Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. Jack was right there, standing on a highway bridge, speaking to them.
Having been informed of Jack's betrayal by Rally, Naruto quickly looked towards Yusei to see his reaction.
As he expected, Yusei's face was scrunched tightly together in a scowl. It had been a while since Naruto saw Yusei being this upset.
Naruto tried to break the ice. "Jack!" He shouted from his position below the bridge with a friendly tone. "It's been a while, old friend! How have you been?"
Jack's eyes were cold. Not the type one would expect to be used on estranged friends. It was more like the cold, and impartial gaze of a prideful king.
Jack scoffed and raised his nose in derision. "Ever since I left you guys behind in that hell hole, life has never been better!"
Naruto frowned. Somehow Jack felt even more pompous and arrogant than before— something that up to this point, Naruto didn't think was possible.
"I see that both of you have managed to crawl your way out of Satellite!"
"Yes, we did, Jack!" Yusei spoke for the first time in a while. His dark blue eyes were steely with resolve. "After all, you and I have a score to settle!"
Jack chuckled as he reached into his pockets and produced a card from within. "You mean this? Your Stardust Dragon?"
Yusei tensed at the sight of his dragon. "Stardust!" He cried out. "Yes, that's the card that you stole from me. No, that's the card that you stole from us! The card that brings hope to my friends in Satellite...You took it from us!"
"Tch." Jack clicked his tongue, seemingly disgusted by the sentimentality. "If it means that much to you, then you can have it back!" He made a swinging motion with his card-holding hand, as if tossing it to Yusei.
It was quickly revealed to be a ruse as the man revealed that the card was still in his hand.
"Actually, I changed my mind," Jack said with a mischievous grin.
"You changed your mind? What do you mean?" Naruto was starting to get impatient. "Are you going to give him back the card or not?"
Jack seemed to ignore him. "I have been curious, that's all. I want to test to see if my new strength will be enough to crush my former friends in Satellite."
"How about you two duel me? In a one versus two handicap match? If you guys win, I will surrender this Stardust Dragon!" Jack proposed.
Naruto and Yusei exchanged looks for a moment before Naruto spoke up.
"That's fine by us. But instead of a one versus two tag match, we will be competing under Battle Royale rules!"
Jack smirked in amusement. "Very well, then follow me! I will lead you guys to the road of your crushing defeat!"
They followed Jack onto a Duel Stadium with an elliptical race track. All three of them were at the starting line with their D-Wheels at the ready.
"Per Battle Royale rules, none of us can attack during our first turns. Also we will all be considered opponents to one another," Jack stated and then pointed at a corner in front of them. "Whoever reaches the first corner will have the first turn!"
Naruto nodded in understanding. "Got it."
A countdown display appeared on their D-Wheel's monitors as a robotic voice from their D-Wheel speakers announced the activation of Speed World.
When the display reached 0, all three duelists stepped on the accelerator and raced off.
In the end, it was Jack who reached the corner first.
T1 Jack H:5-6 LP: 4000
Speed Counter: 0
"My turn!" Jack declared as he drew a card from his Deck. "I will start off by activating the Speed Spell - Overboost!"
Naruto grimaced. "Overboost on the first turn. As expected from Jack, I suppose."
"It seems like you already know what this card does, Naruto," Jack noted. "Until the End Phase of the turn, I gain 6 Speed Counters!"
In an instant, his Wheel of Fortune started to pull ahead of both Naruto and Yusei.
"Then, I will follow it up with the Speed Spell - Speed Fusion!" The spell card that spun into existence next to Jack depicted the Dark Magician and Flame Swordsman standing side by side with each other. "When I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can perform a Fusion Summon from my Extra Deck!"
Jack hurriedly sent three cards from his hand to the Graveyard. "I will fuse Big Piece Golem, Middle Piece Golem, and Small Piece Golem! With these three, I will Fusion Summon Multiple Piece Golem!"
Multiple Piece Golem LV 7 EARTH Rock/Fusion/Effect ATK: 2600
A fortress of a golem stood over them, watching them over all of them with the intimidation of a Greek titan.
"I will set one card and end my turn. Then during my End Phase, my Speed Counter will be reduced to 1!"
"But that's still one more than what we have!" Naruto shouted in realization. Both he and Yusei's Speed Counters were still at a pitiful 0. In Speed World, Speed Counters wouldn't be added until the second Standby Phase of the duel.
"It's my turn!" Yusei declared as he drew a card.
T2 Yusei H:5→6 LP: 4000
Yusei's Speed Counters: 0→1
Naruto's Speed Counters: 0→1
Jack's Speed Counters: 1→2
"I will Normal Summon Synchron Carrier from my hand!"
Synchron Carrier LV 2 EARTH Machine/Effect ATK: 0
An orange robot emerged beside Yusei after a brief flash of light.
"Per Synchron Carrier's effect I can Normal Summon one additional Synchron monster from my hand! I will Normal Summon Junk Synchron!"
The yellow crane on Synchro Carrier's back extended outwards and seized a card from Yusei's hand. The card that it seized quickly transformed into a rotund orange robot with a white scarf wrapped around its neck.
Junk Synchron LV 3 EARTH Machine/Tuner/Effect ATK: 1300]
"I will tune the Level 3 Junk Synchron with the Level 2 Synchron Carrier!"
A cluster of stars and rings lined up next to Yusei until a bolt of light came streaking through.
"Gathering stars will call upon a new force! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Show yourself, Junk Warrior!"
Junk Warrior LV 5 DARK Warrior/Synchro/Effect ATK: 2300
Junk Warrior spun wildly in the air upon the calling of its name, going from rotations to rotations, as if to show off its purple, streamlined body.
Finally, it stopped and thrust its fist forward, his crimson eyes blazing with righteous intent. Wrapped around its neck and flickering amidst nonexistent winds was a white, pristine scarf - a souvenir left behind by Junk Synchron.
Yusei took a moment to observe his situation. Jack had a 2600 attack points monster on the field and one card face down. While he, on the other hand, had only a monster with 2300 attack points.
He knew that if he wanted to win this duel, he needed to be prepared. A light frown ruined his face as he grabbed three cards from his hand and swiped them into his duel disk. "I will set 3 cards face-down and end my turn!"
T3 Naruto H:5→6 LP: 4000
Naruto's Speed Counters: 1→ 2
Jack's Speed Counters: 2→3
Yusei's Speed Counters: 1→2
"My turn!" Naruto cried out as he drew his card. He gave the cards in his hands a brief look before holding three up over his head. "I will tribute from my hand the Magnet Warriors, Gamma, Beta and Alpha to Special Summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior from my hand!"
A column of lightning crashed in front of Naruto. Once the electricity faded away, an amalgamated warrior of various magnet parts emerged into view. On his back, were a pair of pink wings with rocky aesthetics and jagged edges.
Valkyrion the Magna Warrior LV 8 EARTH Rock/Effect ATK: 3500
"I will set one card facedown and end my turn!" Naruto declared.
Just like that, the spotlight was off him, as both he and Yusei focused their attention back on Jack.
"Junk Warrior… Valkyrion the Magna Warrior…" Jack mumbled quietly to himself as he stared at his opponent's monsters. "So this is what they call 'ghosts of the past,' huh?"
The reigning King of the Neo Domino City stepped on the accelerator as he sped ahead, further increasing the gap between him and the others. "It's my turn, I draw!" He shouted as he drew a card with the authority befitting of a supreme ruler.
T4 Jack H:0→1 LP: 4000
Jack's Speed Counters: 3→4
Naruto Speed Counters: 2→3
Yusei Speed Counters: 2→3
"Starting from this turn, we can attack with our monsters!" Jack declared as he spun around on his Wheel of Fortune, his chosen champion moving alongside him as they stared down their oppositions together. "Begone, Junk Warrior!"
Multiple Piece Golem's large, lumbering hand reached towards Junk Warrior, swallowing the mechanical fighter in its mammoth shadows.
Yusei quickly pressed a button on his Duel Disk and flipped open the trap card that he'd prepared. "Go Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!"
A dilapidated metal scarecrow emerged from the trap card and deflected Multiple Piece Golem's giant hand.
Jack, however, was ready. "Trap card activate, Fiend Buster!" The trap that Jack activated depicted Dark King of the Abyss firing off a dark ray of light from its third eye.
"When a monster that I control had its attack negated, I can have that monster battle again. But this time, its attack power becomes doubled!"
Yusei's eyes widened slightly in bewilderment. "What?"
Jack smirked wolfishly as he set his eyes on Naruto. "Except this time, I will attack Valkyrion the Magna Warrior instead!"
Multiple Piece Golem ATK: 2600→5200
In front of them, the already massive golem nearly doubled in size.
This time, it was Naruto's turn to be worried. As the Golem's giant hand lurched towards his Valkyrion, Naruto jerked his D-Wheel from left to right, as if trying to evade the Golem's attack. His efforts proved to be futile as the golem never lost sight of its prey.
Swiftly and mercilessly, Valkyrion was scooped up in the Golem's hand and crushed to death. Naruto's Life Points took a massive dip, as did his Speed Counter. (Naruto LP: 4000→2300 Speed Counter: 3→2)
"Hahaha!" Jack's mocking laughter rung out through the highway as he basked in the events that just unfolded. "Did you see that? Did you see where your so-called 'bond' has landed you, Naruto? If only Yusei never activated his Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, then maybe your Valkyrion would still be alive!"
Jack held out a fist in triumph. "This is why I cast off the shackles of 'friendship'. By doing that, I was able to become the King!"
"Is that so, I wonder?" Naruto's words cut through the air like a knife. "Continuous Trap Card activate! Celestial Rebirth!" A card with a purple border flipped open, revealing an illustration of Honest flying out of a dark void. Despite having parts of its wings clipped off, the angel continued to carry on with a face of determined resolve.
"Celestial Rebirth allows me to bring back Valkyrion from my graveyard. But, in exchange, its attack points become 1000 points lower."
A dark void opened up in front of Naruto's D-Wheel, and from within, Valkyrion came leaping out. Though, its pink mechanical wings quickly crumbled away as its attack power decreased.
[Valkyrion the Magna Warrior LV 10 ATK: 3500→2500]
"Hmph!" Jack grunted in disgust. "A trap card that allows you to continuously revive a monster…Clever move! But! Your monster is now a pathetic shell of its former self!"
"That's not the point, Jack! Naruto rebutted. "Even when battered and bruised, a true friend will always come back to you. This is what friendship is!"
Yusei nodded in agreement as he pulled his D-Wheel closer to Naruto, showing their existence as a united front. "Let's settle this, Jack!" They cried out in unison.
Riding ahead of both of them, Jack simply smirked. "Bring it on!"
A/N: Huge thanks for everyone who reviewed/followed/liked this story.