Disclaimer: I own neither Yugioh Vrains nor Yugioh Arc V, these are properties of Kazuki Takahashi
PROLOGUE
"We shall settle this in the remains of LINK VRAINS, Playmaker." This sentence was uttered by a tall man looking to be 18 years old who was glaring at two other people. He had fair skin and ice blue eyes as well as ice blue eyebrows. His hair was white and spiked upwards at the sides with purple-blue highlights. He was wearing dark blue pants and a pink V-neck underneath a light grey suit-jacket. His name was Ryoken Kogami, otherwise known as Revolver, the leader of the infamous hacker group The Knights Of Hanoi who had decimated the online dueling space LINK VRAINS in order to create a Data bomb that would destroy all of the world's technology.
The two people Revolver was glaring at were two males who both of them were glaring back. The one in the front was a teenager looking slightly younger than Revolver. He was rangy with fair skin and light green eyes. His hair was dark blue that spiked outward in the back and contained light blue nangs with pink accents. He was wearing black and white shoes with black pants and a white dress shirt with a light blue tie underneath a slate colored jacket with slate blue trim. This boy was Yusaku Fujiki, a student of Den Academy as well as the famous hacker Playmaker who has foiled The Knights Of Hanoi's plans time and time again. He is also a victim of one of their schemes 10 years ago.
Besides Yusaku was a young man looking slightly older than Revolver with fair skin and grey eyes. His purple hair came to the base of his neck, and it had multiple small bangs brushed over to hide his forehead, and he also sported a small goatee. He dressed simply, wearing a brown trench coat over a purple hoodie with a bronze zipper and light blue shirt, and teal pants tucked into burgundy boots with prominent black soles. This man was Soichi Kusanagi, a close, and possibly the only, friend of Yusaku who has helped him out countless times because his younger brother Jin was a victim of the same incident as Yusaku.
On Yusaku's left arm was a duel disk. It was round and white in colour with a red circle around a glass orb in the middle. Unlike many other modern duelists, Yusaku's disk needs actual cards while others preferably uses data material. His duel disk was even weirder As there was a thin, small, humanoid figure with glowing yellow eyes and different purple linings going along it's figure. This was Ai, an Ignis, an AI with free will from the Cyberse world who The Knights Of Hanoi had tried to catch.
"Go get him, Yusaku! Crush that scoundrel!" Ai shouted from Yusaku's duel disk but he was ignored by the hacker who was locking eyes with Revolver. "Alright, Revolver! I will definitely defeat you and restore LINK VRAINS!" Yusaku called out to the white haired man with determination which caused Revolver to smirk.
"Very well, prepare yourself!" The terrorist leader announced as he readied his duel disk. Unlike Yusaku's, Revolver's duel disk was more like a wrist watch that was white and gold in color with glowing blood red linings and a small glass orb. Yusaku nodded to his soon to be-opponent and Kusanagi before preparing his own duel disk. The two men got into position and announced loudly and simultaneously, "Into the VRAINS!"
Both of their duel disks began to glow and the two duelists were enveloped in holographic spheres. Their bodies then fell to the floor as their consciousness was taken through the network, though something was very wrong. Both of them had expected to transform into their online avatars but were both beyond confused when they ended up in an empty white space in their normal atires and appearances.
"What in the world!?" Yusaku exclaimed while looking around, trying to decipher the situation. "EH!? Has the Hanoi Tower already destroyed LINK VRAINS!?" Ai exclaimed in panic at the thought that the Cyberse would be destroyed as well. "Don't be so foolish, Ignis!" Both Yusaku and Ai turned around and saw a perplexed Revolver looking around.
"OI! I have a name, you know! It's Ai!" The Ignis called out annoyed at what Hanoi always called him but he went ignored by the two humans. "Is this your doing, Revolver!?" Yusaku demanded which caused said hacker to glare at him.
"I am a man of my word, I promised a duel and I intend to deliver. Besides, I can't stand having a loss record against you. And if you would ask that lying AI of yours, you would find that there is no trace of Data anywhere." Revolver said which caused Yusaku's eyes to widen and Ai to let out a, "EEH!?"
"Ai, check for any traces of Data!" Yusaku demanded urgently to the Ignis who responded with a "You got it!" and sunk into the duel disk for a little while before popping out and exclaimed with a panicked voice, "No way! I can't find any Data anywhere! We're not in VRAINS or even anywhere in the network!"
"What?! Are you saying that we're in the real world?!" Yusaku gasped out while Revolver's eyes narrowed at their completely plain surroundings. "Just where the Hell are we…" Revolver murmured to himself, neither him nor Yusaku expected it to be responded.
"I believe I can answer that…" A kind, female voice making both men tense immediately. They both looked around, desperate to find the voice's source. As particles lights began to appear and gather at one point, both men and Ignis tensed and observed carefully. Eventually, the particles had begun to take shape and faded a person. It was a girl, looking to be about Revolver's age. Her skin was somewhat pale and her eyes were a light violet. She had long maroon and dark red hair gathered in two pigtails held together by violet hair clips. She would appear to be naked if it wasn't for the bright light emanating off her body from the neck down.
"AH! A woman!" Ai exclaimed with a point to said woman who actually giggled at the exclamation. "Indeed I am, Ai." She told the Ignis amusedly before turning her gaze towards the two males. "I have been expecting all of you, Fujiki Yusaku, Kogami Ryoken. Or should I say, Playmaker and Revolver." Her sentence caused both males to immediately tense and glare at her.
"OI! Didn't you expect me!?" Ai yelled out being a little put out by being ignored by everyone once again. "Who are you!?" "Why have you brought us to wherever this is!?" Yusaku and Revolver demanded perspectively. She merely smiled at the two of them and held up her hands in a peaceful gesture.
"Well, my name is Ray. As to why you three are here, well, I've come for your help." Ray told the two males and Ignis which caused them to look puzzled. "What could possibly need both of our assistance?" Revolver asked with narrowed eyes at the strange woman while Yusaku glared at her. "More importantly, we don't have time for this! LINK VRAINS and all other technology will be destroyed if the Hanoi Tower isn't stopped!" He told her heatedly but she just kept smiling.
"Don't worry, Yusaku. As of now, the Hanoi Tower poses no threat." Ray told them but now it was Revolver's turn to glare. "What do you mean!?" He demanded angrily and Ray opened her mouth to explain. "You see boys, we are currently nowhere in the network, Den City or even on your planet. We are currently residing within a pocket dimension."
Revolver and Yusaku both widened their eyes before Ai let out, "EH!? You honestly think we'll believe that!?" The Ignis demanded but before he could rant some more he was cut off by Revolver. "I believe she is speaking the truth, Ignis." He said tightly with narrowed eyes at the only female there.
"Pfft!" Ai scoffed. "Whatever, you're just a crazy villain. But the great Playmaker doesn't believe that, right?" The artificial lifeform said while looking up at the green eyed youth. "No, I believe her as well." Yusaku told him rather calmly which caused Ai to fall over comically. "EH!? Why would you believe that!?" The Ignis demanded.
"There are three reasons." Revolver began, "First: there is no Data anywhere, meaning this isn't a simulation or electronic illusion of any kind." Yusaku nodded at this reasoning and actually continued. "Second: We are currently floating in a completely plain area to which the likes doesn't exist on Earth." "And third: There are no lies in her eyes." Revolver finished with a calculative look at Ray who was smiling at them.
"I'm impressed with your reasoning, both of you. And this pocket dimension is independent from time on Earth, so the Hanoi Tower can wait." She told them kindly but the males still needed answers. "But still, why exactly do you need our help?" Yusaku asked her to which Revolver nodded in agreement.
A sad look came across Ray's face as she began to speak, "I will explain, but please, no interruptions." The two males accepted this but Ai, not so much. "Oi! I can speak if I wa-" "Be quiet!" Yusaku and Revolver demanded harshly which caused a frightened Ignis to shrink back into the duel disk and Ray began to explain.
"You see, are both of you familiar with the theory of parallel dimensions?" Both males nodded and she continued. "It's actually not a theory at all, parallel to your world there is another world, or rather, a separate pocket of four worlds that co-exists but remain separated. In these worlds, Duel Monsters isn't fought in VR but in real life. They also have something called Real Solid Vision which causes the Duel Monsters to have actual mass."
"I know you three are only familiar with Advance and Link Summoning, but in these worlds there are actually four other methods. These are called Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and Pendulum." She then proceeded to explain how each of the summoning methods worked and the humans and Ignis were intrigued. "Now, the four worlds are named after the different summoning methods, the Fusion Dimension, the Synchro Dimension, The Xyz Dimension. The exception is the Standard Dimension where all summoning methods are practiced."
"You see, in the Standard Dimension, a boy named Sakaki Yuya created the Pendulum Summoning during his duel with the previous champion, Strong Ishijima." This caused the listeners to be intrigued once again, creating a new summoning method just like that?
"Yuya is the key to many events which shall disturb the peace within the four worlds. I've summoned you three because I know that Yuya will need help for the coming battles." The listeners understood that she was done explaining now and that they were free to speak again.
"That sounds like something out of an anime with a promising start but lack-luster execution." Ai stated mostly to himself. "But what is this threat you keep speaking of?" Revolver asked and Yusaku nodded being curious as well. Ray's face once again became sad as she raised her right hand.
"Sigh, I will show you." She snapped a finger and an image suddenly appeared as both Revolver, Yusaku and Ai were horrified at what they saw. It was a futuristic city with strange architect designs but that wasn't what was grabbed the observer's' attention though.
It looked like a battlefield, like a warzone. Buildings were demolished and there was fire everywhere. Giant, mechanized colossuses walked around and shoot lasers at whatever they could shoot at. The screaming of people echoed as the city was more and more destroyed. Men, women, children all were chased by people with shield & sword like-duel disks dressed in red, yellow and blue. Some screaming people were enveloped in a violet light and then they were gone.
"What in the world...?" Yusaku said to himself, horrified at the scene before him. Revolver was looking at the images with narrowed eyes and clenched fists. Ray let out another sigh before snapping her fingers causing the images to disappear. Silence reigned for a while after that.
"Will that fate fall upon the other worlds?" Yusaku asked quietly yet firmly to which Ray nodded. "It's almost a certainty. The people of these worlds need you two." She said pleadingly. Yusaku's and Revolver's eyes met for a few moments before Yusaku turned away and faced Ray.
"They may not be of our world, but I refuse to let innocents suffer if I can do something about it! I shall give these worlds my assistance, Ray." He declared firmly which caused Ray to give him a grateful smile. Ai choose this moment to pop out of the duel disk. "Yosh! The great Playmaker will swiftly defeat any threat with me by his side!" The Ignis made a guts pose which caused Ray to giggle. All three of them then turned towards Revolver who let out a sigh.
"I've done many horrible things while being the leader of the knights of Hanoi. But they were necessary to ensure mankind's survival. Even if they are not from my world, I shall uphold my father's dying wish and eliminate any threat to mankind! I will assist as well." He said in a determined tone and Ray let out a pleased smile and clapped her hands together.
"Excellent! Both of you have my sincere gratitude. Now, since you're doing this together, I want the two of you to shake hands and declare a ceasefire, you can battle each other to your heart's content after you have finished." She said and this caused the said males' eyes to widen as they stared at each other in shock. It had almost slipped their mind that the two of them were sworn enemies.
Revolver narrowed his eyes at Yusaku and began to approach the teen. Eventually, they were face to face and Yusaku was the first to extend his hand but it was done rather stiffly. Revolver kept staring at him before sighing and extended his hand as well. The hands clasped and shook three times but Ray frowned a little when she noticed that the movement was extremely stiff and they seemed to almost squash each other's hand. They let go quickly as if they had been burned and turned their attention towards Ray.
"Any other information you wish to share?" Yusaku asked to which Ray nodded and responded, "Yes, the three of you will arrive in the Standard Dimension. There it's best if you befriend Sakaki Yuya as he is the key to many future events and the founder of Pendulum Summoning. Do not reveal to anyone about the four dimensions until conflict occurs, it is essential." The two duelists nodded at this and signaled for her to continue which she did. "Remember, none are aware of Link Summoning in any of the four worlds. You will draw attention to yourselves but it will be of the right kind. There is also no need for Ai to be hidden." This revelation caused said Ignis to let out a, "Thank goodness…"
"The city which you will be going to is Miami City where a Championship will take place, it will be in your best interest to join a duel school and qualify. The best would be to join Sakaki Yuya's school, You Show Duel School. Over time, you will find new cards being added to your decks, courtesy of me, in hopes of you evolving as people and duelists. Understood?"
"Hai!" Yusaku and Revolver said as Ai made a small salute as Ray smiled at them. "Great, you shall depart now. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours." Ray said with a small, polite bow. A light purple wormhole appeared underneath the two duelists which caused them to gasp, they were then dispersed into particles of the same color and sucked into the wormhole who disappeared as soon as it appeared.
Ray smiled sadly and let a few tears run down her cheeks as she watched where Revolver and Yusaku had been previously. "I hope these two can not only help themselves, but you as well… Zarc." She said to herself mournfully before disappearing in particles of light.