AFTERMATH: HACK
Part 2 – The Never-Ending Tale

Chapter 24 – Den City Stage
Go

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The tournament is upon him before he can blink. To his pleasant surprise, Makoto shows up at the orphanage that morning and they head over together. To his surprise, there are a few other students, wearing Makoto's uniform, also present. Nobody he recognises, but then again, he wouldn't recognise most of Makoto's classmates.

There was that one boy who'd been at the hospital with Makoto during the Another incident… Fujiki Yuusaku, was it? But their paths hadn't crossed again and Makoto had looked surprised that he was there. "Fujiki-kun keeps to himself," the other had shrugged. "I don't know if Shiima-kun is his friend or that's just Shiima-kun's general friendliness at play."

And Go had shrugged it off, though a part of him had wondered if it was possible that that boy was Playmaker. He hadn't pursued it, though. Knowing Playmaker's real world identity was redundant, after all; back then he'd been chasing the challenge, the thrill of having someone stronger than him, someone who he can banter with on an even playing field. And when the sting of defeat got too strong to bear, it was to find Playmaker so he could defeat him so decisively he could prove to himself and Playmaker that he was the stronger of the pair.

Knowing Playmaker's real world identity hadn't mattered. And now, when it does matter a bit, it's probably too late. But he can't see that distinct blue hair anywhere, anyway. He can see a boy with two-toned brown and white, though, standing next to a brunette girl.

"Oi, Zaizen!"

Zaizen Aoi then, he muses, as he watches another boy run up. "Shiima Naoki," Makoto supplies, from beside him. "I doubt he's competing, though. He lacks the confidence, usually."

He's right; Shiima is not competing. But he is talking to the gathered duellists in like uniforms. Perhaps they are part of some club?

"Duel club," Makoto explains. "They're fairly low key; I'm surprised to see so many of them here." Though he also looks a little pleased. He doesn't go over to them, though.

Doesn't stop Shiima from coming over when he spots him though. "Wow," he whistled, staring at Go. "Who knew you were friends with the great Go Onizuka? I'm a huge fan. Of you, and Blue Angel too. Though my all-time favourite is Playmaker…"

Go sighs, but the comment doesn't sting as much as it used to. "My favourite's Soulburner, myself," he interrupts the tirade smoothly.

Makoto stares at him. So does Shiima, for a moment, before he grins. "Soulburner, yeah. He's so cool with his fire monsters, but still, I'm fated to be Playmaker's sidekick –"

Thankfully, the MC interrupts them. How did this kid get it into his head to be a side-kick?

There's a small speech about providing platforms for duels and entertainment while Link VRAINs is prepared, then speeches from SOL Technologies and a few other influential figures. Go declined his own speech; he'd duel but that's all he'd do.

Blue Angel waves from her spot on the stage, but she doesn't make a speech either.

And then the tournament proper kicks off. The bracket is revealed and Makoto wanders over to his side of the stage while Go stays and waits. The tall boy in the uniform directs a few of his classmates, then stays behind with Zaizen Aoi and the two-toned boy. The others have all gone to Makoto's side. And there are, of course, others: casually dressed, a few dressed up like him, a few more with masks hiding their features as though they were cosplaying as their Link VRAINS characters.

At least this time no-one's masquerading as Playmaker. Though they would have had a hard time duplicating his deck, he supposed.

Eventually, the clusters of duellists organise themselves and disperse as well. The first group start duelling, and Go watches them, looking for anything interesting, any familiar cards.

He watches Makoto's duel with all the attention it deserves, of course. And he's proud when Makoto wins and advances to the next round.

In his bracket, there's not much interesting going on. The tall schoolboy – the club president, he assumes, loses in a landslide to a man in a white suit. Zaizen Aoi and the other boy are later on in the bracket.

And, finally, it's his turn. And he blinks in surprise to find Zaizen Aoi standing across from him. "Didn't expect the little sister of SOL Technologies' CEO," he comments. He didn't expect Zaizen Akira to be as mellow as he'd turned out to be, after all. Showed how much the executives had been driving his actions when they'd first met, he supposed.

She shrugs. "You might think otherwise when you see my cards," she replies.

But it's his turn first, and he knows that despite what surprises she has in store, he has to stay faithful to himself and his cards. He can call out The Thunder Ogre this turn, he reflects, but that's too hasty. He wants to see what Zaizen Aoi has to offer.

So he defends. He sets things up so even simultaneous attacks will lead him to a link summon next round.

Then she blasts his lifepoints with her Marincess' special abilities and he realises what she meant. He can't say it, of course: there's too many people watching, too many people listening in. But he supposes it's safe enough for her to flaunt a cyverse deck in public, given few people will have seen it. But if she's using Marincess cards, that means she'd had the water Ignis at some point. If she's using Marincess cards, that means she's Blue Maiden, was Blue Girl… was also Blue Angel.

Zaizen Akira's little sister one of the idols of Link VRAINS, huh. He wonders who orchestrated that little manoeuvre. But her eyes when she regards his defence are strong and stern. Coral Anemone destroys one Gouki. He adds another to his hands but he knows her mainstay is effect damage – that hasn't changed from when she'd use her Trickstar deck – and he doesn't have much to defend against that.

Not much except shaving of her life points with attacks. A strong offence against a strong defence.

But she's shrewd. She's calculating. They parry well, together, and he thinks it's a shame the two biggest Charisma Duellists of Link VRAINS pre-Hanoi hadn't had a chance to go all out together.

"Blue Angel's not duelling today?" he asks, instead.

"Oh, she'll duel the winner." Zaizen Aoi smiles and gestures at the stage.

A hologram? he wonders. Or is someone else dressing up like her? Though that's probably a smart way to avoid having to switch back and forth between the two personas.

"And you go to Makoto's school, right?"

She nods. "Not in the same class, though. Shiima-kun and Fujiki-kun are, though."

"And where is Fujiki-kun?" The look she sends her is a little sharper, now. "He visited Makoto in the hospital. That's how we met. And you wouldn't have mentioned him unless he was somehow relevant."

"Aah." She hums. "He's on family leave," she replied. "He is technically a part of the duel club, though he hardly shows up. But they're the only two from their class. I'm the only other freshman."

So the boy she'd been standing next to wasn't a freshman? He'd certainly looked to be.

She attacked his Gouki defence again. He activated its effect.

"I discard Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to negate that effect."

Well, then. No-one's been gutsy enough to do that before. He grins. "I've got plenty of Gouki monsters left.

"I suppose you do," she replies with a smile of her own. "But I also have lots of Marincess in my graveyard to block your attacks."

And it would be an embarrassment to lose here, especially since Zaizen Aoi isn't dressed up as Blue Maiden, but he knows he's been outmanoeuvred. If it was just blocking his barrage of attacks, he could have broken through in another turn or two, but the effect damage… He'll need to find a way to deal with it, while being flexible enough to not block his deck up with cards he won't always be able to use.

"Good duel," he says in the end, and shakes her hand.

She frowns at him a moment, before shrugging and smiling. "Looks like your head's in the right place," she says. "You know where you need to grow, right?"

And, of course, she's been in the same place: after losing to Playmaker, to Spectre, to Soulburner, to Bohman…

Kindred duellists, and isn't it a shame they hadn't duelled before now.

"Rematch, once VRAINS reopens?" he asks, offering a hand. "Once I figure out a way around that effect damage?"

"My pleasure," she replies, accepting the handshake. "And might I recommend you pay attention to my next duel as well? I'll be duelling Homura-kun… and it's kind of the same thing, really." She frowns again. "I hope. If he's playing his usual – oh, no." She dashes off, but the next duel's already started and Homura's on the field, duel disk activated.

He understands what she means when he reveals his Cyverse cards… but given the reaction he causes, wouldn't it have been smarter for him to have simply dressed up as Soulburner instead?