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.

45. Chapter 45: LINK VRAINS' Grand Reopening

Response to Reviews

Thank you to HunterHQ, Guest, Anonymous, Ambiguous, Noobmaster, Unknown, Unnamed, Guest, Guest, E.T. 2000, Guest, Kingdom Hearts Guy, and Guest for reviewing Chapter 44 of Obscured Truth.

Hello, everyone! As always, I hope you're safe and healthy wherever you are. Looking through your reviews, I noticed that some of you are rather curious about where the story's going, as well as what Project: VIII really is. To start, I can't reveal everything right away, or else the whole story gets spoiled later on. Instead, I have been providing you snippets so I can acquire your attention to continue reading the story. Or in other words, the power of foreshadowing!

Second, a few of you wanted a more thorough explanation on what each of the black market branches do in the network. This is something I'll give to you since I wasn't clear on it, and for that, I apologize. Below is something that characterizes each of the Black Market branches the most:

Alpha Branch – Casinos and Gambling (While Ace is still working here, he is also Overseer, and has sent Speckles to keep an eye on his branch in case things pop up).

Beta Branch – Slavery and Poaching, where people are assigned to capture humans and creatures alive to coerce them into serving the branch.

Gamma Branch – Fight Rings due to their desire to attract strong duelists and eliminate the weak, showcasing their belief in Survival of the Fittest.

Delta Branch – Hitmen and Assassins, where people are assigned to eliminate high priority targets, as well as infiltrate enemy organizations if needed.

Zeta Branch – Triads, or various small outposts to ensure control over the branch. They deal with the purchase, sale, and trade of firearms, as well as conduct operations in the network.

Epsilon Branch – A Japanese Yakuza with high ethics of honor, where members are ordered to follow strict codes of conduct when dealing with each other, targets, and other people on the Black Market.

Omega Branch – Old school Gangsters, with honor and integrity amongst members (Yuhiro and Roxy formerly worked here).

That being said, I hope I gave a good description of what each Black Market branch is like, and what they stand for. Its now time to answer reviews:

HunterHQ: As evident by Greg giving Yuhiro the USB stick on Project: VIII, the FBI has that type of information. Even though Watchman's in the network, he still has weaknesses (for instance, his data became a part of the Tower of Hanoi). Wondering what happened on Windy's Origin's side? There will be a chapter that not only explains what happened, but his whole backstory too! As for the Overseer, he was just a one-shot character meant to die at Malf's hands. Lastly, for your other questions, you'll have to read on ahead, as I can't say everything. And thanks for the quote suggestions!

Guest: Naoki the punching bag, huh? While I respect your opinion, know that I don't respect bullying. Period. I hope the descriptions above helped your understanding of the Black Market. As for Malf, whoever he feasts on becomes dead. Whether they'll be free though... You'll have to read on and find out.

Anonymous: When Ai was running for his life, he didn't want to take any risks. So even if someone's help was genuine, he didn't want to risk it. Also, when Watchman approached the Ignis, they were skeptical of his warning, except for Herald and Wraith, who made preparations. You're forgetting that Critias can fuse with Mirror Force and Tyrant Wing to create Mirror Force Dragon and Tyrant Burst Dragon. Ryoken sought Akairo out because the Knights of Hanoi needed strong duelists, regardless of what he did. Its like when Ryoken sought out Blood Shepherd for his help against the Ignis.

Guest: The Knights of Hanoi have their ways of getting around for supplies, which is now easier for them since Akairo is aiding them and can get required necessities without suspicion. Remember: Azrael put Ace as the Overseer to act as a puppet ruler. You could say that right now, there's controlled chaos. And if you want the answers to your other question, please read Roxy's Reports 22. Lastly, I said this above: Windy's Origin will have an entire chapter dedicated to his backstory.

Noobmaster: If Aoi did find out about what Emma did, she'd be unimpressed, that's for sure. Roxy would probably have a shocked reaction if Emma imitated her Angelica avatar. Kitamura's fate will be addressed in this chapter, that I can promise. By the time Chapter 45 occurs, Windy would have already attacked his partner. Also, Windy's partner is from Tokyo. In Roxy's Reports 22, Takeru was walking around in Den City and helped Yuhiro carry some supplies back for Miyu's room (read the profile if you're curious for more info). As for Watchman, his real body's dead, and he's stuck in the network. I'll tell you now: Azrael did not cause the power outage. If you're confused about Malf, think of him like Majin Buu, where he started in his pure form (Kid Buu) and absorbed people to gain power and intelligence. Since he was based off of Haru's genetic code, he was limited, which is why he had to duel and feast on people. Lastly, thanks for the quotes!

Unknown: People get busy and sidetracked. That's life. Also, to reiterate a point I mentioned: If I just told you everything about Project: VIII, the whole story would be over in one season. That is why I give bits and pieces to keep readers hooked. Oh, and thanks for providing your suggestions on the Black Market branches. Also, I appreciate the quotes!

Unnamed: Watchman sealed Herald and Wraith in their pendants for their own protection. In my opinion, I believe Emma has turned over a new leaf, although she has ways to go. Her client, on the other hand, will be mentioned further in Season 2. The Guzik family organizes the Gammadome Rumble matches, not SengokuQueen. If you want information on Miles' father, read Chapter 14. Why hasn't Yuhiro asked Watchman about Project: VIII? Well, like I said, people get busy and sidetracked. It's the truth. That, and he and Roxy intended to do so once Miyu came home. Also, thanks for the quotes!

Guest: You want Yuhiro to have a Borrel dragon or something? That goes completely against his deck! And Malf practically feasted on people. SengokuQueen killed those guards so Raguel and Ghost Girl could move forward. Windy's Origin won't appear officially until Chapter 46, which will be his first official duel. Yuhiro isn't petty, and he's obviously mature. He obviously has caught on with Ghost Girl's antics, and didn't want her to stop him from saving Windy's Origin. Your other questions I can't answer, as those falls into spoiler territory.

Guest: Well, first, Herald has a photographic memory. Second, he can keep injuries at bay until Yuhiro is able to properly treat them, as if he were slowing down time. Third, he can improve various programs and other things. Would he create an AI? Maybe...

E.T. 2000: I have a name already planned for Windy's Origin's LINK VRAINS avatar, who will have his first official duel in Chapter 46. As for Raguel's new avatar, it won't be a mere copy and paste. Elements will obviously be used for reference, but there will also be some minor changes.

Guest: Yukage isn't aware of the Crisis. Unfortunately, due to Project: Apotheosis, Rachel's been forever marked by it. I won't say right now whether she became the Construct or not, as that falls into spoiler territory.

Kingdom Hearts Guy: Me too.

Guest: Yes, I have plans for Bohman and Haru after Season 2. There won't be Dragheads for Ai, Herald, and Wraith unfortunately. And if Bohman had a Link 6 monster, well, I can't spoil the story. You'll have to find out later on...

Lastly, something to point out: If you have questions about the profiles, ask them after you're done reading them. It should answer your questions, but if they don't, then you put them in your reviews. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 45: LINK VRAINS' Grand Reopening

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 Malf, sporting a demonic expression on his face. He then extends his 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.

In the network...

"Yahoo!" Ai cheered, as he flew through the network. At last, after a long time of searching, he finally found it. The place where he sealed the Cyberse World. "I'm finally going home! Back to the Cyberse World!" Ai looked at a lump-like spot in the network, which only he could identify. "There it is! All safe and cozy like I left it!" A green data piece emerged from his yellow eye, which unlocked the Cyberse World and allowed him to finally enter. "Hey, everybody! Your hero's home!"

Sadly, the Cyberse World that Ai envisioned of entering did not look like reality. Instead, there were rust-red clouds in the sky, which meant something was amiss. "Where is everyone? Last I check, the Cyberse World was more vibrant than this." When he looked down to the ground, he found, to his shock, a massive hole in a barren wasteland in place of the vibrant world he left behind. Craters dotted the entire landscape, as if something had arrived and caused massive damage to the Cyberse World.

"No. It's all... destroyed." Ai lamented, looking at the various craters, as well as the shattered six towers. Everything else in the landscape was grey and lifeless, making the Cyberse World a desolate wasteland. Ai landed in the middle of his former home, unable to comprehend what happened. "Oh, glitch, glitch, glitch, glitch, glitch!" He ran towards the city, hoping that there were survivors. "Anybody here? Anyone? Hello?" A thought then entered his mind. What if this was all a joke? After all, there was practically nothing that could destroy the Cyberse World, as it would have to get past the defense program first. Maybe the whole setup was to distract Ai so the other Ignis and Cyberse creatures could throw him a surprise welcome-home party.

"Oh, I get it. You're pulling a prank. But you can't out-prank this prankster." Ai continued running through the city, hoping to find any signs of life. "Found ya! Or not?" It then occurred to him that he truly was the only one there. "I thought I saved everybody, and still, I'm alone." Suddenly, Ai heard a noise from a nearby corner, getting his attention. "Who's there?" Ai walked around the nearby corner and peeked into the well to see what was causing that noise. Upon doing so, his eyes widened as he recognized a small blue monster with large eyes. He also had a tail with a link arrow attached at the end.

"Kuriiiiii..." the creature cried, looking up at Ai with sadness in his eyes.

"Linky?" Ai said in disbelief and joy as tears flowed through his eyes, recognizing the creature as Linkuriboh. Upon reaching out to hug his friend, Linkuriboh squirmed out of his hiding spot and tackled Ai to the ground. "Missed you too, pal! Though you're crushing my bits and bites!" After getting up from the ground, Ai turned to his old companion. "Have you seen the other Ignis?"

"Kuri..." was all Linkuriboh responded with, as Ai looked around the destroyed Cyberse World.

"And what happened to the Cyberse World?" Ai wondered, his fists shaking as Linkuriboh made sounds of 'Kuri' out of concern. He then fell to his arms and knees, the reality finally setting in for him. "You know, Linky? All this time, I thought I was protecting the Cyberse, but I was protecting nothing. I failed." Ai punched the ground in sadness as he shouted, "THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!"

"Hey, is anyone there? Please! Someone answer me!"

Both Ai's and Linkuriboh's eyes widened upon hearing that voice. It turned out there was someone else here in the Cyberse World! This meant hope was possibly on the horizon!

"Okay, Linky," Ai said, getting onto Linkuriboh's back, "there's someone who's alive in the Cyberse World and needs our help. So lets go find them!" Linkuriboh then hopped around the area, looking for the source of the voice. After a few minutes of hopping and searching the area, they eventually found a small hill, an area that Ai recognized. "This was one of the areas where you and I played together, Linky."

"Kuri..." Linkuriboh replied, remembering the better days. The two of them then heard a sound, causing them to hide on one side of the hill. As Ai army-crawled up the small hill to get a peek at the sound, he spotted someone familiar walking by.

"Damn it... Damn it all..." Wraith lamented, looking at the destroyed landscape of the Cyberse World. "Who would do such a thing to this place? And why?" Ai, having recognized Wraith, turned to Linkuriboh.

"Listen up, Linky." Ai whispered to him. "We have to make sure he's the real deal. So on the count of three, we tackle him to the ground." Linkuriboh nodded in confirmation as Ai climbed on his back. "Okay. One. Two." Linkuriboh then charged forward and jumped off the hill. "THREEEEEE!"

Before Wraith could react to the sound, he was tackled to the ground by Linkuriboh, ensuring he didn't get up.

"What the-?" He stopped fighting after realizing that Linkuriboh was the one who tackled him to the ground. "Linkuriboh? Thank goodness you survived!" Recognizing Wraith, Linkuriboh let him stand up on his feet. Looking at Ai, he then crossed his arms. "Really, Dark Ignis? You just had to do that? You could have made your presence-."

"Its really you, Black Ignis!" Ai cried with joy, getting off Linkuriboh before climbing off Linkuriboh and running to hug Wraith, surprising him in the process. Wraith, stunned with the hug, awkwardly patted him back before Ai released him. "I thought the Ignis were gone, but it's a good thing you're arrived. Speaking about the Ignis, do you know how they are? Did they talk about me?"

"Unfortunately, I don't. And how would I know whether they talked about you or not?" Wraith admitted. "I was with the White Ignis evacuating numerous Cyberse creatures prior to the Hanoi's attack. Do you remember when a featureless figure colored in brown and murky energy appeared?"

Ai thought about it for a second before the memory appeared in his mind. "Yes, I do. He said that there was an attack coming, but we didn't believe him."

"If you and the other Ignis heeded his warning like the White Ignis and I did, then we would have been safe!" Wraith reprimanded him.

"Hey! At least I put the Cyberse World under lock and key when the Knights of Hanoi attacked!" Ai countered, throwing his arms up in the air. "What's more, I found my Origin Playmaker and teamed up with the White Ignis and his origin to take down the Hanoi. Oh, and the White Ignis goes by Herald these days. Do you have a name that you go by?"

Wraith, however, paid closer attention to Ai when he mentioned Herald's name. He grabbed Ai's shoulders and shook him. "You met the White Ignis in the real world? How is he? Tell me!"

"Okay, okay!" Ai complied, getting Wraith's hands off him. "He and Progleo are doing fine. Raguel is taking care of him back in the real world." Wraith then walked a few steps away from Ai, looking at the desolate sky. "Uh, something the matter?"

"I just don't get it." Wraith said, his eyes narrowing. "Why did you go to your Origin, when you're aware that humans destroyed the Cyberse World in the first place?! What if they were responsible for destroying it a second time?!" He turned to Ai. "Now that we've reunited, we should get out of here lest they realize we're alive. I know a perfect place to lay low and develop a counterattack."

"But humans helped defeat the Knights of Hanoi!" Ai made his rebuttal. "Even though my relationship with Playmaker wasn't the best, we still had a common goal. I'm going back to him, Raguel, and Herald. Once I tell them of what happened, I know they'll investigate what happened."

Wraith then walked forward to Ai, sighing to himself. "Your idea may be reckless and idiotic, but it does have its merits. How about this?" He motioned for Ai to hold out his right palm, which he did. Wraith then touched the middle of it with his right index finger, causing it to glow a black and blue color before dimming. "You go and get help, and I'll seek out the other Ignis. If I find something, I'll share the information with you, and vice versa."

"But what if you get caught or worse?" Ai questioned, thinking the worse-case scenario.

"Ai, I haven't been caught for many years. I'm sure no one will find me so long as I'm careful." Wraith assured him, touching his shoulder momentarily. "Until we meet again, my friend." He levitated off the ground, but not before stopping and turning around. "Oh, and its Wraith. My name is Wraith." He then flew off and headed for the unknown charters of the network."

"Wraith?" Ai repeated, a hand on his chin. He then headed over to Linkuriboh. "Alright, Linky. Its time I introduce you to Playmaker!" Linkuriboh complied by levitating and beginning to fly off the ground. Ai looked at the destroyed Cyberse World as they flew higher and higher from it, returning to the network. He then looked at his right palm, a look of concern on his face. Wraith knew my name without asking me for it, he thought. I may be reckless, idiotic, and a bit paranoid, but its those traits that saved my butt many times. Ai then formed energy in his right palm, which went inside his hand and caused it to glow momentarily. Playmaker, I hope you don't mind me visiting. Because its going to be a long one, he thought, looking up as he and Linkuriboh journeyed through the network.

Meanwhile, at Café Matsuo...

Miyu walked upstairs quietly to not suddenly wake Yuhiro up. She wore a pink cardigan, a white top, and a long cream-colored skirt, wanting to look good for when he woke up. It was her first morning out of the hospital, and to celebrate, Roxy was cooking everyone chocolate chip pancakes, one of Miyu's favorites. While she'd be busy with Roxy for the day at the Den City Shopping District, she at least was able to spend her morning and evening with Yuhiro. Once that was done, the two of them can decide which day of the week they can visit the Asagao Gardens together. That, and she was looking forward to getting to know him even more.

Having reached Yuhiro's room, Miyu opened the door slowly, walking carefully as to not startle him awake. Okay, she thought. Here we go.

"Yuhiro?" Miyu said, hearing a grumble in response. "I'm sorry, but its time to wake up."

"Good morning, Miyu." Yuhiro replied, slowly getting up and opening his eyes to look at her. Wait a minute. Wasn't she supposed to be at the Den City Hospital?

"Hi. Hope you slept well last night." Miyu smiled warmly at him. After realizing that it was indeed her, he immediately fell off the bed out of shock. If she was actually here in his room, wishing him a good morning, that meant...

"No way..." Yuhiro slowly got up, ignoring the pain at the back of his head and wanting to make sure what was happening wasn't a dream. "Miyu. Is that-?" Oh, who was he kidding? This was definitely real! "It really is you!" He pulled Miyu in for a tight embrace, surprising her as he twirled her around before putting her down. "You can walk too!"

"Yup! I completed my physiotherapy!" Miyu told him, a triumphant look on her face. "Auntie sent me to wake you up because breakfast is nearly ready!" She grabbed his hand and urged him to follow her, which he eagerly did. The two of them walked downstairs to the kitchen, eager to eat breakfast. "Auntie! Yuhiro's awake!"

"Good morning, Yuhiro!" Roxy greeted him, as he arrived at the kitchen after Miyu. "Did you enjoy the surprise wake-up call?"

"As much as I enjoyed it," Yuhiro admitted, taking his seat at the table beside Miyu, "I can't believe you lied to me. You said Miyu would be home in a few days."

"Auntie said it was something called misdirection." Miyu stated. "She always had ways to tease people. In fact, when my mom and her were younger, there were times where-."

"Those stories do not need to be recalled, sweetie." Roxy interrupted, putting the pancakes on the five plates near the stove. "No need at all."

"I'd like to hear those stories." Yuhiro piped in, only for Roxy to silence him with the 'look'. She handed everyone their pancakes at the table before handing a plate for Progleo, who had a massive stack of them with maple syrup already on it.

"Enjoy!" Roxy said to everyone, now hungry and wanting to eat the pancakes. The three of them began eating the pancakes, which were more delicious than usual.

"This is nice." Yuhiro commented, a light blush on his face as he turned to look at Miyu.

"Yeah." Miyu agreed, who also had a light blush on her face. She then turned to Medusa, who was sitting across from her, having not started her meal yet. "Its okay, Medusa. There's no need to be shy."

Medusa was completely silent for several moments, unable to respond. "N-No thank you. We Duel Monsters do not require nutrients like you do."

"Progleo's a Duel Monster, and he eats any meal I give him." Roxy pointed out to her, picking up Progleo unexpectedly. "You enjoy my meals, right Progleo? Yes, you do! Yes, you do!" Progleo licked her face in response before she put him down on the ground.

"I'm not suited for mannerisms such as these." Medusa awkwardly replied, having never had the opportunity to act like a 'normal' person before. Yuhiro, picking up on this, got up from the table and grabbed some food from the fridge before giving it to her. Now in front of Medusa was a package of blueberry tarts with a bowl of mango, as well as a fork on the side. She then started eating the food in front of her, finding it quite enjoyable.

"So, Roxy," Yuhiro said, getting her attention, "I heard you and Miyu are spending the day at the Den City Shopping District?"

"Yup!" Roxy confirmed. "We're going to pick up some books for Miyu so she could catch up on her learning and get the required skills. If all goes well, then she can attend Den Academy within a couple of days. Once we get the books, we'll be going to a tailor so Miyu can be measured. There's her mother's dress that I think would fit nicely on her. Wait right here." She got up from the table and went upstairs to grab the item from her room.

"I haven't seen her this happy since the day you woke up, Miyu." Yuhiro stated, chuckling to himself. It was certainly true, for it felt like a huge burden had been lifted from everyone's shoulders. Although there were enemies he'd have to face off against in the network, Yuhiro took comfort in the fact that he had Miyu by his side to help him get through the coming situations. That, and he was also looking forward to spending more time with her in the real world as well.

"Mom always said that Auntie was a kind and happy person." Miyu recalled, turning to Yuhiro. "After everything we went through, we deserve to be happy." Yuhiro nodded in agreement.

"I'm back!" Roxy announced, returning to the kitchen. She was carrying a white dress with short sleeves and a black sash, causing Yuhiro to massively blush upon recognizing the piece of clothing. That's the beautiful dress Miyu wore when I was unconscious during my duel against Infearno, he recalled. He still wasn't sure whether that was a dream, a vision, or something else. "Well, what you think?"

"It's a nice dress." Medusa commented, a smile on her face. Miyu also nodded, for she thought it was really pretty. Yuhiro, on the other hand...

"Um, Yuhiro?" Miyu got his attention, bringing him back to reality. It occurred to Yuhiro that her face was close to his. "Everything alright?"

"Y-Yeah." Yuhiro answered, moving his face quickly from Miyu. "I probably ate too much earlier. That must be it." Unfortunately, she grabbed his ear and pulled on it, a look of suspicion on her face. "Ow! Must you do that?"

"You know I can tell the difference between truth and lies." Miyu reminded him. "If you're not telling me the truth, then I will know." Oh boy. Now there were two lie detectors in the house? This was not good at all.

After everyone finished breakfast, Yuhiro and Miyu helped Roxy clean up the kitchen and wash the dishes. A half-hour had passed by the time they finished, in which Roxy and Miyu went to collect their belongings for the trip afterwards. Once they were done, they went to the van, with Yuhiro following them. Before Roxy went over to join Miyu, who already entered the car, she turned to him.

"Now, Yuhiro. I want you to man the counter for the day while we're away." Roxy told him. "If something comes up, then call me. I'll do the same on my end."

"Noted." Yuhiro replied. "Don't worry, Roxy. Leave everything to me." After waving goodbye to them, the van then drove off away from Café Matsuo. Yuhiro exited the garage and went to the first floor of Café Matsuo. "You've been listening, haven't you, Medusa?"

"I have." Medusa confirmed, materializing out of thin air. "You're worried about Miyu, even though she's out of the hospital."

"How could I not? I don't want her to be hurt." Yuhiro admitted, heading upstairs before suddenly stopping and turning to Medusa. "Medusa, please go with them. If something happens, alert me immediately."

"If that's what you want, then I'll keep an eye on them." Medusa complied, getting his attention.

"Thank you, Medusa. I appreciate it." Yuhiro told her, before she dematerialized out of thin air. Content with his decision, he proceeded to head upstairs and wake Herald up, who was well aware that Miyu had left the Den City Hospital early and was living at Café Matsuo. He asked if Yuhiro could bring him to the backroom, for there was something urgent he needed to look over. Assuming that Herald wanted to look over the monitoring system that Roxy created again, he brought him to the backroom and went back upstairs to take a shower. Once he was done, he put on a fresh change of clothes, which consisted of a white shirt with black jeans.

And so, for the next few hours, Yuhiro manned the counter at Café Matsuo, taking customers orders and serving them once the steward bot completed them. At some point, Progleo came by and approached some kids who came with a family to order the Family Meal Package. When the woman apologized for letting her kids pet Progleo, Yuhiro said it wasn't a big deal, as the cub was very friendly around kids. That led to the kids playing with Progleo for a bit while the woman was able to successfully order for them, thanking him for his understanding. Maybe I should ask Roxy about putting Progleo as a mascot for this place, he amusedly thought, watching the family leave Café Matsuo. While Miyu would love the idea, it was likely that Roxy would be shocked by it, as there was no way the place needed one. Putting the thought aside, Yuhiro continued cooking for any customer that came by to order. Speaking of customers, it was at the beginning of the afternoon when a familiar person came by to order a meal.

"I have to say, you're happier than usual, Yuhiro."

Yuhiro turned at the voice. It was Aoi, wearing a white blouse and light blue coat over a dark blue skirt. He noticed she was carrying a coffee and what he recognized was a bag from Café Nagi. How interesting.

"Of course I am, Aoi." Yuhiro responded, a smile on his face. "Not only has Roxy's niece left the Den City Hospital, I can recuperate from everything going on." Progleo, upon hearing Aoi's name, peeked behind the door to see if it really was her. When he did, he backed away nervously, now afraid all of a sudden.

But to the cub's surprise, Aoi noticed him and put her things down before kneeling down on the ground. "Come here, Progleo. I missed you." Progleo slowly emerged from the door to make sure that what was happening before him was indeed real. Once he did so, tears immediately flowed through his eyes.

"Aoi!" Progleo cried with joy as he ran into her arms, letting her hug him tightly. "I'm so sorry!"

"What for?" Aoi had a look of confusion as Progleo went to look at her, who had an eyebrow raised.

"For being mean to you." Progleo answered. "I wanted to make things right, but when I heard you were turned into data, I thought you were gone forever." He then started crying, causing Aoi to put his head on her shoulder.

"Shh. Its okay, Progleo." Aoi assured him. "I forgive you. After all, you were just keeping Yuhiro and Roxy safe from intruders." Hearing this, Progleo then started licking Aoi with joy, happy that things were finally resolved between them. After she put Progleo down on the ground, she approached Yuhiro at the counter while the cub went inside Café Matsuo. "I didn't know Roxy's niece was discharged from the hospital."

"Well, Roxy did say she'd be home in a few days." Yuhiro recalled, flipping some burger meat. "However, the next thing I knew today, her niece was at Café Matsuo wishing me good morning. Apparently, she had been discharged last night, and wanted to surprise me first thing."

Aoi smiled, happy with the news. "That's great to hear. Will she be attending Den Academy?"

"Once she gets through the prep work and books, then definitely for sure." Yuhiro answered. "As a result, Roxy took her niece to the Den City Shopping District to get the necessary items."

"I see." An idea then formed in Aoi's mind. "Then could you tell me what she's like? I want to know the person you care so much about."

"Wait, wait, wait. What?" Yuhiro's eyes widened, his instincts telling him it was a trap. If he fell for it, there was a chance he would get teased by Aoi. No way was he running that risk. "I think I'll let you find out. And speaking of which..." A mischievous grin formed on his face. "I think its about time you answered one of my questions, don't you think? Or did you forget our deal when you asked me about how I became Raguel?"

Aoi groaned as she remembered their deal. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"I want to know who you have a crush on." Yuhiro told her. "Come on. Spill. No one's around."

Aoi really didn't want to tell Yuhiro about her crush on Yusaku. She was, however, a woman of her word. "Okay. You remember when the Hanoi infected me with that virus?" Yuhiro nodded. "Well, after I woke up, Akira told me that Fujiki found and brought me to the hospital before calling him. Even after I made the assumption he was like everyone else, he still helped me and didn't ask for anything in return. I guess I'm attracted to him because he's different, unlike everybody else."

"Hmm..." Yuhiro thought this over. Come to think of it, Aoi and Yusaku were practically perfect for each other. Both were strong duelists in LINK VRAINS, were socially awkward at times, and each went through a harrowing experience. The only difference was that one experienced the Lost Incident, while the other didn't. "Did you tell him about this?"

"Well, I thanked him for helping me when I went to Café Nagi." Aoi told him. "His response, though, was kind of weird. He said it was nothing special, and then stammered that he didn't mean I wasn't special. Know what that means?"

"Aoi, I'm the last person to go to for romantic advice." Yuhiro said to her. "If I can tell you anything, you won't know until you be honest with him on how you feel. I'm sure he'll listen." Although I'm definitely sure he doesn't have any experience in dating or romance whatsoever, he thought. Oh, boy. "And don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

Aoi let out a sigh of relief. "I appreciate that, Yuhiro. That being said, would you mind if I ordered something for Akira? He has to stay at SOL Technologies for an important meeting, and can't come today to get it himself." Yuhiro then took her order for Akira, which was a simple blue cheese burger. Once that was done, he handed the bag to Aoi, who thanked him and was about to leave when he spoke up.

"You mind doing something for me?" Yuhiro asked, getting Aoi's attention. "Miles is logging in to the network for the first time today, so if you see him, could you stop by and say hello to him? He goes by Phoenix in the network, if you've forgotten."

"Yeah, sure. I'll be on the look out for him." Aoi replied, a smile on her face. "I'm looking forward to meeting Roxy's niece at school. In the meanwhile, be on your best behavior with her." She then walked away, leaving Yuhiro in a flustered state of shock as he realized that he got teased once again.

Man, I really need to improve my mental defenses, he thought, going over to the steward bot and programming it to take over his place at the counter. He then locked the door and went over to the backroom, where he found Herald, a concerned look on his face. "Everything alright, Herald?"

"No. Its not alright." Herald answered. "I found out from Ai that the Cyberse World had been destroyed!" As Yuhiro sat in his spot and looked at the pictures on the screen, his eyes widened. In front of him were pictures of the destroyed and deserted Cyberse World. "The only Cyberse creature that Ai was able to save was Linkuriboh."

"What about the other Ignis?" Yuhiro inquired. "Anything from them?"

Herald put a hand on his chin. "Well, Ai told me that he met the Black Ignis in the Cyberse World. I'm relieved that he and the Black Ignis are okay, as that gives me hope the others are still out there."

"We'll find out who's responsible. Don't worry, Herald." Yuhiro assured him, causing the Ignis to smile.

"Yes. I know." He closed the pictures of the destroyed and deserted Cyberse World, pulling something else up. "Since we're going to log back in to the network, I figured it would be a good idea to update your Raguel avatar."

"My avatar?" Raguel repeated, blinking as an image came up on the screens. It was his Raguel avatar, but it had been changed. Not only did he have brushed down silver-blond hair to replace his upward hair, his eye color changed from grey to red. He also wore white tunics with evenly-spaced orange lines all over it as well, resembling that of a knight's. Over the tunics part was silver, which went from his upper torso to his waist. Lastly, his left arm wielded his duel disk. "I must say, Herald, I'm impressed. I can definitely see you took some inspiration from Arthur Pendragon in making it."

"Okay, you got me there." Herald admitted, scratching his head sheepishly. "But to ensure I didn't copy all of it, I added some elements of my own. Like the white tunic part with orange lines for instance. I added it in to show our connection between you and me, as well as how pure of a soul you have."

Yuhiro smirked as he looked at it. "In a way, it makes me look like a knight. Roxy will probably find a way to put me in Fate/Grand Order if she found out how similar I looked in comparison with Arthur Pendragon."

"Or she could create a female version of you in the game so that Artoria Pendragon can have a best friend." Herald suggested, causing Yuhiro to sigh in annoyance. If that happened, Herald would embarrass him to no end. To complicate matters, he had been teased twice in one day. Would it ever stop one day? Better not think about the worse-case scenario now, or it could come true later. "See if you can contact Ai or the Black Ignis. I'll be manning the front until Roxy and Miyu return from their day out together."

"Okay, okay." Herald replied. Yuhiro got up from his seat, proceeding to leave the backroom until Herald spoke up. "Oh, yeah. I overheard your conversation with Aoi earlier. Do you have a plan on telling her the truth about how you know Miyu, as well as everything else?"

Yuhiro turned around, having stopped walking. "Once Miyu's settled in, Roxy and I will tell Aoi the truth. And could you not remind me? I'm aware that I'll have to do it eventually."

"That's good to hear." Herald responded. "Because if you delay it and she finds out, it'll get uneasy. Just warning you there." Yuhiro rolled his eyes at Herald's comment. What would Herald know about human interactions and how complicated they can be? He decided to leave and not think about it now, lest he stress about it later on.

Herald then turned back to the screen, opening up the pictures showing the destroyed and deserted Cyberse World. Thanks Ai for sending me this, he thought, before opening up a search bar. "Let's get searching. Where are you, my fellow Ignis?"

Elsewhere, at the Den City Shelter...

Miles was on his bed, looking at his deck and going over the cards that composed it. Today was the day, where all his study sessions with Quinton on how to duel would pay off. For on this day, the newest version of LINK VRAINS was opening, and this would be Miles' chance to log in and show the world that the Phoenix was back.

Of course to do so, he needed an avatar. While his mother's avatar got attention, he didn't want to copy it down to the letter, as that would not be right at all. Instead, he went to the drawing board, visualizing several ideas that didn't seem to work until he got the one he wanted. On his tablet, which showed his dark-skinned Phoenix avatar, he had upward braided black hair with shaved sides, as well as orange eyes. His attire consisted of a red and bronze vest over an orange and yellow jumpsuit. On each of his wrists were wristbands colored red, blue, and yellow, which represented the servants of Nephthys. Lastly, he had a belt around his waist, which had a phoenix symbol in the middle.

This is perfect, he thought, looking over his Phoenix avatar. I'll definitely wow the crowd with this.

"Hey, Miles! Have you lost track of the time?" Quinton called from downstairs.

Miles looked up at the clock. Uh-oh. "Coming!" After grabbing his deck and duel disk, he got up from his bed and walked downstairs, only to find Quinton cooking what looked like chicken fingers. "I can't believe you started without me, man."

"Since the event was going to be soon, I thought it'd be a good idea to prep the kid's lunches now than later." Quinton reminded him. "Grab an apron and follow my lead." The two of them then proceeded to work side by side as they cooked chicken fingers for the kids there. While Quinton stirred the yolk in a bowl before dipping the chicken meat strips inside it momentarily, Miles went over to the oven and checked it was 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Once he did so, he proceeded to peel the skin off various potatoes and cut them into the size of French fries before putting them in the air fryer. While the fries were cooking, Miles helped Quinton coat the egg-dipped chicken meat strips with bread crumbs, in which he placed on a cookie sheet soon after. Twenty minutes eventually passed, with Quinton turning each of the chicken pieces once to ensure there was no pink in the center. By the time it was over, the timer on the air fryer dinged, meaning the fries were ready to be served. After Quinton and Miles arranged the food in a neat order, they went to the living room where the kids were, putting the food on the nearby table.

"Lunch time, kids!" Miles announced, getting the kids attention as they lined up to get the allowed amount of chicken fingers and fries. He and Quinton watched as the kids ate with one another, satisfied with the meal. "We did a good job with the lunch, don't you think?"

"As long as the kids like it, then the recipes a success." Quinton agreed, his arms crossed. He turned to Miles, adopting a serious expression. "Miles, could I talk to you alone in the kitchen?"

Miles nodded in response, knowing something was up. He followed Quinton into the kitchen and closed the door behind him so they could have some privacy. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah." Quinton answered. "Be honest with me, Miles. How are you feeling today? Regarding your upcoming first trip into the network and all."

Miles thought about it for a minute. He had to admit, a part of him was nervous today, as he wanted to make his mom proud. Even with Quinton's study sessions and reassurance, Miles couldn't help but be concerned about what other people would think once they learned that the Phoenix had returned. "Uh, nervous and under a lot of pressure," he admitted.

"Believe me, I felt those same things." Quinton told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know I'm not the best person to say this, but once you get out there and give it your all, it'll lift away. You just need to keep your head straight and in the game, as well as maintain your ethics."

Miles nodded, thankful for the advice. "Thanks, Quinton. I appreciate it. I just wish I could speak to Go about this as well. He'd have the words to say in this situation."

"I know." Quinton let out a sigh. He tried to reach out to Go recently and convince him to rejoin the Charisma Duelists, but his manager said he wasn't available. Partly because Go was busy, but it was also due to the fact he moved to an apartment in Den City a short time ago, which made tracking him down a pain in the butt. "I'll keep trying when I can. Don't worry." The two of them then heard the sound of someone knocking on the door. "I'll get it. Go get yourself some chicken fingers and fries. Remember: You never duel on an empty stomach." Quinton and Miles exited the kitchen soon after, with Miles heading for the living room while Quinton went to answer the door.

Three months after the Tower of Hanoi fell, SOL Technologies had announced public bounties on Playmaker and Raguel. Quinton refused to participate out of disgust for the way SOL Technologies treated the duelists who fought to save LINK VRAINS from the Hanoi. Go, on the other hand, immediately signed up, to the point where he left the Charisma Duelists to become a bounty hunter. Upon hearing the news, Quinton immediately went to try and dissuade him from following a path that would end in ruin, only to be rebuffed at every turn.

Go's lived in the spotlight longer than I did, he thought. He was also one of a few Charisma Duelists whose real life identity was common knowledge. However, the secrecy put for the other Charisma Duelists gave me, Blue Angel, Reidrith, and pretty much almost all the other Charisma Duelists from the media's attention.

Of course, Go leaving had unintentional side effects on the rankings. Blue Angel was now the #1 Charisma Duelist, with Stregone now promoted to the #2 Charisma Duelist in all of LINK VRAINS. Jeanne Azaria and Reidrith moved up to #5 and #6 respectively, having increased their rankings since events prior forced them to take a temporary break. Then there's Deva, who was #3, and Ragnarök, who was #4, and well... You got the idea. When Quinton answered the door, he found Tsubaki standing at the front entrance, carrying a small bag.

"Hey, Tsubaki." Quinton greeted her. "How was Iceland?"

"Enjoyable, actually." Tsubaki answered, entering inside. "For the first few days, dad and I went to spread mom's ashes at the Kerlingarfjoll mountain. Once that was done, we went sightseeing and partook in multiple activities together."

"Sounds like the two of you had fun." Quinton gestured Tsubaki to follow him to the living room, where the kids and Miles were eating. "Grab yourself some food. Once I get a few things in order, I'll call the both of you over so we can log into the network together." While Quinton went to his office, Tsubaki made her way to the living room and served herself chicken fingers and fries.

"Mind if I sit beside you?" Tsubaki asked Miles, giving him a jump as she sat down beside him.

"You startled me!" Miles pointed out to her. "I thought Quinton and I would see you in the network."

"I wanted Quinton's opinion on my updated avatar." Tsubaki explained, taking a bite out of one of the chicken fingers. "That, and I needed some advice prior to going into the network for the first time as an aspiring Charisma Duelist."

"Ah. I get it." That made sense to Miles. Since it was his first time logging into the network, he wanted to look good prior to the event. That's why Miles spent whatever time he could to ensure his Phoenix avatar was ready. Tsubaki, on the other hand, was known as the 'Graceful Assassin' in the network. While there was a chance people would recognize her due to her committed crimes, she hoped that changing her avatar can help her start anew. "If you like, I could take a peek."

Tsubaki's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before deciding. After all, having a second opinion wouldn't hurt. "Alright. But no judgment." She pulled out her tablet from her bag and turned it on. After Tsubaki pulled up her new Rosetta avatar on her tablet, she gave it to Miles, who looked at it. Rosetta now had spikier and choppier hair that was colored light-pink. Her new outfit comprised of a mesh sleeveless top over a white low cut long-sleeved blouse. She wore a red pleated skirt that was split at the side with a small brown belted strap across the gap, and bright red shorts under it. On each of her arms, she had black bracers, as well as fingerless gloves. Rosetta also had a belt around her waist, which had an emblem containing different colors of roses. Lastly, she wore black, thigh-high steel boots with red soles, as well as a pair of brown mesh tights.

"I have to say, its pretty good." Miles admitted, looking at the avatar. "My concern is that people will judge you for the crimes you've committed before even getting to learn that you're here to atone."

"Let them judge if they want." Tsubaki told him. "I want people to look at me. So they can learn that, if a former Black Market agent is willing to walk a new path and make amends for their mistakes, they can too."

"That. Is. Brave. Of. You." Miles commented, handing over the tablet back to Tsubaki.

"Okay, I'm back!" Quinton announced, as he walked into the living room. "Miles, Tsubaki. Please follow me to my office. Its time." The two of them got up and followed Quinton to his office. "Alright, everyone. You have your decks and duel disks?" Both Miles and Tsubaki nodded. "Good. Then you know what to do."

Each of them put their decks in their respective duel disks and shouted in unison, "Deck Set! Into the VRAINS!"

In LINK VRAINS...

The three of them logged into the network on top of a building, which overlooked a massive city, with an even larger central tower going up into the sky. Several people in different costumes and clothing were attending the festivities in the city as fireworks went off into the sky.

"This is LINK VRAINS..." Phoenix whispered in amazement.

"Indeed it is." Stregone agreed. "I have to say, Phoenix. All your hard efforts in creating your avatar definitely paid off."

"Thank you very much." Phoenix replied, happy that he got a compliment from the Sorcerer of LINK VRAINS himself.

"Now I just need to find Rosetta..." Stregone turned around to his right, only to be surprised when he looked at her new avatar. "That you, Rosetta? I didn't realize you changed your avatar."

"I had wanted to show you my new avatar before we logged in!" Rosetta pointed out, causing Stregone to sweat in embarrassment. Now that he thought about it, she did raise a good point. To women, looks were everything, and he felt like an idiot for not looking at her new avatar prior to logging into the network.

"Well, I apologize for not giving me the opportunity to discuss it with me." Stregone apologized. He then levitated himself and the others off the building before landing in the city. "Can you forgive me?"

"Only if today goes well." Rosetta told him, causing Stregone to groan as Phoenix laughed at him.

"So what are we going to do first?" Phoenix asked him, getting his attention. "Tour the NEW LINK VRAINS, chat with the people and get autographs, attend different meet and greets?"

"You can do that." Stregone replied, surprising Phoenix. "I need to speak with Rosetta in private regarding the Charisma Duelist event."

"The Charisma Duelist event?" Rosetta repeated, turning to Stregone. That's right. The Charisma Duelist event was a special event hosted by the Top 10 Charisma Duelists. There, the Charisma Duelists would put on a show by dueling against one another for the audience, with no changes in rank whatsoever. What's more, one lucky individual would have the opportunity to duel a Charisma Duelist if they were chosen. "What about it?"

"I'll tell you in a bit." Stregone promised her. He then patted Phoenix on the back. "In the meanwhile, go explore NEW LINK VRAINS to your heart's content." Before Phoenix could reply, Stregone flew off with Rosetta, surprising her for a bit as he was left alone in the city.

"Wonder what Stregone has in mind for Rosetta regarding the Charisma Duelist event..." Phoenix muttered, as he walked through the crowd, taking in the splendor of everything going on. He eventually noticed a stage surrounded by a large crowd, stopping by a large guy in blue armor to get a look. As he watched, the lights on the stage went out and lightning struck, causing a bright flash. When the flash faded, Blue Angel was standing on the stage, holding a microphone.

"Its her! Blue Angel!" the guy in the blue armor shouted excitedly.

"Hey, everyone! Are you enjoying the new LINK VRAINS?" Blue Angel asked. "I hope you are. Because its time to party!"

"This is so much better than taking out the trash!" the guy in the blue armor commented. Phoenix chuckled, as he knew when to voice his excitement and when not to.

"Just to remind you, in one hour, the Charisma Duelist Event will take place!" Blue Angel told the crowd. "All Top 10 Charisma Duelists will be there, and we'll put on a special show just for you! In addition, one lucky individual will be chosen to duel one of us as well!" The crowd cheered at that, Phoenix too. A chance to duel against one of the Top 10 Charisma Duelists? How awesome was that?

This is perfect, Phoenix thought. Not only can my first duel be against one of the Top 10 Charisma Duelists, I can wow the crowd with Mom's deck. Through this duel, I'll show the world that the Phoenix is back, he vowed to himself. And in the process, I'll make Mom proud too.

Meanwhile, at SOL Technologies...

Akira looked down at his boss as she relaxed in a deckchair. She was a light-skinned woman with blue hair that had green accents. Her attire mainly consisted of a swimsuit and short shorts under a dress.

The person a deckchair or two away from her, however, was a man who was mostly bald. However, he had a single piece of thick, dark-pink hair that went upwards. He also had dark-pink eyebrows and eyes, which complimented his hair. For his attire, he wore a black golf top with a yellow and brown-lined outline at the collar. He also wore dark-pink pants with black shoes.

"Queen, I don't see why you would want to capture Playmaker and Raguel when the two of them saved us all." Akira questioned.

Queen's expression didn't change. "Wow, Zaizen. You get your old job back and you think you have the right to question me? I replaced you as Security Manager once, I can do it again. It may well happen again unless you stay in line." Akira grit his teeth as she picked up her drink.

"Oh, snap!" the man commented, getting a laugh out of the situation. "Queen's roasted you there, Zaizen!"

"Shut up, Pawn!" Queen furiously ordered him. Pawn hadn't been invited to the meeting, yet he invited himself in because he didn't have anything else to do. Despite his laid back attitude, he did have a spot on the highest team in SOL Technologies along herself, Bishop, Knight and Rook, who all reported to the three Kings. She turned back to Akira, taking a deep breath before speaking once again. "We found the Cyberse, but what we did not find were the Ignis. And the Ignis are what SOL Technologies needs to maintain the long-term survivability of LINK VRAINS."

"But Queen-." Akira tried to interject, only for Queen to cut him off.

"Did I give you permission to speak?" Queen took a sip from her drink and finished it. "If Playmaker and Raguel have Ignis's, I want both of them." She put down her drink before standing up from her deckchair. "That simple enough to understand, Zaizen, or do I need to repeat it for you?"

"I understand quite fully." Akira complied. He and Queen then heard the sound of Pawn getting up from his deckchair.

"And that's why SOL Technologies likes people such as you!" Pawn stated, pointing his right index finger at Akira. "You willingly carry out the orders given and maintain loyalty at the same time. Unlike a certain someone, who betrayed the company in an attempt to seize power."

Akira frowned, as he knew exactly who Pawn was talking about. After SOL Technologies found out that Kitamura planned on betraying them during the Tower of Hanoi events, they immediately fired him on the spot. Since then, he was on the run, trying to evade SOL Technologies once they found out he hired an assassin to kill Raguel and Playmaker.

Queen walked up to face Akira, choosing not to respond to Pawn. While she was shorter than him, her authority made up for it. "Very good. Then I'm putting you in charge of my new bounty-hunting task force." Queen pulled her sunglasses down, revealing light blue eyes. "You will lead this team, and capture Playmaker and Raguel, as well as their Ignis's. If you succeed, I can guarantee great things for your career. Otherwise, you'll end up in a similar, if not worse fate than what Kitamura will experience once we capture him." Queen then departed, leaving Akira with a horrified expression, causing Pawn to laugh at him.

"She may be short, but she's definitely fierce!" Pawn said, going over to Akira and patting him on the back, startling him. "Between you and me, I'm rooting for you. After all, its quite rare for SOL Technologies to get talented people like you in the company."

"I appreciate the concern." Akira replied, taking a step away from Pawn.

"Well, all the best to you, Zaizen." Pawn told him. "If there's anyway I can assist with your task, let me know!" Both Pawn and the virtual resort then vanished, returning Akira back to his office. He grit his teeth, frustrated.

Having to fight against Playmaker after he saved me and Aoi, and Raguel too... he lamented in his mind as he sat down at his desk. Had it not been for Raguel, then Aoi wouldn't have come out of her shell. Its thanks to him that she has a few more friends at school. Turning to the bag of food from Café Matsuo, Akira grabbed it before pulling out the blue cheeseburger. What exactly do I do now?

A half hour later...

Akira was busy working when the door to his office suddenly opened. Hayami, who was there with a small group of people, announced, "The bounty hunters have arrived, Mr. Zaizen. Come right in." She stepped to the side, letting Go, who now wore dark green armor, walk past her into Akira's office. He was joined by two other young men, who also wore dark green armor. One of the men had spiky brown hair, while the other had a pink afro.

When Go reached Akira's desk, he stood up. "Ah, welcome gentlemen. Its been a while, Go." He extended out his hand, but Go did not shake it.

"Not long enough, bub." Go coldly replied. "I never thought the day would come when I'd be working for you."

Akira put his hand down and replied, "I was thinking the same thing. But here we are. So, Go: Why did you decide to give up being a Charisma Duelist to become a bounty hunter?"

"I've got plenty of reasons to choose from." Go answered, closing his eyes. "However, not a single one of them is any of your business, so how about we just keep this meeting moving." Akira crossed his arms and frowned at Go, who obviously didn't care. "Listen. Just give me the basics. Target, location, and deadline. That's it."

"Before that, we're waiting for-." Hayami began to speak, but the door behind her opened, giving her a scare.

"Excuse me. I heard this is Akira Zaizen's office? Or am I mistaken?" Everyone in the room turned to see the sixteen year old male teenager who just entered. "Yup. This is the place alright." He walked forward to Akira's desk and extended his hand at him. "My name is Akairo Gekido. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Akira reciprocated the handshake, glad that one bounty hunter had manners. "I'm guessing you're Drachen?" Akairo nodded in confirmation. "I see. That means we only have two more bounty hunters to wait for."

"Two?" Go repeated. "Who else did you-?" Before Go could say more, he was interrupted by someone at the door. The person was a tall adult male, with red hair spiked backwards and purple eyes. He wore 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. Except for Go, everyone's eyes widened upon looking at the man.

"Hang on. I recognize you." Hayami realized. "You're Brion Miyahara, the last Prince of the Miyahara family in Central Japan itself."

"I never expected you to be here, Prince Brion." Akira admitted, shocked at Brion's appearance. "I take it you're Electrolyzer?"

"You're right on that." Brion affirmed, walking forward to Akira's desk. Akairo had to move to the side, having been surprised by how tall Brion was. If anything, he was just as tall as Go, if not a bit taller. "I'm letting you know now, Zaizen. I'll only be on this team until the mission is done and I'm paid my fair share. If I smell a rat, I will know."

"Fair enough." Akira replied. He got the chance to read up on Brion's past hunts, and like Gekiryushi, had a strong sense of honor. If SOL Technologies did anything that resulted in the company losing Brion's respect, they would have the Miyahara family as an enemy to deal with.

"And I'm telling you that I don't care you're the last Prince of Central Japan." Go growled, grabbing Brion's shoulder and getting his attention. "I may not know why you're here, but get in my way and I'll-."

"Do what? Destroy me?" Brion questioned, a look on his face that can definitely kill. "I doubt a washed up Charisma Duelist like you has any chance of defeating me in a duel."

"Why, you!" Go would have punched Brion had the two young men not ran to restrain him.

"Go, its not worth it!" one of the men stated. Akairo rolled his eyes as he looked at what was happening in front of him. This was what Ryoken sent him in to do? If that was the case, the mission would be easier than he thought.

"Remember why you're here!" the other man reminded him. Apparently, this did the trick, as Go calmed down.

"This isn't over." Go promised Brion, turning to Akira and calming down. "Is there anymore people showing up?"

"Yes." Akira answered. "Aside from Akairo and Brion, we have one bounty hunter to wait for."

"Yeah?" Go raised an eyebrow. "Well, you ought to know no one keeps me waiting."

Akira closed his eyes. "Then you should make an exception. At least this one time." He opened his eyes and glared at Go, ensuring he got the message. "Because this is one bounty hunter whose bad side you do not want to get on."

Elsewhere, in LINK VRAINS...

Phoenix rode the escalator up, his excitement filled to the max after witnessing Blue Angel's event. The Charisma Duelist event will be in twenty minutes, he thought. Until then, it would be a good idea to explore Central Station. He got off the escalator and looked up at the building in front of him. It was a massive dome with doors all around it. Walking in, Phoenix saw there were practically booths for everything. Duel Boards, costumes, and food and drinks? Well, there were booths for everything after all. At the center was a larger booth containing a list of information.

"Getting a brochure would help me find the various attractions here." Phoenix whispered, going over to the center booth.

"Clear out, you lousy bums!" Phoenix looked over and saw two penguins harassing several people to vacate from the tables. One penguin was blue with black hair, while the other penguin was purple with pink hair. "I'm not telling you twice!"

"These tables are for penguins only!" the purple penguin added. "If you don't have flippers, then flip off!"

"Really? Penguins?" Phoenix whispered, a confused look on his face. They're supposed to be cuddly and caring, he thought.

"Didn't you hear? Move!" The purple penguin said that to a person in a purple cape that hadn't moved. To get his attention, the purple penguin smacked him, which obviously didn't work. He turned to his partner in crime. "This bloke's giving me the cold shoulder!"

"I'll take care of this, don't worry!" the blue penguin confidently replied.

"If you think LINK VRAINS' safety rules will save ya sorry ass, think again!" the purple penguin boasted. "Prepare to feel the shock of a lifetime!"

"A thousand and one volts worth of shock to be exact," the blue penguin clarified. "Now say good-!" Before the blue penguin could even do his signature punch, the man suddenly reached out and grabbed him by the head. Phoenix gasped upon getting a better look at the man. That's Blood Shepherd, Phoenix realized. Yuhiro's showed me a few pictures about this guy, and how he ended up on a mission with him.

"Let go of my face!" the blue penguin ordered, struggling to get free.

"I think not." Blood Shepherd quietly replied, as blue lightning flickered across his prosthetic arm before stopping the blue penguin's movements and making him disintegrate into red data.

"NO!" the purple penguin shouted, distraught with what happened. He wasn't the only one who witnessed the act, as everyone in the area was shocked.

"He deleted that guy!"

"He must be a bounty hunter!"

Looking up at Blood Shepherd, the purple penguin panicked and ran out the door, shouting, "I'll make you pay for this!"

Phoenix watched the penguin run before turning back to what he was doing. What just happened basically confirms Yuhiro's story of how ruthless he can be, he thought. Phoenix made a mental note to never duel Blood Shepherd in the future.

With the incident over, Blood Shepherd returned to his spot and sat in silence. That is, until a certain someone interrupted him.

"Well, well. You're as charming as ever, Blood Shepherd." Blood Shepherd turned, only to see it was Ghost Girl speaking to him.

"Ghost Girl."

"I heard that SOL Technologies hired you to hunt down both Playmaker and Raguel." Ghost Girl stated.

"And I heard they made the same offer to you." Blood Shepherd pointed out in response.

"Yeah, they did." Ghost Girl admitted. "But I didn't take them up on their offer. After all, I owe Raguel and Playmaker."

Blood Shepherd smirked underneath his mask. "Hmph. Is that so? Since when do you owe Raguel and Playmaker anything?"

"How about when they saved my life during the Tower of Hanoi events?" Ghost Girl sharply answered, as she crossed her arms. "That good enough for you?"

"I couldn't care less about your damn reasons." Blood Shepherd countered, ensuring that Ghost Girl got the message. "But if they end up motivating you to interfere with my hunt, I won't show any mercy."

Meanwhile, in another area of LINK VRAINS...

The purple penguin raced down the escalator and into a nearby alley, panting. "Aw man..." he muttered, still in shock at witnessing his partner in crime's deletion. "I hope he didn't lose his account. Otherwise, he'll have to rejoin Club Penguin and go through the trials again." He punched his left flipper into the other. "Don't worry, partner! I won't let your death be in vain! Perhaps I can hire someone to get rid of that guy in the Central Station..." He went further down into the alley, wanting to get away from the massive crowd.

Sadly, this decision would be fatal, as a long purple arm emerged from nowhere and grabbed the top of his head, pulling the purple penguin upward.

"GAAAAAHHHH!" the purple penguin screamed. The next thing he knew, he found himself high above the alley and near the edge of one of the tall buildings in the network. When he turned away from looking at the ground below, he ended up looking straight at Malf, making him scream once again.

"Eyes, Lungs, Pancreas. So many snacks, so little time." Malf said, opening his mouth and licking the purple penguin. He then proceeded to bite the purple penguin's face off before eating the rest of his body completely, relishing in the snack. "Delicious."

"Glad you enjoyed the snack, Malf." Wraith said. "But did you really have to do it right here?"

"It matters not to me where he feasts." Azrael told Wraith, who had his arms crossed. "As long as he's strong enough to duel a duelist with an Ignis."

Malf turned to Azrael. "Me am strong, though. Let me prove it."

"You'll have your chance." Azrael assured him. "In the meanwhile, continue your task and wait for the signal. Once that's done, you can test your strength against either Raguel or Playmaker, whichever one's available." Hearing this, Malf snapped his fingers, causing his duel board to appear in front of him. It was purple, with red disease-like elements at the front and end of it. A large black star with eyes was painted in the middle, with painted tentacles extended all over the board. He jumped onto it before speeding away from Azrael, who merely walked away after witnessing Malf leave.

Elsewhere, at the Charisma Duelist event...

"Stregone, I honestly don't think this is a good idea." Rosetta told him, nervous at what was going to happen. While Phoenix was away gallivanting in the new LINK VRAINS, Stregone wanted to talk to Rosetta about an idea he had. It was simple: To show the world about her mission, she would duel against one of the Charisma Duelists at random. There, Rosetta can show the crowd what she stood for using her words and her skills as a duelist.

Next to her, Stregone simply smiled. "You'll be fine. Trust me. Besides, you got to get your voice out there one way or another."

"I guess you make a valid point." Rosetta agreed, nodding, but a little reluctantly.

"Rosetta! Stregone!" The two of them turned as Phoenix ran to them. "Thanks for giving me the front row seat, Stregone. Really appreciate it. Do you know where Blue Angel and the other Charisma Duelists are?"

Stregone had a hand on his chin and pondered before answering. "Well, if I recall correctly, Blue Angel's supposed to be announcing the event," he said, jerking his head to the side. The three of them were standing behind a curtain on a stage in the Event area, waiting for the event to begin. "The others will show up once it-."

"Ah, Stregone. Good to see you again."

Everyone turned behind them, only to see Reidrith and Jeanne Azaria walk up from behind them.

"Good to see you both as well," Stregone said, going forward and shaking Jeanne Azaria's hand before doing the same for Reidrith's. "And congratulations on your new ranks among the Top 10."

"That's nice and all." Reidrith replied before glaring at Rosetta. "But what I want to know is why she's here of all people." Jeanne narrowed her eyes as well at Rosetta, but not to the same extent that Reidrith did.

"He's right." Jeanne added. "Rosetta not only defeated us, she also stole our Cyberse cards for the Knights of Hanoi to use."

"I know you have good points-." Stregone began, but Rosetta pushed him aside.

"I can handle myself." Rosetta told him, before facing Reidrith and Jeanne. She then bowed, surprising the both of them. "I am really sorry for what I did. Know that I intend to fully atone for the crimes I've committed on the Black Market, one of which was taking your Cyberse cards. Hate me if you want, but please allow me to duel during this event. For I want to show a better path people like myself can choose, no matter what mistakes they've made."

Reidrith and Jeanne were still caught off guard by what Rosetta just did. The fact she willingly apologized was something they didn't expect. Finally, Jeanne was the one who spoke up.

"If you are serious, then you'll have to show us first hand during the event," she told her.

"That, and you owe us a duel." Reidrith added. "While we're glad you got our Cyberse cards back, we want a duel where you're not a monster."

"Hey, guys. That's a bit insulting if you-." Phoenix was about to say, but Rosetta looked at him as if to tell him to not get involved.

"Both of those conditions seem fair." Rosetta conceded, accepting the terms laid out by Jeanne and Reidrith. It was clear they were still bitter by what happened, and while they were glad by her apology, she had to prove her intentions firsthand. Following that, Rosetta had to duel against them in a fair match.

"Man, what's with all the commotion?"

Everyone turned around and paid attention at the sound of the voice. It belonged to a young man in his early teens, who just arrived. He had short black and light-green hair, with one large black strand of hair going upwards, while the other was tucked by his left ear. As for the light-green part, it was at the back of his head. His attire consisted of a white shirt with a black sleeveless coat. Around his neck was a light-blue tie that extended down to his waist level, where he wore a belt. Below his waist level, he wore green pants that were rolled up once, along with black sneakers.

The young man looked at them with light-blue eyes. "Oh, pardon me. I am Astro, the-."

"#10 Charisma Duelist in LINK VRAINS." Phoenix finished, going over to Astro and making him sweatdrop out of surprise. "Also known as the Engineer of the network."

"Nice to meet you as well." Astro replied, before going over to Stregone. "I trust my opponent is here and ready?"

"Of course she is." Stregone answered, crossing his arms. "In fact, she's standing right here." Astro turned to look at Rosetta, and, upon putting two and two together, frowned.

"Huh," was all he said, pondering the situation over. "To think I'd duel the 'Graceful Assassin' as my challenger perplexes even me."

Rosetta narrowed her eyes at the young man. I'll show him my convictions regarding the path I chose, she swore in her mind.

"Everyone! Are you ready?"

The six of them blinked as they turned towards the curtain. That had been Blue Angel, for the event was starting. "Its time for our Charisma Duelist event to begin. As you know, we Charisma Duelists will put on a show for you. What's more, one lucky duelist will get the chance to duel me as well!" The crowd roared upon hearing the news. "But first, let's introduce our Charisma Duelists! Behind the curtain is Stregone, Jeanne Azaria, Reidrith, and Astro! Give them a round of applause!"

"Stay here. Both of you." Stregone whispered to Rosetta and Phoenix as the curtain pulled back. The four Charisma Duelists then stepped forward and waved to the audience.

"Hey, there's Stregone!"

"Look! Its Jeanne Azaria!"

"That Astro may look young, but his brains make up for it."

"Nice! Reidrith's here at the event!"

"What you just saw now, if you include me, was a total of five Charisma Duelists." Blue Angel told the crowd. "Its now time to introduce the remaining Charisma Duelists! Give them a hand as well!" The crowd roared as five platforms elevated from underneath the ground and onto the stage, revealing five more Charisma Duelists for a total of ten on the stage.

The first was a woman wearing a white fur coat over a plain, short white dress, as well as white sneakers. She also had light-brown hair, which was tied in an elegant bun. Her turquoise eyes surveyed the crowd as she waved at them, an elegant smile on her face.

The second was a tall, well-built man whose body, for some reason, had the features of a killer whale. He had deep white eyes that feature several rings, which circled his red pupils. His attire consisted of a red vest and metal gauntlets over his white-collared shirt. He also wore a killer whale-like cape over his back as well. He struck a pose, causing the crowd to cheer for him.

The third was a voluptuous young woman long, voluminous, creamy blonde hair reaching her waist. Two short strands of it curled to frame her face, parted slightly to her left. Her attire consisted of a purple and pale tan-colored skin-tight bodysuit, which is accented with orange stripes. The suit also had three peculiar orange diamond-shaped dots on the purple top that are located under her chest. She wore a purple domino mask with horn-like protrusions to the sides, which covered her amethyst eyes as she blew kisses to the crowd.

The fourth was a grey-haired elderly woman wearing a red shirt and a black skirt over her grey pants. She also wore a white, buttoned up coat, as well as a brown scarf covering her neck. She had light-camel eyes, as well as a few wrinkles on her face. Despite this, she smiled at the crowd, grateful for them being here.

The fifth was a man wearing a red tuxedo and purple shades. He also had violet hair and byzantine eyes. In his right hand, he carried a baton as several of his duel monsters appeared, giving a musical performance that wowed the crowd.

"Wow, there's Deva!"

"Ragnarök looks scary up close!"

"It's the prankster herself, Miss Chief!"

"Even though she looks old, you definitely can't mess with Krystal."

"Oh my goodness! Balthazar put up a wonderful performance, didn't he?"

"And of course, there's me, Blue Angel!" Blue Angel said, waving to the crowd and making them go wild. "So lets get this event started! Stregone here will introduce the first challenge, while I will introduce the second!" She handed Stregone the microphone before going to where Phoenix and Rosetta were. The other Charisma Duelists retreated to the back as well, so to give Stregone the space to speak.

"Thank you, Blue Angel." Stregone replied. "As we know, three months ago, the Knights of Hanoi attacked us. It was rather a perilous time for everyone, but..."

"So I'm guessing you're Phoenix?" Blue Angel whispered, surprising Phoenix as Stregone continued with his opening dialogue.

"Uh, yeah." Phoenix whispered back. "Wait. How do you know who I am?"

"Yuhiro told me to keep an eye out for you." Blue Angel responded back, extending out a hand to him. "Nice to meet you in the network."

"You as well." Phoenix accepted the handshake before the two of them turned back to Stregone's dialogue.

"And now, it is time for us to celebrate! With a series of duels of course!" Stregone said, making the crowd cheer. "For the first duel, it will be Rosetta versus Astro!" Upon hearing their names being called, both Rosetta and Astro walked forward before walking to the opposite ends of the stage.

Although Rosetta was nervous, she was reassured when Blue Angel gave her a thumbs up for good luck. Glad there's good people in the network, Rosetta thought to herself as she activated her duel disk.

"This duel will help me figure out the mystery of the 'Graceful Assassin', as well as her true intentions of being here." Astro explained, activating his own duel disk. "I expect nothing less from a duelist of your caliber."

"Is that so?" Rosetta replied. "How about you form your opinion after this duel?"

"Are both duelists ready?" Stregone asked them, receiving nods of confirmation from each duelist. "Then begin!" He walked to the back of the stage shortly afterwards.

"Duel!" Rosetta and Astro declared at the same time.

Astro: 4000 LP

Rosetta: 4000 LP

"As I'm the challenger, and a lady at that, its only fair I go first." Rosetta stated. "Unless you have any objections, Astro?"

"No, no. You can go first." Astro replied, wanting to see what his challenger could do.

"Good." Rosetta looked at the cards in her hand before choosing one. "To start, I summon Twilight Rose Knight from my hand." A female knight with short blue hair and yellow eyes, a long white cape, and wearing dark, rosy armor on the upper portion of her body appeared on Rosetta's field. On her head was a large, dark rosy tiara. In her left hand, she carried a sword.

Twilight Rose Knight ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 3

"Twilight Rose Knight's effect!" Rosetta continued. "When she's Normal Summoned, I get to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Plant monster from my hand! Come, Evil Thorn!" A plant with a spiked seed sprouted onto her field.

Evil Thorn ATK: 100 DEF: 300 LV: 1

"I activate Evil Thorn's effect! By tributing it, I can inflict 300 points of damage to you!"

"Hang on, what?" Astro said in surprise. Evil Thorn then flung the spiked seed at him, causing him to wince as the crowd gasped in surprise, the plant disintegrating into particles soon after.

Astro: 4000 – 300 = 3700 LP

"Evil Thorn's effect then lets me Special Summon up to two copies of Evil Thorn from my deck." Rosetta added, as two more copies of Evil Thorn appeared on her field in defense position.

Evil Thorn ATK: 100 DEF: 300 LV: 1

Evil Thorn ATK: 100 DEF: 300 LV: 1

"I cannot activate the effects of anymore Evil Thorns the turn I use this effect. But I can do this." She gestured upwards. "Appear, the circuit of roses!" A Link Portal appeared above Rosetta. "The summoning conditions are two monsters with different types! I'll set Twilight Rose Knight and one of my copies of Evil Thorn into the Link Markers!" Twilight Rose Knight went into the left arrowhead, while one of the Evil Thorns went into the bottom arrowhead.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Crossrose Dragon!" A medium-sized purple dragon covered in different colored roses flew onto Rosetta's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Her wings consisted of folded-up red roses, along with vine elements on the edges. She also had a long tail, with its end holding several small roses. Crossrose Dragon let out a growl upon entering the field.

Crossrose Dragon ATK: 800 LINK-2 ⬅️⬇️

"I'll then Set two cards face-down and end my turn." Rosetta concluded. "Its your move, Astro."

Her opponent smiled in response. "Not a bad start. But allow me to show the limitless possibility of my deck! My turn! I draw!" Astro drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the Field Spell card, Satellite Docking Station!" The card showed a massive space station above the earth. Several Satellite Cannons were leaving the station. "When this card is activated, I can add one 'Satellite' monster from my deck to my hand." A card popped out from his deck, which he added to his hand. "Then I-."

"Not so fast!" Rosetta interrupted. "I activate Crossrose Dragon's effect! By tributing her and a Plant monster, I get to Special Summon one 'Rose' Synchro monster or a Plant Synchro monster from my Extra Deck, and treat it as a Synchro Summon!"

"What?!" Astro exclaimed, having been caught off guard by this new development. Crossrose Dragon and the second copy of Evil Thorn disintegrated into yellow particles and combined to form into a new monster. One that took the shape of a woman, who had a green and red dress covered in leaves and vines.

"Emerge, Queen of Thorns!" Queen of Thorns appeared on Rosetta's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.

Queen of Thorns ATK: 2200 DEF: 1800 LV: 6

"And just as a heads up, as long as Queen of Thorns is on the field, we must pay 1000 life points to Normal or Special Summon a monster from our hands, except if it's a Plant monster." Rosetta explained, making Astro frown upon hearing this information. This was going to set him a turn for sure.

"That makes sense." Phoenix commented. "For Astro's deck to work, he needs to summon his monsters. If he does, he has to pay a hefty cost, while Rosetta won't need to worry about it at all." Stregone gave a smile of praise at him before directing it at Rosetta.

Looks like the both of them are using what they learned to know the battlefield, he thought. After all, knowing is the first part of a duel.

"Alright, Rosetta." Astro said. "I didn't expect you to set me aback like that, but I'll play along. As I control no monsters, I Special Summon Thermal Satellite from my hand." A small satellite drone with a thermal dish at the front appeared on his field. Several wires were attached to its small body to ensure the dish remained intact.

Thermal Satellite ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"Queen of Thorns' effect activates!" Rosetta reminded him, as a green light enveloped Astro, decreasing his life points.

Astro: 3700 – 1000 = 2700 LP

To her surprise though, he smirked. "It's a good thing I did research on your deck, as otherwise, I couldn't do this! Once per duel, if my life points are different than my original amount, I gain 1000 life points!" Thermal Satellite turned around and bathed Astro in a warm glow, returning his life points to 3700.

Astro: 2700 + 1000 = 3700 LP

"He turned that effect around just like that!" Blue Angel exclaimed.

"But he can only do that once per duel." Stregone reminded her. "He'll likely summon Satellite Cannon next, as once it hits the field, he'll expand on his other strategies."

"I now tribute Thermal Satellite to Tribute Summon Satellite Cannon." Astro continued, just as Stregone predicted. As Thermal Satellite turned into particles, a long satellite emerged from the portal behind Astro to replace his previous monster. It was long and thin, with four solar panels near the end of its body. At the front was a laser-tipped cannon, which momentarily glowed red before dimming. The next thing the crowd knew, Satellite Cannon suddenly went upwards, making them wonder where it went.

Satellite Cannon ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 5

"That just cost you 1000 life points." Rosetta told him, as a green light enveloped Astro, decreasing his life points once again.

Astro: 3700 – 1000 = 2700 LP

"But it was worth it." Astro replied. "I now activate the Equip Spell card, Repulsor Shield, and equip it onto Satellite Cannon!" The card showed Satellite Cannon in a testing bay inside of Satellite Docking Station, two scientists watching at the control center as it was enveloped in a glowing aura. "Now when Satellite Cannon battles, I take no damage, and any monster that battles it is automatically destroyed without applying damage calculation."

Rosetta's eyes widened in surprise. Even with the setbacks, he managed to find a way to get rid of Queen of Thorns. She luckily had a contingency plan in case this would happen.

"Battle! Satellite Cannon attacks Queen of Thorns! Also, Satellite Cannon's own effect prevents it from being destroyed by battle against a Level 7 or lower monster." There was a small blip in the sky before a massive blast of energy came downwards, hitting Queen of Thorns and making Rosetta, as well as everyone else watching, shield their eyes.

"I activate the Trap card, Pinpoint Guard." Rosetta said, gesturing to one of her face-down cards. "When a monster you control declares an attack, I'm allowed to target a Level 4 or lower monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it in defense position! Aid me, Evil Thorn!" The plant with a spiked seed from before resprouted itself onto her field in defense position, getting several gasps of surprise from the audience in response.

Evil Thorn ATK: 100 DEF: 300 LV: 1

"In addition, the monster summoned by Pinpoint Guard cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects this turn." A glow surrounded Evil Thorn, protecting her for the turn.

"Your Queen of Thorns is still destroyed though." Astro pointed out, as Queen of Thorns turned into yellow particles. "Once per turn, at the end of the damage step during my turn only, when a 'Satellite' monster battles, I can activate the second effect of Satellite Docking Station, which its attack and defense points by 1000." There was a red glow in the sky, indicating that Satellite Cannon's strength went up.

Satellite Cannon ATK: 0 + 1000 = 1000 DEF: 0 + 1000 = 1000

"I Set two cards face-down and end my turn." Astro concluded. "At this point, the second effect of Satellite Cannon activates, increasing its attack points by 1000."

Satellite Cannon ATK: 1000 + 1000 = 2000

"Its your turn, Rosetta. Let's see how you'll respond to my moves now."

"Even though Rosetta locked Astro down, he was able to counteract Queen of Thorns' effects." Blue Angel said, looking at the duel.

"But he lost 1000 life points to do so." Phoenix replied. "Rosetta, on the other hand, still has a chance to make a comeback. I mean, look at her field. She still has her Evil Thorn and a face-down card on her field. Speaking of which, why did she summon Evil Thorn with Pinpoint Guard's effect? Twilight Rose Knight could have aided her in Synchro Summoning."

"Phoenix, you're forgetting that every card has its uses." Stregone reminded him. "Remember that every move a duelist makes, no matter how small, builds upon one another to execute the initiated strategy." Phoenix nodded in understanding after hearing those words once again, having failed to look at the situation in the long term.

"My turn! I draw!" Rosetta said, drawing the top card of her deck and looking at it. Not bad, she thought. "I now tribute Evil Thorn to Tribute Summon Queen Angel of Roses!" Evil Thorn was then replaced by a female angel wearing a scarlet dress with long, armored plating in the shape of a rose appeared on Rosetta's field. She had short blond hair with a rose on the left side, along with a white helmet on her head. Her wings were colored crimson, with strands of blond hair attached to each wing. In her left hand, she carried a lance-like sword.

Queen Angel of Roses ATK: 2400 DEF: 1800 LV: 7

"That monster is Level 7!"

"Don't you need two tributes to Tribute Summon it?"

"Queen Angel of Roses can also be Tribute Summoned in face-up attack position by tributing one Plant monster." Rosetta explained to the crowd, who all calmed down after hearing her explanation. Astro narrowed his eyes in understanding, having confirmed how she was able to bring out her new monster. "I activate Queen Angel of Roses' effect. Once per turn, during the Standby Phase, I can destroy one face-up monster on the field with the lowest attack points. If there's a tie, I can also choose which monster I want to destroy."

"Since Satellite Cannon is the monster with the least attack points..." Phoenix noted.

"That means it will be the one that's destroyed!" Blue Angel finished his trail of thought. As if in confirmation, Queen Angel of Roses flew high up in the air and slashed Satellite Cannon down its body, destroying it before returning to Rosetta's field. The explosion that resulted looked like fireworks, wowing the crowd.

"Sorry, but destroying Satellite Cannon won't defeat me." Astro assured her, gesturing to one of his face-down cards. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Satellite Deployment!" The card showed two maintenance workers at a launch bay, a hangar bay door opening in Satellite Docking Station as they signaled to the control station to launch Satellite Cannon. "This card lets me Special Summon one 'Satellite' monster from my deck. However, it cannot attack the turn I activate this effect. So from my deck, I Special Summon a second copy of Satellite Cannon!" After taking a card from his deck and placing it on his field, a second copy of Satellite Cannon momentarily appeared on his field before flying upward high into outer space.

Satellite Cannon ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 5

"I'll then activate my Quick-Play Spell card, Inferno Reckless Summon!" Astro gestured to his other face-down card. "Since you control a monster on your field and I just Special Summoned a monster with 1500 attack points or less, I can Special Summon as many copies of that monster from my hand, deck, and Graveyard to my field in attack position!"

"What?" Rosetta's eyes widened in shock upon hearing this. The crowd was also surprised with hearing this new information, as Astro took a card from his deck and one from his Graveyard before placing them both on his field. Immediately, two more copies of Satellite Cannon appeared on his field before going upward into outer space.

Satellite Cannon ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 5

Satellite Cannon ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 5

"Didn't realize Astro was that clever." Phoenix admitted.

"Astro's deck may focus on a simple and easy strategy of raw firepower," Blue Angel explained, "but he does have ways of bouncing back in case of an emergency."

"That's why he was able to retain his spot as the #10 Charisma Duelist." Stregone finished. "His strategies are so simple that people tend to overlook it sometimes."

"You may have summoned more monsters to your field, but it won't deter me from doing this." Rosetta told Astro. "Battle! Queen Angel of Roses attacks Satellite Cannon! Rose Trimmer!"

"Satellite Cannon's effect prevents it from being destroyed by battle against a Level 7 or lower monster." Astro reminded her.

"But you still take battle damage." Rosetta countered, as Queen Angel of Roses flew high up in the air and slashed Satellite Cannon down its body before returning to Rosetta's side of the field. Astro winced as his life points dropped. Meanwhile, the crowd clapped for both sides, having been impressed by what transpired.

Astro: 2700 – 2400 = 300 LP

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Rosetta looked up at Astro. "I must say, you surprised me. Had you not used your face-down cards, you wouldn't have survived this turn."

"What can I say? I'm a survivor, that's for sure." Astro replied. "You, on the other hand, I'm curious about. What exactly brought you here to the Charisma Duelist event? Until today, I never would have thought my opponent was someone who once worked on the Black Market." The crowd let out some gasps and murmurs, with some of them questioning why Rosetta was even here at the event. "Whether I find out now or later is of no matter, for like space itself, the mystery will eventually be unraveled. My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I summon Warp Satellite from my hand!" A large satellite that had an open space in the middle appeared on Astro's field. Orange lights blipped in the open space before connecting together and forming a plasma-like gateway. There were also a total of eight antennas on the satellite all around it as well.

Warp Satellite ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"Appear, the circuit of the stars!" A Link Portal appeared high in the sky above Astro. "The summoning conditions are one 'Satellite' monster. I'll set Warp Satellite into the Link Markers!" Warp Satellite went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.

"Circuit combine! Appear! Link 1! Satellite Converter!" A medium-sized satellite appeared on Astro's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. It had a set of four small solar panels slightly extending from its body on both sides. It also had a metal disc with small needles, as well as a camera underneath.

Satellite Converter ATK: 1200 LINK-1 ⬇️

"Warp Satellite's effect!" Astro continued. "Since it was sent to the Graveyard, I can add one card from my deck to my hand." A card popped out from his deck before he added it to his hand. "I now activate the Spell card, Greater Polymerization." The crowd now paid close attention, as something was coming. "This card lets me Fusion Summon one Fusion monster from my Extra Deck, by using three or more monsters from my hand or field as Fusion Materials. I therefore use my three Satellite Cannons as Fusion Materials!" One Satellite Cannon turned into red particles of energy, the second turned into blue particles of energy, and the third turned into green particles of energy. All three particles of energy then swirled together into a vortex, causing three tornadoes of energy to shoot upwards and merge to form a magenta whirlwind.

"Satellite Integration: Success. Solar Power: One hundred and fifty percent. Firepower: Armed and ready." Astro chanted. "Fusion Summon! Emerge, Level 8! Satellite Laser Balsam!" A portal appeared on Astro's field in the Main Monster Zone Satellite Converter pointed to, which was bigger than the one used to summon Satellite Cannon. The monster that hovered underneath it was a massive satellite with three large gas tanks as the main body. At the back, it had three solar panels in a triangular fashion, with boosters behind it. At the front, it also had three solar panels in a triangular fashion, as well as a large, laser-tipped cannon. Satellite Laser Balsam then went upwards, making the crowd wonder where it went.

Satellite Laser Balsam ATK: 0 DEF: 2000 LV: 8

"Looks like Astro brought out his strongest monster." Phoenix commented. "But doesn't he usually bring it out by using Debris Station?"

"Normally, he does." Stregone confirmed, pondering the situation. "For this duel, however, he used Greater Polymerization. As for why he chose this method, I think we're about to find out."

"Greater Polymerization has one more effect." Astro added. "Since I Fusion Summoned, the Fusion Summoned monster gains two additional effects. First, Satellite Laser Balsam can no longer be destroyed by card effects. Second, if it attacks a defense position monster, you take piercing battle damage."

Rosetta narrowed her eyes upon hearing this information. Rose Barrier Force would no longer help her in destroying Laser Balsam if it attacked. She also knew that Astro had a plan in place, for no one would summon a monster with practically no attack points unless they had something prepared.

"I activate the Equip Spell card, Precision Scope, and equip it onto Laser Balsam!" The card showed Satellite Cannon with a large scope on its body, which emitted a red beam as it inspected a planet for potential signs of life. "Now when the equipped monster battles, it gets to attack you directly."

"EH?" The crowd gasped in confusion once they heard this. Astro's monster had no attack points. In other words, the card was useless. Or was it?

"I can see you're confused folks as to why I did that." Astro addressed everyone watching. "So pay attention to what I say next, as it will solve the problem." He gestured towards the field. "I activate Satellite Converter's effect! Once per turn, when its pointing to a 'Satellite' monster, the attack and defense points of all monsters on the field are switched until the end of my next turn!"

The crowd murmured amongst themselves in understanding as Satellite Converter fired solar waves at Queen Angel of Roses and Satellite Laser Balsam, essentially switching their attack and defense points.

Satellite Laser Balsam ATK: 0 + 2000 = 2000 DEF: 2000 – 2000 = 0

Queen Angel of Roses ATK: 2400 – 600 = 1800 DEF: 1800 + 600 = 2400

"That's actually pretty smart." Blue Angel said, looking at the field. "Since Link monsters only have attack points, they're practically unaffected by this effect. Also, Astro enabled Laser Balsam to attack, as well as weaken Queen Angel of Roses in the process."

"That means, with Precision Scope equipped, Astro can deal a maximum of 2000 life points of damage to Rosetta." Phoenix deduced. "Satellite Docking Station will then increase its attack points by 1000, raising it to 3000 and setting Astro up for next turn."

"Astro wouldn't have set this up if he were planning on continuing the duel, though." Stregone pointed out to Phoenix and Blue Angel. "With the cards he played, he intends to end the duel this turn."

"Battle!" Astro declared. "Satellite Laser Balsam attacks you directly, Rosetta! Orbital Rain!" There was a small blip in the sky before Laser Balsam fired a massive blast of energy, along with several missiles at Rosetta. However, she luckily had something planned in case this would happen.

"Trap card, activate!" Rosetta said. "Ground Capture! When you declare an attack, I can halve any battle damage from that attack!" Soon, a giant stone hand erupted from the ground and shielded her temporarily from the attack. Despite this, the attack eventually destroyed the giant stone hand, causing her to wince from the backlash of the attack.

Rosetta: 4000 – (2000 / 2) = 3000 LP

"Also, if I take 1000 or more damage from that battle, I get to draw one card from my deck." Rosetta then drew the top card from her deck, getting her bearings back in order.

"Not too bad." Astro praised her. "But I can do better. Satellite Docking Station's second effect now activates once again!" There was a red glow in the sky, indicating that Laser Balsam's strength went up.

Satellite Laser Balsam ATK: 2000 + 1000 = 3000 DEF: 0 + 1000 = 1000

"I activate Precision Scope's second effect. By sending it to the Graveyard, the equipped monster can attack an additional time this turn!" Astro gestured to his field. "The battle still continues! Satellite Laser Balsam now attacks Queen Angel of Roses! Orbital Rain!" There was a small blip in the sky before Laser Balsam fired a second massive blast of energy, along with several missiles. Only this time, the attack was directed at Queen Angel of Roses, destroying her and pushing Rosetta back.

Rosetta: 3000 – 1200 = 1800 LP

"Satellite Converter now attacks you directly!" Astro added, as Satellite Converter charged up its solar rays, preparing to fire them at Rosetta.

"I activate my other Trap card, Rose Barrier Force!" Rosetta responded. "By banishing a 'Rose' monster from my Graveyard, I can destroy all monsters you control in attack position."

"You're forgetting that thanks to Greater Polymerization, my Laser Balsam cannot be destroyed by your card effects." Astro reminded her.

"That's true, but Satellite Converter isn't." Rosetta retorted, surprising Astro. "I banish Twilight Rose Knight from my Graveyard to activate Rose Barrier Force." Soon, a bright light shined out of Rose Barrier Force, causing the whole crowd to cover their eyes.

Didn't expect her to have a card similar to that of Mirror Force, Astro thought, having no choice but to activate the card in his Graveyard. "I activate the second effect of Repulsor Shield in my Graveyard. If a 'Satellite' monster would be destroyed by battle or card effect, I can banish this card instead." A glowing aura enveloped Satellite Converter, protecting it from Rose Barrier Force's effect. When the lights dimmed down, Rosetta was shocked upon seeing it still on the field. "Now, Satellite Converter! Resume your attack!" Satellite Converter fired solar rays at her, forcing her to drop to the ground on one knee.

Rosetta: 1800 – 1200 = 600 LP

"With that, I end my turn." Astro concluded. "At this point, the second effect of Laser Balsam activates, increasing its attack points by 3000." Once again, there was a red glow in the sky, indicating that Laser Balsam's strength went up.

Satellite Laser Balsam ATK: 3000 + 3000 = 6000

"Even with Ground Capture and Rose Barrier Force, Rosetta was barely able to survive." Blue Angel said.

"But on the plus side, she did get to draw a card out of it." Phoenix stated, trying to look on the bright side. "That's good, right? Right?"

"Regardless of the card she drew, this turn will be Rosetta's last turn." Stregone commented, looking at the field.

Astro frowned as he looked at his opponent. "I had hoped to understand why a Black Market agent like yourself would be here today through our duel, but it just doesn't add up. You were responsible for many atrocities in the Black Market, yet you chose to fight against the Hanoi. Why was that? Did some part of you feel guilty for your crimes? Or was it an order from your boss to eliminate a potential enemy?"

Rosetta slowly got up, ensuring that she didn't lose her balance. "You want to know why I fought the Hanoi? I did it to begin my atonement for the crimes I've committed during my time in the Black Market." She looked up at Astro, who paid attention to her, just as the crowd did. "As for the question you asked me earlier, I came to this event because by becoming a Charisma Duelist, I can share my story with as many people as possible. So that I can show everyone that you can change for the better, no matter what they've done. I'm going to be a Charisma Duelist and fulfil my goal, and no one will stand in my way of impeding it!"

Blue Angel and Phoenix were left speechless by Rosetta's speech. Stregone, on the other hand, simply smiled, proud of the path Rosetta chose.

Astro put a hand on his chin and pondered the information over. "Interesting," he finally said. "That is why you're here. By becoming a Charisma Duelist, you hope to show others a better path. No wonder you're a mystery." A genuine smile appeared on his mouth. "Well, Rosetta. Why don't you show me your conviction in this path you chose? After all, just like how people can learn new things from outer space, your path has interesting points as well."

"It'd be my pleasure! My turn! I draw!" Rosetta said, drawing the top card of her deck. Her eyes widened after looking at the card she drew. This is it, she thought. This is the card that will help me win. "I activate the Spell card, Monster Reborn. This card lets me Special Summon one monster from either of our Graveyards. Come back, Queen Angel of Roses!" At Rosetta's command, Queen Angel of Roses reappeared on her field.

Queen Angel of Roses ATK: 2400 DEF: 1800 LV: 7

"I activate Queen Angel of Roses' effect! Once per turn, during the Standby Phase, I can destroy one face-up monster on the field with the lowest attack points. If there's a tie, I can also choose which monster I want to destroy." She pointed at Satellite Converter. "I destroy your Satellite Converter." Queen Angel of Roses leapt forward and slashed Satellite Converter down the middle, destroying it.

"That's one monster down, one to go." Phoenix commented.

"I then activate the Spell card, Past Life." Rosetta continued. "By tributing a monster on my field, I can Special Summon one monster from my Extra Deck who has the same level and attack points."

"What?" Astro replied in surprise. Everyone gasped in surprise upon hearing the effect of Past Life as well. Even Blue Angel, Phoenix, and Stregone were stunned, as they never faced off against a card that can bring out a monster from the Extra Deck without adhering to the summoning requirements.

"I tribute the Level 7 Queen Angel of Roses!" Queen Angel of Roses soon exploded into yellow particles, which began to form into a new monster. "Appear now! Level 7! Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!" The particles then exploded, revealing a massive, black-skinned dragon with orange eyes, whose entire body was covered in light-red roses. She spread her wings out and unleashed a shriveling roar as she was summoned to the right Extra Monster Zone on Rosetta's field. She also had a long, slender neck that was covered in roses at the back, and three mandibles that were made of roses on her head. Her feet were draconic as well. In addition, the dragon had a long, thorned tail, along with thinner thorned tails.

Black Rose Moonlight Dragon ATK: 2400 DEF: 1800 LV: 7

Everyone looked in awe at Black Rose Moonlight Dragon, impressed by the way Rosetta brought her out.

"It's a Synchro monster!"

"She brought it out without a Tuner monster!"

"Gotta say, this girl has some tricks!"

"This is merely the beginning for Rosetta." Stregone said, getting Blue Angel and Phoenix's attention. "From this point forth, she'll be carrying her conviction in every future duel. By accepting her past and taking a step forward one at a time, Rosetta will be able to eventually become a role model for generations to come. Who knows? She might be able to help someone out there begin their journey of self-healing."

Phoenix couldn't help but agree with this. After his mom died, and the following Disbandment Armistice that followed, he had to deal with the grief of losing his mom. Volunteering at the Den City Shelter with Quinton, however, helped him eventually heal. It even led to him becoming close friends with Yuhiro.

"I activate Black Rose Moonlight Dragon's effect!" Rosetta said. "If she's Special Summoned, or a Level 5 or higher monster is Special Summoned to your field, I can target one Special Summoned monster you control and return it to your hand."

"Since Laser Balsam was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck..." Phoenix began.

"That means it will return to Astro's Extra Deck instead!" Blue Angel finished.

"I target your Laser Balsam! Rose Ballad!" Rosetta decided, as Black Rose Moonlight Dragon let out a shriveling roar high into outer space, causing particles to rain back down into Astro's Extra Deck.

"I did not see this coming..." Astro muttered, surprised that Rosetta had this strategy planned.

"Battle!" Rosetta declared. "Black Rose Moonlight Dragon attacks you directly! Rose Requiem!" Black Rose Moonlight Dragon charged up energy in her maw before firing it at Astro, knocking him off his feet.

Astro: 300 – 2400 = 0

Blue Angel smiled as she walked forward. "The duel is over!" she declared. "The winner is Rosetta!" Said duelist waved at the crowd as they cheered for her.

"Astro?" Rosetta said, offering him a hand. "That was a good duel. I'm glad I had the opportunity to duel you."

The young man was silent but then laughed as he stood up with her help. "I'm glad I got to duel you as well, Rosetta. May the stars watch over you as you continue to walk that path of yours." The crowd then cheered once again, the duel having ended on friendly terms.

"Now, lets get the rest of the event underway!" Blue Angel declared, running to the center of the stage as Rosetta and Astro headed back to stand next to the other Charisma Duelists. "For this next duel, I'll be partaking in it. As for my challenger, it will be..." She suddenly turned around and pointed to Phoenix. "You!" Phoenix then walked to where Blue Angel was, standing beside her. "What's your name?"

"Uh, Phoenix." Phoenix answered, suddenly feeling nervous as the crowd to start muttering amongst themselves.

"Phoenix?"

"Wasn't there one years earlier?"

"Is this the descendant of the previous Phoenix?"

"Do you accept my challenge?" Blue Angel asked him, getting his attention.

"Yes!" Phoenix answered. "I... I want to be a Charisma Duelist! Just like Stregone!"

Blue Angel's smile widened. "Well, as your senior, I wish you luck." She then moved to stand on one side of the stage as Phoenix raced to the other. Stregone, meanwhile, headed to the center of the stage.

"Are both duelists ready?" Stregone asked them, receiving nods of confirmation from each duelist in response as they activated their respective duel disks. "Then begin!" He returned to the back of the stage afterwards.

"Time to duel!" Blue Angel and Phoenix shouted in unison.

Blue Angel: 4000 LP

Phoenix: 4000 LP

"If you don't mind, I'll set the stage for our duel." Blue Angel requested. Phoenix made no objections to Blue Angel's request, as it allowed him to experience how her deck worked in person. After all, knowing is half the battle. "First, I summon Trickstar Candina from my hand." A young woman in a yellow dress and carrying a megaphone appeared on Blue Angel's field. She waved to the crowd after being summoned.

Trickstar Candina ATK: 1800 DEF: 400 LV: 4

"When Candina is Normal Summoned, I can add any 'Trickstar' card from my deck to my hand!" A card popped out of her deck, which she took and added to her hand. "I activate Trickstar Lilybell's effect! Since she was added to my hand except by drawing her, I can Special Summon her to my field. Come on out and greet the audience!" A young woman wearing a short-pink dress and carrying a massive bell in her hand appeared on Blue Angel's field. She also had long pink hair combed in two ponytails as well.

Trickstar Lilybell ATK: 800 DEF: 2000 LV: 2

"Appear! The circuit of dreams and hope!" A Link Portal appeared in the sky above her. "The summoning conditions are two 'Trickstar' monsters. I'll set Trickstar Lilybell and Trickstar Candina into the Link Markers!" Lilybell went into the bottom-left arrowhead, while Candina went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning both of them red.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Trickstar Holly Angel!" A woman with pale blonde hair and blue eyes appeared on Blue Angel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. She wore an elaborate blue, white, and purple dress and carried a flail.

Trickstar Holly Angel ATK: 2000 LINK-2 ↙️↘️

"I activate Trickstar Corobane's effect from my hand." Blue Angel continued. "Since I control only 'Trickstar' monsters, I can Special Summon her to my field." A woman wearing a green and black tutu, as well as black skinny pants appeared on Blue Angel's field in the Main Monster Zone Holly Angel pointed to. She had long violet hair, with a large puff ball attached to the end. She also wore a white winter hat with a green ribbon attached to the side. In her left hand, Corobane carried a long scepter with three white bells attached to the end of it.

Trickstar Corobane ATK: 2000 DEF: 1000 LV: 5

"And that triggers Holly Angel's effect! Each time a 'Trickstar' monster is Normal or Special Summoned to a Main Monster Zone she points to, you take 200 points of damage!"

"Oh, boy..." Phoenix muttered, as Holly Angel swung her flail at him, decreasing his life points.

Phoenix: 4000 – 200 = 3800 LP

"Since you took effect damage, the second effect of Holly Angel activates, which increases her attack points by the damage you took until the End Phase." Blue Angel added, as Holly Angel's attack points increased.

Trickstar Holly Angel ATK: 2000 + 200 = 2200

"Next, I activate the effect of Trickstar Narkissus from my hand. As you took effect damage, except during the damage step, I can Special Summon her from my hand!" A little girl with blond hair and green eyes appeared on her field in the second Main Monster Zone Holly Angel pointed to. She also wore a green, orange, and white dress.

Trickstar Narkissus ATK: 1000 DEF: 1800 LV: 4

"And because a 'Trickstar' monster was summoned to a Main Monster Zone Holly Angel points to, her effect activates once again!" Blue Angel reminded Phoenix, who winced as Holly Angel swung her flail at him for a second time.

Phoenix: 3800 – 200 = 3600 LP

Trickstar Holly Angel ATK: 2200 + 200 = 2400

"Appear, for a second time! The circuit of dreams and hope!" A second Link Portal appeared in the sky above Blue Angel. "The summoning conditions are two 'Trickstar' monsters. I'll set Trickstar Corobane and Trickstar Narkissus into the Link Markers!" Corobane went into the left arrowhead, while Narkissus went into the right arrowhead, turning both of them red.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Trickstar Black Catbat!" A young woman with black hair that had white stripes on it and two tails appeared on Blue Angel's field in one of the Main Monster Zones Holly Angel pointed to. She wore a black dress and wielded a two-pronged scepter.

Trickstar Black Catbat ATK: 2000 LINK-2 ⬅️➡️

"Holly Angel's effect!" Blue Angel continued, as Holly Angel swung her flail at Phoenix for a third time, decreasing his life points and making him wince.

Phoenix: 3600 – 200 = 3400 LP

Trickstar Holly Angel ATK: 2400 + 200 = 2600

"Appear, for a third time! The circuit of dreams and hope!" A third Link Portal appeared in the sky above Blue Angel. "The summoning conditions are two or more 'Trickstar' monsters. I'll set Trickstar Holly Angel and Trickstar Black Catbat, which are both Link 2 monsters, into the Link Markers!" Holly Angel split into two tornadoes of energy that went into the top and bottom arrowheads, while Black Catbat went into the bottom-left and right arrowheads.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 4! Trickstar Bella Madonna!" A woman with long green hair and wearing a pink and purple dress appeared on Blue Angel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. She swung the elaborate scythe in her hands, which produced a powerful gale and made everyone attending cover their faces.

Trickstar Bella Madonna ATK: 2800 LINK-4 ↙️⬆️⬇️➡️

"I activate the Spell card, Terraforming, which lets me add a Field Spell card from my deck to my hand." Blue Angel stated, taking a card from her deck and adding it to her hand. "And I'll then activate the Field Spell card, Trickstar Live Stage!" A large stage with a massive heart in the background appeared behind Blue Angel, making the crowd go wild in excitement. "When Trickstar Live Stage is activated, I can add one 'Trickstar' monster from my Graveyard to my hand." A card popped out of her Graveyard, which she took and added to her hand. "In addition, I activate Bella Madonna's effect. Once per turn, if she points to no monsters, you take 200 points of damage for each 'Trickstar' monster in my Graveyard."

"Seriously?" Phoenix said in disbelief. That was not a good sign, especially for his first duel. But then again, he was dueling the top duelist in LINK VRAINS, and he couldn't expect anything less.

"Currently, there are six 'Trickstar' monsters in the Graveyard with different names." Blue Angel's AI calculated.

"That means you take 1200 points of damage, Phoenix!" Blue Angel finished, as Bella Madonna gathered energy into a massive sphere in her left hand, which she blew at Phoenix, causing him to take a step or two back.

Phoenix: 3400 – 1200 = 2200 LP

"With that, I end my turn." The crowd cheered for Blue Angel as she concluded her turn. "Alright, Phoenix. Lets see how you do against my Bella Madonna."

"Phoenix almost lost half of his life points." Rosetta commented. "What's more, its only the first turn of the duel."

"Phoenix will make a comeback, Rosetta." Stregone assured her. "Besides. He's been training with me prior to this. Hopefully, he'll apply everything he's learned in this duel."

"Its my turn! I draw!" Phoenix said, drawing the top card and looking at it before looking at his hand. Not too shabby. "First, I activate the Spell card Trade-In, which lets me discard one Level 8 monster in my hand to draw two cards." After discarding a card in his hand, he drew two new ones from the top of his deck. "Then I summon Defender of Nephthys." A woman with blond hair pulled in a long ponytail appeared on his field. She wore golden armor all over her body, as well as a thin, orange cape. In her left hand, she carried a sword.

Defender of Nephthys ATK: 1400 DEF: 200 LV: 2

"I activate Defender's effect. By destroying a card in my hand, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'Nephthys' monster my hand."

"HUH?" The crowd was confused as one of Phoenix's cards turned into particles. If you destroyed a card in your hand, it would deplete your resources.

"I Special Summon Chronicler of Nephthys from my hand!" A female woman wearing the attire of a priestess appeared on Phoenix's field. She had long black hair, with a small headdress attached to the top of her head. Draping down from her head was a white cloth.

Chronicler of Nephthys ATK: 300 DEF: 1200 LV: 2

"Chronicler's effect!" Phoenix continued. "By destroying one card in my hand, I can target and add one 'Nephthys' card from my Graveyard to my hand." Another card in his hand turned into particles as he took one from his Graveyard and added it back to his hand. "Appear, the circuit of the holy flame!" A Link Portal appeared in the sky above Phoenix. "The summoning conditions are two 'Nephthys' monsters. I'll set Defender of Nephthys and Chronicler of Nephthys into the Link Markers!" Defender went into the bottom arrowhead, while Chronicler went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning both of them red.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Nephthys, the Sacred Preserver!" A large, golden statue with its arms crossed soon appeared on Phoenix's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. It was that of a large phoenix with medium-sized wings, clawed feet, and a long tail.

Nephthys, the Sacred Preserver ATK: 1200 LINK-2 ⬇️↘️

"Hang on a minute. I recognize that monster."

"Its one of the Link monsters for the 'Nephthys' archetype."

"Could this guy be-?"

Man, these guys can get wild, Phoenix thought to himself. He gestured to his field, focusing on the duel. "I activate Nephthys, the Sacred Preserver's effect. Since it was Link Summoned, I can activate one of two effects. I choose the first effect, where I can add one Level 8 Winged Beast monster from my deck and a Ritual Spell card from my Graveyard to my hand." A card popped out from Phoenix's deck and from his Graveyard, which he took and added to his hand. "I now activate the Ritual Spell card, Rebirth of Nephthys. This card lets me Ritual Summon one 'Nephthys' Ritual monster from my hand by tributing monsters from my hand or field. I tribute the Level 8 Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys from my hand."

Soon, a red and gold circle with eight blue flames materialized in front of Phoenix. Then a silhouette of a cobalt-blue phoenix with arms, blue fire on its head, and the back of its wings briefly appeared before breaking into blue particles, which went into the circle and produced a beam of light.

"The contract's been made!" Phoenix chanted. "Sealed preserver sleeping in the statue, heed my call and awaken! Ritual Summon! Fly, Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys!" A second copy of a cobalt-blue phoenix with arms, blue fire on its head, as well as the back of its wings, flew out of the portal and screeched upon appearing on Phoenix's field.

Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys ATK: 3000 DEF: 1000 LV: 8

The crowd, upon witnessing the Ritual Summon of Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, cheered. Even the Charisma Duelists were impressed with its appearance.

"Its Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys!"

"Its even more majestic up close!"

"Makes me wonder whether this kid is a descendant of the original Phoenix!"

I did it, Mom, Phoenix thought. I brought out one of your best cards.

"Well, Phoenix. What do you think?" Blue Angel asked him. "You just brought out one of your best cards."

"It feels amazing." Phoenix admitted. "But I'll have to bask in the glory later. I activate the second effect of Rebirth of Nephthys. If I tributed Devotee of Nephthys or Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, I can destroy one card on your field. I destroy your Bella Madonna!" A blast of blue fire erupted from Rebirth of Nephthys, but Bella Madonna sliced it in half in response. "Huh? What gives? How come Bella Madonna's not destroyed?"

"Because while Bella Madonna is in the Extra Monster Zone, she's unaffected by other cards' activated card effects." Blue Angel answered. If only it wouldn't apply to me as well, Blue Angel thought, looking at Corobane in her hand.

"In that case, lets try this." Phoenix gestured to his hand. "Battle! Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys attacks Trickstar Bella Madonna! Nova Overheat!" Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys charged up energy in its maw before firing blue fire at Bella Madonna, turning her into particles as Blue Angel winced, decreasing her life points.

Blue Angel: 4000 – 200 = 3800 LP

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Phoenix concluded, taking a card in his hand and Setting it to his Spell & Trap card zone.

Not a bad start, Phoenix, Stregone thought to himself as he looked at Phoenix's field. Lets see how you handle yourself during Blue Angel's next turn.

"My turn! I draw!" Blue Angel said, drawing the top card of her deck. "I activate the Spell card, Trickstar Fes. When this card is activated, I can Special Summon two 'Trickstar' tokens to my field." Within moments, two little red hearts with wings and a tail each appeared on her field in defense position.

Trickstar Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

Trickstar Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"Appear! The circuit of dreams and hope!" A second Link Portal appeared in the sky above Blue Angel. "The summoning conditions are two Level 3 or lower 'Trickstar' monsters. I'll set my two Trickstar tokens into the Link Markers!" One Trickstar token went into the bottom arrowhead, while the other Trickstar token went into the bottom-left arrowhead, turning both of them red.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Trickstar Divaridis!" A woman with long blond hair and wearing an elegant green and white dress appeared on Blue Angel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. In her right hand, she carried a long microphone.

Trickstar Divaridis ATK: 1800 LINK-2 ↙️⬇️

"When Divaridis is Special Summoned, you take 200 points of damage!" Blue Angel added.

"Hang on, what?" Phoenix said, surprised. "200 points of damage upon being summoned?" Divaridis sung into her microphone, firing a blast of energy at Phoenix that decreased his life points.

Phoenix: 2200 – 200 = 2000 LP

"I now activate the second effect of Trickstar Live Stage." Blue Angel stated. "Since you control a Set Spell or Trap card in your Spell & Trap card zone, I can Special Summon a 'Trickstar' token to my field!" Soon, a third heart with wings and a tail appeared on Blue Angel's field in defense position.

Trickstar Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"Appear, for a second time! The circuit of dreams and hope!" A Link Portal appeared in the sky above her. "The summoning conditions are one Level 2 or lower 'Trickstar' monster. I'll set the Trickstar token into the Link Markers!" The Trickstar token went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Trickstar Bloom!" A fair-skinned young woman wearing a green and yellow dress appeared on Blue Angel's field in one of the Main Monster Zones Divaridis pointed to. She wore a little brown witch-hat on top of her head, and had two fairy wings on her back. She also held a broom decorated with a flower on top as well.

Trickstar Bloom ATK: 100 LINK-1 ⬇️

"When Trickstar Bloom is Link Summoned, you get to draw a card, Phoenix." Blue Angel told him. "So accept this gift."

"Uh, thanks." Phoenix replied, drawing the top card of his deck.

"I then activate the third effect of Trickstar Live Stage." Blue Angel continued. "Once per turn, I can target one Trickstar Link monster I control, and Special Summon one 'Trickstar' token to my field in defense position, as long as its in a Main Monster Zone my Trickstar Link monster points to. I target Divaridis!" Another heart with wings and a tail appeared on Blue Angel's field in defense position, only this time, in the Main Monster Zone Divaridis pointed to.

Trickstar Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"I activate the Spell card, Trickstar Fusion!" The crowd gasped in surprise upon hearing that Blue Angel was about to Fusion Summon. "This card lets me Fusion Summon one 'Trickstar' Fusion monster from my Extra Deck, by using monsters from my hand or field as Fusion Materials. I use Trickstar Bloom and the Trickstar token on my field as Fusion Materials!" Bloom turned into red particles while the Trickstar token turned into blue particles before both of them swirled together into a vortex. Two tornadoes of energy then shot upward and combined to form a magenta whirlwind.

"The band's guitarist shall amplify the music with her rock and roll!" Blue Angel chanted. "Fusion Summon! Appear, Level 7! Trickstar Band Sweet Guitar!" A woman wearing a black, violet, and dark blue dress appeared on Blue Angel's field in one of the Main Monster Zones Divaridis pointed to. She had short, light-green hair, with a headdress on her head that had purple, light-green, and blue spikes. On her back, she had a total of six wings, while each of her sides had a long, red ribbon. In her hands, she carried light-purple guitar that had blades on it.

Trickstar Band Sweet Guitar ATK: 2200 DEF: 1200 LV: 7

The crowd was amazed as they looked at Sweet Guitar, who waved at them and blew kisses, causing a joyful uproar.

"I didn't know Blue Angel added Fusion Summoning to her repertoire until now." Rosetta said, looking at Sweet Guitar.

"Its normal to improve old strategies and create new ones after going through different experiences." Stregone explained to Rosetta. "Doing so allows a duelist to adapt against an opponent's strategies, as well as address the weaknesses of their deck. For instance, after my loss against Infearno, I added Ritual and Xyz Summoning, as well as Pendulum Spellcaster monsters to increase the flow of my deck. For Blue Angel, one of her weaknesses is that her monsters have low attack points. To counter this, she included a new summoning method into her deck, with some other tricks as well."

"Its time to battle!" Blue Angel declared, as she pointed her right finger at Nephthys, the Sacred Flame. "Trickstar Divaridis attacks your Nephthys, the Sacred Flame!" Divaridis sung into her microphone, releasing a blast of energy at Nephthys, the Sacred Flame.

"Not so fast!" Phoenix interrupted. "I activate the Trap card, Defense Draw! This card not only reduces battle damage to zero, it lets me draw a card from my deck as well!" The blast of energy hit Nephthys, the Sacred Flame, turning it into particles as Phoenix drew the top card of his deck.

"The battle still continues!" Blue Angel reminded him. "Trickstar Band Sweet Guitar attacks Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys! At this point, I activate the second effect of Corobane from my hand. Since a 'Trickstar' monster I control is battling your monster, I can discard this card from my hand to have it gain attack points equal to its original attack points until the end of this turn."

"What?" Phoenix exclaimed in surprise, as Blue Angel sent Corobane from her hand to the Graveyard. Sweet Guitar was then surrounded in a red aura as she powered up.

Trickstar Band Sweet Guitar ATK: 2200 + 2200 = 4400

"Power Chord!" Sweet Guitar strummed her guitar several times, releasing waves of musical energy at Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, destroying it and decreasing Phoenix's life points as he was pushed back.

Phoenix: 2000 – 1400 = 600 LP

"With that, I end my turn." Blue Angel concluded, the crowd cheering in the process for her. "At this point, the effect of Corobane ends, while the effect of Sweet Guitar activates. As she attacked this turn, I can add one 'Trickstar' monster from my Graveyard to my hand." While Sweet Guitar's attack points returned to normal, a card popped out of Blue Angel's Graveyard, which she took and added to her hand.

Trickstar Band Sweet Guitar ATK: 4400 – 2200 = 2200

"Its my turn! I draw!" Phoenix said, drawing the top card of his deck. "If you think my monster's gone for good, you're mistaken. I activate the effect of Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys from my Graveyard. On my next Standby Phase after it was destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon it back to my field!" Within moments, Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys reappeared on Phoenix's field.

Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys ATK: 3000 DEF: 1000 LV: 8

"You just activated Divaridis' effect." Blue Angel interrupted him. "Since you Normal or Special Summoned a monster, you take 200 points of damage! And if you think that's bad, I activate Sweet Guitar's effects! First, any effect damage a 'Trickstar' Link monster linked to this card inflicts is doubled!"

"Seriously?" Phoenix inquired, with Blue Angel nodding in confirmation. Sweet Guitar strummed her guitar as Divaridis sung into her microphone, firing a bigger than usual blast of energy at Phoenix that pushed him back.

Phoenix: 600 – (200 X 2) = 200 LP

"Second, since you took damage by a 'Trickstar' monster's effect, Sweet Guitar gains attack points equal to the damage you took until the end of this turn." Sweet Guitar was then surrounded in a red aura once again, increasing her strength.

Trickstar Band Sweet Guitar ATK: 2200 + 400 = 2600

"So if Phoenix summons one more time, he loses the duel." Rosetta figured out. "For duelists that rely on summoning multiple monsters, it's a good countermeasure against them."

"He's in a sticky situation, that's for sure." Stregone agreed, a hand on his chin. Not bad, Blue Angel, he thought. Not bad at all.

I definitely did not see that coming, Phoenix admitted to himself. Until I take down Divaridis, I can't summon any more monsters this turn, or else I'll lose. He then pondered his options. The card Blue Angel most likely added to her hand was Trickstar Corobane, which essentially doubles her monster's attack points. Gotta get rid of Divaridis' first, then I'll plan from there. "The effects of Defender of Nephthys and Chronicler of Nephthys both activate. First, since Defender was destroyed on the previous turn, I can destroy one 'Nephthys' monster in my deck." Phoenix took a card from his deck, which immediately turned into particles.

"Second, as Chronicler of Nephthys was destroyed previously, I can add one 'Nephthys' card from my Graveyard to my hand." A card popped out of Phoenix's Graveyard, which he took and added to his hand. "Then I activate the Equip Spell card, Megamorph, which doubles my monster's attack points!" Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys then let out a screech as its strength increased.

Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys ATK: 3000 X 2 = 6000

"Battle!" Phoenix declared. "Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys attacks Trickstar Divaridis! Nova Overheat!" Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys charged up energy in its maw before firing blue fire at Divaridis.

"I activate the effect of Corobane from my hand!" Blue Angel interjected. "Since a 'Trickstar' monster I control is battling your monster, I can discard this card from my hand to have it gain attack points equal to its original attack points until the end of this turn. I also activate the second effect of Trickstar Fes from my Graveyard. If a 'Trickstar' monster that was Special Summoned from my Extra Deck would be destroyed by battle or card effect, I can banish this card from my Graveyard instead." As Blue Angel sent a card from her hand to the Graveyard, Divaridis' attack points increased. At the same time, a translucent barrier surrounded her.

Trickstar Divaridis ATK: 1800 X 2 = 3600

"You still take battle damage, though." Phoenix reminded her, as the blue flames hit the barrier protecting Divaridis. Blue Angel, as a result of the attack, had to cover her eyes.

Blue Angel: 3800 – 2400 = 1400 LP

"I Set two cards face-down and end my turn." Phoenix took two cards in his hand and Set them face-down in his Spell & Trap zone. "Therefore, your Sweet Guitar's attack points return to normal."

Trickstar Band Sweet Guitar ATK: 2600 – 400 = 2200

One of my Set cards is Negate Attack, Phoenix thought. If she tries to attack, I can use this card to end the Battle Phase. As for my other card, its Icarus Attack. By tributing my Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys, I can target and destroy two of her cards. If he survived this turn, then the duel would be in the bag.

"My turn! I draw!" Blue Angel said, drawing the top card of her deck. Upon looking at it, she smirked. "I have to say, Phoenix. For your first time dueling, you're really doing a great job."

"T-Thank you. I appreciate the comment." Phoenix responded.

"As your senior, if there's one lesson I can give you based on past experience, its this." Blue Angel replied, getting Phoenix's attention. "You must always be aware of the unexpected. Or else you'll be caught off guard before you know it." She gestured to her field. "I activate the second effect of Trickstar Live Stage. Since you control a Set Spell or Trap card in your Spell & Trap card zone, I can Special Summon a 'Trickstar' token to my field!" Another heart with wings and a tail appeared on Blue Angel's field in defense position.

Trickstar Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"Appear! The circuit of dreams and hope!" A Link Portal appeared in the sky above Blue Angel. "The summoning conditions are two or more Fairy monsters. I'll set Trickstar Divaridis, which is a Link 2 monster, and the Trickstar token into the Link Markers!" Divaridis went into the left and right arrowheads, while the Trickstar token went into the top arrowhead.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Trickstar Foxglove Witch!" A green haired woman in a pink dress and hat appeared on Blue Angel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. In her right hand, she wielded a pink wand.

Trickstar Foxglove Witch ATK: 2200 LINK-3 ⬅️⬆️➡️

"The effect of Foxglove Witch activates!" Blue Angel continued. "When she is Special Summoned, you take 200 points of damage for each card you control!" Phoenix widened his eyes upon realizing what Blue Angel's plan was. No way was he going to let it happen, though.

"I activate my Trap card, Icarus Attack!" Phoenix responded. "By tributing a Winged Beast monster, I can target and destroy two cards on your field. I tribute Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys to target and destroy Foxglove Witch and Sweet Guitar!" Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys exploded into particles that went into Icarus Attack, which fired a blast of energy at Foxglove Witch and Sweet Guitar, destroying both of them at the same time.

"Foxglove Witch has a second effect." Blue Angel countered. "Since this Link Summoned card was destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon one Link 2 or lower 'Trickstar' monster from my Extra Deck, as well as inflict 200 points of damage for each card you control! So come on out, Trickstar Crimson Heart!" A woman with long brunette hair appeared on Blue Angel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. She wore a long, elegant red dress, as well as a red headband on her head. In her right hand, she carried a set of golden handcuffs.

Trickstar Crimson Heart ATK: 2000 LINK-2 ↙️➡️

"Phoenix currently has one card on his field." Blue Angel's AI calculated.

"Which means the duel is over." Blue Angel finished, as a silhouette of Foxglove Witch appeared on her field before firing a blast of energy at Phoenix, knocking him off his feet.

Phoenix: 200 – 200 = 0

"We have a winner!" Stregone declared to the audience. "The winner is Blue Angel!"

As expected from a duelist of her strength, Phoenix thought to himself, pushing himself to a sitting position. He blinked when he realized Blue Angel was in front of him, offering him a hand.

"For someone who dueled their first time, you did really good." Blue Angel complimented Phoenix, helping him get up. "Well done."

"Thanks." Phoenix responded. "I'll admit, I got a long way to go to become a Charisma Duelist."

"With our help, you'll definitely reach your goal." Stregone added, going over with Rosetta to Phoenix and placing a hand on his shoulder. He then turned to the crowd. "Alright, everyone! We'll take a short break to autographs before going to the next duel. If you want an autograph, come on up in a straight and orderly fashion!" To everyone's surprise, the crowd went in a straight line to where Phoenix was, asking him to sign their duel disks.

"I definitely did not see that coming." Rosetta commented, sweat-dropping at Phoenix's surprised reaction to the crowd.

"Me neither." Blue Angel agreed. "Usually, I'm the one who has to sign autographs."

"Not bad, Rosetta."

Rosetta turned around, only to see Jeanne Azaria and Reidrith walk forward to her.

"Like Astro said, it'll be interesting to see the end result of the path you've chosen." Reidrith said.

"Pay attention, and the both of you will be surprised by the result." Rosetta told the both of them.

Nearby the Event area was a large building that overlooked it. Standing on top of the building was a boy with golden, brushed down hair, along with amber-colored eyes. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt with a dark-green sleeveless jacket. He also wore light-brown pants, as well as sneakers.

Didn't know you took a rookie under your wing, Stregone, the boy thought, looking down at the event. Whoever this boy is, I look forward to meeting him. The boy then walked away from the event, his curiosity now piqued by what had occurred.

Meanwhile, at the Den City Shopping District...

"It'll be fine, Miyu." Roxy assured her niece, who was in the change room. Right now, she was sitting on a bench near the changerooms, waiting for Miyu to come on out. "When you come out of that change room, I bet you'll look wonderful."

"I really appreciate that, Auntie. I'm just nervous, that's all." Miyu called back.

Roxy sighed. After she and Miyu arrived at the Den City Shopping District, they immediately went to various stores looking for books and supplies to help her get ready for Den Academy, crossing each one off the list as they did so. Once they got the last item, it was already early in the afternoon, so Roxy and Miyu went over to a tailor's shop to measure Miyu's height and width, as well as make any necessary changes needed to the dress they brought with them. From there, Roxy had Miyu go to the nearby change room to put the dress on, and it had been ten minutes since she did that.

"If there's any people looking at you in a not-so-nice way, I'll make them scram." Roxy promised Miyu.

"Alright. I'm coming out now."

When Roxy looked up, she saw that Miyu had exited the change room, wearing the white dress with short sleeves and a black sash from earlier.

"D-D-Do I look okay?" Miyu asked Roxy, her eyes darting to the sides as she blushed. She was clearly nervous.

"Miyu, you look beautiful!" Roxy replied, going over and giving her a hug.

At her words, Miyu blushed even more. "Thank you, Auntie," she whispered, returning the hug. She then ran back to the changing room, putting her old clothes on before coming back over. After Roxy paid the tailor for his assistance, the two of them left the tailor's shop.

"Yikes." Roxy said, looking at her watch. "Its late in the afternoon. There's some good food places here in the Den City Shopping District if you want to grab some lunch."

Miyu smiled. "Yes. That would be nice." After hearing her answer, the two of them headed over to a nearby restaurant that sold a wide variety of foods. There, Miyu ordered a crispy chicken sandwich, Roxy ordered fish and chips, along with a small salad. Once a few minutes have passed, they eventually got their respective meals. "This is really delicious."

"It definitely is good." Roxy agreed, also eating her food. Right now, they were in a restaurant that also had bar-like elements, which included a few TV's for people to watch the current television program. "You know something, Miyu? I've been looking forward to doing something like this for a long time."

Miyu had a warm smile on her face. "Me too. Although it would have been nice if Yuhiro came along."

Roxy couldn't help but picture what would happen if Yuhiro did indeed come along with them. After all, watching him blush as he looked at Miyu wearing that beautiful dress would have gave her the opportunity to embarrass him to no end. "You're right. We should have brought Yuhiro along with us." She then started laughing, which confused Miyu.

"Auntie, what are you-." It then occurred to Miyu what Roxy meant, causing her to blush. "I-It's not like that. I just want to spend time with-."

"Someone who means a great deal to you." Roxy finished, wiping her eyes. "How come I didn't realize it until now? Come to think of it, today would have been the perfect-."

CRASH!

A dark-blue figure somehow appeared from one of the nearby televisions and knocked the bartender over, startling the customers and causing one of them to scream. Looking ahead and spotting Roxy and Miyu, it unsheathed his sword and proceeded to slice the bar in two.

Immediately, Miyu and Roxy got up from their spots and ran out of the restaurant, with the dark-blue figure in pursuit of them.

"What is that thing, Auntie?" Miyu asked, now afraid.

"I don't know, but its definitely not friendly!" Roxy replied. "Look out!" She grabbed Miyu and helped her evade the blue-mirage blade that nearly hit her. "This way!" The two of them then turned left, intending to evade the dark-blue figure. In response, he gave chase, and fired several more blue-mirage blades at the duo, which they were able to evade. The last one, though...

"GAAAH!" Miyu screamed, a blue-mirage blade hitting the back of her leg and causing her to fall to the ground.

"Miyu, are you okay?" Roxy rushed over to check on Miyu. The next thing they knew, the dark-blue figure teleported in front of them, looking down at Miyu. Roxy immediately stood up, hellbent on protecting her niece. "I don't know who you are, but you're not-." The dark-blue figure back fisted Roxy with enough force to send her flying to the wall on his left side.

"Auntie!" Miyu cried out in worry. She then started crawling away from the dark-blue figure, now filled with fear regarding what he wanted from her.

WHOOSH!

Before the dark-blue figure could do anything, Medusa materialized out of thin air and struck him in the stomach with her knee, pushing him back several feet. She stood in front of Miyu, intent on protecting her.

"M-Medusa?" Miyu said, shocked that she was here. Yuhiro must have sent her to protect me and Auntie in case something like this happened, she deduced.

"Get Miyu out of here," Medusa instructed Roxy, who was also shocked by her sudden appearance. "I'll take it from here."

Nodding, Roxy ran over and helped Miyu stand up before the two of them ran from the scene that was about to unfold.

The dark-blue figure slid back and slashed so quickly that he appeared to be unsheathing and sheathing his katana. As a result, several black and blue distortion ripples with slashes in them appeared, which Medusa ran forward and easily evaded them. Both of them parried each other's attacks from different angles, with the dark-blue figure using his katana while Medusa used her two chained daggers. Eventually, Medusa caught him off guard with two elbow strikes that pushed him back.

In response, the dark-blue figure fired several blue-mirage blades at her, making her dodge to the side before attempting to strike him from behind. However, the dark-blue figure unexpectedly sheathed his katana before immediately unsheathing it, enveloping her in a black and blue distortion ripple that slashed her several times. Seizing the opportunity, the dark-blue figure then hit Medusa several times using her scabbard before slashing her upwards, flinging himself into the air in the process. He then fired several more blue-mirage blades, which pinned her to the wall nearby.

"Hmph. I expected more of a challenge..." the dark-blue figure muttered in disappointment as it vanished from the area, with lots of people still screaming in the process.

Thanks to Medusa's interference, however, Miyu and Roxy were able to make it to the parking lot.

"Almost there, sweetie." Roxy assured her. "Once we get back, Yuhiro will track down and kick that guy's ass." Her eyes lit up upon seeing the van. "There it is! We're home-!"

Sadly, not everything was as it should be, as the dark-blue figure suddenly appeared in front of them and knocked Roxy to the side, causing Miyu to fall to the ground out of fear.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Miyu demanded, crawling away from the dark-blue figure out of fear.

The dark-blue figure approached Miyu and knelt down to her level. He then touched her forehead with his finger, knocking her out cold.

"Miyu!" Roxy shouted as she charged at the figure. However, to her surprise, she fell right through him and bumped her head on one of the nearby cars, causing a bruise to appear on her forehead.

Having completed his mission, the dark-blue figure retreated back into the Den City Shopping District and retreated into one of the TV's in the nearby electronic store. Once he did, the blue-mirage blades that pinned Medusa disappeared, freeing her in the process.

"Miyu! Miyu!" Roxy cried, shaking her niece, who was unresponsive. Medusa materialized out of thin air beside her, shocked at seeing Miyu unconscious. Roxy turned to Medusa, knowing what to do. "Go to Yuhiro and tell him what happened. I'll get Miyu to a hospital." Immediately, Medusa dematerialized out of thin air, having received her orders.

Meanwhile, at Café Matsuo, in the living room...

"What do you think of the duels, Herald?" Yuhiro asked him. Right now, he was in the living room watching the Charisma Duelist Event. He also made sure to record it, as Roxy would be furious with him if he somehow forgot.

"Tsubaki was able to show her intentions through her duel against the #10 Charisma Duelist Astro." Herald said, a hand on his chin. "As for Miles, he still has ways to go if he is to fully utilize his mom's deck."

"But you have to admit, he almost reduced Blue Angel's life points to 1000." Yuhiro replied. Tsubaki and Miles weren't the only ones who showed off some good combos, as Aoi had some new cards included to upgrade her deck. Not only did she implement Fusion Summoning, she also included a Trickstar Link monster that deals damage whenever the opponent summons a monster, he thought. This would be detrimental to duelists like him and Yusaku, who summon monsters to bring out stronger ones. He made a mental note to create a counterstrategy or two against Aoi's newest monsters.

But before he could continue the conversation, Medusa materialized out of thin air, covered in wounds.

"Medusa, what happened?!" Yuhiro exclaimed, shocked to see her in this condition. He helped her sit down on the ground.

"Someone put... Miyu... in an unconscious... state..." Medusa answered.

"WHAT? WHO DID THIS?" Yuhiro's eyes widened, having heard this unsettling news. Herald was also gravely disturbed by this as well.

"A... dark-blue... figure..." Medusa replied. "He escaped into LINK VRAINS." She coughed, the wounds getting to her.

"Return to my duel disk. I'll take it from here." Medusa then turned into magenta-colored particles, which went into Yuhiro's duel disk.

Yuhiro then went over to the couch and put on his duel disk. There was no way in Hell he'd let the attacker get away with what happened. Not after Miyu left the Den City Hospital yesterday.

"Yuhiro, please remain calm." Herald pleaded. "Whoever this attacker is, we'll get him. So stay calm."

"Whoever this guy is, I'm gonna rip him a new one." Yuhiro swore to himself, running downstairs to the backroom with a determined expression on his face. After entering the sealed room, he pulled out his deck and inserted it into his duel disk. "Deck Set! Into the VRAINS!"

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. Malf 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

Astro:

Thermal Satellite (LV: 1/Machine/Light/ATK: 0/DEF: 0)

Effect: If you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. When your LP are different from their original amount (Quick Effect): Gain 1000 LP. You can only use this effect of 'Thermal Satellite' once per Duel.

Warp Satellite (LV: 4/Machine/Light/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1000)

Effect: If this card is sent to the GY: You can add 1 card from your deck to your hand.

Satellite Docking Station (Field Spell card)

Effect: When this card is activated: You can add 1 'Satellite' monster from your deck to your hand. During your turn only, if a 'Satellite' monster you control battles, it gains 1000 ATK and DEF at the end of the damage step. You can only use this effect of 'Satellite Docking Station' once per turn.

Repulsor Shield (Equip Spell card)

Effect: Equip only to a 'Satellite' monster you control. If the equipped monster battles: You take no damage; also, the opponents monster is destroyed without applying damage calculation. If a 'Satellite' monster you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, you can banish this card from your Graveyard instead. You can only use each effect of 'Repulsor Shield' once per turn.

Precision Scope (Equip Spell card)

Effect: Equip only to a 'Satellite' monster you control. The equipped monster can now attack your opponent directly. If the equipped monster inflicts battle damage to your opponent: You can send this card to your GY; it can attack an additional time this turn.

Satellite Deployment (Quick-Play Spell card)

Effect: Special Summon 1 'Satellite' monster from your deck. It cannot attack the turn you activate this effect.

Satellite Converter (LR: 1/Machine/Light/ATK: 1200/⬇️)

Effect: Once per turn, when this card is pointing to a 'Satellite' monster: You can switch the ATK and DEF of all monsters on the field until the end of your next turn.

QOTC

Of the two duels, which one did you enjoy the most? Also, what are your thoughts on Phoenix's avatar, Rosetta's newly updated avatar, and Raguel's updated avatar?

Chapter Preview

Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth. Chapter 46: Delusional Heartbeat. Logging into the network, Raguel chases after the one who attacked Miyu. However, he's intercepted by Malf, who plans on defeating him in a duel. As their duel progresses, it leaves Raguel and Herald wondering just who or what Malf is...

Author's Notes

At last, this chapter is done! Credit goes to HunterHQ for teaching me how the Nephthys archetype works, as well as suggesting some tips and tricks on how to include it for the second duel. That being said, lets do a quick recap before getting to a small announcement:

First up, we have Ai returning to the Cyberse World and unexpectedly seeing it in ruins. Some of you might be annoyed that I didn't include the Sub lines, but there's a good reason why I didn't. It irked me that there was a comedic moment included, as it somehow diminished what was currently going on. While the Sub included some lines that showed Ai experiencing the shock of what happened, the Dub did a bit better on doing that, as it included Ai's survivor's guilt and feelings of helplessness in being unable to protect his home. If you have a different opinion, that's fine. Just don't slam me to the wall for my opinion, as we're all entitled to our own opinions. Going past it, we have the first meeting between Ai and Wraith, with Wraith explaining what happened to him and how he evaded capture for so long. Before he leaves though, he promises to stay in touch (although Ai gets suspicious of him, as he knew his name without him asking it).

Moving past the scenes in Café Matsuo and the Den City Shelter (nice warming scenes between characters, that's for sure), we have a slight revamp of the meeting scene between Akira and Queen. What's different, you may ask? Well, the first appearance of Pawn, of course! Do you think he'll appear in later episodes of Season 2 and have a role in them? Let me know your thoughts!

Then there's the appearance of the second bounty hunter that appeared in the opening: Brion Miyahara, or Electrolyzer in LINK VRAINS. Inspiration of his character came from Brion Markov from Young Justice, while his appearance is based off of Volt Luster from Bakugan: New Vestroia. We also have the return of Akairo Gekido, or Drachen in LINK VRAINS. What decks do you think they'll have? Well, you'll have to read on and find out for yourself.

Then we have the duels. The first duel was between Rosetta and the #10 Charisma Duelist, Astro, who uses the Satellite deck. I just want to give credit to ZeroMK7, as a while back, I promised I looked up the Satellite archetype for him and include it in the story if applicable. For this duel, I not only wanted to give Rosetta a win, but also one where she can show the crowd that it is possible for someone to choose a new path. In the process, she also uses a new form of her ace monster: Black Rose Moonlight Dragon.

The second duel was between Blue Angel and Phoenix, which was also his first duel in the network. This duel not only gave me an opportunity to send Blue Angel off with a bang through a win, she also unveiled new tactics that would be used later on when she becomes Blue Girl. The duel also allowed me to try my hand at the Nephthys archetype, and while Phoenix lost, he can use the experience to learn from his mistakes. Speaking of Phoenix, he'll be returning to duel in a later chapter, and will get a better showing when that time comes.

Following the duels, there was a boy watching over the event as it went on. Who do you think he is? While he won't appear until later on, I'll guarantee you this: The deck he uses will get redemption, as well as more credit for all the losses it suffered.

Lastly, we have the dark-blue figure (its Azrael obviously) put Miyu in a comatose state, thus motivating Yuhiro to log into the network. What do you think will happen next? You'll just have to read on and find out.

Now onto a small announcement, and I want your opinion on this: Do you want to see an opening for Season 1 of Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth? If enough people request it in their reviews, then I'll post it on the next Roxy's Reports before going to the next chapter.

Thank you everyone for reading Chapter 45 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.

What did you enjoy the most about this chapter? Was it the duels? The interactions between various characters? The fight between Medusa and Azrael? Or was it something else?

One last thing: I promised a while back to put down a list of the Top 10 Charisma Duelists, as well as their appearances and what archetypes they use. So without further ado, here you go:

One: Blue Angel (Trickstar)

Two: Stregone (Endymion/Pendulum Magician)

Three: Deva (appearance based off of Diantha from Pokémon XYZ) (Cyber Angel)

Four: Ragnarök (appearance based off of Gang Orca from My Hero Academia) (Generaider)

Five: Jeanne Azaria (Mekk-Knight)

Six: Reidrith (Crusadia)

Seven: Miss Chief (appearance based off of Mt. Lady from My Hero Academia) (Prank-Kids)

Eight: Krystal (appearance based off of Bertha from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl) (Adamancipator)

Nine: Balthazar (appearance based off of Lucian from Pokémon Diamon and Pearl) (Solfachord)

Ten: Astro (appearance based off of Thorton from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl) (Satellite)

That's all for now. Stay tuned, as next chapter, Raguel will be facing one of his deadliest opponents yet!