Frost in One's Heart

So, I waited for Toxic to make his move while I also made sure to keep an eye out for PhantomFire who was in a disadvantageous fist fight with two robots. Go figure where Blacloud and his men were able to get these combat oriented A.I.s, but they weren't my problem at the problem. Instead I had to find a way to win a duel when the main thing that my deck's entire play style is based around can no longer be used. Though I currently had three monsters, two of which were Links, I wasn't sure that they would last for much longer.

"Firs-s-st, I'm going to S-s-summon Goblin Marauding S-s-squadron (Lv.4, ATK: 1900)!" A large army of green goblins, all of which wore a purple dress and had a yellow wig on their heads appeared on the field. "Now, they are going to attack BrioGear Lotaxol!"

The monsters all charged at my weakest Link and jumped on top of it. Lotaxol had just 600 attack points, so if I let the attack go as it is, I would lose 1300 Life Points, which is more than what I could spare at the moment.

"I activate BrioGear Enhance Mermail's effect!" I declared and my mermaid pointed at my other two monsters. "My Link monster can halve BrioGear Wave Crusade's attack and then give the lost amount to BrioGear Lotaxol!"

BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 1700 / 2 → 850

BrioGear Lotaxol, ATK: 600 + 850 → 1450

My BrioGear Wave Crusade dropped its sword, feeling weaken because of this effect while Lotaxol grew bigger, but it was still a far cry from Goblin Marauding S-s-squadron's 1900 attack power! The attack connected and my monster shattered to pieces, some of which flew to me, damaging my chest and legs as it was usual for duels to do in LINK VRAINS.

『Proxy LP: 2975– 450→ 2425』

"When Goblin Marauding S-s-squadron battles-s-s, they change to Defens-s-se Pos-s-sition at the end of the battle." Toxic's monsters all dropped on the ground fast asleep as their ATK of 1900 was replaced with a DEF of 0! Was that his deck's weakness? That most of the monsters – if we exclude Goblin of Greed of course - were offense based and had 0 defense!

"My turn is-s-s not over yet." Toxic stated and pressed to play the last card in his hand. "I activate Card of Demis-s-se! This S-s-spell, at the cos-s-st of you taking no further Battle Damage this turn and locking away all of my S-s-special S-s-summoning for the turn let's-s-s me draw until my hand holds-s-s three cards-s-s! Of cours-s-se, I will have to dis-s-scard the cards-s-s I don't play at the end of this turn, so I'm going to s-s-set two of them!"

I bit my lip, he had gotten himself a new hand and there were three set cards that I had to worry about for the time being. Just the thing I needed when I finally find out a possible way to win this duel!

"I now end my turn and dis-s-scard the las-s-st card that's-s-s in my hand!" Toxic finished, grabbing the card and shattering it to pieces. "Your move, girl."

"During the end of this turn, the effect of BrioGear Enhance Mermail will the attack of my monsters to normal." I pointed out as my BrioGear Wave Crusade held up his sword again.

BrioGear Wave Crusade, ATK: 850 → 1700

"Ok then." I took a step back and braced myself, putting my fingers on the top card of my deck I could only hope that the card I was about to draw wouldn't be something connected to discarding, since that would more likely than not end up being a dead draw. Come on, I know that I can trust in you, my cards! "My turn, draw!"

『Turn 4 [Proxy] LP: 2425 Hand: 4』

The card that I just drew… it was Eisbahn – a continuous Trap with the ability to change all non-WATER monsters to Defense Position upon their summoning. Although it didn't require any discarding, Toxic wouldn't need any more monsters to take down mines! That's unless I…

"Before you continue with your turn, I will us-s-se this chance to activate my Trap!" Toxic hissed and one of his set cards flipped face-up showing a goblin in officer armor with two other behind him. "My Continuous Trap, Minor Goblin Official is going to inflict five hundred damage to your during each of your Standby Phases, including this one!"

I felt a sharp pain in my back and fell on my knees while parts of my body turned to static for a moment before returning back to normal.

『Proxy LP: 2425– 500→ 1925』

This was getting worse than I expected, now I had to duel faster around the clock. Good news were that if he didn't reduce my Life Points any more I would still have three more turns before he dwelled away all of my Life Points. Bad news were that if he was able to inflict any more damage to me, my time was going to be cut shorter.

"During my Main Phase, I'm going to tribute BrioGear Enhance Mermail and BrioGear Wave Crusade to Tribute Summon BrioGear Leviathan Dragon (Lv.7, ATK: 2600)!" It might look illogical for me to give up on two monsters for one, but I had to keep strong monsters on my field to avoid taking any more battle damage. "I activate BrioGear Leviathan Dragon's effect! Once per turn, I can Special Summon a BrioGear monster from my Graveyard! Raise once more, BrioGear Enhance Mermail (ATK: 1700, Link-2)!"

Now I surely had enough firepower to get rid of my opponent's monsters and clear a path for a direct attack next turn! Then I will also be able to revive BrioGear Wave Crusade and attack him with at least three monsters at once!

"Battle! BrioGear Leviathan Dragon attack-!"

"Not so fas-s-st!" Toxic hissed at me and raised one of his arms forward. One of the set cards on his field formed showing a group of goblins blocking a wave of enemy knights with their shields. "Continuous Trap activate! Goblin Defens-s-se Formation! While I control a Defense Position monster with zero defense, monsters on my field can't be destroyed by battle or card effects!"

Goblin Defense Formation (Trap) Continuous

While you control a Defense Position monster with 0 DEF; monsters you control can't be destroyed by battle or card effects. If this card would be destroyed, you can Tribute 1 monster instead.

"What?!" I looked at BrioGear Leviathan Dragon whose attack was dying down. With the effect of the trap even if I attacked none of his monsters were going to be destroyed and players don't take damage from battles with Defense Position monsters. He blocked my attacks just as well, as he blocked my card effects!

"Now your mons-s-sters-s-s, a duelis-s-st's arms-s-s and legs-s-s, were cut off from doing anything!" Toxic laughed and licked his lips. "The bos-s-s-s-s-s is-s-s going to be happy to hear that I s-s-send both of you into the abys-s-s-s-s-s!"

I looked at the other cards in my hand before biting my lips. They were useless in this situation! I wanted to cry, PhantomFire, Blaze Rose, Gloomy Ruby, everyone's fates were in my hands; in my useless hands that couldn't win a single Master Duel! I was such a weakling that it embarrassed me to find how pathetic I can be.

"Why do you look so defeated?" I turned toward PhantomFire who looked back at me while holding off the two robots with his arms alone. He narrowed his eyes and they became sharped while looking at mine; like he was scolding me with his gaze alone. "There are thirty two more cards in your deck. Twenty two cards that can win you the duel if you believe in both yourself and them. Never give up, even if you have just one Life Points and a single card, there is still a chance for you to win!"

"How do you plan to win when your mons-s-sters-s-s have become us-s-seles-s-s-s-s-s?" Toxic rubbed his arms together. I looked at my cards once again and was unsure what to do next; what I could even do? If there truly was an answer, I haven't drawn to it yet!

"I'm going to set a card and end my turn." A card appeared before me on the field. That was the only thing that I could do for the time being. Please, my deck, give me an answer sooner rather than later!

"S-s-setting a card? That means-s-s that you are going to continue the duel? Then I won't have any mercy! During your End Phas-s-se I activate my Trap, Back to the Front! This-s-s trap let's-s-s me revive Goblin Black Ops-s-s (Lv.4, DEF: 0) from my Graveyard!" A group of goblins in black ninja outfits climbed from the Graveyard to join those who were already on the field. "My turn then! Draw!"

『Turn 5 [Toxic] LP: 4500 Hand: 1』

"Pathetic invaders-s-s!" Toxic hissed at me, his snake tongue coming out from his mouth while he spoke. "Trying to challenge us-s-s, destroy our bus-s-siness-s-s-s-s. The criminal empire that our boss created was-s-sn't born for an s-s-single night and it will take more than two nobodies-s-s to challenge it's-s-s might! When I'm done, both of you are going to dis-s-sapppear in the dark abys-s-s-s-s of VRAINS-s-s! Nobody will ever remembered your names-s-s nor ask what happened, you both are going to be forgotten from his-s-story its-s-self!"

I panted waiting for him to make his move. I didn't believe that it would end with the outcome that Toxic was believing into. Even if I fell, even if I died here, PhantomFire would surely pass and save the others! I didn't want this to be my final destination, to end engulfed by the darkness and coldness of a digital realm, but if things came to the worst, I had someone whom I could trust to finish what we started.

"I'm going to change Goblin Black Ops-s-s to Attack Pos-s-sition!" Toxic's monsters raised up, holding their various weapons while facing against me. "Unfortunately Goblin Marauding S-s-squadron can't be changed to attack until two turns after it attacked, but Goblin Black Ops-s-s is-s-s able to attack you directly by ignoring the mons-s-sters-s-s between us-s-s! Go! Goblin Black Ops-s-s attacks you directly for one thous-s-sand and three hundred damage!"

"Kyyyaaaa!" All of Toxic's ninja monsters jumped on me and slashed at my body, leaving large red wounds into my digital body before kicking me into the dirty, reducing my Life Points by a huge amount. I now had only one turn left to win!

『Proxy LP: 1925 – 1300→ 625』

"When Goblin Black Ops-s-s declare an attack they change to Defens-s-se afterward!" The ninja goblins all fell on the ground fast asleep just like the previous ones. "Do you s-s-still believe that there is hope for you to win? If s-s-so, then I'm going to activate Hammer S-s-shot to destroy your monster with the highes-s-st attack!"

BrioGear Leviathan Dragon suddenly became darker as a large shadow hanged over it. I looked up and my eyes widened as a giant hammer fell down, slamming onto my dragon and destroying it to pieces. The shockwave that followed after that effect resolved sent be rolling across the ground. Even though I still had BrioGear Enhance Mermail on my field, with Toxic's trap making his monsters indestructible, her attack manipulating effects were useless!

"With this-s-s, my turn is-s-s done." Toxic finished and it was my move next.

I put a hand on top of my deck and prepared to draw, the effect of Minor Goblin Official was going to inflict 500 damage during my Standby Phase, dropping my Life Points to just 125. If I didn't get the cards needed to turn the duel around with this draw, my next one wouldn't matter!

"My turn, draw!" And I hoped that it was a good draw…

『Turn 6 [Proxy] LP: 625 Hand: 3』

I looked at the card that I drew and took in a soft breath. This card… it wasn't what I needed… Not even close!

"During your S-s-standby Phase, the effect of Minor Goblin Official activates-s-s! You take five hundred damage!" I gasped as a laser shot through my chest. The pain dropped my on knees along with the rest of my already low Life Points.

『Proxy LP: 625 – 500→ 125』

"Your Life Points-s-s are clos-s-se to zero!" Toxic laughed at me and opened his mouth to show his snake tongue once again. "Do you feel des-s-spair now? During your next S-s-standby Phas-s-se, the effect of my trap will s-s-seal your fate!"

"I activate my set card, Eisbahn." I muttered, activating my set card. "When you summon a monster, unless its attribute is water, it will automatically be changed to Defense Position."

"Pointles-s-s-s-s-s! I won't need to s-s-summon any other mons-s-sters-s-s to finis-s-sh you off! Give up and your end is going to be les-s-s-s-s painful that the other intruder."

"N-no!" I stood my ground and clenched my fist. I wasn't going to fall into despair because of this, instead I was going to listen to what PhantomFire told me and put all of my hope into this deck. "M-my… My comeback starts now! I activate the Spell Card, Magic Planter! With its effect, I send my Continuous Trap, Eisbahn, to the Graveyard in order to draw two new cards from my deck!"

"What?!"

I held the two cards that I was about to draw and sighed deeply. It was all or nothing, a survival or death depending on what cards I was given. If not for me, then give me power to move forward for everyone else! Please, my deck, hear me!

"This is…" A draw that would determine my destiny, my future! "Destiny Draw!"

I looked at the cards that I drew and one of them caught my eye. It was the perfect thing that I needed for this to work!

"I tribute BrioGear Enhance Mermail to set a monster!" First, a good line of defense in case he tries to finish me with an attack from his goblins… "Then I'm going to set a card and end my turn!"

It was all done, my turn was over, and all the pieces were in places. Next turn, I will draw my last card and end the duel with a victory!

"Ending your turn by Tributing S-s-summoning a face-down mons-s-ster? Are you a fool, thinking that I would end up attacking it?" Toxic titled his head to the side, then licked his lips. "I'm going to put an end to you s-s-struggle for good. My turn!"

『Turn 7 [Toxic] LP: 4500 Hand: 1』

Toxic looked at the card that he drew and then nodded, mumbling something to himself. Was he going to play something? I sweated a little, despite how iron sure my strategy was; I felt nervous that he might have something that could disrupt my plans.

"I end my turn!" Toxic shouted and threw his head backward laughing. "This-s-s is-s-s your end! Take the damage of my Minor Goblin Official and go to hell with your partner in crime!"

"Are you sure about that?" I gave PhantomFire a surprised glance since we said those words in unison. He smirked back at me and jumped in the air, his insect arms swinging and cutting through the robots' bodies. He then landed on his feet and held his arms out, grabbing the A.I.s decapitated heads. He drew the robots' parts into the abyss and nodded to me.

"Now, finish this duel!" I nodded to the request and threw my hand forward.

"During the end of your turn, I activate my Trap – BrioGear Freezing Waves!" My card flipped face-up showing an artwork of several humans in white clothes decorated with ice standing on top a frozen mountain with several monsters trapped within the ice.

BrioGear Freezing Waves (Trap) Continuous

Activate this card by Tributing 1 WATER monster; put 1 Ice Counter on a face-up card on the field for every 500 DEF that the monster had on the field. Apply the following effect on cards with an Ice Counter on then, expect for "BrioGear" cards:

Cards with an Ice Counter have their effects negated, also monsters with an Ice Counter can't attack or change their Battle Positions.

During each of your End Phases, remove 1 Ice Counter from the field or destroy this card.

"This card can be activated by Tributing a WATER monster that I control!" I declared and gestured forward, my set monster breaking to pieces which turned into six pieces of ice. "I Tributed the three thousand defense points BrioGear Madoor which means that I get to put six ice counter on the field!"

The six pieces of ice shot out, hitting the ground in several places. The floor on which we were standing began to freeze and its color changed to a pale blue as all of our cards - Toxic's Goblin Marauding Squadron, Goblin of Greed, Goblin Defense Formation, Goblin Black Ops, and Minor Goblin Official along with my BrioGear Freezing Waves – were covered in ice, leaving the cards inside the unbreakable frozen water. Toxic hissed and fell back, ice starting to cover his feet as well as the field.

"W-what happens-s-s?" He hissed as his legs got completely covered by the ice.

"My turn, I draw!" I shouted and drew my next card.

『Turn 6 [Proxy] LP: 125 Hand: 3』

"I Normal Summon Deep Sea Diva (Lv.2, ATK: 2)!" a pinkish mermaid in white robes appeared on my field, completely unfazed by the ice environment. "Next, when Deep Sea Diva is summoned, I can Special Summon a level three or lower Sea Serpent from my hand! I choose to Summon BrioGear Rime Dweller!"

A large green fish with sharp edges of its back and the ends of its tail appeared on the field. The monster had four mutated fins on the side of its body that caused them to take an appearance similar to claws. A series of clock gears started from its belly and reached all the way up to his neck where it tied around like a collar. Instead of eyes, the monster had two spikes on place of each and two mouths filled with small, but sharp teeth.

BrioGear Rime Dweller

Level: 3/Attribute: WATER/Type: Sea Serpent/Effect

ATK: 1300/DEF: 0

Effect: If this card is Special Summoned: Draw 1 card. If this card is send from your hand to the GY; destroy 1 card on the field.

"When Rime Dweller is Special Summoned, I get to draw a card!" I did so, getting BrioGearStrike Barrier; perfect! "Next, I'm going to activate Cryo Raptor's effect from my hand, Special Summoning itself and one Level two or lower monster from my Graveyard! Come, BrioGear Platosteus (Lv.2, DEF: 100)!"

Both of my monsters came out of portals and landed on my field next to the previous two. Although their stats were too low to do anything significant with them alone, I wasn't planning to just stop there. It was time to bring out the big guns!

"When BrioGear Platosteus is Special Summoned I can add a monster with two thousand or more attack to my hand! I add BrioGear Bubble Sea!" Although the monster had 2100 ATK, I already used my Normal Summon for this turn, so I couldn't call it. "Now appear, circuit of life!"

A huge circuit appeared right above me and I gestured toward my monsters. BrioGear Platosteus and BrioGear Cryo Raptor turned into arrows of ice before flying into the middle top and middle bottom arrows of the circuit which then burst with energy.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two Level 3 or lower Effect Monsters! I set BrioGear Cryo Raptor and Platosteus in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The dancing spirit of storms! Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, LINK-2)!"

"Another Link S-s-summon at this-s-s time!" Toxic's eyes widened. My ace landed in the Right Extra Monster Zone and turned toward me, giving a nod before activating her bow. Thank you for always being with me, Serene.

"To the deeps of the ocean I call for the strength to protect this world!" I exclaimed as Deep Sea Diva turned into two rings that flew around BrioGear Rime Dweller. "Summoning conditions are a water tuner and one or more non-tuner monsters! I tune BrioGear Rime Dweller to Deep Sea Diva! Synchro Summon! Slash through the endless waves of evil! BrioGear Howling Guardian (Lv.5, ATK: 2400)!"

Next, my Synchro monster landed behind Serene with a groan. Ok then, everything is in place, time to start the countdown!

"I equip the Equip Spell, BrioGearStrike Barrier to Grand Ranger Serene!" My monster raised her arm and the bow attached to it got covered in ice along with her hand, making it slightly larger in appearance. "A monster equipped with BrioGear Strike Barrier can inflict piercing damage!"

BrioGear Strike Barrier (Spell) Equip

If the equipped monster attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent. If the equipped monster destroys an opponent's monster by battle: You can discard 1 WATER monster from your hand; the equipped monster can attack again.

"Let's go!" I pushed my fist forward, signaling for Serene to jump into action. "I attack Goblin Black Ops with Grand Ranger Serene!" My monster fired an arrow, which break into several smaller ones that hit every single member of the black ops.

『Toxic LP: 4500 -2100→ 2400』

"Damn you!" Toxic hissed as the ice covered more parts of his body. "Your attack was-s-sn't enough to defeat me!"

"The effect of Grand Ranger Serene activates!" My monster aimed her bow at Toxic who looked back at it with wide eyes. "When Serene 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 BrioGear Howling Guardian to the Graveyard to inflict two thousand and four hundred points of damage to you! Howling Arrow!"

"Noo!" I just turned away and let my monster to finish her attack. Toxic screamed as an arrow of ice piercing through his chest and the duel ended with a victory for me.

『Toxic LP: 2400 - 2400 → 0 Hand: 1』

『Winner: Proxy』

"That wasn't too horrible of a performance." PhantomFire walked over to me, his arms crossed and his outfit no longer having the insect legs on its back. "There might be just a little bit more than a complete weakling in you."

"Thanks." I was already used to him talking down to me, so I was taking words like 'weakling' as a compliment when it came from PhantomFire or Silver Star. I then turned back toward Toxic who was lying on the ground with ice covering most of his body, excluding the head of course; he was trapped without anywhere to go. "A deal is a deal. I beat you in a duel now you are going to let us get inside your boss' fortress and clear this whole misunderstanding."

"You thought that I was-s-s s-s-serious when I told you that winning a duel would give you permis-s-s-s-s-sion to enter?" I narrowed my eyes, so the whole duel was just a waste of time? "My job was-s-s to kill the two of you! And if s-s-sending large robots-s-s and dueling won't be enough to put you to an eternal res-s-st, then I'm going to s-s-send you to the abyss like this-s-s!"

The small entrance platform before the door began to shake violently and I fell on my back from losing balance. Toxic threw his head back and began to laugh loudly while PhantomFire could only kneel down to avoid falling like I did. With every passing second, the platform was shaking more and more violently with pieces of it starting to fall off and the bolts to come lose; we were going to fall any moment! Looking around for something to grab onto was useless as well, the platform that got us here was no longer there and an energy shield protected the locked door.

Something snapped and the platform came tumbling down with us still standing on it. There was nothing for me to reach and grab onto, slowly, my feet began to separate from the platform as a distance began to grow up between us due to the difference in weight.

"Hold on!" As I was falling down the abyss, a red thread came out of nowhere and attached itself to my waist, bringing my fall to an abrupt stop. I looked up and saw PhantomFire, his right hand outstretched toward me with the red string attached to the back of his wrist while the left one held onto another string on the fortress's wall. I breathed in relief and held onto the red matter that saved me, closing my eyes. Mentally, I thanked to every god and saint that I knew about for saving my life.

"Come on…" My body began to slowly raise from the abyss and I opened my eyes to see what was happening.

The red threads were slowly retracting back into PhantomFire's wrists, brining both me and him closer to the wall of the fortress. The thorn parts of Phantom's outfit transformed into the four insect legs once again and stuck themselves into the building. He turned around and fired his second thread at my body, pulling me faster than he did before.

"That bastard killed himself trying to get the two of us. Blacloud's men are serious business…" PhantomFire keep muttering under his nose. He pulled me up and held me in his arms around the waist. "I take back what I said about that bastard, he is a big fish now."

"How is he not dead?" I asked. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want anyone to die, but both of us saw his severed head being thrown around by those assassins, so it would make someone curious what the heck was going on there, wouldn't it?

"An imposter. Either this Blacloud or the one we saw before was an imposter." I nodded, this theory sounded to be very possible. If Blacloud is that big of a deal then either he or enemies of him would use an imposter. "Doesn't matter which one is who though since we are still going to kick this bastard's ass, get the data I need and then get the heck out of his server before any more crazy people come looking for my ass. And since we are partners, probably yours too."

"Because a cyber-criminal syndicate as an enemy was just the type of thing that I needed." I began to sweat just at the thought about the many bad possible outcomes. It made my fear of Hanoi pale in comparison.

"You will have to get used to it, a cyber-criminal syndicate like Blacloud's or a cyber-terrorist group like the Knights of Hanoi, you are already on the hit list of at least one group known for causing mass destruction." A chill ran down my spine, was he trying to make me more afraid than I already was? "Don't worry though, both I and Avice will break the arms of anyone who tries to hurt you."

At least his last words made me smile a bit in relief. PhantomFire moved me around so that he was holding me with one of his arms and pressed the other one against the wall. A red glow appeared on the back of his wrist before it moved toward his fingers and from then it moved on through the wall, drawing a large circle in it. The size was big enough for both of us to get inside with a problem.

"Hold on tight." PhantomFire told me and the wall broke into small pieces of pixels. The four insect arms on his back quickly stuck themselves toward the floor inside the building and we were pulled inside, landing on hard ground. Afterward, he retraced the additional limbs and pressed his hand on the ground, closing his eyes.

"So, um, what are you doing exactly?" I asked him, seeing that he was focusing for no apparent reason.

"I'm waiting." He told me. "You didn't think that we were going to do all of this on our own, did you? I'm waiting for Avice to track down Ghost Girl's avatar. She must have been able to sneak inside the building by now."

"How are you planning to do that? If she is a professional then there is a huge possibility that she deletes her login data to avoid getting her data hacked." At least that's how Kusanagi told me that Yusaku was able to hide from both the Knights of Hanoi and SOL Technology for all this time.

PhantomFire opened one of his eyes and looked at me with a somewhat off-putting smile over his face. The part of it that made me feel like it was something bad was, strangely, how genuinely amused it made him look. It was… I don't know to put it, but the closest thing it resembled were the expressions that Elizabeth made when I told her something stupid but also funny during out studding sessions. Or maybe the off-putting thing was how similar he was to her in term of facial features.

"Ghost Girl has SOL Technology purchasing from her, so she wouldn't have to worry about attacks from hackers. Playmaker however, well, in order to delete your login data you have to first log out. Doing it while the user is inside could cause some problems including loss of short-term memories and such. Because of that, it's easiest to get information about your target while they are logged in."

So that was how they knew that I was Playmaker's partner. Evan and Avice knew Playmaker's identity because they used his fights with Hanoi as distractions to hack into his account. The huge amount of media attention that is thrown at Yusaku every time he logs in allows them to easily track down when he is inside the network by simply following the LINK VRAINS' News feeds! These true truly are more than just legendary duelists, they are able to use the environment and the events around them to make every situation to adapt with them!

"She is two corridors from here… twenty nine floors above us." PhantomFire stood back up and looked around. The corridor we were into was clear, no cameras, security or henchmen trying to kill us. "Hold onto my back, it's time I stop moving so slow."

I didn't know what he meant by 'stop moving so slow', but knowing him so far it was probably going to be something crazy and not very safe, so I wrapped my arms and legs tightly around his back and waist, holding with all of my strength. The torn pieces of his outfit raised upward once again, but this time instead of separating into four pieces and turning into insect legs, they just grew larger and turned into hard and sharp bat wings. No, not bat wings, more like the wings of a demon… which did look similar to those of a bat, but come on, there are some key differences like the lack of a huge claw-like ornament on top of the bat's wings.

"I'm going full speed!" PhantomFire shouted and jumped forward, his wings didn't move, but his body shot forward like it had a rocket attached to his back.

"HHHHYYYAAAAAAAAAAA!" I pressed my face against his back and closed my eyes. Just feeling the wind against my body was enough to scare me and I didn't need to watch him trying to navigate through such a closed space while flying with fifty miles per hour!

3rd POV

Meanwhile, in a different part of Blacloud's fortress, around less than twenty five floors above PhantomFire and Proxy was Ghost Girl. The infamous treasure hunter had no problems sneaking inside the secured fortress using her stealth data as an advantage. Although it was heavy so she had to drop it as soon as she got inside the base, there weren't much problems on her way. At least not until PhantomFire and Proxy broke inside, triggering a silent alarm that got every single underling of Blacloud on high alert and patrolling around.

The guards did make it harder for her to pass around unnoticed, but she was already used to sneaking behind people's backs. After all, she didn't have her stealth data from the start but developed it after many, many jobs and obtaining enough experience to know how others could trace her and how to avoid their methods or make them useless.

"Hmm, Phantom made such a noisy entrance that by the time he makes it all the way to here, I would have already gotten everything that I need and some more." Ghost Girl said to herself while she passed yet another corridor.

The place was huge and everything looked the same making it hard to navigate without a map, she had to give it that much design wise. While most other users from whom she had to steal usually used dangerous traps and other old tricks to keep her at bait, this fortress was designed to use an intruder's own psychic against them, make them doubt whenever or not they were just walking in a circle. Although such tricks weren't going to work on her, it did make looking for the treasures she came for that much harder since she had no idea where Blacloud could store his data inside a building where every room looked the same as the last.

"Intruders!" Suddenly, Ghost Girl stopped in her tracks and turned around to see several other users coming out of a room that she passed. Shit! Somehow they were able to find out she was there!

Or that was what the infamous treasure hunter first though, but was quickly proven wrong when the other users didn't even bat an eye in her direction and instead all of them gathered in front of a closed door, waiting for something to enter. Ghost Girl quickly moved behind a column and glanced to see what exactly was going on there. Although none of the other users were making any noise, she could still hear someone's faint screaming which was getting a little louder and louder until…

The door exploded and everyone that was around it got launched backward along with some debris that turned into pixels as soon as it hit the ground. The sudden impact, or whatever it was, that destroyed the closed door had caused a huge curtain of black smoke to raise inside the white corridor. Despite that no one else seemed to be coming, the treasure hunter stayed hidden behind the column. You could never be too cautious when invading someone else's property and given the amount of guys she had to pass around on her way here, it wouldn't be too crazy to think that there was at least half that much still making their ways down to this floor.

"You can come out, there is no point trying to hide from me, Ghost Girl." The treasure hunter's eyes widened just a bit from the sound of a familiar voice. She glanced back at the destroyed door once more to be sure that it wasn't a trap, but it really wasn't.

Out of the smoke came PhantomFire with Proxy still holding on his back. The wings suddenly began to lose their hardness and then fall down, turning back to their regular form as parts of his outfit. The ChronoGear user glanced toward the column where Ghost Girl was hiding, making her jump a bit because their eyes meet. Sighing in defeat, the treasure hunter walked away from her hiding spot and crossed her arms, trying to not look impressed to how fast Phantom was able to catch up with her. And while pretending not to care, she could also ignore the younger girl that fell off PhantomFire's back with a groan and remained on the ground holding a hand over her mouth.

"I almost threw up three times during this ride." Proxy protested quietly since her stomach was still trying to tempt her into vomiting then and there. "I'm not taking this ride. Ever. Again."

"Heh, don't worry, you are going to get used to it with time." PhantomFire turned his head to look at her and smile, before returning to his original posture, staring at the treasure hunger before him. "So, do you have something for me, or?"

"I was unable to find where he is hiding his data." Ghost Girl shook her head in defeat. Because of her pride as a skilled treasure hunter, it was hard to shallow the fact that she was unable to find the treasure. "I'm using my codes to try and locate it because checking through every single door is going to take forever and let's not mention that it would also be dangerous to try and do it that way."

"And I want to keep it that way." A hologram of Blacloud appeared between the two duelists with his arms crossed. "I have heard people complaining about you, Ghost Girl. Some of them even called you SOL Technologies' rat, so I'm surprised that you could take some time off your, probably, busy schedule to come here."

"Well, it's true that a woman as beautiful as me doesn't exactly have too much free time, I still got some to come and visit some interesting places." Ghost Girl put a hand on her hips and gestured toward the white corridor with the other. "How long has this fortress been here? I come a lot of times to this server and it's the first time that I see it. A very good design as well, did you make it yourself?"

"Enough!" Blacloud shouted at the treasure hunter. "I don't tolerate foolishness, woman! Playing stupid won't help, I know that you have come here because of a job! I don't know what it's that you are looking for, either of you, but you won't be able to find it. At least not before you die!"

"Die? Dude, I just passed through over twenty of your floors on a whim and I have yet to see anything life treating!" PhantomFire laughed at the threat and leaned against a nearby wall.

"Yes, that was a part of my plan when designing this place as well, you see?" Blacloud smirked and raised his right arm, pressing something that the hologram couldn't make out. "If someone doesn't see anything dangerous within the first few floors, they will probably drop their guard. I have other employs passing as well, so I couldn't just leave my traps activated, but now every single one of them knows to look out so it's a fair game. See you in hell, ghosts!"

With that, the message ended and the hologram disappeared leaving the duelists to wonder what he was going to throw at them. Proxy groaned while trying to get back onto her feet and Ghost Girl walked over to PhantomFire with her arms crossed. Apparently, she wasn't too happy to hear that there would be traps for them to deal with.

"Did you have to tell him that?" She asked, genuinely curious if Phantom was just playing stupid or he was an idiot by nature.

"What?" The ChronoGear user asked and pushed himself away from the wall to be sure that there was no trap behind it. "Passing through a fortress without traps in it is like eating pizza without ketchup on it! Not everyone needs to bother with it, but it makes things a little better if added. Although I wonder why he called us ghosts when I'm a phantom…"

"Is that what bothers you?!" Ghost Girl couldn't believe that guy! He was getting them in danger on purpose to get some action out of it!

"Come on! What's the worst thing that he could-!" The male duelist paused for a moment noticing something from the corner of his eye.

A wall of electricity had raised from both ends of the corridor, leaving them with nowhere else to run. The sudden paused alerted Ghost Girl and Proxy both of which moved beside PhantomFire and pressed their backs together. In an instant, the two walls of electricity both shot toward the group, aiming to electricity them in the middle!

"Huh, I don't see traps like this one so often." PhantomFire smirked and charged toward the wall, slamming his fist against it, causing a red circuit to come out of his arm.

"Where are we going anyways?"

It was eight floors and at least forty corridors since the trio had to face against Blacloud's traps and Ghost Girl had to admit that it wasn't so bad. Some of the traps like the saws floor and the flamethrowers on the wall did raise her adrenaline quite a bit, but other than that both she and PhantomFire were able to make it so far without taking any damage. Their outfits were clear and shining, maybe they even looked better than usually.

Proxy on the other hand… She had a little bit of a problem understanding how exactly she always ended up taking all of the hits when she tactically choose to walk in the middle between PhantomFire and Ghost Girl. Her hair was a mess and parts of it were missing from the acid (?) that rained on her, while her clothes were torn to shreds from the various other forms of torture that those traps put her through. She got zapped by the electric walls, unwillingly used as a makeshift weapon against PhantomFire and Ghost Girl by one of the robots that so had to be inside the building, the laser room wasn't much interesting either and did she still have ashes covering her arms and face from the flames.

"Don't worry Proxy, we should be close." Phantom told her. The youngest of the three glared daggers at the back of the man's head, feeling that he was trying to hide a smirk while talking to her!

"I didn't ask how long, but where we are going!" Proxy crossed her arms. She knew that Phantom heard her question, but he wanted to get on her nerves a little bit more than the electricity did.

"Toward the last door within this crazy place." PhantomFire told her and suddenly stopped, causing the BrioGear user to slam into his back and fall down on her back with a groan. "We are there."'

In the other end of the current corridor the group saw a grey metal door. It was right there, just a few steps away from them, but there was something wrong about it. Both PhantomFire and Ghost Girl could feel it, this was the end of the building, the last floor and the last door, but no security was put in place. Their data readings couldn't find any traces of traps either, it was just the three of them standing in an empty corridor.

The door slowly opened by itself. PhantomFire narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, ready to charge forward. When the door was midway open, a huge amount of avatars of various sizes and appearances came running toward the three. Proxy took a step back surprised while PhantomFire glanced at Ghost Girl from the corner of his eye and she got his message.

"Smoke screen!" He shouted and ran forward. The treasure hunter pulled a small black ball from her belt and threw it over his head. The little sphere blow up and smoke hide the players from view and made them cough as PhatnomFire slammed his insect legs into the ceiling above their heads, tearing a layer of it. The sound of metal cracking ChronoGear duelist groaning echoed through the corridor and after a few seconds the metal layer fell down into the smoke. When everything cleared the bodies of all the players caught by the smoke lied on the ground, trapped under the fallen ceiling.

"And that's how you win a duel against ten guys at once without using a single card." PhantomFire shook his head and walked past the players. "But I was starting to wonder where Blacloud's men were hiding."

"So, how exactly did you find out that all of our data is stored inside that room?" Ghost Girl gave the ChronoGear duelist a curious look as they made their way toward the now open door. "My devices are still unable to catch up anything, so how did yours work out?"

"I didn't know anything." PhantomFire shrugged. "I just thought that it wouldn't make sense for the storage room to look like every other one. I mean, it makes sense if you are trying to keep it hidden, but that would make things only more difficult for you, so marking it somehow would have been useful."

"So you didn't know anything?" Ghost Girl narrowed her eyes. That man, the way he acted and made his decisions was far too complicated for her to get a read of him. Although he praises himself for being a genius, most of his decisions were made based on instinct and claimless guesses.

The room they walked into was pretty big and circular with large windows covering all of the walls, giving a view toward the rest of the current level on which they were. Inside the room was a platform with a throne and the cyborg avatar of Blacloud sitting comfortably with his legs crossed. His robotic eye adjusted to look at the three newcomers.

"I'm amazed." Blacloud clapped his arms. "No one was able to get so far before and I would like if no one did ever again. Since the three of you made it all the way to up here, I believe that you would expect some sort of reward, right?"

"I would rather use the word 'reparation' instead of 'reward' based on how you were ironically trying to kill us all the way to up here!" PhantomFire pointed at the cyborg. "But there is something else I want to know! What the heck is going on here Blacloud? Why was a whole building detonated when we came looking for you? Who were the men that attacked us back there and who was the Blackloud we saw dying there?"

"So, my body double server his purpose, huh?" The cyborg stood up from the throne where he sat and walked toward the edge of the platform, his eyes looking down at the three duelists before him. "Even if I'm a info broker as well, there isn't much I know about the attack. All I could guess is that someone wanted to end my business so they hired assassins to do the dirty job for them. But why are you wondering, do you want to help me out by a chance?"

"Well, being a bodyguard isn't my expertise, but if you need info about who could have hired them, I'm always open for a job." Ghost Girl winked.

"Are you really going to work for the man who just tried to kill us?" Proxy asked the older woman. If it was her, she wouldn't have to do anything with Blacloud after they finish this job.

"If the money is good, anyone could overlook an incident or two like this one, don't you agree with me, Phantom?" The treasure hunter turned toward the male of their party for an answer. Since both of them were low on moral, he wouldn't be able to say no unless he lied, which Proxy was sure to pick onto.

But to her surprise, PhantomFire didn't answer to the question. In fact, he didn't seem to notice that she was talking to him at all and all of his attention was instead focused onto Blacloud. Neither of the two knew the other all that good, but despite all of the small talk, it was clear to both the demon duelist and the cyborg that only one of them was going to walk out of this with what they wanted, so the question was: How should they settle this?

PhantomFire wasn't a legendary duelist just for the name alone, he had the skills to prove that the first place is worthy for him only, but wasting time in a card game? He didn't have that much time on his hands, so exceptions had to be made. Clenching his fist tightly, the ChronoGear held out his right arm forward and fired a red energy thread from the back of his wrist, hitting the throne behind Blacloud. He pulled himself off the ground and retraced the string at a high speed, causing it to send him flying straight toward the large cyborg's face with his fist ready to knock him out could.

"Look out boss!" Before Phantom could reach his target, someone suddenly jumped on top of him, grabbing him by the face. The extra weight caused the energy thread he used to disconnect from the throne and it send him tumble down on the ground with the second duelist landing on his feet just a feet away from him.

"Thank you, Steelmate." Blacloud said as the user who stopped Phantom's attack turned around to face Ghost Girl and Proxy.

He was wearing a dark orange and grey bodysuit with a huge amount of steel plates attached to his chest, arms and legs, giving him the appearance of someone in a slim armor. The duelist had a dark skin with yellow eyes and a metal halo onto his forehead with spiky red hair over it. Steelmate took a step forward and kicked Phantom in the stomach before grabbing him by the neck and lifting him off the ground. Blacloud's lacey glanced at his boss, waiting for an affirmative nod.

"I thought you were better than this, Phantom." Blacloud sighed before jumping off the platform he was standing on. He landed on the ground with a heavy thud and made a hand gesture toward Steelmate. "If you want something so badly then let's fight over it according to the rules of this world: With a duel!"

Steelmate nodded and threw PhantomFire back to Ghost Girl and Proxy using just a single arm. The ChronoGear user rolled over the floor a few times then began to cough while rubbing his neck. That other guy, he had a strong grip, if it wasn't for Blacloud interfering he would have probably broken his neck. A damage like that would have been serious in real world, if not even fatal, so it was only that bastard of a cyborg's honor that saved Phantom from a likely demise.

"I was promised a high payment if I completed this job, so there is no chance to run." Ghost Girl sighed and took a step forward, activating her own Duel Disk.

Proxy looked at the older woman and then down to PhantomFire who was still struggling to get back up on his feet. She didn't want to make him duel, but after how much she struggled to duel against Toxic, she wasn't sure if it would be good for her to duel against his boss. There had to be a reason why Blacloud was the leader of this criminal syndicate and she didn't want to be the one to figure out why.

"Ok then…" After coughing up again, PhantomFire stood up and held out his Duel Disk, activating it. "It's going to be a team duel. Me and Ghost Girl versus you and your dog!"

"Don't start being a bully after you got throw across the room." Ghost Girl reminded him. PhantomFire ignored the comment and instead focused on their opponents.

"DUEL!"

『PhantomFire Hand: 5 & Ghost Girl Hand: 5 [LP: 4000] (VS) Blacloud Hand: 5 & Steelmate Hand: 5 [LP: 4000]』

"Girls, first." Ghost Girl winked and opened her palm, which made her opening hand to appear. "First, I summon Altergeist Marionetter (Lv.4, ATK: 1600)!" A blue feminine monster with a floating ring instead of legs and cables coming from her back appeared on the field. "When Marionetter is Summoned, I get to set an Altergeist Trap directly from my deck! I choose to set Altergeist Protocol."

'Setting Trap Cards directly from the deck?' Proxy thought to herself while observing the older woman's plays. 'A deck that could set Traps from its deck has to be tricky.'

"I'm also going to set one more card from my hand and end my turn." Ghost Girl pressed a card from her hand and it automatically set itself. "Your turn and don't think about going easy on me because I'm a girl~"

"You are seriously asking for it." PhantomFire muttered under his breath, earning him a glare from his teammate.

"A single monster and two set cards? A slow start, which means that your hand was either bad, or judging by how focused on trap cards it is, those Altergeist cards don't focus on short term duels." Blacloud observed carefully. If her deck was focused on Traps that would mean that it's meant to disrupt his turn, which was Traps nature. "My turn!"

『Turn 2 [Blacloud] LP: 4000 Hand: 6』

"First off, I'm going to activate the Quick-Play Spell, Infestation Pandemic! With its effect my lswarm monsters will remain unaffected by your Trap Cards for the turn!" PhantomFire raised an eyebrow before turning over to Ghost Girl who seemed to not like the sound of that.

'If he is playing such a card then his deck must be…' PhantomFire sighed knowing what would come out next.

"Since you control more monsters than I do, Evilswarm Mandragora (Lv.4, ATK: 1550) can be Special Summoned from my hand!" A humanoid plant with large eyes and blonde 'hair' that covered the left one appeared on the field. "Next, I normal Summon Evilswarm Castor (Lv.4, ATK: 1750)!"

Next, a knight with a sword and a torn red cape came out on the field. Its right side was covered in white armor while the left was darker and had a more insect-like appearance.

"With Evilswarm Castor's effect I can Normal Summon again during this turn!" The knight raised his sword and a golden circle appeared on the field. "Appear, circuit of corruption!"

'He activate his monster's effect to Normal Summon later instead of using it now?' Ghost Girl thought, watching the two Evilswarm monsters turning into purple hurricanes.

"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two lswarm monsters! I set Evilswarm Mandragora and Evilswarm Castor in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Steelswarm Origin (ATK: 2000, Link-2)!"

The monster that came out of the circuit had the appearance of a large head with sharp teeth and some sort of purple mold covering the rest of it. There were two large horns on the sides of its head with twigs-like organs coming out of the body and going in all directions. The purple mold was so intense that the monster's eyes couldn't be seen and were pitch black inside.

"This monster isn't a sight to look at." Ghost Girl commented, looking at the odd creature. PhantomFire wondered if it was a body shaped like a head or a decapitated head which gained consciousness.

"Using Evilswarm Castor's effect I will now Normal Summon Evilswarm Kerykeion (Lv.4, ATK: 1600)!" A humanoid in black and golden armor with white wings on its back and three red orbs rotating around its body appeared on the field. "Now, Evilswarm Kerykeion will activate its effect to banish Evilswarm Mandragora from my Graveyard and add Evilswarm Castor to my hand, after which I will be able to summon it again!"

"He summoned two more monsters." Ghost Girl pointed out the obvious. "Any idea what he plants to do now? Another Link Summoning perhaps?"

"No, I know about this archetype." PhantomFire shook his head. "With two Level four monsters, he is planning to Xyz Summon."

"I expected that much from someone like you!" Blacloud stated and threw his arm upward, opening a galaxy rift on the ceiling. "Creatures corrupted by the darkness of your origins, merge to create a new horror! Appear before me, fallen guardian of the ice! Xyz Summon! Evilswarm Ophion (Rank: 4, ATK: 2550)!"

"And there it is." PhantomFire sighed. When Evilswarm Ophion is summoned, no Level 5 or higher monsters could be Special Summoned, which meant that both he and Ghost Girl were locked from a part, although not a big one, of their resources.

"I activate Evilswarm Ophion's effect!" Blacloud stated as the creature bite onto one of its Xyz Materials and ate it. "By detaching a Xyz Material from it, I can add one Infestationcard to my hand. I add Infestation Pandemic! Afterward, I attack your Altergeist Marionetter!"

"Then I'm going to-"

"Don't bother." Before Ghost Girl could do anything, PhantomFire raised his arm. "While Evilswarm Ophion remains, we are unable to Special Summon any Level five or higher monsters. The card you plan to use is useless."

Ghost Girl didn't respond and just lowered her arms until Evilswarm Ophion's attack collided with her Altergeist Marionetter, destroying the monster and dealing some damage to her body. The treasure hunter held her shoulder in pain and sighed a little annoyed that the monster she wanted to use was locked from entering the field.

『Ghost Girl & PhantomFire LP: 4000 – 950→ 3050』

"Next, Origin's effect allows me to Special Summon an lswarm monster from my deck in Defense Position when a monster gets destroyed from the field! I Special Summon! Evilswarm O'lantern (Lv.4, DEF: 1250)!" A muscular humanoid made out of rock with some insect features, including wings appeared on the field in kneeling position. "Next, I will attack you directly with Steelswarm Origin!"

"Heh, sorry, but it won't be that simple!" Ghost Girl gave an air kiss before one of her set cards flipped face-up. "I activate Altergeist Protocol!"

"Hmm, but in order to use its effect you will need another Altergeist on your field and an effect to negate!" Blacloud pointed out. "It's useless in this situation!"

"Not completely." Ghost Girl raised her index finger and tapped one of the cards before her. "Here, when a Trap Card is activated, I can Special Summon Altergeist Multifaker (Lv.3, DEF: 800) from my hand!" A purple and pink monster whose lowered half had the appearance of a monster while the top was more feminine looking jumped on the field and put her arms together. "Then, when she is Special Summoned, I can Special Summon another Altergeist from my deck. I Special Summon another Altergeist Marionetter (Lv.4, DEF: 1700)! Now, Marionetter's effect lets me set Altergeist Manifestation directly from my deck!"

"So you build a wall of monsters and set another trap during my turn?" Blacloud chucked a bit at the display. "Interesting! But I'm going to just destroy your Altergeist Marionetter once more!"

"I activate my other set card, Altergeist Camouflage! I equip it to Altergeist Marionetter so now you can no longer target her with attacks or your effects!" The monster got covered by some invisible matter than made it to become invisible as well. "Now you can only attack Altergeist Multifaker but I won't be angry if you choose to end your turn there."

"Don't joke with me, of course I'm going to destroy Altergeist Multifaker!" Several tentacles came from Steelswarm Origin's body and wrapped around, Altergeist Multifaker crushing the spellcaster to small pieces of pixels. "I set two cards and end my turn there!"

"So, the big boss of this criminal syndicate is using an Evilswarm deck?" PhantomFire crossed his arms, a smile forming on her face out of amusement. "Who would have thought? Certainly not me, but it's fitting you in a way. You know, the whole theme about corrupting others and such…"

"As if you are one to talk about corruption, Phantom." The ChronoGear duelist narrowed his eyes at the nickname. "I remember that time when you were hired to protect me from the Knights of Hanoi. Watching you doing your 'job' had inspired me you know? That bloodlust, that pure desire for destruction, to let everything collapse in flames and bring forth a hell on Earth! You are the devil of time! A Chrono Devil!"

PhantomFire's eyes widened for a bit before softening up after a moment. "A ChronoDevil, huh? Yes, that name would suit me more than being a phantom in the fire." The ChronoGear duelist looked down at the black glove that covered his right hand. Proxy couldn't see it because she was behind him, but the edges of his lips turned upward into an almost crazy smile. "I guess it's going to be my move then, huh? DRAW!"

『Turn 3 [PhantomFire] LP: 3050 Hand: 6』

Putting his hand on top the deck, the demonic duelist swiped his arm to the side, pulling the top card along with his hand. The power of this draw created a small shockwave which hit his opponents, not doing any damage to their bodies, but it certainly did caught their attention. Both Blacloud and Steelmate stared intently at the young man before them. He was looking down at the cards in his hand, the purple and black bangs of his hair, falling over his eyes.

"I guess I'm going to do something amusing." PhantomFire finally said and raised his head to look at everyone else; a child-like smile on his face. "During this turn, I'm going to do exactly three Link Summons using only two of the cards that are currently in my hand. And then if I feel like it, I might also finish with a Xyz Summon!"

'The Link Summons…' Proxy thought, her eyes open wide watching her 'partner' as he was about to make his move.

'…and a Xyz Summon…' At the same time, Ghost Girl was thinking about the same thing, but not as surprised as amused from what she was about to see.

'Is that even possible with just two monsters?' They both thought at the same time.

A/N: So this one is done as well. Not much to say, expect some interesting trivia about the Trap Card that Proxy used to win the duel against Toxic. Back when I started making the oGear decks and after I decided on the attribute of Proxy's deck I had to choose between either making her a deck that focuses around discarding or make a deck focused around Ice Counters. Of course, I choose discarding because it was more simple and Proxy is meant to be a noob, but it makes me wonder every now and then how different her deck and duels would have been if she became an ice cold queen instead.

Oh, also, today we had Soulburner vs Blue Girl. It's a little funny because in my dream that I discussed last time her Trickstar Bird Helm was indeed a Level 5 and she was using an Extra Deck summon other than Links. Although I have failed to get everything else right, I was pretty amazed when she pulled that Fusion Summon and... Not surprised at all when Soulburner did it as well before beating her. Ok, maybe it's just me, but I want Soulburner to have never been made because every single one of his duels is like a copy of Yusaku's duels from the first season. And to only add to that, the only differences between him and Playmaker are that he smiles more, is more positive and despite having an archetype instead of random cards, his deck is crap.

Vrains had always been a somewhat mediocre YGO series for me, but it has gotten so predictable, repeatable and simplistic that with this post I officially throw Vrains in the trash bin with 5D's and Arc-V. Yes, some of you might hate me for this because you are fans of those series but I never enjoyed them, so there is that. From here on, I'm trying to find a way to write this story true to canon while watching as little of Vrains as possible... In fact, if it wasn't the writting of this story I would have completely dished it.

On a more positive note, today I saw that new Cyberse cards were released for my Code Talker deck, so yay! And not only that, the new cards focus on the Code Talker archetype and give it monsters that could be used as Link Materials from the hand while also getting searches and other advantages. How cool is that? In fact, this is brining me to something important; how many of you enjoy RPing? As it just happened, I'm a member of an amazing Role Playing Yugioh Forum on this site called Yu-Gi-Oh! - Sky Breach Academy. To summarize, the forum is about a Duel Academy and has a vibe similiarto GX, while it also follows the current rules. I have a character who uses the aforementioned Code Talker deck so it gave me all the more reaspon to be hyped for those new cards. If you are interested in having a not plot heavy fun YuGiOh! RP, I would suggest you to check out the forum. There is a link to it on my profile for easy access.

Now that all of this is over, I want to thank MCRDanime and Qruis for following this story.

Onto the reviews, eh. Not much to say there, I wanted to show more of the "underground" of VRAINS concept that I'm currently using, but I don't want to make the arc too long, so I have to limit myself quite a bit there. For those who didn't like this mini-arc all that much, don't worry, the next chapter is going to be the final and oh boy, do I have a plan for an explosive finish.

So that's all from me for today. Rememeber to follow/favorite/review and see you next time!

Diabolic Tracer out!