A/N: So this'll be my first time attempting to write for Vrains, I feel since Vrains is a darker storyline than Arc V (the one I usually write for) I can let myself loose a bit in regards to what I can get away with. If you've read the True Draco King you'll know the type of material I delve into. Without further ado here we go!
Chapter one: Judgment of Corruption.
"Consider my proposition here."A man spoke towards a sixteen year old teen "I'm offering you a good deal here. You get your money and I get a troublesome person removed from the scene it's a win for both of us in layman's terms." The man's smirk widened at the thought of finally eliminating the person in question.
The teen spoke in a very flat tone with a very distinctive lack of inflection and empathy "Fine by me but show me the money first, I want to see that I will indeed receive what you are offering, I don't do empty jobs."
"I knew you'd say something like that. So…" The man took a brown envelope from his jacket and passed it to the teen "You can take the payment now if you wish… Sateriasis" Opening the envelope, Sateriasis' eyes widened then shrunk with intent, smirking he responded "I'll do as you wish, Playmaker will be destroyed by any means required."
Sateriasis Marlon had relatively pale skin a common trait amongst his family, his blood red eyes that often contrasted heavily to his skin tone, his hair was quite a long purple colour and went down to the middle of his back when not tied back as it often was. Currently he was wearing a black hooded jacket with golden trims, a navy blue t-shirt, sliver jeans held up by a black belt with a golden buckle and finally he was wearing grey combat boots that shot his height up from 5'11 to 6'1. Buckled to his arm was a diamond shaped green duel disk that had a black wrist band.
"If this meeting is over, I'll be on my way. May I ask your name in case we ever meet again?" Sateriasis said pulling up his hood and tucking the envelope under his arm.
"There are somethings you don't need to know just yet, my name is one of them but trust me when I say we'll meet again very soon."
"Humph. Alright then…" Sateriasis made his way out of the secluded alleyway he was in and travelled towards where he lived. He didn't have any parents to go home to as they'd kicked the bucket and the only person he was ever close to in anyway was out of commission.
Working his way through the crowd of people gathered at the centre of the city, he ran into a certain person he was 'acquainted to' "Sateriasis! Sateriasis!" The person shouted out upon spotting his 'friend'.
Sateriasis sighed heavily "Yes? What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" He held up the envelope to prove his claim "Oh…I'm sorry, didn't realise you had a job. I just thought we might watch the upcoming duels in Link Vrains, Y'know like friends."
Sateriasis was about to reject this offer but quickly thought better of it "Actually. Y'know what, I will take you up on that Allen." Allen's eyes lit up "Really? You mean it?!"
"Sure. Who are the main ones?" He asked half curious as he had the intent to interfere if the situation dictated it.
"I believe It's Go Onizuka and Blue Angel!" Sateriasis' face soured at the last name.
"That airheaded optimist!" Allen caught wind quickly, knowing of his immense 'dislike' of Blue Angel "Sat. I know you don't like her but we're in a public location do calm it."
'It's all a ploy anyway, all smoke and mirrors, throw enough shiny lights in someone's face and they'll lose sight of the world around them!' Sateriasis thought spitefully, information he had received said that something big was set to happen this day.
This intelligence was confirmed when he and Allen heard a cacophony of screams coming from multiple VR avatars on the screen as they were brutally deleted by the scorching flames that came from a black scaled dragoon which had appeared seemingly out of thin air and started attacking Link VRAINS.
'Wait, who's that..?' His attention was drawn to a figure that stood confidently upon the Dragon's head who was wearing a white robe and hid their face with a grey mask.
"Hanoi!" Allen exclaimed "Sat, do something!"
Sateriasis moved away without saying a word to Allen "Hey Sat where are you going?!" All that was given in return was a three fingered gesture.
Sateriasis raced to his apartment as fast as his legs could possibly carry him. Locking his door, he then went off to another section of the room that was laden with a keypad. '1068' He quickly punched in the code revealing his access room to Link VRAINS. He calmly strode into the centre.
"Into the...VRAINS!" shouted Sateriasis as his body got surrounded by data and 'Into the VRAINS' flashed on his Duel Disk.
"Welcome to Link VRAINS! Mammon!" Greeted Sateriasis' disk AI with the user name he had developed an infamous reputation with.
Sateriasis now had one emerald green eye and one royal purple eye, to make sure no similarities other than speech pattern were noted his hair was much shorter and was spiky that shot out in multiple directions at the back to form an 'X' shape, it also changed colour from purple to blue. His getup consisted of a jet black outfit that had zigzagging purple lines periodically crossing each other to form multiple symbols that only bore relevance to him, his boots didn't change and he wore pure white gloves. On his belt there were numerous devices and tools.
He had joined standing on a rooftop, not too far away from the ensuing carnage.
"Vanish!" a voice shouted with temerity. Mammon turned around to see the Knight of Hanoi on its dragon as it unleashed fire towards Blue Angel. He watched on with eager anticipation at the final destruction of his most hated person in all of Link VRAINS.
To his surprise and massive dismay, a mysterious Individual had saved the Charisma Duelist from her impending doom.
"Who are you?!" The knight shouted angered and incredibly annoyed at the fact his mission had been compromised
"My name is Playmaker." he responded as he raised his arm, revealing his Duel Disk with an eye in it. "I have what you're looking for. Stop attacking Link VRAINS; If you don't I'll erase it right now!" This was perhaps the best case scenario for Mammon, an up and coming match between his target and his current employer.
"Hey!" The eye exclaimed loudly glaring daggers at Playmaker "Don't treat your saviour as a hostage."
"I've converted this program into a duel program," Playmaker said mentally tuning out and ignoring the A.I. "If you want it you are going to have to beat me in a duel!"
"This'll be fun…" Mammon grinned wildly at the scene unfolding in front of him.
"Fine!" The knight hissed then smirked "You'll learn what happens when you oppose Hanoi!"
"I'm looking forward to it." Playmaker said stoically.
The two began to move to another area, the city area to be exact with Mammon swiftly following suit via the still intact rooftops. They both glared at each other with nothing but pure intent to defeat their opposing number.
It was then the A.I. In Playmaker's disk began to glow purple whilst it started to speak "Cyberse! Release data material!"
'Cyberse? Interesting…' Mammon thought hard at the AI's words.
Without warning a pillar of light shot out of Playmaker's disk, causing a portal to open up in the sky that from which a purple stream poured out of.
The powerful gust that blew against Mammon caught him completely off guard, something very unusual for someone that was always on top of things as Sateriasis was. "Wind…But how is this happening…"
While he was busy trying to reaffirm his own grasp on the situation, a second development once again blind sighted him. Playmaker had jumped into the air and landed upon a D-Board which had zoomed to meet him. He was now surfing the wind, so to say.
"It's a data storm." He'd finally reaffirmed his grasp on the situation, just enough to be sure of himself.
The knight too surfed the storm on top of his own board. 'Speed duel huh? I guess that should spice things up a bit…' Personally he was more familiar towards the more advanced version, the master duel. But since multiple factors led into his work he wasn't that clueless however he took the leisure to run over the rules in his head.
'In a Speed Duel, there are three Main Monster Zones, along with two Extra Monster Zones. Instead of five, there are three Spell/Trap Zones just like the Main Monster Zones. To compound this, you start with only four cards in your hand and the Main Phase 2 is non-existent. All in all it gives you a different challenge to normal.'
Observing from his post he witnessed the knight take the first move, summoning two weak monsters to use as tribute fodder for his most powerful monster. The one he rode when he first arrived onto the scene. A monster known as Cracking Dragon.
'Looks like it's all-guns-a-blazing for Hanoi!' Mammon tapped his forearm three times 'Playmaker has got a mountain to climb if he wants to win.'
Playmaker took the next turn, drawing as if his life depended on it. To begin with he placed two cards face down then keeping the fact that there was no Main Phase 2 in mind, he summoned Cyberse Wizard. Which as is suggested was a Cyberse monster.
'Cyberse monster…I thought they didn't exist anymore, Playmaker…What an interesting character.'
Cracking Dragon's effect triggered instantly, lowering Wizard's attack and dealing decent damage to Playmaker. This move was quickly countered however when Playmaker activated his monster's ability to switch the destructive black dragon into defence mode evening managing to use this to deal piercing damage but due to the dragon's effect it was protected from destruction.
It seemed that the match was at a deadlock for now.
But that changed dramatically upon the activation of the knight's skill, DDoS attack which cut down Playmaker's life points significantly, the shockwave knocked him from his board and it would've sent him crashing down to earth had it not been for Blue angel who appeared and rescued Playmaker returning the favor he did for her.
Mammon felt a mixture of emotions following that event, one he was happy that Playmaker had been saved as it gave him the honour of finishing off the proclaimed 'Hero of Vrains' but second he disliked the fact that it was Blue Angel who had intervened to save him.
"You there!" Came a voice behind him making him break off eye contact with the duel and turn to face his own intruder.
"Yes what do you want?" He asked in his altered voice, another pro caution he had taken in an attempt to hide his identity, It now had an almost ghost like quality.
"You're Mammon aren't you?" The individual asked his own question completely ignoring Sateriasis' one.
"Depends. Who am I talking to?" The individual in question was clad in a blue uniform that had his collar flipped up and pressed against his neck. His uniform consisted of a pair of black trousers, a royal blue jacket that its collar upturned and what appeared to be a symbol of sorts. Furthermore he was wearing brown combat boots and concealed his face via a mask. His hair was a stark white and incredibly messy with some of it even drooping over the mask.
"I gather you're a bounty hunter yourself?" Mammon nodded, not really too interested in the situation "You may well be surprised to know that I'm one myself, I work for SOL Technologies you see, and they're very interested in you."
"I guess my reputation proceeds me if they are interested in me. May I ask who exactly you are?"
"My name is Colt." He said with a tone flat enough to almost reach Sateriasis' level.
"To answer your starting question, I am indeed the person you are looking for but now I want the answer to my question what do you want?"
"You see SOL have tasked me to hunt down and defeat any troublemakers in the system and your name was at the head of the list." Colt revealed the cobalt blue disk that was attached to his arm.
"You've come to challenge me then in layman's terms." Colt nodded at Mammon's analogy. "Well then! So be it!" He revealed his own disk.
"Duel!" The two hunters shouted beginning the Master Duel.
Turn 1
"I'll be going first if you don't mind!" Mammon said as five holographic cards appeared floating in the air before him, 2 monsters, 2 spells and a trap.
"I begin by activating the continuous spell Network Corruption!" The card art depicted a string of binary text which was beginning to turn into a bunch of indecipherable gibberish, in the shadows, two monsters could be seen supposedly the ones causing the corruption. One of them was a grinning imp while the other was a devilish dragon.
"Network Corruption grants me the ability to once per turn add one of my level four or lower 'corruption' monsters to my hand and all I have to do to sustain this ability is pay five hundred life points on my standby phases!" He searched through the cards available to him, finally settling on one after a while.
"I add to my hand the level 2 monster Corruption Gear! Now since neither of us control a monster I can summon this monster from my hand! Come on out level 5 Greedy Corruption Demon!"
Greedy Corruption Demon was a maniacal hell spawn for lack of a better term. It had blood red wings, horns and pointed tail that contrasted with his black scaly skin. Razor sharp teeth were visible when the creature opened its mouth. Its eyes had an unnatural yellow glow to them, usually striking fear into Mammon's opponent.
Greedy Corruption Demon Level 5, fiend, DARK (2500/1300)
"Now there is a great cost to this bonus, since I summoned him this way one thousand of his attack points are rendered effectively null and void." A black mist formed over the top of the demon and drained the thousand points away.
Greedy Corruption Demon Atk: 2500 - 1500
"What was the point in summoning him if he's just going to be weakened?" Colt was unable to comprehend Mammon's line of reasoning for weakening his own monster, while the blue haired duelist in question merely tutted at his opposite number.
"You'll find out right now! Left unchecked corruption can ravage a system, destroying countless hours of work and decades of progress! Using his effect from my hand I summon my Corruption Gear to the field!"
Corruption gear was an old rusted cog that appeared to have suffered from heavy metal fatigue and corrosion as bits of it could be seen falling off.
Corruption gear Level 2, fiend, Dark (0/1000)
"Corruption Gear can be summoned to my side of the field so long as another corruption monster is present and said monster has attack below 2000." Mammon explained trying his hardest not to burst out laughing so as not to look insane.
"That's why you summoned your demon first, you used his weakness to your advantage. Not bad if I do say so myself." Colt was becoming more and more interested in his target by the second.
"Why thank you! But I'm not done just yet! I use my normal summon for the turn to summon forth Paladin of Corruption!"
This monster was a knight in shining armour…If you discount the half of the body that was covered by a black oozing sludge, it also had a tattered red cape that swung over the right side of its body. The sword it wielded was tarnished, looking like it too had fallen victim to corrosion.
Paladin of Corruption Level 4, fiend, Dark (1600/1200)
Mammon ginned wildly causing Colt to become slightly concerned "Now! Appear the corrupted circuit that destroys all!" Mammon continued as he appeared in the link square "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two 'Corruption' monsters! I set Paladin of Corruption, Greedy Corruption Demon and Corruption Gear into the link markers!" The three monsters transformed into black electricity jolts.
"Link summon! Link 3! Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon!"
Mammon's ace was massive, it could easily be seen a mile away which it was by a frog avatar and a pigeon one that clutched the frog tightly in its talons.
"I don't think anything else is happening." The pigeon spoke "Playmaker's done with that knight and those two were the only ones online."
"Don't worry about it! I'm certain our big break is just around the corner!" The frog said with a certain fire about him.
"As if! I mean we're not just going to go round this corner and see the most terrifying dragon known to man!"
Cue Sod's law as the two passed the last building on the block and came into view of Corruption Dragon.
"Oh my GOD!" The pigeon screamed, startled by Mammon's dragon, so badly taken back that he nearly lost his grip upon his frog companion.
Corruption Dragon was covered with black and blue scaly armour that stood on two clawed feet, it had four wings on its back, the top two were blue and bigger than the lower set of black ones, its head was covered with four horns two on its forehead and the remaining two was placed underneath its chin. The eyes were over a sliver colour that like GCD had an unnatural glow to them. It had a tail that split into two at the end with each ending have detailed golden tip.
Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon Link 3, Dragon, Dark, (2400) Markers: Top, Bottom Left, Bottom Right.
"Isn't she just wonderful?" Mammon said looking up in twisted glee at his dragon.
'This guy's mental…' Colt thought growing ever more disturbed by Mammon.
"Unfortunately since this is the first turn, I can't attack and have no other choice than to delay the inevitable, I place one card facedown and pass it off to you my fellow hunter."
Turn 2
"I have to finish this before it gets any worse…" Colt muttered under his breath as he brought his hand over to draw. "I draw!"
"To start with a play my Enigma Code spell card!" The card art was that of an infamous code used during the times of a dire war "Now unlike your card, this is a one for one, with it I can add any monster in my deck that has 2000 or lower attack points."
"Basically inferior in layman's terms." Mammon commented uninterested
"I now summon Codecracker Signal Operator!" The monster that appeared was a military man that had an earpiece in his ear and was carrying on him a radio that was spurting out static that was periodically interrupted by a stream of numbers.
Codecracker Signal Operator, level 4, warrior, EARTH (1600/400)
"By sending one card in my hand to the graveyard I can activate Signal Operator's ability!" The monster leaned in closer to the radio and began to tune it "Signal Operator can call up another Codecracker in my hand to the field of battle!"
"Please welcome Codecracker Drone!"
A small black circular drone began to fly across Colt's field.
Codecracker Drone Level 1 (0/200)
"What could that thing do except pester me." Mammon said miffed at the constant droning of the turboprops as it began to fly over him.
"Don't jump the gun. I activate his effect!" The drone then shot a beam of code at Mammon's disk "I get to send the top three cards of your deck to the graveyard and for every monster sent there you take 500 points of damage!"
The top three cards of the blue haired hunter's deck was shown, it consisted of two monsters and one trap card.
"You have two monsters, so that means you'll be taking 1000 points of damage!" The drone opened up its Bombay doors and let loose a small yet powerful payload that obliterated the area surrounding where Mammon stood.
'That should've knocked him out of commission…' But as the smoke cleared the opposite was clear and all Colt was able to do was gasp.
"You really thought that'd be enough to beat me?" Mammon said with the twisted look still not leaving his face. Despite the fact that he was now precariously perched on the edge of the roof top, having been blown back by the force.
Mammon's LP: 4000 – 3000
'Damnit!' Colt thought, he then looked down at his hand to see if there was any way he could get rid of Corruption Dragon.
"I place two cards facedown and end my turn." Colt said unable to think his way out of the situation just yet.
Turn 3
"Then the pleasure is all mine!" Mammon said as he smirked when he realized what he had just drawn.
"Your spell card's effect activates here!" Colt shouted "You lose 500 life points!"
Mammon's LP: 3000 – 2500
"I play Corrupted Twin Twister!" This card depicted art very similar to the original twin twister but in the background Corruption Dragon's eyes could be seen and a dark claw was emerging, that made contact with the second twister turning some of it black.
"Much like the original Twin Twister to activate this card I first must send one card from my hand to the graveyard but here's where the differences start. First I destroy one spell card on my field!" Network Corruption burst into particles as Mammon continued to explain this cards effect "Then one of your facedowns is destroyed…I think the left will be my target!"
Colt's trap flipped face up and was shattered almost instantly.
"Finally since the card I sent to the graveyard was a monster card I get to destroy one of your monsters! This drone's annoyed me long enough!" The drone was ripped from the air and sent crashing back down to earth.
"Battle! Corruption Dragon! Attack Codecracker Signal Operator! Judgment of Corruption!" Corruption Dragon let loose a stream of black electrical jolts that smashed hard into Colt's monster obliterating it in the process.
Colt's LP: 4000 – 3200
"Corruption Dragon's effect! When it destroys a monster it allows me to summon it to one of the zones my link monster points to," Out of a purple vortex Signal Operator appeared but this time it was drenched in sludge and had the occasional spasm. "Corruption Dragon gains attack points equal to the levels of the monsters linked it x200!"
Corruption Dragon ATK: 2400 – 3200
"Do you want to know the best part Colt?" Mammon asked with a sly look on his face "I can use your own monster to attack you!"
"What!" Colt shouted.
"Signal Operator bend to my corrupted will! Attack your master directly!" The force and sheer ferocity of the strike launched Colt skidding across the roof on his back.
Colt's LP: 3200 – 1600
"Can you still stand? I'd be deeply disheartened if we were unable to finish this match." Mammon said in mock sadness with Colt still laden to the ground.
When Colt didn't respond Mammon took matters into his own hands "Akutoku no Jajjimento! I activate the last card in my hand, the spell Degradation of Corruption!" The card showed purer versions of Corruption Dragon and multiple other monsters slowly decaying into a vat of black acid.
"This card deals you damage 600 points of damage for each monster in my field!" The card glowed a bright blue as it began to collate energy "This should shock you back into action!" The resulting strike fiercely electrocuted Colt's body as an ear splitting scream could be heard.
Colt's LP: 1600 – 400
Colt began to stagger back onto equal footing with his clothes still smoking from the previous assault.
'Colt we're taking you out of there.' Came a voice in Colt's hidden earpiece 'You've sustained too much damage and we can't afford to lose you.'
The white haired hunter who was just barely conscious was far too weak to resist the will of his employers, he nodded having suffered what can only be considered abject defeat.
He began to glow a bright blue before vanishing right in front of the stunned Mammon. Handing the corruption duelist the victory but not the one he desired as he too logged out of Vrains.
(Real World)
Sateriasis walked out of the access room incredibly pissed. He sat down at his desk banging his fist on the table furiously "Damn him! What a waste of time!"
There was a knock on his door and he begrudgingly dragged himself over to answer it. Opening it revealed none other than Allen.
"Sat we need to talk." He said matter-of-factly.
Sateriasis just looked at him with half open eyes before slamming the door on Allen's face.
"Sateriasis! Sateriasis!" Allen Shouted banging on the door "Open the damn door!" He punched the door unaware that the purple haired teen had relocked it and he wasn't having any effect.
'Can't he mind his own business? I don't go round to his place and attempt to break his door down.'
Meanwhile in another section of Den city a third party watched over a recording from the back of a hot dog truck.
"Wow. That was just brutal…" Said the owner who had purple hair as he rewatched Sateriasis' final stream of attacks on Colt "What do you think of this Mammon character, Yusaku?" He asked a teenage boy with fair skin, green eyes, and dark blue hair that spikes outward in the back and contains light blue bangs with pink accents.
He was wearing a slate-colored jacket with light blue trim over a white dress shirt with a blue tie and a pair of black trousers and black and white shoes.
"He's not Hanoi so he's none of my concern Shoichi."
"Figured you'd say that." Shoichi said switching the recording over to a screen showing all the information he had collected on Mammon.
"He may not be a member of Hanoi but he is certainly an affiliate of theirs, just take a look at his history." Mammon's collected history detailed the numerous jobs he had done for Hanoi in the past. "I have reason to believe he's currently under contract with them."
'What!' Cried Yusaku's A.I. 'That means he's after me!'
"Quiet!" Yusaku said sternly immediately silencing the A.I. "Shoichi what more do you have on him?"
"Sadly not much. He seems to have gone to great lengths to hide information about himself. However I've noticed his voice is very unusual as if he was using some sort of algorithm to hide his real voice possibly because he thinks it could lead people to figuring out who he is." Shoichi explained to the attentive Yusaku who thought over the implications.
'What we know about Mammon. One he is clearly an ally of Hanoi, two he wishes to hide all information about himself and three he's evidently concerned about his voice if he has altered it.'
"I'll keep an eye on him for you and call you if he makes a move." Shoichi said.
"Thanks." Yusaku replied.
(The next day)
*Beep!* *Beep!*
The sound of Sateriasis' alarm clock roused him rather cantankerously from his sleep "dahhhhhhhhh!" He groaned as the alarm continued to blurt in his ears. He rose slumped over, searching for the snooze button "Why'd I even buy one in the first place…" After multiple attempts his hand finally silenced the alarm.
Dragging himself out of bed Sateriasis got dressed for school wearing the uniform of Den Academy.
(Time skip)
"Now class!" The teacher began "We have a new student joining us today so please make him feel welcome!"
'Great…I wonder what idiot they've dragged in.' Yusaku thought as he heard the footsteps of the new student reverberate through the class, his thoughts were still dominated by Hanoi and this Mammon character.
"Greetings. My name is Sateriasis Marlon. As you know already I'm just recently transferred here." Sateriasis made no attempt at eye contact with the other students and sounded like he was reading off a teleprompter.
"Thank you very much Sateriasis, please take a seat." Sateriasis bowed to the teacher then made his way to a spare seat in the same row as Yusaku.
"Returning to where we left off, does anyone know the significance of this name?" The teacher drew 'MAMMON' on the board.
Whispers began to float round the duelists in the class, which was nearly all of them. Following the footage that was captured of Sateriasis' duel with Colt his alter-ego of Mammon had gained widespread publicity.
"Anyone…?" The teacher looked around, finally his eyes found the hand of Sateriasis "Yes! Marlon!"
Sateriasis stood up "Mammon in demonology is considered to be one of the seven princes of hell as well as the patron demon for the deadly sin of greed. In Hebrew it can also just mean money." Sateriasis gave the same gesture he gave to Allen the day prior. His thumb and index finger shaped as a circle while holding his palm flat.
"Yes that is correct. You may sit down now Sateriasis."
Yusaku watched Sateriasis now regarding him with some suspicion 'Demon of greed…'
After another thirty minutes or so Sateriasis had fallen asleep as a result of staying up practically all night searching for Colt's account.
"Hey." A green haired boy poked Sateriasis' head trying to wake him, however getting no response "Heyy." He did it again this time earning a half-hearted swat. "Hey!" He went to poke him again but this time Sateriasis was prepared and caught the green haired boy in his tracks.
"What!" The purple haired male said twisting the other boy's arm behind his back.
"Give! Give!" The boy cried as the teacher glared at the two of them forcing Sateriasis to release the arm.
"What do you want?" He whispered spitefully
"You're a duelist aren't you?" He said pointing towards Sateriasis' disk.
"Who are you?" Sateriasis said, desperate not to get involved with anyone.
"Well I suppose that's fine of you to ask considering you are only new here. I'm Nakoi Shima!" Nakoi said giving a smug smile and lifting his arm which had his duel disk attached to it. "Anything you'd like to say?"
"Not really." Sateriasis commented, with a distinct look of boredom on his face.
Nakoi shoved the disk closer into Sateriasis' face "Not even about this?"
"Wonderful. A duel disk. I have one too, what's so special about it?" Sateriasis said dismissively.
"It's not just any ordinary disk!" Nakoi retained his complete obliviousness to Sateriasis lack of caring "its SOL technologies' latest disk!" He looked in awe at his disk not noticing Sateriasis had gotten so bored he wasn't even listening anymore.
"This one has an A.I. that helps you during a duel!"
"People who need an A.I generally strike me as incompetent and weak." Sateriasis wouldn't look Nakoi in the eye as he lent back in the chair and twiddled his thumbs.
That commented flew so far over Nakoi's head it could be considered an airplane "I also get priority access to the VR network, Link VRAINS!" His pointed his disk towards Sateriasis' tablet and pushed a button causing several screens to pop up, each one showing a different duelist in VRAINS.
"Ever go there yourself?"
"Don't be stupid!" Nakoi exclaimed once again catching the teacher's attention reigning in the boy's enthusiasm.
'Stupid is a prohibited word.' The A.I. responded which amused Sateriasis as to why SOL would have a prohibited word function.
"It's a sacred gathering place for long-time duelists! Charisma Duelists go there too! It's not as easy as you might think!"
"Alright point taken." Sateriasis said peaking at his level of disinterest, his hand was the only thing that was keeping his head in place.
"But maybe one day in the future I'll go to link VRAINS and possibly meet Charisma Duelists." Nakoi said looking hopeful "Maybe even Playmaker!"
In the shock of hearing Playmaker's name, Sateriasis forgot about his arm being the only stabilizing factor. "Owww…" He said rubbing the point of impact.
"Playmaker you say?" He asked Nakoi slyly.
"Yeah! He's the hottest duelist right now," Nakoi explained "he fights the Knights of Hanoi, a group of hackers who commit crimes in link VRAINS!"
"Do you have any picture of Playmaker or any clue to his real life identity?" Sateriasis was curious, maybe if he found the real life Playmaker he wouldn't need to do it all himself, not that he had any problem with that.
"Of course not!" Nakoi said once again oblivious to Sateriasis' emotion "He's so cool because no one knows his identity. I want to become a duelist of justice just like Playmaker!" He shouted, striking a pose. However he spoke a little too loudly and for the third time was caught out by the teacher.
"You prat…" Sateriasis sneered under his breath.
"But there is one person I do worry about meeting…" Nakoi said, sweating a little.
"Oh? Who would that be?" Sateriasis asked knowingly.
"Mammon…" Nakoi etched out "He's just really scary…" Sateriasis inwardly laughed, not minding the reputation he had built for himself, welcoming it in fact.
"What's wrong with him?"
"He's a bounty hunter who has absolutely no concern for who he harms, even those caught in the crossfire." Sateriasis didn't like the last part, never once had he injured someone other than his target.
"Hmmm. I see the issue you have with his methods but you don't know his motivation, maybe this is the only way for him. Is his identity known?" Sateriasis asked to see if his pro cautions were effective in disguising him.
"No. Just like Playmaker It's unknown who he is in real life. That's another thing that makes him so scary, he could be anyone!" Sateriasis was satisfied with the answer he had received but knew he stood no chance when faced with an experienced hacker.
"Suppose so, after all in the virtual world you don't know who is hiding behind that mask."
A thought occurred Nakoi just as Sateriasis thought he'd successfully shut down the conversation "Say! How about joining Duel Club?"
"Thanks but no thanks. I'm not interested in joining a silly little club." His second attempt to shoot down the conversation met with little success.
"But it's a great opportunity to socialize and make friends! Also it helps improve your skills, we're always looking for new members."
"When in a hole don't keep digging." Sateriasis followed it up by saying "In layman's terms that means zip it."
'Layman's terms… Just like Mammon.' Numerous viewings of the recording and other clips of Mammon's duels that had surfaced, Yusaku had discovered Mammon had a distinct speech pattern much like his own.
"Oi! Zaizen, help me out here. I'm trying to get this guy to join us at the duel club, but he's being stubborn." Nakoi said to a girl sat not too far away.
"If he doesn't want to do it then don't force it upon him." She was a girl, with light brown hair in a bob-cut and yellow eyes "No one is going to join if they don't want to."
"But the president said we need new members! He's even got a relatively up to date disk!" The girl sighed as she turned round to face Sateriasis.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Aoi Zaizen." To Sateriasis she seemed far too timid "Would you like to join the Duel Club?"
"No, as stated before I'm not interested in a waste of my time."
"There you go Shima, he doesn't have any interest in joining." Sateriasis mentally praised the girl for how blunt to the point attitude and for getting Nakoi off his back or so he thought.
"Am I seriously the only one here who takes duel club seriously?" Nakoi wondered aloud before talking to what Sateriasis hoped for the final time "Look you don't have to join, just consider it, right? Personally I just think people shouldn't spend their time alone…"
Sateriasis seemed to be struck at the very core by that last part. 'Sateriasis no man is an island, sooner rather than later you're going to have to branch out, I can't always be there, without proper support a building cannot sustain itself.'
"Actually…Nakoi was it? Upon further consideration, I will join the club might do me good." This was the conversation snapper since it was apparently enough to nullify Nakoi as he returned to his seat.
(Time skip)
Sateriasis dressed in his casual attire walked solemnly through Den city with only one thought on his mind as he passed by a sign that said 'Hospital'
He staggered sluggishly through the entrance and up to the reception where he was greeted by a smiling face behind the desk. "Hi there Sateriasis!" He was greeted happily, "Is this the usual?" Sateriasis nodded glumly, not wishing to speak.
"I see…" He was then handed a card "You know the room number well enough by now there's no point in me saying."
Sateriasis turned off, walking down the corridor to the only room he was concerned about, no one else mattered to him.
He opened the door, pulled up a nearby chair and sat down beside the medium sized hospital bed that contained on it a teenage girl with medium length lime green hair.
"Hey there, it's me again," Sateriasis' voice for once had some degree of emotion in it "you must be getting annoyed by how often I come." He laughed to himself.
"But I've got big news for the two of us," Sateriasis had brought the envelope he had received the previous day "my employer just handed me a huge payday and I intend do my upmost to help them. But I never forget who I'm doing this for in the first place."
Tears swelled ever so slightly in the hunter's eyes as he lent on the bed "I can never forgive myself for what happened, it's all my fault you are in here and I'm going to fix it, no matter what I have to do."