Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains Power of the 12 Zodiac
Link VRAINS. The 'Link Virtual Artificial Intelligence Network System'. The cyberspace where duelists can take the form of an avatar and take part in Virtual Reality Duels using D-Boards. Inside LINK VRAINS, a mysterious hacker group that hacks via duelling as appeared: The Knights of Hanoi. Their goal is to destroy the AI world known as Cyberse that exist somewhere in the depths of the network, and hence began the story of the mysterious duelist known as 'Playmaker'.
However, they never knew that another power was hidden in cyberspace all this time. Meet Orion, a duelist who uses the 'Galaxian' type. INTO THE VRAINS.
A/N: feel free to give me your reviews on how to make this story better and what you think of my OC cards, except Sagitta Apollo Dragon. Thanks!
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Chapter 1: The Power of the Galaxians
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Subaru Hoshigami stared out at the class window, as soon as he blinked his eyes twice to clear his vision after sat upright from his sleeping posture on the desk. He was thinking about dozing off again when-
"Fine then! Why don't you just play with yourself!?" A rather chubby boy with a large nose and mouth stormed away from another boy with dark and light blue hair with pink highlights Subaru recognised as Yusaku.
"Naoki, you gotta work on how you interact with people, that egotistic behaviour of yours is going to cost you one day I swear…" Subaru yawned out.
Naoki Shima whipped his head around in irritation as he faced the boy with his pure white hair with bangs, and a weird cross shaped scar on his forehead.
"Shut up Subaru!" He huffed. "I don't need advice from a guy who sleeps all day in school regarding how I socialise. Oh- by the way do you know what this is?" Naoki retorted back for a while before he came uncomfortably close to Subaru and shoved a gadget right in the former's face.
"You don't have to bring it so close Naoki…" Subaru muttered with a now bored expression. "SOL Technology's new Duel Disk, the one with an AI installed."
"Oh…you noticed?" Naoki's smile widen like a chesire cat. "Of course, everyone would notice with you kept showing it around the entire day." Subaru stated.
"You on the other hand," Naoki stared at the duel disk on Subaru's arm with slightly disdainful eyes. "Need to learn how to upgrade. That model's three versions behind! Are you are low on your budget or are you just lazy?"
"Lazy." Subaru turned his head away from Naoki and rested his head on his arms. "Gadgets just keep getting better and better each day. Why bother buying a newer version when you know that something better is going to come out next month?"
"It's the trends Subaru. The trends." Naoki emphasized. "This version's way better than the most previous! I can still use cards in their data form…" He held up his right hand as he continued. "I also have priority excess to the VR network, LINK VRAINS." To emphasize his point, he pressed a button and displayed several digital screen, all showing duelists in LINK VRAINS, the cyberspace duelling community. "There! Just like this!"
"Naoki…" Subaru gave a deadpanned stare. "Do you even go into LINK VRAINS once?"
"I mentioned this to Yusaku already!" Naoki closed in and gave Subaru an angry look. "It's a special gathering place for veteran duelists! Charisma Duelist go there too! You can't just waltz in there!"
"Alright alright…" Subaru frowned as he tried to push Naoki's face away from him. "NO need to get ansty, and you're too close!"
"But if I do go…" Naoki's face turned hopeful, "maybe I'll meet some of them, like Go Onizuka, Blue Angel, or best, PLAYMAKER! The one who secretly fights the Knights or Hanoi, hackers who commit crimes in LINK VRAINS!"
"Play-who?" Subaru frowned. "Never heard of him."
"Seriously?" Naoki gave a deadpanned look this time.
"Well, I never really immersed myself in the cyber community news…" Subaru answered lazily.
"I am seriously beginning to think if you're living under a rock. I am sincerely worried for your future." Naoki gave a somewhat pitied expression.
"Shut up Butashima."
"Who the hell are you calling a pig!?" Naoki screamed back.
"Ahem!"
The two of them looked forward and a girl with light brown hair in a bob cut with yellow eyes, browsing on her tablet staring back at them. "You're disturbing the rest of us, we would appreciate it if you would keep it down.
"Sorry." "Sorry Zaizen."
As soon as she turned back, Subaru asked, "Who is she?"
"You know what?" Naoki gave a defeated expression. "I'm not going to bother answering that."
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Garett's Hardwares.
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Subaru walked into the rather old but polished repair shop, where a male a few inches taller than Subaru stood at the counter playing games on his tablet. He was a thin man with dark purple hair tied to a short pony tail. He was dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt and twirled a screwdriver in his hands while he played his game.
"Nice to see you having so many customers…" Subaru said sarcastically. " Must be tough being a systems engineer."
"Shut up Subaru." The youth called Garett scoffed as he stood up to welcome the white-haired boy. "Customers are hard to come by these days, and it would be better if you could help out more often."
"I'm a student, idiot." Subaru retorted as he moved to the back of the store where a mass of computers were gathered. "By the way, is my avatar finished?"
"It's done…" Garett answered back from the counter without looking back. "I can't believe you're so lazy to the point where you ask someone else to design your avatar…"
"It can't be helped." Subaru said. "You're always the one with the artistic flairs Garett."
"Yeah right." Garett dismissed the compliment. "By the way, there is a big event later. Go Onizuka and Blue Angel are both duelling. Are we finally going to do it, Subaru?"
"Yeah…" Subaru said while he stared at the huge cylinder pod which transfers the duelist to the world of LINK VRAINS. "It's time to start our mission, to show the power of the Galaxians."
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Den City Central Plaza:
"Everyone! Are you fired up?" In the central plaza of Den City, a large crowd had gathered, watching several television screens. The screens showed two duelists - one was a well-built young man with dark hair, a chin beard and a gold hat. He wore a large jacket that exposed his chest with dark pants and a golden belt as well as large boots with gold plated buckles and gold plates on his arms over black finger-less gloves.
The second duelist was a teenage girl with long blue hair tied into two long strands by heart-shaped ribbons. Her eyes were also blue, and she wore a white sleeveless shirt with a blue necktie over a blue and pink dress with wing-shaped frills, and dark blue thigh-high socks. Her most noticeable accessory was the pair of white wings on her back with pink hearts and lavender clovers on them. Their names were Go Onizuka and Blue Angel, and they were the top two Charisma Duelists in LINK VRAINS.
"Many Charisma Duelists are about to duel in LINK VRAINS!" This was said by an MC wearing glasses and an orange suit holding a microphone. "Dueling in Area #1 is LINK VRAINS's #1 hooligan who uses the Gouki deck, Go Onizuka!" The screens shifted to show Go standing in an area that resembled the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.
"Dueling in Area #2 is LINK VRAINS's poster girl who uses a Trickstar deck, Blue Angel!" The screens shifted again to a place that resembled Florence, Italy, with Blue Angel and her opponent standing on a rooftop. Blue Angel waved and smiled at the camera as the MC said, "To all who have access, come to LINK VRAINS! And for those already here, pay attention to the screen!"
"SOL technology is currently performing a scan," Garett commented. Subaru and Garett were sitting in the back of the shop, typing on computers. One of the monitors they had showed the LINK VRAINS events. "If Hanoi takes advantage of the weaknesses in the network, there is a chance they will show up today."
"Hoh…so these are the knights of Hanoi…" Subaru was currently scrolling through a list of archives. "Naoki was not lying when he said they were cyber terrorists."
"Do you really not know who they are up till now?" Garett sighed.
"Nope. Never bothered." Subaru said as he began reading an instruction manual on the LINK VRAINS transfer regulations.
"While we're waiting," Subaru, turning to Garett. "Have you found anything on this Playmaker?"
"No," Garett said, shaking his head. "Whenever he shows up, he deletes his activity logs soon after. There's no trail to follow, no eyewitnesses to provide a description. He's practically a ghost."
"So he's not just a good duelist, but also a master hacker," Subaru mused. "He must be as good as you Garett."
Garett was about to respond, but then one of the monitors started beeping.
"Bad news," Garett said. "That alarm is supposed to be triggered when something or someone is attempting to breach SOL's firewall."
"Can you identify who?" Subaru asked him. Before Garett could answer, the screen showing Blue Angel and Go suddenly started glitching. The two friends turned to watch the screen. There was suddenly a hole in Go's arena, through which two massive black and green mechanical dragons appeared. Each dragon was ridden by a man in a white coat with the hood up. They both also had grey and yellow masks covering their faces, with one red eye and one green eye.
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"Hanoi!" Garett stood up from his chair. "What are they doing here!?"
"Well this is interesting…" Subaru stared at the screen quietly for a while before slapping his duel disk on his left arm and dashing towards the transfer pod. "The plan has not changed, I'm going in!"
"Oi! The transfer of your new deck is not finished yet!" Garett shouted. "It will still take about about an hour before your Galaxian Deck can be completely downloaded!"
"I'll work with what I have…" Subaru answered as he was about to enter the pod. "Any chance the private card data bank will be discovered when I duel?"
"Not a chance." Garett assured him. "With that much camouflage and firewalls protecting it, not even SOL will find it."
"I'm going then."
Garett nodded at his words. "I'll be here keeping you posted."
As the pod door closed, Subaru activated his duel disk and said. "Online deck connected! INTO THE VRAINS!"
Subaru was surrounded by a sphere of light as he spread his arms, slowly transforming him into his Digital Avatar. He wore a white and silver jumpsuit with blue boots. His hair remained white but the ends are now blue in colour. A red line zigzagged from his right leg across his chest to his right hand. A white mask materialized on his face, showing a red 'V' shaped visor with a red triangle in the middle, hiding his entire face. As a final touch, a white assassin's hood draped itself over Subaru and flowed behind him.
[User number V008754E has connected successfully] The LINK VRAINS administrative AI intoned. [Welcome, ORION]
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LINK VRAINS:
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In the cyberspace of LINK VRAINS, a knight of Hanoi was riding a black and green mechanical dragon, currently chasing an individual known as Blue Angel, the poster girl of LINK VRAINS and user of the 'Trickstar' deck.
"Vanish!" The Knight Shouted. His mechanical dragon breathed fire at Blue Angel, but a figure grabbed Blue Angel by the arm and quickly pulled her to safety. He had a spiky mix of yellow, pink and orange hair, donning a black and green jumpsuit with a gold line running across his body to his right arm.
"Who are you?" The knight asked the man.
"My name is Playmaker!" The youth replied loudly. "I have what you are looking for." He held up his left arm, showing his blue duel disk. "Stop attacking LINK VRAINS. If you continue, I will erase this here and now!"
"Oi oi oi!" a panicked voice shouted from the duel disk. "You treating me as a hostage!?"
Playmaker ignored this and continued. "If you want this program, you'll have to defeat me in a duel!"
The masked knight pondered this for a while before smirking. "Fine by me, 'Playmaker'. You'll learn what it means to oppose the Knights of Hanoi."
"I'm looking forward to it." Playmaker answered back. Unknown to him however, the knight opened a channel and quickly notified the rest of the knights.
"The Ignis has been found," The knight reported quietly. "A duelist known as Playmaker has it. Come here quickly!"
Suddenly, a flash of light resembling a silver comet rocketed past Playmaker and the Knight of Hanoi, sending shockwaves and a loud roar that echoed across the field.
"What was that?" Ai asked, and no one answered him.
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The knight and Playmaker soon move locations to the LINK VRAINS central arena. The both of them stood opposite each other, and started off the duel.
In the distance rather far away from the ongoing duel, another knight of Hanoi was racing towards his ally on his own black mechanical dragon. The ridiculously huge dragon causing the top of some buildings to break and plummet down to an fleeing duelist.
"KYAHH!"
A silver flash zoomed past and the girl was gone. The next moment, she found herself on the top of a building several blocks away.
"Eh?" She blinked her eyes in confusion.
While the Knight of Hanoi was flying straight towards the data storm when he suddenly saw a silver flash closing in dangerously, causing him to steer to the right in order to avoid collision.
The silver flash made a sharp U-turn and made an abrupt stop infront of the Knight of Hanoi, revealing a white figure on a red D-board. "Oi, riding huge dragons are not authorised in LINK VRAINS' airspace."
"You dare attack Hanoi?" The knight asked angrily as he observed the newcomer. He wore a white and silver jumpsuit with blue boots. A white mask hid his face, showing a red 'V' shaped visor with a red triangle in the middle, and a white hood draped around him "Who are you!"
"What a pain…" Orion thought. "But I have to make a good impression for the plan to work, guess I'll introduce myself."
"My name is Orion!" Subaru shouted with his voice slightly altered. "Newcomer of LINK VRAINS and I'm here to stop you!"
"You're just a newcomer brat!? What a joke!" The Hanoi Knight laughed. "Don't try to play hero, and go home!"
"I'm afraid that won't be possible." Orion replied. "I am rather excited for my first time in LINK VRAINS, and you can be honoured that you're my first opponent!"
"What a cheeky boy," The knight answered while smirking. "Fine then, I'll play along with you for trying to mess with us."
"Let's do this then!" Orion stated as he hovered even higher on his D-board and pointed towards the endless stream of data flowing through LINK VRAINS. "IN A SPEED DUEL!"
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Unknown area of LINK VRAINS:
In a hidden area of the virtual world, two people were observing the current duel between Playmaker and the first Knight of Hanoi. The first hand tanned skin, yellow pupil-less eyes and black hair with orange/red highlights. He wore a yellow mask decorated with four dots near his forehead. His clothes were a white jumpsuit, a white trench coat and black boots. The second person had spiky light blond hair with light blue eyes, wearing a simple white suit.
The first person known as Revolver narrowed his eyes as he observed Playmaker summon the Cyberse Link Monster Decode Talker.
"To think he would hold the Cyberse archetype which we have thought to have been annihilated long ago…"
"Master Revolver!" The second individual called Specter quickly stated. "We have a report from the second knight who is to engage Playmaker as well!"
"It's rather useless at this point..." Revolver sighed. "Given the skill level we saw with Playmaker's duel, another knight engaging him is-"
"I'm afraid is not that, master Revolver." Specter politely interrupted. "He's currently being challenged by an unknown duelist while he was making his way towards Playmaker. He sent us a visual."
Specter then proceed to project the sent image to a screen, letting Revolver and himself see the full view of Orion.
Revolver showed no particular reaction while Specter continued. "He identifies himself as Orion, and appears to be a newcomer according to the real time database."
"Orion?" Revolver raised an eyebrow.
"Should I turn off the monitor?" Specter smiled. "I believe that our knights can handle a newcomer easily."
"No." Revolver narrowed his eyes as he continued to observe the image of the skull player. "Let's watch…"
"Is something wrong Master Revolver?" Specter questioned.
"No…just a hunch."
A new screen appeared behind Revolver and Specter, showing Orion and the second Knight of Hanoi preparing their D-boards and positioning themselves on top of the Data Storm.
"The issue with Playmaker is still our top priority." Revolver concluded. "Lets see what this guy can do…"
"Yes, master Revolver!" Specter complied while both of them began to watch the second speed duel of the day.
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Link Vrains:
"Prepared to get schooled!" The knight shouted. "Let's duel!"
"Let's do this!" Orion declared with vigor.
Orion and the Knight of Hanoi both jumped down from the rooftop, landing on their respective D-boards and immediately flew into the data storm.
"SPEED DUEL!" Both of them shouted.
Garett, who was keeping close watch from the shop, immediately key in a few codes and pressed enter. "Here you go Subaru! Galaxian! Data Material. Connect to ID: ORION!"
Subaru's duel disk glowed yellow for a second, which caused him to smile. "You did it…Garett!"
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Knight of Hanoi LP: 4000
Orion LP: 4000
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"W-What is this folks!?" The emcee wearing glasses and an orange suit exclaimed as he saw what the virtual cameras have captured. "It looks like we have ourselves another ongoing speed duel! We have seen Playmaker in action just now, and it looks like someone else has challenged the Knights of Hanoi! Who could it possibly be!?"
"Another Knight of Hanoi?" Go Onizuka wondered as he listened through his duel disk.
"Is this person another ally of Playmaker?" Blue Angel thought aloud as she heard the announcement.
"As soon as the cameras zoom in close enough," The MC continued as the LINK VRAINS live camera drones began to do their work. "We should be able to see what this person…and there he is!" The camera zoomed in to show the white garbed player with the weird mask.
"According to the database, his name is ORION! And Furthermore, this is his first entry!" The MC announced to the crowd. "Could this be another emergence of a LINK VRAINS hero!?"
"Orion?" Go Onizuka repeated aloud, sitting down to watch the ongoing two speed duels.
"A newcomer!?" Blue Angel observed in shock. "Just what is he thinking!?"
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"This will be your first speed duel Suba- no I mean Orion." Garett's voice called out from Subaru's duel disk. "I'll be guiding you through."
"Thanks Garett."
"I won't need to tell you how to move your board, since it appears you have no problems on your first try…" Garett continued. "So I'll brief you on the rules quickly. A speed duel is different from a normal duel. First, there is no main phase 2. Second, you start off with 4 hand cards instead of 5. Lastly, look closely and you can see 2 extra monster zones located in the middle of the field."
"Yup, I see them." Subaru replied.
"Well, its better to let you experience it first-hand. May as well let him go first." Garett suggested.
"Since I was the one who challenge you, you can go first." Orion stated.
"Then I'll be taking the first move!" The knight said as four cards materialised in front of him. Seeing what he had in his hand, he silently chuckled to himself. "Looks like I'll be summoning my ace right in the first turn!"
"I special summon Hack Worm!" A grey metallic worm with numerous teeth twitching hungrily appeared on his field. It also had two green orbs and lines running down its body.
[Hack Worm, LV 1, Machine, ATK: 400, DEF: 0]
"I can special summon this card when my opponent does not control any monsters on the field!" The knight explained. "Following that, I also special summon the second Hack Worm in my hand!"
A second worm appeared to join the first.
"Two special summons right off the bat…" Orion muttered. "You made the right move going first. Is it coming? Your ace?"
"That's right!" The Knight answered impressed. "I shall set one card, and now I will tribute the two Hack Worms on my field!" A card materialized on the knight's spell/trap zone before the two worms burst into light.
"It's time to reveal the most powerful monster given to me by master Revolver!" The knight declared. "I tribute summon! Come forth, Cracking Dragon!"
The exact same mechanical dragon the Knight of Hanoi had been riding earlier appeared on the field with a loud roar. It was black and edgy in design with six bladed wings attached by six glowing green orbs.
[Cracking Dragon, LV 8, Machine, ATK: 3000, DEF: 0]
"With this, my field id set! I end my turn!" the Knight concluded.
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"Let's do this! My turn, Draw!" Orion touched the fifth card his duel disk ejected out and it materialised along with the other four in front of him.
"It's time…" Orion took a deep breath before tapping on a card . "I normal summon Soltrooper from my hand!" A figure made out of yellow energy appeared in front of Orion. It had a helmet, chestplate and gauntlets made out of flames and its yellow eyes flashed as it floated since fire substituted its legs.
[Soltrooper. LV 3. Galaxian. Fire. ATK: 1200. DEF: 400]
The knight of Hanoi tapped on the displayed card to check its stats, and he gasped in shock. "What the hell is this!?"
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"Look at this Master Revolver!" Specter hurriedly showed the card's display to Revolver and the both of them widened their eyes. "Galaxian…?"
"You sure this isn't a joke?" Revolver asked Spectre while frowning. "We've just seen the emergence of the Cyberse type by Playmaker. You are telling me that a new player using a completely new type of monsters pops out of nowhere!?"
"I-I was also sceptical at first…" Spectre said. "But the card is legitimate, the system recognises it!"
"To think that a completely new type of monsters has emerged along with the Cyberse Type…" Revolver muttered. "Could the two be connected?"
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"You must be cheating!" The knight of Hanoi cried indignantly. "I have never heard of a Galaxian Type before!"
"Galaxian?"
"What kind of monster type is that?"
"Two new monster types?" The crowd began muttering in wonder at this announcement.
"The system recognises it, so I see no problem." Orion shot back.
"Regardless, your monster will be powerless before the power of Cracking Dragon!" The Hanoi Knight declared. "I activate Cracking Dragon's monster effect! Since you normal or special summoned exactly one monster, its ATK points are decreased by 200 times its level, and that damage is dealt to my opponent! Crack fall!"
The orbs around Cracking Dragon glowed as a wind hit Orion's Soltrooper, but Orion shot out his hand and shouted. "I activate the effect of Soltrooper! Once per duel, when Soltrooper is targeted by an effect, I can negate that effect and summon another Soltrooper from my deck! Repel him Soltrooper!"
At Orion's words, the fiery Soltrooper erected a shield of flames, blocking the shockwave generated by Cracking Dragon, protecting itself and Orion's lifepoints. Afterwards, another Soltrooper was summoned next to the first.
[Soltrooper. LV 3. Galaxian. Fire. ATK: 1200. DEF: 400]
"He made use of Cracking Dragon's effect!?" The Knight of Hanoi gritted his teeth in irritation. "But your monsters are still weaker than Cracking Dragon!"
"Who says I'm done?" Orion scoffed. " Come forth! The circuit that will read my fate!" A bolt of lighting shot out of his hand and hit the sky, creating a square portal with eight arrows around it.
"You can link summon too!?" The Knight of Hanoi gasped in shock.
"Arrowheads confirmed!" Orion chanted while ignoring the knight. "The summoning conditions are one 'Galaxian' type monsters! I set my first Soltrooper in the link markers!"
One of the two fiery soldiers flew to the portal in a red twisters, heading towards one arrow. The first Soltrooper entered the bottom arrow, making it glow red. The portal glowed with energy as Orion continued the chant.
"Circuit combined! Link Summon! Descend! Link 1! South Cross Dragon!"
The monster that appeared was a long golden serpentine dragon with a huge ruby cross held in its four hands. A single shining orb of light floated on top of the dragon's head.
[South Cross Dragon. Link 1. Galaxian. Light. ATK: 1000. Link Marker: Bottom]
"You have a link monster!?" The knight could not believe it when he witnessed the Galaxian Type Monsters, and now there are Galaxian Link Monsters!?
"Monster's from the extra deck are summoned to the Extra Monster Zone!" Orion told the Knight, which he already knew.
"Furthermore," Garett's voice stated from Orion's duel disk transmitter. "You can only summon other Extra Deck Monsters at where a link monster's arrow points to. Just reminding you Orion."
"Thanks Garett. I shall now activate the effect of South Cross Dragon!" Orion continued. "Once per turn, I can tribute another Galaxian Type monster I control to special summon a level 4 or lower Galaxian Type monster from my hand. I choose to tribute my remaining Soltrooper to special summon my level 4 Starlight Sentinel from my hand! Gate of the Southern Cross!"
Soltrooper disappeared into light particles while South Cross Dragon flew in a wide circle, forming a flaming circular portal. From the portal jumped out a knight wearing black starry armour which twinkled continuously. From the back of his head were glowing tendrils of light, and he stood in a fighter's stance.
[Starlight Sentinel. LV 4. Galaxian. Light. ATK: 1600. DEF: 800]
"Did you forget?" The Hanoi Knight reminded. "I activate Cracking Dragon's monster effect! Since you normal or special summoned exactly one monster, its ATK points are decreased by 200 times its level, and that damage is dealt to my opponent! Crack fall!"
The orbs around Cracking Dragon glowed as a wind hit Starlight Sentinel, causing its attack to fall to a measly 800.
[ORION LP: 3200]
"I shall now activate Starlight Sentinel's effect!" Orion declared. "Once per turn, I can tribute a Link Monster to destroy one card on the field!" South Cross Dragon disappeared into light particles and Starlight Sentinel's fists gained a glowing aura.
"What did you say!?"
"I know of your Cracking Dragon's effect from Playmaker's duel." Orion explained to the knight. "Cracking Dragon cannot be destroyed by any monster with a lower level than itself, level 8. But how about card effects?"
"You damn brat!" The Knight of Hanoi snarled.
"Do it Starlight Sentinel!" Orion ordered. "The card I'm obviously destroying is Cracking Dragon!" Starlight Sentinel rushed forward and delivered an uppercut to the dragon's belly, making it roar in pain as it got destroyed.
"I shall set one card!" The said card materialized briefly on Orion's field. "Battle! Starlight Sentinel will attack you directly!" The knight banged his fist together before dashing towards the opponent.
"I activate the trap, Hack Barrier!" The knight played a card which showed hack worm, Jack Wyvern, and Cracking Dragon being protected by a green barrier. "When I am directly attacked, this trap lets me end the battle phase by banishing up to two Machine Type monsters from my graveyard. So I'll banish my two Hack Worms to end the battle ad what's left of your turn!" A green barrier formed around the knight, forcing Starlight Sentinel to be pushed back with a grunt.
"The final effect of Hack Barrier also lets me draw one card for every Machine Type monster banished, so I draw two cards." The Hanoi Knight added.
"Tsk…turn end" Orion stated. "But with that, your ace is gone and Starlight Sentinel's ATK points return to their original value."
[Starlight Sentinel ATK: 800 + 800 = 1600]
"Don't get cocky just because you destroyed one dragon!" The knight said. "My turn, Draw!" He briefly looked at his two cards before smirking. "I activate my skill!"
"Huh? What!?" Orion stared in confusion as the markings on the Knight or Hanoi's mask glowed yellow.
"My skill, Double Draw! I draw two cards!" The knight explained. "Next, this card can be special summoned to my field as long as I control no monsters. Come out, Data Burrower!" A larger version of Hack Worm appeared on the field, its wire-like tongues wiggling uncontrollably.
Data Burrower, Machine, LV 2, ATK: 800, DEF: 0
"What the hell was that!?"
"He just used a skill," Garett's voice explained. "A special feature of speed duels as that you can use something called a skill. It can only be used once a duel, but it can change the course of the duel."
"We can do something like that!? What's mine?" Orion asked Garett with great enthusiasm.
"No. You can't used yours." Garett simply stated.
"Wha- why!?"
"Next, I summon Jack Wyvern!" The knight broke Orion's conversation by summoning another machine similar to Cracking Dragon in design appeared in the Knight's field. Only that it is smaller and rather serpentine. It has a blue design with multiple green orbs connecting its wings.
[Jack Wyvern, Machine, LV 4, ATK: 1800, DEF: 0]
"I activate the effect of Jack Wyvern! By banishing this card and one other machine type monster on the field, I can summon back one Dark-attribute monster from my graveyard. So come back, my Cracking Dragon!"
A blue portal materialised in front of the Knight of Hanoi, and the huge black dragon emerged once more with a roar.
[Cracking Dragon, LV 8, Machine, ATK: 3000, DEF: 0]
Upon seeing this, Orion groaned. "Really? Him again? After all that effort to destroy him?"
"I'll really make sure to make you suffer this turn." The knight smirked. "I activate the equip card, Air Cracking Storm!" Four blue missile-like armaments appeared and attached themselves to Cracking Dragon.
"This card can only be equipped to a machine-type monster." The knight explained. "When the equipped monster destroys a monster by battle, it is allowed to make a second attack! You still have 4000 Life Points remaining, I'll end this duel with two successful attacks! I set one card and battle! Cracking Dragon shall attack Starlight Sentinel!"
"If those attacks land," Blue Angel who was observing stated. "Orion will receive a total of 4400 points of damage, including a direct attack if Starlight Sentinel gets destroyed in battle!"
"This is the end! Orion!" the knight yelled triumphantly. "TRAFFIC BLASTO!"
"I also have a trap! I activate the trap card, Galaxian Synastry!" The card Orion played last turn flipped open, showing a Starlight Sentinel and another wolf-like warrior crossing flying into space as two blue comets. "This card prevents a Galaxian Type monster from being destroyed by battle this turn, and after the battle phase, I get to summon a Galaxian Type monster from my deck with the same ATK as that targeted monster!" Four shining stars appeared before Starlight Sentinel and formed a square barrier, and protected it from Cracking Dragon's attack. However, the shockwaves still caused Orion's avatar to glitched and shaved his lifepoints away.
[Orion LP: 3200 - 1400 = 1800]
As the damage caused Orion's D-board to wobble, Orion slipped and began falling from the high attitude, making some of the audience members watching to scream or cover their eyes.
"SUBARU!" Garett's voice screamed.
"Shit!" Orion quickly did a few hand motions, and his D-board quickly positioned itself under his feet. A few moments later, he returned to the data stream, much to the delight and relief of the Den City audience.
"Hoh…it looks like you have some luck." The Hanoi Knight commented, scorn evident on his face.
"It's skill, not luck." Orion smiled. "By the effect of Galaxian Synastry, and the end of your battle phase I get to special summon a Galaxian Type monster from my deck with the same ATK points as Starlight Sentinel. So come out, Nova Cruxsader!" Another knight-like monster in red starry armour appeared on Orion's field with a sword and a shield shaped like a giant cross.
[Nova Cruxsader. LV 4. Galaxian. Light. ATK: 1600. DEF: 1200]
"I activate Cracking Dragon's monster effect! Since you normal or special summoned exactly one monster, its ATK points are decreased by 200 times its level, and that damage is dealt to my opponent! Crack fall!"
The orbs around Cracking Dragon glowed as a wind hit Orion's Nova Cruxsader and Orion himself, shaving even more lifepoints.
[ORION LP: 1000]
"Since Starlight Sentinel was not destroyed in battle, the effect of your Air Cracking Storm will not activate. That means you cannot attack anymore." Orion reminded the knight. "So what would you do, Hanoi?"
The knight gritted his teeth in frustration as he said, "Turn end."
.
"Aaaaaand he defended it!" The MC yelled to the cheers of the crowd watching. "Not only did he defend against the potential OTK, but he also summoned out another Galaxian! This is my first time seeing these Galaxians, by I must say, THEY ARE AMAZING!" The crowd roared with approval.
"He's not bad…" Go Onizuka smiled. "For a newbie."
.
"My turn!" Orion declared. "Draw!"
"It looks like the duel is over." The Hanoi Knight suddenly smirked at Orion with an ugly grin.
"What are you talking about?" Orion asked. "I still have life left!"
"Hehehehehe, it appears you do not understand the meaning of my words!" The knight laughed as he pointed his finger behind me. "But you'll understand soon enough."
While Orion was trying to fathom those words, he heard a loud noise behind him. He turned around and to his shock, he saw a massive data storm closing in fast, reducing all surrounding buildings to data.
"GARGGGGGGGGGH!" Orion screamed as he was swallowed by the data tempest.
"The data storm will swallow you…you will be terminated." The Knight of Hanoi explained. "And then, your Galaxian cards will be a nice gift for Master Revolver."
"You-ch" Orion reached out his hand and attempted to escape the storm, but he disappeared behind the raging winds.
"ORION!" A few people cried out.
.
As Orion tried to grab on to his D-board, a voice cried out from the transmitter. "Subaru! Are you ok!?"
"I just got sucked into a digital hurricane, or course I'm okay!" Orion replied with sarcasm.
"Just listen to me!" Garett stated hurriedly. "Regain your footing first!"
Orion quickly stood unsteadily back on his D-board and balanced himself. He was about to breathe easily when he realised he was about to be swept into a building, causing him to make a sharp turn and ride back into the storm.
"That was too close…" Orion thought.
"Orion, listen to me carefully…!" Garett's voice interrupted Orion's thoughts. "This is your chance to defeat him! Use your skill!"
"What? My skill? I thought you say I didn't have a skill!" Orion shot back.
"I only said that you couldn't use your skill yet, but now the conditions are fulfilled!" Garett explained. "This is a skill you can only use when you have at least one 'Galaxian' Type monster on the field and you are in a presence of a Data Storm."
"Huh? What kind of freaking ridiculous conditions are those!?" Orion cried out comically.
"Your skill is similar to Playmaker's skill Storm Access, which allows him to draw one random Cyberse Type Extra Deck Monster from the Data Storm into his Extra Deck." Garett continued. "By using the Galaxian Type monster on your field as a catalyst, we can do something similar, and draw out a Galaxian Link Monster lost and hidden deep in the cyberspace."
"You managed to engineer something like that!" Orion widened his eyes in disbelief.
"It has never been tested before…" Garett admitted. "The skill is called Astral Conduct. By having a Galaxian Type monster on your field, and cutting your lifepoints in half, you can add one random Galaxian Extra Deck Monster from the Data Storm into your deck!"
"What kind of monsters?" Orion quipped.
"Like I know! The more intense the storm, the more powerful the monster. Now is the perfect time to use your skill, Orion!"
"You have to use your hand…and plunge it into the storm!" Garett instructed as the lines on Orion's body glowed burning white. "When the card is placed in your palm…you pull it out!"
Orion held out his hand and the wind began to gather at his fingertips. The energy began to intensify and Orion buckled under the increasing force and pressure. After a while Orion could feel something solid forming in front. He though: This is it…
"NO!" Garett roared. "You have to dig deeper! The true power of the Galaxians lies further in! Beyond human reach!"
"Nghh!" Orion grunted. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOA!"
.
Outside the data storm, the Hanoi knight was watching gleefully when he released something was horribly wrong with the Data Storm. It was slowly turn from purplish-blue to scarlet red!
"W-what the…" he muttered.
"The data storm changed colour!?" Specter gasped in shock.
Revolver however smiled after being slightly surprised by the situation. "It looks like we are about to witness something new and incredible…"
.
"I'll…" Orion gave a strangled yell as the winds threatened to tear his hand apart. "I'll…"
"I'll SHOW THE WORLD MY POWER, AND MY FATHER'S GREATEST WORK! And that is why…I WILL NEVER LOSE! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAA!"
"NOW! ORION!" Garett instructed. "YOUR SKILL!"
"SKILL HATSUDO!" Orion roared. "ASTRAL CONDUCT!" The card finally materialised in Orion's hands and gave a blinding white light. From that light, a being looking like an armoured centaur with wings gave a roar and blasted open the Data Storm and allowed Orion to escape.
.
"HE ESCAPED!" Den City's plaza roared into cheers. " .ORION!"
.
"NANI!?" The knight stared dumbfounded at this turn of events. "The Data Storm should have swallowed you!"
"You had your fun, now its my turn to continue!" Orion declared.
[ORION LP: 500 Hand cards: 3]
[KNIGHT OF HANOI: 4000]
"I normal summon Geocentric Magician from my hand!" Orion summoned a magician similar to Cyberse Wizard to his field, but the mage had a blue robe and held a staff with planets orbiting around it. "I activate its ability, when this card is normal summoned, I can add Heliocentric Magician from my hand to my deck!" Orion added the said card to his row of holographic cards in front of him.
[Geocentric Magician. LV 4. Galaxian. Dark. ATK: 1800. DEF: 1000]
"I activate Cracking Dragon's monster effect!" The Hanoi Knight laughed. "Since you normal or special summoned exactly one monster, its ATK points are decreased by 200 times its level, and that damage is dealt to my opponent! Crack fall!"
A gush of wind caused the Geocentric Magician to stagger but a purple shield was erected in front of Orion, preventing the wind from hitting him.
[Geocentric Magician, ATK: 1800 - 800 = 1000]
[ORION LP: 500]
"What the- why are your life points unchanged?" The knight asked shocked. "You should have taken effect damage!"
"It's Geocentric Magician's effect." Orion stated. "Once per turn, I can negate an instance of damage and deal you the same amount of effect damage! Ptolemaic Theory!" The magician caught the blast by his staff and swung it back at the Knight of Hanoi's face.
[KNIGHT OF HANOI LP: 3200]
"TSK!" The knight grunted.
"Moving on, I can special summon Heliocentric Magician from my hand if there is a Geocentric Magician on my field!" Orion summoned his second magician, this time a female mage wearing an orange garb and holding a metal staff with a sun and moon orbiting around it.
[Heliocentric Magician. LV 4. Galaxian. Light. ATK: 1800. DEF: 1000]
"This time I won't miss! I activate Cracking Dragon's monster effect!" The Hanoi Knight declared desperately. "Since you normal or special summoned exactly one monster, its ATK points are decreased by 200 times its level, and that damage is dealt to my opponent! Take 800 points of damage and disappear!"
"It's almost funny how persistent you are in wanting to use that effect. No matter, I shall just activate Heliocentric Magician's special effect! Once per turn, I can negate one instance of damage and recover that same amount of lifepoints. Copernican Theory!" The female mage caught the blast and changed it to a glowing sun which orbited around Orion, recovering his lifepoints by 800 instead
[Heliocentric Magician, ATK: 1800 - 800 = 1000]
[ORION LP: 1300]
"Then I'll make sure to immobilise you to ensure you can't do anything!" The Hanoi Knight said angrily. "I activate the trap, Pulse Mines! All of my opponents monsters are switched into DEF position." Four balls of electrodes appeared around Starlight Sentinel, Nova Cruxsader, Heliocentric Magician and Geocentric Magician and produced an electric field around them, forcing them into DEF position.
"With this," the knight yelled triumphantly. "You cannot attack!"
"No problem!" Orion stated as he turned his D-board backwards and faced his opponent. "Its time for my trump card!"
"What are you talking about?" the knight sneered. "No matter how many monsters you summon, they will not be able to attack thanks to Pulse Mines…" Suddenly, realisation dawned upon him. "You-it can't be! You are going to-"
"Appear once more!" Orion extended his palm towards the sky. "The circuit that will read my fate!" A bolt of lightning shot out of his hand and hit the sky, once again creating a square portal with eight arrows around it.
Orion closed his eyes and muttered. "I shall now call upon the Sagittarius Constellation of the 12 zodiac." With that, he opened his eyes and began chanting.
"Arrowheads confirmed!" Orion stated. "The summoning conditions are two or more Galaxian Type monsters! I will set Nova Cruxsader, Heliocentric Magician and Geocentric Magician in the link markers!"
The three monsters flew to the portal in three red twisters, heading towards the top, left and bottom arrows. The portal glowed with energy as Orion continued the chant.
"Dragon god of archery! Arrow of Pegasus! Fire your red arrow and calm the storm of the battle! LINK SUMMON! Come forth! Link 3! Zodiac Deity: Sagitta Apollo Dragon!" The link portal suddenly became a circle symbol with the constellation of Sagittarius on it, and a flaming figure burst forth, galloping to the field with massive might. The cloak of flames soon dispersed to reveal a rather strange but majestic figure. It had the lower body of a pristine white horse, but has the upper body of a humanoid red dragon with a wild golden mane and two giant wings. Its dragonic tail whipped around with great force and its entire body was covered in golden armour craved with stars and planets. It gave a mighty roar at its summoning.
[Zodiac Deity: Sagitta Apollo Dragon. Galaxian. Fire. Link 3. ATK: 2400. Link Marker: Top, Left, Bottom. ]
"Z-Zodiac Deity: Sagitta Apollo Dragon…?" The Knight of Hanoi whispered in shock.
"It will be summoned to be Extra Monster Zone!" Orion continued as the card was placed at the Extra Monster zone on the right.
.
"A link monster based on the zodiac constellation of Sagittarius!?" Spectre asked aloud beside Revolver.
"A link 3 Galaxian Type monster huh…" Revolved muttered. "But what in the world happened in that Data Storm…?"
.
"Beautiful…" A girl in the crowd muttered as the full view of Sagitta Apollo Dragon was displayed on the plaza screen.
.
"Sagitta Apollo Dragon's effect activates! Once per turn, I can negate and destroy a face-up card on your field! I choose to destroy that annoying card of a trap, Pulse Mines!" The air in front of Sagitta Apollo Dragon shimmered before a bow and arrow materialized in its hands. The dragon-centaurus took aim before firing, destroying the trap card.
"Thanks to your pulse mines being gone, I can shift the Nova Cruxsader linked to Sagitta Apollo Dragon's bottom marker to ATK mode!" Orion's knight monster with a cross shield stood back to position.
"What an idiot!" The knight of Hanoi laughed. "You could have used that effect to destroy Cracking Dragon!"
"Don't be impatient." Orion wagged his finger at the laughing knight. "Sagitta Apollo Dragon has a special second ability. The monsters this card is linked to gain the same effect as Sagitta Apollo Dragon!"
"W-what!? I don't understand! What do you mean!?" The Hanoi knight demanded.
"Allow me to demonstrate then! Since my Nova Cruxsader is currently linked to Sagitta Apollo Dragon's bottom marker, it gains a new effect! I can negate and destroy a face-up card on your field!" A bow appeared in front of Nova Cruxsader and it took aim, firing a fiery arrow that blasted Cracking Dragon into smithereens.
"A link monsters that can share its effects with other monsters!?" The Hanoi Knight realised in horror.
"I then activate the final effect of Zodiac Deity: Sagitta Apollo Dragon!" Orion pressed on. "As long as this card is in the Extra Monster Zone, when an opponent's monster is destroyed by a card effect, you will take damage equal to half its ATK points! Cracking Dragon's ATK is 3000, so take 1500 points of damage!" Sagitta Apollo Dragon shot out a beam of fire that almost caused the knight to be blown off track.
[KNIGHT OF HANOI LP: 3200 - 1500 = 1700]
"Let's go! Battle!" Orion declared. "Sagitta Apollo Dragon will attack you directly! APOLLON VELOS!" Sagitta Apollo Dragon summoned an extra long arrow with a flaming tip, and nocked the arrow. He gave a roar as he released the end, and the arrow sailed towards the opponent at sonic speed, engulfing the Hanoi knight in a massive explosion.
[KNIGHT OF HANOI LP: 1700 - 2400 = 0]
[ORION: SPEED DUEL WIN!]
.
The Knight screamed as the rest of his lifepoints hit zero and he was sent flying out of his D-board and tumbled down to the hard ground. As Orion hovered over the fallen and gasping knight, he raise his finger up high and declared loudly to the live cameras. "I will never fall." Sagitta Apollo Dragon, as though on cue, gave an earth-shattering roar and the crowd exploded into cheers.
.
"Hey, you!" Orion turned and looked at the new voice. It was Go Onizuka, who was standing on a rooftop looking down at Orion. Blue Angel stood alongside him.
"You're that newcomer that defeated that Hanoi Knight aren't you?" Go asked him with a smile. "Are you an ally of Playmaker?"
"My name is Orion," he answered. "And no, I'm not."
"Even so, even if you aren't Playmaker, I'm itching for a duel. Duel me!"
"Sorry" Orion replied while pressing a button on his disk. "But I got what I came here for." With that, he disappeared from LINK VRAINS.
.
"Playmaker," Revolver muttered. "Who would have guessed he'd be such a dark horse..."
"Master Revolver," Specter spoke up. "You made some wrong decisions here. But at least SOL Technologies didn't get Ignis."
"It won't take long to uncover Playmaker's identity," Revolver said. "His apparent hatred for the Knights of Hanoi will be the one thing that will bring him to us. But the main concern for today was..."
"Orion," Specter agreed. "and his Galaxian deck?"
"Get Faust here and get him to do an immediate investigation of this 'Galaxian' Type. Who knows what connections it may have with the Cyberse or even the Ignis..."
Revolver smiled. "He gave us such a interesting show. I would love to meet him personally. But show he ever stand in the way of our mission, he will be crushed underfoot, no questions asked."
.
Garett's Hardwares:
Subaru sat in a corner of the room at the back of Garett's shop and took a deep breath. "That was nerve-wrecking!"
He pressed a button on his duel disk and display the holographic image of Sagitta Apollo dragon's Cybernetic blue Link Card, and smiled.
"But I got what I wanted. Welcome home, Sagitta Apollo Dragon."
.
.
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Shown Galaxian Cards:
Soltrooper
Starlight Sentinel
Nova Cruxsader
Heliocentric Magician
Geocentric Magician
Zodiac Deity: Sagitta Apollo Dragon