On a second thought, given the kind of deck our 'villain' is using for this, I should have posted the chapter on 1st of April.
To Embrace Destiny
Proxy's POV
After the many encounters in the Charisma Duelists' private server, Rocketeer took me back to the city server where we could sit on the rooftop of a skyscraper and oversee the activities of other users. Data flowed through the sky, but no one dared to start a Speed Duel or just surf on it since SOL Technology had banned those activities and anyone who broke the rules would have their account erased. Now, I'm not sure how dangerous that could be for someone with connections to great hackers like Playmaker, but I preferred to not find that out.
"I can't explain it why, but standing in high areas like now, always makes my blood rush in excitement." Rocketeer told me, kicking his legs from the edge of the rooftop. "Maybe I'm just the weird one here, but I have always wanted to be a part of the wind. Stand in the sky over everything else."
"Perhaps the top is where you belong." I replied, looking at the red sky, without a sun to shine into my face it felt so fake and cold… "You are already one of the top Charisma Duelists and a very kind person, you deserve a reward for everything good you have done so far."
"Heh, you are just glorify me now." Rocketeer laughed, rubbing the edge of his nose. "There sure are greater people than me in the world. Compared to them, we are all just like tiny sparks of light within the night."
"But how many of them are spending their times watching over the users of LINK VRAINS like you do?" I asked back.
I don't mean to disrespect anyone, but even Playmaker – whom everyone calls the hero of LINK VRAINS - didn't speed nearly as much time in the cyber space as Rocketeer and the Charisma Duelists do. Sitting beside them for a whole day, I saw that they were the true string of hope for the users. Unlike Playmaker who put all of his attention and time on fighting the Knights of Hanoi, the Charisma Duelists stood beside everyone else, help them forget about the traumatic events and bring smiles to everyone's faces. They do it every single day, using all of their time to create new happy memories for the users, turning LINK VRAINS from a simple duel terminal into a warm and welcoming family.
"And how many are so nice and sweet talking like you?" Rocketeer turned the question back to me, making me blush once again. He did that so many times for a single day! "Heh, you can't answer because everyone here is unique. Because of that making comparisons between people based on their characters is unfair."
"Um, you always twist my words in order to avoid compliments!" I pouted at his attitude.
I always appreciated when someone told me that I did something good, even better than others, because this way I felt that my actions contained a sort of value. Lack of such motivation had caused me to drop my current projects more times that I would care to admit.
"Sorry, for that." Rocketeer smiled and slowly began to stand up. "I'm a guy of action that does what he finds right. Because of that kind words never had much signification for me."
"So, I never asked you, but do you have any sort of goal that you want to achieve?" I asked him, dusting my behind after sitting on the rooftop. In virtual reality clothes couldn't get dirty, but this was a habit of mine.
"I do." Rocketeer nodded and looked below, where the other users were talking and dueling. "I always wanted to find the Core of LINK VRAINS. The place that only my 'teachers' have been able to reach."
"Hm?" I looked at his surprised to hear that. Though remember him talking about this when telling me the story of the legendary duelists, it was unexpected to learn that it was his goal. "I thought you were over the past. Why do you want to go there?"
"It has nothing to do with the past or anything like that." He shook his head. "As I told you that place was rumored to be a hazard of data. The only area where the wind continued to blow after it disappeared from all other servers. It's the epicenter where the data's density is so high that the monsters living in the winds could materialize, take physical form and interact with outsiders! Unfortunately, no one tried to find that place. Not even SOL Technology were brave enough to try and tame the wildness that exist deep within their own network. I can understand them though. The core must be filled with Data Storms and dangerous creatures, exploring it would be a suicide mission."
"Then why do you want to find it?" If he knew about the dangers, shouldn't he be more hesitant to try and follow this goal of his?
"It's hard to try and explain to you everything right at the moment. Perhaps, the idea of unexplored land filled unknown dangers and a great adventure are what gravitate my interest toward that specific goal."
"I see…"
A long and dangerous adventure in the center of the whole network? I'm not going to lie that the idea isn't too appealing for me, but Rocketeer is a different type of person. He isn't grounded by fear or anxiety like me. Where those the type of goals that other people set before themselves? Do they set such high bars on purpose in order to overcome a really hard challenge?
There was an awkward silence between the two of us for a while. I was unsure what to say, we have known each other just for a few hours so there weren't many topics. Finally, Rocketeer broke the silence with a pretty interesting topic.
"You know, I wonder what your deck is like." He told me with a tiny smile.
"Hm, why?" I asked him.
"A deck and how he uses it are the most important part of a duelist. The deck reflects its user, their feelings and character. This is true for every duelist including us, the Charisma Duelists."
"Well, I'm not a dueling expect, but my BrioGear cards seem to focus on discarding and I don't tend to have a problem with putting multiple of my monsters on the field." I glanced at my Duel Disk once again, wondering what character profile these cards would make for me.
"Do their effects help each other?"
"Um, yes, I think so."
"Hm, then you are a very supportive person, but you have a problem with your self-esteem and self-worth, which is the reason you would 'discard' yourself to make others happier. Am I correct?"
"Y-yes." I nodded in response. "What about your deck then?"
"My deck consist of weaker monsters with a battle oriented play style." So, weak monsters that just charge right ahead? Sounds familiar. "They often let me summon other monsters upon taking damage from fights involving them as well."
"Sounds interesting." I stated.
Thinking back to my duel with Playmaker and the duel with Blaze Rose that I watched, this rule seemed to be true for them as well. Playmaker's Cyberse monsters all work together in a specially calculated pattern which makes them work together in order to achieve specific strategies, while Blaze Rose seems to use strength above everything else.
"Hey, what's that?"
The raise in volume of Rocketeer's voice forced me to put my current thoughts to the back of my head and focus at the area where he was pointing at. A few streets away from us was floating a man in white robes with a hood that looked very similar to… It was a Knight of Hanoi! I reached for my Duel Disk to inform Kusanagi, but then I stopped. Playmaker told me that he didn't need my help to learn when a Knight of Hanoi shows up. He didn't need my help and would probably show up very soon.
But even then, shouldn't I help as much as I could? If I don't act, innocent people would be hurt or even killed!
"Tch. That isn't a good sight at all." Rocketeer crossed his arms.
"I think we should get away from here." I suggested to him. "Those are the Knights of Hanoi, they are dangerous even if you don't duel them."
"I would love to see how they are going to deal with a hothead like me. Come on!" Rocketeer exclaimed jumping off the building.
"Rocketeer!" I exclaimed, seeing his body falling toward the hard ground below us.
Then a green D-Board with a black line in the middle shot through the data as he fell on top of it and speeded forward. I hesitated for a moment before jumping as well, landing on my own D-Board to follow him.
"W-what are you doing?" I looked at the boy, while also keeping my focus on avoiding a crash with a building.
"Protecting my home obviously." Rocketeer told me with a smile.
"That's dangerous!" I shouted after him. "Only Playmaker can successfully fight the Knights of Hanoi! What would happen to everyone's hope if you fall in a duel against them?!"
After I asked him this, something unexpected happened and he turned around to face me. His eyes were half closed and his charismatic smile turned down a bit, giving him a more harmonic expression. I wanted to tell him more, make him realize how dangerous it was to go after Hanoi, but my throat became tight from the way he was looking back at me. There was no anger, fear, or desperation in his eyes, in fact, there was a sense of enlightenment that I felt from watching him. It made me realized that my words, my attempts to discourage him from helping the ones he believes to be a family were not only awful, but that it wasn't him whom I tried to stop.
My legs trembled and it took a lot out of my courage to not just fall on my board as memories of all the times when I came in contact with a Knight of Hanoi resurfaced. I was trying to scare myself, turn back and run, because they were fearsome, they gave me nightmares, they made me feel defenseless. But I won't let the fear control me! I shook my head, ignoring that natural sense of dread that sent shivers down my spine.
Rocketeer moved his D-Board close to a rooftop and jumped on it with me following suit by landing on the next. I could catch a glimpse of the knight standing on a rooftop around a mile or so away from the one we were standing on top of. I turned toward Rocketeer who stood in place and narrowed his eyes. I could understand him, for a member cyber-terrorist group that knight seemed pretty pacific. Something was definitely wrong about him.
A blue portal filled with data appeared on the sky and a single figure flew out of it, landing to face the Knight of Hanoi. I couldn't see the new avatar clearly, but the red hair and dark outfit made it easy to identify Playmaker. The two seemed to stare at each other for a bit. Suddenly, the Knight of Hanoi's body became yellow and its proportions changed. It the avatar's place appeared a tan-skinned man with a bulky body, wearing a grey jacket. That's what I managed to make out from the distance between us. Playmaker didn't seem to be much interested, as turned around to leave, when a large cave fell from the sky!
An earthquake shook the ground under me as the huge metal cage with spikes all over it trapped me as well.
"Proxy!" Rocketeer shouted.
I turned toward him, but the building he was standing on was outside the trap, separating us one from another. I tried to log out or move to another server and then return outside the cage, but nothing seemed to work. Whoever had programmed the trap made sure that those caught wouldn't be able to get out!
"What is this?" I looked around.
"So that was Go's plan to lure Playmaker." Rocketeer crossed his arms then turned toward the man and Playmaker.
"Wait, the person there is Go Onizuka?" I asked him, looking at the two as well.
"Yep, that's him." Rocketeer sighed. "He has always been a more old-school type of person. Someone must have helped him to create this trap."
"The Knights of Hanoi maybe?"
"No. I know him personally. No matter what the reason why him to use such a low tactic, Go would never side with a group that hurts others, there is a third party involved. Perhaps those bastards from SOL Technology finally choose to get their hands dirty."
"Why would SOL Technology set a trap that hurts their users as well?" It made no sense to me. "How am I supposed to get out of this cage?"
Rocketeer raised his robot arm and a hologram disk came out of it, showing some data that I couldn't understand.
"The programming seems too complicated." He sighed and dropped his arm.
"Wait, you know how to hack?"
"Of course! Almost every user in LINK VRAINS knows how to program and hack." Rocketeer explained to me and turned away. "I will go search for a weak point in the cage. Just, stay here and be safe, ok?"
I nodded to him and Rocketeer jumped on his D-Board, speeding away. I sighed and turned back to Playmaker who now surfing through the data was locked in a Speed Duel with Go. I stepped closer to the edge and looked bellow me. Even if Playmaker said that he didn't need my help, he was currently caught in a trap.
But… I had no skills in neither programming, nor dueling. If I tried to join or do anything else, it would only make it harder for Playmaker, and probably me too if the media learns that we are partners of some sort.
"Jeez, the Number One doesn't know when to quit." I gasped at the new voice.
I turned to the side and saw a little boy sitting on a turbine vent with his legs crossed. His eyes were dark purple and his hair was black with dark purple edges and bangs. Its outfit was mostly black as well, with a black shirt that spotted several large purple lines on it, black pants with knee protectors, oversized sneakers. But the most prominent feature of its appearance - at least for me – was his large jacket that seemed more suitable for an adult that a 10-11 years old. It had a huge with what seemed to be cat ears designs twisted to look more like horns.
"Hey there!" the boy turned toward me and gritted, showing his teeth and the two fangs among them. A pair of black tails made from gears swayed behind his body.
"Um, hi." I waved at the boy and walked over to him. "Excuse me, but kids shouldn't hang on top of rooftops."
"Seriously?" the boy wrapped his arms around his sides as he laughed loudly. "You understand that this is virtual reality, right? We are all avatars that can be completely different from our real selves."
"S-sorry." Although that raised the question of why this user has chosen a kid for their avatar. "Um… so… You weren't here before so…"
"Don't push yourself to try and start a conversation with me." The boy told me. "Don't ask questions either. We are here to watch and wait for a specific event to happen."
"What?" I titled my head in confusion. This boy was very strange and he seemed to be avoiding saying specific things on purpose. "What do you mean by 'we'? Were you expecting me to show up?"
The boy's grin just turned wider as he began to kick his legs forward while watching Playmaker and Go. Both of them had two monsters on the field. Playmaker's were a man in a white robe and a man in a beast armor, while Go's were a blue, and green humanoid. The boy's grin became even wider and sparks of excitement seemed to spark inside his dark purple eyes the more it focused on the two duelists.
"Even as just a spectator you are so afraid from duels." I tensed up, from the boy's words. "You haven't used the tutorial have you?"
Ok, now that was just creepy! The boy appeared out of thin air, told me some strange things and then mentioned things that only I, Playmaker and Kusanagi should know about. Obviously, he was neither of us and that's what creped me out about this kid. His grin didn't fit the cute face, it wasn't innocent, more like, mischievous, maybe even evil-minded. The two tails kept swinging behind his back and the purple eyes didn't move to meet mine.
"W-who are y-you?" I tried to hide the fear in my voice, but it still make out in the form of shaking.
"Your friend is coming back, you should follow him." The boy gestured.
I turned toward where he pointed at as Go and Playmaker speeded past our building. The formed had three monsters: a green, a black, and one covered in fur with a huge axe while Playmaker had only the man in beast armor. As they passed us, I turned back to the boy, but he was no longer there. I glanced around, but the kid was completely gone, without a trace. I clenched my fist, thinking about the last thing he told me.
'Your friend is coming back, you should follow him.' Did he mean Yusaku? Rocketeer wasn't back, so Playmaker could be the only person the boy would be referring to. I wouldn't want to follow the words of someone that suspicious, but… I don't know! If he wanted to diverse my attention to escape, the later part of the sentence was unnecessary!
"Here comes nothing…" I muttered and jumped on my D-Board, dashing after the two duelists.
While I couldn't tell what was happening, it appeared that Playmaker was at the disadvantage at the start of his turn. In a moment a strange creature with wings and a cute white robot appeared on his field, after that, he began to Link Summon. First came out a spider-like monster, then a white and grey robot with pinball bumpers on its shoulders, a female with a bee costume and finally, he summoned what seemed to be his ace; a knight in blue armor with a huge sword.
"The Link Monster?" I heard Go as the large man turned around to face Playmaker. "But they are no match for my Great Ogre's attack!"
"Our next battle will be the final one." My eyes widened as I heard Playmaker say that. He has collected all the pieces needed for his combo! "Go, Decode Talker!"
'He is attacking with a weaker monster?!' I thought to myself, watching the blue knight charge with its sword.
"You are attacking with a lower attack monster?" Yes, thanks for saying my thoughts out loud, Go!
"Since Decode Talker is equipped with Cyberse Annihilation, its attack becomes the same as its opponent's." Playmaker explained.
But wait, according to the rules, if two monsters with the same attack battle, they will both get destroyed. Even if that works out, Go would still have two Defense Position monsters to protect his life Points after the attack!
"Decode End!"
"Ogre Axe!"
The two monsters fiery attacked one another, their weapons slamming into each other, causing a shockwave as even electricity flew out of the attack. I saw how both Decode Talker and Great Ogre tried to push the other down with their attacks, despite being just holograms, the two were giving their all to defeat the other. In the end, the energy from their attacks blew them away from one another, knocking both monsters.
"My duel is only getting started!" Go exclaimed, his Great Ogre slowly getting back up.
"I expect no less." Playmaker replied, as Decode Talker shook its head and raised on its feet as well. "Due to Honeybot's effect, Decode Talker isn't destroyed in battle."
The bee-like woman gained a blue ring around her body with a red arrow pointing toward the blue knight, who took his sword and held it back up.
'So Playmaker attacked because his monster's effect would protect Decode Talker from destruction.' I thought, watching the two. 'But why wasn't Great Ogre destroyed, or does it have a protective effect as well?'
"Great Ogre's effect!" Oh, so Go would explain it for me? Thanks! "By destroying a monster that's linked to it, it can't be destroyed!"
I bite my lower lip while watching them duel. I remembered how when I dueled Playmaker he used similar effects to protect his monsters from destruction. Although I didn't understand the reason why he would attack a monster that can't be destroyed by battle, I at the very least understand what made those two such strong duelists. It wasn't just their strategies, but the way they protect and use their cards to their fullest potential. That's why Playmaker put Decode Talker in a zone where it couldn't use its effect as well. He had anticipated such an outcome!
"Your mutual destruction failed." Go pointed out as they surfed across the city.
"I wasn't aiming for mutual destruction. Link Bumper's effect!" My eyes widened as I looked at the red robot. "Decode Talker can attack for every Link Monster on my field!"
"T-three attacks!" I couldn't help but gasp as Decode Talker charged once again.
"Second attack! Due to Cyberse Annihilation, Decode Talker's attack becomes the same as Great Ogre's! Decode End!"
"Ogre Axe!"
The two monsters' attack collided for a second time, knocking them away again. This time, Go's green monster shattered to let his Great Ogre stand up again. On Playmaker's field, Honeybot's body glowed with a yellow aura as Decode Talker stood back up.
"Link Bumper's effect allows one final attack! Decode Talker attacks Great Ogre! Cyber Annihilation's effect! During damage calculation, my monster's attack becomes the same as his opponent's!" I sweat-dropped when Playmaker began to explain the same effects once again.
"Go, Decode Talker! Decode End!"
"Great Ogre! Ogre Axe!"
The two monsters flew at each other again, throwing their weapons behind their backs, they slashed at each other with all of their strength. Their movements stopped as both Decode Talker and Great Ogre stood there, after their attacks connected. A few moments later, Go's monster fell down while Playmaker's remained up.
"Due to Honeybot's effect, Decode Talker isn't destroyed!"
"Great Ogre's effect!" Go continued, even though his field was absolutely empty. "When it's destroyed by battle, I can destroy a linked card instead to-! Oh no!"
"You have no monsters left to sacrifice. Therefor Great Ogre is destroyed." Playmaker pointed out, as Go's monster began to break down from the damage it took. "Cyber Annihilation's effect activates! When your monster is destroyed in battle, you take damage equal to its attack!"
The Spell appeared beside Playmaker and fired a blast at Go, knocking the opponent off his D-Board with a scream as his Life Points were reduced to 0, ending the duel! The cage that imprisoned us got lifted up, but I could only focus at Playmaker and stare in awe to his skills. Though this wasn't the right situation to say that, I was grateful that I was able to see this duel.
"What are you doing here?"
"Huh?" My thoughts returned back to reality as Playmaker slowed down to surf next to me. "H-hi there!"
"I asked what you are doing here." Playmaker repeated, narrowing his eyes at me.
"Um, I told you that I will help you to find Knights of Hanoi." I reminded him. "I'm here doing my end of the deal!"
"I told you that you don't need to get involved. We got it." He told me coldly.
"Jeez, is it possible for you to get anymore dislikeable from girls?" Ai suddenly spoke out, staring at Playmaker. "Why don't you let the girl just help you, or is Playmaker's pride too thick to accept a helping hand from a girl?"
"Nobody asked you for an opinion." Playmaker hissed at his Duel Disk, then turned toward me. "The fight against the Knights of Hanoi aren't your responsibility, so don't get in danger because of it!"
"B-but I learned so much from your duel!" I said back to him. "Watching your duel with Go taught me a lot about proper strategy and how to use my cards more effectively!"
"Yeah, watching your dueling might help teaching her." The Ai added.
"I told you to shut up!" Playmaker raised his voice at the A.I. "I said no! We are logging out right now!"
"Hey, Playmaker!"Ai shouted.
"I told you to shut it!"
"But-"
"Look out!" I yelled as a black energy beam came out of nowhere and hit both of us.
3rd POV
A purple explosion took both Playmaker and Proxy by surprise, throwing them off track! The Hero of LINK VRAINS caught the edges of his D-Board, holding on it, while his female companion could only helplessly stretch out her arm as the homing beam knocked her off the board and send her flying straight into a building. Holding his chest and gritting teeth in order to contain the pain, Playmaker slowly raised his head to look at the source of the attack.
Flying in front of him was a giant purple dragon without legs and large horns coming from the heavy scales that covered its body. On top that behemoth of a dragon stood the image of the demonic knight that the Knights of Hanoi referred to as Picaro. The duelist held his arms crossed and his helmet hide any facial expression that he might have been making at the moment.
"Why did you warn me about the attack?" Playmaker demanded an answer from his Ai.
"What?!" Ai glower in response. "I was just about to warn you, but you told me to shut up! You hurt my fragile feelings with those cold words."
"So the great Playmaker, the man who creature so much trouble for the Knights of Hanoi, spends his time dueling weaklings and arguing with an A.I.? Who would have guessed?" Picaro laughed. "I should have let the regulars take care; you aren't anywhere near my class."
"Do you sense that as well?" Ai asked his partner. "That guy stinks of Hanoi."
"There is no Hanoi in his deck though." Playmaker narrowed his eyes.
"Stink of Hanoi you say? What are you, a computer program of a dog?" Picaro mocked them, then leaned forward and rested his arm on the knee. "Actually, I take my question back, you two are definitely just dogs that can only bark."
"Hey! Who are you calling a dog?!" Ai protested. "Playmaker, go kick his ass!"
Playmaker narrowed his eyes, dealing with that piece of data that resided inside his Duel Disk was getting more troublesome with every hour. Unlike the Ai, he was far more collected and always calculated his moves two steps ahead before taking action. But the duelist before him was a Knight of Hanoi, so there was little of a choice for him. He had to defeat the man before him. He had to defeat every Knight of Hanoi that stood in his path in order to get revenge for the past they stole from him.
"Heh, it would be so easy for me to just obliterate you right where you stand, but my leaders need that A.I. you got there, so I'm going to take you out in a duel first." Picaro said, raising his arm.
The behemoth of a dragon raised its head and roared, its body dispersing into data that was then absorbed inside the demonic knight's Duel Disk. With nothing to stand on now, Picaro fell toward the ground. He reached out with his demonic claw and a portal opened behind him, a shield shaped D-Board flew through the air and he landed on top of it.
Playmaker turned back toward Proxy, who was slowly beginning to move inside the crater that her impact caused. The girl groaned in pain and held her head, trying to comprehend what just transpired. Her warm pale blue eyes meeting Playmaker's cold green ones for a moment.
"Log out and leave this to me." Playmaker ordered her before speeding off down the data with Picaro following after him.
Proxy gritted her teeth, feeling the pain running through her body. She had to log out, her condition wasn't perfect. But she didn't want to leave this fight. As Rocketeer had told her, this was their second home, the users in LINK VRAINS were their second family, and because of the thought of that, she couldn't let the Knights of Hanoi to invade her home and hurt her family! Even if not as a duelist, she wanted to support Playmaker in his fight, to be there and watch him!
For the first time, there was no doubt in her mind. Her heart was filled with fear of the Knights, but she suppressed it like a hollow screams and jumped on her own D-Board to follow the two duelists. She didn't notice the boy from before sitting on top a rooftop and watching all three of them going out of his view with a mischievous smile on his little face.
"You took quite a lot of damage during the duel with Go Onizuka." Ai pointed out. "In addition to that, you took damage by that guy's awesome dragon, so your body is at its limits."
"I will simply defeat him without taking too much damage." Playmaker stated, surfing in front of his opponent.
"It's not that simple!" Ai exclaimed angrily. "Even if you don't run out of Life Points completely, anything near 1000 Life Points would be dangerous for your health! This means that you won't be able to use Storm Access without putting your own life on the line!"
"I don't care if it's to beat the Knights of Hanoi."
"Are you serious?!"
"Heh, you are using some big words for a loser." Picaro told the other duelist. "I would have appreciated your courage, but I'm not that type of person."
"And I'm not the type that loses." Playmaker responded. "Let's duel!"
"I was starting to get bored waiting for you to say that."
"Speed Duel!"
『Playmaker LP: 4000 Hand: 4 (VS) Picaro LP: 4000 Hand: 4』
"Since you are faster than me, I give you the first turn!" Picaro exclaimed, catching his opponent by surprise.
"To let his opponent take the first move, this is a first for a Knight of Hanoi." Ai narrowed its eye.
"He isn't like the others." Playmaker stated. "This one has far more experience. He even used my duel with Go Onizuka as an advantage to catch me when I'm not in my best."
"That's why he attacked you out of nowhere! He cheated!" Ai gasped.
"It matters little now." Playmaker looked back at his opponent. "I Summoned Cyberse Wizard (Lv.4, ATK: 1800) and set a card, ending my turn."
"You simply summoned a monster and set a card." Rocketeer stated, speeding past Playmaker. "Your starting turns are always slow and serve as set up for your later combos. So predictable! My turn!"
『Turn 2 [Picaro] LP: 4000 Hand: 5』
"First, I will play the Spell Card, Unexpected Dai! If I control no monsters, this effect lets me Special Summon one Level Four or lower Normal Monster from my Deck!" Rocketeer stated, as a blue portal appeared next to him and a yellow monster with large red lips and antennas appeared on his field. "Come, Thunder Kid (Lv.2, DEF: 600)!"
"Eeeeeeehhh?!" Ai exclaimed. "He uses a deck of Normal Monsters?"
"I don't see a point in carrying about that when I'm going to just use them as materials!" Picaro took another card from his hand and played it. "Then I play Hand Destruction! We send two cards from our hands to the Graveyard and then draw two new ones!"
"What's the point in that?" Ai looked up to Playmaker.
LINK VRAINS' hero didn't respond. He send two cards from his hand to the Graveyard and drew to replace them. So far, Picaro's dueling seemed random, he couldn't pin down what the strategy behind it was.
"Dandylion's effect activates from the Graveyard! When send to the Graveyard, it Special Summons two Fluff Tokens (Lv.1, DEF: 0)!" Picaro raised his arm and it glowed, summoning two flowers.
"Open, circuit of storming wind!" Several streams of data shot from Picaro's hand and opened a circuit in the sky. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are Two WIND monsters. I set the two Fluff Tokens in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Strom through our enemy, Greatfly (ATK: 1400, LINK-2)!"
"Just a Link 2 monster?" Ai looked in confusion at the monster.
"While Greatfly is on the field, all WIND monsters gain 500 attack and defense points." The two monsters that Picaro controlled glowed as their ATK and DEF raised to 1900 and 1100 respectively.
"I Summon Mauled Captain (Lv.1, ATK: 400 → 0) next." A warrior with broken armor and swords stepped next to the other monsters. "Using its effect, I Special Summon Bat (Lv.1, DEF: 350 → 850) from my Graveyard!"
"Another weak monster appeared on the field." Ai sighed
"Open again, circuit of storming wind!" Picaro summoned the circuit once again. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more monsters with different names. I set the Link-2 Greatfly, Mauled Captain, Thunder Kid and Bat in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! The chained beast of destruction! Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead (ATK: 2800, LINK-4)!"
Thunders fell from the sky, hitting the rooftops of buildings as a dragon made from skeletons with chains all around its body flew on the field and roared.
"A scary dragon appeared!" Ai cried out.
"When Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead is Special Summoned using 4 monsters with different names, I draw 4 cards!" Picaro stretched out his claw, summoning four cards over it. "Then I return three to the bottom of my deck."
"He went through all this trouble to summon this monster for the draw effect." Playmaker muttered to himself.
"My strategy isn't over with just so much." Picaro stated. "I play the Spell, Dragon's Mirror next! I banish Thunder Kid and Bat in my Graveyard to Fusion Summon!"
The spirits of Picaro's two monsters came out of the Graveyard and flew next to one another, opening a multicolored vortex. The demonic knight put his arms together in front of his chest.
"Summoning conditions are two Normal Monsters. I use Thunder Kid and Bat as Fusion Materials! Fusion Summon! Level 9! First of the Dragons (Lv.9, ATK: 2700)!"
Wind burst through the sky, a monster with the size of a behemoth came out of the Fusion portal and roared. Its body was purple and lacked legs. The dragon had large horns coming from the heavy scales that covered its body.
"That's the amazing dragon from before!" An alarmed Ai pointed out.
Playmaker looked at the huge beast, meeting it for the second time in such a short period of time. He expected it to appear during some time in the duel, but he didn't have anything to counteract it with. Playmaker turned his attention toward Picaro. The demonic knight caught his attention quite a bit with the moves that he made so far. This duelist's style was much too different from the usual Knight of Hanoi duelists that he had faced so far. It was a polished and analytic style like his own, but with several important differences: Picaro's dueling was fast paced, throwing his biggest moves at the start of the duel. He was also able to refresh his arm and still had half of his hand even after calling out two monsters with difficult summoning conditions, so he was good at managing his resources.
"Under normal circumstances, when a monster is summoned next to Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead's link, that monster gains 300 attack. However, due to First of the Dragons' own effect, it's unaffected by other monsters and can't be destroyed in battle except if the other monster is a Normal Monster."
"This deck I build is a mess." Picaro exclaimed, drawing his opponent's attention. "It relies too much on weak Normal Monsters and discarding in order to function properly. But it has to be expected. I build this deck to counter your own strategy that focuses on randomness!"
"Hm? What does he mean, Playmaker?" Ai asked.
"Due to the build of my deck it's hard for my opponents' to read its strategy and how to counter it." Playmaker explained. "What he's saying is that I won't be able to properly analyze his deck and build a counter against it."
"Wwwwhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttt?!" Ai yelled.
"Next, I will equip Dragon Treasure to First of the Dragons, raising its ATK and DEF by 300!" A green ball of a laughed face appeared on the dragon's chest, making its body slightly bigger. "I set a card. Now, battle! First of the Dragons, attack Cyberse Wizard! Primal Firestorm!"
The dragon swirled in the air, its chest and neck glowing as flames were accumulated inside its body. The beast opened its mouth and released a wave of flames that engulfed the magician who cried out in pain.
『Playmaker LP: 4000 – 1200 2800』
"I activate Cyberse Beacon!" Playmaker threw his arm forward as the trap glowed. "When I take damage, this trap lets me add a Level Four or lower Cyberse monster from my deck to the hand! I add Lockout Gardna!"
"Heh, pointless struggle." Picaro smirked, gesturing toward his Link Monster. "Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead! Attack Playmaker directly and end this duel!"
The second dragon threw its head back, the eye socks on his skeleton armor glowing green, until it fired a black mist directly at Playmaker.
"That's what I waited for!" Playmaker exclaimed. "When my opponent declares a direct attack, Lockout Gardna (Lv.3, ATK: 1000) Special Summons itself from the hand in attack position!"
A heavy red machine formed in front of Playmaker, pushing the mist away. The green light disappeared from Picaro's monster.
"Hm, Lockout Gardna can't be destroyed by battle during the turn in which it's Special Summoned." Picaro looked the effect on the screen coming from his claw. "If I continue the attack, you will have 1000 Life Points left. Planning to use Storm Access, eh? I end my turn here!"
"This Knight of Hanoi isn't a joke, Playmaker. Playmaker?" Ai looked at the duelist curiously.
It was hard to notice it unless someone was standing next to him, but Playmaker's body had started to give up from the damage it took until now. His breathing became heavier and his shoulders dropped just a bit.
"You look bad." Ai pointed out.
"I can still duel." Playmaker replied, putting a hand on top of his deck. "My turn. Draw!"
『Turn 3 [Playmaker] LP: 2800 Hand: 3』
"I Normal Summon Cyberse Gadget (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)!" A white, blue and red robot appeared on Playmaker's field and outstretched its arm, opening a portal next to itself. "When Cyberse Gadget is I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard in Defense Position. Come back, Stack Reviver (Lv.2, DEF: 600)!"
One of the cards that Playmaker send to the Graveyard by the effect of Hand Destruction returned back beside him as a monster.
"Three effect monsters?" Picaro stated, his voice sounding excited. "So your ace monster is coming!"
"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker threw his arm forward and fired a stream of electricity, opening the circuit. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two Effect Monsters. I set Cyberse Gadget, Stack Reviver and Lockout Gardna in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Link 3, Decode Talker (ATK: 2300, LINK-3)!"
Playmaker's ace, a black humanoid with purple stripes and blue armor covering most of its body appeared on the field, holding its large sword with both hands.
"With Decode Talker on our field we have nothing to fear!" Ai exclaimed triumphantly.
"When used as Link Materials, the effects of both Cyberse Gadget and Stack Reviver activate!" Playmaker continued. "Cyberse Gadget Special Summons a Gadget Token (Lv.2, DEF: 0). Stack Reviver revives Lockout Gardna (Lv.3, DEF: 1000)!"
Picaro looked at the field from his Duel Disk. Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead was in the right Extra Monster Zone, while Decode Talker was in the left with the token under it. First of the Dragons and Lockout Gardna were in the middle. Due to the Speed Duel's field, Playmaker could only use point with one of Decode Talker's arrows toward a monster on his field.
"Decode Talker's effect activates! While he points at a monster, he gains 500 ATK! Power Integration!" The knight raised his sword, which began to glow, increasing his strength.
Decode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500 → 2800
"Our monster still isn't strong enough to take the dragons out!" Ai panicked.
"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker gestured forward. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at two Cyberse Monsters. I set Gadget Token and Lockout Gardna in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Flame Administrator (ATK: 1200, LINK-2)!"
A heavy red, orange and yellow robot came out of the portal, floating behind Decode Talker. Flames formed in its palms, then it drew them at the blue knight, giving him a red aura.
"While Flame Administrator is on my field, all of my Link Monsters gain 800 ATK!" Playmaker explained, both of his monsters clenching their fists tightly at the surge of power that passed through their bodies.
Decode Talker, ATK: 2800 + 800 → 3600
Flame Administrator, ATK: 1200 + 800 → 2000
"I set a card. Now, let's battle! Decode Talker, attack Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead! Decode End!" The monster readied its blade and charged forward, the dragon firing its black mist in response.
"Is that it?" Picaro shrugged at the attack. "All you are good at is forcing your monster to swing its sword around. But has anyone used a quality card like this one to stop you before? I play the Counter Trap, Negate Attack! As the name suggest, it negates Decode Talker's attack and forces your Battle Phase to end."
"But in a Speed Duel after the Battle Phase follows…" Ai began.
"The End Phase." Playmaker muttered. "His card practically skipped our turn."
"A hero you are! I played you from the start and you still hadn't understand the difference in skills between someone like you and me! You are pathetic!" Picaro laughed.
'He is not only blocking Playmaker's moves, but also making fun of him.' Proxy thought as she followed the two duelists.
"Tell me, isn't it embarrassing to have your deck losing against a trash that I build within five minutes?" Picaro turned back to look at Playmaker and clenched his fist. "Being outshined by an unfocused set of Normal Monsters with two decent boss monsters must be very painful truth to swallow, huh? Today I'm not just going to defeat you, but also shame you in front of the whole network! Everyone will see their hero, their beacon of hope not only lose a duel, but to a pill of trash as well! I will show them that you, Playmaker, aren't even worth half the useless junk I filled this deck with!"
Playmaker didn't respond to the insults that his opponent was throwing. Analyzing and strategizing were his best skills, so he used them to concentrate on coming with a counter-strategy for next turn. Although his cold expression didn't show it, Playmaker felt insulted to have his deck called trash.
"It's time to end this, don't you think?" Picaro asked, drawing a card. "My turn!"
『Turn 4 [Picaro] LP: 4000 Hand: 1』
"Perfect!" Picaro exclaimed, looking at the card he added to his hand. "I activate my skill! Extreme Link!"
The demonic knight raised her claw, several green lines appearing all over it along with runes that wrote themselves over his back as well.
"By discarding a Monster Card I can target 1 Link Monster on my field! This turn, one monster it points to can attack a number of times equal to its Link Ratting, but in return, other monsters can't declare an attack! I target Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead and First of the Dragons four attacks! Go!" the dragon opened its mouth and fired a new barrage of flames at Playmaker and his two monsters.
"I activate Three Strikes Barrier!" Playmaker gestured to his side, a Trap Card materializing where his hand pointed at. "When you control exactly three cards, I can choose one of three effects and apply it!"
"Ha, if you use the first effect, our monsters will be safe for the turn!" Ai pointed out.
"I activate the second effect!" Playmaker said. "I take no damage from battle during this turn!"
"If you listened to your A.I., I would have just attacked Flame Administrator three times for three thousand damage." Picaro crossed his arms. "It would have been the less painful end for you, but as you choose. First of the Dragons, annihilate Flame Administrator!"
The dragon's flames hit the red robot straight, carving a hole through its chest. The monster only groaned as its body exploded and the shockwave pushed Playmaker back, knocking him on his knee in pain.
"W-what happened?!" Ai looked worried at his partner.
"Did I forget to mention it?" Picaro gestured with his claw at the purple dragon. "I hacked my monster's data to make any attack it declares to inflict physical damage, even if your effects negate it!"
"That's cheating!" Ai yelled.
"Not if it doesn't affect the duel's result. Playmaker is still going to lose, but the agony that he is going to go through is only going to be increased and made several times worse! Since Flame Administrator was taken out, Decode Talker's attack returns to its base value!"
The blue knight's sword stopped to glow and it leaned forward, feeling his strength being literally drained out of his body.
Decode Talker, ATK: 3600 – 500 - 800 → 2300
"Second attack!" Picaro shouted. "Obliterate his ace!"
The dragon flew over Decode Talker and fired a stream of molten lava at it, melting the blue knight away. Some of the flames hit Playmaker on the chest and shoulders, causing him to scream in intense pain.
"Third! Direct attack!"
First of the Dragons opened its mouth as wide as possible releasing yet another wave of fire, but this time straight into Playmaker's body. Despite the agonizing pain, the hero of LINK VRAINS tried to fight the attack, but it was just too strong and send him flying back with the flames, crashing through the window of a building and slamming into a wall. The fire dispersed itself, allowing Playmaker to take a step forward, before completely collapsing on the floor without a sound. Picaro flew in front of the window with his dragons and gestured toward the fallen body.
"Learn to fear the might of the Knights of Hanoi! Fourth attack! Finish this fool!"
"Noooooooooo!" Proxy flew past the demonic knight and jumped in front of Playmaker, standing there like a shield for him. "He is down!"
"A duel isn't over until the last Life Point is spent!" Picaro shouted and his dragon unleashed another barrage of flames, but this time toward two people instead of just one. Proxy closed her eyes and prepared to fell an unimaginable amount of pain as the attack came closer and closer to her.
"How boring." The boy muttered, watching everything from the building opposite to the one in which Playmaker and Proxy were. The boy raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
A blue clock gear formed in front of Proxy, taking a more humanoid form. Grand Ranger Serene stood in front of the two duelists and faced the wall of fire that came her way. The Duel Monster raised her right fist and slammed it into the ground, cracking it as a blast of water raised in front of her like a wall, negating the hellish flames.
"BrioGear." Picaro muttered.
"What's that?" Ai asked.
Proxy waited for a bit, but she felt no pain or anything like that. Slowly, and very precariously she opened her eyes and saw her own monster standing between them and Picaro's dragons. Grand Ranger Serene stared forward, awaiting a second attack to follow, but Picaro had already used all of his monster's attacks, so her owner and Playmaker were both save.
"That's my monster." Proxy muttered, looking up at the warrior with sparks in her eyes.
Grand Ranger Serene slowly lowered her head and the blue gear appeared behind her once more, sucking her back inside the girl's Extra Deck. This was quite the miraculous display that they all witnessed and no one dared to say a word after it ended. Ai was dumbfound about how a Duel Monster could overwrite the coding and come out of the Deck on its own; or maybe something else had done that. Proxy's eyes were glowing with awe from her own monster's display. It was a completely new level of weird for her, but this miracle saved both her and Playmaker's lives so she was thankful for that. Picaro on the other hand gritted his teeth behind his knight helmet and his human hand clenched into a fist.
"So, yours is the water gear." He muttered quietly to himself, then turned to address the girl herself. "I don't know what happened, but get out of my way! This is a duel between me and Playmaker!"
"Playmaker!" Hearing this name caused Proxy to snap back to reality.
She turned back to the collapsed body and kneeled next to him, put her hands on his shoulder, she shook him a bit, but nothing happened. Playmaker was out cold and Ai's single eye was staring at the motionless body in concern.
"He is not waking up!" Proxy exclaimed, equally worried.
"His body was already worn out from his duel with Go and the surprise attack that followed." Ai responded. "I told him that if he took anywhere near three thousand damage, his body would most likely get damaged beyond repair. Right now, due to that bastard's hack he took four thousand and seven hundred damage! It's a miracle that Playmaker is still alive."
"What?" Proxy's eyes widened. She moved her trembling hands away from the body and to her mouth, covering it as tears began to form in her eyes.
"If we take him out of VRAINS soon, I could repair the damage and have him come out without any lasting effects!" Ai exclaimed, turning its attention toward Proxy. "But due to that Hanoi cheater, I'm unable to log him out!"
"Hm, if Playmaker can't continue the duel then wouldn't that technically be a victory for me?" Picaro asked, putting his hands to rest on his hips. "You Ai won't be able to save it because I'm taking you in!"
"Wait!"
Behind Picaro's mask, his eyes could be seen to widen as Proxy stood up and turned to face him. He wasn't worried because of that, knowing that his dueling skills were superior to hers. But there was something in her that awoke the fear inside of his heart. Her eyes, they were filled with determination! Despite her obvious disadvantage, the girl was standing her ground, whole body trembling from fear but declining to stand back and let Hanoi win. She clenched her fist and raised her Duel Disk.
"I will finish the duel in Playmaker's place!" She declared.
"Oh?" Picaro titled his head to the side in amusement from the response he got. "If you want to be burned to ashes by my dragons so badly, you could have stopped your monster from blocking my attack earlier!"
"I'm not going to lose." Proxy stated.
"Tch, fine. Entertain me!" Picaro flew back, opening her path to go. "You will get to use Playmaker's Graveyard and the same hand size as the one he had before passing out"
"That's a bad idea!" Ai shouted after Proxy. "Your dueling skills aren't nearly enough to hold your back against such a vicious opponent!"
"I know." Proxy whispered, turning back to look at the A.I. with a smile on her face. "But I can't just stand back watching my friends getting hurt."
"If you say so." Ai sighed and data ran through its eye.
The cards in Playmaker's deck began to glow and then flew out, entering Proxy's Duel Disk, so fast that the girl was only able to catch a glimpse of Decode Talker. Once the transfer was compete, her disk burst to life.
"Pray that I win." Proxy told the Ai and jumped out of the building.
"A.I.s don't pray!" Ai shouted after her, but then sighed as it was pointless anyways.
Proxy's POV
After Ai transferred all of the cards that Playmaker used so far to me, I ran out of the building and landed on my D-Board speeding forward. How stupid did I have to be to challenge a Knight of Hanoi to duel! No less than that, Playmaker and Ai's future was bet on the result. If I lost, both of them were going to lose their lives as well. All because of me…
"Are you going to duel or just stand there and tremble like a leaf in a storm!" Picaro shouted from behind me, followed by his dragons.
The dragons that took down Playmaker… Don't think about that! But then, the only card that I had in my hand was a Level 3 BrioGear with an effect that wanted me to throw a dice!
"It's all up to this draw." I whispered, putting him hand on top the deck. I would need all the luck and destiny nonsenses in order to get a good card, or Picaro would destroy me next turn. "My turn!"
『Turn 5 [Proxy] LP: 2800 Hand: 2』
I looked at the card that I drew and my eyes widened; it was Monster Reincarnation. Why? Why did I draw the card that Elizabeth gave me right now! I needed a card that would help me win, not this! I have been betting the futures of three souls on this draw, so why did you fail me?
"I noticed three big weaknesses in your dueling. First, you don't know what you deck does. I noticed that there were several times during the duel in which you were just lost at what to do and took a lot of time to think about your moves."
My eyes widened as the familiar memory of Playmaker lecturing me after our duel resurfaced to the top of my mind.
"Second, you don't believe in your deck. You don't thrust in the capabilities that your deck has and that usually leads to you making mistakes while trying to play safer."
I looked down at my deck and then back to Monster Reincarnation. The card wasn't just a part of my deck, it had Elizabeth's spirit and thrust in me put inside of it. Her spirit, my best friend's spirit, was a part of this deck as well!
"Third, you don't trust in your own skills as a duelist, so even if you had the skills of a professional duelist, you wouldn't be able to go far without confidence."
Could the answer be already in my hand? I looked at my cards once again, but there wasn't much that I could… Wait! Yes! I could see it! There was a combo able to win this duel!
"I Normal Summon BrioGear Freakiver!" I announced placing the card on my disk's blade.
A heavy rusted diver suit appeared on my field with an agonizing moan. Parts of its body were broken with gears stabbed through it, while other parts revealed decaying purple skin underneath. The glass of its helmed was broken, showing the disgusting face of the corps inside. Its mouth moved to form a smile as a hollow laugh passed its spiked teeth.
BrioGear Freakiver
Level: 3/Attribute: WATER/Type: Zombie/Effect
ATK: 1100/DEF: 1300
Effect: When this card is Summoned you can roll a six-sided dice. Reveal cards from the top of your Deck equal to the roll and send a "BrioGear" card you revealed to the GY, then add 1 of the revealed WATER monsters to your hand.
"I activate Freakiver's effect!" I exclaimed as two gears going through one another appeared in the monster's hands. "I roll a six-sided dice and reveal a number of cards from the top of my Deck equal to the number rolled!"
The gears my monster held began to spin along with the dice. Freakiver threw it in front of us, breaking the gear, as roll stopped on 4.
"Yes!" I took the top four cards on my deck and looked at them. "Let's see… Um…"
It was a hard choice, because I got Deep Sea Diva and two other monsters along with a trap named Eisbahn. Deep Sea Diva and the trap would be pointless, I knew that much, but the other two were a Level 7 and Level 3 monsters respectively and since I already used my Normal Summon this turn, I won't be able to call them out anyways. But that doesn't matter! I have to use my deck as it's intended to be used, not the way others use their own decks.
"…I will add BrioGear Flyoat to my hand and because a BrioGear was revealed, I send… BrioGear Sea Snake to my Graveyard." At the end, I added the Level 7 monster to my hand and returned the remaining two cards into my deck.
"Level 7 monsters need two tributes in order to be summoned." Picaro stated. "Choosing that card over the others has just set the outcome of your defeat in stone!"
"You are wrong!" I shouted back at him and grabbed the top cards of my deck. "When Sea Snake is send to the Graveyard by the effect of a BrioGear card, I draw two cards and then discard one! The one I choose to discard is Cryo Raptor, which lets me Special Summon a level two or lower BrioGear from the Deck!"
"And what's that going to do?"
"I use the effect to Special Summons BrioGear Pale Crawfish (Lv.2, DEF: 600)!" A white, humanoid Crawfish appeared on my field, standing beside Freakiver, while I prepared my next move. "Afterward, Pale Crawfish's effect adds another copy of itself to my hand when it's summoned."
"Three card effects later you were only able to get yourself such a puny array of meat shields that it's just pathetic." Picaro laughed and speeded past me with his dragons staring at my monsters. "That A.I. must have been really desperate to put its own life in the hands of someone like you!"
"We will see who is pathetic." I narrowed my eyes and looked down at my deck. "Let's go! Come forth, circuit of life!"
"WHAT?!"
The circuit opened before me, I generated two waves of water from my hands, grabbing my monsters in them and then slammed my palms together, sending the BrioGears inside the arrows.
"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Level 3 or lower monsters! I set BrioGear Freakiver and Pale Crawfish in the Link Markers!" My monsters flew at the top middle and bottom middle arrow of the circuit. "Link Summon! The dancing spirit of storms! Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, LINK-2)!"
A wave of data raised before me and fell back down with my monster flying out of it. She raised her left arm and activated the bow attached to it.
"Next, I'm going to discard BrioGear Flyoat from my hand to activate its effect!" A black circuit formed before me with a wave of data bursting out of it like a geyser. "By discarding a number of cards including Flyoat I can revive one Link Monster for that amount of turns and raise its attack by five hundred! Fight beside me, Decode Talker!"
Playmaker's ace jumped out of the black circuit and landed behind Serene, holding out his sword. Because the two were linking together, it was going to get another boost.
BrioGear Flyoat
Level: 7/Attribute: WATER/Type: Sea Serpent/Effect
ATK: 2400/DEF: 1600
Effect: If this card is in your hand, you can target 1 Link Monster in your GY: Send any number of cards from your hand to the GY, including this one; Special Summon that target and raise its ATK by 500, but destroy it during your Nth End Phase after this effect's activation (N = number of cards sent to the Graveyard when this card was activated). If a WATER monster was Special Summoned while this card is in your GY, except the turn this card was send to the GY: You can target 1 other WATER monster in your GY; Special Summon both this card and that target, but negate its effects.
"Also, since Decode Talker points toward, Grand Ranger Serene it gains five hundred extra points! Power Integration!" The monster's sword began to burn with yellow energy as its power increased.
Decode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500 + 500 → 3300
"Tch, so you managed to do something noteworthy." Picaro turned away from me and waved his hand dismissively. "Well, whatever, your monster will be destroyed during the end of this turn, leaving your weak link two to deal with."
"No! I will end it this turn!" I told Picaro, taking Monster Reincarnation from my hand. "I play the Spell - Monster Reincarnation! Its effect lets me send Pale Crawfish to the Graveyard in order to add BrioGear Flyoat to my hand!"
"What the heck are you doing?" Picaro asked me. "Your strategy is even more illogical than Playmaker's!"
"It's not illogical, it's based on my trust in the cards!" I responded. "You hurt my friends and I could do nothing but watch them suffer. You overpowered Playmaker, the duelist I believed to be stronger than anyone else, but you didn't kill my hope! The opposite, you strengthened it! I believed that Playmaker could deal with anything that I'm too scared to face, but now that you proved me wrong, I'm ready to face my own fears! Go, Decode Talker! Attack Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead with Decode End!"
The dragon opened its mouth and fired a stream of black mist at the knight. Decode Talker jumped over the attack and swung his blade, hitting the opponent in the head with enough strength to slam it into the road under them. Chained Dragon Serpent - Skull Dead roared and pressed its claws against the ground, forcing itself to stand up. Only for Decode Talker to pierce through its heart with his blade.
『Picaro LP: 4000 – 500 3500』
Picaro grunted and held his shoulder, probably feeling pain in it after his monster was destroyed by Playmaker's.
"Now you have only one monster on your field!" I reminded him. "Grand Ranger Serene attack First of the Dragons!"
"What?!" Picaro turned back to me. "Your monster's attack is lower than mines!"
I didn't respond to him, just looked down at the card that was in my hand. I never had the chance to try it before, in fact, I wasn't sure how exactly it worked, so this was going to be my first time using my special ability. Concentrating on the monster in my hand, I ignored Picaro's laughter and the roar of his dragon. This was for Playmaker, for Ai, for Kusanagi, for Rocketeer and everyone else that helped me reach this point in one form or another. Slowly, the artwork of my monster began to glow, and the card followed it, turning into a blue orb of light. Yes, all the feelings that I held in my heart have reached it! Thank you, everyone!
"I activate my skill! Miracle of Life!" I declared, turning the blue orb into an arrow and threw it toward my monster. "Once per duel, when a WATER monster I control battles, I can discard a WATER monster and transfer its attack power to the fighting monster!"
"You can what?!"
Grand Ranger Serene, ATK: 2100 + 2400 → 4500
Serene turned her left hand into a fist and pushed it forward. The shield opened and a small blue orb came out as the blades underneath were drawn out and obtained glowing writings which matched the orb. The orb turned into an energy string that connected the two ends, turning them into a bow. She grabbed the arrow I threw her and put it in, aiming at the dragon.
"Last Serenity!" I threw my arm forward in time with my monster firing her bow. The blue arrow pierced through the monster's chest, causing it to scream in agony and fly into a building, while Picaro was forcefully moved behind me.
『Picaro LP: 3500 – 1500 → 2000』
"Due to First of the Dragons' monster effect, it can't be destroyed by battle with an effect monster." Picaro muttered, raising back up. "You failed!"
"I activate Grand Ranger Serene's effect." I gestured toward my monster, who aimed her bow at Picaro's chest, but without an arrow. "When she inflicts damage to the opponent, I can send a monster she is linked to in the Graveyard and inflict its original attack to you as damage. I send Decode Talker to the Graveyard!"
Playmaker's ace glowed and transformed into a purple arrow that my monster caught and put in her bow.
"Two thousand and three hundred damage… Damn you." Picaro stood still, staring at me. I couldn't see his eyes behind the helmet, but he was surely angry at the end result.
"Decode Arrow!" I told my monster and she fired the arrow straight through his chest.
『Picaro LP: 2000 – 2300 0』
『Winner: Proxy』
Picaro didn't respond and just fell off his D-Board. His body turned into a data and then disappeared altogether. I took out the Decode Talker card and looked at it one last time before it flew back to Playmaker's deck along with all the other cards that were still in my Graveyard. Thank you, Yusaku.
I took a deep breath and collapsed on my own D-Board, trying to calm down my springing heart. This was so scary, I would never do it again! I couldn't bear the responsibility of someone else's live to depend on me. It's just too much-! Huh?
I blinked a few times to make sure that I wasn't having a hallucination from the stress, but it was still there. A black cat with purple stripes and eyes, whose ears were twisted a bit resembling horns was rubbing its face against my knee. The little animal just turned its head to look at me for a bit, its mouth twitching into some sort of smirk before it jumped off my D-Board. I tried to follow it, but the cat had disappeared as fast as it appeared.
'I should probably log out before an elephant comes next.' I thought to myself and quickly did so.
3rd POV
Deep within a seemingly abandoned part of the city, the girl in white was sitting on a wall, holding her legs crossed like a lady and the hood still covering her face despite the complete lack of other users within the area. She was staring at the ground, when the familiar sound of a cat's meow returned her back to reality. The girl looked around and then smiled as the black and purple cat walked closer to her.
"Took you long enough." She responded and jumped from the wall, landing next to the animal.
The sudden movement didn't scare the cat even a bit, as if it was used to that already, or more likely, because it was just a virtual object like everything else in this world. The girl kneeled down, allowing the little beast an easy way to climb in her lap. She smiled and took the cat, raising it so that they were on an eye level.
"Telling her the thing about our tutorial, you almost gave us away." The girl puffed her cheeks at the cat. "I know that you like to play, but sometimes you need to act like an adult, brother."
The cat just simply looked up to the girl and its eyes flashed purple. In a few moments, the virtual sun was reflecting the shadow of two humans. One a carrying angel and the other a mischievous demon.
Skills:
Extreme Link: Target 1 Link Monster you control and 1 Monster in your Monster Zones that it points to. This turn, the monster it points to can attack a number of times equal to the Link Rating of the targeted monster, but other monsters can't attack.
Miracle of Life: During your Battle Phase, when your WATER monster battles an opponent's monster, discard 1 WATER monster from your hand. The battling monster gains ATK equal to the discarded monster's until the end of the Damage Step.
Unseen cards:
BrioGear Sea Snake
Level: 3/Attribute: WATER/Type: Beast/Effect
ATK: 1400/DEF: 700
Effect: If this card is send to the GY by a card's effect: You can draw 2 cards, then discard 1. When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, you can add 1 WATER monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck to the hand.
And with this, the chapter came to an end! I have to say many weirds things happened in this one, but I finally introduced and the last 'new' character that we are going to see for a while. Also, something funny that I noticed while writing this, Grand Ranger Serene is a WATER Link Monster that uses a bow attached to her left arm, just like freaking Shootingcode Talker! But she was made back in September last year!
So, VRAINS' second season has started last week and I want to put my thoughts on it so far. The first thing that I noticed about it was that the background is on a completely different level from before! The team behind it seems to finally have gotten their shit together, as the new LINK VRAINS looks more colorful, more interesting, and overall, more like what a virtual world is supposed to look like. The old one was very blank and it's city design was as generic as generic goes.
The background characters look nice too. Compared to the grey skinned faceless humanoids we got last season, this time there is a more colorful array of background characters including nekos and schoolgirls! Those are always nice to have, hehehe.
As for the characters, I'm probably the only person out there that isn't interested in SoulBurner? I really don't care about any of the new characters, except for Blood Shepherd. He is the only one that I can't wait to see more from!
Lastly, Playmaker's new monsters are... interesting. From all I saw, Elphase is so far the best LINK-2 for a Cyberse deck and there is no arguing about that. It really helps when I want to get a Decode Talker out, but have only 3 damn effect monsters so I can't give it protection immediately!
Also, I didn't think that Konami would be able to do it, but they made a Code Talker that is worse than Encode Talker. Shootingcode Talker is the trash of the archetype. Tell me, what is this monster going to run over with 2300 ATK so you give it an effect to attack multiple times?! And to add to that, it loses ATK when it comes to attacking the last monster! As someone who plays these things I must say, Konami, except for Decode Talker, all of the Code Talkers hit the Graveyard in less than a turn! They get run over by everything!
And now that my little rant is over, I want to thank to StarlightSG and MusicianWish for favoriting and following the story.
Also, thanks to Creatus O' Spiritus for following.
In the review department, there is a bit more action this time around and I'm very happy to say that!
To ScalchopWarrior: It's funny a bit because duels are my favorite part of a YuGiOh story as well, but well, the older I get the more focused on plot I seem to get.
To MusicianWish: *takes deep breath* Oh boy, where do I start. First of, this is probably the strongest the response that I have had to a story so far and I'm happy that it was the possitive kind of strong response. When I first read the starting few sentences of your story I admit, they made me go back to check the story's summary because I had written it right there that Roxy is new to dueling. Ofcourse, being new to something doesn't make a character a not-Mary Sue, and my main characters from the Arc-V story are Mary Sues, sort-of so there is nothing to apologize about.
It's also great to hear that my portail of Yusaku is faithful to his canon self. Though I guess my enjoyment of writting characters that are disconnected from the rest of humanity helped, this is the first time I see, or have to write, a character that is THAT disconnected from the rest.
For the rest, well, we will see what's going to happen in the future, but I just want to be clear that the "Legendary Duelists" in this story aren't from the canon ones, aka Yugi, Judai, Yusei and etc.
Finally, don't worry, English isn't my first language either.
That's all for today. Thank to everyone for reading and I hope to see you next time!
Diabolic Tracer out!