Yu-Gi-Oh! 5 Deluxe Dragons

Disclaimer: This one doesn't own the Yugioh series.

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chiripa012: Crow is like the little brother to Yusei and Jack. This is something he'd do.

Chapter 25 – Crashtown

The blazing sun rises over the desert. A single D-Wheel drives by making its way through the driest of dirt. Riding aboard is Crow Hogan, ready to meet up with Barbara.

'Kiryu… what are you into this time?'

He passes a valley and stops by for a breather. He glances down below and spots three guys running for their lives, eyes picking something strange around their necks. They look like collars. 'Their clothes are beat up too… what happened?'

That is when some guys come by on D-Wheels. They each pull out Western-style magnums and attach them to their arms, which unfold into Duel Disks. Upon seeing that, one of them throws up some blue medallion with a necklace that lands behind Crow.

Once that is done, they activate spell cards, causing their collars to shock the others.

"Oh shit." Seeing that, he hides further as those men are taken away.

The bandits then say, "That's what you get for abandoning the job."

Crow picks up the medallion. "… people being hauled off and punished like slaves. What does Kiryu have to do with it?"

After his break, he drives off until he reaches his destination, a quaint western town called Crashtown. Sighing, he makes his way inside before parking by a local tavern. "This must be the place." He removes his Duel Disk, locking his D-Wheel up and preventing theft.

After entering the bar, Crow looks around before shrugging. 'Where the heck is she?'

He heads back to his D-Wheel. "Oi, lookie here! We got new blood?"

Looking around, a couple of thugs dressed as cowboys loom over Crow. "You looking to duel?"

Our orange-haired duelist smirks. "Sure, but not with you. I got a hot date coming up."

"Then maybe share. Otherwise, you might have nothing in the end," one says as he activates his duel disk.

"The arrogant you are, the quicker you fall to hell," another adds.

Crow keeps his confident look. "I've seen a bit of hell myself…"

"Wait!" A dark-skinned woman steps in, stopping them from taking further action. She hands over a wrapped bouquet of white roses to one of them. "You know the dueling hour isn't ready yet. If you break the rules of Crash Town, you'll only make me collect more flowers for funerals."

Angrily, they storm off after their little reminder. Crow smirks before saying, "Thanks a bunch for that."

"If you don't know how this place is, then you best flee."

"I can't. I'm looking for someone named Barbara." This surprises her.

"How do you know my name?" she asks him.

He then shows her the letter, taking the woman off guard. "Wait a second. You're not Yusei Fudo."

"Nope. Yusei's busy and doesn't know about this." Perturbed, Barbara grabs him and moves to a separate area behind one of the buildings. As she steps on the grass, she carefully avoids the sole flower before facing Crow.

"Well, thanks. Thanks for ruining things."

"So, what's the problem with this?"

"I wanted to get Kiryu out of here for his own sake, but I can't without the person who defeated him," she tells him, a little upset. "That's why I called out Yusei Fudo."

"What, you think he's the only one who can throw down face downs?" Crow asks with a grin.

"Throw down face downs? Is that slang? Because I don't play Duel Monsters." That makes him look at her like she grew another head. "What? Not everyone is obsessed with this stupid game."

"Meeting someone who thinks that is like finding a red bird."

"Are you at least as good as Yusei Fudo?"

He smirks in response. "Of course. Sorry if I'm not as good-looking as him."

"Well, actually…" she mutters, catching his attention for a second. She looks aside, saying, "Never mind. Let's go somewhere."

After a bit, they reach the nearest mountain to town and settle in hiding. Crow disguises his D-Wheel while sitting in the dirt. Barbara is with him clearing the flowers of rocks.

"So, you want to tell me what's going on?" he asks while kicking some rocks.

Barbara glances up at him. "Tell me what you know about Dyne."

"Dyne? What about it?"

"You tell me."

Crow crosses his arms thinking about it. "It's the mineral they use to make D-Wheels in the first place. Without it, we wouldn't have 'em. How do you know about it?"

"I know all about it; this town exists because of Dyne." She points over at a tall mountain. "Some of it was discovered in the nearby mountains, and like a gold rush, people came to dig it up. That is how this place makes a living."

She glances at the town. "Two groups are in charge of mining Dyne, but to meet the high demand, they need more people to work there."

"Oh… I think I see what's going on," says Crow as he starts piecing things together. "Is that what those duelists were there for?"

"Yes, but there's a rule for dueling. We can only do it now."

As the sun sets, the two of them watch the town. From opposite ends, two biker gangs ride in accompanied by the howling winds of the desert. They face off against one another, the red scarves and the tagless.

"Down there, the men in scarves are led by Malcolm." Barbara points to a man with multiple markers on his face and a shining scalp. "The others are led by Ramon."

She watches as the two groups banter. "At dusk, duel time from dusk until the sun vanishes into the horizon. And one person disappears as a result."

Soon, dozens of watches come out to bear witness, including a child. From Malcolm's group, a bulky man steps out. "Now, which one of you cheaters is the one who keeps winning?"

"Do you know who calls people cheaters? Losers who can't win! Come on out, buddy!" From the far distance enters a man with no introduction to that town; Kiryu Kyousuke. Decked out as a raggedy traveler, he has the dullest of expressions on his face. The man stares listlessly at his target until the sun touches the horizon.

"Kiryu…" Crow is silent as he watches him, studying the face of the man who once killed him.

"DUEL!"

Quickly, they grab their pistols and attach them to their arms. Kiryu happens to be faster, already wielding his hand before the other person can draw. "I'll start."

From there, in three turns, Kiryu defeats the big guy with his Handless Combo.

After that, a carriage comes by. The loser is quickly whisked away into the carriage's coffin, and taken. After that, Malcolm and his team angrily scowl while Ramon laughs and cheers. His team leaves with Kiryu.

"Wha. What just happened?" Crow asks, still shocked at seeing both Kiryu's increase in skill and the big guy disappearing like that.

"It's complicated." Barbara turns to the mountains. "Remember when I told you of Dyne? The losers of the Dueling Hour are forced to mine them. For the rest of their lives."

Crow quickly pieces together the information available to him. This is why she warned him about Kiryu; if Kiryu loses, he becomes a slave and dies. It will be no different than when he was in prison. Even worse, he's even contributing to it, making slaves dig up rocks.

'That doesn't make sense; why would he be doing this?' Crow asks himself while looking around. He then stares at Barbara. 'And why does she care so much? What has he done for her?'

Curious, he asks, "Do we have a plan to save him?"

"I do."

…

Over at Malcolm's hideout, his men all have issues and are drowning themselves in booze.

"This sucks. Another win for Ramon," says one guy before tossing a bottle aside.

"If Lawton was around, we'd never have this problem," says Malcolm as he drinks.

While seering into the other end of the glass, a figure enters the scene. They look over and spot Crow dressed as a cowboy, even sporting a hat that covers his eyes. "Yo."

"Hey, no party crashers allowed!"

"Party? This looks more like a funeral." Crow's little scuff catches their anger, entering the clearing and staring at the fountain. "I heard you guys were hiring!"

Malcolm spots the pistol disk he wears, and smirks. "Hoh? And what makes you think you're worthy of joining the Malcolm Gang?"

"How about we show it?"

Malcolm looks at him and then his men, before giving a shake of the head. "Alright, let's see what you got. Boys, test him."

Answering their boss, the three guys get up and focus on Crow. Our crow-like bullet smirks as he prepares himself. "Three against one? Still not enough!"

DUEL

Malcolm Gang 1: 4000

Malcolm Gang 2: 4000

Malcolm Gang 3: 4000

All three draw their pistols and activate them, but by that time, Crow is already holding five cards. "Too slow, boys! I'll start."

Crow draws for his turn, staring at it before thinking. "I play Allure of Darkness – I can draw two cards and banish Damascus the Polar Night from my hand."

He checks the spell Black Whirlwind and comes up with an idea. "I'll activate Black Whirlwind." His Continuous Spell causes a massive storm to blow into the area. A tumbleweed moves as a result. "And then, I normal summon Sirocco the Dawn."

Appearing to the field is a humanoid Black Feather monster. As his black wings spread, he howls.

Sirocco: 2000/900 (5)

"Black Whirlwind allows me to add Auster the South Wind to my hand." He picks up a card from his deck before setting a card. "Turn over."

"About time," says the first guy. "I summon Fuse Ray Musketeer!"

A musket-carrying gunman wearing a sombrero appears on the field.

Musketeer: 1600/800 (4)

The guy then ends his turn, allowing the next guy to summon his copy of Fuse Ray Musketeer. After that, the first one fires at Crow per its effect.

Crow: 3200

"Oh, that's bullshit," Crow says in annoyance. The third guy draws and does the same thing. With one more, Crow gets a volley of bullets.

Crow: 1600

"At the end phase, I activate Black Feather Anchor." His trap card opens up, and Sirocco disappears into the void.

Drawing for his turn, Crow prepares to flap his wings on these scrubs. "I summon Auster the South Wind!" His next monster is the yellow bird he searched on his turn.

Auster: 1300/0 (4) Tuner

"Auster's effect will special summon the banished Damascus." His other monster returns from the void landing beside Auster. "And now, I'll tune my monsters together!"

Auster chirps before exploding into four Synchro rings. They pass by Damascus, turning him into three stars. "Darkened gales will become the wings which will soar to the heavens!"

From the fluster of the black whirlwind around them, a humanoid Black Feather appears with wings spread. "Synchro Summon! Black Feather – Armored Wing!"

Armored Wing: 2500/1500 (7)

"When Auster is sent to the graveyard for a Synchro Summon, I can banish it for this effect." Auster's afterimage forms rising from the grave, before releasing wedges from its multi-colored wings. They impact the musketeers' chests. "And now, I equip Armored Wing with Black Feather Full-Amor Gatling."

Armored Wing gains a gatling gun on its right arm. "Using Armored Wing's effect, all of your monsters lose their Wedge counters, and for each one, Full-Armor Gatling gives it an additional attack."

The wedges are pulled out and enter the machine gun, becoming bullets. "And finally, by sending Anchor to the graveyard, Armored Wing gains Sirocco's attack points!"

Armored Wing: 4500

"So? That's only enough to take out one of us," says one of the guys, staring down at the extra copy of Fuse Ray Musketeer. "And once you're done, you're done!"

"No, you're done. Because when a Wedge Counter is removed, your monsters lose all of their attack points. Making them zero!"

All three look at their monsters in surprise, and their attack power has evaporated into nothing. "ZERO?!"

"Black Feather Armored Wing, fill 'em full of lead – Gatling Hurricane!" A volley of wedges as bullets fire upon the field, destroying all of the Fuse Ray Musketeers. With each one's death, their owners get blown away.

After their life points reach zero, Crow removes his duel disk and turns it into a pistol. He then twirls it before sheathing it, western style. Amazed, Malcolm instantly sobers up. "Oh my god! One turn three kill!"

Lifting his hat, Crow states, "I'll let you know right away; I ain't cheap, and I demand an advance."

"You damn, fucking right I'll pay upfront for those skills! Babs' gonna love this!" Malcolm laughs as he finally has someone to take care of that troublemaker Kiryu.

…

Back at Neo Domino City, Yusei and Jack have gathered together to look at the letter placed in Crow's room. Having read it, they know where Crow has been after being missing.

"I was wondering why it was so quiet," Jack says with his arms crossed.

Bruno comes in, asking, "What are we gonna do?"

Yusei calmly looks at the note, and then at Bruno. "The only thing that's right."

Back to Action…

While Ramon's group is partying, Kiryu can be found by himself playing his harmonica. A child, the same one from earlier, comes by to listen. He somberly sighs before sheathing it in his shirt pocket.

"You were amazing today, Kiryu! Just as you'd expect from Team Satisfaction's leader."

"Stop bringing that up," he mutters.

"I hope I can become as good as you. Then I can take my father back from the mountain."

"Some things can't be solved by dueling." Kiryu faces the boy as he delivers these harsh words. "Take your sister and run. No one at the bottom ever makes it out in a place run by duels."

He gets up to leave, coming near the bar he left earlier. Since he's alone, Kiryu is the only one who notices the paper airplane that lands by his feet. He picks it up, unfolding to see nothing. It's a plain sheet of paper. "Huh?"

He looks up at the roof where it came from and spots someone staring down at him. To his shock, it's him. "Crow?"

OC cards -

Name: Blackwing Full Wedge Gatling

Image: Armored Master wields the cannon used as Full Armored Master

Type: Equip Spell

Effect: Equip to a Blackwing Monster. Remove every Wedge Counter on the field; the equipped monster gains an additional attack equal to the number of counters removed. If this card is in the graveyard and you control a Blackwing Synchro monster; you can place one Wedge Counter on a monster your opponent controls and equip this to that monster you control, but banish it when it leaves the field.