Gozaburo Kaiba.
The man that had made himself.
The world had never handed him a single thing and he had never demanded it give him anything.
His father had died when he was young. No tragic accident or the like; nothing that would fill storybooks or be woven into tales. He had been sick for a long time and eventually hadn't been able to hold on. He had slipped away, Gozaburo held by his mother as she sobbed. But he hadn't cried. He had been… contemplative.
Where other children would have become enraged at the loss of their father, or been confused about why daddy wasn't waking up, or been upset that everyone else was upset yet they didn't know the reason why, Gozaburo looked at his father's corpse and thought, "Such a flawed design."
He had understood at a young age that there weren't actually bad creations but bad creator. If something had the potential to work then its failure was that its creator hadn't been it strong enough to make it work. If it had no potential then it was the fault of the creator for not figuring out HOW to make it work. But more than that… anything that broke? Anything that faltered? That was also on the creator for not figuring out how to make something last.
When Gozaburo had seen the pyramids of Egypt he had marveled at the men that had created them. A modern house, abandoned by its owners and left to rot, would be overtaken by nature and eventually be destroyed within 100 years. The pyramids had lasted for thousands of years. Changed, yes, altered yes, but they remained. It was a sign that though the world was more advanced… it wasn't better.
Gozaburo scoffed at phones that lasted a few years and cars a decade or two at most. He hated that things constantly needed to be updated… not to ensure that they worked better but that they worked at all. It was laziness and a lack of pride in their creators that caused that. Only someone that didn't care would release something and then later go "Oh, let me give you a patch to fix that." And those that didn't even bother to do that? They deserved the most scorn of all.
His father's death only cemented in his mind that God was a poor designer.
The human body was a marvel. With so little energy, created from the burning of basic organic things, it had a mind greater than a super computer. The bones within were stronger than concrete. It was able to heal itself from minor cuts and scrapes and more major ones would leave scars at best. It could grow and change, going in just 14 to 18 years from something that was utterly weak and helpless due to being birthed far too early due to their brains to something that could be the peak of male or female design.
But… it could still wear down. Break down. Die.
The human body was a flawed creation and their creator had done nothing to repair it. The human body was a computer that was allowed to become infected with Malware, bloated with Junk Software, and have millions of broken registries and links. And no one came to give it a cleaning. To help it get back to its peak speed. Nope… humans were expected to grow weaker, slower, more frail and fragile, until they finally died.
It was something that Gozaburo Kaiba refused to respect. Or accept.
It was why he had decided to become a master in all things. Trained his mind to remember every detail he was given. Played games of strategy to sharpen his reasoning and his planning. Learned multiple languages, spoken and written and signed.
He had trained his body too. Worked out every day a different part of himself so that every inch of him was a weapon. He could crack walnuts with his toes. He could crush heads by simply squeezing his legs. He could lift up a car without breaking a sweat. He learned how to endure pain and trained his body to handle extreme temperatures.
And when that hadn't been enough… he'd done more.
Eaten diets designed to give him every nutrient he needed. Underwent mental training to make him sharper and more focused. Underwent steroid routines. Had operations done to strengthen his bones with coral.
And still… he couldn't cheat death.
So Gozaburo had worked even harder. Explored the worlds of magic and mysticism. And when he was turned away from such places he sought out others to aid him. Maxamillion Pegasus had been one but there had been others, unwitting pawns in his quest for eternal life. And finally… he had created it. Time though was needed to prepare it. To ready it.
And so… he waited.
Until at long last… he was ready to show the world he had defeated the gods themselves.
He had perfected immortality.
~MC~MC~MC~
Gozaburo slowly flexed his fingers, marveling at the sensation he was feeling. "Every single square centimeter of this body had been threaded with the absolute latest in nanofiber technology. It is an experimental thing… it was hoped it would allow those paralyzed to walk again. An… interest endeavor… but I had a much better use for it."
He took a step forward, the sound of his great metal foot striking the ground reverberating around him. The duelists before him cringed and he felt his mouth twist into a smile. And that smile grew even more as every piston, every hinge, every plate of metal moved exactly as it should have. The motion was as smooth as it had been with his own flesh and blood features. The perfect reproduction of a human in metal.
"I had forgotten how wonderful it is to feel. Truly… it is. Such a wonderous feeling." He took another step forward and looked down upon them. "Why are you scared? This is all of your doing! Each of you helped me finally achieve the dream countless mortals dared to hold in the face of the cruel realities of the world."
"Father," Seto said, looking up at him dryly. "I see you are still compensating for things."
"Lesson 13, Seto," Gozaburo told him flippantly. "Do not go small unless you have to; no one notices the puny." He thumped his chest, a great ding ringing through the air as he did so. "It is important for humanity to never underestimate me."
"And the best way you could do that is by putting yourself in a glorified tin can." Seto scoffed. "Yeah, sure-"
The bolt of energy that came out of Gozaburo's eyes was so quick that the group only reacted AFTER it had melted a spot of metal less than 6 inches for Seto's feet.
"Yes… because all tin cans can do that," Gozaburo taunted.
Edwin Chaos frowned. "You said we did this… we helped you. How?"
"The power source for this great system!" Gozaburo declared, throwing his arms out wide. "I needed something to power it and traditional sources of energy simply weren't allowing me to generate the ampage I needed to bring it fully to life. Once fully powered it can run on its own but I needed to start it… and I needed an energy source. And I discovered one. A power the ancients knew… and I exploited."
It was the Egyptian woman that spoke. "Duel Monsters…" she whispered.
"Indeed. Every time that game was played on one of the Kaibacorp duel platforms, and later on with your… oh so wonderful… Duel Discs… energy was siphoned to me. It is such an interesting thing, this power source that is created from these duels. Every card placed on the field, every monster that is destroyed, very game that is won or lost… it generates energy for me. Wonderous energy. It took this entire fortress to power the Virtual World but this new body of mind would have required twenty fortresses just for me to be able to move my hand. But the energy brought forth by dueling? It allowed me to bring my creation to life."
The woman bristled at that. "You dare use the magics of my people to create this… this… abomination!?"
"Is that what you think it is?" Gozaburo taunted. "And who are you to make such a claim, hmmm?"
"I am Ishizu Ishtar, daughter of Egypt, wielder of the Millennium Necklace, sworn protector and Advisor of the Pharaoh!"
"My my my, Seto… such interesting company you keep."
"Not by choice," Seto said.
"Love you too, Seto," Edwin Chaos said with a roll of his eyes. "Granted, agreeing with Seto here on the Ishizu part… at least when she isn't all Death Cult." Ishizu turned to glower at him but he scoffed. "Woman, can we deal with the giant metal man and then the blood feud you keep wanting to restart?"
She huffed before continuing on, utterly ignoring Chaos. "You will surrender this magic at once, mortal… or I will take it from you."
That made Gozaburo chuckle all the more. "Such bold words. Demanding I give to you magic?" He smiled. "Do you even hear yourself talk?"
"Do you deny that it is the magic of Egypt, of my people, flowing through that horrid golem at this very moment?"
Gozaburo huffed in amusement at that. "Of course not. Magic is a very real thing, after all… I have seen too much of it to ignore it."
For the oddest reason everyone turned and stared at Seto.
"…What?" Seto asked, annoyed. "What?"
Gozaburo decided that it was something very foolish and silly and not something he should concerned with at all. "Magic is real, very real. Only a fool would not see that is the case. This world is far too big and too complex for magic to not be real. I mean, after all… countless people separated by thousands of miles, not having a single chance to communicate with one another… all hold similar beliefs. Dragons are real. Beings fly on wings while they look like us humans. And magic… is something that can be wielded, so long as someone knows the trick." He looked down at his hand and chuckled. "Besides… it would be rather arrogant of me to have harnessed magic… and then claim it wasn't real. I am many things… you will probably come up with plenty of insults to use against me and I won't be offended because each and every one of them will be utterly true! But… I do not steal credit. I might buy it, I might advance further than its original creator… but I do not steal it."
"And yet you have stolen the magics of Egypt!" Ishizu declared
That made Gozaburo laugh. "And that is what I found so amusing," he finally said. "I stole nothing. You act as if this magic is yours… but you don't even understand it, do you? Oh yes, the people of Egypt might have been the first to use it… or perhaps not. I found tell of something… similar… to your Wedju Tablets-"
"Its… Wedji," Ishizu said.
"Is it now?" Gozaburo said with a smirk, deciding not to argue that point. "But as I was stating… I found something similar to it written about in tales and songs… long told before the Pharaohs rose up from the sands to make their empire. Atlantis…"
Edwin Chaos started at that.
'Interesting… how much more does he know?' Gozaburo thought to himself before continuing aloud once more. "And after they abandoned this power others claimed it. There are whispers of it in Greece, in Roman, in Norway. I have seen wooden planks with monsters that resemble those in Duel Monsters displayed in the Canadian wilds. Seen carvings in Australia. Heard legends of beasts being summoned to protect the Rain Forests of South America from European marauders."
He leaned down, purposely making the approach slow, savoring how Ishizu Ishtar slowly leaned away from him. She didn't retreat. Didn't take a step back. But she did lean away as his face, twice the size of her own, loomed before her.
"So tell me, Ishizu Ishtar… how could I steal something… that was never really yours?"
He slowly pulled back when she didn't answer.
"Now then… I think it is time, after this explanation, to deal with other matters. Namely… your destruction."
And with that he felt his body shift, guns revealing themselves from the armor plating on his body. One hand turned into a gatling gun while the other began to glow, turning into a heated blade. The group before him tensed and he smirked, very curious to see who would be quick enough to actually dodge his attack.
"Selene?" Edwin Chaos suddenly said. "All yours."
"You spoil me," the woman said as she raised her foot. "But I do feel I need to correct a matter you have failed to take in account. Namely-"
And as she brought her foot down she suddenly swelled to 10 feet tall, eyes glowing silver and black, hair whipping out around her. Energy and power radiated around her and she sneered, Gozaburo able to feel the cold winds coming off of her enlarged form.
"-there is magic… and there is the might of the gods."
"Hmm… very interesting." Gozaburo then rolled his shoulders…and his chest opened up.
At once Selene shrank back down and moved to stand behind Edwin Chaos.
"Uh… did anyone else just see dat?" Joey Wheeler asked. "Cause the goddess just turned tail and ran."
"You would too if you were faced with that!" Selene hissed in outrage, gesturing towards Gozaburo's chest… or rather the metal ring that was embedded within his chest, serving as the protection around some of the more vital parts of his new mechanical form. It was inscribed with runic symbols that began to pulse with a green glow, making Selene hiss.
"The Seal of Orichalcos," a dark man dressed in black stated, the disgust clear in his tone. "A defense against the gods themselves. Though… far more… blasphemous… than I have ever felt!"
"Forged of cold iron," Gozaburo replied, "using a chisel made from the Atlantean Stones, and quenched in the blood of the hydra… it took quite a bit of money to dig up that beast… Heracles buried it deep but I was able to retrieve it. There were a few other things added to the mix though I don't need to bore you about all of that. But as you can image such a combination makes that little show of power just that… a show of power. The power of The Seal of Orichalcos runs through my form… and I have no problem with directing it at any god that might try and strike me down… or any being of magic and power."
Ishizu Ishtar at once was pulling on Yugi Muto's arm. "This is beyond us, my Pharaoh… we can not risk you being touched by him. I do not know what affect it might have on you!"
"We need to leave, now," Selene murmured as she gripped onto Chaos' shoulder. "We need to leave and then nuke this place from space… only way to be sure."
"…I love the fact that you are quoting Aliens," Chaos replied. "But I have the feeling Gozaburo here isn't interested in letting us go without a fight."
"Not in the slightest," Gozaburo informed them. "All of you have caused me quite a bit of trouble. As such… I am looking to… enjoy myself."
But then Edwin Chaos broke free from Selene's grasp and stepped forward.
"Then enjoy yourself with me, Gozaburo. But you better buy me dinner first."
Selene reached for him even as the woman that resembled Tea Gardner and a man in a long coat held her back. "My love… my love you can not risk it! The Seal of Orichalcos-"
"Hurts you. Not me. What I have does not come from any god… Zorc has been purified from the Millennium Key, remember? This… is all me. And I'm willing to bet myself against that little dial."
That made Gozaburo pause, taking in Edwin Chaos carefully. "You… do have some something, don't you? Something different. Something… powerful." He chuckled low. "Something…useful."
"Yeah," Edwin said.
And Edwin Chaos then lit up his eyes.
His jacket began to smoke… and then burn. He cracked his neck before, with a flex of his shoulders, he caused a pair of golden wings to burst from his back. They weren't like the cute little cherubic things one might see… no, they were powerful and beautiful and he spread them out so that they formed a barrier between Gozaburo and the mortals that were gathered before him.
"And don't you want to find out more about it?" He smirked, raising his eyebrow. "Because I've gotten a chance to get a gauge on the kind of man you are, Gozaburo Kaiba. And you are not someone that can stand not knowing about something… especially if it is a power that might be of use." He continued to stare at him, letting his comment hang in the air. "Let the others go back to the blimp… and I'll give you a chance to see just what I can do."
"You aren't the one in control here," Gozaburo warned… only for Edwin to hold out his hand, his palm glowing.
"Take another step and I turn every door here into a portal to the deepest part of the ocean. Has to be a sub or two that's currently diving. I will drown this entire place Gozaburo. Maybe I get out… you most likely will… but my secrets will die with me. Ya willing to gamble?" He narrowed his eyes. "Let the others return to the blimp. They won't take off until we're done, I'll swear on that."
"…very well," Gozaburo said.
"Chaos!" Seto snapped. "This is my stepfather! If anyone is going to duel him-"
"you don't have a legal deck at the moment, Seto!" Edwin shot back. "You only brought your Blue-Eyes deck and its down a card. So you don't get a say. And I'm the only one here that hasn't dueled in the virtual world… so he won't know what hit him."
"Chaos…" Seto warned.
"Get them back to the blimp, Seto," Edwin said tersely. "You are the only one I trust to do it right."
Seto clearly didn't like that but, after a moment, he huffed. "Come along, Mokuba."
"My love!" Selene shouted but the tall dark figure grabbed her shoulder and pulled her away and her distress morphed into fury which she directed right at Gozaburo. "I swear… I will make you regret every second of this stolen life if you harm him."
He scoffed at the weak and meaningless threat.
"Captain," the man in the blue coat stated, "are you sure….?"
"I am. I need to be the one to finish this. Get back to the blimp… make sure no one does anything stupid, okay?"
"…come back to us Captain."
Edwin smiled at that before looking at the teenagers, who looked unsure of themselves, clearly wanting to remain. Gozaburo didn't blame them… what was to come next would be quite the show and he knew he would have regretted not seeing it if he were in their shoes.
Chaos turned to speak to each of them in private; Gozaburo made no move to listen in even when he went over to Seto once more. Let him say his final goodbyes… it allowed Gozaburo to study the wings that had emerged from his back. They looked… well, they looked half-finished. Like some great metal sculptor had begun the work only to stop while they were half-cooled and declare that was good enough. Impressive… but sloppy.
'I will perfect them when I claim them as my own,' Gozaburo thought. 'And if I can't then I will simply render them into ingots of energy to further fuel myself.'
The last Edwin spoke to was Tea Garnder, pressing his forehead to hers and whispering something before he finally turned away, a sneer on his face. He didn't see how her friends were pulling her away, her face pale and eyes wild with shock.
Gozaburo wondered what that had been about.
"Well… here it is then," Edwin said simply. "The final act. The big bad has revealed himself. Swinging his dick around and declaring how he is the King of All Evil. And the only one to stand in his way… is a simple man with a lot of conviction." He thrust out his hand and the band on his wrist twisted into a duel disc. "So… you want my power, Gozaburo? Want to use it to feed your immortal life. Molan labe, fucker. Molan labe."
Gozaburo smirked as he finally switched off his weapons and held out his own arm, plating shifting to create a large duel disc while systems activated to project a hologram of the many different decks he had within the Fortress. 'Hmm… which to choose…'
He had been directing many of Pegasus' 'rejected' card designs to be sent to the fortress for years now, downloading them and examining them. Many were rejected because they were simply bad and those he kept locked away, just in case they suddenly gained value. But others… others were POWERFUl. STRONG.
Too strong.
And those… were the ones Gozaburo looked over carefully and considered.
'Hmmm… yes, I think this will do quite nicely,' he thought before selecting a deck. "Very well, Edwin Chaos… let us duel." Mentally he added, 'and even if you manage to somehow squeak out a victory… I never promised to let any of your little friends go. You didn't even bother to get any promises out of me… far too focused on your worthless goodbyes. No… they are going to remain here, with me… my new subjects to test and toy with to my heart's content. All this duel will do is fuel me even further! So go ahead… give it your all… all you do is provide me with the strength to move even further beyond that of mortality!'
~MC~MC~MC~
'Alright then,' I thought to myself as I took stock of my situation. 'My opponent is a massive 10 foot tall metal man with the soul of a sociopathetic billionaire in the drivers seat. He is getting powered by playing a children's card game and we are about to have a duel in the middle of his massive fortress that is full of weapons he used to sell. He has a dial in his chest that freaked the fuck out of my goddess girlfriend and the God of Death who is also a psychologist. I have a pair of fucking wings growing out of my back and I just left myself all alone with a man who thought a good answer to having a child outsmart you is throwing yourself out a window.'
I shook my head.
'It is a good day on the Grand Line when that sentence makes sense… and damn it all, that's This Bites!.' I scoffed. 'I wonder if Cross and I got into an 'Insane Life' competition who would win. At least he didn't have to deal with 4kids. Of course maybe there is a world where Cross has to deal with the 4Kids stuff and he had a mental breakdown over everyone sucking on lollipops and the constant name changes and Nami is just Jessie from Team Rocket but a hero.' I gave myself a mental dope slap. 'Focus Edwin… now isn't the time to go down the Chaosverse rabbit hole…'
"Well now," Gozaburo said as he looked over the deck he had selected, "I must admit… I respect you Edwin Chaos. I truly do."
"Do I want to know why? Because this could be flattering or insulting."
Gozaburo chuckled at that. "You are someone that has worked to gain everything you have through cunning. The Big 5 were quite vocal on how you managed to swindle their shares of KaibaCorp from Pegasus. Called you a thief and a Silver Tongued Devil. I listened as they complained to Noah, as my son agreed with them… but I knew the truth. You only took what they had abandoned. You didn't go in like a robber in the night, tying them up and rifling through their wallets. They were careless and sloppy… and you simply took what was left out in the open. Does the lion steal a kill if all other predators abandoned it? Of course not. And you… Edwin Chaos… are a lion. Like me."
'I wonder if he realizes that's an insult,' I thought to myself. 'The Noble Lion, king of the Jungle? It's a myth. A romantic fairytale told by European explorers. The Hyena is far more noble than the lion. They actually hunt while the lion uses their bulk to steal the kill the moment the work is done.' That actually made me chuckle; it rather fit Gozaburo rather well. "I always thought of myself as more of a wolf," I replied.
Gozaburo merely murmured at that, making no show of agreeing or disagreeing. "My point is… I respect you Edwin Chaos. In another life? You and I could have done great things together."
"In another life you could have been a good man," I countered.
"I am a great man."
"I said good," I challenged before looking at the holographic deck he had summoned. "Hmmm… suppose I just have to take your word that you aren't going to cheat?"
"I am not Johnson," Gozaburo replied with a scoff. "I do not need to cheat you. I will beat you… there is nothing else to say on the matter. And I will claim the power that you hold. It isn't personal… its just business."
"Just business," I said.
The wolf eyed up the lion.
"Alright then," I said, holding out my hand, "since you are using holograms than that means I can select any Deck Master I want, even if I don't have the card in my deck."
"But of course!" Gozaburo declared. "Be my guest. Though… don't think you can stall for time. I do expect to get a duel and I have the feeling you would like to prolong things."
'Quite the opposite,' I thought to myself. 'I need to get this duel done as quick as possible. I want to make sure that you don't get any stronger from me throwing cards out.' Quickly the hologram projectors around us began to show me hundreds of Duel Monsters cards. My eyes scanned the familiar ones, the ones I had in my decks. 'I could mix things up,' I thought to myself. 'I'm not using Endymion this match but he could be my Deck Master…'
Endymion wouldn't be the deck I used for the rest of Battle City. With Yugi, Ishizu, and Marik each holding a God Card I would finally be breaking out my Kaiju Deck. My God Killer Deck. I had been practicing with it, running it through simulations before Battle City at one of Seto's private dueling arenas. Of course I couldn't put in the God Cards themselves but I had run the duels with different challenges. Can only let a Boss Monster remain on the field for one turn, that sort of thing, get me used to using it.
Because of that I had begun work dismantling and upgrading my Endymion Deck. Thanks to the walls between Filler Arcs and the Main Plot becoming thinner as more people realized what was going on I had been able to bring forth things from the Holiday Fillers and use them in my day to day life. My morpher was currently attached to my belt. My lightsabers were in my room. And the night before, in order to get my mind off of the dread that Noah and the Virtual World were coming, I had taken out my Mythical Beast deck and begun dismantling it.
It was a fun deck and I planned to keep every piece of it… but the Mythical Beast Pendulum Monsters would be able to bulk up my Endymion deck and give me more options for attacking my opponents. I'd also added a few new cards, such as Blast Magician and Explosive Magician, to once more give me different things to draw upon.
But that meant that the Endymion deck was untested. And against Gozaburo I didn't want to run a deck that I hadn't explored completely. While he had only one duel in the Anime it had pushed Seto to the limit and more than that Gozaburo was one of the best game masters in the world. A brilliant tactical mind. He wouldn't easily fall for my normal tricks; I would still try to use my words to win the war but I couldn't promise it would work like it did on the likes of Marik.
I needed a deck I trusted.
Lair… Lair didn't feel right. Not anymore. The Lair represented my darkness. The Dragon of the Depths that had to be restrained and monitored because if it wasn't it could destroy everything in its lust for power. It was a good deck, a powerful one… but it didn't feel right for me to use anymore. I had to decide what I would do with it; I felt wrong thinking about locking it away and never using it again but at the same time I didn't think there was anyone I could trust to just give it to. And as much as I didn't want to consider it there was a possibility that this newfound sense of lightness would go away… and I'd need to tap into the darkness again.
Lightness…
I slowly nodded as I reached into my coat. Ghostrick was locked away and I would never use that deck on Gozaburo, as funny as that might be. So there was only one option I could draw upon. One choice in the end.
'And for that…' I thought as I scanned the cards before me, 'I think I know the perfect Deck Master that won't just help me… but prove a point.'
"Alright Gozaburo… I've decided," I said as I slipped my Starry Knight deck into my duel disc.
"Have you now?" he said tauntingly. "And what deck will you be bringing to bear against me? Your little magicians perhaps?"
"No… I am going to bring the might of the stars against you. Of miracles. Of the coldness night of the year but also the night when the impossible happen and the heart is its most warm!" Gozaburo scoffed at such sugary sweet words but I didn't care, instead smirking as I thrust out my hand. "Its my Deck Master though that you should be focused on!"
"And what is that? A little fairy that tells me to be a good boy? Come now, I thought-"
A roar pierced the fortress and Gozaburo started. From high above us a shape suddenly broke from the shadows, spreading its wings and flying downward. It was gigantic, one of the biggest Duel monster cards in the game before the God Cards had appeared. White scales tinted with the faintest of blue glimmered as it landed before me, lowering its massive head, jaw working as it revealed its sharp teeth as big as daggers, its eyes glowing for a moment with a deep powerful blue. Gozaburo stared at the beast the represented the man that had beaten him and his dreams for better days.
"I choose as my deck master… THE BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON!"
~MC~MC~MC~
Author's Note: Just one quick note, just gauging interest: is there any interest in me doing commissions for one-shot? Someone pays me for a one-shot, sfw or even nsfw?
Please don't just review talking about this, review the chapter. Thank you
