善良妈妈的朋友

Chapter 78: Chapter 78

\'And they\'ll be in for a rude awakening,\' she thought as she glared at the man. "What are you doing in my room?" she demanded.

"I\'m not technically in your room," Brom pointed out. "I\'m in the hall."

"You opened the door."

"The door opened," he said.

Mai frowned, not bothering to say anything about that as she could smell a technicality argument coming right at her and she wasn\'t in the mood for it. "Well, I want some privacy."

"Privacy is a good thing," the tall man said. "There are a lot of people who don\'t understand just how important it truly is." He gave a casual shrug. "There are people in this world who think that the only way to fill the void in their lives is to surround themselves with others. They seek out parties and festivals and all sorts of places where one finds happy people and then that being around them will make them happy. But... peace of mind isn\'t the chicken pox. You can\'t be infected by it. Happiness is a plant. It must be nurtured... or it withers."

Mai scoffed. "This is all fun and interesting but I\'m doing great so if you could..." she made a \'scooch, scooch\' motion with her hands.

But Brom didn\'t move. "Are you?" he asked.

She let out a huff at that. "Oh, are we doing the \'count my blessings\' thing now? Sure, let\'s go with that. I am an amazing duelist. One of the Top 5 in the world before this tournament and I will be the Number 1 duelist when I defeat my boyfriend in the final round... and most likely make a side bet that he has to give me footrubs for a year." She tilted her head. "Wait... no. I don\'t have to make that bet because my boyfriend is amazing and actually loves to do things like that for me. And even though I have an amazing body and killer looks he likes me dressed down and casual because he actually loves me for my wit. And before you think it is one sided he makes me want to take care of him too. I have loyal friends who would burn cities to the ground for me and I would do the same for them. So please, tell me why I shouldn\'t be happy? Because from where I am standing I VERY much am!"

Brom just stared at her.

"Well?" she asked.

"It is hard to be happy with all you have when you know a fickle goddess could cast it all away."

Mai rolled her eyes skyward. "Well, there is that." Leaving it to the shrink to make her situation sound so utterly bland and casual. \'Honestly, the way he makes it sound its like-\'

She snapped her head quickly back in Brom\'s direction as what he had said truly sunk in.

"Wait... who told you about that?" She doubted Edwin had let it slip... unless he had sought the man out for advice. \'Which is possible but why not lead with that? Why not tell me that Edwin had sought him out instead of playing whatever game he might be involved in?\'

Brom though shook his head. "No one told me."

"Then how did you know?" Mai asked.

"I saw the signs."

"Because dealing with a deranged goddess is something you have experience in?" Mai snapped.

Brom though merely smirked. "Yes."

"...wait, what?"

But before she could press him further the intercom system flared to life.

"Attention Duelists! The next match has been determined! Joey Wheeler will face Brom Bones! Both duelists have 10 minutes to head to the arena or forfeit the match."

"Well," the therapist said, giving Mai a half bow, "it seems we are delayed again. Still, I suppose we\'ll have plenty of time to go over all this soon enough."

And with that he turned, leaving Mai with only questions.

~MC~MC~MC~

On CCN the graphics for Battle City appeared for several moments before Marc Jeice\'s face appeared on the screen.

"Welcome back to the Battle City finals!" the Australian man declared. "We had a ripper of a duel an hour ago as Edwin Chaos defeated his protégée, Mokuba Kaiba, in a thrilling battle of monsters and magic."

"That\'s right, Marc!" Scott Burter said. "While Mokuba showed us that dueling runs in the KaibaCorp bloodline it wasn\'t enough to overcome Edwin Chaos, who has proven in his short time dueling competitively that he is not someone to be trifled with."

"Wonder if that is how he got Mai Valentine\'s attention in the first place," Marc teased.

"He certainly surrounds himself with skilled duelists. The King of Games, the Former #1\'s little brother, the European Champion, and the best female duelist in the world."

The camera shifted over to show a graphic depicting Joey Wheeler and Brom Bones staring intently at each other.

"But with Edwin and Mokuba\'s duel done it is time to move on to our next battle and it looks like it could easily top the barn burner we just had."

"That\'s right, Marc!" Scott declared as the camera switched to him, revealing the image of Joey Wheeler. "First up we have one of the finalists in Duelist Kingdom: Joey Wheeler! Best friend to the King of Games Yugi Muto, Joey has managed to impress in his rookie year even when the likes of Yugi Muto and Edwin Chaos to be measured against."

"Joey has been using a Red-Eyes Deck," Marc stated, "designed to overcome his opponent with a variety of fusion monsters and burn damage. But what people might not remember is that Joey has a second deck he gained during Battle City. In the very first battle of Battle City Joey took on Ogden Winniehammer, betting his deck against Ogden\'s Zombie Deck."

"Which interestingly enough had a Red-Eyes Necro Zombie Dragon as the key card," Scott said. "If Joey does decide to go with that deck he will have many options when it comes to what monsters to call out. Zombie Decks have many different monsters, both original and zombified, that can easily overwhelm their foes."

"And Joey will need them as he takes on Brom Bones," Marc stated, the graphic changing to Brom\'s image. "Known as the Cerebral Assassin, Brom is a cunning duelist who took out all comers to claim the title of North American Champion."

Scott nodded. "While in his day to day life he works as a psychologist Brom has no problems using those skills in defeating his foes. More than one duelist has found themselves utterly flummoxed by his quick wit and deep dives into their psyches. In fact there are several duelists who have stated that they are waiting to return to the American dueling scene until Brom is defeated, fearing taking him on!"

"And now we\'ll see if Joey Wheeler has what it takes to defeat Brom as the next round of Battle City begins now!"

~MC~MC~MC~

Joey frowned as he looked over his decks. \'My Red-Eyes Deck has been serving me well in the tournament. With it I\'ve managed to take on so many strong duelists. And with the ante rule I\'ve added new spells and traps ta help boost my deck\'s power.\' He paused, his mind flashing to the dock. \'But... it was this deck that almost got Mr. Muto killed. I know it wasn\'t the Red-Eyes Black Dragon\'s fault but I can\'t be sure I won\'t freeze up when I see it again.\'

His hand went to the deck that Yugi\'s grandpa had given him, the Poker Knights deck.

\'This is a really powerful deck... and I have some experience with it.\' He frowned. \'But... I haven\'t really had a chance to study it all that much and figure out all the combos. I get the sense that Gramps wants me to discover \'em for myself and I will... but I don\'t think Battle City is the place ta do that! And certainly not in the finals!\'

At last his hand went to his new Zombie Deck.

\'But I\'ve been lookin\' over this deck since I got it. And I know how Zombie duelists battle.\' He thought to Bonz trapping him in that underground cave and sending his zombies at him. His mind traveled to the very first duel of Battle City and the Rare Hunter that had taken his Red-Eyes Black Dragon. \'If I can\'t use my normal Red-Eyes Deck then this might be my best bet. If I can win with this I\'ll feel better about using my normal Red-Eyes deck again. And after I beat this guy I\'ll be able to look over Gramp\'s deck and understand how ta use that!\'

Having finally decided Joey took out his deck and began to shuffle it, Brom doing the same with his own.

"You like to gamble, don\'t you Mr. Wheeler?" Brom asked politely. "I studied up on all the duelists in Duelist Kingdom. Yugi Muto likes to build up his monsters and set complex traps. Mai Valentine preferred using spells to deflect or empower. Edwin Chaos relied upon his spell cards, not just for their power but what they gave him to help his monsters. And you... you gamble. You set up some plans but for the most part you live on the razor\'s edge... or the deck\'s edge, I suppose." He chuckled at that and Joey didn\'t get the joke. "I wonder if you\'ve changed since then."

"Eh, why don\'t we stop with the yakkin\' and find out in a duel?" Joey said, drawing his cards. He had been given the right to start and thus held up his first card. "I\'ll begin by playin\' Allure of Darkness, which allows me ta draw two cards but I have ta banish one Dark Monster from my hand afterwards or lose my entire hand!" Joey drew. \'Luckily I already had a couple dark monsters in my hand so there was never any risk... but what with all his talk about me gamblin\' I ain\'t gonna let him know that!\' Joey smiled as he banished his Mad Mauler. "And now I\'m gonna summon my Gozuki to da field!" He didn\'t get why the bipedal bull man was a zombie as he looked pretty alive and well to him, but Joey figured it didn\'t matter so long as it helped him win the duel. "And now I\'ll use his special effect! See, I can send one Zombie Monster from my deck directly ta my graveyard... and I know just which one I\'m gonna go for!" He took out his deck till he found the right card. "Its my Necroworld Banshee... and she ain\'t stayin\' in the graveyard for long!"

On the field the ghostly female appeared, looking about with a forlorn expression... before throwing back her head and letting out a scream that caused the entire field to ripple and distort. The sky grew dark and corpse-eating plants began to grow and bones formed around Joey.

"Oh, I don\'t think I like Joey\'s new deck at all!" Tea complained.

"See, by banishin\' my Necroworld Zombie I am able ta activate directly from my deck my Zombie World field spell!" He grinned, running his thumb along the tip of his nose. "And this field is a doozy of a one." Mentally he added, \'I don\'t know what kind of deck Brom is runnin\' but whatever it is he\'s gonna be in for a world of trouble when I begin turnin\' his monsters inta zombies! That will disrupt a lot of his combos, makin\' it easier for me to overwhelm him!\'

Brom drew his own cards. "I\'ll set one monster facedown and end my turn."

Joey chuckled. "Afraid of what I got on my side of the field? Well, I don\'t blame ya, pal! I would be too! Course ya don\'t have a choice when I begin attackin\' your monsters! But before I do that let me have Gozuki use his affect again, sending this time my Alghoul Mazera from my deck to the graveyard!" he retrieved the card from his deck and slotted it into the graveyard section of his duel disc. \'That will be helpful later on,\' Joey thought. \'How\'s that for only gamblin\', huh? I can set things up just like Yugi or Ed!\' He paused. \'Though I think now I\'m in the mood ta destroy some monsters! Let\'s see what his monster is lookin\' like all rotted!\' Outloud Joey said, "And now Gozuki, attack his downface monster!" The bull man nodded before lifting up his hammer, easily hefting it up before bringing it down on the downface card...

...revealing a little skeleton boy.

It was almost comical how the bony child\'s skull went popping out and his jaw opened wide before he shattered into pieces. But Brom didn\'t seem that concerned at all, merely shrugging before he took out his deck.

"You destroyed my Wightprince," Brom stated. "And when he is sent to the graveyard I am able to send from my deck my Lady in Wight... and my Skull Servant."

He held up the cards, both of which were skeleton people.

Joey\'s eyes slowly widened as he realized what that meant.

\'Aw man! He\'s usin\' a zombie deck too! That means that my Zombie World Field Spell ain\'t gonna do anything to him!\'

"And now," Brom said, reaching into his long black coat and pulling out his white skull half mask and putting it on, "I believe it is my turn to show you the power of Death."

~MC~MC~MC~

"And Brom Bones has just made Joey\'s Zombie World tactic obsolete!" Marc declared.

"That\'s right," Scott said. "For those that don\'t know the Skull Servant/Wight subtype or skeletal zombie monsters all focused on- Oh! Brom is already making a move!"

"I activate Foolish Burial, which allows me to send one monster from my deck to the graveyard. I\'ll select... this one." Brom pulled out the card, putting it in his graveyard without revealing what it was.

"That\'s classic Brom Bones tactics," Marc stated. "Many of his duel opponents have complained that he hates to reveal information, leaving them in the dark until he springs his traps on them."

"Nothing wrong with that, Marc," Scott said. "Many duelists are too quick to offer up information they don\'t need too. Sometimes keeping things secret is a strong strategy."

Brom held up another spell card. "And now I activate Dark Eruption, which allows me to blast from the graveyard one monster with 1500 or less attack back to my hand." Before Brom the field rumbled and began to rise up before there was a mighty blast, a card popping out of his duel disc which he took right back. "And now I can summon the monster that I just sent to my graveyard, only to return!"

"A great move by Brom!" marc said. "Using two cards he was able to search out a monster from his deck and get it into position for summoning! Let\'s see what it is... though I think anyone who has dueled Brom before knows what is coming!"

Brom\'s mouth twisting into a massive dark grin, so large and wide it seemed like he suddenly had far too many teeth in his mouth. "I now summon forth The King of the Skull Servants!"

The ground began to crack and buckle again... before a simple purple robed skeleton appeared on the field.

~MC~MC~MC~

It wasn\'t even that big. Nor was its skeleton some kind of demonic looking thing, like Yugi\'s Summoned Skull. The robes it wore were pathetic tattered things, like what one would see a poor beggar wear in a fantasy movie.

He couldn\'t help it... Joey began to laugh.

"That\'s what ya did all that for? That?" He pointed at the King of the Skull Servants, nearly doubling over as he brayed. "Look at it! I\'ve seen Halloween decorations that were scarier than that! Heck, I think I\'ve seen Christmas Decorations scarier than that little guy!" Joey gasped for air, settling himself... only to break down into mad giggles once more as he looked again upon the monster. "I mean... come on man! That ain\'t nothing! I mean sure, most people\'s skeletons don\'t walk around but that ain\'t nothin\'!"

Brom merely watched him.

"...what kind of fucking life has Joey been leading that he thinks SOME people\'s skeletons walk around?" Ed asked.

Mai looked at him, "Technically everyone\'s skeletons walk around."

Joey finally wiped a tear away. "Alright pal... how about ya show me what the real threat is, would ya? Because that monster and its..." he blinked as the Atk/Def graphic popped up on the screen, "Zero attack points?" Joey didn\'t begin laughing at that though it was struggle all the same. "Okay... okay... that monster and its zero attack points ain\'t a threat so ya must have something else planned!"

Brom considered Joey for a long moment. "Have you ever taken the time to read the flavor text on Normal Monsters?"

Joey blinked. "What? No! No one cares about that useless garbage."

~MC~MC~MC~

"I\'LL KILL HIM!" Cassie, the Industrial Illusions Lore Mistress, screamed as she tried to throw herself at the television. Try being the key word as the rest of the KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions staff that had come to her place to watch the finals were holding her back. "DIE YOU IGNORANT BLOND BITCH!"

"Don\'t let her go!" Martin cried out, arms wrapped around her waist.

"HOW IS SHE THIS STRONG?!" Aria whined.

"She has a knife!" Sally screamed.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Hmm... that is unfortunate... but not unexpected," Brom stated. "Back when Duel Monsters first began it was rare for monsters to have effects. Usually only the weakest of them did. The powerful ones were large and strong but they could only attack. It has only been with the evolution of the game that effects have become more important and Flavor Text become more rare, left to lore books to cover."

"Yeah? So what?" Joey asked.

"You fucking idiot," Ed said and Joey glanced over to see the blond man holding his head in his hands.

Brom continued on. "The original Skull Servant had the flavor text that while it might not appear that strong it was dangerous in large numbers. And Pegasus decided to... roll with that, as it were."

Joey glanced at Pegasus who shrugged, a smile forming on his lips. "I was inspired."

"The Skull Servant is, well... a servant to the House of Wight, of group of undead zombies who have been reduced to their skeletons. And while one or two is easily slain... a horde is a different matter."

The ground below the King of the Skull Servants began to rise up once more, cracks forming as it bulged like a blood blister. Joey took a step back as the soil of Zombie World grew thin before it burst, letting out a shower of bones that poured out and around the King of the Skull Servants, rising him in the air. The pile grew till it was roughly the height of the King that stood upon it, the skeleton monster looking down at Joey.

Then the eyes within the skulls littered in the pile began to glow.

"Oh, that can\'t be good," Joey murmured as the skulls opened their mouths and purple energy began to float from their jaws, rising like smoke before zipping over to the King of the Skull Servants, surrounding him and creating a deep violet aura around him.

The attack graphic appeared again... and began to increase.

"The King of the Skull Servants draws on the power of his fallen kind. For every Skull Servant and Wight in my graveyard his attack increases by 1000."

"1000!?" Tea, Tristan, and Duke all exclaimed.

Joey was just as shocked. "Bu... bu... bu that means your King of the Skull Servants has an attack of 3000!"

"That\'s as power as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Yugi declared.

"That it is," Brom said simply. "Allow me to show you his power. King of the Skull Servants, attack Joey\'s Gozuki!" The King nodded, thrusting out his hands before the hill of bones he stood upon suddenly launched out all manner of bits and pieces, the broken bones stabbing into Gozuki until the monster finally shattered. (Joey-2700)

"Joey!" Serenity cried out.

"Its okay," Koyo assured her. "He still has plenty of lifepoints left."

\'But not for long if I let Brom keep hittin\' me like that,\' Joey thought to himself. \'That blow took out a third of my life points... and now if I don\'t get somethin\' on the field that King of the Skull Servants is gonna wipe out all of my lifepoints in one hit!\' He looked at his graveyard. \'Thank goodness I planned ahead!\' Out loud Joey said, "Ya might have defeated my Gozuki but that don\'t mean he\'s done causin\' ya problems, pal! I activate his final effect, which allows me to banish the Alghoul Mazera I sent to my graveyard last turn from the game. And when I do that I can then summon my Glow-Up Bloom in response."

On the field a flower appeared.

"Aw," Tea said with a smile... only to shriek when the bulb of the flower shifted to reveal an EYE. "I hate zombies!" Tea complained.

"Sorry Tea," Joey said. "And sorry Brom but I ain\'t done yet. See, when Alghoul Mazera is banished I can summon him right back to the field in defense mode and reduce his level from 8 ta 7." The ghostly ghoul appeared, settling on the field. "That will protect my lifepoints from ya."

"We\'ll see," Brom said simply setting a card on the field. "It is interesting though how quickly you\'ve taken to that deck... especially when zombies have been linked to some of your darker moments."

"Eh, what are ya talkin\' about?"

"Your first time truly encountering them was when you had feuded with your friends. You had lost to Seto Kaiba... he embarrassed you, shook the confidence and faith you had in yourself and your ability to duel. He defeated you soundly, Joey, and you were left unsure of yourself. You had insulted Edwin, driving him, Mai, and Mokuba from your group, and felt utter shame for your action. And most importantly of all you took Edwin\'s work to help your sister and threw it away."

"What?" Serenity said, eyes going wide. "What are you talking about? Joey earned the money for my surgery."

"Ignore him, Serenity," Tristan said, glaring at the American duelist. "He doesn\'t know what he\'s talking about."

But Brom merely shook his head at that. "You do her no favors when you hide the truth from her. While there are, at times, the need for secrets this is not one of them. Allowing her to falsely place the thanks onto one and not the other is disrespectful. And it does not allow her to have a healthy relationship with those around her if she does not understand all that happened."

"Hey!" Tea exclaimed. "How about you lay off!"

"I am merely pointing out the truth," the shrink stated. "You are allowing her to develop hero worship for her brother... she must see he is a man. Flesh and blood. Capable of mistakes." He looked at Serenity. "Your brother did not earn the money for your operation. In fact he cost you your first chance to have it."

"...what?" Serenity whispered, looking over at Joey. But he squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head, unable to look at her.

"Edwin Chaos made a deal with Seto Kaiba-"

Said duelist growled low in his throat, eyes flashing gold. "That\'s enough, Brom."

"It is not and that posturing won\'t affect me." He didn\'t smile, which was the worst thing about it. They could have hated him if he\'d made it clear that all of this was posturing to throw Joey off his game. But the man truly believed that this was for the best and thus could not be frightened and bullied into stopping. "Edwin Chaos made a deal to protect Mokuba Kaiba so that Seto could go after Pegasus. What he didn\'t know was that Edwin would have done this for free."

Now Seto was glaring at Edwin while Mokuba looked back and forth between his brother and Edwin.

"However, he and Yugi Muto had made a pact to help you get the money for your operation, Serenity. They planned to donate the funds if they won Duelist Kingdom... which Yugi did. However... Edwin secured the funding first from Seto."

"Don\'t..." Yugi whispered.

"Joey though didn\'t like that and challenged Seto... double or nothing."

Unable to look at his sister Joey stood there, body trembling.

"Seto defeated him easily and Edwin was given the money with the agreement that he couldn\'t donate a penny of it to you, Serenity. When Edwin\'s anger got the better of him and he verbally attack Joey for this... your brother mocked Edwin over the death of his mother."

"I did not!" Joey shouted, finally snapped his head up, though his hair thankfully hid his tear-streaked eyes. "I... I just... I didn\'t..."

"Joey?" Serenity whispered. "You... you did that..."

"He did it because he wanted to be your hero," Edwin said firmly, jaw set. "He went to Duelist Kingdom... he risked being arrested by Pegasus... risked his cards and everything he had to try and give you a chance to see again. I didn\'t give a damn about the money and neither did Yugi... we were inspired by his love for you. That\'s why we let him take the credit." Her glared hard at Brom. "Something this skull faced bastard doesn\'t get."

"I "get it" entirely," Brom assured him. "It is a noble thing you did, to help a friend and not out of a need for glory. But... you have allowed Joey and Serenity to build their new relationship on a false base."

"New relationship?" Joey demanded, anger flowing through his veins. "Man, what are ya talkin\' about? I know Serenity... she is my sister!"

"One you haven\'t seen in 7 years," Brom countered. "She is an entirely different person... and so are you. Yet you cling to the notion that she is a helpless child that must be guided everywhere... that you must hold her hand and tell her not to touch a hot stove." He sighed. "Do you not see how unhealthy that is? And while it is understandable that you wish to be her hero you have made her believe that you hang the sun in the sky. You do not. You are flawed, as are all of us. Such thoughts... it is why the gods have lost their way."

"This is all lovely," Seto said dryly and for once Joey was happy Kaiba was butting his way in, "but did you forget that this isn\'t a therapy session? This is a tournament and I expect you two to duel... now."

"Of course," Brom said with a soft smile. "And I forgive you for your words... losing your parents and being unable to save them has left you with the need to control everything or you return once more to that scared little boy who had to swallow up his own despair because he had his little brother barely hanging onto sanity. Though I do think you would do well with some sessions of your own... yet you are right." He turned to Joey. "I believe it is your move?"

~MC~MC~MC~

"oooh fuck," I slowly moan.

"That was bad, wasn\'t it?" Yuri said as Joey stood there, gritting his teeth and bouncing back and forth between rage and despair. "I only followed about half of that but it was bad."

"We never told you about Duelist Kingdom?" Mai asked, surprised.

"I think everyone forgets I didn\'t get sucked into your madness until just before Battle City." She gestured at her Mohawk. "I was a straight laced police girl before you fools corrupted me."

I reached down, rubbing my side. "I think your father had a role to play in that..." Yuri winced and at once I felt regret at my comment. "Sorry."

"Why? My dad stabbed you... you are just telling the truth." She glanced at us. "But what Brom said... that was all true?"

"All of it," Mai confirmed before I could say a word. "Edwin made the deal with Kaiba to get paid for watching over the kid and gave the money to Joey... and then he turned around and bet double or nothing against Kaiba." She glanced at Serenity, who was standing there looking utterly lost. "He lost... badly. Edwin and him fought and that bastard-"

"Mai," I said, cutting her off. "Please."

"No," she snapped in annoyance. "He insulted your mom, Edwin. He said no one cared that she was dead. You think I would forgive that?"

Something flashed in Mai\'s eyes and her glower grew darker even as her hair suddenly straightened.

"You care for her, lover," Selene hissed, "and that little fool used it as a weapon again you? I nearly revealed myself early because of that."

And just as quickly as she was there the goddess was gone.

"...Selene?" Mai asked.

"Apparently you two agree on two things: You love me and you aren\'t happy about Joey\'s comments."

Renard finally spoke up. "But you talked it out?"

"Me and Joey?" I asked. "No... not really." I grimaced. "I just let it go."

"Forgive and forget?" Yuri questioned.

"Neither," I stated. "I\'ll never forget he said that. I\'ll never forgive him for it either. But I try to understand where he is coming from... and remind myself there are larger things in this world."

Before any of my friends could push me further on the subject Joey spoke up. "Ya like ta drag out all sorts of stuff from people\'s past, don\'t ya? That\'s your bit... how ya rattle people. Well guess what? I\'ve taken on people who played mind games like that before! I beat Mai when she was pullin\' her fake psychic routine-"

"Ugh, don\'t reminder me," Mai moaned.

"Not your finest hour," I commented.

"-I beat Bonz and his creepy zombies. I took out that Crowler guy who kept callin\' me a slacker-"

"Wait, what?" I said in surprise, mind grinding to a halt at the idea of GX having invaded the world already.

"-and I\'m gonna beat ya right here, right now!"

"Ya Joey!" Tristan cheered. "Take out that creep."

Brom though wasn\'t fazed. "I merely spoke the truth. You can hate the truth but that doesn\'t change it."

"Eh, shut up and watch this!" Joey exclaimed. "I use my Glow-Up Bloom ta tune my Alghoul Mazera!" The Glow-Up Bloom began to glow before forming into white rings, the larger zombie racing into them as it turned into energy. "I now I\'ll Syncro Summon my Skeletal Dragon Felgand!"

The monster that appeared on the field was long in every sense of the word. Overly long arms and legs. Long wings. A long neck with a long head on top with a long pointed chin. Its scales were black, like the worst of rotting flesh, and covering those scales was yellowed bone. A pale blue tongue darted out as it settled on the field, snarling as it looked at the King of the Skull Servants.

"Now then, because I don\'t trust that King ta remain in the graveyard if I send\'em there I\'m gonna just rid myself of him! I activate Felgrand\'s special ability, which allows him to banish one monster from your field or graveyard when he is summoned. Skeletal Dragon Felgrand, banish that so-called King!"

The dragon flared out its wings before giving them several flaps, causing the King of the Skull Servants to rather comically scramble to remain on his perch. But it was a doomed affair and within moments he was blown away and out of the game.

"That\'s it Joey!" Koyo called out. "Way to get right back into the game!"

"Thanks man!" Joey called out before turning to Brom. "And I ain\'t done yet. See, when my Glow-Up Bloom\'s in the graveyard I can banish him as well and add one Level 5 or higher zombie from my deck to my hand." Joey paused. "Or at least, that would be what I\'d do if I didn\'t have Zombie World on the field. With that in play I can just summon my monster right out! So say hello to the Doomking Balerdroch!"

A large black zombie serpent creature appeared on the field, its own face a skeletal mask . The blue flames of Zombie World burned around it and its chestplate was made from a Red-Eyes Black Dragon\'s skull. In its hands it held a staff made from bone with the crystalline eye of the Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon in the center. It cackled as it settled onto the field.

"Now see there? THAT is a king!" Joey smirked as he cracked his neck. "And let me show ya how he rules! Doomking Balerdroch and Skeletal Dragon Felgrand? Attack directly and end this here duel!"

"Joey\'s gonna win!" Mokuba exclaimed.

"I don\'t think so," I said softly, eyes only on Brom\'s facedown.

And sure enough... he activated it.

"Reveal my face down: Wight Force!"

The trap card looked similar to Mirror Force at a glance but a closer look showed that the barrier had a definitely skull-like appearance.

"For each Wight monster I sent from my deck to the graveyard I can destroy one attack position monster on the field. So I another Wightprince along with my Wightmare go the graveyard to destroy your two monsters!"

"No, my monsters!" Joey exclaimed as his Skeletal Dragon Felgrand and Doomking Balerdroch were shattered by the ghostly wave of energy that smashed into them.

"And because I sent a Wightprince to the graveyard I can once again send two more Wight monsters from my deck to the graveyard. So I send another Skull Servant and another Lady in Wight there."

"Oh no!" Tea exclaimed. "This isn\'t good at all! Joey\'s field is wide open!"

Tristan nodded as it seemed to all of us that Brom had grown giant in size, looming over the field, a dark aura behind him as Joey stood against him. "And if Brom is able to summon another monster like that King of the Skull Servants then Joey is gonna be done for!"

~MC~MC~MC~

Chaosverse Omake

Earth 16

Paris

"You know, everyone talks about how amazing it would be if unicorns were real," Kid Flash complained as he raced along the battlefield, dodging bolts of magic. "But I don\'t think 7 foot tall Minotaur-Unicorns with fire axes were what every little girl was hoping for when they blew out their candles!"

"What little girl wastes a birthday wish on unicorns?" Artemis asked as she fired an arrow at one of the monstrous unicorns, the beast catching it with her bare hand and snapping it easily... only for the thing to explode, sending her toppling. "I used to wish for cash."

"I didn\'t need to wish for that," Robin said with a smirk as he threw a few batarangs. "Batman always gives cash." He flung himself in the air, spinning as he avoided a swing from a fire axe, planting his hands on the shoulders of one of the unicorn monsters and using it as a springboard to flip himself away from harm. "Not just for birthdays either. Christmas, New Years... one day he gave me a stack of fifties for Arbor Day."

"Wanna swap?" Wally asked.

"I look forward to trying out these \'birthday wishes\',\' Miss Martin said as she phased to avoid a blast. "I will wish for world peace."

"Sounds like a scam to me," Superboy said as he grabbed a tree and flung it right at two of the unicorn monsters.

"It isn\'t," Zatanna commented. "Its belief magic. Of course that\'s why you have to keep your wishes small... or abstract."

"World peace is an abstract," Miss Martin pointed out.

"We need to focus," Aqualad stated. "If we don\'t these unicorn women will overwhelm us. We still don\'t know who summoned them. The Justice League is dealing with the hydra that was summoned but we need to determine the source of this madness."

"Oh," a familiar voice called out, "that would be me."

"Klarion," Artemis said turning and firing in the direction of the Chaos user. She knew it was hopeless, as Dr. Fate had drilled it into all their heads that a Lord of Chaos couldn\'t actually be defeated, but that didn\'t mean couldn\'t hold out a touch of hope that, just once, she\'d catch the little jerk off guard.

But no, Klarion easily vaporized the arrow and the Team turned to face him... only for them all to frown as they took in his appearance.

"Get a haircut?" Kid Flash said, staring at Klarion.

"I thought I\'d try something different," Klarion said. He was older, looking to be maybe in his late teens to early 20s, with dark blonde hair and a beard that framed his mouth. He reached up and formed a pair of glasses, adjusting them. "Won\'t change the fact that I am going to destroy you. This is just the start... I\'ve come up with a whole menagerie of beasts to-"

Klarion froze as, from seemingly out of no where, a hand appeared and picked him up back the back of his jacket, hefting him into the air like one would scruff a cat.

"What... do you think you are doing?" a voice asked and slowly the light of the fire axes and the shadows of the buildings around them twisted together to form... another blonde haired man. Only this one stood nearly 8 feet tall, towering over them all as he glared at the Witch Boy.

"L-Lord Terach," Klarion stammered (and that had the Team tense; Klarion was NEVER nervous or startled), "I just thought-"

"That you would parade around with my face?" Lord Terach asked, cutting off Klarion. "Make it so when I appeared to the heroes of this realm they instantly distrusted me?" He narrowed his eyes before waving his hand and all but one two of the unicorn monsters disappeared. And those two suddenly twisted and shrank, their bodies becoming far more pony-like as their coats turned to white and purple.

"Darling I just had the weirdest dream," the white one said.

Terach chuckled. "Tell Lord Discord to keep a better watch on his realm." He snapped his fingers and the two ponies disappeared.

"Who are you?" Aqualad asked.

"Lord Terach."

"Another Lord of Chaos," Robin commented.

That though made Terach shake his head. "No... the ONLY Lord of Chaos."

"What?" Klarion asked, startled by that.

The giant of a man chuckled at his surprise. "Oh, you haven\'t been around... I\'ve decided that we needed to reorganize. Streamline. As such there has been some... changes in management. Namely... you\'re all fired."

"F-fired?" Klarion asked. "What do you mean, \'fired\'?"

"Um, how else can I say it? "You\'re being let go." "Your department\'s being downsized." "You\'re part of an outplacement." "We\'re going in a different direction." "We\'re not picking up your option." Take your pick."

Klarion swallowed before declaring in a shrill voice, "You can\'t get rid of the Lords of Chaos!"

"Oh... I very much can. And already have. You were the last. I sparred you since you are still technically a youth but... well..." His eyes went from normal steely blue to black and white, entire universes held within his sockets, "you decided to try and screw me over."

Lord Terach thrust out his hand and the entirety of the Justice League appeared before him, all in mid fighting poses. Wonder Woman toppled as her punch hit nothing, Superman slammed into the ground, and Green Arrow yelped when Green Lantern\'s boxing glove construct hit his own boxing glove arrow. It would have been rather comical if not for the sheer power the Lord of Chaos was tossing about.

"Right," Terach said, walking towards them, "let\'s get this over with. There is a change in management. The Lords of Chaos are gone, never to return. Things are going back to the way they should. Speaking of..."

Doctor Fate let out a cry as he was suddenly dragged over to the Lord of Chaos, unable to even fire a single spell at the being.

"Really?" he said, glaring at the Justice League. "Its bad enough you are creating child soldiers... but allowing a kidnapper who forced his spirit into an innocent man after threatening two children to be on your team? And people say I\'m twisted."

"You do not scare me, Lord of Chaos," Doctor Fate stated.

"Nabu, Nabu, Nabu... you really haven\'t cottoned on, have you?" He leaned in. "I didn\'t just eliminate the Lords of Chaos."

"...no."

"Oh! NOW you felt it!" He chuckled before looking over his shoulder. "The Lords of Order are gone too."

"What did you do?" Superman asked, getting up from where he\'d fallen.

"Chaos... Order... they are the same coin, just different sides. All I\'m doing is righting things. This stupid war between the two... well, its done. Over. Without Chaos the world would grow stagnant. Without Order the world would never have a chance to build and develop. There needs to be a harmony... and I\'m the one to do it."

"You... you can\'t!" Doctor Fate roared.

"Have, done, wrote a book about it. I am the Lord of Chaos and Order. But don\'t worry, Nabu... there is a place for you in all this."

And with that he ripped the Helmet of Fate off of the hero\'s head and jammed it onto Klarion\'s skull.

At once the Witch Boy fell, hands grasping at the helm... but only for a moment. Then he froze, body turning to stone.

"...pity, I was hoping that they\'d learn to work together. Oh well." He looked at the smartly dressed man hovering in the air. "Giovanni Zatara... go hug your daughter." With that he sent Zatara over to Zatanna, who sniffed, tears in her eyes before launching herself at her dad, weeping. "Well, I think that\'s about it..."

"You expect to just walk away?" Batman said, eyes narrowed. "You killed Doctor Fate."

"I destroyed Nabu, a foul little spirit who believed it was okay to mind rape people and take over bodies in the name of the Greater Good. A demon does that and you exorcise them, yes?" He shook his head and called out, "Okay, I\'m all done!"

"Good," A tall british woman said, dressed in a red and white hero outfit stated, stepping out from behind the trees, "I was wondering when you\'d finish."

"Holly, be nice," a man in a blue and white outfit said, joining her. "Hi," he said cheerfully, waving to the confused heroes. "Don Hall. This is Holly Granger."

"Secret identities, Donnie!" a man in a similar outfit to Holly declared.

"Come on Hank, they\'ll figure it out! It\'s the Justice League," a final woman, in another blue and white outfit stated with a grin. "Dawn Granger. Holly\'s sister and Hank\'s girlfriend. Holly is dating Don. It\'s a thing."

"We\'ll take care of Terach," Don stated.

Aquaman frowned. "You can defeat him?"

"Noooo," Holly said slowly. "We do that we lose our powers. We just keep him occupied." She motioned to the tall man. "Come on, we have pizza ordered and Downton Abbey in the dvd player."

"Regular or the version I made where Matthew doesn\'t die?"

"Both."

"Sweet," Terach said before all five disappeared.

"...what the fuck?!" Wally exclaimed.

"LANGAUGE!"

"Sorry Uncle Barry."

Introducing Lord Terach, the Lord of Chaos and Order