Chaos Effect

Chapter 17

Mai watched as Edwin stood between Pegasus and Kabia and couldn't stop the conflicting emotions that rose up within her. A maelstrom of, well, chaos. Caused by Edwin Chaos himself.

There was the joy in seeing that he had made it to the finals. She had been worried that he would end up missing everything protecting the kid, sacrificing his chance at proving himself saving Kaiba's brother. Not that she didn't blame him for wanting to protect the boy but... it seemed utterly wrong that he not get a spot in the finals because he completely deserved it. Especially considering some of the other people that had made it.

But seeing him there also made her feel a shiver of worry. She'd seen how strong Edwin's deck was and how skilled he was in handling tough opponents and knew that as enjoyable as it was to see Edwin destroy a foe with combos and mindgames she had no urge to be on the receiving end of his attacks.

Then there was the frustration she felt knowing he'd not only beaten her to Pegasus' Castle but had managed to secure the first slot in the finals. She had thought that she had the lead in everything, that she had not only gotten the most Star Chips but she'd also gotten her Star Chips faster than anyone else. Yet there was Edwin showing that he'd been several steps ahead of her. It was a bitter blow to her ego... which was tainted by the guilt she felt over not being more happy for her...

'Friend? Companion?' she thought to herself. 'Something more? At least I wish we were more than that...'

But probably the strongest emotion she felt was anger. How dare he toss away his chance to battle Pegasus? Even she at her utter worst would never have considered being so utterly flippant with a chance for glory and fame as Edwin was being. This wasn't like with Mokuba, where he was giving up a chance at the finals in order to protect someone else. Edwin had his spot and he was now bartering with it like it was little more than a casino chip. Glancing over at the rest of the group she could see the same disgust and distaste for his actions on all their faces. They'd all fought so hard to get to this moment and to have Edwin treating such an honor as little more than a token that he might use to try and weasel out something more...

"Why would I even trust you?" Kaiba asked with a huff, folding his arms over his chest. "You've shown you have a silver tongue... and acid in your veins."

"Thank you," Edwin said with a pleasant smile. "As for why?" He began to circle around Kaiba and Mai swallowed, remembering the last time she'd seen Edwin like this: PaniK. When he'd been bold... no. Not bold. Self assured. Somehow he'd known that he was going to win and there was nothing PaniK could do to change things. It was like they were all reading from a script and Edwin already knew the ending so he could enjoy the performance as it led to the ending he wanted. He could be humble and kind but in these moments there was the ghost of a sneer on his lips and his entire posture screamed that he was ready to take all he saw in his fingers and slowly squeeze his hand shut.

'He might be tossing away his chance to duel Pegasus and disgracing himself,' she thought, 'but that man is impressive in how he commands a room.'

"The fact of the matter is you don't really have a choice, do you Kaiba?" Though his voice was light there was an edge to it, so sharp that she could nearly see the wounds he was cutting into Kaiba's ego.

"I have plenty of choices."

"Pegasus isn't going to let you make a challenge. Why should he? You long for things to be under your control, which is why you are going to demand that he use your Duel Disc system instead of his projectors. You hate it when you aren't the one guiding things. You need to choose the spot, the stakes, the scenario. It always has to be you deciding how things go. That's why your loss to Yugi so bothers you... another duelist you might have been able to accept, because they caught you on a poor day. But Yugi Moto defeating you with a borrowed deck and with no experience worth mentioning? Oh, you can't stand that lack of control. That's why you put on that farce of a duel earlier... you needed to win again to set things right." He let out an amused little laugh. "But it didn't work, did it Seto? Because you know you didn't beat Yugi."

"He lost."

"But you didn't win, did you? There is a difference. He could have EASILY beaten you but you had to resort to a cheap tactic and play on his kindness in order to do that. He surrendered... but you didn't win. And more than that..." Edwin leaned in and whispered, "that's how Gozaburo would have won."

Kaiba's eyes snapped open wide at that and he whipped around, Edwin already having leapt away before Kaiba could take a swing at him.

"But Pegasus isn't going to let you take control here," Edwin said, continuing on even as Kaiba glared at him with utter loathing. If it was because he was touching a tender spot... or if it was because everything Edwin was saying was true and Kaiba hated him for revealing his shame to himself Mai couldn't tell. "Because you two are so very alike, as much as you hate to admit it. Pegasus didn't beat Yugi either... Yugi lost to him but Pegasus didn't win. Time ran out. A cheap ploy." He paused and glanced at the creator of Duel Monsters who merely stared back at Edwin before giving a casual shrug. "You two... oh in another life you could have been FAMILY."

"Take that back," Kaiba hissed.

"Cheerfully withdrawn," Edwin said with a mocking leer. "But the point remains that you don't have a choice: you want to face Pegasus then you need to deal with me."

"There is still a spot in the finals. I can easily beat Wheeler and Moto and face Pegasus long after he beats you."

Edwin though laughed at that. "Yugi will defeat you. You only managed that win before because of cheap- we already covered this. Mai, I already covered this, didn't I?"

"You did. And thank you Kaiba for not including me in who you'd easily beat."

"That's because you don't even matter, Mai."

"Dude, talk to the lady with an ounce of respect." Edwin's glasses flashed in the light of the Main Hall. "In fact let's make that a rule for Tea as well... or any other woman who might join us. Show them respect. Okay? Okay. But like I said you never have beaten Yugi and while he might be a touch out of it he's going to snap back and realize that while he did get a bit to... extreme... in his desire to win that isn't a bad thing. Merely something to be tempered properly." Edwin was staring hard at Yugi at that point and the young teen shifted uneasily at that; clearly Edwin was reading into Yugi's own fragile ego and seeking a way to repair it. "But when he does? He'll destroy you."

"Not a chance."

"Perhaps I'm wrong then... but there is one way to guarantee you finish things with Pegasus once and for all and that is dealing with me. So stop dancing around it and let's talk bargains!"

"...we already had an agreement, one you seem to have broken." Seto took a step towards Edwin and narrowed his eyes. "Where is my brother? You swore to protect him-"

"I have. Mokuba's safe."

"You left him alone on this island? You call that safe?"

Edwin smirked though at that. "Who said he was still on the island?"

THAT made everyone, even Pegasus, stop and stare at him.

"...how?" Pegasus asked before scowling. "Renard."

"The Eliminator?" Tristan asked.

"OH!" Tea exclaimed before clapping her hands. "That's great, Edwin! Renard won't let anything happen to Mokuba!"

Kaiba though wasn't convinced. "One of Pegasus Eliminators... you trusted my brother with someone in Pegasus' employ?"

"Why not? You hired Sally... I mean Kemo." Edwin shrugged. "And you trusted the Big 5. And their security forces... huh, when we add it all up you are really a bad judge of character. The point is that your brother is safely away from Duelist Kingdom... and I've bartered for his safety."

"He has," Pegasus confirmed, showing that Edwin was just full of surprises.

"Why?" Kaiba asked.

Pegasus though merely closed his eyes and gave a playful shrug. "No... I don't think I'll tell you. It will drive you even more mad trying to figure out what he did than anything else I could do to you, Kaiba-Boy. Honestly I should have thought of such an act before hand... after all, I really don't need Mokuba for any of this, he just made things easier. But now that you are here... well... we can settle this matter once and for all."

"That we can," Kaiba said, stepping forward and holding up his briefcase. "You and I-"

"A-hem," Edwin said, not actually clearing his throat but instead merely saying the words as over the top as possible. "There is a little matter of MY challenge. Which I am happy to do if you don't want, Kaiba." He turned to Pegasus. "Since you issued the challenge, not me, I get to select how and where."

"It's a card game-" Pegasus began but Edwin waved him off.

"Tehcnically I get full right to choose any weapon of my choice. But I'll be nice here and not demand pistols at dawn. Right, a card game. But I will be creating the rules and I will need... I don't know... 2 decades to finish making my set of rules. And since I am the first one with right of challenge the rest of you can just wait until I get done."

"20 years?!?" Yugi exclaimed. "We can't wait that long!"

"Yeah!" Tristan shouted. "Come on man, Yugi might have gone through puberty by then-AAARGH!" Tristan crumbled after Tea elbowed him.

Edwin though snickered. "Okay, that was a good one, Tristan. Someone let him know I found it funny once he gets done rolling on the ground in pain."

"What do you want then, Chaos?" Kaiba demanded. "Money?"

"Already have 6 million between the two of you." He gestured at Pegasus and Seto.

"Blimey!" Bakura exclaimed.

Joey instantly appeared at Edwin's side. "Hey pal... you wouldn't mind lending you're ol' pal Joey some of that cash, would ya?"

"I tried," Edwin said coldly.

Joey, remembering exactly WHY Edwin now had $3 million from Kaiba, winced and quickly shuffled back to his friends without saying a word. Mai, for her part, was looking Edwin up and down and debating how she might accelerate her flirting with him; oh, it wasn't merely that he was rich now that interested her... but she knew it would interest a whole lot of other people once word got out and she'd seen him first, darn it!

'Like I'd ever let the likes of Vivian Wong get her hands on Edwin,' she thought sourly.

"No, " Edwin said, drawing her focus back onto the matter at hand, "money isn't what I'm after. I once heard that there are several things in this world people search for. Money is one of them. Love is another. Revenge is a tasty morsel. Superiority? Hmmm... working on that. Power... power I have. Influence... now there is a tricky one. And one both of you can help me with."

"I already gave you the money and the challenge," Pegasus reminded him.

Edwin smirked. "You won't mind this boon. Neither will Seto when he thinks about it. In fact you'll both think this the greatest deal you ever made."

"Spit it out already," Kaiba complained.

"Right now the issue between the two of you is control of KaibaCorp. Pegasus, you've bought out all the public shares, isn't that correct?"

"I have," Pegasus stated, looking right at Kaiba. "37%. The very same ploy you used on your stepfather to take the company from him. How does it feel to be beaten at your own game?"

"How does it feel to be stealing the ideas of 10 year olds?" Kaiba snapped back.

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty," Edwin mocked. The two of them slowly slid their gazes towards him and Edwin quickly held up his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry, a bit too far in playing the arrogant jerk role. Should have left that for you two. Anyhooooooo... how much stock does Mokuba own, Kaiba?"

"...1%."

"You only let your brother have 1% of stock?" Joey complained. "Man, I knew you were greedy..."

"Clam it, Wheeler. You don't even know what stock is!"

"I so do too, rich boy!" Joey said before blinking. "Uh... not like soup stock, right?"

Mai rolled her eyes.

"The rest belongs to the Big 5 then, correct?" Edwin asked, getting nods from the two of them. "That's my price for my right to challenge Pegasus, along with getting Seto's spot in the finals: the Big 5's 25% controlling interest in KaibaCorp."

Pegasus chuckled at that. "I can't give away what isn't mine, Edwin."

"But you both had put into motion ways to get rid of the Big 5, haven't you?" He glanced at first one and then the other and for several long moments neither of the other duelists said a word before finally Kaiba clenched his jaw.

"There is a Disloyalty Clause in their contracts that I snuck in during their last contract renewal. After I defeat Pegasus I will activate it, allowing me to claim all their shares and kick them to the street."

"Which won't happen because the Big 5 have placed their shares within shell companies that I control... and have already locked them out of. It is only because I can't actually take control of the stock that has prevented me from just doing away with all of this and just seizing control of KaibaCorp fully. Part of the agreement with them when I formed the shell companies for them was that I couldn't access them... and now they can't either." Pegasus gave a shrug before calling out, "Croquet!"

The man servant emerged from the doorway and bowed to his employer. "Yes, Mr. Pegasus?"

"I've decided to accept Eddy-Boy's deal. Please shift control of the five shell companies Rabbit Season, Duck Season, Puddy-Cat INC, Sufferin' Succotash, and United Corp to Edwin Chaos." He glanced over at the rest of them. "I ran out of pun-related names."

"Ah," everyone but Seto said.

"Well Kaiba? Are you willing to accept Edwin's offer? Not that you have a choice since I still have complete control of the shares and have decided to reward him with them... so it is merely going to cost you your pride..."

"...deal," Kaiba ground out.

"Nice doing business with you," Edwin said with a grin, though it fell a bit when he saw the rest of those gathered glowering at him and his deal-making antics.

"Then it is decided! Edwin will join the three other finalists while Kaiba-Boy and I will face off using Edwin's challenge. Creator vs. Champion... oh, what a delightful match!"

~MC~MC~MC~

It wasn't delightful at all.

I hadn't doomed Seto to have his soul ripped out of his body and placed in a card. No... I'd gotten clever. Led him to that destiny like I was the pied piper and he was a rat with a billion dollar bank account. I could have stopped it... but I hadn't. I'd egged him on, gotten him into position, and came out of it with money and power. And he thought it was all his idea.

Even though I'd known that he would be freed in a few days... the guilt would eat at me for a long time.

'Of course,' I thought to myself as I watched Mai and Yugi duel, 'it didn't help that he's a massive tool who egged me on until I completely forgot that he was a human being.' Had it been anyone else, like Yugi and his friends, I'd have never pulled what I did. I would have found a way to save them, like I had Mokuba. But Seto, after pulling that suicide shit with Yugi and then being as brass and bold like he was the king of the world... my annoyance had turned to maliciousness and I'd been more than willing to bleed him before leading him to the slaughter house. 'Keep making those excuses. Maybe you'll believe them if you do it enough.'

The others hadn't bothered to hide their displeasure. I was a duelist without honor who didn't respect his foes. A cutthroat who happily used the distress of others to fill his pocket. Scum (that was Joey's opinion on the matter though he had been one of the last to say it; he understood what power money had, especially having blown his first chance at getting the millions needed for his sister and thus when he had spoke it had been with far less vigor and venom). And when Seto had lost Yugi had stated that it was my fault because I'd cursed Seto with my tactics. Even Mai had scolded me, saying that I was taking too big of a risk.

I'd promptly left dinner early at that point and informed Pegasus that I wasn't in the mood when our host had asked me to remain for the final serving of soup; I knew it was how they'd pick who faced who but frankly I didn't care.

In the morning I'd learned that I would be facing Joey in the semi finals, the universe having decided that I needed to take Bandit Keith's spot. Considering how the others were treating me there was a rightness in that, I guess.

Mai and Yugi's match went the same as canon, with Yugi being out of it until he and the Pharaoh finally came to an understanding and then utterly destroy Mai's chances with the Black Luster Soldier. Mai was just laying her hand on her deck when I glanced over at Joey, seeing that he was nervous but not as bad as in canon, thanks to Keith not being there to steal his card.

'Now I just need to lose,' I thought to myself.

Things were finally getting back on track. Pegasus hadn't revealed that he'd freed Yugi's grandpa's soul yet, stating in private that it would take away Yugi's motivation... I got that and accepted. For Pegasus this was nearing the end of his master plan and he truly believed that he would get Cecelia back; for me I was thinking about the Tale of the Three Brothers. Pegasus held the resurrection stone... would he be able to stand having his wife as just hard light? Would she be able to stand such an existence? Hardlight couldn't feel. No touch. No taste. Nothing. It would be like living in a void.

'Imagine never feeling the sun on your face or to feel a warm hand clasped within your own,' a robotic-like voice, frozen and without emotion, said in my mind as Joey and I moved towards the platforms. 'Pegasus... you damn fool. You're going to rip her from heaven and condemn her to hell.'

But it was time to get things back on track. And that meant losing to Joey in such a way that allowed him to develop his confidence without resulting in him getting overly cocky. While I didn't think Yugi creaming Joey would affect his duel with Pegasus that much it was more that I needed Joey to be strong for Battle City, where he would help take out Odion and reveal Marik's tricks to Yugi. Plus... having Joey keep the Pharaoh on his toes and staying sharp couldn't hurt at all.

So I needed to lose but in a close, hard match that let Joey taste victory.

'And, admittedly, my ego couldn't handle it if I had to hear him crowing about how amazing he was for weeks on end.'

"This will be the second match of the semi finals. The winner will face Yugi Moto in the finals to determine who will receive the $3 million dollars and the right to challenge the great Maximillion Pegasus. Presenting first Joey Wheeler!" Joey grinned and waved to his friends with red coloring his cheeks at the way his friends cheered and shouted his name as he walked from one side of the room towards the platform. "And his challenger, having taken Seto Kaiba's spot in the semi finals-" 'Oh God damn it, Croquet, thanks for that!', "-Edwin Chaos!"

And that's when my phone turned on and began to screw with the soundtrack again.

Some nights I stay up

Cashing in my bad luck

Some nights, I call it a draw

Some nights, I wish that my lips could build a castle

Some nights, I wish they'd just fall off

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost

Oh, Lord, I'm still not sure what I stand for, oh

What do I stand for? What do I stand for?

Most nights, I don't know anymore

Mai, seeing the utter silence that I was getting as I walked up to my platform to the beat of the drums, shot a death glare at the others before she began to clap and cheer. Pegasus, for his part, began to politely clap as well which I knew was going to do little good in helping get Yugi and his friends off my case. That caused the servants that were also observing to begin clapping as well, creating a wonderful divide in who was the 'hero' and 'villain' in this duel.

"Gentlemen, you may begin."

"Joey, I give you the right to choose who goes first," I stated, gesturing at him.

"Then I'll go first!" Joey declared, pointing at me. I nodded and moved to draw my cards only for him to quickly add, "Wait... maybe you want me to go first, so you then can counter whatever I put on the field. Beat out any strategy I try and just leave me constantly playing catch-up. In that case I should go second!" I nodded again only for Joey to interrupt once more. "But on second thought if I let you go first you could set up some strategy early and utterly wipe me out. So I should go first so I have the chance to hit before you hit me with some insane card combo that destroys any plans I have!" I didn't even move, mentally ticking down 3...2...1... "Unless-"

"Joey, I was being polite," I said with a groan.

"Aha! Ya want me ta think that!" he said, his accent somehow getting even stronger as he accused me of being a cunning mastermind ('Which you are' my evil brain reminded me). "You purposely did that just to get me flustered-"

"Someone flip a coin!" I called out.

Tristan dug a quarter out of his pocket and walked up to us. "Who wants to call it?"

"You pick which side represents us," I said, cutting off Joey before he began to have a panic attack over heads vs. tails. "Winner has to go first."

"Right," Tristan stated flipping the coin. It landed and he slapped it on the back of his hand. "...I should have said which side represented each of you before doing that, shouldn't I have?"

I grit my teeth and trembled with rage like I was Bert dealing with one of Ernie's schemes.

"Heh... sorry," he said weakly. "Heads is Joey! And... it's tails! You go first, Edwin."

"Aw man," Joey said with a pout before suddenly looking up at me and flashing a smirk. "Or... do I mean yeah man?"

I wasn't for sure if even Joey knew for sure what he meant. Drawing my cards I looked over my hand before selecting a card. "I set this monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Alright," Joey said before drawing a card, his eyes lighting up and his jaw dropping. "I don't believe it! My first draw and I get my best monster! The Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" He held up the card and cackled in delight. "Man oh man this is awesome! I can't believe I drew the Red-Eyes Black Dragon on my first turn... wait." He slowly lowered his arm and looked at his card. "Yeah, this is my best card but if I play it now that is it. If you figure out a way to destroy him I don't know how I'll win the duel. I can't keep making the same mistakes I did before... I need to be smart. I need a strategy... and that means holding onto this card."

"Way to go, Joey!" Tea called out.

Yugi nodded. "Way to use your head!"

"Go get'em, man!"

"You do remember that he just revealed to Edwin that he has the Red-Eyes Black Dragon in his hand, right?" Mai asked the others, causing them all the face fault as they realized that for as 'brilliant' as Joey had been he'd still been, well... Joey.

"...well that doesn't matter because with what I have planned I won't need the Red-Eyes anyway!" Joey declared, putting the card in his hand before selecting two different ones. "I first summon my Tiger Axe to the field and equip it with the Jungle Axe!" On the field the bipedal tiger appeared, his normal axe replaced with a more, for lack of a better term, savage one. "This axe powers up my Tiger Axe by 100 attack points for each monster you have out on the field, raising him up to 1400! Take out Ed's monster, Tiger Axe!"

His monster swung at my downface only for the card to glow, revealing a quiet mage who held up a single hand, catching the blade and stopping it with ease.

"Too bad my Magical Exemplar has 1400 defense, meaning that their battle ends in a stalemate."

"Aw man!" Joey complained.

"Now then, my draw!" I drew and looked over my hand carefully before coming up with a strategy that would help me out but not cripple Joey. "I summon Rogue of Endymion in attack mode." My red-cloaked assassin appeared, twirling his blades. "And I discard Trance the Magical Swordsman in order to activate directly from my deck the spell card Endymion's Lab!" A spellcaster's lab table appeared on the field between Rogue and Exemplar. "I can't use its effect this turn, however."

"And you can't hope to defeat my Tiger Axe, Ed!" Joey declared. "Thanks to the Savage Axe when you summoned your Rogue my Tiger Axe increased by another 100 attack points, meaning that it now rivals your Rogue!" Joey tapped his forehead. "Should have thought about that, Ed!"

"Yeah," I muttered. 'Now attack with Red-Eyes and lets get this show on the road!'

~MC~MC~MC~

'This isn't right,' the Spirit of the Puzzle said in Yugi's head.

'What do you mean?' Yugi asked as Edwin set a card facedown on his field and ended his turn while Joey began to go over his options.

'Joey might believe that Edwin made the mistake with that axe, forgetting about it entirely, but he is far too cunning to let something so simple slip his mind. And why sacrifice Trance for Endymion's lab?'

Yugi mentally shrugged. 'He might not have need of it, despite how strong it is. Or maybe he has a way to bring it back out of the graveyard.'

'Perhaps,' the spirit murmured.

'What are you thinking?' Yugi pressed.

But the Spirit didn't answer and in the end Yugi shrugged it off and focused back on the duel.

~MC~MC~MC~

'Man, Ed has opened himself up completely for an attack!' Joey thought. 'If I strike now he'll be down by nearly 1000 life points! I've never taken down an opponent by that much in a single hit before, especially this early in a duel.' But as Joey drew his eyes drifted towards Ed's side of the field he felt the urge to summon his dragon die once more. 'But that card... what has he set up? Ed... there is no way he would forget about the Red-Eyes. So... what if he has set a trap for me? What if he wants me to get rid of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon in a stupid attack?' He shook his head in frustration. 'And I can't be stupid. Not when it comes to this. I need to win, for Serenity. I already threw away one chance, I can't toss away another one.' Drawing his next card he looked it over. 'Meteor Dragon. Not very strong but maybe I could... wait.' He shut his eyes and visualized the guide book Yugi had given him the night before, the one he'd spent hours pouring over after dinner, looking for strategies and tips he could use in the duel against Edwin. 'I remember Meteor Dragon... something... what was... that's it!' His mind flashed to a large dragon with lava running along its skin. 'Meteor Black Dragon! This card can fuse with my Red-Eyes! 3500 attack power... that's more than even kaiba's Blue-Eyes.' He was nearly giddy with the thought of unleashing such a monster all on his own. Not with Yugi's help... on his own. 'All I need is to hold off until I get Polymerization... I know I have that card in my deck, so I just need to draw it. With it I could take out Ed in a single hit, if he has a weak enough monster on the field.' Inspecting his hand he noticed a Spell Card he'd nearly missed and grinned. "Alright, Heart of the Cards... time to see what ya can do for me! I play Pot of Greed!"

But when he drew his two new cards he didn't get the spell he was looking for. And he noticed that on Ed's side of the field the Magical Exemplar now had two glowing orbs in her hands. 'Dang, I forgot that Ed's monsters all get special powers when Spell cards are used. I'll have to be careful about that. Hmmm.' He began to snicker as he saw what he HAD drawn. "Oh man... Ed, you are gonna hate this! I play Sword and Shield, switching the attacks of our monsters with their defenses! Meanin' your Rogue goes down to a measily 200 attack points, compared to my Tiger Axe's 1100!"

"Way to go, Joey!" Tristan called out even as Exemplar gained another two orbs. "That's using your head!"

"If he were using his head he'd have summoned his Red-Eyes," Mai complained with a scoff.

Joey resisted the urge to snap back at her. 'Can't give Ed any more info!' he thought as his Tiger Axe attacked, destroying the Rogue. (Edwin-1100)

"Well well, now this is interesting," Pegasus said even as the last bits of Ed's monster disappeared. "First blood to Joseph. I didn't expect that."

"Thanks!" Joey called out, ignoring for a moment he was supposed to hate Pegasus.

"Just be careful, Joey!" Yugi told him. "Remember the boat!"

Joey's smile slipped at that. 'Yeah, that's right. I thought I had Ed down for the count and with one card he won the game! I have to be careful... if I slip even once he will destroy me!'

Edwin, for his part, was utterly quiet as he drew and then declared that he was activating Pot of Greed himself. That worried Joey... Ed was a talker and him being rather silent wasn't a good sign at all. Nor was the sight of Exemplar with 6 Spell counters floating around her, as well as one now on that Lab of his.

"I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior to the field in attack mode! And when he is summoned he gains one Spell Counter, increasing his attack by 300. Breaker! Attack that kitty cat!" Joey winced as the magical blade slashed at his monster, easily shattering it. "Second blood to me," Edwin stated. (Joey-1700)

'Maybe he's just quiet because I'm a friend,' Joey thought to himself as he drew Baby Dragon. 'Maybe that is why he's being nice and not being all cocky. After all, I've only ever seen him duel enemies. PaniK and that creepy clown guy. Sure, on the ship he was rough with me but I came at him first so I can't really blame him.' Joey summoned Garoozis in defense mode and ended his turn. 'I hope that's what's going on.'

Because it was better than thinking that Joey had pissed him off so much with his mockery of his mother's death that Edwin couldn't even find it in himself to mock him.

"I activate my facedown card: Spell Power Grasp."

"Aw man! That's what you had hiding?"

"Secretive little thing, aren't I?" Edwin teased with a smirk. "I add a Spell Counters to Exemplar... and because this is a spell she also gains another 2 spell counters while my Lab gains another. Now then, it worked the first time... Breaker! Attack!"

Joey though didn't dwell for long as he drew and grinned, letting out a laugh that was as much one of pleasure as it was relief. 'Polymerization! Yes! Now to set things up!' Out loud he declared, "I think it's time I stopped stalling and got this duel truly started, Ed! And I'll do that with a card I know you know I have. So come on out Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" The massive red drake appeared on the field with a roar, flexing its claws before glaring at Breaker. "Now then Red-Eyes... Inferno Fire Blast!" His dragon reared back and let loose the ball of burning embers and heat, Breaker unable to protect himself in time as he was consumed. (Edwin-600)

~MC~MC~MC~

I should have been happy. Joey had just taken a massive chunk of my lifepoints and had out his strongest monster. I should have been giddy that I was going to lose and set things back on track.

Instead I seethed.

And not for the reason one might have thought.

'Damn it Joey, I need to make this convincing!' I raged. 'How... how the fucking hell are you making it harder to lose than to win! You send out Red-Eyes as a finisher, to deliver the killing blow! You don't send him out to only get half-way through the duel.' I wanted to throw my head back and scream but instead I made a big show of drawing my next card and studying my hand. 'There is no way you can win with it now. I can't convincingly send out monsters in attack mode. You don't have any traps or spell set to protect him and lure me into a trap. Damn it Wheeler, now I have to destroy the damn thing!'

Though as I looked at the field I began to think about it and decided that maybe this was for the best. What better way to help boost Joey up then to have him win against my best card?

"I activate the effect of my Lab!" I declared, thrusting out my hand. "By removing 6 spell counters from my field I can summon directly from my deck one Spellcaster!"

"Oh no!" Tea cried out.

"You think..." Tristian said, trailing off.

"I think he will," Bakura agreed.

"About time!" Mai cheered.

"COME FORTH ENDYMION!" I called out, holding out my arms wide as my Master Magician burst onto the field as the shards of the Spell Counters rained down around him. It was glorious and wonderful and if nothing else it would burn into everyone's mind as a memory to hold onto. "Endymion, I think it is time to slay the dragon!"

"My Red-Eyes!" Joey exclaimed. "No... no, I have to protect him somehow-"

"There is no way, Joey! All things die... even dragons. Endymion: Spell Power Blast!" My mage held up his hands, the staff rising in the air before he fired off a blast of energy that rocketed out and caught Red-Eyes right in the gut. The dragon twitched and there was silence... and then he exploded in a shower of hardlight. (Joey-1400)

I only belatedly wondered why Joey looked so utterly upset.

~MC~MC~MC~

'No,' Joey thought, staring in horror at where his Red-Eyes had been. Gone. It was gone. And with it his hopes of winning. 'What good is this hand if I'm missing the key piece!' he exclaimed within the echoing recesses of his mind.

And worst of all was that he was facing down Endymion. While he hadn't seen the spellcaster as much as Yugi's Dark Magician or Kaiba's Blue-Eyes... what he had seen of the Master Magician had made it quickly enter the same legendary status as those two monsters. When Edwin brought out his Spellcaster that usually meant that the duel was about to end. And now Joey was facing it and had already lost his Red-Eyes to the mage! He was done!

"Don't give up, Joey!" Tristan called out. "You can do this! You just need to come up with a new strategy to take out that spellcaster!"

"He's right, Joey!" Tea cried out. "We believe in you!"

Bakura joined in. "Don't let one lost battle get you down, Joey! You can still win this!"

"You have a strong deck, Joey!" Yugi chimed in. "Believe in yourself! You can overcome anything!"

"Some friends you are," Mai said hotly before turning towards Edwin. "Ignore them, Edwin! We both know who deserves to be in this tournament! You're ten times smarter than Joey and now its time you show it!"

Joey grit his teeth at Mai's comments. It was frustrating that she was insulting him but at the same time he understood why; he'd be mad too if everyone decided to just root for Yugi and ignore him if he and his best bud had a duel. 'Maybe that's why Ed is so quiet... he knows that everyone is against him.' He shook his head though. 'But sorry, pal, but I can't go easy on you just because everyone is rooting for me. Because they are rooting for me... especially Serenity. I already messed up once... I'm not going to mess up again. And that means defeating you!' Joey drew and his eyes widened. "Whoa," he murmured before quickly forcing himself to calm down. 'Chasm of Spikes. If Ed's monster attacks while I have this trap on the field he'll be destroyed and Ed will take battle damage equal to half its attack. That would be it! He'd be done! This... this might be what I need!'

"Alright then Ed, time to make things interesting! I summon my Meteor Dragon in attack mode and have it attack your Exemplar!"

Edwin's brow furrowed at that but then he got rather startled when he saw not only his monster shatter but his lifepoints drop by 100. (Edwin-500) "Confused? When another dragon is defeated on the field my Meteor Dragon is able to absorb their energies to power up their attack, breaking through their defenses!" Joey set his trap and smirked. "Sorry Ed." 'Now you just need to be blinded by that attack and fall into my trap."

"Stupid Duelist Kingdom D&D rules," Edwin muttered to himself before drawing. "I suppose you want me to attack and activate that trap card, right?" Joey grimaced as Edwin read him like a book. "Sorry Joey, but not that dim. I activate Endymion's special ability by discarding my Spell Power Grasp so I can destroy one card on the field. And I choose your trap card!" The Chasm shattered before it could even activate. "And then I attack that Meteor Dragon! Spell Power Strike!" Joey shielded himself as, for the second time in a row, his dragon shattered. (Joey-500)

"Man, Joey can't catch a break!" Tristan complained.

Mai laughed at that. "Of course he can't! Haven't you realized by now that Edwin is beyond him?"

'Maybe Mai is right,' Joey thought. 'Maybe Ed is too good at dueling. I couldn't beat Kaiba, I barely managed to beat that sneak Bonz... I keep winning by the skin of my teeth and I can't keep hoping for wins like that day in and day out.' But as soon as he thought that he quickly banished that negativity from his mind. 'What am I saying? Yug has been in far worse spots than me and he always pulled out the win! And I can as well! I just need to believe in the Heart of the Cards!' Joey reached out and drew...

...and let out a laugh.

"ALRIGHT!" he declared. "Ed, this is it! This is the moment when I win the duel! I play Baby Dragon and then activate the Time Wizard!'

~MC~MC~MC~

This was it. THIS was what I was waiting for. Even if I hadn't realized it at the time.

'Time Wizard,' I thought to myself, nearly giddy. 'Perfect.'

Joey would win, of course, because he had Plot Armor and Main Character Status to protect him and aid him. I wasn't the hero of this story... I was just the guy that kept getting his nose dirty in things that I shouldn't be involved with. The world had made it clear to me: I was the villain. And it was time for the villain to fall. The spinner would land on the Time Machine, Endymion would be reduced to a husk, and the Thousand Dragon would destroy him and end the duel with one gust of old dragon nose smoke.

'And no one can claim Joey outplayed me,' I thought to myself as the dial began to spin. 'He got lucky. Damn luck. I had it in the bag save for a cruel twist of fate. Joey will see it as a victory all the same and will crow a bit but not as much as if he really outsmarted me. And no one else will throw it in my face all that much.' The dial spun but began to slow. 'And everything will-'

Skull.

The world came to a screeching halt.

Skull.

Joey nearly collapsed. I wasn't much better.

Skull.

Not the Time Machine.

Skull.

The Time Wizard and the Baby Dragon both exploded violently and Joey was thrown off his feet even as his lifepoints trickled down.

Skull.

(Joey-0000)

"The winner is Edwin Chaos!" Croquet declared.

I stood there, rendered dumb and mute as I took in what had just happened. Pegasus was clapping and Mai was cheering her head off and Yugi's friends were murmuring to themselves trying to piece together that what had happened had actually happened...

Skull.

"I lost," Joey whispered before clenching his eyes shut and pressing his head to the dueling platform. "Serenity."

He sounded so lost and confused and I completely understood where he was coming from because I had no idea what the flying fuck had just happened. 'How... how did I win? I was trying to fucking lose! To a main fucking character! AND I FUCKING WIN?!?'

"Joey," I said as my platform began to lower. I wanted to comfort him, maybe find some way to fix this. Pegasus had given me $3 million... there were no strings attached to that so I could give him that for Serenity. Or offer a rematch... claim that I broke some rule? Maybe go to Pegasus and convince him to lie and say there was a mistake-

"Stay away from him, Edwin!" the Pharaoh declared, having at some point taken control of Yugi's body and decided to storm towards me. He moved to block my path which was rather funny considering that even with his stupid pokey hair I had a good few inches on him in height and he didn't have any muscles on him. Hell, he looked like if I blew hard enough he'd fall over. "I don't know how this fits into your mad goddess' game but I will not let you hurt Joey any more than you have!"

"...what?"

MY confusion was echoed by everyone else.

"Uh, Yug?" Joey said, his own morose feelings gone in the face of his friend acting so strangely. "I'm, uh, perfectly fine. Well, not really but-"

"Hey!" Mai declared, hurrying over and standing beside me. "Don't blame Edwin just because Joey lost!"

"Stay out of this Mai, this doesn't concern-"

"I want her here," I declared, wrapping an arm around Mai. Worries about our relationship and the right and wrong of it could be put on hold as all I cared about in the moment was that she was my friend and the Pharaoh had no right to talk to her like that. "You miss my warning to Kaiba yesterday? You will show her respect. And she's right. I have no idea what you are talking about."

The Pharaoh just continued to glare at me. "About what, Edwin? How you purposely threw this duel against Joey or that you are enslaved to a titan goddess who has decided to interfere in the affairs of mortals?"

"...both?" I said helplessly, mostly thrown by the entire goddess thing.

"Those are rather bold proclamations to make against Edwin, Yugi-Boy," Pegasus said, reminding us all he was still there. "Do you have any proof?"

"Anyone with an ounce of knowledge when it came to dueling can see the proof," the Pharaoh charged. "Edwin time and again refused to make a move that would win him the duel. He could have brought Trance out of his graveyard with Exemplar's effect. You could have used Spell Power Grasp to power up your lab and bring out another monster, such as your Breaker or another monster, far sooner. Endymion is a mighty magician, a rival for my Dark Magician, but you used him poorly in this match. Time and time again you could have activated his effect to destroy Joey's monster and end the duel but instead you drew it out. I don't know why you felt the need to torture him like that but I won't let you hurt him further." He narrowed his eyes and with the coldest of voices he declared like a warlord on his throne of skulls, "As for your goddess... I have seen her. Spoken to her. And I know that she will do nothing to protect humanity. All she cares about is you."

My face screwed up in confusion at that last part but I decided to shove it aside; I could puzzle over the knowledge that apparently the Pharaoh had talked with whatever force had brought me to this world later. For now I needed to deal with his temper tantrum and his slander against my character.

"Well, this is certainly interesting," Pegasus said, bemused.

I was focused on the Pharaoh though. And the more I rolled over what he had said... the angrier I got. Again with the holier than thou attitude. Again thinking he knew best. Again the double standards.

Enough.

I narrowed my eyes and shifted so Mai was put behind me. "How dare you stand there and judge me and how I duel. I didn't break any rules. I didn't do anything dishonorable. I chose my moments and it won me the match. I didn't resurrect Trance because its better to have an Ace in the hole than to wastefully flood the field with monsters that can't do a thing to help me. I didn't use Spell Power Grasp because I needed to hold onto that spell card to use Endymion's effect to remove that trap. And I didn't destroy Joey's dragons with said effect because I had no idea what his trap card was... it could have been something that destroyed my monster as well and I had less lifepoints. Or something that saved his monster and would have left me in a lurch.

"But you didn't consider that for a moment, did you? Instead you decided back with PaniK... maybe back with Pennywise... that I lacked honor and thus you had the right to look down your nose and judge me. Never mind all you do! You play your own mind games, you twist the rules to serve yourself... oh, but when you do it... so honorable. Tell me... had I tried to kill Joey by blasting him off the edge of the castle would I have regained my honor?"

The Pharaoh flinched at that. "I was wrong-"

"Did everyone hear that?" I bellowed. "He admits he is wrong! Check for leprechauns because it is a day for the impossible to be made true!"

"Hey man," Joey said, stepping forward, "no need-"

"There is all the need," I retorted.

"I was wrong," the Pharaoh repeated before defiantly glaring at me. "But I was fighting for a greater cause. All you've cared about, Edwin, is lining your pocket. You sent Kaiba against Pegasus, knowing he would lose-"

"Because Edwin isn't a fool," Pegasus chimed in with a chuckle.

"-and happily accepted payment for it. You used Kaiba's desperation against him."

"I also saved Mokuba when you would have allowed Sally to drag him back to the castle," I reminded him. "You seem to forget about that! You BET a child's freedom on a duel! Or what have if I hadn't stepped in! So don't ever claim you have the moral high ground there... I don't hurt kids. Like you." I trembled, hands balled into fists. "And I got Seto to pay me the first time in order to try and help Serenity. I didn't want the millions... I did what we AGREED! Are you telling me that if you beat me you won't do the same?" I sneered in disgust. "And using someone's desperation against them? That's rich coming from you."

"I don't use people, Edwin."

"You're using Yugi right now," I said, grasping the verbal knife and plunging it right into the Pharaoh's arrogant heart.

He reeled from the blow. "W-what?"

"You think I forgot the battle against the Spirit of the Ring?" I taunted. "I remember all too well." My hand went to my throat and I forced myself not to stare at Bakura; I knew the Spirit of the Ring was in control and eyeing me up almost hungrily. "There are two Yugis. The real one... and you. The Spirit that used a child's desperation for friendship in order to get another chance at life. I was wrong when I called Pennywise a parasite... you're the parasite, Spirit. You had your chance at life and now you are stealing what little time Yugi has on this world... be it 60 years or a 100 you are STILL taking it away from him. And why?" I leaned in. "To play a card game." I huffed. "Parasite. A cowardly one at that. One that only comes out for duels but doesn't actually live. You cower from life!

"You're a hypocrite and I'm tired of you judging me. I am Edwin Chaos and you have no right to judge me! But let's do this in the only way you understand! Screw waiting! Screw recovering! I have a deck, you have a deck... let's give Pegasus a show!"

The Pharaoh stared at me before steeling himself. "Very well, Edwin. It is time I at last showed the world what you really are."

"And me you. So put on your Sunday dress and dancing shoes because ITS TIME TO DUEL!"