Shifting gears, and a new man

The man thought about them during the day, and during the night; while eating, in the bathroom, in his sleep, all the time.

His mind was shaped like them, akin to clockwork; all those little parts and gears working in harmony with one another.

That was his nature. Ancient Gears was him, and he was Ancient Gears.

Lost in sleep, he saw his reflection: Worn out by time, but never failing; rusty on the surface, but the important parts intact.

Embodiment of experience, wisdom, ingenuity, and power; that shape represented humanity's potential.

Eternal, yet impermanent; the earth roars and trembles with every move it makes.

The man looked directly into that shape's only eye, and could see its soul with pure honesty.

Even while looking so haggard, it stays strong and dignified; the soul of someone who can tell a lot of tales, someone of virtue, who protects what is important, and doesn't pay attention to superfluous or superficial things.

Never falling behind, always an example, a guide, and a legend.

/----------/

Chronos de Medici woke up while it was still dark; he felt as if he didn't have any sleep.

As the Head Professor of the prestigious Obelisk Blue, the elite class of the best Dueling Academy of the World, he always held himself with a lot of pride; but everything changed with the coming of Yuki Judai.

The boy had defeated him in the entrance exam after he, himself, had designed the duel with as many handicaps as possible.

He ultimately lost; he had gone rusty.

"I should be ashamed, should I not?"

Before even washing his face, he looked at his deck; the card at the very front of the pile was none other than Ancient Gear Golem.

It couldn't be said that Chronos believed in the heart of the cards, but even then, he felt 'something' when looking at his precious Boss Monster.

"What am I doing wrong?" He couldn't help but ask himself aloud.

He felt he shouldn't think much about the duel, after all, it was disgraceful for him to take a dropout boy so seriously.

Was it shameful to go to such lengths against a now First-Year student and still lose? Was thinking too much about the duel a sign of obsession and weakness? He didn't know, he wasn't even sure what questions to ask; all he had was a disgusting feeling in his stomach.

"What must I do?" Although he tried to contain it, some frustration could be felt in his voice.

"I want to be better…I am better" He slowly reassured himself and managed to calm down.

"I have a PHD in dueling; I just went easy on him, and he got lucky" All of that was a lie; he was sure he played the best duel he could with the cards he got.

One breath, two breaths...

Now relaxed, he imagined the duel again…

/----------/

"Confiscation is a powerful card; it allows me to look at the opponent's strategy, and gives me a chance to disrupt it even before they perform it"

"Moreover, Heavy Storm into my 2 Tokens was an optimal use of the cards because I could get rid of the boy's trap card without risks"

"My first mistake was in the use of Confiscation; I saw he had 2 cards to return his monsters to the field even if I destroyed them, but I was complacent, and chose to remove Monster Reborn because it was the most powerful card in his hand at the moment"

"Monster Reborn is formidable because it allows the user to bring back a monster from either graveyard without restriction, so it was the most powerful out of the 2 revival cards in his hand"

"But I focused on the wrong aspect; there wasn't any monster in my graveyard, and the only monsters he could've revived were those I destroyed in battle with my Ancient Gear Golem, which were all weak monsters that could be summoned without tributes or didn't have enough ATK points"

"No matter how many monsters he revives as long as mine defeat his at the end of the turn; he could even bring back that Winged Kuriboh and I still would've had nothing to worry about"

"The cards that defeated me were…Polymerization, Hero Signal, and Skyscraper"

"Skyscraper wasn't in his hand when I used Confiscation; that leaves 2, so…let's start with Polymerization"

/----------/

Turn 2 of the duel, Chronos's turn:

"I'll send Polymerization to the Graveyard!"

"Then I'll place 2 cards face-down on the field"

"Next, I'll activate the Spell card: Heavy Storm, from my hand!"

Powerful winds surged and destroyed the trap cards on the field; all that remained was Featherman in defense position, and thick, dark fog.

"By the effect of Statue of the Wicked I destroyed with Heavy Storm, I special summon the Wicked Lord Tokens!"

Golden creatures rose from the fog, as if they were lurking in the darkness.

"I'll sacrifice both my Wicked Lord Tokens to summon Ancient Gear Golem!"

Those evil-looking creatures started squirming in agony.

A huge body soon overshadowed, and finally silenced them with the blast of his emergence.

The one and only, Ancient Gear Golem.

"I'll attack Featherman with Ancient Gear Golem! Hohoho here I go! Ultimate Pound!"

Yuki Judai: 2000 LP

It was now the boy's turn.

"I'll summon Winged Kuriboh in defense position"

"Then, I'll set a card face-down to end my turn!"

The set card was Hero Signal.

/----------/

"After that, I would attack his monster and fail to deal any damage; he would activate Hero Signal in response which would special summon Burst Lady, still during my turn"

"Next, in his turn, he would draw Skyscraper…"

"He could revive both Featherman and Winged Kuriboh, and also place the Skyscraper, but it still wouldn't be enough to go past my Ancient Gear Golem"

"Alas, as many monsters as he summoned, and in whatever position, I simply would need to attack with my Ancient Gear Golem and win"

"Skyscraper increases the attack of his heroes when attacking, but not when getting attacked, right? I should check the database today and make sure"

No one knows all the cards, that's what databases are for, and as experienced one could be, it is always likely to forget details about lesser known cards.

In any case, Chronos would not underestimate the boy's skills anymore.

"What if he special summoned Burst Lady, increased her ATK by 1000 points for when I attack her next turn, so he doesn't immediately lose, then draw a second Polymerization…"

Yuki Judai would only need to use both revival cards and win in the same way.

"I don't know much about him…what other cards does he have? He would not draw yet another Polymerization, would he?"

Chronos looks at the time.

"I didn't sleep well, but at least there's still some time left…let's try again"

Unbeknown to him, he was having the slightest bit of fun doing this.

/----------/

"I'll send Hero Signal to the Graveyard!"

And the duel was replayed again.

Chronos de Medici: 3000 LP

Yuki Judai: 2000 LP

Winged Kuriboh stopped the finishing blow, but the boy didn't have Hero Signal to special summon Burst Lady.

It seems Chronos is on his way towards victory! But…

"He uses Monster Reborn to bring back Winged Kuriboh, thus, increasing the length of the duel by another turn…"

"Who's to say Burst Lady wasn't at the top of the Boy's deck? And the only reason he drew Skyscraper was because he already summoned Burst Lady before"

"I also don't know what I could've drawn on those turns; I didn't even look at my hand when I attacked Winged Kuriboh the first time…"

"This isn't right…"

It was puzzling, but the feeling of thinking deeply about something, and slowly figuring out the answer by oneself was great.

His gears were turning.

"What else did I have in my hand…oh!"

Emes the Infinity, a level 7, light monster.

"Past all the cards in his hand, the thing that ultimately defeated me was Flame Wingman with Skyscraper, which destroyed my Golem, and finally dealt Golem's ATK to me as damage"

"I don't know what cards we could've drawn, but even assuming the worst-case scenario…"

/----------/

"I'll sacrifice both my Wicked Lord Tokens to summon Emes the Infinity!"

/----------/

That's when it clicked, an idea so bold, so crazy, it sent shivers down Chronos's spine.

The shock was so massive, his heart skipped a beat, and the world seemed to spin from his perspective; he needed to hold onto something to not fall down.

"Eh-Emes the Infinity gains 700 ATK points each time it destroy a monster by battle"

After pausing for a second, he continued.

"Destroying Featherman would have given Emes 700 ATK points, which equals 3200 ATK points in total, 200 more than Golem, and 100 more than the 3100 Flame Wingman managed to reach with Skyscraper"

"It could've accumulated 700 more with Kuriboh, and if I sent Hero Signal to the Graveyard, other 700 for the Monster Reborn or Warrior's Return he would've used"

"He would need to keep bringing monsters to the field in defense position so I don't defeat him in a single attack, because by then, I would've accumulated more than 4000 ATK points, which are the Life Points he had"

The duel still would not be finished, and it reached the realm of speculation, but it was practical, he got his answer!

Had the duel developed like this, Chronos would've been in a much more advantageous position by the time he lost.

"The advantage Golem has is that no trap cards can be activated in the Battle Phase. So, even if he had Mirror Force, it would not be a problem, unlike with Emes"

"But I would not have lost, and the more the duel continued, more things I would've had to work with"

"Ultimately, I played Confiscation very wrong; I could've won if I had gotten rid of either Hero Signal or Polymerization"

Chronos finished his analysis and went to open the window.

Never had the world been so colorful.

The sun rose and shone on everything, but wasn't harsh for the eyes; the wind was gentle and fresh, it carried the aroma of beautiful flowers while birds gave a pleasant symphony in the background.

No words, or expressions were needed, only feelings, and Chronos felt good.

Eventually, it was time for him to prepare for class, he was the teacher after all.

/----------/

Later in the morning...

As Chronos walked towards the classroom, he saw his students in the halls; he couldn't help but remember Yuki Judai.

"It wouldn't be an issue to have a rematch someday, would it?" He thought with a smile.