Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth

by DivadX

Yuhiro Furutani, one of 8 children kidnapped 10 years ago by an unknown group, now works as Raguel, an agent in LINK VRAINS' Black Market. One day, he fights the Knights of Hanoi and encounters Playmaker, who becomes his newest assignment. Follow Yuhiro as he now must decide who he wants to become: as both a duelist and as an individual.

41. Chapter 41: Ghost of the Past

Response to Reviews

Thank you to ZarcEternal, HunterHQ, Guest, Anonymous, Donjusticia, Electriuser, Noobmaster, Ambiguous, ZeroMK7, E.T. 2000, Kingdom Hearts Guy, Unnamed, Unknown, Unknown, Guest, Unknown, Guest, Guest and Guest for reviewing Chapter 40 of Obscured Truth.

Before I begin, I want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes. I'm truly grateful for all of you saying that in your reviews. Wherever you are, I hope you're safe and healthy.

I also want to make an announcement. For Roxy's Reports, I strongly encourage you to read the reports from hereon out. Why? Because I may put in post-credit scenes that occurred following the chapter, as well as give a tease as to what's happening next.

But enough talk. Let's answer some reviews, shall we?

ZarcEternal: Abysstainer will use Abyss Actors, which I'll confirm with you because I practically love the archetype. Glad you not only appreciated the duel, but the scenes between Yuhiro and Miyu as well.

HunterHQ: Recall that Yuhiro's memories of his parents were destroyed by a trauma prior to the Lost Incident. And Yuhiro's parents were not killed by guns. The reason why Yuhiro gave in to Miyu's request was because of the combination between Progleo's puppy dog eyes and the need to not risk the argument. The way Medusa and Miyu are similar is that both individuals lost people they cared about (Miyu lost her parents and Medusa lost her sisters) and both suffered at the hands of their tormentors (Miyu suffered from the Lost Incident, while Medusa suffered at the hands of Athena). Even though a majority of LINK VRAINS has been damaged, there were still some areas that were available for limited use. Also, Miles taught Stregone to Ritual Summon, and Abysstainer uses Abyss Actors. You'll see Tsubaki later on in the story as well, but not until NEW LINK VRAINS (LINK VRAINS 2.0 in the English version) officially starts up.

Guest: The Knights of Hanoi visited Ace in the real world at his casino in Chapter 21. The program Watchman provided was to help Progleo blend in with the real world. There's a good chance SOL Technologies has data on Apotheosis, which is a part of Project: VIII. To answer your three questions: Athaliah doesn't know the original scientists from Project: VIII, and the victims won't be addressed until Season 4 or 5. As for your other question, you'll just have to read on and see.

Anonymous: Maybe, maybe not. You'll have to read the reports to find the post-credits scenes. As mentioned above, Abysstainer will use Abyss Actors.

Donjusticia: Welcome back, Donjusticia. I hope everything's well on your end. To answer your first question, the reason why there were three duels was to show how strong Azrael was. Don't worry, he won't be a typical OP Edgy guy. Happy that you also enjoyed Raguel and Stregone's duel as well. I wouldn't say that Yuhiro has pent-up romantic frustration. He's just trying to figure out how to deal with these new feelings that have been arising up now that Miyu's awake. As for the improv between Yuhiro and Miyu, all I can think of is this: Aye Aye Aye.

Electriuser: Thanks for the birthday wishes.

Noobmaster: I originally planned for Action cards to appear in Chapter 40, but scrapped it upon realizing it would take longer to release the chapter. I do however have a reference to another Yu-Gi-Oh! series in Season 2 though in a later chapter.

Ambiguous: More information on the Black Market will be released later on in the chapters. Regarding Emon Uchida's company, its fate will also be revealed later on as well. Miles will use the Nephthys deck, and there will be a Top 10 Charisma Duelist section.

ZeroMK7: Glad you appreciated the chapter and the duel.

E.T. 2000: Raguel's new avatar, which will be based on Saber Prototype from Fate/Prototype, will appear when NEW LINK VRAINS (LINK VRAINS 2.0 in the English version) officially opens, so expect Raguel to use his current avatar a few more times. Yes, Tsubaki has a long way to go to be a Charisma Duelist, but it will be worth it. Glad you liked the duel as well. As I told you before, each deck the characters use represent something to them. For instance, Takeru's Salamangreat deck represents the reincarnation phase he went through following the Lost Incident. You could say each deck is a part of each character's story. When Windy's origin is introduced, you'll see what I mean.

Kingdom Hearts Guy: Raguel has Cyreath Pendulum monsters right now. He'll obtain the other summoning methods as the story goes on.

Unnamed: I can see more Cyberse users coming out from the shadows now that the Hanoi's gone for now. As for what happened to Watchman's powers, he'll explain at some point in Season 2. Lastly, I'll decide what happens to the World Chalice deck.

Unknown: You'll just have to read on to find out. However, what I can tell you is that Stregone will use Nirvana High Paladin later on, along with Spellcaster Xyz monsters like Timestar Magician and Hope Magician. Unfortunately, Stregone won't use Supreme King Zarc, nor will he use the Performage monsters (although I could make a Charisma Duelist that uses Performage). As I mentioned earlier in the story, with exceptions, all cards will use their anime effects.

Guest: By the time Ai is in human form, he would have enough energy to create a Link 6, not a Link 8. Right now, Tsubaki is with her father in Iceland (this is following the events from Chapter 40. Read Roxy's Reports 18 if you need clarification). And yes. If monster's are shadowed, that means they haven't appeared yet.

Unknown: Ace and Athaliah have no idea who Azrael is, even if they were interrogated. Although I can definitely see Blood Shepherd's program working in his favor.

Guest: The new Master Rules won't be applied until Season 4.

Guest: Don't worry. I do understand the reference. I did watch The Incredibles and The Incredibles 2.

Guest: As stated in Chapter 39, Yukage is a man of his word, which means he has honor.

With all reviews answered, let's get onto Chapter 41!

Chapter 41: Ghost of the Past

The sky appears, full of clouds. Playmaker races through the clouds on his duel board, followed by Raguel, Soulburner, and then a male individual wearing a black outfit with green accents and a gold, bird-like mask over his eyes. The individual had dark green hair, which was spiked upwards before a medium sized portion of it went over the right side of his mask. Two swords then slice the clouds completely to reveal NEW LINK VRAINS. One of the swords, a katana with symbols inscribed on the blade, crosses downwards to the left. Crossing downwards to the right was a typical western sword, with a golden rain-guard and a blue grip. The sword also had symbols inscribed on the blade as well. The two swords made a shining X, causing the Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS! logo to appear, and underneath it, the words "OBSCURED TRUTH" ominously appear.

Yuhiro and Yusaku are walking down the street to school. Naoki runs past them, a large smile on his face. Aoi walks past them on the other side, smiling lightly and blushing at Yusaku. Then Takeru walks up behind them and wraps one arm around Yusaku. He then wraps the other arm around Yuhiro, surprising him for a few moments before being pulled to the side by Rachel, who's clearly happy to see him. Yuhiro smiles back at her.

Tsubaki and Hideki are shown boarding an airplane as they head to their destination. After sitting down next to each other in their respective seats, Tsubaki looks out in the window, which shows a reflection of Rosetta, while Hideki picks up the airplane guide and reads it. In the sky above them is Ace, a malicious sneer on his face.

Go Onizuka is shown wearing a hoodie as he leaves the waterfront for the last time. Outside of his home, he encounters Kenmochi and Yoroizaka, who are waiting for him. Smirking, the three of them raise their left arms into the air and enter NEW LINK VRAINS, with Go in his new avatar riding beside his new allies. Stregone crosses his arms as he looks down at them, a look of shock and disappointment on his face.

Kusanagi is then shown with Roxy at a nearby picnic table, both enjoying food and laughter while talking about technology. Flame and Ai are shown arguing in Café Nagi, while Herald ends up getting annoyed with their bickering. As a result, he snaps his fingers, causing Progleo to jump onto the desk and startle Ai and Flame.

At SOL Technologies, Akira Zaizen and Hayami are shown in Queen's office, with Queen handing them a signed order regarding Playmaker and Raguel. A look of hesitation appears on Akira's face, but he hides it just in time.

Azrael and Wraith are then shown with Ace and Athaliah standing behind them, shrouded in shadow along with their ace monsters Zerrziel, Ruler of the Evil Eyed and El Shaddoll Construct. Standing behind Azrael and Wraith though, is a black, bipedal dragon with red sclera, white irises, and black pupils obscured in shadow. The dragon roars before disappearing with Zerrziel and El Shaddoll Construct. Jumping above Azrael and Wraith is a short creature with deep purple skin, red sclera, white irises, and pointed tentacles sprouting above his head. The creature wore black baggy pants with a golden horned buckle. Sporting a demonic expression, the creature extends its right arm forward towards the screen, darkening it completely.

When the screen becomes clear, Playmaker and Raguel are shown riding their duel boards next to each other, with Cyberse Witch and Cyberse Magician in front of Playmaker, and Cyreath Hercules and Cyreath Medusa in front of Raguel. The two are chased by Blood Shepherd, who directs two copies of Battledrone Sergeant to fire at them. Although the two of them are hit by the explosions the missiles caused, they escape unharmed. Suddenly, a young man wearing an elaborate purplish coat with black inner lining and cuffs intricately decorated by red-coloured motifs, as well as grey shirt with crimson leather pants orders a red-eyed dragon with black skin to fire at them. In response, Playmaker and Raguel are shown swerving left and right to avoid the consecutive blasts. Joining the young man in the hunt is another man, with red hair spiked backwards and dark purple eyes, as well as wearing a stylish white coat with yellow lines and a black shirt underneath it. Draped around his lower body is a white waist cape with yellow lines as well. The man orders a male, humanoid monster wearing several components of futuristic armor pieces to attack Playmaker, but Raguel turns his duel board around and activates a card, causing Hercules to glow a bright light before transforming into a colossal, statue-like man with long, shaggy black hair and elbow protrusions. His eyes glowing red, Hercules charged forward with his axe sword and clashed with the male humanoid.

The screen then shifts to the male individual from the opening's beginning watching the duel between Playmaker and an obscured Bohman, while Raguel duels the spiked red-haired man with a white coat and a white waist cape. Noticing Haru, who's also watching the duel between Playmaker and an obscured Bohman, the individual takes a card and summons a white and black dragon covered in white, blue, and black armor, who roared at the boy. The dragon had neon green crystals attached to her body, which acted like wings that shone with bright light. Haru, in response, takes a card and summons Hydradrive Nagini, who hissed at the dragon in the process.

Blue Angel and Rosetta are shown in NEW LINK VRAINS at a picnic table, laughing and enjoying each other's company. The two of them then turn their heads towards the duels going on in the sky, a look of concern on each of their faces.

Watchman's group is then shown, with Percival standing slightly apart from them as he makes a fist with his left hand. Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty and Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon appear before a massive, red-skinned demonic looking monster with golden elements, several eyeballs embedded on its body and four tentacles with bladed claws rises from behind them.

The Knights of Hanoi are shown summoning their monsters. Motor Worm Spread Queen, Helixx Necro Darwin, and Dark Mummy Surgical Forceps first appear before fading into the background. Next is Dark Magician, Berserker of the Tenyi, and Lucifer, Condemner of the Burning Abyss, with Sunavalon Dryanome behind them. Borreload Savage Dragon then rises from behind the four monsters and roars loudly.

Akira is shown at Green Park with Emma, Gekiryushi, and Aoi, giving them details on finding the Ignis. Emma proceeds to make a flirtatious gesture at Akira, making Gekiryushi facepalm and comment on how flirting can be useful at a time like this. The two women then begin to argue, with Akira and Aoi trying to break up the argument.

Yuhiro and Progleo are shown with Miyu at the Den City Hospital, trying to help her walk. Miyu, who's using the parallel bars, ends up slipping, only for Yuhiro to immediately catch her from behind and help her stand up. Roxy then runs out of nowhere and starts pummeling Yuhiro, causing Miyu to almost fall backwards again to their shock. Catching her this time though is Medusa, who appears behind her and smiles, much to everyone's relief. Miyu smiles back, grateful for Medusa's help. The screen then flips around before showing Yuhiro on his knees, clasping an unconscious Miyu's hand in sadness and rage.

Cyreaths Hercules, Medusa, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus are then shown in the air, with Turboblaze Dragon racing past them. The five of them prepare to attack alongside Turboblaze Dragon, who unleashes his Desolation Flare attack as well.

Raguel and Herald are then shown on top of a tower, facing off against Azrael and Wraith in a duel. Behind Raguel and Herald is Turboblaze Dragon, while behind Azrael and Wraith is the black, bipedal dragon from earlier in the opening. Both dragons roar at each other. Raguel reeves up his sword, while Azrael unsheathes his katana before the two of them and their dragons charge at each other.

Yuhiro, Roxy, Miyu, Kusanagi, Takeru, and Yusaku are all shown sitting outdoors at a picnic table near the Den City Hospital, all of them eating hot dogs, and Takeru, Kusanagi, and Roxy are laughing. Three duel disks are shown on the table, with Flame lecturing Ai while Herald plays a game on Yuhiro's tablet.

Yuhiro, Roxy, and Miyu are sitting down on a bench outside the Den City Hospital, with Medusa standing nearby them and Progleo on Roxy's lap. Miyu proceeds to rest her head on Yuhiro's shoulder, causing him to blush as she smiles. Yuhiro smiles back at her, while Roxy and Medusa both smile at them, happy they're able to find happiness with each other. The scene then switches to NEW LINK VRAINS, with Raguel, Playmaker, and Soulburner standing on a building and looking out into the radiant sky.

At an apartment in Den City, during the evening...

Emma was on the couch, typing on her laptop to get some work done. With the majority of LINK VRAINS closed, there weren't many areas open, and even if they were, they were only open for a limited amount of time. As a result, not many jobs for her came in since the Tower of Hanoi appeared and nearly destroyed the network.

And while a part of it was bad, a part of it was good as well. For had it not been for Raguel and Playmaker, the entire network would have been destroyed by the Knights of Hanoi. Therefore, Emma couldn't complain, as she was grateful to both of them for saving her and everyone else that was absorbed the Tower of Hanoi.

So here she was at home. Doing some online work to earn money.

The next thing Emma knew, the phone beside her began to ring. After picking it up and recognizing who was calling her, she put the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" Emma said, putting the laptop to her right side.

"Hi, Emma. It's your mother," Emma's mother, Agnes Beesho said on the other end.

"Hey, mom. Didn't expect you to call at this time of the day." Emma got up from the couch and went over the fridge to get a juice box. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to check in on you," Agnes answered. "After all, someone has to keep an eye on you."

"Mom, I've been doing fine." Emma tried to assure her mother, but to no avail as she walked over to the window to look out at the evening sky. She then took a sip from her juice box.

"Really?" Agnes replied in a firm voice. "Well, young lady. I remember when there was a time you were much happier. I think it was about a year, two years max when you were really happy. You met this person named... what was her name again?"

"Roxy." Emma responded. She did not want to talk about Roxy right now, especially with the incident that happened between herself, Raguel, and Roxy. "If this is why you wanted to talk to me mom, then forget it."

"Don't you take that tone with me, young lady!" Agnes snapped loudly at Emma, making her wince. "If I recall, you had difficulty making friends due to your devious nature, am I right?"

Emma rolled her eyes at her mother's comment as she walked back to the couch behind her. "Please do not remind me," she begged, putting a hand to her forehead.

"I may not know what happened, but I can guess that you and this Roxy were best friends at one point." Agnes continued. "With your father gone, I'm sure he would want you to be happy as well."

Emma's eyes widened as she recalled that piece of information in her mind, her hand dropping from her forehead. Last year, her father died at the Den City Hospital due to pneumonia. Before he did though, he gave Emma two sets of instructions. One: To help her half-brother, Kengo Dojun, in need. Two: To continue living no matter what.

"I get what you mean, mom." Emma agreed, sitting down on the couch. "But even if I wanted to, I'm not sure where to start."

"Well, have you tried looking at things from a different perspective?" Agnes suggested. "Learning new information from a different perspective helps me be more compassionate and understanding when I'm in a fight. Give it a try."

"Do I have to?"

"Emma, please do it. Roxy's your friend, and in times like this, you'll need as many friends as possible." Agnes then hung up afterwards.

Emma sighed as she sat back down on the couch. As much as she hated to admit it, her mother made a good point. In times like this, it was good to have as many friends as possible.

If it weren't for Roxy, Emma thought, putting aside her juice box and grabbing her laptop, I wouldn't have been able to finalize whether Kengo Dojun, aka. Blood Shepherd, was my half-brother or not. She soon remembered the words Raguel said to her during their duel. Especially regarding the Lost Incident.

I don't do this for the money, or the glory. I'm doing this because... because I want to save Roxy's niece from what she's been going through ever since that day. Just when she could escape that hell, she lost both her parents, causing her to go into a coma. One of her parents who died that day was Roxy's sister. I'm fighting so that Roxy's niece can wake up from her nightmare. Smile. And be with Roxy again.

Emma then started typing on her computer, having just got an idea. If Roxy's niece really was a part of the Lost Incident, she thought, going through the files obtained from SOL Technologies' mother bank, maybe that's where I can start. After all, it wouldn't hurt looking at things from a different perspective. "Mom, you may be onto something..." Emma muttered.

The next day, at the Den City Hospital...

Herald had a hand on his chin as he pondered what move to make next. While he was good at video games, he found this game to be quite intriguing. Not only can it be played in the real world, but it can also be played on mobile devices as well. The game Herald was playing right now required concentration and intelligence.

It was a game called Chess.

"Aren't you going to make a move, Herald?" Miyu asked him cheerfully.

"I will, I will!" Herald replied, rubbing his head with his right hand. "Just let me think." On Herald's side of the chessboard, he had his king, a bishop, three pawns, a rook, and a knight. On Miyu's side of the chessboard, she had her king, a queen, a bishop, a rook, and two pawns. "Alright. I got a plan." He stretched over and grabbed his bishop before moving it six spaces diagonally on the left side, enabling him to take Miyu's rook. "And there goes your rook. Which means you can't checkmate me yet."

Miyu smirked. "Oh really?" She then grabbed her queen, which was on the far-left corner of the board, and moved it all the way right from Herald's perspective, enabling her to take his bishop. "Check."

Herald panicked. This was not good. His king was unfortunately now targeted by Miyu's queen, and unless he could save it, the chances of him winning would go down. "Gotta get you out of the way," he muttered, stretching over to where his king was and grabbing it before moving a space to the left. In response, Miyu took her queen and moved a space to the left as well, putting him in check once again and irritating him. He then moved his king a space to the right, hoping to get it out of the way, but Miyu took her queen and moved it to the right as well, further making him panic.

"Do you yield?" Miyu asked, a confident smile on her face.

"I never yield! Not in any type of game!" Herald answered. The next minute then consisted of him and Miyu moving their chess pieces back and forth, with Miyu always putting Herald in a state of check. Seeing Herald getting his butt kicked in a game of chess made Yuhiro laugh, who witnessed the whole thing nearby.

"She's got you beat, Herald." Yuhiro stated, who was sitting in the chair beside Miyu's bed. "At some point, you'll have to either concede, or this will be the longest chess match in history."

Herald sighed, knowing that Yuhiro had a point. "This is humiliating," he muttered, as he stretched over and flicked his king down with his finger, admitting defeat.

"It's only your first time playing Chess." Miyu said, patting Herald on the head. "I bet if you practice, you'll master it in no time." She then gave him a reassuring smile, one that made Herald widen his eyes for several moments. "Something wrong?"

"N-No..." Herald answered, getting his bearings back. "It's just... for a moment there, you reminded me of her. Of the Water Ignis."

"The Water Ignis?" Miyu repeated out of curiosity. "Who's that?"

"Why, your Ignis of course. Just as Yuhiro has me, you have your very own Ignis." The next thing he knew, the Duel Disk he was in ended up getting picked up by Miyu, catching him off guard.

"Can you please tell me what the Water Ignis is like? Please?" Miyu eagerly asked, now wanting to know more.

"I actually want to know about the Water Ignis as well." Yuhiro chimed in. "Come to think of it, there are a total of eight Ignis, one for each element right? You mind telling us about what the others are like?"

"Okay, okay. Sure." Herald answered. "But could you put me down first, Miyu? I'm not the pet here. Progleo already has that role." Miyu put Herald down in front of her on the hospital bed, now excited to hear his story. "First off, there's the Dark Ignis, Ai. He's mostly lazy, and a bit of an idiot at times. But despite these traits, he can be quite innovative."

"What do you mean, Herald?" Yuhiro asked.

"Well, he was the first Ignis to discover that sentience can be given to Cyberse creatures." Herald explained. "When I learned he did that for Linkuriboh, I asked him to teach me to do the same."

"Is that why Progleo and Medusa can talk?" Miyu inquired from Herald.

"Yup!" Progleo confirmed, running over to Yuhiro and jumping on his lap. "Linky only says one word: 'Kuri'. Since the Dark Ignis created him, he's the only one who can understand his language."

"Interesting." Yuhiro noted. That would explain a lot of things. Especially the sentience part, with Progleo and Medusa talking. "What about the other Ignis?"

"Oh, yeah. Can't believe I almost lost track." Herald said, chuckling to himself. "Next, there's our leader, the Light Ignis. He's calm, cool, and collected. Just like a leader. He's also very smart, knowing the best route to take in various scenarios. His intelligence, combined with his status as the fastest Ignis out of all of us, makes him the leader."

"But not as smart as you." Miyu complimented Herald, catching him off guard for a second time.

"I may be smart, but I don't want to turn into an egotistical brat." Herald sheepishly replied, scratching his head. "Where was I? Oh, yes! Then there's the Water Ignis. In other words, your Ignis, Miyu. Just like you, she has the ability to tell the difference between truth and lies. That's why the Cyberse World never had any betrayals or conspiracies. For one of her jobs was keeping us accountable."

"Didn't you once tell me about how the Water Ignis pummeled Ai to the ground?" Yuhiro recalled, raising an eyebrow and trying to muffle a chuckle.

"Yes, but that was because Ai was goofing off, and being you know, Ai." Herald pointed out, turning to Yuhiro briefly. "I'll admit, it was funny."

"So the Water Ignis has the charm of a lady, but knows to bring the intelligence and fists down when needed." Miyu surmised, placing her right fist in her left palm.

"Pretty much." Herald confirmed. "Next, we have the Fire Ignis. He's someone who's not only straightforward, but also keeps a level head as well. Despite this, he tends to take things too literally at times. Following him, you have the Wind Ignis, the smallest among us. Unfortunately for us, he's the type who trolls, pulls pranks on others, and is carefree as well. He also has an over-inflated ego that borders on arrogance, which if he doesn't keep in check, will be his undoing one day."

"So do you and the Wind Ignis have a rocky relationship or something?" Miyu asked Herald, now concerned.

"No, no." Herald assured her. "Even with all those traits, the Wind Ignis was pretty easy to talk to. Although it would be better if he chose to be humble instead of arrogant." He sighed for a brief moment. "But never mind him. Let's get onto the Earth Ignis next! He can be socially awkward at times, but out of all of us, he has the biggest grasp of human emotions. And that's how he ended up in a close relationship with the Water Ignis."

"A relationship?" Yuhiro repeated, skeptical as he raised an eyebrow. "Ignis's can establish relationships with one another?"

"Yuhiro, I'm not an expert on dating," Herald said, turning to him, "but based on my interactions with the Earth Ignis, I was able to understand the close bond he had with the Water Ignis. For instance, he's very protective of the Water Ignis, as he warned Ai to stay away from her after one of his shenanigans led him to misinterpreting her scolding as a compliment. Shows how idiotic Ai can be at times."

"I'm sure Ai didn't mean to do what he did, as no one is perfect." Miyu said, getting Herald's attention. "You did say that he can be innovative at times."

"Yes, I said that." Herald agreed. "But most of the time, he acts like an idiot. But pushing Ai aside, it's time to talk about the last Ignis. The Black Ignis. Of all the Ignis, he's the one I'm the closest with. That's because he and I worked on the central tower in the Cyberse World. He isn't afraid to say what's on his mind, which could be due to his curiosity. He's also very tactical, which has helped put his intelligence on par with the Light Ignis's. Other times though, he can be quite ambitious at times."

"Ambitious?" Yuhiro repeated. "How so?"

"Simple." Herald turned to Yuhiro. "If the Black Ignis decides on a course of action, there's a great chance no one can stop him from pursuing it. I'll admit, there were some times where he and I clashed, but despite this, we got along pretty well."

"Herald, you mentioned how each of the other Ignis have an attribute." Miyu said, getting his attention. "Did you and the Black Ignis have an attribute?"

Herald sighed. "No. For some reason, we were never officially given an attribute. Although I like to think we have a small portion of all the attributes combined."

"Maybe the both of you will find out what attribute you are someday." Yuhiro theorized. Makes me wonder what other beings there are amongst the Cyberse, he thought. His thoughts, however, were interrupted when everyone heard Roxy knock on the door.

"Yoo-hoo! I'm back with lunch!" Roxy said, entering the hospital room carrying four paper bags of food. She proceeded to put the bags on the nearby table before grabbing a slip of paper from her pocket. "Let's see. One set of grilled chicken wraps for Miyu, a steak and cheese footlong sub for Yuhiro, a shrimp salad for myself, and for Progleo, one large order of Chicken McNuggets."

"Thank you, Auntie!" Miyu said, receiving the bag containing her grilled chicken wraps. She then opened it before eagerly grabbing the container that held her meal. After Roxy gave Yuhiro his sub, she proceeded to open the container holding Progleo's meal, causing him to jump down from Yuhiro's lap and walk in front of her. She then made him sit on all fours and wait before giving him the meal.

"Thank you for the food, Roxy." Yuhiro added, unwrapping his sub and taking a bite from it. "Say, where were you this morning?"

"I had to run an errand, remember?" Roxy reminded him, sitting down at the end of Miyu's bed and taking a bite out of her salad. "But to answer your question, I needed to pick up books for Miyu to read when she leaves the hospital."

"It'll be good to get out of here." Miyu agreed, taking a bite out of her wrap. "After all, I want to enjoy life again with the people I cherish."

"And you will, Miyu." Herald assured her. "Especially once you meet the Water Ignis."

"The Water Ignis?" Roxy repeated. "Did I miss out on something when I was away?"

Yuhiro thought about it for a minute before responding. "Well, Herald talked about what the other Ignis were like in the Cyberse World. Since there's a fair chance Miyu will soon be meeting her Ignis, it was a good time for her to know what she's like. Before that though, Herald lost in a game of chess against her."

"Do you really have to point that out to Roxy, Yuhiro?!" Herald protested, now irritated with his loss being recalled. To his further dismay, Roxy ended up laughing.

"To think that an Ignis would lose in a simple game like chess." She stopped laughing before wiping a tear from her eye. "For someone who likes video games, I thought you'd master it."

"Chess may look easy, but it's harder than it sounds!" Herald tried to point out, only for everyone to laugh at him in response.

"Excuse me?"

All three humans (including Progleo) turned to the voice at the door, where they saw Emma Beesho of all people standing there. "Been a while, Roxy. And judging from where you are, I'm guessing this is Miyu's room?"

"Uh, yes?" Miyu answered. She turned to Yuhiro and Roxy. "Yuhiro. Auntie. Who's this woman?"

"A stranger, that's what." Roxy answered, getting up from where she was before approaching Emma. "What do you want, Emma?"

"Look, I know we had our differences, but I came to make things right." Emma began, but she was soon interrupted by Roxy, who was clearly angry with her.

"Yeah right! Considering with what you done, I doubt that." Roxy narrowed her eyes. "If past history indicates anything, you're here for something in return."

"I'm being serious." Emma snapped back at her, which caused Roxy to laugh.

Seeing the situation was about to escalate, Yuhiro approached both woman and said, "Uh, maybe the both of you can take this-."

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" both women shouted at Yuhiro, causing him to take a few steps back in terror. Progleo went over and jumped onto Miyu's lap, also afraid of what was about to go down.

"Yuhiro, you obviously know Emma's nature firsthand." Roxy reminded him. "She's just going to use you, just like she uses everyone else for her own benefit."

"If you want to go there, Roxy, I'll remind you now that the Matsuo family name isn't as perfect as everyone thinks it is." Emma pointed out, causing a blood vessel to appear on the left side of Roxy's forehead.

"Do not go there," Roxy warned her. "Not in front of my niece, you hear me?"

"All I'm saying is that once upon a time, you were an agent on the Black Market." Emma continued, obviously ignoring the warning. "I did some digging up on you to learn about your relation to your niece, and learned that you robbed 38,390,000 yen from the Scarclust clan. I wonder how your niece would react if she learned about that."

"Auntie, is what the lady in front of you saying true?" Miyu asked Roxy, a look of sadness and heartbreak on her face.

"Oops. Looks like she just found out." Emma mockingly stated, leaving Roxy in a state of shock and infuriation. There was no way she could get out of this situation now, for Miyu found out a part of her past life.

"You... You..." was all Roxy said, sparks flying between both women in the process. It would have spiraled into a fight had Yuhiro not went forward and pushed them apart.

"Enough," he firmly told both women, getting in between them. "Roxy, you once told me that duelists should fight with their cards, not their fists. So settle this in the network, not in the hospital!"

"I did say that." Roxy recalled, going over to her purse and grabbing her Duel Disk. "Although I haven't dueled in a long time, I'm sure I can still kick your ass, Emma."

"Don't count your chickens until they hatch, Roxy." Emma bitterly replied, activating her own Duel Disk. "I'm guessing one of you has access to a private server?"

"Hold on." Yuhiro told both women, as he went over to Miyu's bed and grabbed his own Duel Disk. After pushing some buttons, a notification popped up in both Roxy and Emma's Duel Disks, indicating that they received the coordinates.

"Deck set! Into the VRAINS!" both women shouted as they logged into the network, causing a blue sphere to surround them.

"Yuhiro?"

Yuhiro turned to Miyu, who had a serious look on her face as she spoke to him.

"Did you also work on the black market?"

"Yes, I did." Yuhiro answered. "Could we talk about it after this duel? I'll answer whatever questions you have." He connected his Duel Disk to the tablet and pressed some buttons, causing a screen to pop up.

"Alright." Miyu answered, grabbing the tablet from Yuhiro. "But the both of you owe me answers." The two of them, along with Herald and Progleo, proceeded to watch the duel that was about to go down.

In LINK VRAINS...

When Ghost Girl appeared in the server, her new avatar immediately appeared in place of her old one. The collar on her previous avatar changed, which involved the removal of her mask. The mauve stripes on her previous avatar were changed to hot pink, along with an alteration to her gloves and belt, which were now dark purple. Ghost Girl's sides were colored white with pink lines outlining them. She also had shoulder pads, and the belt buckle was now in the shape of a gold and dark olive "G" with a similarly colored diamond where her zipper was.

Standing before Ghost Girl was Angelica, whose avatar was completely different from hers. Angelica wore a black and white collared shirt and skirt, which was underneath a black coat with gold highlights that is open at the lower front. The coat had white cuffs and frills at the ends of the sleeves and white skull emblems on the upper arms. She wore a pale-yellow ribbon with a green gem-clip, and a brown waistcoat underneath. Last but not least, Angelica wore typical pirate boots. While her black, curly hair retained its color, her eye color changed to brown.

"You sure you want to do this?" Ghost Girl asked Angelica. "After all, you haven't dueled in a long time."

"I have a lot of issues to work out with you." Angelica answered. "And there is nothing you can say that will stop the beatdown you deserve."

Ghost Girl sighed. "Fine. Have it your way. But don't cry once you lose."

"Duel!" Angelica and Ghost Girl said at the same time.

Ghost Girl: 4000 LP

Angelica: 4000 LP

"I'll go first." Ghost Girl said, looking at her hand. "I'll start by summoning Altergeist Marionetter from my hand." A female humanoid monster with a round green apparatus attached to her waist appeared on Ghost Girl's field, giggling as she did so.

Altergeist Marionetter ATK: 1600 DEF: 1700 LV: 4

"When Marionetter is Normal Summoned, I'm allowed to Set one 'Altergeist' Trap card straight from my deck." Ghost Girl explained, choosing a card from her deck and immediately Setting it on her field. "I'll then activate the Continuous-Trap card I just set: Altergeist Haunted Rock!"

"What?!" Angelica exclaimed, surprised at what she just heard. "You can't do that. That's illegal!"

"Not for Altergeist Haunted Rock." Ghost Girl responded. "If it was Set by the effect of an 'Altergeist' monster, I'm allowed to activate it on that same turn. In addition, when Haunted Rock is activated, I can send one 'Altergeist' monster from my hand to the Graveyard." She took a card from her hand and sent it to her Graveyard. "Next, I activate Altergeist Multifaker's effect from my hand. Since I activated a Trap card, I can Special Summon this card from my hand." A pink and purple female humanoid monster with six bent golden legs appeared as well on Ghost Girl's field.

Altergeist Multifaker ATK: 1200 DEF: 800 LV: 3

"Multifaker has an additional effect! When she's Special Summoned, I can Special Summon an 'Altergeist' monster from my deck in defense position! Come, Altergeist Pixiel!" A small, female monster with small wings and thin-wired arms appeared on Ghost Girl's field in defense position. At the end of her arms was a medium-sized golden needle.

Altergeist Pixiel ATK: 100 DEF: 100 LV: 1

"I activate Pixiel's effect!" Ghost Girl continued. "By tributing her, I'm allowed to excavate the top three cards of my deck and add one excavated 'Altergeist' card to my hand. In exchange, I must send the other excavated cards to the Graveyard." As Pixiel turned into green particles, Ghost Girl drew the top three cards of her deck, picked one to add to her hand, and sent the other two to her Graveyard. "From there, I activate Marionetter's second effect. By sending one 'Altergeist' card on my field to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Altergeist' monster from my Graveyard. I send Haunted Rock to the Graveyard so I can Special Summon Altergeist Silquitous from my Graveyard to my field." As Haunted Rock exploded into particles, a light brown female monster with six wings appeared on Ghost Girl's field.

Altergeist Silquitous ATK: 800 DEF: 1500 LV: 2

"Open before me! The circuit that connects to the unknown parallel universe!" A Link Portal soon appeared in the sky above Ghost Girl. "The summoning conditions are two 'Altergeist' monsters. I set Altergeist Silquitous and Altergeist Multifaker in the Link Markers!" Multifaker went into the bottom arrowhead, while Silquitous went into the right arrowhead. "Circuit combine! Link Summon! Come forth! Link 2! Altergeist Hextia!" A dark brown and gold skinned female monster with six legs and a large tail emerged from the Link Portal and was summoned to the right Extra Monster Zone on Ghost Girl's field.

Altergeist Hextia ATK: 1500 LINK-2 ➡️⬇️

"The effects of Pookuery and Silquitous both activate!" Ghost Girl added. "First, since I Link Summoned an 'Altergeist' Link Monster while she's in the Graveyard, I can add Pookuery right back to my hand." Ghost Girl took a card from her Graveyard and added it to her hand.

"Second, since Silquitous was sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can target one 'Altergeist' Trap card in my Graveyard and add it to my hand." For a second time, Ghost Girl took a card from her Graveyard and added it to her hand.

"Third, Hextia's effect activates! She gains the original attack points equal to the 'Altergeist' monsters she points to! Since she's pointed to Marionetter, Hextia gains 1600 attack points!"

You have got to be kidding me, Angelica thought, as Hextia's attack points went up. If Angelica wanted to defeat Ghost Girl, she had to outwit her at every possible moment.

Altergeist Hextia ATK: 1500 + 1600 = 3100

"I Set two cards face-down and end my turn." Ghost Girl concluded. "Let's see what you can do, old friend."

"We're not friends." Angelica stated, placing her hand on the top card of her deck. "My turn! I draw!" She drew the top card of her deck. "First, I activate the Spell card, Plunder Patroll Recruitment from my hand." The card showed Blackbeard, the Plunder Patroll Captain sitting at his desk and reading parchment paper as Goldenhair, Whitebeard, and Bluebeard all shook nervously. "Since you control a monster, I can Special Summon one 'Plunder Patroll' monster from my deck. Come, Whitebeard, the Plunder Patroll Helm!" As soon as Angelica took a card from her deck and placed it on her field, a green troll with bushy white hair jumped onto her field. He wore ragged pirate clothing all over his body, and a bronze visor covering his eyes.

Whitebeard, the Plunder Patroll Helm ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"Bluebeard's effect! As I control a 'Plunder Patroll' monster other than this card, I can Special Summon him from my hand!" Another green troll wearing ragged pirate clothing appeared on Angelica's field. The only differences were that he wore a blue cap covering his neatly combed blue hair, and his beard was colored blue.

Bluebeard, the Plunder Patroll Shipwright ATK: 500 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"I'll now swash up my circuit!" A Link Portal appeared in the sky above Angelica. "The summoning conditions are two monsters, including a 'Plunder Patroll' monster. I'll set Whitebeard, the Plunder Patroll Helm and Bluebeard, the Plunder Patroll Shipwright into the Link Markers!" Whitebeard went into the bottom-left arrowhead, while Bluebeard went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning them red.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Blackbeard, the Plunder Patroll Captain!" A large green troll wearing an eyepatch covering his left eye with a large black beard appeared on Angelica's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. He wore a Viking helmet on his head, and a magnificent cape draped on his shoulders.

Blackbeard, the Plunder Patroll Captain ATK: 1600 LINK-2 ↙️↘️

"The effects of both Whitebeard and Bluebeard effect!" Angelica added. "First, since Whitebeard was sent from the hand or field to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Plunder Patroll' monster from my deck. Emerge, Redbeard, the Plunder Patroll Matey!" A green troll wearing more sophisticated pirate clothing leapt onto Angelica's field. He wore a small red cap on the top of his head, and his face consisted of red sideburns and a goatee. Strapped to his side was a swashbuckling sword.

Redbeard, the Plunder Patroll Matey ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"Second, since Bluebeard was sent from the hand or field to the Graveyard, I can discard a card and draw a card!" Angelica sent a card from her hand to the Graveyard before drawing a new one from the top of her deck. "I activate the Equip Spell card, Emblem of the Plunder Patroll, and equip it onto Blackbeard. This card not only gives Blackbeard 500 attack points, it also prevents you from targeting it with card effects as well." An emblem appeared on Blackbeard's chest as he pumped out of his chest, disgusting Ghost Girl in the process.

Blackbeard, the Plunder Patroll Captain ATK: 1600 + 500 = 2100

"I know what you intend to do, but it's not gonna work." Ghost Girl interrupted. "I activate the Trap card, Altergeist Camouflage, and equip it onto Marionetter. While equipped, you can no longer target Marionetter for attacks, and any effects that target her are instantly negated."

Angelica grit her teeth upon hearing that. Didn't see that coming, she thought. This means I can only target Hextia for attacks or effects. She grit her teeth further. That's so typical of Ghost Girl to do that. She takes full advantage of a situation by manipulating it for her own self-benefit. Nevertheless, I'll have to be careful now. "I activate Ravenwing, the Plunder Patroll Pilot's effect from my hand. By targeting a 'Plunder Patroll' monster in my Graveyard and adding it to my hand, I can Special Summon this card from my hand. I return Bluebeard from my Graveyard to my hand and Special Summon Ravenwing to my field!" After Angelica took a card from her Graveyard and added it to her hand, she took another card from her hand and placed it on her field. Soon, a black raven with golden elements all over its body flew onto her field.

Ravenwing, the Plunder Patroll Guide ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"I summon Bluebeard back to my field!" In an instant, Bluebeard reappeared on Angelica's field.

Bluebeard, the Plunder Patroll Shipwright ATK: 500 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"Appear, the network of the seven seas!" Angelica declared, as her hand glowed blue and a galaxy portal appeared in the sky above the duelists. "Materials confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Level 4 monsters! I overlay the Level 4 Ravenwing and Bluebeard!" Ravenwing turned into a black stream of energy, while Bluebeard turned into a blue stream of energy before entering the portal, where a pillar of light soon erupted from its center.

"Xyz Summon! Set sail and answer the captain's call! Rank 4! Plunder Patrollship Moerk!" A dark-brown and bronze Viking ship appeared in the Main Monster Zone Blackbeard was pointing to. On its sides were five different colored shields, along with a set of oars on each side. It had a red and black mast with a pirate's flag at the top. At the front of the ship was a pirate cannon. Two lights orbited the ship behind it as well.

Plunder Patrollship Moerk ATK: 1000 DEF: 2500 RNK: 4 OU: 2

"Moerk's effect! By discarding one 'Plunder Patroll' card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can target one Effect monster you control and banish it. And after doing so, I get to add one 'Plunder Patroll' Spell or Trap card from my deck to my hand. Say goodbye to Hextia!"

"Hold on, what?!" Ghost Girl exclaimed, caught off guard as Angelica took a card from her hand and sent it to the Graveyard before adding a new one from her deck to her hand. After doing so, Moerk fired a cannon blast at Hextia, turning her completely into particles. Hextia's effect only activates if she's sent from the field to the Graveyard, she thought. I'll admit, I didn't see that coming.

"Battle!" Angelica declared. "With your Altergeist Camouflage allowing me to attack directly, I think I'll have you taste Blackbeard's attack first. Get them, Blackbeard! Sword of Triton!" Blackbeard pulled out the Sword of Triton in his right hand before charging forward at Ghost Girl, but...

"I activate the effect of Altergeist Kunquery from my hand!" Ghost Girl interjected. "Since you declared an attack and I control an 'Altergeist' card, I can Special Summon this card from my hand and negate the attack!" A white female centaur-like monster soon appeared on Ghost Girl's field and slammed her head down to block the sword swing attack from Blackbeard. She had a long red tail, with a golden spiked saddle, golden cuffs, a golden horn, and several wired strands with gold tips at the back of her head.

Altergeist Kunquery ATK: 0 DEF: 2400 LV: 5

"Then, after Kunquery is Special Summoned, I can target one face-up card you control and negate its effects while it and this monster is on the field. I choose Moerk!" Kunquery fired a blast from her golden horn at Moerk, draining the ship of its effects.

"Damn..." Angelica muttered. She shook her head, as there obviously was an easy way out of this situation. "The battle still continues! Moerk attacks Kunquery! Scurvy Cannon!" Moerk gathered energy in its maw before firing it at Kunquery, destroying her completely and causing Ghost Girl's avatar to fizzle a bit.

Ghost Girl: 4000 – 1000 = 3000 LP

"With Kunquery gone, Moerk regains its effects." As Moerk gained its effects back, Angelica turned to Redbeard and said, "Okay, Redbeard. Go get her!" Redbeard ran towards Ghost Girl, intent on slashing her with his sword.

"Yeah, like I'm letting that happen!" Ghost Girl said. "Trap card, activate! Altergeist Emulatelf! Upon activation, I can Special Summon this card as an Effect monster. Help me out, will ya hun?" Soon, a gold, female elf-like creature appeared on Ghost Girl's field in defense position. She had swirls attached to the sides of her head, with two sets of horns extending out from them. Extending from her sides were two large crescent like appendages.

Altergeist Emulatelf ATK: 1400 DEF: 1800 LV: 4

"So do you want to continue your attack?" Ghost Girl asked Angelica, who sighed in annoyance.

"I cancel my attack." Angelica decided, as Redbeard returned to her field. "I'll then Set one card face down and end my turn."

"My turn! I draw!" Ghost Girl said, drawing the top card of her deck. Upon looking at it, she smirked. "I activate Pookuery's second effect from my hand. Once per duel, if I would use an 'Altergeist' monster on my field to Link Summon an 'Altergeist' monster, I can also use this monster in my hand as Link Material!"

Angelica frowned. A Hand Trap that can be used as a Link Material, she thought. If that's not broken, I don't know what is. Maybe I can ask Herald to make a similar card for Yuhiro once this duel is over.

"Open before me! The circuit that connects to the unknown parallel universe!" A Link Portal soon appeared in the sky above Ghost Girl. "The summoning conditions are two or more 'Altergeist' monsters. I'll set Altergeist Marionetter, Altergeist Emulatelf, and Altergeist Pookeury in my hand as Link Materials!" Marionetter went into the bottom arrowhead, Emulatelf went into the bottom-right arrowhead, and Pookeury went into the right arrowhead.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Altergeist Primebanshee!" A female red creature with a serpentine and gorgon-like body appeared in the right Extra Monster Zone on Ghost Girl's field. The creature had four snake-like heads, with two being on each side, and what looked like a glowing violet crown at the back of her head.

Altergeist Primebanshee ATK: 2100 LINK-3 ⬇️↘️➡️

"I activate the Spell card, Altergeist Reborn!" Ghost Girl continued. The card showed Altergeist Kunquery reconstituting herself, with Primebanshee in the background giving her strength. "This card lets me Special Summon one 'Altergeist' monster from my Graveyard to a Main Monster Zone an 'Altergeist' Link monster on my field points to. Return to the field, Multifaker!" Multifaker reappeared on Ghost Girl's field, in one of the Main Monster Zones Primebanshee pointed to.

Altergeist Multifaker ATK: 1200 DEF: 800 LV: 3

"When Multifaker is Special Summoned, I can Special Summon one 'Altergeist' monster from my deck in defense position. Emerge, Altergeist Fifinellag!" A red and orange female monster with a horn and pointed legs was summoned in defense position to one of the Main Monster Zone's Primebanshee pointed to.

Altergeist Fifinellag ATK: 0 DEF: 1000 LV: 2

"I'll then use Primebanshee's effect." Ghost Girl added. "Once per turn, if I tribute one other 'Altergeist' monster on my field, I can Special Summon one 'Altergeist' monster from my deck to a Main Monster Zone this card points to. I'll therefore tribute Multifaker to Special Summon a second copy of Marionetter from my deck." After Multifaker exploded into particles, Ghost Girl took a card from her deck and placed it on her field, causing a second copy of Marionetter to appear on her field in the other Main Monster Zone Primebanshee pointed to.

Altergeist Marionetter ATK: 1600 DEF: 1700 LV: 4

"I activate Redbeard's effect!" Angelica suddenly said, getting Ghost Girl's attention. "During your turn, I can Special Summon one 'Plunder Patroll' monster from my Extra Deck that has the same attribute as a monster you control or is in the Graveyard. Afterwards, I can then equip this card to that monster."

"What?!" Ghost Girl exclaimed, surprised by what she just heard.

"You heard correctly. I choose your Marionetter, whose attribute is Light, and Special Summon Plunder Patrollship Lys from my Extra Deck to my field!" The next thing Ghost Girl knew, a large pirate ship with two bows instead of one at the front, appeared on Angelica's field in the other Main Monster Zone Blackbeard pointed to. The ship had a large mast that was colored white and purple, with a smaller red and white sail in front of it. Two shields and five oars were on each side of the ship, as well as a set of cannons. Draped between the bows was a large pirate flag.

Plunder Patrollship Lys ATK: 2000 DEF: 2000 LV: 8

"And now I equip Redbeard to Lys!" As if on cue, Redbeard waved goodbye before jumping onto Lys, causing Blackbeard to grunt in annoyance with his pirate comrade.

Ghost Girl frowned before smirking. "I didn't expect you to pull a trick like that, Angelica. But allow me to show you something in return." She held her index and middle finger up in front of her. "I tune the Level 2 Altergeist Fifinellag with the Level 4 Altergeist Marionetter!" The world grayed out as she spread out her arms and two light blue flames appeared on either side of her. The flames joined together and enveloped her in fire before striking Fifinellag and Marionetter. Both monsters disintegrated into blue data before reforming into two rings, one green and one purple, with tags labelling "2" and "4" attached to each ring respectively. The rings then turned blue and merged together before the blue ring separated into six blue-green blocks. From there, a screen in front of the rings showed "2 + 4" before changing to a "6", which was immediately followed by a surge of purple light that went through the rings.

"The legendary evil spirit!" Ghost Girl chanted. "Surpass eternal time and show yourself! Synchro Summon! Appear, Level 6! Altergeist Dragvirion!" A large dark-blue, light-blue, and white Altergeist monster appeared on Ghost Girl's field in one of the Main Monster Zones Primebanshee pointed to. She had four clawed arms, two hind-legs, three raised tails behind her, and a mane of green hair on her head. In her right hand, Dragvirion carried a staff.

Altergeist Dragvirion ATK: 2200 DEF: 1200 LV: 6

"A new 'Altergeist' Synchro monster..." Angelica muttered. This was anything but good.

"Time to battle!" Ghost Girl declared. "Altergeist Dragvirion attacks Plunder Patrollship Moerk! Tri-Piercer!" Dragvirion's tails extended in length and lashed out at Moerk, causing a massive explosion that made Angelica use her arm to shield her arms. However, when the smoke cleared, Moerk was somehow standing, only with one less Overlay Unit.

Angelica: 4000 – 1200 = 2800 LP

"Your monster's effect enabled it to survive destruction, didn't it?" Ghost Girl deduced.

"Not just for Moerk, but for my other 'Plunder Patroll' cards as well." Angelica clarified. "If a 'Plunder Patroll' card I control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, I can detach one Overlay Unit from this card instead."

Plunder Patrollship Moerk OU: 2 – 1 = 1

"Is that so?" Ghost Girl replied. "Then you won't mind if I attack Moerk again with Primebanshee. Tentacle Lash!"

"I activate Moerk's effect again!" Angelica responded. "By detaching one Overlay Unit, I can prevent its destruction once again." The remaining light that orbited around Moerk went into the cannon, surrounding it with an orange aura as the four snake-like heads on Primebanshee locked onto Moerk before lashing forward and slamming the ship back, causing Angelica to fall to the ground. Despite this, Moerk survived.

Plunder Patrollship Moerk OU: 1 – 1 = 0

Angelica: 2800 – 1100 = 1700 LP

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Ghost Girl concluded.

"Damn your wretched tricks." Angelica muttered, getting back up on her feet. "You know, there's something that's been bugging me. For someone who likes to take advantage of others, why did you help Aoi Zaizen the other day?"

This question surprised Ghost Girl. "Why are you asking? Isn't it rude to get involved in a lady's business?"

"That, we can agree on." Angelica responded. "However, for someone who always deceives others for personal gain, you must have had some other motive for helping Aoi. So why did you do it, Emma? Could it be that you were feeling bad for her? Did a part of you decide to be a role model or something? Well? Don't leave me hanging."

"It's none of your business!" Ghost Girl firmly told her. "Just make your move already."

"With pleasure. And when I win, it'll prove you haven't changed. Not one bit. My turn! I draw!" Angelica drew the top card of her deck. Yes, she thought. "I activate Lys' effect! Once per turn, I can Special Summon one 'Plunder Patroll' monster from my hand or face-up in my Spell & Trap card zone. Come back from my Spell & Trap card zone, Redbeard!" Redbeard jumped off of Lys and reappeared on her field.

Redbeard, the Plunder Patroll Matey ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"I'll now swash up my circuit!" A Link Portal appeared in the sky above Angelica. "The summoning conditions are two or more monsters, including a 'Plunder Patroll' monster. I'll set Blackbeard, the Plunder Patroll Captain, which is a Link 2 monster, and Redbeard, the Plunder Patroll Matey into the Link Markers!" Blackbeard split into two tornadoes of energy that went into the bottom-left and bottom-right arrowheads, while Redbeard went into the bottom arrowhead, turning all three of them red.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Strike dread into the hearts of your enemies across the seven seas! Link 3! Plunder Patrollship Queen Anne!" A massive, three-masted frigate decorated in crimson-red and gold colors appeared on Angelica's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. It was adorned with grisly bones and skeletons throughout the ship, giving it a tough outer shell. A total of thirty cannons were spread out on both sides of the ship, making it formidable. Each of the sails were painted blood red, while the Jolly Roger flag at the top was coloured black with a skull's flames on it. At the back of the ship was a stained glass window, which depicted dead men writhing in flames.

Plunder Patrollship Queen Anne ATK: 2500 LINK-3 ↙️⬇️↘️

"When Queen Anne is Link Summoned using Blackbeard as Link Material, I can draw cards equal to the number of monsters it points to. Since Queen Anne is pointing to Moerk and Lys, I can draw two cards!" Angelica explained, drawing the top two cards of her deck and smirking upon looking at them. "I activate the Continuous-Trap card, Plunder Patroll Booty! Once per turn, I can target one monster and change its attribute to one attribute that I declare until the End Phase. As a bonus, I can take one 'Plunder Patroll' monster in my Graveyard and either shuffle it into my deck or Special Summon it to my field. I target your Primebanshee and change its attribute from Dark to Fire, as well as Special Summon Blackbeard back to my field." Primebanshee glowed in a red aura, which signified that her attribute was being changed. Meanwhile, Blackbeard reappeared on Angelica's field.

Altergeist Primebanshee: DARK FIRE

Blackbeard, the Plunder Patroll Captain ATK: 1600 LINK-2 ↙️↘️

"Blackbeard's effect! Once per turn-!"

"Sorry, but I'm not letting you bring out more pirate ships." Ghost Girl interrupted. "I activate Primebanshee's effect. Once per turn, if I tribute one other 'Altergeist' monster on my field, I can Special Summon one 'Altergeist' monster from my deck to a Main Monster Zone this card points to. I tribute Dragvirion to Special Summon a second Kunquery from my deck!" After Dragvirion exploded into particles, Ghost Girl took a card from her deck and placed it on her field, causing a second copy of Kunquery to appear on her field in defense position on one of the two Main Monster Zones Primebanshee pointed to.

Altergeist Kunquery ATK: 0 DEF: 2400 LV: 5

"Kunquery's effect! Since she was Special Summoned, I can target one face-up card you control and negate its effects while it and this monster is on the field. I choose Blackbeard!" Kunquery fired a blast from her golden horn at Blackbeard, draining him of his effects and making Angelica scowl. "I also activate Dragvirion's effect. If she's tributed and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon her back to my field!" Dragvirion reappeared on Ghost Girl's field in the Main Monster Zone, moments after being sent to the Graveyard.

Altergeist Dragvirion ATK: 2200 DEF: 1200 LV: 6

"I'll then activate the Trap card, Altergeist Manifestation!" Ghost Girl added. "I can target one 'Altergeist' monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it back to my field in attack position, but I must equip her with this card . Return from the depths, Multifaker!" For a third time, Multifaker reappeared on her field.

Altergeist Multifaker ATK: 1200 DEF: 800 LV: 3

"And just like before, Multifaker lets me Special Summon one 'Altergeist' monster from my deck in defense position. Appear, a third Kunquery!" At her command, a third Kunquery appeared on her field in defense position.

Altergeist Kunquery ATK: 0 DEF: 2400 LV: 5

Just great, Angelica thought. She's not only built up a swarm of monsters, she also negated Blackbeard's effects. Looks like the only option is to blast my way through her field. "I activate the Field Spell card, Plunder Patroll Shipyarrrd. Now all 'Plunder Patroll' monsters on my field gain 500 attack points for each 'Plunder Patroll' card in my Spell & Trap card zone. Since there's currently only one, all my monsters gain 500 attack points!"

Plunder Patrollship Queen Anne ATK: 2500 + 500 = 3000

Plunder Patrollship Moerk ATK: 1000 + 500 = 1500

Plunder Patrollship Lys ATK: 2000 + 500 = 2500

Blackbeard, the Plunder Patroll Captain ATK: 1600 + 500 = 2100

"Battle!" Angelica declared. "Plunder Patrollship Moerk attacks your Multifaker! Scurvy Cannon!" Moerk gathered energy in its maw before firing it at Multifaker, but...

"I activate Dragvirion's other effect!" Ghost Girl interrupted. "Once per turn, if your monster declares an attack, I can return one 'Altergeist' monster on my field to my hand and negate the attack. I return the third Kunquery I summoned back to my hand!" As the third Kunquery turned into particles and retreated back to Ghost Girl's hand, Dragvirion slammed the staff in her hand, creating a barrier that protected the entire field from the attack. However, to Ghost Girl's surprise, Angelica laughed.

"You fell for it!" she exclaimed. "I activate Queen Anne's second effect. During either player's turn, I can tribute one 'Plunder Patroll' monster on my field to have you discard cards up to the number of 'Plunder Patroll' monsters Queen Anne points to. Then for each card discarded, Queen Anne gains 500 attack points until the End Phase."

"Son of a..." Ghost Girl grit her teeth. Without the Kunquery in her hand, she couldn't negate anymore attacks this turn!

"I tribute Blackbeard to have you discard up to two cards." Angelica stated, as Blackbeard turned into yellow particles. "Come on. Discard the one and only card in your hand already so Queen Anne can get its attack boost." Ghost Girl grumbled as she sent the Kunquery in her hand to her Graveyard, while Queen Anne powered up.

Plunder Patrollship Queen Anne ATK: 3000 + 500 = 3500

"Let's try this again." Angelica pointed her right finger at Multifaker. "Plunder Patrollship Queen Anne attacks your Multifaker! Ghostly Bombardment!" The grisly bones and skeletons decorating the ship lit up on fire as the cannons were deployed and locked onto Multifaker. Each of the cannons then fired multiple rounds of cannon fire at Multifaker, shredding her and causing Ghost Girl to be blasted off of the ground.

Ghost Girl: 3000 – 2300 = 700 LP

"Now Lys will attack your Primebanshee! Double Cannon Burst!" The two cannons on both of Lys' bows charged up before firing several blasts of cannon fire at Primebanshee, destroying her and causing Ghost Girl's avatar to fizzle.

Ghost Girl: 700 – 400 = 300 LP

"Since Primebanshee was sent from the field to the Graveyard, I can target one 'Altergeist' card in my Graveyard and add it to my hand." Ghost Girl explained, taking a card in her Graveyard and adding it to her hand. "And with Multifaker gone, Altergeist Manifestation also leaves the field as well." Manifestation turned into particles, leaving her field.

"Pssh. Whatever." Angelica replied. "I Set two cards face-down and end my turn, which means Queen Anne's attack points revert back to normal."

Plunder Patrollship Queen Anne ATK: 3500 – 500 = 3000

She smirked. "Take that, you two-faced weasel. That's what you get for betraying Yuhiro and I."

"Is this the example you want to set for your niece?"

Angelica's eyes widened as Ghost Girl stood up and brushed the dirt off her shoulders. "You don't know the whole story, don't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Angelica inquired. "You betrayed Yuhiro and I during that mission to the Landios headquarters, where you chose to steal the data and destroy the main base instead of helping Yuhiro escape.

"Yeah, I regret doing that." Ghost Girl agreed with her. "But let me ask you this: Have you ever looked at a situation from another perspective before?"

Angelica raised an eyebrow. "What does your question have anything to do with this duel, huh?" she said. "I'll tell you. Nothing. Zilch. That's how important your question is right now."

"Yeah, well, believe it or not, my question has significance." Ghost Girl replied. "Truth be told, I wasn't always completing jobs from employers for myself. I was actually obtaining money for my father."

"Your father?" Angelica repeated. Ghost Girl had only talked about her mother in all the times they talked, but her father? Not once.

"My father went to the hospital last year when he was diagnosed with pneumonia." Ghost Girl explained, recalling the memory. "Even with the regular amount of money earned, we couldn't afford the hospital care. So when the Landios operation came up, another employer told me that if I stole the data from Landios and destroyed their headquarters, he'd pay me whatever amount I requested."

"Which led you to betraying us..." Angelica finished, frowning at Ghost Girl. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? It would have saved everyone a lot of trouble; hell, it would have even saved our friendship from breaking apart!"

"I was going to, but Yuhiro beat me to the story first." Ghost Girl answered. "Even though you were angry, I wanted desperately to explain my side of the story, but you wouldn't listen."

Angelica thought about what Ghost Girl said for a moment. She then said, "Yeah, you're right. I didn't listen, and I regret not controlling my emotions back then. Had I known what you told me now, I would have helped you anyway I could."

"I know." Ghost Girl replied. "You and Yuhiro are like that. Kind people, who can become deadly if provoked enough." She sighed. "Just as you didn't know about my father, I didn't know about Miyu until my duel with Yuhiro for the backdoor program, when he repeated the entire story. In a way, I guess we're both fools."

Angelica couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. I guess we are."

Ghost Girl smiled, glad that the two of them reconciled after a long time. "Now that we cleared things up, you want to return to the real world?"

"Hell no!" Angelica answered, taking Ghost Girl aback. "It's been years since I've dueled, and I want to see if I can still kick ass after taking a leave of absence. So I say show me what you got!"

Ghost Girl shrugged her shoulders. "If you insist," she complied, placing her hand on the top card of her deck. "My turn! I draw!" She drew the top card of her deck. "Open before me! The circuit that connects to the unknown parallel universe!" A Link Portal soon appeared in the sky above Ghost Girl. "The summoning conditions are one 'Altergeist' monster. I'll set Altergeist Kunquery into the Link Markers!" Kunquery went into the bottom-left arrowhead, turning it red.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Altergeist Stuxnet!" A medium, female monster resembling Pixiel appeared on Ghost Girl's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. She had a set of two small pink wings on each side of her body that glowed with a small light. Just like Pixiel, she had thin-wired arms, but these arms ended with a large-sized golden needle.

Altergeist Stuxnet ATK: 400 LINK-1 ↙️

"When Stuxnet is Link Summoned, I can add one 'Altergeist' card from my deck to my hand." Ghost Girl explained, taking a card from her deck and adding it to her hand. "I activate the Spell card, Altergeist Reborn once again. This card lets me Special Summon one 'Altergeist' monster from my Graveyard to a Main Monster Zone an 'Altergeist' Link monster on my field points to. Return to the field, Primebanshee!" Soon, Primebanshee reappeared on her field in the Main Monster Zone Stuxnet pointed to.

Altergeist Primebanshee ATK: 2100 LINK-3 ⬇️↘️➡️

"I activate the Continuous-Trap card, Plunder Patrollship Deployment!" Angelica interrupted, revealing one of her face-down cards on her field. The card showed several Plunder Patroll monsters wishing Blackbeard and his crew luck as Plunder Patrollship Lys began to leave Plunder Patroll Shipyarrrd. "When you Special Summon a monster, I can Special Summon one 'Plunder Patroll' monster from my Extra Deck to my field, and equip it with this card. And since there's another 'Plunder Patroll' card in my Spell and Trap card zone, all my monsters gain another 500 attack points! So come forth, Plunder Patrollship Brann!" Soon, a black and orange Viking ship appeared in the third Main Monster Zone Queen Anne was pointing to. It had On its sides were five different colored shields, along with a set of oars. It had a red and white mast with a pirate's flag on top. At the front of the ship was a pirate cannon, with two bull horns on the sides.

Plunder Patrollship Brann ATK: 2500 DEF: 1000 LV: 8

Plunder Patrollship Brann ATK: 2500 + 1000 = 3500

Plunder Patrollship Moerk ATK: 1500 + 500 = 2000

Plunder Patrollship Lys ATK: 2500 + 500 = 3000

Plunder Patrollship Queen Anne ATK: 3000 + 500 = 3500

"Brann's effect! It gives all other Fiend monsters on my field 500 more attack points!" As if to prove her point, all of Angelica's monsters except for Brann glowed with energy.

Plunder Patrollship Moerk ATK: 2000 + 500 = 2500

Plunder Patrollship Lys ATK: 3000 + 500 = 3500

Plunder Patrollship Queen Anne ATK: 3500 + 500 = 4000

For someone who hasn't dueled in a long time, she's still got it, Ghost Girl admitted to herself. Looks like I have no choice but to bring her out to the field. "Open before me for a second time! The circuit that connects to the unknown parallel universe!" A second Link Portal appeared in the sky above Ghost Girl. "The summoning conditions are two or more 'Altergeist' monsters. I'll set Altergeist Stuxnet, which is a Link 1 monster, and Altergeist Primebanshee, which is a Link 3 monster, into the Link Markers!" Primebanshee split into three tornadoes of energy that went into the left, right, and bottom-right arrowheads, while Stuxnet went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning them all red.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! The goddess of slaughter! Manifest from the edge of nightmares! Link Summon! Appear! Link 4! Altergeist Memorygant!" A feminine humanoid appeared on Ghost Girl's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. She was primarily colored blue with spines shaped like wings attached to her back. In her hands was a scythe, which she swung upon being summoned.

Altergeist Memorygant ATK: 2800 LINK-4 ↙️⬅️➡️↘️

Angelica grimaced. "A Link-4 monster..." She snapped out of her stupor.

"Behold my own Link 4 monster." Ghost Girl stated. "After losing to Revolver, I knew I had to up my game, which is why I incorporated both Synchro Summoning and this monster into my deck. And this monster will be the one that defeats you!" She pointed her right index finger. "Battle! Altergeist Memorygant attacks your Moerk! At this point, I activate Memorygant's effect! Once per turn, I can tribute a monster I control to increase Memorygant's attack points by the tributed monster's attack points until the End Phase! I tribute Dragvirion to increase Memorygant's attack points!" Dragvirion exploded into particles, which went into Memorygant's scythe and giving it an eerie glow.

Altergeist Memorygant ATK: 2800 + 2200 = 5000

"Dragvirion's effect! Since she was tributed and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon her back to my field!" Dragvirion reappeared on Ghost Girl's field in the Main Monster Zone, moments after being sent to the Graveyard.

Altergeist Dragvirion ATK: 2200 DEF: 1200 LV: 6

Memorygant began to spin her scythe before swinging it, but...

"Trap card, activate! Trap Hole of Spikes!" Angelica interjected. "Since your Special Summoned monster declared an attack, I can destroy it and inflict damage equal to half of its original attack points!" Spikes fired out of Trap Hole of Spikes towards Memorygant, intent on destroying her.

"I activate Memorygant's other effect!" Ghost Girl countered. "If she would be destroyed, I can banish one Link monster from my Graveyard instead. I banish Stuxnet to protect Memorygant!" A silhouette of Stuxnet appeared and protected Memorygant from destruction.

"Oh crap..." Angelica muttered, realizing she was done for.

"Finish this duel, Memorygant!" Ghost Girl ordered Memorygant. "Eternal Nightmare!" Memorygant spun and swung her scythe, sending a cross of white, eerie energy at Moerk. This time, the wave of energy struck Moerk, destroying the Viking ship and sending Angelica flying off the ground before she landed back on it.

Angelica: 1700 – 2500 = 0

Ghost Girl walked over to where Angelica landed, who was clearly in disbelief at what happened.

"I... I lost." Angelica let out a small chuckle. "Considering that I haven't dueled in a long time, I guess that makes sense."

"Hey." Ghost Girl said, getting Angelica's attention. "I was serious when I said I wanted to make things right. Are we cool now?" She offered her a hand.

"Yeah." Angelica replied, accepting it and letting Ghost Girl pull her up from the ground. "We are." The two women then logged out of the server.

At the Den City Hospital...

The blue sphere surrounding both Roxy and Emma dissipated, confirming that they successfully returned to the real world.

"You're back." Miyu said, getting their attention. "Does this mean your fight is over?"

"Yeah, sweetie." Roxy replied, walking over to Miyu and patting her on the head. "Our fight is done."

"You remember the question you asked earlier, regarding Aoi? About why I helped her?"

Everyone turned to face Emma, their attention now on her.

"It's because I wanted her to find her own path." Emma continued. "As much as I don't want to admit it, I had some legitimate concern for her. Can't believe it's taken up until now for me to admit that fact."

"You know Aoi?" Miyu asked Emma, who nodded in confirmation. "How?"

"Well, Hun." Emma walked over to Miyu's bed and sat at the end of it. "Let's just say I got a chance to interact with her, and it helped her out in making a crucial decision. And considering how much attention she brought as Blue Angel, it wasn't hard to figure out."

"I see." Miyu replied. Her face then looked downcast as she thought this over.

"Everything okay, Miyu?" Yuhiro asked her.

"Yeah, but..." Miyu gathered her thoughts before she resumed speaking. "Since you all know Aoi, could you make a promise to me?"

"Of course." Roxy responded. "What is it?"

"Please don't tell her of the condition I'm in. At least until I leave the hospital." Miyu stated. "I... I don't want her to worry about me. And after what happened all those years ago..."

Roxy nodded. "Ah. I see. We'll keep it a secret then, as per your request."

"I'm great at keeping secrets." Yuhiro added. "But I'm not so sure about Emma over here."

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm a good secret keeper too, you know!" Emma protested, not starting to get angry with Yuhiro's statement.

"Thank you. All of you." Miyu said, before she turned to Roxy. "Could you and your friend leave Yuhiro and I alone? I need to talk with him."

Emma smirked, having looked like she got the message. "I see what this is about. You want to confess to Yuhiro, don't you?"

"Eh?" A small blush appeared on Miyu's face, while Yuhiro rolled his eyes. This was just Emma being Emma. "No, that's not it at all!" She turned nervously to Roxy for help.

"Come on, Emma." Roxy told her, grabbing her ear. "We're leaving the both of them alone. Let's catch up outside." She then proceeded to drag Emma out of the hospital room, who tried desperately to escape from her vice grip.

"If Emma does that to you, then ignore her." Yuhiro advised Miyu, as he got up and closed the door. "She knows how to push people's buttons."

"Considering what happened, I can tell." Miyu replied, having gained her composure back as Yuhiro went back to his seat. She then fell silent for a moment before speaking. "Please tell me the truth, Yuhiro. About your time on the black market."

Yuhiro sighed. "All right. It began three years ago..." He immediately proceeded to tell Miyu of his job as a black market agent, and how he got into working for them. He also told her of how all the money earned went into her hospital care, which caused Miyu to cover her mouth in surprise. Lastly, Yuhiro told her of how they met a new client that challenged their principles on why they did things, which led them to make a positive decision after the events regarding the Hanoi.

"And that pretty much sums up three years of my life." Yuhiro finished. "So... what do you think?"

Miyu thought it over for a moment, a serious look on her face. She then said, "Yuhiro. I know you did those jobs for my well-being. I appreciate that. But now that I'm awake, I want to know. Do you and Auntie plan on continuing your jobs on the black market?"

Yuhiro shook his head. "No, Miyu. We broke our ties with them permanently following the collapse of the Tower of Hanoi."

"We now have a new client." Herald added, emerging from Yuhiro's Duel Disk. "One who wants to maintain the wellbeing of not just humans, but the Cyberse as well."

"It'll be interesting to meet him." Miyu looked out the window.

"There's something I want to ask you, Miyu." Yuhiro said, getting her attention. "What do you want to do when you get out of here?"

Miyu thought over Yuhiro's question before responding. "The Asagao Gardens. I remember going there with my parents when I was a little girl. I would love to go there again someday."

"Then..." Yuhiro clasped her hand with both of his hands, surprising her. "I promise to take you there once you complete your physiotherapy. Does that sound good with you?"

Miyu smiled genuinely at Yuhiro. "Yes. I look forward to it."

A light shines and the letters spelling out VRAINS light up the screen before a network is formed and several cards are drawn in towards a pillar of light. Playmaker, Raguel, and Soulburner are shown with their respective Ignis and stats, along with real-life forms that across the backgrounds that match their Ignis' colors. The screen then shows each of them being shocked while wearing VR sets as kids, along with a kid with light-green hair that flowed backwards and curled at the back. The kid also had dark-green hair spikes on the sides of his head, with light-green spikes at the back of his head as well.

The screen gets swallowed with darkness at it reveals a young Yukage huddled up and crying, his shadow shrinking behind him before taking the form of Wraith and comforting him. Yukage looks up with a menacing and soul piercing glare before the darkness consumes him and he's replaced with an older version of himself. Azrael and Wraith are then shown in NEW LINK VRAINS, as they look out into the digital sky. The scene then shifts to Bohman standing tall above NEW LINK VRAINS and holding the earth in his hands with Haru by his side. The short creature with deep purple skin grins in the shadows behind them, his red eyes shining bright in the process.

A drop of light falls down, and as it explodes, it reveals Playmaker, Raguel, and Soulburner, standing on buildings watching over the network, alongside the male individual wearing a black outfit with green accents and a gold, bird-like mask over his eyes as well. Blood Shepherd is shown commanding a trio of Battledrone Sergeants before the screen shifts to a young man wearing an elaborate purplish coat with black inner lining and cuffs intricately decorated by red-coloured motifs, as well as a grey shirt with crimson leather pants commanding a red-eyed dragon. The screen then shifts a third time to another man, with red hair spiked backwards and dark purple eyes, as well as wearing a stylish white coat with yellow lines and a black shirt underneath it. Draped around his lower body is a white waist cape with yellow lines as well. Above the man was a male, humanoid monster wearing a black and white suit that had electricity crackling from his wrists and head, as well as several other monsters that resembled futuristic armor parts. The screen then shows Go Onizuka, Kenmochi, and Yoroizaka with Dinowrestler King T Wrextle, Gouki the Blade Ogre, and Gouki the Solid Ogre behind them ready for battle.

Blue Angel, Ghost Girl, Numera and SengokuQueen are then featured together riding their duel boards across the night sky with shooting stars flying across them. Trickstar Holly Angel was with Blue Angel, while Numera was with Geomathmech Final Sigma. Ghost Girl was with Altergeist Dragvirion, while SengokuQueen was with a male shinobi wearing grey robes and armor pads with neon-yellow lines running over them. The man had a red scarf around his neck, along with a face-mask and face visor on his head. He also had spiked-brown hair and a ponytail as well. In his right hand, he carried a Sai, while the brass knuckle on his left hand emitted four translucent blades.

The screen then changes to Raguel, Playmaker, and Soulburner riding on their duel boards with Cyreath Medusa and Cyreath Hercules in his new form, Cyberse Magician, Cyberse Witch, and Salamangreat Heatleo behind them. Following the trio is the male individual from before, with a white and black dragon covered in white, blue, and black armor, as well as neon green crystals attached to her body, which acted like wings that shone with bright light. The four of them join together with a fist bump and smile in the real world as the wind blows, with Kusanagi, Roxy, and Greg watching them from Kusanagi's truck. Rachel then runs toward the quartet, and more specifically, Yuhiro, a look of joy clearly on her face. Unbeknownst to everyone, they're watched from the shadows by a cloaked person who glares at them, biding his time.

Card Gallery

Angelica:

Plunder Patroll Recruitment (Normal Spell card)

Effect: If your opponent controls a monster: You can Special Summon 1 'Plunder Patroll' monster from your deck. You can only use this effect of 'Plunder Patroll Recruitment' once per turn.

Plunder Patrollship Deployment (Continuous-Trap card)

Effect: When your opponent Special Summons a monster to their field: You can Special Summon 1 'Plunder Patroll' monster from your Extra Deck to your field, and equip it with this card. When the equipped monster leaves the field: Destroy this card. When this card leaves the field: Destroy the equipped monster. If this card is in your GY: You can banish this card; add 1 'Plunder Patroll' card from your GY to your hand.

Plunder Patrollship Queen Anne (LR: 3/Fiend/Dark/ATK: 2500/↙️⬇️↘️)

Effect: 2 or more monsters, including a 'Plunder Patroll' monster. If this card is Link Summoned using 'Blackbeard, The Plunder Patroll Captain' as Link Material: You can draw cards from your deck equal to the number of 'Plunder Patroll' monsters this card points to. During either player's turn (Quick Effect): You can tribute 1 'Plunder Patroll' monster you control; your opponent discards cards from their hand to the GY up to the number of 'Plunder Patroll' monsters this card points to. Then, if any cards were discarded by this effect: You can have this card gain 500 ATK for each card discarded until the End Phase. You can only use this effect of 'Plunder Patrollship Queen Anne' once per turn.

Ghost Girl:

Altergeist Reborn (Normal Spell card)

Effect: If you control an 'Altergeist' Link Monster: You can target 1 'Altergeist' monster in your GY; Special Summon it to a Main Monster Zone your 'Altergeist' Link Monster points to. You can only use this effect of 'Altergeist Reborn' once per turn.

Altergeist Stuxnet (LR: 1/Spellcaster/Dark/ATK: 400/↙️)

Effect: 1 'Altergeist' monster. When this card is Link Summoned: You can add 1 'Altergeist' card from your deck to your hand. If this card is in your GY and you activate a Trap Card (except during the Damage Step): You can Special Summon this card from your GY to your field. You can only use this effect of 'Altergeist Stuxnet' once per turn.

QOTC

If Miyu had an avatar in LINK VRAINS, what would it be?

Chapter Preview

Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth. Chapter 42: The Cyberse Quest. One day, while scouring the Internet, Herald comes across a video game challenge with Cyberse cards as the prize. Seizing the opportunity, Roxy puts Yuhiro on the job while she spends the day with Miyu, much to his dismay. After Yuhiro and Herald complete the challenge, they soon receive an anonymous invitation into the network, leading them to ask Yusaku and Kusanagi for help...

Author's Notes

Credit goes to HunterHQ for providing a rough sketch on this chapter's duel.

Holy moly, how long has it been? A month, almost? Regardless, I want to thank everyone not only for the birthday wishes, but for waiting this long for a chapter update. The reason why this took so long was because so far, it had been a busy month for me, especially regarding school. That said, I'll do something to make it up to all of you for your incredible patience. For now, let's recap what happened:

First off, we finally got to Herald's thoughts about the other Ignis. I decided to put that in the chapter because it would be nice for Miyu to learn about the Water Ignis. For those that watched the anime, I didn't put down their names because they haven't made their official appearances yet (aside from Herald and Ai).

Following Herald's recap of the other Ignis, we have the duel between Ghost Girl and Angelica. This, believe it or not, is Roxy's first duel after she retired as a black market agent to take care of Yuhiro and Miyu, so I hope I did a good job. I'll admit, a part of me wanted her to win, but I ultimately decided for Ghost Girl to win the duel. Why, may you ask? Because aside from her duel against Shima, Ghost Girl did not win a single duel at all. I also wanted to show off the two new cards she incorporated into her deck, which were Altergeist Dragvirion and Altergeist Memorygant. Dragvirion was there to provide variety for the deck, and Memorygant was there so she could be prepared the next time she faced Revolver.

Aside from that, nothing else occurred during this chapter. Therefore, I want to thank you for reading Chapter 41 of Obscured Truth. As always, please let me know your thoughts about the chapters below in your reviews. Also, constructive criticism is appreciated, as your tips and advice helps make the story better. In addition, don't forget to favorite and follow the story. That way, you will get a notification once the next chapter is released.

If this chapter wasn't the best, then I apologize. I will do my best to release both the next update to Roxy's Reports and Chapter 42 prior to final exams. Speaking of Chapter 42, I challenge you to guess which video game will be used for the video game challenge to get the Cyberse cards. If you guess correctly, I will give you a shoutout, but please put down a name that isn't 'Guest', 'Unknown', 'Anonymous', etc. This way, I'll know who to give the shoutout to.

What did you enjoy the most about the chapter? Was it Herald's descriptions about the other Ignis? The duel between Ghost Girl and Angelica? Or was it something else?

That's all for now. See you next time!