported by Angela, more evidence piles up on Jack's guilt. However, Carly isn't having it.
"Like I said, Jack is innocent! He probably escaped because he-"
"Like I give a shit about your interpretation! You keep spouting nonsense, your ass is grass!"
What is Carly's response to her annoying editor? Grabbing his mustache and pulling it angrily. She releases him and angrily storms off. "FINE! You can fire me if you want!"
She hops into her car and drives around. 'I won't give up on you Jack. You didn't give up on me, so I'll save you.'
After a bit of checking, Carly comes across a familiar couple. These two from last night show her a picture of the two Wheel of Fortunes passing them by shortly before their Riding Duel. After that, Carly delivers the news to Yusei and Crow.
"So, this isn't some simple impostor; I knew something was wrong when I saw two Red Daemon's Dragons. That one must have been the fake."
With that info in hand, Yusei and Crow make their way to the area where Jack fell. Crow climbs down the rocks near the water, spotting Trust Guardian lying by the water-sculpted land.
He picks it up, and slowly gripes. "Jack… he took you out…" He tries not to cry. "And after all that shit I said to him!"
Yusei's mind goes to work figuring out what's happened. While his brain wracks around it, he gets a call from Carly. "It's terrible! Jack's on the highway again!"
"The fake…" Yusei and Crow get going onto the highway.
…
The three emperors of Yliaster watch from their thrones a window. In it, the real Jack is sealed inside of a machine suffering.
Placido watches with discomfort. "Why can't we just get rid of him? He already lost to the fake."
"We could only get so far with the data of the old Jack. We need the real one to go further," Jose tells him, eyes still on the screen. "Besides, he's a Signer. The Crimson Dragon can interfere."
"I'll let you guys handle that," Luciano states while crossing his arms. "This was Placido's plan; copying those cards was hard enough."
Back to Action…
On the highway that night, Security chases after the fake Jack Atlas. One manages to keep up despite his expert distilling.
"Jack? How could you?! Where did your pride as a duelist go?!"
"Crushing bugs is simply the King's entertainment!" He laughs as he continues to drive.
"THERE YOU ARE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Yusei and Crow catch up, the latter angrily voicing his emotions.
"We found you, faker," Yusei says as he eyes the grey Wheel of Fortune.
"What are you saying? I am Jack Atlas!"
"Don't screw with us!" Crow shouts. "Jack was self-centered and a pain in the butt, but he was never the type of shithead who would take glee out of others' suffering! He was an important friend I found alongside, and I was…"
He chokes a little. "I was the idiot who couldn't believe in him. If he's dead then I can't ask for forgiveness, but I can still take revenge for him!"
"Then try it!" Jack loosens his speed to position himself in front of Crow and then turns on the backburners. This causes Crow to fall off his bike.
"Crow!" Yusei shouts as Jack smiles with glee.
"Crushing the weak that get in my way is proof that I am the only Jack Atlas!"
"Wrong! The only thing you've proven is that you're a pale imitation of who Jack used to be! He's not that anymore!"
"And that is why you're going down first!" He tries the same trick on Yusei, who is better prepared and pulls ahead avoiding him.
After escaping the tunnel, they come out into the open. "YUSEI!"
Looking up, they spot the original Wheel of Fortune coming down from a higher road. "YOU IMPOSTOR! I WON'T LET YOU DO AS YOU WISH ANYMORE!"
The two bump into each other, before correcting themselves. Smirking, Yusei catches up with the real Jack and throws Trust Guardian. Catching it, Jack smirks. "So, even now, you insist on making me use this card."
"I think now's a good time as ever!" he replies, backing off to let Jack take revenge.
"Come back for more of what I gave you? I'll tell you as many times as I have to, you are weaker than your past!"
Jack inserts Trust Guardian inside his deck. "If there's something you must know, it's that the past is meant to be surpassed."
Without another word, the two enter their duel.
Jack Atlas: 4000
Fake Jack: 4000
Looking down, Jack immediately notes the circle. 'So, this must be what's making the damage real.'
As a Duel Lane forms and all four riders enter, the duelists draw their cards. The fake starts the duel. "I summon Speed Baron in attack mode!"
Appearing on the field is the fake's monster, an evil-looking red and brown gremlin with snarling green eyes. It rides a motorcycle.
Speed Baron: 1600/1200 (4)
"If this monster is summoned and my Speed Counters are the same as my opponent's, I can add one Speed Spell to my hand. But, it cannot be activated this turn!" The fake pulls a spell from his deck and adds it to his hand.
"I'll set one card and end my turn. Now, entertain your king!"
Jack draws, getting Trust Guardian again. 'He's not wrong. I could have summoned Red Daemon's earlier if I used this… I can't let my judgment be wrong.' He summons Vice Dragon before bringing out Trust Guardian.
With them together, he Synchro Summons his very soul. "The ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Bear witness to its creation-shattering power! Synchro Summon – My very soul, Red Daemon's Dragon!"
As his ace forms, Jack immediately sicks it on the Speed Baron. The Absolute Powerforce absolutely pummels it into nothing.
Fake Jack: 2400
Jack then sets a card and finishes. The false Jack summons his own Vice Dragon and Flare Resonator, before forming the purple Red Daemon's Dragon. "Flare Resonator increases my dragon's power by 300."
Purple Red Daemon's Dragon jabs the red one, hitting Jack hard.
Jack: 3700
"But a monster summoned using Trust Guardian can reduce its power by 400 to avoid destruction." Red Daemon's survives the flames and snarls at its fake.
"Foolish! To think you would weaken your pride to protect it. I'll set one card and end my turn!" Around this time, Carly brings in the rear following the duel.
"Those who are absorbed by power get destroyed by it!" Jack begins his turn, attacking the fake with his original. He then activates Assault Spirit, giving his monster a boost to equal the fake in strength. Now his monster stands at 2200. "I'll set one card facedown and end my turn."
Angered, the fake draws his card. "You will pay for that, you fraud! For humiliating the King, and reducing Red Daemon's to that fake!"
He summons Big Piece Golem and then activates Angel Baton to draw two and discard Small Piece Golem. He then plays Powerful Rebirth, reviving Small Piece with an extra level. The two golems together use their effects to special summon Mid Piece Golem.
"And next, I summon Trap Eater using your Assault Spirits!" A goblin-like monster devours Jack's trap before appearing on the field.
Trap Eater: 1900/400 (4) Tuner
This scares Jack since it's a level 4 Tuner, especially when he performs a Synchro Summon!"
"I'll tune my Small Piece and Trap Eater!" His monsters disappear into light, all to Synchro Summon a blue Red Daemon's Dragon. Since his summon was successful, he special summons Synchro Magnet from his hand, leaving one card left. "I'll tune my level 3 Synchro Magnet with my level five Big Piece Golem."
At the same time, he chains using his trap card Reincarnation Ring. "By releasing Midpiece Golem, I can special summon a monster from my graveyard twice its level!"
Appearing to the field are a couple of things Jack does not expect. While he knew about the second dragon, this is more than he bargained for; the fake Jack has three Red Daemon's Dragons, with the third one being yellow.
"What?! Three Red Daemon's Dragons?!" All three of the audience shout in shock.
The fake Jack laughs. "This is the punishment you receive for standing against your king! But, this isn't the end! No, this is just a prelude to your destruction!"
The fake takes out a card from his hand, the last card. It is the card he searched for at the very beginning of the duel. "I activate Speed Fusion!"
His magic card appears, merging the three dragons into one single form. "I shall fuse my three monsters together!"
Appearing to the field is a towering evil presence appropriate for a king; it's a predominantly scarlet-red and black dragon with three demonic heads possessing Satanic goat-like horns jutting from them each roaring. Each head possesses three sets of glowing golden eyes. The monster owns large spread-out wings each blazing with a coating of hellfire, and burning hellfire chains, the links shattered and broken, around its legs.
"I Fusion Summon Scarlet Archdaemon Dragon!"
SAD: 4500/3000 (12)
"What the hell is that monstrosity?!" This is the consensus of literally everyone except for the fraud.
The three-headed devil snarls down upon the tinier Red Daemon's. Its very presence even leaks out the visuals of its card art; the sea below them steams, the clouds turn black, and the night sky becomes blood-red. As if signifying the dangers of it all, all of the Signer marks glow.
"A monster causing our marks to react?" Yusei says to himself while looking at the dragon.
"Archdaemon's effect." As the fake Jack's voice becomes deeper, the dragon's presence causes Jack's monster to slowly fall to defense mode. "All weaklings in its presence shall kneel before the daemon king!"
The dragon then charges molten flames in its three mouths, using its hands to collect the ball they've merged into. "In addition, when Archdaemon attacks a monster in defense mode, you will receive DOUBLE piercing damage!"
"Double?!" Jack shouts in shock.
"Jack!" Yusei shouts in worry.
"Disappear from my sight, you squandered fake imitation. Prepare for the climax of a once-in-a-lifetime show!" The dragon lifts the molten fireball and throws it down upon Red Daemon's. "Destroy him, POWERFORCE APOCALYPSE!"
The ball comes down upon Jack with tremendous pressure. Most of the air dries as it nears Jack's field.
"Jack won't be able to survive that even WITH Trust Guardian's effect!" says Yusei.
"JACK!" Carly cries.
The attack connects, and an explosion riddles the field. But from the flames, Jack comes out with his dragon and body intact. His helmet and clothes, however, have retained terrible ash accumulation. From the smoke, the impostor spots Jack's trap card.
"So, you've staved off death using Ray of Hope." He turns forward to keep driving.
Jack: 1200
Jack turns to his ace flying above, supremely damaged by the power of the devil before him. "Red Daemon's… thank you for withstanding so much…"
His trap's second effect then activates; he brings out Dark Bug.
Fake Jack ends his turn, but scuffs. "What do you intend to do now? That Red Daemon's Dragon is just like you; no claws, no fangs, just a shell of what it used to be. Not to mention, Archdaemon will switch any level 8 or lower monster you summon to defense mode. So no matter what, you die on the next turn! And it'll prove once and for all that I am the superior Jack Atlas!"
"I'm the man I am today because I was suckered into that foolish persona. I fell hard following the darkness of my desires, but I rebounded because of the friends I made. This Red Daemon's Dragon protected by Trust Guardian is proof of those bonds!" Jack narrows his eyes as his mark glows brighter. "I'll show you that true strength never disappears in your own ambitions!"
At that moment, Yusei's marks disappear along with the others. "Get him, Jack."
They all form on Jack's back. With them, he brims with power. The top card of his deck glows, signifying what that means. Jack draws, revealing Savior Dragon, and then summons it.
As the dragon totem appears, his three monsters are used within a Synchro Summon. "The polished lone light shall become the true high ruler and illuminate the earth; shine your light!" Jack launches in the air into the light. "Synchro Summon!"
Appearing now is his strongest monster, flying high above the Archdaemon like an angel descending to cleanse the earth. "Creation shaking soul, Savior Daemon Dragon!"
SDD: 4000/3800 (10)
The fake Jack looks back in surprise. "The Crimson Dragon's helping him?"
"Savior Daemon Dragon's effect; it targets one monster you control and negates its effects, while also stealing its attack power. Power Gain!" The dragon absorbs the Archdaemon's power.
SDD: 9500
"The only one who will disappear is you! ULTIMATE POWER FORCE!" The angel dragon roars as crimson energy surrounds it. It flies forward and impacts the Archdaemon, who resists as much as possible. However, its evil magma pales to the sacred flames and is incinerated.
The fake Jack screams in pain as it is defeated. His helmet shatters, the Wheel of Fortune detonates, and his flesh and clothes peel away revealing what he really is. A Riding Roid.
After the explosion, nothing is left except for cards. As Jack descends, all of them including the fake dragons slowly evaporate. Except for one.
He drives up to the wreckage, noting that one little card. He dismounts and picks it up. "Jack!" Not bothering to look back as Carly takes pictures, he smirks.
"I'm sorry I didn't have faith in you. I'll expose it was an impostor."
"As you should, Kazama."
After getting her fill of pictures, Carly lunges and hugs the white rider while crying. "Jack! I'm so glad you're okay! I never doubted you for a minute!"
"Carly…" Ordinarily, he would drive her away. But, after what happened prior, he can't do that. So, he holds her close.
"Jack!" Crow comes up, holding back tears. "Of course you're alive. If you would die that easily, I wouldn't have worried!"
"You should have believed me from the start…"
Elsewhere…
Having watched the events unfold regarding their creation, the three emperors of Yliaster resigned with defeat on their latest project.
"Looks like you failed, after all, Placido. I really thought that card I threw in with the copies was gonna be good enough," says Luciano. That is when the Circuit appears, and a line is drawn. "Ooh! It wasn't a total failure after all!"
Jose chuckles. "It's working, but we're gonna need a bigger boost."
As they think of their next course of action, a window appears. On it appears a masked figure. "Greetings."
"Huh? What are you doing here?" asks Luciano with an annoyed tone.
"I saw what happened to Diablo Jack. Do you have the data?" asks a feminine voice on the other side. "It's confirmed that he will be making contact, and I'd like to send him a gift."
That Morning…
With them rested Jack leads Yusei and Crow to the cave where he used to be held captive. But, there is nothing there anymore. No sign of anything having been there at all.
"Nothing…" Jack grits his teeth. "What was that robot?"
"A robot made to look exactly like you so it can harass D-Wheelers…" Crow begins while thinking back to previous events. "Isn't that Ghost?"
Yusei nods. "The same people who made Ghost and attacked Lua and Luca were behind this. And they made copies of Red Daemon's…"
A Few Days Later…
After entering the garage, Crow parks perfectly in place. He dismounts and removes his helmet, looking around while also listening in. After all, even if Jack isn't around, Yusei is rather quiet. "I guess everyone's out."
He sighs while walking up the steps, shrugging as he gets closer to the front door upstairs. He checks the mail and picks up some new findings. "Junk. Phishing. A bill for something Jack bought- Goddamn it, Jack!"
He tosses the letters away before his eyes stumble upon one strange letter. It is addressed to Yusei, and it has the name Barbara on it. "Oh?! Yusei's got an admirer!"
Looking back and forth, Crow smirks before sliding his finger into the glued folds. He then rips it open with his pinky. "Oops! My hand slipped!" He opens it and proceeds to read.
"Dear Yusei Fudo,
The reason why I wrote this letter to you is that I heard you're friends with Kiryu Kyosuke. Please save him, and take him as far away from this town as soon as possible. He is being hunted here; if things don't change, he will die.
Sincerely, Barbara."
After reading the letter, Crow's normally joking attitude calms down. "Kiryu…" A solemn scowl forms as he recalls the leader of Team Satisfaction.
He hasn't heard from him since their duel, the one that turned him into demon god food. And even after, he's been incognito doing his own thing down at a garage in the Daimon area. Or so they heard. Regardless, he knows where they are and never once came to visit. Personally, Crow is okay with that considering the man killed him.
Yet… he can't let him be. If Kiryu's in trouble, he should help him. "Yusei's pretty busy with that new engine. It wouldn't be right if he passed out from exhaustion. So…"
After grabbing a pen, he jots down something on the letter before placing it on the nearest table. He then heads down into the garage to board the Blackbird. 'The Crow Delivery service is going on temporary hiatus!'
Lightz: Thank you for reading… wait, are you? It's kind of hard to tell with FFN's shitty traffic graph and view count not updating. Also, no reviews since Leonite entered the picture. But, that's probably just on me. Anyway, the next chapter is the beginning of Crashtown, and if you couldn't tell, it's a Crow story.
OC Cards -
Scarlet Archdaemon Dragon
Attribute: DARK 闇
Level: 12
Type: Dragon/Fusion/Effect
ATK: 4500
DEF: 3000
Effect: "Red Dragon Archfiend" + "Red Dragon Archfiend" + "Red Dragon Archfiend"
A Fusion Summon of this monster must be conducted with the above Fusion Materials. Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to this card's Summoning. If this card is Fusion Summoned: change the Battle Position of all monsters your opponent controls to Defense Position, and if you do, their effects are negated. Your opponent must Normal and/or Special Summon Level 8 or lower monsters in face-up Defense Position. If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict double-piercing Battle Damage to your opponent.
Speed Baron
Attribute: WIND
Level: 4
Type: Fiend/Effect
ATK: 1600
DEF: 1200
Effect: When this monster is Normal or Special Summoned; you can add one Speed Spell card to your hand, but you cannot activate it this turn. Your Speed Counters must be the same as your opponent's to resolve this effect.