Final Strike! Devil's Servants, ChronoGear!
PhantomFire and Silver Star stood opposite from Picaro and Blaze Rose. All four of them were staring down at each other with their monsters lined between them. PhantomFire and Silver Star had just 150 LP left, on their field were Summoned Skull (Lv.6, ATK: 2500), AstroGear Auslöser Tiger (Lv.6, ATK: 2400), Lightray Grepher (Lv.4, ATK: 1700), AstroGear Beistand (Lv.3, DEF: 700) and one set card. Meanwhile, Picaro and Blaze Rose's LP was still at 4000, the only cards on their fields were TurboGear Warrior (Lv.6, ATK: 2500), which was in the Extra Monster Zone, and two set cards.
Proxy gulped, watching the four duelists facing each other like that was scary for her, but she knew that it saw something that had to be done. If only she wasn't so weak because of the virus removal, no, if she wasn't that weak all the time, she could have been useful, helped somehow. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, thinking about how different the scenario would have been if she was a better person.
If she had a third of the bravery and righteousness that Playmaker had, she wouldn't have carved like a chicken when things got dangerous. Because of her inability to defeat the fear of Hanoi, she tried to run away from dueling and that left her unable to help others when they needed a strong duelist to stand up for them. Instead of that now both hers and Playmaker's lives deepened on the outcome of a Tag-Duel that neither of them as participating into.
"You had finished your turn, so I will start mine." PhantomFire stated, raising his Duel Disk to his chest level. He placed his hand on top of the deck and drew. "My turn!"
『Turn 5 [PhantomFire] LP: 150 Hand: 3』
The demon duelist looked at the card he just drew and his lips curved upward into a smirk. He had just gotten the card that he needed to make a comeback, but it wasn't time to play it just yet, but during his next turn, it would be the perfect timing. He put it among the other cards and then took a spell from among them.
"I activate Trade-In!" A hologram of the Spell Card appeared beside the duelist and flashed brightly. "With its effect, I discard Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair to draw two cards! Then once more, I activate Allure of Darkness! I draw two cards, then I banish ChronoGear Revolving Dragon from my hand!"
ChronoGear Revolving Dragon
Level: 8/Attribute: DARK/Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 2800/DEF: 2300
Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can shuffle 1 "ChronoGear" monster on the field into the Deck to target 1 face-up card on the field; send that target to the GY. If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "ChronoGear" card, you can banish 2 cards from the field, GY or your opponent's hand. You must control 2 or more "oGear" monsters, expect this card, in order to activate this effect.
"What's the point in drawing all of those cards if you aren't going to use them properly?" Picaro asked, mockingly. "Search through your deck as much as you want, but there couldn't possibly be a card that would change the tide of this duel!"
"That's weird, because I just found out the cards that I would need!" PhantomFire exclaimed and swiped one of the cards onto his Duel Disk. The crimson blade reached to the touch by materializing the card that he just played. "I Normal Summon Lilith, Lady of Lament (Lv.3, ATK: 2000)! And due to her effect, her attack becomes one thousand if she was Normal Summoned!"
Lilith, Lady of Lament, ATK: 2000 → 1000
"Next, I tribute Lilith, Lady of Lament to activate her effect!" The covered in black scales demon winked as her body faded away and was absorbed by PhantomFire's deck. "Tributing her, I can take three Trap Cards from my deck, then you must choose one of them at random and set it directly on my field. Go on, pick up the poison that's going to finish you!"
"Bastard." Picaro hissed as a hologram of three cards appeared before him. Too bad that he couldn't see what their effects were, or else he would have picked the worst one. "I choose the one at the left!"
PhantomFire took the card and his deck shuffled once again. He analyzed the current state of the field and what he could do. 150 LP was plenty from his point of view, but what worried him were the cards that Picaro send to the Graveyard during his last turn, those would be the ones that would create trouble, but luckily, he had Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair resting in his Graveyard!
"I activate the effect of Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair that I send to the Graveyard with Trade-In! When a DARK monster I control is Tributed, I can revive the mighty beast from my Graveyard!" PhantomFire pointed upward as the ground underneath his feet broke and a pitch black dragon came out, roaring. Its attack power was 3000, more than enough to take down TurboGear Warrior!
"Advent Skull Archfiend, Summoned Skull, Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair… It's not a coincidence that you are using those monsters against us, is it!" Picaro shouted. He remembered, all three of those monsters had dropped his Life Points to zero multiple times in the past…
1 year ago…
Rocketeer and Blaze Rose were standing inside a simulator facing off against PhantomFire. TurboGear Warrior and NitroGear Warrior were both on the field with their owners, so far the duel was going in their favor. The two of them had 2400 and 2700 Life Points respectively while PhantomFire had just 1800 and the only cards on his field were his Summoned Skull and a set card that he hadn't activated since the start of the duel. It was probably mean to be a bluff, but they had read past it and were able to avoid falling into whatever trap their teacher was trying to trick them into.
"Heh, what are you going to say about that teach?" Rocketeer asked, rubbing the edge of his nose. "It took us some time, but we finally got you on the ropes, didn't we?"
PhantomFire narrowed his eyes at the question, it was insult to him that those two could think that they stood some chance against him. Third rate duelists; that was the best thing they were in his eyes, some kids who were unable to learn the first thing about Duel Monster – never lower your guard down. It was about time for him to show them their deserved place: In the dirt!
"I will Normal Summon Lilith, Lady of Lament (Lv.3, ATK: 2000)! And due to her effect, her attack becomes one thousand if she was Normal Summoned!" Paradoxically, he played the same monster that he was going to play a year later against the same opponents.
Lilith, Lady of Lament, ATK: 2000 → 1000
"Then, I release her to activate my Trap, Crush Card Virus! All of your monsters with one thousand and five hundred or more attack are automatically destroyed!" Purple markings formed on the monsters' bodies as they fell on the ground and shattered to pieces before their owners.
"After that, the effect of Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair in my Graveyard activates, Special Summoning itself!" The black dragon stood back up next to Summoned Skull and roared toward the opposing players.
"It was a while since I stared training the two of you, yet you are still as pathetic as I remembered you being at the beginning." PhantomFire narrowed his eyes. Rocketeer and Blaze Rose looked down in disappointment after their teacher insulted their dueling skills. "I never expected you to beat me. That would be impossible even for duelists far better than any level the two of you could achieve, but I expected you to challenge me a bit more. Pathetic, Summoned Skull and Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair finish this duel!"
The two monsters charged their attacks and threw them at both duelists. Rocketeer and Blaze Rose screamed as electricity and fire hit their bodies respectively, after which their Life Points dropped to 0 and PhantomFire was declared a winner of the duel. After the match ended, the losers fell on their knees and panted heavily, trying to catch their breath after experiencing such a strong pain from the final attacks. Rocketeer raised his head to look at his teacher who was staring back at him from the corner of his eye. The TurboGear duelist could clearly read the disappointment and mockery in PhantomFire's eyes, the old bastard was thinking that he was so much better than them!
"T-that hurt!" Blaze Rose shouted at PhantomFire. She was on her limits and was desperately holding back her tears, but then she broke and began to cry loudly due to the pain that ran through her body.
"That's what dueling in LINK VRAINS would feel like for you two." PhantomFire stood in front of the two, but didn't look down at them. "Dueling isn't just a game and you won't always use it just to entertain people. Sometimes a duelist has to stand up for their beliefs, for what they deem to be right and to fight the wrong. That's part of being a duelist as well and you can't turn a blind eye to it because you want to do so. You are either going to take the full responsibility, or walk out of here without a deck."
PhantomFire turned around and left the server. Rocketeer slammed his fist into the ground, how dared that old man talk about taking responsibility? Phantom was nothing more than a spoiled brat that is used to getting whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. He knew nothing about the meaning of the word responsibility, so how dared he use that word?
"I will get you back for that." On that day, Rocketeer swore his revenge.
Present day
"I activate the Field Spell, Eternal Time-Shattering City!" For a moment the area around Phantom turned into a city made of gears before it returned to normal. "With this card's effect I reveal the top three cards of my deck and if there is a "ChronoDevil" among them I can add one of them to my hand."
Eternal Time-Shattering City (Spell) Field
You cannot activate other Field Spells while this card is on the field. This card is unaffected and cannot be destroyed by card effects while there is another face-up Field Spell. When this card is activated: Reveal the top 3 cards of your Deck, then you can add 1 "ChronoGear" among them to your hand, also place the remaining cards on top of your deck in any order. If no " ChronoGear" cards were reveal by this effect, place the cards on the bottom of your deck instead. All face-up monsters on the field become DARK and are threated as "ChronoGear" monsters, expect "oGear" monsters.
Phantom revealed the top three cards of his deck, which were ChronoGear Blue Plague,ChronoGear Time Leap and Ahrima, the Wicked Warden. Two of them were monsters, which were useless during this turn since he already Normal Summoned and the other was a Continuous Trap, which meant that he wouldn't be able to use it until next turn…
"I add to ChronoGear Time Leap my hand and then I will return the rest of the cards to the top of my deck. Also, due to the second effect of my Field Spell, all monster on the field, minus oGear monsters, become DARK and are treated as ChronoGear cards! That includes Lightray Grepher, Summoned Skull and Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair!"
"You turned those random monsters into parts of your archetype?!" Rocketeer exclaimed while a gear symbol appeared on the chest of all three monsters that PhantomFire mentioned. Since he and Blaze Rose were using only monsters connected to their archetype, neither of them had witnessed this power of their teacher's Field Spell!
"Gears grind and spring locks be unwound, factory of nightmare come to live!" PhantomFire chanted as a huge gear appeared in the sky with the Fusion portal spinning inside of it. "The summoning conditions are two DARK oGear monsters! I Fuse ChronoGear Lightray Grepher and ChronoGear Summoned Skull! Fusion Summon! ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner!"
Several purple and dark green vines came out of the Fusion Portal and began to wrap around one another, creating the monster's body parts. In the matter of a few moments, the creature creates long arms ending with sharp claws and a head whose lower chin can separate in two. Light green wood formed around the vines, creating an armor around its arms, chest and an elongated skull whose back side divided into several branches and twigs covered in yellow leaves that covered the back of its head like long hair. Out of its waist formed several long and strong black roots with more twigs and leaves covering them up.
ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner
Level: 8/Attribute: DARK/Type: Plant/Fusion/Effect
ATK: 2600/DEF: 2000
2 DARK "oGear" monsters
Effect: Must first be Fusion Summoned, or Special Summoned (from your Extra Deck) by Tributing the above cards. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target 1 face-up monster on the field; until the end of this turn, that target has its effects negated, and replace this effect with that monster's original effects. If a monster you control attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent.
Picaro raised his head, looking at the dark plant monster in awe. Not so much because of the monster as at the fact that it required oGear monsters, but PhantomFire was able to summon it without using any of those. Like a real devil, he knew how to bend the rules of the game in his favor and that was what scared the Knight of Hanoi the most!
"Battle! Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair attack that pathetic TurboGear Warrior! Darkness Hellfire Miasma!" PhantomFire ordered his dragon which fired a burning black mist at Picaro and his ace.
"Not so fast!" Picaro swiped his claw to the side. "When my WIND monster gets targeted for an attack, I can banish TurboGear Accelerate Blast from my Graveyard to revive NitroGear Twin Blaster (Lv.6, DEF: 1400) and make it the new target!"
Blaze Rose's monster appeared in front of Picaro's and took the attack instead. The green warrior scream as its body melted away in the darkness, leaving just ash and smoke after its demise. Picaro just smirked because that meant that the Synchro's effect would now activate in the Graveyard!
"Heh, because NitroGear Twin Blaster was destroyed, NitroGear Warrior (Lv.7, ATK: 2800) will rise from the grave!" The ground before Picaro burst into flames which then shaped into a humanoid which turned into Blaze Rose's ace. "What are you going to say about this? I'm able to perfect use not just mine, but Red's oGear deck as well! You man should realize by now that I'm the truth prophet meant to wield those deck, not you, not your sister, and definitely not some angry Charisma Duelist! I'm the only one who can tame their power!"
"Is that so?" Silver Star finally spoke. "You really think that you could use our decks, the ones since we were kids, better? Don't make me laugh, silly boy! Shut him up, bro!"
"Heh, you just had to tell me that." PhantomFire smirked and gestured toward his Fusion Monster. "I activate ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner's effect! I negate TurboGear Warrior's abilities and then give them over to Destiny Poisoner! Torment Ivy!" Destiny Poisoner's claws stretched out and stabbed TurboGear Warrior in the chest, turning the robotic warrior's armor to grey. "Next, ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner is going to attack NitroGear Warrior! Poison Fangs!"
"Also, thanks to the ability of TurboGear Warrior that PhantomFire's monster obtained, when it battles a Level Five or higher Special Summoned monster, that target has its attacks halved and effects negated!" Silver Star reminded the demonic duelist as his own effect was used against him.
NitroGear Warrior, ATK: 2800 / 2 → 1400
PhantomFire's monster raised its arms forward and stretched out its claws, stabbing the giant warrior in the chest and eye sockets. The NitroGear Synchro had no choice but to take it and explode in a wild burst of flames that hit both Blaze Rose and Picaro, making them wince in pain.
『Blaze Rose & Picaro LP: 4000 – 1200 → 2800』
"The attacks aren't over yet!" Silver Star exclaimed and swiped her hand across her Duel Disk's blade. "I activate my Trap, Spiritual Light Art – Hijiri! By Tributing AstroGear Beistand, I can Special Summoned a banished monster! Of course you can negate that effect by revealing a Trap Card, but since you don't have any cards in your hand, come forth ChronoGear Revolving Dragon!"
The creature that appeared was more of a machine (like how its type suggested) than a dragon (its name, duh). Its whole body was covered in metal with gears working inside of the heavy armor that it wore. The dragon had large and heavy feet meant to hold it in place when it attacked. In a similar fashion, its shinning silver tail had spikes on the lower side meant to stuck themselves to the ground and help it keep itself in place while firing. The plates covering its chest were often moving left and right, sometimes revealing the mechanical insides of the creature while also pushing out the smoke and heat that was produced inside its body. When the armor on its arms moved to release the stream, it also showed the bullets that were carried over its body. Instead of a neck, the creature had a large cylinder where it stored the bullets. The lower parts of its head had a large mouth filled with metal teeth while the upper was a large barrel. The monster had no eyes or ears, only a hammer on the back side of the barrel.
"ChronoGear Revolving Dragon, fire at TurboGear Warrior!" Both PhantomFire and Silver Star exclaimed as the machine dragon opened its mouth and a large gun came out of it, firing a bullet into the machine's heart.
『Blaze Rose & Picaro LP: 2800 – 100 → 2700』
"Finally, AstroGear Auslöser Tiger will attack directly!" The robot beast opened its mouth and fired several lasers at Picaro.
"Useless! I activate my Trap, TurboGear Re-Tuning!" One of Picaro's face downs flipped face-up and showed the art of Turbo Synchron getting its parts replaced. "With this trap, I can draw a card and if it's a monster, I get to Special Summon it, but if it's a Spell or Trap, your attack will simply be negated!"
TurboGear Re-Tuning (Trap) Normal
When an opponent's monster declares a direct attack: Draw 1 card, then if it is a monster, immediately after this effect resolves, you can Special Summon it, but it can't be destroyed by battle for the rest of this turn. If it's anything else, negate the attack.
Picaro drew his card, his helped was covering his face so the siblings couldn't see his reaction to the card, was it something he liked, or a death draw. They didn't have to wonder for long though because a green gear appeared right in front of Rocketeer and he threw the card through it.
"The card I just drew is TurboGear Wild Wheel! Therefore, I get to Special Summon it!" Rocketeer explained and his cards transformed into the monster itself.
A small yellow robot jumped on the field in Defense Position. Its body was made of a wheel with gears inside of it. Its insides extended to the sides of the wheel, forming two long, but skinny arms and two small, but bulky feet, all of which were covered in yellow armor. Finally, the robot had a small head on the top of the wheel with a mouth guard and other armor covering most of it, only the three green eyes of the machine were visible.
TurboGear Will Wheel
Level: 1/Attribute: WIND/Type: Machine/Tuner/Effect
ATK: 200/DEF: 600
Effect: Once per turn, this card can't be destroyed by battle. If you took battle damage while this card is face-up on your field, you can activate this effect: Draw 1 card for each 500 damage you took.
"That doesn't matter, AstroGear Auslöser Tiger will continue its attack!" PhantomFire pointed out, the trap wasn't able to negate his attack, so it would continue with a new target. "Also, don't think that your monster is safe in Defense Position, because ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner gives all my monster the ability to deal piercing damage!"
AstroGear Auslöser Tiger's lasers hit the little robot, throwing it back with an explosion that caused both Picaro and Blaze Rose to shout in pain from the attack, which pushed both of them back.
『Blaze Rose & Picaro LP: 2700 – 1800 → 900』
"Heh, now my monster's effect activates." Picaro pointed out as the top card of his deck began to glow. "When I take damage, I get to draw a card for each five hundred points of it. Since I took one thousand and eight hundred, that makes three new cards for me!"
Silver Star narrowed her eyes, she had expected from Picaro to play a card which would fill up his hand, she just hadn't expected for it to be like that. Of course, the turn wasn't over yet and she knew that her brother still had a few things left up his sleeves.
"Then I'm going to tribute my ChronoGear Revolving Dragon to activate Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair's effect." PhantomFire gestured toward his monster. "You must take a card from your hand and return it to either the top or the bottom of your deck!"
"Giving me a choice, huh?" Picaro shook his head in disappointment. "Tch, tch, fine then. I will take this card and put it on the top of my deck, so that when I draw it next time, I will finish you off on the spot!"
"Big words from a small man." PhantomFire narrowed his eyes. "I know, you want us to admit that you are the superior one, but you choose to remain blind about the point of those deck that we made. You don't know their reason for existence, what they are supposed to stand for, and because of that, you will never stand a chance. I will set a card and end my turn! At this moment, ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner loses the effects that it stole from TurboGear Warrior."
"So, are those going to be your last words?" Picaro asked.
"What?" Silver Star raised an eyebrow.
"You are going to spend your last words, saying how worthless I'm? How I'm unable to understand my own cards? You know NOTHING about me!" Picaro roared. "You were the ones who tried to stop time for my life, the ones who tried to get in the way of humanity's evolution just because it wouldn't be you that's on the top when it happens! You are nothing more than two narcissistic hypocrites that have no place on this world and I will prove it to you! You, Playmaker and everyone else who has the guts to come against me will be buried! Go, Red! Destroy them for me!"
Blaze Rose screamed again as the red mist around her body began to burn. She gritted her teeth and drew her card.
『Turn 6 [Blaze Rose] LP: 900 Hand: 2』
"Destroy!" Blaze Rose yelled. "Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!"
"W-what's happening to her?" Proxy asked.
The Charisma Duelist seemed to have been reduced to an animal, functioning on her primal instincts and nothing else. An animal; that was everything left from her after Picaro infected her with the Hanoi's virus. PhantomFire and Silver Star knew that the pain she was going through would only continue to increase the longer this duel kept going. They had to end it fast for the girl's sake!
"Equip Spell, Nitro Heart, activate!" Blaze Rose exclaimed as a card that showed a burning mechanical heart appeared on her field. "Special Summon Grotto and equip to it!"
Nitro Heart (Spell) Equip
Activate this card by targeting 1 "Nitro" monster in your GY; Special Summon it and equip it with this card. When this card leaves the field, destroy the equipped monster. When the equipped monster is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the Graveyard, take damage equal to the ATK of the equipped monster.
Several chains came out of Blaze Rose's card and flew into a black circuit, pulling out one of the monsters that was destroyed by PhantomFire's Crush Card Virus, NitroGear Molten Grotto. The monster was large and bulky, made out of black rock with flames coming from its elbows and knees. It didn't have head, but there was an opening in its chest with an orange orb that looked like an eye present inside the burning insides of the monster.
"Then, Summon Lesser Grotto!" Blaze Rose's other card showed to be the smaller version of the monster she had just resurrected.
A creature that looked like the last one appeared, only this time it was made of a light brown rock and had only flames coming out of its neck, creating some sort of a hood around it. Its legs were totally three in number and had spikes on the ankles. Lesser Golem had a slender build with spiky rocks on its arms and chest, as well, as a pointy head with two burning holes of different sizes carved inside of it, letting the flames that burned inside the monster to come out and form its burning eyes.
NitroGear Lesser Grotto
Level: 4/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 1400/DEF: 1000
Effect: If this card is Summoned while you control a "NitroGear Molten Grotto", you can add 1 "Nitro Fusion" From your Deck to the hand. Once per turn, you can Fusion Summon 1 FIRE Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using this card and 1 Defense Position monster your opponent controls as Fusion Materials.
"When Lesser Grotto Summoned while Molten Grotto there, I add, Nitro Fusion!" Blaze Rose showed a card that looked like Polymerization, but with a red and orange vortex with Nitro Warrior and Nitro Synchron falling into it. "Activate!"
Nitro Fusion (Spell) Normal
Fusion Summon 1 FIRE Fusion Monster, using monsters on your field and in your hand as Fusion Materials. If this card is in your GY and you control no monsters in your Extra Monster Zone (Quick Effect): Banish this card from your GY; Special 2 FIRE monsters from your GY who were used as Fusion Materials in this duel.
Blaze Rose's two monsters turned into flames and combined into one, much larger monster made of fire that roared.
"Fusion Summon! NitroGear Lava Grotto!" The Charisma Duelist raised her arms toward the flames, gesturing toward her new creature.
A huge piece of rock crashed the rooftop and let out a loud roar. Its body was similar to that of the two Grottos that made it up, but instead of legs it had a long tail of flames that made up the lower portion of its body with multiple light brown and black spikes made of rock coming from inside them, some twisted to point upward while others to the side. The rest of its body was also made out of rocks from its fusion materials with the chest having a large 'X' opening in the middle of it and a heart made of flames beating inside it. The monster had four arms as well, the lower pair was made of black rocks and had huge palms, while the upper was made of brown rock with long and slender arms each of which had brass knuckles of cooled magma. Finally, Lava Grotto's head was Lesser Grotto's light brown one, but now it was torn opened and a tail of flames came out the top.
NitroGear Lava Grotto
Level: 6/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Machine/Fusion/Effect
ATK: 2500/DEF: 1500
"Lesser Grotto" + "Molten Grotto"
Effect: Once per turn: You can target 1 face-up "Nitro" card that you control and 1 Level 6 or lower "oGear" monster in your GY; Destroy the first target, and if you do, Special Summon the second. If this card is destroyed by battle or an opponent's card effect: Special Summon 1 "Nitro" monster from your GY, except this card.
"That looks eery." Proxy muttered, staring at the huge golem.
"Tell us, we are the one dueling against it." Silver Star pointed out.
"Now, I activate Lava Grotto's effect!" Blaze Rose exclaimed.
"Chain Link two!" Suddenly, several ivies raised from the ground and tied around Lava Grotto when PhantomFire spoke. "I use ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner's effect to negate your monster's effects and then steal them for the rest of this turn! Torment Ivy!"
"Grrrrrr!" The Charisma Duelist growled as her move was countered once again. It seemed to her that those bastards weren't stopping interfering with her and that angered her, more and more… "Battle! Battle! Battle!"
Reacting to the girl, Lava Grotto moved its arms together to form a fireball and then threw it toward AstroGear Auslöser Tiger, destroying the machine.
『PhantomFire & Silver Star LP: 150 – 100 → 50』
"Well, if nothing else, Torment Ivy at least angered her more." Silver Star muttered.
"You think? That was just a hundred points of damage." PhantomFire pointed out.
"Yeah, but we now have just fifty left."
"We should worry when they drop our Life Points to zero."
"What, you don't have Relay Soul in your deck?"
"Wait, you do?"
"Of course no! That card sucks unless you want your opponent to kick your ass."
"Are you two going to take your turn?" Picaro finally asked them. "I thought we were in the middle of something important here!"
"Important?" Silver Star titled her head to the side. "We are here trying to prolong your defeat so you could show us something impressive, you know? Oh well, whatever. I'm going to take my move now. Draw!"
『Turn 7 [Silver Star] LP: 50 Hand: 3』
"Hm, let's try something fun." Silver Star smirked, she currently had the cards to do something unexpected and, well, illogical. "Appear, circuit of the universe!"
Sparks and stars appeared in her arms as she threw them forward and a circuit opened right in front of her. ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner and AstroGear Beistand turned into a white and black vortexes which flew into the arrows on the sides.
"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set ChronoGear Destiny Poisoner and AstroGear Beistand in the Link Markers!" the two arrows on the side glowed as Silver Star and PhantomFire's monsters became one with them. "Link Summon! The holy machine of destruction! AstroGear Das Unknown!"
A monster that looked awfully similar to a Qli appeared out of the circuit. It was a small floating drone with white and yellow armor plating covering up the upper half of it. The monster had two halos attached to its sides with glowing blue crystals in the form of blades floating around them giving off the appearance of angel wings. The belly, or lower half of the drone was protected only by a black glass with blue lines of light occasionally running through it, illuminating the gears inside that powered the machine.
AstroGear Das Unknown
Attribute: LIGHT/Type:Machine/Link/Effect
L-Markers: L, R
ATK: 1800/Link-2
2 "oGear" monsters
Effect: All LIGHT monsters on the field gain 500 ATK and DEF. During either player's turn, when your opponent activates a card or effect that targets a card(s) you control: You can banish 1 monster linked to this card; negate the effect, and if you do, inflict 400 damage to your opponent. If a LIGHT or DARK monster would be destroyed by battle or card effect: You can banish this card from your field or GY instead.
"Now, the effect of Das Unknown activates, increasing the attack of all my LIGHT monsters by five hundred!" The gears inside Silver Star's machine began to spin as its own attack increased.
AstroGear Das Unknown, ATK: 1800 + 500 → 2300
"Huh?" Picaro looked at the new monster in confusion. "Why did you gave up on a higher attack monster that could deal piercing damage for this?"
"For the fun!" Silver Star smirked. "You should not lose until PhantomFire's next turn and that was a rule between the two of us. Now, I'm going to Normal Summon AstroGear Malnehmen!"
A white disk appeared on the field and floated above Silver Star's head, rotating around a yellow orb of light. Well not much of an amazing design, but that was to be expected from a simple level 2 monster, wasn't it?
AstroGear Malnehmen
Level: 2/Attribute: LIGHT/Type:Fairy/Effect
ATK: 100/DEF: 300
Effect: If this card is Special Summon, you can Special Summon any number of "AstroGear Malnehmen" from your hand or Deck. If this card is banished, you can draw 1 card.
"Appear, circuit of the universe!" Silver Star summoned it for the second time. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are at least two LIGHT monsters! I set AstroGear Malnehmen and the Link two, AstroGear Das Unknown, in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The holy Seraph looking over this world! Exotic Sola the Link Seraph!"
A shot of electricity flew out of the circuit and landed on the ground, transforming into a young woman, or more likely a seventeen years old girl. Her eyes were blue with white stars in them while her hair was white and reached her lower back with a large black metal piece that looked like headphones attached to her ears. The girl wore an outfit that looked like a combination of gothic and a royal attire for a princess. She wore a white dress with white metal pieces that looked like petals of a lower cupping her small breasts on the front, while the back was mostly black with six golden bolts and sparks of electricity flying out of them. The dress' sleeves were black in color as well with white frill and had a white disk attached to the monster's left arm. The lower piece of the dress was made of two layers, with the outer one being made of black metal that had golden bolts attached to it and the inner which was white and ended with frills, just like the sleeves. Finally, the monster had a pair of black bulky boots on her legs.
Exotic Sola the Link Seraph
Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Fairy/Link/Effect
L-Markers: Left, Right, Botton
ATK: 2300/Link-3
2+ LIGHT monsters
Effect: (This card is always treated as an "AstroGear" card.) Non-LIGHT monster(s) in the same column as a monster this card points to have its effects negated, also halve its ATK. Monsters co-linked to this card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, also your opponent cannot target them with card effects. If a monster(s) this cards to is sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 LIGHT monster from your hand or Banished Zone.
"Then, I will use the effect of AstroGear Auslöser Tiger to banish AstroGear Malnehmen and Special Summon it back on my field!" The machine beast formed once again and opened its mouth, firing a beam at NitroGear Lava Grotto disintegrating the monster. "As you know, when summoned by its own effect, AstroGear Auslöser Tiger banishes one of your cards! Then, Malnehmen's own effect kicks in, letting me draw a card."
"You got rid of your powerful fusion just to summon your ace?" Picaro clenched his fist at that. "Stop mocking me!"
"I'm not done yet!" Silver Star swiped the card she just drew over her Duel Disk. "I activate World Legacy Succession! This card lets me return AstroGear Das Unknown (ATK: 1800, Link-2) back to the field and put it under Sola's arrow!" The floating machine appeared behind the angel and its gears began to spin again. "Now, all of my LIGHT monsters are going to gain five hundred attack points!"
AstroGear Das Unknown, ATK: 1800 + 500 → 2300
AstroGear Auslöser Tiger, ATK: 2400 + 500 → 2900
Exotic Sola the Link Seraph, ATK: 2300 + 500 → 2800
"Now to enter battle!" Silver Star exclaimed and pushed her fist forward. "Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair destroy TurboGear Wild Wheel! Darkness Hellfire Miasma!"
"Wild Wheel can't be destroyed by battle once per turn!" Picaro pointed out as his monster was able to withstand the attack, which pushed it backward.
"Then I will have AstroGear Das Unknown finish the job!" Silver Star pointed out as the top of her own monster opened up and several missiles flew out of it, blowing up Wild Wheel.
"Now, AstroGear Auslöser Tiger will attack you directly!" Silver Star declared as her monster fired its blasts at Picaro and Blaze Rose.
"Effect activate!" Blaze Rose took her Nitro Fusion card from the Graveyard and showed it to the AstroGear user. "Banish, revive Lesser Grotto (Lv.4, DEF: 1000) and Molten Grotto (Lv.5, DEF: 1800)!"
"Heh, I knew that you would do that!" Summoning the two Fusion Material monsters to defend their Life Points at the last second. "Then, AstroGear Auslöser Tiger and Exotic Sola are going to destroy them!"
The two monsters both fired their respective attacks of solid light and electricity, cutting in half and electrifying the golems.
'Damn it!' Picaro cursed and looked up at the monsters that he had to face. 'If she hadn't used Destiny Poisoner as a material, one of its attacks would have finished us off! They are definitely up to something and if PhantomFire gets his next turn… No! I already know what they are up to, the reason why Sola was summoned and everything else, he is going to try and call him out. Even if I fail to defeat them in this turn my set card is going to surely end them!'
"I won't set any cards this turn and just end my turn here." Silver Star raised her hand into a 'come on' gesture. She didn't have to worry about anything, her brother's two set cards would be enough.
"My turn then. I draw!" Picaro declared.
『Turn 8 [Picaro] LP: 900 Hand: 3』
"I will activate the Field Spell, Turbo World!" Red data ran all over Picaro's body and a green gear began to rotate around his Duel Disk. "When this card is activated, I can draw a card, and if it's a Turbo monster, I can Special Summon one Turbo monster from my hand or Graveyard! DRAW!" Electricity floated all around the demonic knight's body; he was using all of his powers for this draw… "I drew TurboGear Unicycle! Therefore, I can revive TurboGear Warrior (Lv.6, DEF: 1500) from my Graveyard!"
Turbo World (Spell) Field
When this card is activated, you can draw 1 card: If the card you drew by this effect is a "Turbo" monster, you can reveal it; Special Summon 1 "Turbo" monster with a different name from your hand or GY in Defense Position. If you would use a Synchro Monster as Link Material, you can threat it was two materials. Synchro monsters you control can't be targeted by Spell or Trap Cards.
"Next, I Normal Summoned the TurboGear Unicycle that I drew!" A small red robot with large shoulder plates and spikes on both them, and its helmet, appeared on the field. It had a single green eye located in the lower part of its head, where the mouth should usually be and instead of legs it had a single metal cycle shaped like a gear.
TurboGear Unicycle
Level: 1/Attribute: WIND/Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 400/DEF: 200
Effect: Once per turn: If you took battle damage, while this card is face-up on the field, you can Special Summon 1 WIND monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck.
"Appear, circuit of heaven's wind!" Picaro threw a triangle with his claw, which then turned into a circuit. Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are at least two oGear monsters! I set TurboGear Unicycle and TurboGear Warrior, in the Link Markers!" Both monsters turned into small tornadoes, with TurboGear Warrior becoming two instead of ones. "Link Summon! TurboGear Speedstar!"
A monster similar to TurboGear Warrior dashed out of the circuit and landed in front of Picaro. Its body had a more slight and aerodynamic build that its Synchro counterpart. The machine's arms didn't have claws, but instead there were circular armor plates placed on the back of his hands. Its legs had three exhausts on the back of each one and a tire instead of a feet.
TurboGear Speedstar
Attribute: WIND/Type: Machine/Link/Effect
L-Markers: Bottom-Left, Top, Bottom-Right
ATK: 2200/Link-3
2+ "Turbo" monsters
Effect: While this card is linked to a Synchro Monster, this card and Synchro Monster(s) linked to this card gain 500 ATK, also they can't be targeted by monster's effects. Once per turn, if this card is linked: You can target 1 monster on the field; negate its effects, also, halve its ATK until the end of the next turn. While this card is linked to a Synchro Monster, your opponent can't activate card or effects in response to this effect.
"Um, he just summoned a Link three monster using only two monsters." Proxy pointed out. "Shouldn't that, um, be against the rules or something?"
"Heh, due to the effect of my Field Spell, if I use a Synchro Monster as Link material, I can treat it was two materials instead." Picaro shook his claws before his face. "Next, I activate World Legacy Succession! This card lets me revive TurboGear Warrior from my Graveyard and put it next to my monster's link. In turn, Speedstar's effect will increase the attack of both itself and TurboGear Warrior by five hundred! Wild Engine!"
TurboGearSpeedstar, ATK: 2200 + 500 → 2700
TurboGearWarrior, ATK: 2500 + 500 → 3000
"Next, I activate Speedstar's other effect! While it's linked to a monster, I can target a monster you control and halve its attack, as well, as negate its effects! I choose AstroGear Das Unknown! Also, don't bother to try and negate my monster's effect. While Speedstar points to a Synchro Monster, you can't respond with anything."
Picaro's monster threw its claws at Das Unknown, breaking a part of its armor and shutting it down. The robot flew liveless on the field and with it, all of the attack boost that it provided to its allies.
AstroGear Das Unknown, ATK: 2300 - 500 → 1800/2 → 900
AstroGear Auslöser Tiger, ATK: 2900 - 500 → 2400
Exotic Sola the Link Seraph, ATK: 2800 - 500 → 2300
"Now, battle! TurboGear Warrior is going to attack AstroGear Das Unknown! Accelerated Crash!" Picaro's monster jumped on top of the deactivated monster and brought its claws down to finish the work.
Silver Star looked at the cards in her hand and specially a monster that she hadn't used. It was the card - Honest, if she discarded it to activate its effect, that would bring Das Unknown's attack to 3900. Picaro would be unable to stop the attack and they would take exactly 900 points of damage, winning the siblings the duel. However, she made a promise before coming here to try and not interfere with her brother's win.
"I activate my trap card, Demon's Barrier – Mirror Timeline Force!" Suddenly, everything in the area turned purple and black. TurboGear Warrior was at first frozen in place, but then it quickly began to disappear along with all other monsters that were on the field.
Mirror Timeline Force (Trap) Mirror
When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Banish all Attack Position monsters on the field. Return them during the next turn's Standby Phase.
"What the?" Picaro activated a holographic screen of the field, every single monster on both side has disappeared. "H-how? I know every card that you had in your deck, every spell, trap and monster! Mirror Timeline Force? That was never in the data!"
"Well, you can add it now." PhantomFire crossed his arms behind his back. "Mirror Timeline Force is a new Trap Card that I designed exactly for this duel. It will remove all our monsters from the field, only to bring them back during my next turn."
"So all of my monsters are going to be back next turn? Then it was all just a waste!" Picaro argued.
"Was it?" Silver Star titled her head to the side in confusion.
"Sometimes, there is just a moment that stays between a duelist and victory." PhantomFire pointed out. "One moment that could have changed everything. I just skipped our duel straight to that moment!"
"I'm ready to take you on!" Picaro shouted and set a card face-down. "My field is ready for your next turn, you already wasted your chance to defeat me when you choose to not use Destiny Poisoner's piercing ability!"
"We will see!" PhantomFire put a hand on top of his deck and pulled the first card. "My turn. DRAW!"
『Turn 9 [PhantomFire] LP: 50 Hand: 2』
"During this turn's Standby Phase, the effect Mirror Timeline Force of returns all of our monsters back on the field!" At that moment, lights burst from all around the building and shot up toward the sky, before exploding into a portal of various colors with multiple halos overlaying over one another. "Come back, AstroGear Das Unknown (ATK: 1800, Link-2), AstroGear Auslöser Tiger, (Lv.6, ATK: 2400), Exotic Sola the Link Seraph (ATK: 2300, Link-3), Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair (Lv.8, ATK: 3000), TurboGear Warrior (Lv.6, ATK: 2500), TurboGear Speedstar (ATK: 2500, Link-3)!
'He really returned them.' Picaro narrowed his eyes and looked at the screen on his Duel Disk, seeing that AstroGear Auslöser Tiger was positioned between Das Unknownand Exotic Sola the Link Seraph. 'Impossible! Did he knew what my set cards are? No, I obtained them after leaving that bastard's teaching club, so there is no way for him to know.'
"Now. Appear circuit of past and future!" PhantomFire threw his arm forward and the space before him cracked open. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two oGear monsters! I set AstroGear Das Unknownand AstroGear Auslöser Tiger in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Here comes one of my favorite! ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty!"
Out of the citcuit jumped a neko girl with yellow eyes and long black hair tied into twin tails with large bells tied to them with blue ribbons. Two cat ears on top of her head and a long black tail with a white dot on the end were enough for people to figure out why her name was 'Kitty'. The monster had a red cloth tied around her neck like a scarf. She wore short, sleeveless brown vest that left her belly and shoulders revealed. Her fingernails were all colored red and she had a long black fingerless glove that reached to her elbow on her left arm. Underneath that she had a heavy belt wrapped loosely around her waist with a black skirt that was, very, very short and had bells tied to it. Finally, her outfit ended with black tight highs and dark brown boots that had a clock attached to the front. The neko girl held an old rifle in her arms as her weapon of choice.
ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty
Attribute: DARK/Type:Beast-Warrior/Link/Effect
L-Markers: Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right
ATK:1700/LINK-2
2 "oGear" monsters
Effect: When this card is Summon, Special Summon 1 DARK monster from the GY. Once per turn (Quick Effect): If this card battles, you can make this card gain ATK equal to half the ATK of one monster it's linked to (until the end of this turn), and if you do, your opponent can't activate Trap Cards for the rest of the Battle Phase.
"A Link 2 DARK monster…" Picaro looked over at the monster and then back at PhantomFire. There was a smirk under his demonic helmet that the Greysons' couldn't see. It was coming closer…
"For the second time. Appear circuit of past and future!" A second circuit appeared in front of PhantomFire and his two dark monsters flew into the arrows. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two DARK monsters! I set ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty and Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The unholy Demon looking over this world! Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer!"
A pair of sinister glowing eyes appearance within the circuit and then out of it came a human male. He had a purple right eye and a black cloth wrapped around his head in a manner that it covered his left eye like an eyepatch. His hair was white and short, ignoring its color it was like that of a normal human, but it was messy. The monster had a single purple horn pointing from the right side of his head. The monster's outfit consisted of a long, torn black coat whose collar was so high that it covered monster's mouth and nose. There were purple gear symbols on the monster's shoulders and his hands were in broken, rusty shackles with a modern-looking purple disk device attached to his left arm. Four rusty chains fell down from the back of the monster's coat and floated behind it like some sort of tails. Below, Phantomous wore black and purple pants with robotic-looking boots made from bronze and gold. The right one reached below the monster's knee and ended with a gear that held onto his left, while the left one was slightly bulkier and larger, having a kneecap instead of a gear. The last touch were several purple cubes and pieces of broken glass that floated around the monster for some unknown reason.
Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer
Attribute: DARK/Type: Fiend/Link/Effect
L-Markers: Left, Right, Top
ATK: 2300/Link-3
2+ DARK monsters
Effect: (This card is always treated as a "ChronoGear" card.) This card gains the effects of all monsters it points to. If a linked monster you control battles your opponent's monster while this card is co-linked, any battle damage it inflicts to your opponent is doubled. Once per turn, during either player's Battle Phase: You can return 1 monster this card points to to the Deck, then Special Summon 1 "ChronoGear" monster from your Deck.
"I knew it!" Picaro clenched his fist. "When you said that the duel would end on your next turn and then your sister summoned her own ace, I knew that this one was going to come out next! But tell me, was it really worth it? To waste your chance of victory like that for a bit of symbolism?"
"Waste? I did this to teach you something that you clearly didn't learn while our relationship was that of a teacher and student instead of enemies." PhantomFire put a fist over his chest.
"A final lesson?" Picaro chuckled at the idea. It was laughable to thing that someone like Evan or Avice could actually try to teach him something after everything they did previously. Trying to take away his deck - his destiny! "I activate my Trap, Link Deconstruction!" The card showed Akashic Magician and Clara & Rushka, the Ventriloduo screaming as their body disintegrated. "This card, if my opponent controls co-linked monsters will destroy all of your co-linked monsters and inflict damage for each! Be gone!"
Link Deconstruction (Trap) Normal
Destroy as many of your opponent's co-linked monsters as possible, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to half the combined ATK of the monsters destroyed by this effect.
The trap card shot lightings that hit the ground around the two Link Monsters. Phantomous and Sola moved closer to one another as a red circuit was drawn underneath their feet. The crimson lines began to glow and then the whole roof exploded, taking out not only the monsters but their owners as well. PhantomFire, Silver Star and Proxy screamed as the explosion engulfed their bodies and whatever remained disappeared behind a huge cloud of smoke. It was over, all of them were death and he had won at last.
Picaro took a deep breath and fell on his knees, all of his hardships would finally come to their end; he could open the door to the utopia that he dreamed about for so long! But why, why wasn't he happy that those who wronged him finally got what they deserved. Could it be because Proxy had to be sacrificed as well? The only person that he even thought of as friend was…
"That's exactly what I expected from you."
Behind his black helmet, Picaro's eyes were about to burst from hearing that despised voice once again. He looked back up and saw PhantomFire, Silver Star, Proxy and the two Link Monsters all standing together and unscratched.
"N-no…" Picaro pressed his claws together to form a fist, ignoring the damage that it was causing to his body. "Why are you still alive?!"
"Did you forget what I told you about the clock when were at the start of the duel?" Silver Star asked.
Picaro looked at the ground and tried to remember. Most of what they said was just taunting so he had tried to ignore it, but those words were still in his head. Repeating over and over, mocking him for failing to finish these duelists!
"Your formation is so easy to be broken apart, just like with a clock, if one of the gears doesn't function properly, the whole thing is going to stop working. This is why people like you would never be worthy to challenge us as equals."
"You remembered it now, didn't you?" Silver Star stepped forward and pressed a button on the side of her head, causing the helmet she had put on to slide away and reveal her face once again. "Gears, they need to be put together in order to create a working mechanism. If you take them alone, every gear is as useless as the last, the same could be said about these decks. If you trust in your own powers alone, you will never be able to reach close to the achievements we had as a team."
"A team? Is that why your aces weren't destroyed?" Picaro asked and looked up at the two monsters.
"Sola's effect, while she is co-linked, monsters she is co-linked to can't be destroyed or targeted by effects." Silver Star started to explain.
"And while Phantomous is linked to a monster, he gains its effects." PhantomFire finished. It was such a simple, yet effective combo between the two siblings. Sola protects Phantomous and Phantomous copying her effect, protects Sola in return.
"Even if that's so, their attack is too low to be of any danger for me!" Picaro pointed out.
"That doesn't matter!" PhantomFire responded and played another card from his hand. "I Normal Summon ChronoGear Blue Plague and use its effect to Special Summon ChronoGear Bandwidth from my hand!"
Two simple looking monsters came on PhantomFire's field once after another. The first was Blue Plague, which was the chest of a dark grey knight armor with ghostly blue flames coming out of it. The creature had a skull covered by the strange fire for a head, but it lacked any other limps and instead used flying, or more likely floating, as its main form of movement.
The second monster was an orange robot in the shape of a Bamboo-copter but with a head whose eyes were purple and in the shape of insect-eyes and exhausts on the lower ends of its body. The monster also spotted a single blaster on top of its head.
ChronoGear Blue Plague
Level: 2/Attribute: DARK/Type:Zombie/Tuner/Effect
ATK: 400/DEF: 200
Effect: When this card is Normal Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower DARK monster from your hand. If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "ChronoGear" card: You can target 1 face-up monster on the field; gain LP equal to its ATK.
ChronoGear Bandwidth
Level: 1/Attribute: DARK/Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 0/DEF: 0
Effect: This card can't be Normal Summoned or Set. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target 1 face-up monster you control (expect this card): For the rest of this turn, if that target battles this turn, your opponent takes any battle damage you would have taken from battles involving this card instead.
"Next, because Bandwidth was summoned next to Phantomous' link, my monster will gain its effects! Circular Archive!" The Link Monster raised its left arm and the disk glowed with purple data. "Now, I activate Bandwidth's effect through Phantomous! I target one monster on the field and this turn, all damage that someone would take from battles involving it is inflicted to my opponent instead! I target Bandwidth so you will take damage equal to the difference between zero and whatever attack your monster holds!"
"But both of my monsters have over two thousand attack points!" Picaro shouted. No matter which monster his opponent was going to choose, if the attack connected, he would lose.
"Battle! I attack TurboGear Warrior with Bandwidth!" The little machine flew up and fired a small spark at the gigantic warrior that stood before it.
"Then I'm going to activate my Continuous Trap, TurboGear Burst Armor!" The card showed TurboGear Warrior blowing away its own armor to stop a barrage of missiles. "When this card activates, I reduce the attack of a monster I control to zero and gain life points equal to the attack that it lost! Naturally, I choose TurboGear Warrior!"
『Blaze Rose & Picaro LP: 900 + 2500 → 3400』
TurboGear Burst Armor (Trap) Continuous
Activate this card by targeting 1 face-up "oGear" monster that you control. Reduce that target's ATK to 0, and if you do, gain LP equal to the ATK that it lost. Monster your opponent control who's original ATK is lower than the original ATK of the targeted monster can't declare an ATK while this card is face-up on the field.
"I know what you are thinking at the moment!" Picaro boasted, holding up his claw. "It doesn't matter how much I raise my Life Points because the co-linked Phantomous gives our monsters the ability to inflict double damage, so one strike would be enough to finish me, right?"
"Actually-" The older duelist raised a hand to respond, but Picaro cut him.
"Well, while Burst Armor is face-up on the field monsters with less than twenty-five hundred attack can't declare an attack! And if you haven't noticed, none of the monsters that you control has enough attack points!"
"Not yet you mean." PhantomFire corrected him. "I don't have a monster strong enough yet, but in a moment I will."
"And how do you plan to achieve that?" Picaro asked him; there was no way he could pull something like that. "Your hand is empty and in order to summon new monsters from the Extra Deck you will need to go to your Main Phase two!"
"As you said, that would be true if I was going to summon a monster from my Extra Deck." PhantomFire held up his Duel Disk and purple sparks began to come out of it. "The beast I'm about to call out resides inside my Main Deck!"
"But how-! Phantomous' third effect!" The realized hit Picaro.
He couldn't have stopped them from winning no matter how many set cards he had on his field. It was just impossible because ChronoGears and AstroGears were working as one. With fifty life points, they gave both him and Blaze Rose a chance to prove themselves, to prove that either of them, on their own, could be better before the power of partnership. What irritated him the most about the situation was that the Greysons were going to prove their own point to be the right one.
"What the?" Suddenly, Picaro noticed something from the corner of his eyes, a glowing light coming from inside the Data Storm where Playmaker was dueling. Revolver was retreating! "D-… Damn you!" He held out his claw to activate the closing program.
"He's going to kill Playmaker!" Proxy shouted.
It was too late, Picaro closed his claws together and brought the Data Storm together. That was the end of LINK VRAINS' hero! Or so he thought.
A hallow gasp escaped Picaro's throat as his claws were suddenly pierced by some sort of dark purple hyper expanded claw or maybe even a tentacle. Tracing its origins, the demonic Knight of Hanoi came to stared at PhantomFire, the torn piece of cloth that the ChronoGear duelist wore on his back had turned into four long features that looked more like insect legs than anything else.
Picaro winched and felt the codes stored within his left arm starting to change and the data Storm that he was trying to close suddenly stopped to change its size. His legs began to lose strength and he fell on his knees, Phantom had managed to hack into his body, turn it against him!
"Now, the effect of Diabolic Phantomous activates!" PhantomFire shouted and his monster threw its left arm forward, opening a space-time portal with the disk it carried. "I return Bandwidth to my deck to Special Summon a different ChronoGear monster! Come out, Mad Phantomous the Time Slayer!"
Several purple lightnings shot out of Diabolic Phantomous' disk after which came out and the monster - a human male. His eyes were red and emotionless, white hair whose upper layer juts upward while the lower layer arches down similar to both Yusei Fudo and Timegazer Magician and a large black and red horns pointing from his head while a red scarf hide most of his face. The monster's outfit had a heavy steampunk feeling to it. He was wearing an open dark brown trench coat with yellow armor covering his chest and stomach, a half-clock mechanisms were present on both his arms and legs with wheels attached to the sides of his robotic boots and blades resting inside his heavy gauntlets. The monster also spotted golden arced blade-like frames which were wrapped around its waist like a belt. There was also a pair of jets attached to its back, similar to those of Junk Warrior.
Mad Phantomous the Time Slayer
Level: 6/Attribute: DARK/Type: Fiend/Effect
ATK: 2500/DEF: 1800
Effect: (This card is always treated as a "ChronoGear" card.) Once per turn: You can Tribute 1 other face-up DARK monster you; send all face-up monsters your opponent controls with DEF lower than that monster's ATK on the field to the GY, then you can have this card gains the effects of 1 monster send to the GY by this effect, until the end of this turn. If a "ChronoGear" card(s) you control is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can Special Summon 1 "ChronoGear" monster from your hand, Deck, or GY, but shuffle it into the Deck during the End Phase of your turn after it was Special Summoned. You can only use each effect of "Mad Phantomous the Time Slayer" once per turn.
"Battle!" PhantomFire pointed toward his opponent and his monster leaned forward.
Pressing his arms on the ground, the new Phantomous took a started position and the large gears attached to its back opened up. The made-up demon wings came from the sides along with for jets, the metal boots' parts moved up to cover his knees as wheels took the lower part of its feet. The demon turned its jets on and got fired forward. It clenched its fists, the blades inside his heavy gauntlets coming out, he swung his arms over TurboGear Warrior, slashing at the robotic monster. He left a V-shaped wound on its chest. TurboGear Warrior pulled back, its arms fell off and then, its whole body exploded with so much energy that it launched Picaro and Blaze Rose.
『Blaze Rose & Picaro LP: 3400 - 5000 → 0』
『Winner: Silver Star & PhantomFire』
"Tell me, aren't we just the best?" PhantomFire asked and retraced back his insect legs which turned back to a piece of torn cloth. Only difference was that now he was also holding Picaro's claws. "Whops, that came off." The young man looked at the hand and then shrugged. "Eh, a trophy."
"You won again." Picaro was lying in the other end of the roof, his left arm completely missing because PhantomFire was holding it. "Or did you?" The demonic knight, despite the pain running through his body at the moment, managed to get himself to kneel up. "There is no removal program for the virus that I used on Blaze Rose and Gloomy Ruby. Heh, they are both going to die and that's because of you. Live with that, 'heroes'."
The black helmet on Picaro's head began to slowly break and the lower half of it suddenly fell off. Intentionally or not was unsure, but it did give Phantom, Silver and Proxy a glimpse on Rocketeer's smirking from underneath his suit, before the whole body disappeared and he logged out.
"So, all of this was for nothing?" Proxy turned toward the other two duelists. "I got here, was used as a bait to make you two show up for a mad man and after all of that we were unable to make a difference?"
The Greysons glanced at each other and smirked before grabbing the younger duelist by the arms. They both pulled her to get between them and then ruffled her hair. The BrioGear used tried to protest, but she was no match for the older duelists' strength.
"Silly, this isn't the end." Silver Star told her and leaned in, pressing their cheeks against one another.
"Thanks to you leading us to Picaro we were able to get his most important device." PhantomFire stated and pulled out the torn claws. "If that's what he used to control all of that data, there should be some information about the virus somewhere inside of it."
"Oh…" Proxy nodded, then rubbed the back of her head unsure what to say next. "So, what's going to happen from here on?"
"Well, now we all know about our online personas, that isn't such a big thing." PhantomFire shrugged. "But after all of this, I guess it wouldn't be bad if we teach you a few things. What do you say?"
"I don't really know." Proxy sighed. She logged in just because she wanted to help someone, not because she was looking for a duel or anything like that. "What about Playmaker? I'm his partner!"
"You sure are." Silver smiled and patted the younger girl's shoulder. "So, as his partner, shouldn't you be there when he gives Blue Angel the removal program?"
"R-right!"
Proxy's POV
I surfed through the data back toward the church with PhantomFire and Silver Star following after me. As we began to get closer I noticed that a good amount of the building, probably an entire wall and some were, was completely destroyed. I jumped off my D-Board and fell through the large opening, landing a few feet away from a man in a suit and an altar with Blue Angel's body on it. As soon as I hit the ground, he both moved to block my path.
"Who are you?" The man in the suit demanded to know, he had Duel Disk, so it seemed that he was ready to challenge me.
"She's not a treat, Zaizen." PhantomFire said and he landed beside me along with Silver Star.
I glanced at the two legendary duelists and then back to the man in the suit. Zaizen – so he had to be Aoi's older brother. Blaze Rose had told me that SOL were going to try and capture Playmaker, but seeing the reason behind that now, I couldn't help but sympathize with Zaizen. PhantomFire and Silver Star walked over to the altar and looked at Blue Angel.
"What took you so long?" Zaizen asked them. His serious tone showed that he wasn't happy to see them for some reason.
"It's something beyond you." Silver replied and took Blue Angel's hand in her own. Both she and PhantomFire were looking at the unconscious Charisma Duelist with the love of siblings, if someone didn't know better, they might think that they and Zaizen were one family.
"Oh, are we having a family reunion here?" A female voice called out.
From the ruins of the church suddenly both Playmaker's body materialized as well as that of some woman with silver bangs, a black suit and a mask covering the lower half of her face. The appearance of them prompted Phantom and Silver to move away from the altar, but they both smirked and crossed their arms while looking at Playmaker. It made me feel awkward for being in the company of something that has such a goofy face, so I stepped back away.
"Here is the removal program." Playmaker said and raised his hand over Blue Angel. "With this she will…" His hand began to glow green and then the data began to fall on Blue Angel's body, getting absorbed inside her. After a moment, a small smile formed on the Charisma Duelist's face and her body disappeared.
"Where's Aoi?"
"Seems she was able to log out." The silver haired woman reassured Zaizen, and me in particularly.
"That means…" I smiled a little as Zaizen realized that his sister was back.
"So, Playmaker and the Dark Ignis." Phantom stepped toward him. At the same time, Silver pulled me closer to herself and shook her head, without saying a word, she told me not to interfere.
"What do you mean 'Dark'?" Ai asked furiously. "I'm a nice guy!"
"Heh, so you haven't realized that each one of you was designed after one of the attributes in Duel Monsters?" PhantomFire asked with a smirk, then raised his hand toward Playmaker. "Anyways, I don't think we had the pleasure to meet each other before."
I couldn't tell if he was trying to be hostile toward Playmaker or not with these gestures and the way he talked to him. But, PhantomFire and Silver Star never tried to interfere with Playmaker's actions before and they showed up in LINK VRAINS just to help me and not to hunt him down, or so I wanted to believe. After Rocketeer turned out to have been my enemy all along, I don't think that I would be ready for another betrayal so soon and by those who gave me a place to live nonetheless.
Playmaker glanced at his hand and then turned around. "I don't have time for such things."
'Well, I understand if you don't trust them, but not accepting a handshake is a bit rude, you know?' I thought as Playmaker made his way out.
"Oh? You're already leaving?" I head the masked woman asked after Playmaker, but he didn't respond to her and just logged out. "So cool."
"Yeah…" I nodded in agreement, despite how rude he was to people, there was something cool about Playmaker that just made people interested in him.
"Ahem." The masked woman cleared her throat and then glanced at me from the corner of her eyes. "It's not like I mind some girl company, but why are you still here?"
"Huh?" I titled my head to the side, true as Playmaker's partner people should expect me to stick closer to him, but I arrived were with Phantom and Silver, so I was going to-! "Ah, they already left too? S-sorry! I'm going right now!"
I waved goodbye to the masked woman and Zaizen, then pressed the log out button on my Duel Disk and let my body disappear from the virtual world. Overall, today was an absolute failure for me. I came to search for a removal program of the virus, yet ended up being a damsel in distress. Only Playmaker was able to cure Blue Angel, but the other two victims were unconscious. I was a failure today, but it wasn't so bad because finally I'm determined to do something. To save Blaze Rose and Gloomy Ruby as well as putting a stop to Hanoi's schemes. I might have lost several fights today, but it didn't matter because all of this was just the beginning.
Unseen cards:
ChronoGear Time Leap (Trap) Continuous
Once per Battle Phase, when a DARK monster you control battles: You can activate this effect; that monster isn't destroyed by the battle, and all damage you would have taken is halved. At the end of the damage step, shuffle your monster into the deck, then Special Summon 1 "ChronoGear" monster with a different Level from your Deck. If you control a Level 6 or higher "ChronoGear" monster, you can send this card to the GY; Special Summon 1 "ChronoGear" monster from your Deck.
A/N: Well, that's the end of this chapter. I have to say, despite how much I love to write Tag-Duels, I really seem to suck at them. Funny was also how hard it was for me to come up with Picaro and Blaze Rose's card effects to make sure they will be able to survive until the end. You don't know, but PhantomFire's (Evan) ChronoGear cards and Silver Star's (Avice) AstroGear cards were made sometime around the time when I first began to write this story, so the cards that you saw them use right now? Yeah, all of them were made long time ago and I had no scripts for this duel, so they weren't prepared in advance. The only difference I had to make to any of the cards before publicing this was with PhantomFire's field spell because for some reason it had "ChronoDevil" writen in place of the "ChronoGear".
This time I'm not going to talk about the latest episode of Vrains because there would be spoilers if I do, but it was pretty awesome! I'm only disappointed in Blood Shepherd's past. No, not because his backstory is bad, but because that guy was an idiot to trust 100% of an A.I. and then blame everything on the A.I.s when something bad happens. Actually, that reminds me a lot to Dr. Kogami, oh well.
Thanks to matthewszabo24 for the follow.
ScalchopWarrior: Boooooo! Boooooooooo! BOOOOOOOOOO!
Now that we have that out of the way, when talking about Evan and Avice I would rather give them the "Neutral Evil" title. "Chaotic Neutral" at best. Thanks, I'm happy to hear that giving Advent Skull Archfiend to Evan wasn't that bad. Of course, you probably guessed that the moment I stated that I will give the card to someone in this story. I was also originally planning to gove Avice a ritual in this duel, but I had to change that plan due to reasons. I hope that the conclusion wasn't too lackluster.
D3lph0xL0v3r: You probably already saw it in my responses in Chapter 14, but no, Elizabeth isn't hurt or dead. She did appear in Chapter 1 after all, but I don't want to bring her back because her journery is mean to be completed in this story.
ThePLOThand: Yeah, I do plan to have Proxy lose duels that would usually put someone in big trouble or even cost their lives if lost. I can't state firmly which duels she is going to lose, but there are going to be such.
Before ending this chapter, there are some things I want to say. First, you guys probably remember about those special arcs I mentioned in previous chapters, so, the next few chapters are indeed going to be one of those "special" arcs that aren't canon to the VRAINS anime. Second, I want to ask you if anyone could suggest me a good alternative deck for Revolver. No, I don't want the generic Hanoi deck to be used by him, I'm wondering if there is a good deck in the current game that could work as the alternative or should I make a fanon one? I can't tell you the reason why I'm asking for your suggestions, only that it would become clear during the Tower of Hanoi Arc. So, if you guys have a good suggestion for a deck, tell me and if I like it, I will respond back. I will be open for your suggestions until the start of the Another Arc, which in the anime is Episode 022. So you are going to have a lot of time.
Thanks to everyone who gave up on some of their time to read all of this and those who will respond to my guestion for Revolver's alternative deck.
Diabolic Tracer Out!