Dueling is Magic! Many Futures

by Wolfgang

Chapter 7: A Bitter Reunion

Jack was getting dizzy, but he’d been in worse spins before, even put himself into bad spins just to practice getting out of them. Trained instinct took over and Jack soon regained control of the Wheel of Fortune. He balanced out and kept moving forward to make sure, then turned the D-Wheel around by riding along the curved glass walls.

“Whoever did that is going to regret it!” Jack growled to himself. He looked down at his monitor and saw four D-Wheels up ahead, all stopped. All four of them were painted black. Three were new models he recognized from the Bolger & Company’s ads just before the war began. But the fourth, the one in the lead...

“It can’t be!” said Jack.

Jack pulled on the brake levers and slowed to a halt. Rainbow Dash appeared beside him.

“Jack! You okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he said. “But Crow won’t be when I’m finished with him! He should know better than to interrupt one of my duels!”

Jack moved the left arm of his D-Wheel up and got out of his seat.

“Crow?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Crow! I know that’s you!” Jack roared as he stomped over to the D-Wheels.

“Short-tempered as always,” said the D-Wheeler in the lead, shaking his head. He took off his helmet. Beneath was a young man with a mess of bright orange hair. His face was covered in yellow Markers. “Long time no see, Jack,” he said.

“Crow, I was in the middle of a match! How dare you interrupt it!” Jack bellowed.

“Tone down the volume, Jack,” Crow said. “I have a good reason for interrupting your duel with... um... what IS that?”

“The name’s Rainbow Dash!” said the cyan pegasus, “and don’t you forget it!”

“A blue, flying pony that talks and duels,” said Crow. “Now I’ve seen everything.”

“If you have such a good reason for interrupting our duel, then you’d best explain yourself!” Jack continued to yell.

“I’m not the one who needs to explain himself, Jack,” said Crow. “I stopped your duel to get some answers of my own! For starters, what do you think you’re doing, trashing Neo Domino City like this?”

“Trashing- what are you talking about, Crow?”

“Look around you, Jack! The place is a warzone! And I was told that you and the rest of the team were the ones to blame!”

“Whoever told you that is a filthy liar! We’ve been trying to protect this city!”

“So you’re calling Yusei a liar?”

“W-what?” Jack stammered.

“Did you say ‘Yusei’?” said Rainbow Dash. “You’ve seen him?! Is he alright? Where is he?”

“Slow down there,” said Crow. “How do you know Yusei?”

“We met a while back,” said Rainbow Dash. “So where is he?”

“Uh-uh, no way,” Crow replied. “I’m not telling you anything.”

“Crow, where is Yusei? What’s happened to him?” Jack asked.

“Nothing’s ‘happened’ to him, Jack,” said Crow. “And thankfully it’s because you lunatics haven’t been able to get to him!”

“Lunatics?!” Jack yelled.

“Hey, hey! Jack! Calm down, will ya?” said Rainbow Dash. “Look, there’s probably just been a misunderstanding. Crow, was it? Maybe you could tell us what’s going on.”

“And you can start by telling us when you got here,” said Jack.

“Fine, fine,” said Crow. “Look, I only just got here myself. I’d been taking a break from my tour in Europe when I saw the news. Neo Domino City and a few neighboring cities had blacked out completely. I came back as fast as I could to check up on you guys, but as soon as I got here, I got a message from Yusei. And if you must know, he asked me to meet him at Kaiba Corp. Tower.”

“Crow Hogan to see you, sir.”

“Good. Send him in.”

The man bowed and left. Yusei was standing at the massive window at the back of his office. Crow’s reflection appeared to the left of his own.

“Yusei!” said Crow. “It’s been too long, old pal!”

“I know,” said Yusei. “Almost a year since we just spent time together as friends.” He turned around, a serious look on his face. “But I’m afraid we don’t have time for that now.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” Crow said. “What happened to this place anyway?”

Yusei sighed. “You’re not gonna like what I have to say, Crow.”

“Doesn’t sound like you’re thrilled either.”

“I’m not. Crow... it’s Jack and the others. They’ve turned on us, turned on the city. They’ve been trying to destroy our home in their attempts to gain access to Momentum.”

“What?!” Crow shouted. “Why? Why would they do that?!”

“I have a few theories,” Yusei answered. “My best one right now is that Paradox is behind this. I don’t know how, but he must have turned everyone against Momentum technology, and now they’re trying to destroy it. I’ve been fighting a losing battle ever since.”

“You mean, Paradox still thinks that the future’s doomed?” Crow asked.

“That must be it,” said Yusei.

“But you stopped Z-one, changed the future, and even came up with a way to stop the Meklord Genocide!” said Crow. “He can travel through time, can’t he? Why doesn’t he just go back to the future and see for himself?”

“I wish I knew, Crow,” said Yusei. “The only reason I can think of is that he saw the future and it hasn’t changed... or it’s somehow worse than it was.”

“You can’t think like that, Yusei!” Crow said. “If you do, then that means you failed, and that’s something I just won’t believe is possible, not after everything you’ve done for me, for the team, and for the city!”

Yusei sat down in his chair and smiled. “Thank you, Crow,” he said.

“For what?”

“For being my friend.”

Crow laughed and sat down in a chair opposite Yusei’s desk. “So, what do we do about the others?”

“Jack seems to be leading the group and all of their recruits,” Yusei explained. “For some reason, Paradox is acting as an independent agent now. I almost never hear reports of him meeting with the rebellion, and he’s never engaged anyone defending the tower alongside Jack or anyone else. He’s always alone.”

“Want me to take care of Paradox?” asked Crow. He slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand.

“No, he’s too powerful, even for you,” said Yusei. “And so is Jack for that matter.”

“Jack and I have only ever dueled once!” said Crow indignantly.

“And he and I have dueled many times,” Yusei replied. “I know how strong Jack is, Crow. You can’t beat him without help, or without some new power.” Yusei opened a drawer in his desk. “Speaking of which, I have something for you.”

Yusei held out a card to Crow. Crow reached across the desk and took it.

“Wow, that’s not bad,” said Crow. “And you want me to use this against Jack?”

“See if you can knock some sense into him,” said Yusei. “Bring him around to our side. Use that card and it should work out.”

“You got it, Yusei!” Crow said excitedly.

“But, before you go, I have a few more things I should warn you about...”

“Yusei’s alive and in Kaiba Corp. Tower,” said Jack. “No doubt under the control of the Black King.”

“The... who now?” asked Crow.

“The Black King,” Jack repeated. “Whoever he is, he’s the real reason behind all of this. People started to disappear all around the city, then the Black King shows up and claims that it was his doing. Then he reveals that he’s brainwashed everyone who vanished and declares war on Neo Domino City!”

“Uh-huh,” said Crow in a disbelieving tone. “Look, if that were true, why didn’t Yusei tell me about it?”

“I told you, he must be under the Black King’s control!” Jack said impatiently.

“I don’t think so, Jack,” Crow replied. “You and I both know it was hard enough getting Yusei out of a funk whenever he had that bad dream of his. He’s a genius, but he has a one-track mind, and he’s pretty resilient. Even if this ‘Black King’ guy existed, there’s no way he’d be able to control Yusei like that.”

“You always were a short-sighted fool,” Jack spat. “If you won’t help us in our war for the city’s safety, then I’ll just have to knock some sense into you!” Jack began stomping over to Crow’s D-Wheel, his hands balled into tight fists.

“Yeah, I don’t feel like playing fisticuffs with you, Jack,” said Crow. “But I’ll play a round of Duel Monsters if you like. I have a new trick I wanna show you.”

“No matter what tricks you throw at me, they will be no match for my sheer power,” said Jack. “I accept your challenge! And when I win, you will return to our base with us!”

“‘Us’?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Jack, does that mean-”

“That was a good duel, up until it was stopped,” said Jack. “You have a proud and powerful Duelist’s heart. I will trust you.”

“Aw yeah!” said Dash. “How about I keep those three Dark Troopers off your back while you and Crow duke it out?”

“You sure you can handle it?” asked Jack.

“You saw what I can do,” said Dash with a grin. “This’ll be a piece of cake!”

“Very well then,” said Jack. “Crow, let’s go.” He turned and walked back to the Wheel of Fortune. After he sat down in the seat, he pushed a button next to the monitor. “Aki, come in,” he said. Aki’s face appeared on the monitor.

“Jack! What happened?” she asked. “One minute we’re all watching your duel with Rainbow Dash, and the next minute we get a message that the duel was canceled!”

“Our match was interrupted,” Jack explained. “But we have more pressing matters now anyway. Crow is back.”

“That’s good news, isn’t it?”

“No. He’s not on our side, not yet.”

“Oh no. Did the Black King get to him?”

“There are Dark Troopers with him. It’s possible, but I’m not sure just yet. However, I intend to find out! I’m going to duel him. Rainbow Dash will hold off the Dark Troopers while Crow and I duel.”

“Wait a minute,” came Twilight’s voice. “Dash against three Dark Troopers? Do you think she can handle it?”

“We’ll call it her first test as a new recruit,” Jack said with a knowing smile.

Aki nodded. “Be careful, Jack,” she said. Her image vanished and was replaced by the scenery in front of Jack’s D-Wheel. He turned it to face the stretch of highway again. Crow pulled up beside him.

“You know,” he said, “I was on my way to kickin’ your butt when the Pro Leagues had started up again.”

“No matter how close you would have come to me, Crow Hogan,” Jack replied, “you were always miles away from my throne.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Crow mumbled. “First one out of the gate gets first turn.”

“Agreed,” Jack said.

The two revved the engines of their D-Wheels and took off down the road.

Rainbow Dash turned to the Dark Troopers and rubbed her front hooves together. “Well, boys, looks like it’s just you and me,” she said. “I dunno about you, but I’m gonna have fun beating all three of you!”

There was no such thing as a “perfect plan”. Perfection was overrated. A sustainable plan is one that can adapt to the tide of events. That’s what he always believed, and that is one thing about him that had not changed. There were always unexpected developments no matter how well thought out a plan was.

But this... this was something that should not have happened.

New enemies... and he knew what they were capable of. He would have to work harder and faster to deal with them.

But despite the arrival of these newcomers, he was confident that he would not fail. Whether in a week, a year, or an eon, all things would return to the darkness, to silence. Entropy and degradation were inescapable. Life could only persist if it acted as the embodiment of silence.

“That, my little ponies,” he said to himself, “is the ultimate harmony.”

Jack and Crow take off into a new duel! Right from the start, Jack relentlessly pounds against Crow’s defenses, but the tables are quickly turned on him when Crow Synchro Summons a new monster! Can Jack withstand the powerful blows of Bayamo the War Hammer?