Author's Note: Shame on me if I haven't said this yet but a massive thanks to The Patient One for the work on the Duel Masters and their affects for all the Virtual World Duels!

Trigger Warning: Slurs against LBGTQ+

~Many Years Ago~

Alexander Gangsley frowned as he walked through the industrial plant. It had recently gone under and the family that had owned it for five generations were desperate to sell it before they ended losing everything. It was always a sad thing when a legacy died.

No… not sad. That wasn't the right word at all.

Wonderful. It was a wonderful thing when a legacy died.

Especially in a case like this, where the family had no other backup plans. That made them desperate and willing to do anything to get back SOME of their money. And that was something that Alexander could take advantage of.

'I wonder if I can talk them down by another million,' he thought to himself. 'Perhaps claim that I am interested in purchasing their rival instead… they are doing well but it would be a final mockery for them if I did that. Make them feel like true failures that even in bankruptcy they couldn't beat them. That might-'

He stopped when he realized he wasn't alone.

"They are very much overcharging for this place," the younger man said. He was wearing a pale red suit, his hair slicked back and the beginnings of a mustache upon his lip; wispy and barely visible but Alexander got the sense that with time it would become a thick and bushy thing. Despite how young he was the man before him was built like a bull, with a broad barrel-like torso, wide shoulders, and heavy muscular arms. He looked like he should be an enforcer for a mafia boss rather than someone touring a warehouse… and that made Alexander a touch worried that the mob was interested in the purchase.

And then he grew excited. He'd never battled the mob before. That would be VERY different indeed!

"The machinery has been left to sit still for far too long… it won't work properly when it is started up yet they are asking for half value for it. At best it could be sold for scrap or pawned off on some foolish upstart that doesn't know what he is doing."

"I suppose," Alexander said, not wanting to admit that he had been planning to keep the equipment. That definitely would change his bid.

"And then there is the location. They had hoped that being this far out would allow for expansion but instead it means that it costs more for transporting supplies."

"Better to have been on a river or on the coast," Alexander found himself saying. "Though that would mean dealing with flood damage."

"Very true. The insurance might balance things out."

Alexander finally fully turned towards the new arrival. "Who are you?"

"Gozaburo Kaiba," the young man said. "The man that is buying this warehouse."

Alexander stared at his apparently rival in the purchase and just shook his head. "I'm afraid you are a touch mistaken there. I will be the one buying this place."

"Yes, because you are bored," Gozaburo stated. He said it so flatly, so matter-of-factly, that it made Alexander blink in surprise. "Don't deny it. I studied up on you when I heard you were interested in purchasing this place. In the last five years you've purchased a chain of pizzerias, several car washes, a textile plant, three different electronic stores that you've merged into a single entity…"

"I like to diversify."

"You like to treat business like it is a duck hunt," Gozaburo stated. "Rather than firing a single bullet like a deer hunter you blast out your buckshot, hoping that by spreading out your ammo you might get more in return. Works well when you are just looking to bring in as many ducks as you can… not so when you are looking to make money." He paused. "But you aren't looking to make money… are you?"

"Why else would someone get into business?"

"Oh, there are plenty of other reasons than that. For revenge. To prove yourself. To earn the love of someone. To prove someone wrong. To make the world a better place." Gozaburo smirked. "But you do it because you are bored."

"Bored?"

"Anyone with eyes can see it. You jump from business to business not because they actually appeal to you but because you are desperate to find some way to pass the time. You have a vast empire you have created but you aren't satisfied with it. That is why you must make conquest after conquest. Something to defeat, something to dominate, something to compete against. Only then do you feel alive. Truly for you it is this game we play that you enjoy, not the actual act of winning."

Alexander… remained silent at that.

"Which is why you will grow tired of this factory in… I'd say 3 years."

"Three years?" He hated how dumb he sounded, repeating the other man's words right back to him like some sort of parrot.

"Indeed!" Gozaburo declared with a wicked little grin. "A year and a half to get things running. Purchasing new equipment, finding a labor force, so on. But once you do you'll realize that you have everything within your other companies to make this one the top of the industry within a year. Celebrated as Midas, once again able to turn whatever you touch to gold. Put on magazine covers, banquets hosted for awards you are given, the toast on all the cable news shows for having saved the industry."

He paused.

"And then you'll abandon it for the next thing that catches your eye."

Alexander stared at the younger man for a long time. Gozaburo Kaiba didn't seem to mind at all how long the silence stretched on. Didn't feel the awkwardness that most people would have experienced when a conversation suddenly stopped dead. In fact Alexander got the sense that he was enjoying himself quite a bit.

"…and what would you do, if you were me?"

"Oh, I'll never be you," Gozaburo stated. "But as for what you should do that is rather simple: give it all to me."

"What?" Alexander exclaimed. Of all the possible answers he had been expecting to come from the other man's mouth that was NOT one he could have predicted.

"You need someone to fight against, someone to be a rival. An enemy. I can be that. But… it wouldn't be fun for either of us if I simply crushed you under my heel or you dominated me and left me in ruin. That is… messy. Wasteful." Gozaburo frowned. "I hate waste, especially when it comes to my business."

"So you want me to just give up then?" Alexander challenged , hackles raised.

"You lack that much vision?" Gozaburo said, disappointed. "Come now… I never said give up."

"Then what are you suggesting?"

The intensity in the young man's eyes only grew greater at that. "You and I agree to a merger of our companies. Of course KaibaCorp will have to remain the full name of the company… I have built a singular brand while Gangsley Conglomerate is, well, a collection as the title states. You will then come to work for me on my board of directors… and do all you can to try and usurp me."

"Try and usurp you?"

"That's what I said," Gozaburo stated. "You will get the thrill of the game… but money won't be lost. It will keep me on my toes, wondering just which of your actions are designed to help the company and which are designed to ruin me. Just as you will wonder that about each of my decisions. And we will make… so much money."

Alexander swallowed at that.

"Think it over," Gozaburo said, slapping a thick, meaty hand on his shoulder so hard that Alexander nearly fell to his knees. "But don't keep me waiting."

And with that… he walked away. And Alexander looked at the factory that no longer looked that appealing.

~Present Day~

"Are you quite done yet?" Gangsley asked, glaring at Koyo as he continued to go through the rule book.

In response Koyo held up a single finger, never bothering to look up at the man.

Gangsley growled in annoyance at that. "How long does it take-"

Somehow Koyo made his finger holding seem… more intense.

Nate, or rather the digital version of him, just continued to stand there, not saying a word, refusing to do anything until it was time to serve his purpose. In a way that made him… better… than Gangsley. Koyo didn't hate the digital reproduction of the duelist. It literally had no choice in what it did.

'I have to remember that when he begins trash talking me,' Koyo thought to himself. 'He isn't the one to get my anger. That is all on Gangsley. He is the one that deserves all my rage and fury.' And considering how he had so casually mocked an entire group of people JUST because they wanted to love the people they loved, and said love didn't hurt them or anyone else? Oh… there would be plenty of rage and fury. 'Everyone thinks I'm the calm and level-headed one. That I don't have an angry bone in my body. But I do… and I am going to show Gangsley just how destructive I can be.'

Off to the side Gangsley continued to pace.

Koyo made a great show of turning a page… before turning back to the previous one, skimming through it again.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Keep it together, Joey. Keep it together, Joey."

If he kept repeating that mantra… maybe it would actually work.

He had been wandering the city for what felt like… ages. Or seconds. He couldn't tell anymore. Every building had shifted suddenly in the blink of an eye so they looked the same and as such Joey had no way of telling how far he had gone. He could have walked for miles or he could have only gone a block. The same trees, the same buildings, the same road.

Same everything.

And the only sounds now were his own breathing and his footfalls.

Bedum. Bedum. Bedum.

Oh, and his heart beat too. He could hear THAT loud and clear.

"Keep it together, Joey," he said again as he passed the same tree… only to pause and smirk. "Hey… that might just work!" He hurried back to the tree and selected a single leaf, carefully tearing it. Not by much… just an inch or so. "Okay… let's see…" he ran to the next duplicate building… and sighed in relief when he saw that the leaf was perfect. No rips. "Ha!" He grinned as he looked over the tree. 'That's my trick for bein' able ta figure out where I am. I just make different rips on the leaves. Maybe the same leaf for a while, then a different one! Then I'll know if I'm walkin' in a circle or-'

RIP!

Joey started when he saw the leaf before him rip… and turned his head as the sound of ripping filled the air. With a heavy feeling in his gut he rushed to the next tree to see that, yes, it too also had a rip in the leaf now.

"COME ON!" Joey wailed. "What is with ya, Noah? I did as that freaky guy asked and dueled that chick and won! Why ya still pestering me?"

"Well, because its fun," Noah said, suddenly appearing beside Joey, causing him to yelp and scramble back. "And before you try it-"

Joey leapt at Noah, trying to grab him… only to sail right through him.

"-I'm not actually here," Noah continued. "Or I am but I am just shifting my vibrational frequency in the Virtual World so that you and I are on different tangible planes."

"…ya know Yug tried to get me inta that Star Trek junk and I gave up because they kept sayin' science words that I just knew weren't real."

That made Noah chuckled. "Fair enough. Now then, what seems to be the problem? Are you not enjoying my Virtual World?"

"Not really," Joey grumbled. "I did the duel and I heard ya say that I'm now safe…"

"Did I say that?" Noah said with a wicked little grin, one that had Joey swallowing nervously… only for Noah to chuckle. "Oh don't worry, you are completely and utterly safe. You won. Your prize is existing. Once the rest of the duels are done you can return to your pathetic little life."

"Really?" Joey said, blinking. "I… kinda expected ya ta keep us trapped here forever."

"Now now… I am a man of my word- don't say it." Joey snapped his jaw shut before he could comment that Noah wasn't a man. "You won." He paused. "But that doesn't mean I have to leave you sane when you return to the real world."

"Whaaaa!?" Joey exclaimed.

"Oh yes," Noah purred. "I am going to enjoy tormenting you and your friends! It will add salt to the wound as Seto fails to save you all!"

"…okay, I need ta make sure I got this straight: ya think Kaiba and I are friends?"

Noah paused. "Yes."

Joey doubled over laughing.

"What… what is so funny?"

"Ya… yea honestly think Rich Boy gives one lick about me or my friends?" Joey said, gasping for air. "Man… ya have missed a lot in this place, ain't ya?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Pal, Kaiba hates us!"

"He… what?"

"Okay, maybe not hate but he certainly don't want anything ta do with us. If I were on a life raft and asked Kaiba for help he'd probably begin throwin' popcorn at me just ta watch the sea gulls peck at my head."

"You do have a peckable head," Noah admitted.

Joey glowered at that before shaking his head. "Point is Kaiba ain't my head… I mean friend! I can't stand that rich jerk. He thinks he's better than everyone just cuss he managed ta grow up rich. Ya put anyone else in that situation and they'd end up just as famous and powerful as him!"

Noah… blinked at that.

"You… honestly don't care about him?"

"Well… I don't wanna see him dead and no offense but I don't think anyone deserves ta have their body taken. Granted, I don't think ya deserved ta end up in this place…" That made Joey frown. "What did happen ta get ya stuck here?"

"You… honestly don't know? You don't know of the great Kaiba Tragedy?"

Joey just gave him a level stare. "Hey man? I got enough drama in my own family, don't need ta add whatever mess is goin' on with the Kaibas."

Noah though smirked. "Ah… so you are focused only on what hurts you? Matters to you? I can understand that. But I think you will find this interesting. Let me show you…"

Joey let out a yelp as the world dissolved around him.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Is Noah still watching and listening to this?" Koyo asked as he finally closed the rule book.

"It is possible," Gangsley admitted. "Master Noah tends to… come and go."

"Well, if you do know that he is here please let me know. I'd love to give my compliments on the rules he created."

That made the old man blink. "Oh?"

"Yes. Very well structured. The Deck Master rules are unique, of course, and a bit confusing at first but once you understand how they function it does add an interesting spice to the duel." He slowly got up, stretching. "You have the contract?"

"Here," Gangsley said, handing over the document. Once more Koyo took the time to read it over.

'Good, he went for something straight forward.' That was why Koyo had insisted that Gangsley write it and not get Johnson to; if Johnson was a lawyer as Koyo suspected he would have been able to hide all sorts of clauses and hidden traps in the contract in order to trip him up. But Gangsley had gone straight to the point. "Appears to be in order," he said, tucking the contract in his pocket.

He forced himself not to smirk when Gangsley let out a sigh of relief… and failed to notice that Koyo hadn't actually signed the contract. That was why he had purposely read the Rule Book as slowly as possible: to get the old man so frustrated that he wasn't thinking clearly. To miss the obvious things. That was how he was going to win this duel.

"Now then… get your game on!" Koyo declared, pointing right at Nate. The Virtual duelist nodded and activated his duel disc before motioning at Koyo to start. "Me first? Okay then. I'll start with my Deck Master: Elemental Hero Gaia!"

Behind him formed the armored hero, his ebony fighting suit gleaming in the light of the artificial city, the red gems that helped power it flickering as they pulsed Earth Manipulating Energy right into the large hero. Koyo looked back and gave his Deck Master a nod, the hero returning it before Koyo moved his attention once more onto the duel.

"And next I'll summon Elemental Hero Ocean in attack mode!" There was no doubt that this was a warrior of the sea. Yet there was also something grander about him… something more noble. This was no mere soldier. This was a king and, more importantly, a hero who had decided to protect not just the seas but all of the planet. "And I'll finish by setting this card face down on the field and ending my turn."

"Well, mate," Nate said with his over the top Australian accent, "seems like its my turn. I'll be selecting as my deck master Virtual World Dragon- Longlong!"

It looked like a dragon but from a world where they had never seen a flesh and blood dragon and thus, in their desperation to try and make one of their own, had pulled together what they did have in order to create one that belonged to them and only them. The result was a being better suited for the world of ones and zeros rather than of sunlight and storms. A great serpentine thing, with a blue body and a mane that crackled with lightning. Or, perhaps, the mane WAS lightning. Yes. That was the better way to think of it.

"Worried yet?" Ganglsey asked. "Nate hasn't even drawn his cards and already he has a clear advantage over you."

"Just because that monster is a bit bigger?" Koyo asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sometimes the most powerful things are the most unassuming."

"Very true," Gangsley agreed. "That is very true. But I was more referring to its Deck Master ability and… well, you'll find out."

Koyo hid his grimace at that. 'The problem with the Deck Master rules is that there are thousands of different Deck Masters that the Big Five and their virtual puppets can choose from. And unlike in the real game where I might know SOME of the cards and then can guess just what a deck's strategy might be, with literally any card available to them and no way of doing research before hand… it suddenly makes this game a lot more interesting.'

"Now then," Nate stated, drawing his hand, "I'll be sending from my deck to the graveyard Virtual World Gate-Qinglong in order to summon my Virtual World Mai-Hime."

Another attempt to create something that the beings that had created Nate's virtual world had never actually seen. This time a shrine maiden, if Koyo was correct, or some kind of priestess. It was hard to tell, what with her wearing armor that would have been better suited for a video game character. Though, considering the situation he now found himself in, perhaps that was more correct than he realized.

"Now, because I summoned this lovely Shelia, I can add one trap card from my deck to my hand-"

"I'm afraid you won't be able to do that!" Koyo said, tapping his duel disc. "I activate Bottomless Trap Hole, to destroy your Virtual World Mai-Hime before she can fully form and banish her from the game. And that means that you won't be able to select your trap card!"

But the moment the trap card flipped up Virtual World Dragon- Longlong let out a roar that sounded more like a computer dial up modem slowly dying than a bestial cry. But despite how harsh and unnatural the bellow was it still had an effect: the trap card began to distort, fragmenting and falling apart before Koyo's duel disc let out a screech and flashed blue.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to do that, mate. I use my Virtual World Dragon- Longlong's Deck Master ability: Blue Screen. This allows me to negate one affect. So your Bottomless Trap Hole never gets a chance to activate. So Virtual World Mai-Hime continues to form and the trap card is added to my hand." Nate selected his card before turning his attention back to the duel. "And now I will destroy your Element Hero Ocean!" Virtual World Mai-Hime leapt forward, striking Elemental Hero Ocean and shattering him. "And I will set the trap I just drew onto the field… and end my turn." (Koyo-3900)

Gangsley chuckled at that, leaning on his cane. "So first blood goes to Nate. And if there is one thing I've learned in business… first blood is the most important of blood. It sets the stage for what is to come. Lets your foe know you are not one to be trifled with. Some are terrified… others are embittered. And still more thrill at the chance to try and strike. But how will you strike? Carelessly? Recklessly? That is the question, is it not?"

"Or it doesn't matter at all," Koyo counted. "Because it isn't how things start that matter."

"Oh… you believe that what matters is the ending. Where you end up. The end justifies the means?"

"No," Koyo said. "What I believe is that everything is the sum of its parts. The beginning, the middle, the end. That is what matters. You can take first blood, Gangsley, but so long as I counter strongly then I can hold up my head up high." However, in his head, Koyo mentally added, 'But the ending IS important… what with how high the stakes are here. If I don't win this duel then I'll lose my body and this bigot will be able to claim it. And I won't let him use my face to hurt my friends! I am going to take this old man and his puppet down!'

~MC~MC~MC~

'Mokuba!' Seto tried to shout, though to his annoyance it only came out as pathetic little yips. His brother had managed, in his panic, to escape the building they'd been forced into and now Seto found himself trying to figure out where in the massive forest he'd seen his brother go racing into Mokuba could have gone.

He had to get his brother back.

'I've had too many things taken from me recently,' Seto thought darkly as he raced past several more trees, wishing his body was bigger and legs longer so he could get through the woods faster. Every second that ticked by without finding his brother only made the search harder. 'First there was my title of Number 1 Duelist in the world'

In his mind he saw himself dueling Yugi, feeling as if he were on top of the world. He had found the last Blue-Eyes White Dragon in existence and ensured that it would never be used against him. While it was said that there were 6 Blue-Eyes White Dragons created only 4 were known to exist: his three and Solomon Muto's. The other two had disappeared; the closest he'd ever come to finding out what happened to the last two was that one supposedly belonged to the Senteel family but they had all died in a shipwreck, the card going down with them. So only four Blue-Eyes… and Seto had destroyed the fourth, so he only controlled the three. It had meant that he had no one that could ever oppose him in Duel Monsters… no duelist that was strong enough to defeat him.

'But then Yugi did the impossible. He managed to defeat me by summoning Exodia the Forbidden One.' Seto mentally growled. 'Then Pegasus took my company and my brother and while I got both back KaibaCorp was forever changed. Its now merged with Industrial Illusions, meaning I'm forced to deal with Pegasus every day. And then that smirking fool Chaos managed to weasel his way into getting me to give him minority control…'

He still remembered that handshake.

"Come on boys… won't you shake a poor sinner's hand?"

The Deal with the Devil as the media had begun calling it; CCN and others had embraced Edwin's title of 'The Guardian Devil' and begun calling the agreement that solidified Seto, Pegasus, and Chaos as the Big Three of the newly made gaming and electronics company 'The Deal with the Devil'. They couldn't even name it after Seto… it was Edwin who got that glory.

'The Battle City Tournament was supposed to right the ship,' Seto thought as he paused by a tree, looking about to see if he could spot his brother's mechanized puppy form. 'A chance for me to prove I wasn't just a better duelist than Yugi but also better at organizing a tournament than Pegasus. But Marik ruined that!'

Seto and his team had done all they could to keep people from realizing just how dangerous Battle City had become. He'd ordered agents in his employ to seek out any duelist claiming they'd been 'robbed' by the Rare Hunters and pay them off for their silence. New cards, checks, and other gratitudes had been offered up so long as they agreed not to say a word. Kipling Chaos had proven surprisingly helpful in that regard, buying up stories from anyone that didn't want to take Seto's offer and thought they could get more from the papers or the gossip programs. Kipling had a vested interest in protecting KaibaCorp, what with his own Nephew having been declared his heir and in charge of KaibaCorp.

'Then Obelisk the Tormentor was taken from me. The power of the Egyptian Gods rendered into card form, able to defeat any duelist with a single punch.' He narrowed his eyes. 'And was used against me to kick me out of my own tournament!' But his anger left him and a deep melancholy filled him. 'And… the loss of my first Blue-Eyes White Dragon.'

He would never forget Ishizu destroying that card. Would never forget the despair. He knew that there would be people that would state that it was karma for what he had done to Yugi's grandpa… but no. Karma wasn't real. There weren't some beings in the sky weighing all the good and bad a person did and determining what their fates would be based solely on what they did with their lives and the actions they took. He understood WHAT Solomon had felt in that moment and he was willing to admit that he regretted his actions now… but it wasn't some form of cosmic payback.

That line of thought was the delusions of the feeble who couldn't accept that sometimes bad things just happened.

'And now I am at risk of losing my body! My very life!' Seto began to run again. 'Noah wants to take everything from me… take my very existence and leave me trapped in this Virtual World. But I'm not going to let him. I am going to find Mokuba, I'm going to get myself free of this robotic body, and then I'm going to find that little creep and make him regret ever challenging me!'

~MC~MC~MC~

Joey blinked as he looked around only to start when he saw-

"Koyo!" Joey cried out. "Koyo man, it is so good ta see ya!" He ran over to his newest friend, reaching out for him…

…only to pass right through him.

"AAAA!" Joey screamed as he stumbled and fell flat on his face.

Noah walked over to him and while looking bemused the boy at least had the decency not to opening laugh at Joey and his misfortune. "Ah, you didn't let me explain. We can see them but they can't see us."

"Wha? Ya mean we're some kinda freaky ghost people?" Joey began to pat himself down.

"What an imagination on you!" Noah said with a chuckle. "No… since we are in the Virtual World I am able to determine what is seen and what isn't seen. We can see Koyo and Gangsley but they can't see us." Noah shook his head his in bemusement. "A phantom in the Virtual World…"

"Never heard of Ghost in the Machine?" Joey said. Noah blinked at that and now it was Joey's turn to snicker. "Oh, so I know somethin' the smug smart boy doesn't. Need ta get some TVtropes in here."

"Tv… Tropes?"

"Website. Talks about Tropes."

"Like the circus performers?"

Joey blinked. "No. Man, you are sheltered in here, ain't ya? Tropes… ya know, like how in cartoons in order ta stretch out a fight they'll have the characters talk about things, cut back ta the hero's friends yakking it up? Just ta make it longer episodes."

"…yes, of course," Noah said quickly; a bit too quickly but Joey decided not to mention that. Noah was actually being halfway decent at that moment and Joey didn't want to risk upsetting him by taunting him. "Why do you know all about such things though?"

"Uh…"

~The Night Before~

"So according to this when Ed said that he was a papa wolf it means that's protective of those under his charge," Joey said, looking over the webpage on the laptop in his room. "Hey Tristan, any luck figurin' out what he was talkin' 'bout when he went on that rant on Animal Motifs?"

"Still looking," Tristan stated.

"I believe, based on this," the Pharaoh, looking over Yugi's phone, "I am a beta cuck."

"…I think you might have read that wrong, Pharaoh," Tea said.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Just somethin' ta do," Joey said before looking back at Koyo. "So, why ya bring me here?"

"Oh, just so you can see how your little friend here does against Gangsley. Duels are so much more entertaining with an audience. Though, I must admit, because they can't see us that does diminish things some what."

'Of course the little creep ain't doing this out of the kindness in his heart,' Joey thought bitterly. 'He wants ta make me watch Koyo duel, knowin' that if he loses he could end up losin' his body!' Joey did his best not to let his nervousness show on his features. 'I know he's a duelist and he mentioned that he's done a lot of tournaments so I should have no worries…'

Joey shifted back and forth as Koyo looked over his hand.

'But I do, man. I really do. I don't want Koyo ta get hurt just because he was friends with me! He don't deserve that! And now Noah has made it that I can't even let 'im know I'm watchin' him and cheerin' him on?' Joey balled his hands up into fists. 'Sometimes, when it comes ta a duel, knowin' ya got your friends cheerin' ya on is the greatest weapon.'

His mind went to some of the worst duels he had. When Tristan had been angry with him challenging Rex while Ed had been more focused on teaching Mokuba the game. The time after he'd broken away from the group and been forced to duel Bonz all by himself. Even Battle City had seen some duels where, even though he won, they weren't as satisfying because none of his friends had been there to watch him and cheer him on.

'Koyo is havin' ta duel all on his own… no.' Joey screwed up his face and called out, "Come on Koyo! Ya can do it! Beat this creep!"

"You did hear me when I said we were invisible to him, right? That also means he can't hear us."

"Don't matter," Joey said. "Koyo will sense it. He might not be able ta hear me or see me but he'll know deep in his heart that I am cheerin' him on!"

"…that is stupid."

Joey though merely smirked. "Then ya don't understand what's its like ta have friends, Noah. Come on Koyo! Kick this guy's butt!"

"Having trouble deciding what you are going to do?" Gangsley stated. "Wanting to give up now? I'd say I wouldn't think less of you for it but that would be a lie. I prefer my enemies to at least have a bit of dignity and respect for themselves by fighting til the bitter end."

Koyo glanced at the old man. "You expect me to believe you have any idea what respect is?"

"I most certainly do. Far more than your generation."

"Yeah, that's why you mock people that are different from you?"

"I don't know what you are…" Gangsley trailed off before his brow furrowed. "Is this about the faggot comment?"

"Yes."

That made the old man scoff, waving his hand dismissively. "That isn't an insult, young man. They are faggots. That's what they call themselves-"

"No, we don't," Koyo charged. "And if we do its different from how YOU use that word. We use it to reclaim it from bigots like you."

"…we?" Gangsley said.

'Wait… Koyo is gay?' Joey thought to himself. 'I didn't know that.'

And surprisingly enough… Joey found it didn't really matter. Didn't change how he felt about his friend. Him being gay was just… another aspect of him.

'My dad… oh, he'd hate him,' Joey thought. 'And maybe, before I met Yug and Tea and really became friends with Tristan… maybe I would have gone after Koyo too. But my friends… they've shown me that what matters is how you care for someone, not who ya care for. After all, my dad is straight. Straight up bastard. Koyo is one of the nicest people I've met. Would do anything to help those he cares for. Who cares who he thinks is pretty… don't change who he is.'

Joey's eyes narrowed as he glared at Gangsley.

'And if that creep could hear me and see me I'd punch him in his smug face for what he said about Koyo.' Admittedly the man hadn't said too much in terms of insults but the way he had said it…

"How… disappointing," Noah stated. "I thought better of Gangsley."

That made Joey blink. "Ya got a problem with him insulting gay people?"

"Of course. What matters is one's intelligence and skill, not their personal lives. Why my father allowed the likes of him to remain on the Big 5…"

Joey found himself staring at Noah.

"What?"

"Nothing just… right when I think I know who I'm supposed ta hate someone like ya say somethin' like that and get me all confused."

"Why would you hate me?" Noah asked. "I'm not seeking to steal your body. That is the Big 5 and now that you've won you are completely safe. We're… off the clock… as it were."

"I don't think that's how it works."

As Joey and Noah had been talking Gangsley had continued to make little comments to Koyo, trying to upset him.

"You can't blame me for being curious. Not often I ran into one of your kind. You hide yourselves so well."

"We aren't wizards or unicorns," Koyo complained. "And the only reason we hide ourselves is because of bigots like you. Forcing us to deny who we are unless we want to be tormented."

"You can hardly blame me for hurting you… I have never sought out to cause you pain. Me or any of my compatriots." The old man slowly grinned. "Unless… is there someone in the Virtual World you care for? Someone you want to protect most of all?"

Koyo remained silent.

"Oh… there is, isn't there? Perhaps I should end this duel now and find them instead."

Koyo merely narrowed his eyes. "This duel is still going on."

"Of course, of course. And when I win… well, I will just have to decide what to do with your little boy toy. Do I break it off with him? I'd have to do so gently… can't risk him realizing you aren't you. Though, as much as the thought repulses me… there is something to be said about the challenge of trying to make my way in the world with him on my arm. Could I manage with some love sick fool of a boy as my husband-"

"You get NEAR Joey and I will END YOU!"

"…well," Noah said as Joey stood there, thunderstruck, "I-I must admit I didn't see THAT coming."

~MC~MC~MC~

OMAKE

"Have a seat."

Megatron frowned as he looked about the office that Chaos Prime had chosen for himself. He didn't even bother to hide his confusion and thus wasn't that surprised when the new ruler of Cybertron spoke up.

"Not what you were expecting?"

"No," he admitted. The office was utterly plain. Just a desk and some shelves and a few chairs. It didn't even have a window. This wasn't the opulence he had been expecting. "Soundwave... he has spoken highly of you. Starscream as well. And Orion... well, he is the one that convinced me to help free you from the grips of the Senate-"

"Thank you for that, by the way. We could have managed without you but the results would have been far more bloody than I would have preferred."

Megatron started at that. He'd been warned that the new Prime tended to talk... oddly. Using strange phrases and comments. But even prepared for it he found it so very odd to hear. "Sentinel was my enemy. He and the Senate... they needed to be dealt with. A message needed to be sent to all of Cybertron that things were changing."

Chaos smiled at that. "I'm guessing this wasn't the change you were expecting." he gestured at his larger form and Megatron let out a chuckling huff at that. "Believe me, that wasn't planned. I was just as startled as all the rest of you when the Matrix chose me." He reached into his desk and brought out two cubes of energon, passing them over. Megatron waited till he had taken a sip of his before he carefully reached over... and took the one Chaos had just drank from. "Smart," he commented.

"I'm no fool," he commented, taking a sip only to nearly spit it out. "What-"

"Sorry, but I don't do highgrade," Chaos stated. "Even if it didn't affect the brain... processor... whatever." He shrugged. "Even if it didn't affect my mind I hate the taste of that stuff. I like the basic things."

Megatron had been preparing to sip some fancy Iacon blend that only the nobles drank. But what Chaos had poured for them... it was stuff that even the dock workers would frown upon. This was what was given to sparklings!

Just who was the new Prime?!

"Alpha will tell you that I am a very simple spark," Chaos stated as he sipped from his full cube. "I have no need for the fancy or the exotic. And that's what I want to bring to Cybertron as well. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the strange and different. But I think the Senate and Sentinel lost track of the fact that we are all the same." He tapped his breast plate. "They look down upon me because I chose a bestial form. Others they hate because they are minicons or because they have alt mods that don't quite fit. They were obsessed with their little castes."

"Soundwave said as much," Megatron stated.

"And I mean it," Chaos said flatly. "That's why I asked you to come here."

Megatron leaned forward. "What is it you want from me?" he was ready for, well, anything. He had come there expecting that Chaos Prime wanted to use him as a helpful prop. Someone he could point to and tell the masses, "See, I'm different from the rest because I have a miner friend!" Orion had told him that Chaos was different but his time deep beneath Cybertron and later battling for his life against other forgotten souls, all in the name of entertaining the elite, it had made him-

"The Pit Bosses die tomorrow," Chaos Prime said darkly.

Megatron's processor froze up for several long moments.

"...what?"

"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings," Chaos stated. "I will not allow slavery, even one prettied up with claims that it is about 'working off debts' or 'getting prisoners to be productive' or 'its tradition'. Slavery dies on Cybertron tomorrow." He leaned back in his chair. "Now... I understand that there are bots who are in the fighting pits not because they were forced to but because they want to be. They get enjoyment out of fighting. And I understand that there are plenty that see it as an art form. Entertainment. And that is fine... so long as there is freedom."

"I... I don't..."

"What I want," Chaos Prime stated, "is to weed out the corrupt, the vile, and the cruel. Reform the entire slagging system. Make it that the fighting pits are 100% legit. Medics who make sure every bot gets the proper care. Rules to ensure that the gladiators never fear that someone is going to pull a cannon out of their aft. And if someone wants out... they get out. To do that I need someone that understands the fighters. Who can tell me who is there because they choose to be, who needs their chains shattered... and who is pretending to be an innocent when they are in reality the guilty. That's what I need from you, Megatron. Are you the right Cybertronian?"

Megatron considered him for a LONG time.

"No," he said finally. "No, I'm not." he stood up. "I don't want to run-"

Chaos quickly shook his head. "No no... I have some others in mind. Though you might be able to point me to some fighters that would work well. No... this is just advising. I have a different position in my government for you."

Megatron didn't sit back down. "And that is?"

"You think Cybertron is the only planet where miners dream of freedom?" Chaos tapped his finger against his desk. "There are others, Megatron. Planets full of innocents, both like us and wildly different, that are longing to know freedom. Peace from tyranny. What I want you to do... is gather up a crew, pick out the baddest slagging ship we have, and rain hell on any overlord that thinks they have the right to put their boot on someone's throat."

"You... you want me to-"

"Cause me so many headaches when it comes to diplomacy, yes. While I would prefer it if you could do it peacefully I have learned that sometimes the only way you can break chains is taking a hammer to those holding them." Chaos smirked. "Want to be that hammer?"

Megatron slowly sat back down.

"I do know my way around such tools."