Chapter 1: Zero
If Link Vrains had a fully functional weather system, then it would quite chilly right about now. A strong wind still blew through the Den City server as its inhabitants went to and fro with their daily business. One of those inhabitants was a young man that stood with his arms folded on the edge of some rocks that overlooked the digital sea. He was slightly muscular with light greyish skin and had light blue eyes with a black outline and black hair. He wore a black tank top and slightly baggy black cargo bottoms with gold stitching along with white shoes. His mouth and nose were covered by a black mask over his face and his hair was covered by the hood of a white cloak slightly similar to a Knight of Hanoi's due to the small size. He also wore four diamond shaped objects on his right arm as well as a metallic bracelet. Another feature was a headset like object that he wore over his left eye. Beside those rocks that Zero stood on was a small beach that had been implemented into the server after the update. Vrains had been given an update recently, following the fight between the Knight of Hanoi and the mysterious Playmaker. Though Sol Technologies couldn't get rid of the wind from the data storm that had occurred. Sol Tech had deemed it unsafe and for all users to stay away. Zero found himself very interested in this mysterious hero, Playmaker. Just like him, he was a Cyberse user. Zero thought he was the only Cyberse user left at this time. Thank God the type's legacy hadn't vanished.
Suddenly, the sound of 'California Love' began to blare from his duel disk, making Zero jump. Zero cursed to himself mentally for not turning down the volume. His duel disk was a custom made one, reminiscent of original version 3 duel disk created and used by Seto Kaiba. It functioned in a similar way that Seto Kaiba's one had too with the digital screen and the deck ejecting digital cards out of the centre of the disk which the player could hold. The cards would be added to the digital blade after being drawn. The disk was black in colour with glowing blue lines running along it and was a slight reactional shape and had a touch screen unlike the original version it was based upon. It was also notably smaller than the original version as well. Once Zero adjusted the volume, the voice of the presenter soon came over the music.
"Good morning all Vrains users! This Vrains English Radio coming to you live from out studio in Den City Server with all your favourite English tracks! The weather seems to be a bit windy today, so you might want to take care of yourself and not hit the beach today." Zero let out a small laugh. Ironically he was at the beach right now. "We have reports that the wind is caused by the remnants of the data storm for that duel Playmaker was in. And speaking of that guy, I have with me the chief of Link Vrains' online security, Shuji Takahashi." Zero's eyes lit up at the mention of the security chief.
"So tell me Shuji, what is your opinion on the mysterious Playmaker?" The presenter asked.
"Well if you ask me, I think that this so called 'hero' is very foolish. He is putting his own life at risk and trying to defeat these Knights of Hanoi without the proper authority. The safety and security of Link Vrains' users is the job the Vrains Security Force, not foolish bystanders that want to play hero. We are actually considering on placing a ban on these vigilantes" Shuji explained.
"I see" the presenter replied simply. "And what do you think of the bounty hunters like the infamous Zero? Word around is he's a pretty cool guy." Shuji just snorted in response.
"Pah! That guy is nothing but a Playmaker rip off." Zero gritted his teeth.
"Rip off huh? I'll teach you a good lesson."
"If anything, I fear this lunatic will cause an uproar in which many of the Link Vrains users will look up to him and think 'Hey, if he can be like Playmaker, so can I!'" Shuji continued. "This will cause a huge disruption in the community in which many online users will try and play the part of 'hero' too, but will only get hurt in the process. These individuals are too dangerous to be let out onto the streets."
"And there you have it folks. The chief of Link Vrains' security has voiced his opinion" the presenter continued. "But as I always like it, what do you, the listeners, have to say about this? Call now and voice your thoughts!"
"This ought to be good" Zero though as he dialled the number on his duel disk screen.
In the studio, only the sound of 'California Love' played before a ringing was heard.
"Our first caller!" Exclaimed the presenter who wore a pair of light blue jeans with a green jumper under a white button up shirt and black shoes. He had red eyes along with neatly combed brown hair. Shuji, sitting across him wore Sol Technologies Security uniform which was a light blue button up jacket with two pockets on his chest under a white button up shirt and black tie. He also wore matching coloured trousers and black boots. Shuji had hazel coloured eyes along with short black hair that was slightly spiked up. "Hello? This is Vrains English Radio, you're live!" The presenter said as he pressed a few buttons to connect the call to the broadcast.
"Umm…yeah, this is Zero here, I'd like to speak to the Security Chief" Zero said on the other side of the line. There was a collective gasp from the studio workers before Shuji spoke up.
"Somebody track that call now!" He bellowed as he got up from his seat.
"Yeah…good luck with that chief, but I wanna talk to you" Zero said. Shuji paused and turned his head to the radio. "The fact is that you've been rambling on about how it's security's job to protect Link Vrains when its actually me and Playmaker doing all the work" Zero Explained. Shuji opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Zero. "You complain that we're bad guys when we've been doing all your work for you. Security should be the ones to defend other users from the Knights of Hanoi and all those other cyberbullies. But are you actually doing anything? No. It's one thing to be given a park to play, and actually playing the part. And unlike me and Playmaker, you lot don't play the part. Besides, I have my own reasons for fighting the Knights of Hanoi, so don't you dare tell me otherwise." Zero hung up, feeling very satisfied while Shuji just stood there with a look of intense rage on his face.
"Umm…I think that's it for now. We'll be back with more tunes after the break!" The presenter quickly said before he was cut off by an advert.
An hour or so later, and Zero was making his way around the back parts of the city feeling very satisfied with what he had said earlier. The sever he was currently in was Server 000001 Den City, Link Vrains' first and main sever. It had been modelled after the main city that Sol Technologies was based in, Den City. The following servers, 000002, 000003, 000004 and 000005 had been modelled after other cities too. After that the servers had started to become much more original in design. The server was unusually busy for this time of morning, and Zero didn't want to pick up any unwanted attention. Besides, he had a job to finish. A message then popped up on Zero's duel disk and he sighed, knowing who it was. Neptune again. Couldn't the guy have patience? Zero walked down a few more alleyways before coming to a large opening. There he saw a large male figure waiting for him. He wore a dark blue bodysuit that had a small tail like cape coming out the back along with several light blue patterns running across it. He also had several gold attachments that were anchor themed. His skin was a tan colour with him having green eyes and black hair.
"Zero!" He called. "You finally made it."
"Spare the pleasantries Neptune. Have you got the goods?" Zero huffed.
"Geez, always so quick to anger" Neptune retorted. He held up his hand and a white 2-D square floated above his palm. "Got the footage right here. I want ¥50,000 for it."
"Fuck off, ¥25,000 at the most" Zero growled. Neptune folded his arms in annoyance. "Don't give me that, ¥25,000" Zero told him.
"¥50,000" Neptune growled.
"¥25,000" Zero growled back.
"¥50,000."
"¥25,000."
"¥50,000."
"¥25,000."
"¥50,000."
"A wager."
"A what?"
"You heard me, a wager" Zero told him. Neptune looked interested. "We duel for the footage. I win, and I pay my price. You win, and I pay your price, deal?" Neptune seemed to think for a moment before smiling.
"You got yourself a deal then!" He then called. Both duelists moved back before the master duel field then appeared in front of them. Neptune raised his duel disk which was a blue model in a tear drop shape. Zero just flicked his arm to the left, a screen coming to life above the duel disk as he did.
Duel!
Zero: 4000
Hand: 5
VS
Neptune: 4000
Hand: 5
"I shall make the first move!" Neptune announced as his hand materialised in front of him.
Turn: 1
Neptune: 4000
Hand: 5
"I shall place one monster face down and set two more cards." Neptune then tapped the cards that were in front of him and instantly three set cards materialised on the field, one monster and two backrow. "Turn end" he simply said. Zero's headset hummed into life as a digital screen appeared over his left eyes, displaying the duel information.
Neptune: 4000
Hand: 2
"My turn then" Zero declared as a card ejected itself out of the centre his duel disk, stopping before above the section on his wrist. Zero grabbed it and drew, the card disappearing and then materialising on his screen.
Turn: 2
Zero: 4000
Hand: 6
"Since you control a monster and I don't, I can special summon Linkslayer in attack mode!" Zero swiped the card on the screen and it materialised in front of him. He then grabbed it and slammed it onto his duel disk, causing a portal to open on his field. Materialising out of it was a humanoid dressed in a black jumpsuit with gold armour over it that resembled a lynx to fit the name. In the centre of its chest was a gold gem and the monster also wore a brown cape that flowed out form the back of its costume.
Linkslayer: Level 5/EARTH/Cyberse/2000 ATK/600 DEF
"A-A Cyberse?!" Neptune cried out.
"That's right, Playmaker isn't the only one who still has access to these cards" Zero said with a smirk. "Now for Linkslayer's effect! By discarding two cards, I can destroy both your set cards!" As soon as Zero tapped both cards and slid them into the graveyard slot, causing two bright blue blades of energy erupted from Linkslayer's hands. The cyber human the charged at Neptune's face downs with killer intent.
"I activate Solemn Strike!" Neptune called as the set card flipped face up. he growled as his life the dropped down.
Neptune: 2500
"At the cost of 1500 lifepoints, I can negate the special summon or effect of a monster and destroy it!" He had wanted to save Solemn Strike for later, but Zero had forced his hand and Neptune had no choice but to use it. several bolts of lightning shot out of the card and struck Linkslayer, erasing it from the duel.
"Damn" Zero huffed. "But I can still summon a monster this turn!" He continued, swiping a card on the screen in front of him. "I play Lady Debugger!" This new monster that appeared was female in appearance. Her skin was pink in colour and she had red and black hair that was split into two buns. He outfit consisted of two red half circle objects attached to he back with two yellow spots on them and a yellow line connecting the two spots. She also wore a gold chest plate with a green disk in the middle and two large sphere-like objects on her lower body, covering most of her legs. They were half black and gold with a yellow disk in the middle also. She gave a small giggle as he fluttered down from where the portal had opened, using the two half circles on her back as wings.
Lady Debugger: Level 4/LIGHT/Cyberse/1700 ATK/1400 DEF
"Now for her effect!" Zero continued, I can add a level 3 or below Cyberse monster to my hand! I'm picking Backup Secretary!" A card the ejected out of Zero's duel disk and he held the card for Neptune to see. "Now I can special summon Backup Secretary since I control a Cyberse monster!" Another portal then opened, and a second monster appeared out of it. She had short purple hair and wore a black VR mask over her eyes. Her outfit was a short white dress with a matching cape under a black bodysuit with purple lining. On the front of her dress going down to her stomach were black plates with un unknown language written on them in purple. She stood silently as she appeared on the field.
Backup Secretary: Level 3/LIGHT/Cyberse/1200 ATK/800 DEF
"Battle! Lady Debugger will attack your set monster!" Zero ordered. The ladybug mosnetr charged forward at the set card as it flipped up, revealing a monstrous looking creature with veiny green skin, two legs, a tail with yellow spikes and a circular mouth with yellow spikes also.
Skreech: Level 4/WATER/Reptile/1500 ATK/400 DEF
A screen appeared on Zero's duel disk as Lady Debugger slammed the monster with her fist, destroying it as it screeched loudly.
"Skreech's effect lets me send two water monsters to my graveyard when destroyed by battle" Neptune explained as two cards appeared above his hand. He pulled them out and showed them to Zero, revealing them to be Star Boy and Fishborg Launcher before slipping them into the graveyard slot. Zero finished reading and the screen disappeared.
Star Boy: Level 2/WATER/Aqua/550 ATK/500 DEF
Fishborg Launcher: Level 1/WATER/Fish/200 ATK/100 DEF
"I still have Backup Secretary!" Zero called as the monster moved forward to strike Neptune.
"Trap activate! Call Of The Haunted!" Neptune announced as the familiar trap rose up. "I special summon one monster back from the graveyard in attack mode! Return Skreech!" The graveyard portal opened in front of Neptune and the disgusting creature crawled out, letting out a low gargling sound.
Skreech: Level 4/WATER/Reptile/1500 ATK/400 DEF
Backup Secretary stopped in her tracks as Zero made his next move.
"I move to my main phase two and set a card face down. Turn end." Zero swiped a card on his duel disk screen and the set card materialised onto the field.
Zero: 4000
Hand: 1
"My turn again!" Neptune announced as he drew.
Turn 3
Neptune: 2500
Hand: 3
"First I use Fishborg Launcher's effect! Since all monsters in my field are water, I can special summon him!" The graveyard portal opened once again, and a strange looking contraption crawled out. It was some sort of orange mech that stood slightly taller than Neptune and had two large scythe like blades as a replacement for actual hands, as well as a large rocket launcher on its back. What was most interesting-and disturbing-about the mech was the fact that it had a large sphere-shaped tank full of water instead of a head. Inside the tank, Zero could see a grey crustacean creature fiddleing with the controls but using it's claws.
Fishborg Launcher: Level 1/WATER/Fish/200 ATK/100 DEF
"Now I play Surface!" Neptune called, snapping Zero out of his thoughts. "I can summon back a level 3 or below water monster from my graveyard in defence mode. Return! Star Boy!" The next monster to appear out of the graveyard portal was a large red starfish with a single eye and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Attached to its body were several different coloured tentacles. Needless to say, Neptune's deck was starting to really creep Zero out.
Star Boy: Level 2/WATER/Aqua/550 ATK/500 DEF
"Now for Inferno Reckless Summon!" Neptune called as the card materialised. "Since a monster was special summoned, I can summon all copies of that monster from my hand, deck and graveyard. Appear! Two more Star Boys!" Two more of the monstrous starfish appeared onto the field alongside their brother.
Star Boy: Level 2/WATER/Aqua/550 ATK/500 DEF (X2)
"Now you do the same for one of your monsters" Neptune told Zero. Zero began to scan through his deck on the screen until he found the right cards.
"I summon two more Lady Debuggers" Zero said as two more of the ladybug humanoid appeared.
Lady Debugger: Level 4/LIGHT/Cyberse/1700 ATK/1400 DEF (X2)
"I also activate their effect! So I add a level 3 or lover Cyberse to my hand" Zero said as a card ejected out of his duel disk. "I choose Draconnet. I only get to add one card since Lady Debugger's effect is once per turn."
Draconnet: Level 3/DARK/Cyberse/1400 ATK/1200 DEF
"I activate the effects of all my Star Boys!" Neptune declared. "Every water monster I control gains 500 ATK for each one!" Each of Neptune's monsters glowed red as their attack rose.
Star Boy ATK (X3): 2050
Skreech ATK: 3000
Fishborg Launcher ATK: 1700
Zero took a step back in surprise. He hadn't expected something like this to happen.
"So, this was your strategy" he mused. "Summoning three Star Boys to increase your monster's attack super high."
"That's right, and now to unveil my ace in the hole" Neptune said sinisterly as he tapped the last card in his hand. "I release Fishborg Launcher to summon Jawsman!" Fishborg Launcher disappeared in a flash of gold particles and a new monster took its place. The best way to describe it was that it was the stuff of nightmares. Jawsman was a giant dark blue humanoid shark, but with a twist. It's body was littered with the jaws of several different sharks, the largest one in the centre of it's body. Both of its arms their hands replaced by the jaws of sharks, the right arm being completely replaced by the head of a hammer head shark. The right foot had also been replaced by the jaws of a shark, the teeth digging into the concrete ground in order to let the monster gain a stable footing. Above the giant centre jaw on its body on the left side was a curved dark blue fin. Each jaw was littered with rows of several sharp teeth, and it let out a blood curdling roar as it appeared.
Jawsman: Level 6/WATER/Beast-Warrior/4100 ATK (Due to Star Boys effects. Original 2600 ATK)/1600 DEF
"4100 Attack points?" Zero stuttered.
"And that's just for starters" Neptune said with a sinister smirk. "First, Fishborg Launcher is banished because of its effect, and Jawsman gains an additional 300 attack points for each water monster on the field, other than itself. With four monsters, that makes 1200 big ones for a grand total of 5300 attack points." Jawsman roared as it's body glowed blue, signalling it's increase in power.
Jawsman ATK: 5300
"Activate trap! Waboku! Now I take no damage this turn and my monsters can't be destroyed!" Zero called as the trap flipped face up. The three blue robed priests in the artwork appeared on the field and began some sort of chant, causing a see-through barrier of energy to appear around Zero and his monsters.
"Fine!" Growled Neptune as he raised his hand. "Appear! Circuit of waves!" The link circuit the appeared above the duel field as a screen popped up on Neptune's duel disk. "The summoning conditions are two water monsters. I set Skreech and my defence mode Star Boy in the link markers!" both monsters then turned into two blue tornadoes that shot up into the required arrows of the link circuit, causing them to turn red. "Link summon! Appear! Mistar Boy!" Out of the link circuit descended a monster that was very similar to the two remaining Stay Boys. The difference was that this starfish had a moustache as well as wearing a top hat and a monocle too. At it touched the ground, the arrows of the link circuit appeared, and the active arrows flashed red, pointing at both remaining Star Boys.
Mistar Boy: Link 2/WATER/Aqua/Link/2900 ATK (Due to Star Boys and its own effect. Originally 1400 ATK)/ Link Arrows: Bottom Left, Bottom Right
"Now for it's effect!" Neptune announced. "All water monsters gain 500 attack and defence points! Since it's the same boost as the Star Boy before it, there is no change in attack power and Jawsman loses 300 attack points due to one less monster. But I think 300 points is a small price to pay for an increase in defence, don't you think?" Sure enough, all monsters on Neptune's field glowed red as their attack and defence points changed.
Jawsman ATK: 5000
Jawsman DEF: 2100
Starboy DEF (X2): 1000
"I end my turn" Nepture declared, folding his arms with a smug smile.
Neptune: 2500
Hand: 0
"Just give up, there's no chance you can win" he gloated. Zero looked at him confused. "My field is unbeatable. Just give up and pay my price." Zero then gave a light chuckle before it turned into roaring laughter. Neptune looked at him with a confused look.
"Are you serious?" Zero asked in disbelief. "You actually think I'd give up just because you've got a strong monster, not a chance." He then began to laugh again. "It's funny how many times I hear that in a duel. You don't understand how well my sensei trained me, and now I'll show you how that training paid off!" Zero yelled as he placed his hand on top of his deck. "One!" Zero yelled as he drew. "You have no set cards meaning all you have to rely on is your monsters' high attack points."
Turn 4
Zero: 4000
Hand: 3
"Two! Your hand is empty, meaning that your field has no protection what so ever" Zero continued. He scanned the screen on his duel disk until he found what he needed. "Three! I still have a field of monsters and cards in my hand, so there are plenty of options left for me" Zero concluded. He then swiped a card on his duel disk screen. "Appear! Circuit that leads the path of vengeance!" Zero called as he held his hand up. The link circuit then appeared above the duel field. "The summoning conditions are two effect monsters. I set one Lady Debugger and Backup Secretary in the link markers!" The two female monsters turned into two tornadoes that shot up into the required link arrows, causing them to turn red. "Link summon! Appear! Underclock Taker!" The monster that descended out of the portal was very strange to say the least. It looked like some sort of weird flying saucer. It had a green disk that floated above the main body with three pointed appendages with a purple orb attached to one end that hovered in the space between the main body and disk, all pointing in a different direction. The main body of the contraption was a cylinder shape that became larger toward the end that faced the green disk. It was black in colour with light blue lines running across its body. The monster's link arrows flashed as it stopped descending.
Underclock Taker: Link 2/DARK/Cyberse/Link/1000 ATK/Link Arrows: Down, Left
"Next I normal summon Draconnet!" A portal opened up and a small strange looking creature flew out of it. It was light blue in colour and had no arms or legs, just a pair of small wings with squared shaped ends and a flat looking tail that grew wider as it went down. Several dark blue lines ran across the monster's body, giving its wings a sort of web design and its flat tail a design similar to wi-fi signal bars. All the lines apart from the wi-fi deigned ones on it's tail connected to a circle in the middle of its body. The monster possessed no eyes, instead having the same circle on its face with several dark blue lines running across its frill shaped head.
Draconnet: Level 3/DARK/Cyberse/1400 ATK/1200 DEF
"I activate Draconnet's effect which lets me summon a level 2 normal monster from my deck!" A card ejected out of Zero's deck which he slammed onto his deck. "I summon Bitron!" Another portal opened up and a small white figure flew out. This monster was sphere shaped that had a black screen on its face that had two white digital eyes on it. Other features included six small blade shaped wings and a small appendage on top of its head that was a similar to the wings except it had a black screen on the front of it.
Bitron: Level 2/EARTH/Cyberse/200 ATK/2000 DEF
"Appear once again! Circuit that leads the path of vengeance!" Zero called as he rained his hand. For a second time, the link circuit appeared over the duel field. "The summoning conditions are two or more non-token monsters. I set a second Lady Debugger, Draconnet and Bitron in the link markers!" The three monsters shot into the air as tornadoes that hit the required link arrows, causing them to turn red. "Link summon! Appear! Tri-Gate Wizard!" Out of the portal came a more humanoid link monster unlike the one before it. The monster was dressed in a black bodysuit like Backup Secretary and wore two gold rings over its shoulders, the left having a red line running though it and the left having a blue stripe. He wore two long black gloves with a blade like appendage on the end and a red a blue bracelet, blue on the right and red on the left. Across his chest were three arrows that pointed downwards. The middle arrow was yellow and pointed straight down while the other two were red and blue and crossed each other. The monster wore white robes on the lower half of it's body along with a belt that had three arrows appendages that broke off from the centre of the belt. Finally, the monster's legs below the knees and feet were covered by two silver spear-like structures with a gold accents running around the top. Additional features included a large metallic black staff with blue lining and a spear shaped front as well as a silver top had with gold lining. The monster spun around and held his staff over the back of his shoulder in a laid-back manner, its single red right eyes glaring at Neptune.
Tri-Gate Wizard: Link 3/EARTH/Cyberse/Link/2200 ATK/Link Arrows: Top, Left, Right
Neptune let out an impress whistle at the newcomer.
"Fancy monster you got there. Shame it can't beat my Jawsman" he said. Zero smiled.
"Who said I was finished yet?" He asked. Neptune looked at him in disbelief. "I told you that I still had plenty of options." With that, Zero pressed one of the cards on his screen. "I activate Underclock Taker's effect. I can target one monster it points to and one monster you control. Then you monster loses attack points equal to mine until the end phase. Since Tri-Gate Wizard has 2200 attack points, one of you Star Boys loses all of their attack points."
"No way!" Neptune cried as Underclock Taker gained a purple aura before one of the Star Boys glowed red.
Star Boy ATK: 0
"Appear for the third time! Circuit that leads the path of vengeance!" Zero called.
"He's link summoning again?!" Cried Neptune as the circuit appeared again.
"The summoning conditions are two or more non-token monsters. I set Underclock Taker and my last Lady Debugger in the link markers!" A ghostly version of Underclock Taker split from its original body before it, the original Underclock Taker and Lady Debugger shot into the air as tornadoes into the link arrows. "Link summon! Appear! Cyberse Accelerator!" The newest link monster that appeared was humanoid like the last and dressed in some sort of purply white bodysuit. On the monster's chest was a screen with streams of green data flying across it. this was the same with the monster's shoulders, hips and knees, except the screens were circular shaped unlink the chest which was rectangular. The monster wore a silver mask with a orange visor and had a large jet engine attached to it's back with five metallic appendages coming out of the top. The monster let out a battle cry as it descended next to Tri-Gate Wizard.
Cyberse Accelerator: Link 3/LIGHT/Cyberse/Link/2000 ATK/Link Arrows: Bottom, Left, Right
"Battle! Tri-Gate Wizard attacks the weakened Star Boy!" Zero cried. With a twirl of its staff. Tri-Gate charged towards the helpless starfish. "At this moment! I activate Cyberse Accelerator's effect! Since it points to Tri-Gate, Tri-Gate gains 2000 attack points during the battle phase!"
"What?!" Cried Neptune. Accelerator began to press several holographic screens that appeared in front of him and a green aura flowed around him and over to Tri-Gate who glowed red as the aura hit him.
Tri-Gate Wizard ATK: 4200
"Go! Arrow Illusion!" Zero called. The three arrow attachments on Tri-Gate's belt soon came to life and transformed into three large spears, one a darker blue, one a dark pink and the other a bright gold. The three arrows stabbed Star Boy and held it in place before Tri-Gate drove his staff straight through the poor creature. There was an almighty explosion which threw Neptune back. He cried out in pain as his life meter dropped to zero.
Neptune: 0
Neptune: LOSE
Zero gave a heavy sigh as the monsters faded away and the master duel field disappeared from view. He strode over to Neptune who lay dazed and surprised.
"My strongest monsters…defeated instantly" He said quietly.
"If it means anything, you probably shouldn't have used Inferno Reckless Summon" Zero said as he held his hand out. "I wouldn't have been able to do as much as I could have in that duel." Suddenly, Neptune's face turned into a look of anger as he swatted away Zero's hand.
"Get away from me! Like hell I'd sell my footage to you after that humiliation!" Neptune got up and began to run off.
"We had a deal you ass!" Zero yelled angrily and was about to give chase when Neptune ran into a light blue barrier with streams of code running down it.
"What the?" Neptune said from the floor where the barrier had knocked him back.
"The problem is with all you newer duelists are that you always put the blame one someone else when you lose when actually it's your poor skills that's the problem" a new voice rang out. Zero and Neptune looked up to the roof of a building to see a silhouette standing there. The figure jumped down and both duelists got to have a good look at the newcomer. This new figure was quite slender with the same light greyish skin Zero had. He wore a dirty white sleeveless hoodie that had several rips and gold attachments as well as two chains running around his body, crossing over the centre of his chest, grey jeans and black boots. What was most notable about the figure was the fact that the hood that he wore up covered his entire face in darkness. Only his red eyes could be seen from the darkness.
"Don't bother trying to break though that code, it's almost impenetrable" he continued.
"Phaze, didn't expect to see you here. I thought you had work" Zero said. Phaze smiled from the shadow of his hood.
"I'm off at the moment. A certain incident caused my shift to end abruptly. So I came to help. Besides, he's got a bounty on his head" Phaze said, referring to Neptune. Neptune looked at the two bounty hunters in fear whilst Zero grinned.
"A bounty huh? If you didn't try to run just now, I would have let you go, but…" Zero's grin grew even more sadistic. "After that little stunt, a punishment is in order" Zero finished, his hands now crackling with electricity. Neptune began to frantically press buttons on his duel disk attempting to log out.
"Why isn't it working?!" he cried.
"That barrier you hit is coded with a bug that prevents you from logging out. There's not escape now" Phaze said. Neptune looked up and the two looming figures above him. All he could do was scream.
It was late in the evening and the house was dark when Kaizen returned. He was 16 years old and had hazel eyes along with black hair that was slightly messy with two red bangs that came down the side of his face. Kaizen sighed heavily as he logged out. He really didn't want to work today, but he had no choice. After destroying Neptune's avatar and causing his account to be shut down (a very painful process for the unfortunate victim), he dropped off Neptune's data at server 000000 The Haven, collected his bounty, and left Phaze to go back to work. The rest of the day consisted of him scouting out any new jobs. He really didn't want to spend that much time trying to get the footage, but at least he had it now. That was all that mattered. He pressed a few buttons on his duel disk and a screen came up with the footage. The footage showed the winds of the data storm and two figures zooming by on a pair of boards. These were Playmaker and the Knight of Hanoi. It only lasted about twenty seconds, but that was all that Kaizen needed to get to work. The footage showed Playmaker and his D-Board up close and Kaizen needed a close picture in order to start making a decent model. Kaizen moved over to his desk where he had a double monitor set up as well as the most hi tech mouse he could get. He needed all this space for coding and programming equipment and programs. Kaizen booted up the monitors and plugged in his USB. Time to get to work.
It had been a good few hours since Kaizen started working on the model of the new D-Board. Oh how he wished that one could just magically spawn itself in like it did for Playmaker. It probably would. But Kazien wanted to make a few personal touches for his D-Board. Spending ages altering the program of an already existing one would take too long. So Kaizen just decided to make himself and Shoji their own ones from scratch. As he saved his work for what would be the hundredth time, his computer glitched.
"Great" Kaizen muttered to himself. Just what he needed, a bloody virus. He saved his work an extra time before searching through the system to find the virus. Nothing. Kaizen then ran an antivirus program to detect and get rid of this intruder. Nothing. Kaizen ran the program again. Still nothing. He scratched his head. Could he have been hallucinating things? He could have sworn he saw the screen glitch. Just then, the screen glitched again.
"Ok. There is DEFINATLY something here."
Kaizen had no idea what to do. While nothing seemed to be malfunctioning on the monitors, the fact that he knew something that wasn't supposed to be there was there irritated him. The screen then continued to glitch more and more before a window opened up on one of the monitors. Kaizen stared in shock as streams of data began to fly across the window. What was this? Kaizen would soon know. He quickly saved the window and placed it in a folder that would keep it locked up. After starting it again, Kaizen highlighted the data and copied it to a text document so he could see it. What he saw shocked him.
The data appeared to be some sort of different language that Kaizen couldn't understand. It looked like no other language he'd seen before. It was all just a bunch of symbols and numbers that made no sense. Time to get to work. Kaizen's fingers danced along the keyboard as each stroke of the mouse was a smooth and swift motion. Just over two hours had passed and Kaizen had only cracked a fraction of the code. It appeared to be protected by several layers of antivirus and firewall that even Kaizen was finding difficult to break. But the part that Kaizen seemed to have uncovered appeared to be a goldmine that was now his. The data was information. Information for things that Kaizen couldn't possible comprehend. This information had all he needed to finish the D-Board, and in a single day possibly! Kaizen guessed that it would take at least a good week or so to finish the prototype of his D-Board. Now he had all that he needed to almost finish it there and then. There was also something else embedded in the code. Cyberse. The monster typing. There seemed to be a lot of info on that too, and a creation process too! Wait? Did that mean..? Oh yes. Kaizen felt giddy at the possibility of creating new cards, his own ones too! He remembered how Sensei had showed him. Now he could do it too. A quick glance at the clock showed it was approaching midnight. Any other day Kaizen would pull an all nighter. But tomorrow was school and Kaizen knew his cousin could kill him for skipping. He the saved everything and got changed into his night clothes, a black sleeveless top with a pair of light grey shorts. Kaizen flopped onto his bed and could feel his eyelids fighting to close. Kaizen let them and drifted off into a deep sleep, dreaming peacefully of vengeance he longed for.
Ok then. I've been tinkering around with this idea for a while now. I actually wrote this all the way back at the start of March and left it there. I discovered it once again and thought I might as well get this idea done and out my head quickly, so I can focus on other things. I've got a pretty good idea for a plot so hopefully this turns out really good. Just expect slow updates, in useless at making consistent updates XD. Also, apologies if there's any mistakes. Its 1am where I am. I am also sorry if the duel sucks. It's my first attempt at scripting a duel with the new master rules and links so its lacking and short. I've only got as far as using Xyz. Hopefully I get better over time. I'm also trying a new way to write duels. The starting life points will be in the centre and I'm not putting any pluses or minuses when deducting ATK, DEF or life points as it's a huge pain to write out.
Another quick note. The idea for Neptune's deck came from a video on youtube I saw a while back. It was in Japanese, so I didn't understand a word. What I did understand was that he used a combo of Jawsman, Star Boy and Mistar Boy to get Jawsman to 5800 ATK so credit goes to them. Also bit more of trivia. Phaze was named after a Starly that I lost recently during a Nuzlocke of Diamond and his design was based slightly on the Raven skin from Fortnite since that's all I could think about the past few days because my brother wouldn't shut up about it. Zero's design was based off an old design for an OC that is in OPFan37's Yugioh Cross-Vrains fanfic. He changed the design and deck slightly, so I decided to use the old design for Zero since it wasn't being used.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the start to this little project of mine. Hopefully I can get better at scripting Vrains duels and with school almost over (3 more weeks!), I can get on here more. See you in the next update!