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Chapter 79 - 79
Chapter 79: Chapter 79
Serenity Wheeler remembered when her mother had informed her that the two of them were moving.
She had been playing with some dolls in her room when her mother had come and told her they were going to be playing a game. She needed to gather up everything she really, really, REALLY liked and put them in some suitcases. And she needed to do it super quick. It was a race! She had been excited by that and hurried about, grabbing everything she could. Which, admittedly, wasn't that much at all. In fact she couldn't remember a single thing she hadn't been able to take with her. She'd proudly dragged her suitcase out of her room, all by herself, and brought it to the car and her mother had told her she was so proud of her before telling her to get in because they had to get going.
'...she didn't actually tell me though,' Serenity suddenly realized as she thought about that day. 'I don't think mom even said the words 'we're moving'.
Serenity Wheeler remembered when her mother had basically kidnapped her.
She had been sitting in the front seat when another car had pulled up and Joey had gotten out. She'd been excited and wanted to greet him but her mother had leapt into the car and locked the doors, telling her they had to go. Serenity had been confused and she'd cried out that they'd forgotten Joey but her mother hadn't listened, not even looking back as she'd driven away, her brother screaming her name.
'Mom didn't even say goodbye to him,' she thought. 'Later she tried to tell me there were so many different reasons why Joey couldn't come with us. He had friends of his own. He was in school already. That daddy wanted Joey to stay with him.' She frowned. 'But... I think mom just looked at Joey and all she saw was dad.'
The teen stood there, letting those thoughts wash over her.
'Our family... is so fucking messed up.'
She knew that Joey would have been shocked to hear her curse, if she'd said those words aloud. Her brother had this vision in his head that she was still a child, cooing over stickers and sitting at home watching cartoons. But she'd grown up, just as he had, and she was different now. Oh, it wasn't all an act... she wasn't like Mai who loved to flirt with Edwin and had no problem wearing really revealing clothing. And she wasn't like Tea who was so confident and brave. She certainly wasn't like Yuri, who work punk clothing and dyed her hair and had it sticking straight up. Serenity was a sweet girl... she really was.
...but that wasn't all she was.
'I like to fucking curse,' she thought. 'I try and not do it around Joey because I know it would upset him...' Around her friends though? Oh, they cursed as bad as Edwin did, which is why she liked hanging around the older man. Edwin talked like she and her friends did, though she got the sense his cursing was more an outlet and less of them liking being bad in their own soft ways. 'And I love football!' The American kind too, with the padding and the quarterbacks and the violence. Swimming had been the sport she'd done the most during school, mostly because as her eyesight had gotten weaker she'd been able to still enjoy the pool so long as she had a buddy with her, but football was what she loved watching. She would stay up late on Sundays to catch the games, recording them so she could watch them all throughout the week. 'And then there is Henry.' He was her pet tarantula and she knew that while most people would be freaked out able him she loved him to pieces. She liked to let him out, watching him crawl on her arm, and she liked giving him treats, and she really hoped Melody was keeping good care of him.
Serenity wasn't like how Joey remembered. And she knew he wasn't how she remembered him. Just like their family wasn't as she remembered. She wasn't blind to their faults... their dad was a drunk who hadn't even bothered to come see her in the hospital. Honestly Seto Fucking Kaiba was more of a dad than him! Kaiba had at least allowed Mokuba to say hello to her when Edwin had come for a visit, the boy wanting to wish her well. It wasn't much at all but it was far more than her dad did! And her mom... she loved her but she had royally screwed her and Joey up bad by separating them and she didn't know if she could forgive her for that.
'And then there is Joey,' she thought as she watched her brother duel Brom. 'He's so different from how I remember. He took risks with the money Edwin got for my operation. And he's always coddling me. And he's mean to people at times...'
She swallowed.
'Is he even my brother anymore? Am I his sister? Or are we just strangers who share a bit of blood?'
Serenity had no idea.
~MC~MC~MC~
'Well,' I thought to myself, 'it seems like Brom isn't interested in making friends.'
Everyone was either glowering at the other man, annoyed at what he had said about Joey and the others who had ended up on the wrong end of his analytical tongue... or were trying not to meet his gaze, worried about what he might bring up when it came to them and their secrets. Which I understood... no one wanted to have their quiet inner most selves dragged out for the entire world to see. But me personally I wasn't in the mood to give the bastard the satisfaction of thinking he had frightened or cowed me so I merely narrowed my eyes and glared at him, allowing gold and black to begin to bleed into my eyes.
If he noticed though he certainly didn't show it.
'That's the worst part of it,' I thought as Brom moved to draw his next card. 'He isn't gloating. He isn't delighting in any of this. He just saw this as something that needed to be said.'
"Now then-" Brom began only for Joey to suddenly thrust out his hand.
"Ya think ya got everything figured out, don't ya? Think ya know who I am just because ya know what I did in the past? Well, I hate ta break it ta ya but ya don't know anything about me! A few years ago I was an utter punk... someone that I wouldn't ever want ta be around nowadays. I admit that! But Yug... he showed me how to be better! And I'm grateful for that! And I'm gonna keep getting better! At bein' a duelist, a friend... even a brother!" He looked over at me. "Ed... I know I've said it before but I am gonna keep sayin' it... I'm sorry for what happened on Duelist Kingdom. Not just with your mom but how I didn't listen to you and let ya help Serenity. Yug helped me out in the end..." He shook his head. "Nah... he didn't help me out... he bailed me out. Made up for my mistakes. And I promise that I'm gonna never let anythin' like that happen again." He looked to Serenity. "I should of told ya the truth, sis... and I promise there won't be any more secrets between us."
"Except you can't promise that, can you Joey?" Brom stated.
"Oh would ya just shut it?" Joey exclaimed. "How about ya worry about my Zombies instead of what's goin' on in my head?" As he said those words his Doomking returned to the field, falling into defense position. "Thanks ta his effect my Doomking is near impossible for ya ta get rid of, always comin' back ta haunt the field." He smirked. "Ya didn't see that comin', did ya?"
"I did, actually," Brom stated. "Duel Monsters, unlike in life, tends to view death as a revolving door." Brom finally finished drawing his new card and looking over his hand. "You are wrong, by the way."
"Eh?"
"You can't promise that you won't ever lie to Serenity again. Because lying is healthy. Only stating the truth? That can cause pain."
Tristan let out a groan. "Come on man!" He threw his hands up in the air. "First you are getting on Joey for lying to his sister and now you are saying he should lie? Do you LIKE talking in contradictions?"
Brom stared right at Tristan, his eyes sharp even with the mask pressed against the upper half of his face. "Have you ever had a dream about having sex with Mai?"
Tristan began to sputter.
"Excuse me?" Mai asked, taking a step towards Brom threateningly.
"It's a simple question. Have you, Tristan Taylor, ever had a dream about having sex with Mai?" He suddenly looked at Duke. "Have you ever wondered who has the bigger penis, you or Edwin?"
"Dude!" I exclaimed.
"To be fair," Renard said, "we have all seen it."
"FILLER ARC!" I roared. "It doesn't count!"
Seto cleared his throat. "If you talk about Edwin's dick in front of my brother one more time I'll throw you off this blimp."
Brom held up his hand. "Apologizes... sometimes I forget that people have hang ups when it comes to sexuality, especially when it comes to younger children."
"...ew," Mai said.
The shrink though merely huffed. "Not like that. In the far past it was common for parents to have sex in the same room as their children. Nudity wasn't seen as vulgar. It was only recently in human history that we became bothered by it. There are some in my profession who believe that fetishes have exploded into common culture because children latch onto such things rather than normal sex because they aren't exposed to normal intercourse in their youth."
I shut my eyes and took a breath. "As much as I want t yell at him for that... Brom is right. I have heard of that." Mai shot me a look. "What? I saw it on a documentary about dinosaurs. And you've met Cassie and Aria!"
~MC~MC~MC~
"ACHOO!" Aria said, rubbing her nose.
"Bless you," Caesar said.
"Thanks. Anyway, like I was saying, I really hate that trope that when someone is speaking about you far away you sneeze. It is so lame!" She waved at the TV. "Also would they just duel already?"
~MC~MC~MC~
"You haven't answered my question," Brom said to Tristan. "Have you ever dreamed about having sex with Mai? It doesn't even have to be while you were asleep... a fantasy, perhaps?"
Tristan sputtered at that, glancing over at Mai and blushing which answered that question even without him having to say a word.
"It's okay, Tristan," I assured him. "One doesn't date someone like Mai Valentine and not expect others to lust after her."
Mai glanced at me and smirked. "You do realize that the same is true for you, right?"
"Huh?" I said, confused, only to notice Tea, Serenity, and Koyo all looking anywhere other than towards me. Turning I saw that several of the servants Seto had brought on the blimp were blushing up a storm as well. "Wait, what?"
"God, you are cute when you are dense," Mai said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
Brom turned his focus onto Tristan. "You see, you don't want to admit the truth to Mai. Because it is awkward and something that could change things but also doesn't truly matter in the end." He looked at Joey. "Moderation... that is the key. That is what I am trying to teach you about."
"...man, I can't follow what you are tryin' ta say. Can't we just get back to da duel?"
The American duelist let out a sigh at that but nodded his head. "Very well. I activate my field spell: The Wight House!"
The ground rumbled and cracked again as dirt was pushed away and a large white structure slowly rose up from the tainted earth of Zombie World. The building looked like a smaller version of the White House, complete with pillars and a rose garden. But the Wight House was clearly a mausoleum. What light did manage to get out of the windows, which were covered in black curtains, was sickly and weak and offered no comfort. The stone wasn't so much polished white but bleached like bones let out in the desert sun for the buzzards to pick clean. Speaking of bones the pillars out front of the house, that supported the roof over the door, were made of bones as well. Giant ones of dragons and leviathans who had ended up in the Zombie World and not had the 'luck' of being bitten by a zombie and joining their ranks, instead being torn to shreds. The rose garden was filled with corpse flowers and other flesh-eater; creeping vines with long thorns and venus flytraps that could swallow mammoths whole. The grass was black and overgrown and the iron gate that surrounded it rusted and creaking.
"...no one turned into their costumes, right?" I called out.
Yugi though shook his head. "I think Joey might have something else in mind, Duke!"
"Next," Joey declared, "I'm gonna activate this: Burial from the Different Dimension!" He grinned as the card appeared on the field. "With this card I can select three monsters I removed from the game and return them to the graveyard. And I'll select the Necroworld Banshee, my Glow-Up Bloom, and my Mad Mauler!" As the three monsters briefly flashed on the field before disappearing as Joey went over his options. 'Several of my cards need Zombie World on the field to get their full effects... with Necroworld Banshee in my graveyard even if that big mook manages to destroy the one I currently have out I'll be able to bring another right back to the field from my deck.' Out loud he said, "And now I'll use Glow-Up Bloom's effect again, banishing it from my graveyard in order ta summon one monster from my deck to the field, so long as it's a zombie monster. And I know just which one ta bring out! Say hello ta da Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon!"
On Joey's side of the field that zombified version of his Red-Eyes Black Dragon appeared, letting out a roar as its one remaining eye glowed brightly.
'My Red-Eyes... I'm not ready ta bring out the original version in a duel, not after yesterday... but this one is different. This one didn't hurt Yugi or threaten gramps. This one... this one I can win with.' Joey threw out his hand. "And next I'll activate Mad Mauler's effect: By reducin' my Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon's level by 2 I can bring Mad Mauler back in defense mode." He smirked as the fat zombie clown appeared, giggling before it settled into defensive position. "And now I'm gonna attack your Wightprincess!"
The Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon opened his mouth, unleashing a blast of blue flames that enveloped the Wightprincess. Above the bonfire the ghost of the wight appeared, looking confused.
"Now when my Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon defeats a zombie monster in battle I can bring it ta my side of the field in defense mode."
Joey paused.
"But... I ain't gonna."
He heard all his friends fall to the ground (followed by Edwin wondering WHY they all fell to the ground) before they leapt to their feet, shouting at him trying to figure out why he'd done what he'd done.
"Joey!" Tristan cried out, being the one who won out over the others when it came to protesting his actions. "Come on man! With another Wight in his graveyard Brom's King of the Skull Servants is going to activate its effect to get stronger!"
"Oh... I'm countin' on it, pal," Joey retorted.
"...wha?" Tristan said, befuddled.
Joey though turned towards Brom and smirked. "See, I want your monster ta activate its effect. I want its attack points ta increase. Because when it does... Doomking Balerdroch's effect triggers."
As the pile of bones under the King of the Skull Servants grew larger... the Doomking's staff glowed with sinister energy.
"When an effect activates, like your King of the Skull Servant's power boostin' effect, I'm able ta either negate it... or banish any monster I want from the field!" He pointed right at the King of the Skull Servants. " And I'll give ya one guess which one I'm goin' for!"
"That's the way, Joey!" Koyo called out as his Doomking fired off a bolt of magic, making the King of the Skull Servants disappear in a flash of light. The pile of bones remained there for a moment more before it began to topple and crumble, falling apart until it turned to dust that was reclaimed by Zombie World.
"Good job, man!" Tristan cheered.
"Heh," Mai said, folding her arms over his chest, "what do you know... Joey can actually duel when he puts his mind to it."
Joey smirked at that. "Ya wanna see moves Mai? I'll show ya moves. Because with Brom over there havin' no monsters and no cards in his Spell and Trap zones? Well... he's open for my Doomking Balerdroch to attack directly! Go!"
The dark serpent zombie nodded and lashed out with his staff, sending Brom tettering but the man managed to catch himself just in time. (Brom-400)
'Man, this is it,' Joey thought to himself. 'Even if he somehow manages to bring out monsters ta protect him I'll Synchro Summon one of my zombies from my Extra Deck and flatten him. I just need one more turn... one more turn and he is done for!'
But as he stared at him Joey realized... that Brom didn't look worried in the slightest.
"I start by banishing my Wightprince and two Skull Servants from my graveyard in order to special summon one King of the Skull Servants from my deck."
"No!" Yugi gasped. "If Brom is able to get out another King of the Skull Servants Joey will lose the duel! None of his monsters will be able to stand up against its power, even with Brom removing 3 wights from his graveyard."
Joey though quickly tapped his duel disc. "I activate Doomking Balerdroch's special ability again, banishing' your King the moment he appears on the field and uses his effect!" He let out a sigh of relief as the King of the Skull Servants was whisked off of the field, relieved that he had managed to counter Brom's last effect.
"Thank you, Joey," Brom said politely. "This has been a pleasant duel. And I want you to know that after this, if you want to talk about all that happened, about what you've learned about yourself and others... I will be happy to help you." He held up a card. "But you'll need an appointment since I'll be preparing for the next round of the finals."
"WHAT?!" Joey exclaimed. "What is that supposed ta mean! I stopped your King of the Skull Servants."
"Yes," Brom confirmed. "Just as I was hoping you would. I needed you to waste Doomking Balerdroch's effect on my first one so I could summon a second without worry."
"Summon a second?!" Tea cried out. "but how?"
"Wights," Renard murmured. "They are dangerous in large numbers."
"I discard Wightmare," Brom stated, the ghostly form of a scholarly Wight appearing on the field. "When I discard him I am able to select one banished King of the Skull Servants and return them to the field."
"...no," Joey whispered as the King of the Skull Servants appeared one more time, standing on a hill made of 9 different wights.
"Yes," Brom said softly. "I am sorry your time in Battle City must end Joey... but take pride. You did well. King of the Skull Servants... attack."
Joey knew his friends were waiting for him to play some card from his hand that would save the day. Or activate a monster effect. Anything.
But all he could do was fall to his knees as his Doomking Balerdroch was destroyed.
(Joey-0000)
~MC~MC~MC~
Chaosverse Omake
Whispers of a killer haunted Tokyo.
No one dared speak too loudly of him, they'd learned that lesson early on when the key victims were just abusers and con artists.
Speak too loudly about the Phantom, you'll find yourself his next target, either for death or psychotic break down. It seemed a roll of the dice which he would bring down upon you.
Always a note beforehand if marked for death.
'I have seen your Distorted Heart and know that your Desires will spell Ruin for this world. You are a rabid dog that is due to be culled. Get your affairs in order for Justice will be done- Phantom.'
Rich or poor, man or woman, homeless beggar or politician about to make his play for prime minister. The Phantom didn't care; he couldn't be bought, be blackmailed or swayed.
His brand of Justice above all else.
No one could ever figure out the Phantoms' methods, how even hiding in the most secure of locations couldn't spare one he'd passed his Black Spot to. Not till now as Akira listened closely to Morgana's explanation of how the Metaverse functioned.
A world of the unconscious, a world of distorted desires that if stolen, could make their teacher finally feel guilt for how he'd used and abused his students. Make him confess his sins with his own mouth.
"And if you were to kill the Shadow, destroy it and the distortion?" He asked wanting to confirm, Ryuji gave him a puzzled look as the Cat-that-was-not-a-Cat flicked his tail nervously.
"In theory...You would destroy all of his desires, even the basic desire of his hindbrain to keep breathing...He'd die. B-but! I'm sure that if he steals his treasure nothing bad will happen! He'll regret and confess everything!"
"Are you...Thinking of killing Kamoshida?" Ryuji asked "I-I mean, I ain't gonna say he don't deserve it..."
"No...Just working on a theory." Akira pushed his glasses up "Come on, we should scope out more of the castle today."
As the three left to enter the Metaverse, a well built figure whom'd been watching and listening from the shadows emerged, adjusting his Shujin acadamy blazer "Castle, Hmm. I suppose I've gotten too used to overly complex palaces if something as plebian as a 'Castle' slipped my mind to try." He muttered to his self as he picked up his briefcase emblazoned with a 'KR'.
Putting on a smile he waved to the teachers and other students as he left. Toyko's resident Detective Prince and media darling had to put out a good image after all.
The moment he was out of sight of any fans or cameras at the train station he was swiping the app, letting the dark atmosphere of the Metaverse surround him as he stood before Momentos clad in his dark armor.
"Only three targets today, barely even a workout for us." He mused as velvet blue flames surged up around him forming a tall, black and white striped figure that almost crooned at the thought of battle "Let's hope they put up a fight Loki." He grinned gripping a sword that seemed to be made of a gold so pure it glowed in the darkness in the depth's of corrupted human desire.
INTRODUCING THE DARK PHANTOM OF JUSTICE KURAI RANMYAKU
The Chaos of Earth 16915
Author's Note: A Thanks to my dear friend GarnettFox for this special Chaosverse Omake!