Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Destiny Gears

by Diabolic Tracer

Roxana Petit was a normal student, nothing really stood out about her. However, due to a rather unexpected and weird twist of fate including a car incident, she woke up in a place she knows nothing about. Now on a journery to find a way back to her home, join her as she crosses paths with Yusaku Fujiki and tries to learn how to duel.

24. Chapter 24

Fervor for Victory

"So now, Playmaker. Won't you come against me?" MetalX asked one of his two opponents, catching the duelist by surprise.

The duel between MetalX, Playmaker and Blue Angel had just started and the first turn, which belonged to the Knight of Hanoi had ended. On MetalX's side of the field were Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan (Lv.4, ATK: 2100), Grandmaster of the Six Samurai (Lv.5, ATK: 2100), and in the Extra Monster Zone - Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En (Lv.5, ATK: 2500). Gateway of the Six was face-up on his field with two Bushido Counters and there were no set cards, while a card was yet to appear on Playmaker and Blue Angel's side of the field. Despite how good his first turn was, the Knight of Hanoi remained focused, knowing that the opponents he faced were experienced duelists as well.

"Of course you will." MetalX chuckled. "Just like a fly, you will always fly toward the light, even if it might burn your wings. But isn't it ironic? The 'enemy' that you are fighting against is the light that gives you a reason to keep moving forward. Playmaker, you are nothing more than a walking contradistinction!"

"You are wrong." Playmaker shook his head. "There are no contradictions in the path that I have chosen. Hanoi, the pain that I felt because of you all those years ago, the despair and loses that I suffered, I'm fighting to take back what you took from me! You are no light, but a dark abyss of nightmares that's pulling me back to these cursed memories from ten years ago."

"Well said, Playmaker!" Ai clenched its fist triumphantly. "Let's beat him and take the data we came here for!"

"Playmaker, wait!" the Cyberse Duelist stopped himself and turned toward Blue Angel to hear what she had to say. "I know that your fight with the Knights of Hanoi is on a personal level and that you would never dueling until you make them all pay for hurting you, but this Hanoi put my brother's life in danger. He hurt the only thing that I had left in this world, so, please, let me be the one to face him first!"

"Aoi…" Akira looked up from the place where he was lying. He saw his sister standing there, fighting for him as Blue Angel. The emotions that he felt were hard to describe, he was the one who had to protect his little sister, not the other way around.

It wasn't right, but his body was already too worn out from his duel with Playmaker followed by the chain explosions caused by MetalX, to move.

He spent years trying to protect Aoi from things like this. He was never against her going to LINK VRAINS and having fun, but he never wanted her to get involved in such dark matters. Not just because it was bad, but because he already saw the sort of evil things that remained hidden in the darkest corners of the network. With all of this, the idea that his little sister, the one person he was trying to protect, would swap their roles so drastically, made him feel so useless at the moment. He felt like a weakling that wasn't even able to take care of his family properly.

"Don't push yourself." Surprisingly, Ghost Girl didn't use the Hanoi's attack as a chance to escape. She was still there, standing next to Akira, looking down at her partner in crime.

What surprised Akira even more was when the Treasure Hunter kneeled down and took one of his arms, putting it over her shoulder, while holding his back with her hand. Slowly, she helped him stood back up, a position from which it would be much easier to watch the duel, at least for him.

"Why are you still here?" He asked her directly. Ghost Girl wasn't the type to follow a moral code, it would even be a surprise if she had any morals in the first place. He wasn't even going to pay her because they were working together, so her motives for remaining instead of running away were unclear to him.

"There's no point in running." Ghost Girl sighed. This caused Akira's eyebrows to raise, her voice sounded like that of someone who was defeated, tricked, played for a fool, but such a tone wasn't in character for Ghost Girl, not in the least. "Don't you get it? All of this was organized long before we got here. I should have figured out that the idea of doing this wouldn't just slip out of PhantomFire's mouth."

"I thought that this would be a common knowledge for you by now." Akira couldn't help but sigh. Even though Evan warned him about Hanoi's appearance, both of them knew at with his current position, there was nothing that could be done to prevent the attack. The real reason why Evan shared that information was to bloom Akira's 'interest' in joining Emma's infiltration operation.

Noticing that her older brother was coming home later, Aoi was naturally going to investigate as well and with her stubbornness, a confrontation with either Akira or Emma would only encourage her to jump into the action.

"Despite being so much younger than us, he still managed to play everyone in this room like complete fools." Ghost Girl rolled her eyes. "I now understand how you feel when I do that to you."

"Very well then, Blue Angel." The two adults turned their attention back to the ongoing duel and saw Playmaker taking a step back. "You can take the second turn of this duel."

"Thanks." The idol smiled and turned back to face MetalX, her eyes burning with determination to win. "It's my turn, I draw!"

『Turn 2 [Blue Angel] LP: 4000 Hand: 6』

"So I'm going to face the little idol first?" MetalX put a hand on his hips and narrowed his eyes. "Disappointing. I thought you were more of a man, Playmaker. Hiding behind a girl is just pathetic."

"You don't have the right to talk about cowardliness!" Playmaker growled at the Knight.

"That's right!" Ai joined in. "After using cowardly methods to try and kidnap me without a duel, you already showed us who the real coward is!"

"Hmm, maybe in your eyes I'm a coward for doing this, but I wanted to get my job done without getting into an uncomfortable situation, such as the current one." MetalX explained and then pointed at Playmaker. "We are trying to make the world a better place! You are the ones that are getting in the way of progress!"

"No kind of progress is worth it, if people are going to suffer because of it." Blue Angel retorted. "Your actions so far showed what your true intentions are. I'm not to forgive you for playing with people's lives like they are some sort of puppets! I activate the Field Spell, Trickstar Light Stage!"

Blue Angel pressed one of the cards in front of her and it turned around, revealing itself to be the card that the idol just named. It began to glow, as its effect was applied onto the field.

"When Light Stage is activated, I can add a Trickstar monster to my hand!" Blue Angel stated.

"Naïve! I activate Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En's effect! Once per turn, I negate the activation of a spell or trap and destroy it!" MetalX countered, his monster drew its katana and swung it around, destroying Blue Angel's field spell.

"He was able to counter Blue Angel's usual strategy from the start of her turn!" Ai rubbed its chin. The AI looked back at Playmaker who was watching the field with a stoic expression. "Oi, do you listen to me? This is bad!"

"Blue Angel isn't the type of duelist that would be stopped by a single setback." Playmaker pointed out.

"Then I will have to do this!" Blue Angel called out and pressed another card from those in her hand. "I Normal Summon Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800) and activate her effect to add a Trickstar card to my hand!" The Trickstar monster in light orange clothes appeared with a wink.

"Of course you would have this card in your hand." MetalX sighed.

"But I'm not done yet!" Blue Angel smiled and pressed another card, activating it. "I chain Trickstar Lycoris' effect to Candina! When Lycoris is in my hand, I can return a different Trickstar to my hand and Special Summon it! At that moment I'm also going to chain the Quick Spell, Chain Summoning! When this card is activated as a Chain Link three or higher, I get to Normal Summon three times in the same turn!"

"T-three Normal Summons?!" Ai's eyes bulged. "Candina's search effect isn't a once per turn either, so that means that she could make up to three search in just one turn!"

"Interesting." MetalX muttered. "Since you weren't able to use the extra search from Trickstar Light Stage, you choose to use a more colluded way of reaching the same result."

"Now the effect of my cards resolves." Blue Angel ignored the Knight's words. "I return Candina to my hand and Special Summon Trickstar Lycoris (Lv.3, ATK: 1600). Then I add another copy of Lycoris to my hand through Candina's effect!" A Trickstar in a red dress appeared and tapped Candina on the shoulder, causing the other trickster to disappear from the field.

"Next, by Chain Summoning's effect, I Normal Summon Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800) a second time and use her effect to add Trickstar Lilybell to my hand. When Trickstar Lilybell is added to the hand through a card effect, she can Special Summon herself on the field." The pink fairy monster carrying a large bell on the end of a staff appeared next to the other two monsters on Blue Angel's field with 800 ATK.

"I activate the effect of my second to Trickstar Lycoris to return Candina back into my hand and Special Summon it!" the orange colored fairy waved and disappeared for a second time with another copy of the red fairy joining the first, holding 1600 ATK. "I Normal Summon Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800) for the third time and use its effect to add Trickstar Reincarnation to my hand."

"Trickstar Reincarnation? I see, you are planning to deal a massive amount of damage to me during my next turn, don't you?" MetalX asked. Too bad, Blue Angel's popularity made reading through her strategies a piece of cake.

"I'm not done yet. Come out, the circuit of dreams and hope!" Blue Angel threw her arm upward and a circuit appeared above her. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Trickstar monsters. I set Trickstar Candinaand Trickstar Lycoris in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link Two! Trickstar Holly Angel (ATK: 2000, Link-2)!" Blue Angel's ace, a blue fairy flew out of the circuit and landed in her Extra Monster Zone.

"Argh!" Ai grabbed its head and threw it backward overdramatically. "Holly Angel's attack is too low to destroy his annoying Synchro Monster."

"Lilybell's effect allows it to attack my opponent directly." Blue Angel threw her arm forward and her fairy swung its bell at MetalX, hitting the Knight of Hanoi in the chest. The samurai gritted his teeth and stepped back, grabbing his chest in pain.

『MetalX LP: 4000 - 800 → 3200』

"When Lilybell inflicts damage to my opponent, I can return a Trickstar monster from my Graveyard to the hand. I choose Lycoris and then I activate its effect to return Lilybell back into my hand and Special Summon her!" the pink fairy swung her bell in front of herself and disappeared from the field, only for Lycoris to take her place with 1200 DEF. Holly Angel's bottom right arrow glowed to show that Lycoris was summoned there.

"Holy Angel's effect activates!" Blue Angel continued with her turn. "When a monster is summoned next to her link, you take two hundred points of damage!" The monster fired small needles from her wings at MetalX, earning a small cry out of him.

『MetalX LP: 3200 - 200 → 3000』

"And when a Trickstar inflicts effect damage to you, Holly Angel gains attack equal to that damage! Holy Blessing!" A golden aura surrounded Blue Angel's ace, raising her attack to 2200. "But don't forget that we are still in the middle of a battle! Go, Holly Angel! Destroy Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan!" Holly Angel swung her whip at the samurai, smashing its head, destroying the warrior.

『MetalX LP: 3000 - 100 → 2900』

"Fourteen hundred points of damage in one turn." MetalX muttered and looked at Blue Angel. "I'm still surprised how easily you lost to Playmaker in your last duel with skills like these."

"I'm just getting warm." Blue Angel replied and pressed three of the cards in her hand. "I set three cards on my field and end my turn with this. During the End Phase, Holly Angel's attack returns to normal." The aura around Blue Angel's ace disappeared and her ATK dropped to 2000. "I advise you to rethink each of your moves twice because my Trickstar monsters still have a lot of tricks up their sleeves and trust me, you won't like them even one bit!"

"You are certain that victory is going to smile upon you, aren't you?" MetalX narrowed his eyes. "Hmm, if I didn't know better, I would have thought that you were one of the six test subjects."

"Test subjects?" Playmaker asked. His hands clenched into fists and his face acquired a livid expression that would have sent chills down the Knight's back if he wasn't used to it. "Were you involved into the torture that I went through ten years ago? Answer me!"

"As you probably already know, the Lost Incident was known as the Hanoi Project." MetalX crossed his arms. "While the Knights of Hanoi aren't directly responsible for what happened, both the project and our organization were ran by the same people. In fact, just like how the Hanoi Project turned you into this, it turned us into the Knights of Hanoi."

"So, you were part of the Lost Incident?" Now Playmaker was beyond mad. There he was, standing in front of him, one of the men responsible for the hell that he went through. So close, another step to fulfilling his revenge.

"I was part of the research team, yes." MetalX nodded. "Although I wasn't given access to how the project collected data until its very end, I was one of the monsters involved in the creation of your personal hell."

"You are the worst." Blue Angel muttered. "How could you torture little kids, and then dare to stand in front of one of your victims, and act like it's you that's in the right! You gave up your morality, and for what? What did you earn from ruining the lives of children?"

"Progress." MetalX stated simply. There wasn't even a trace of regret in his voice. "Even if I wouldn't have agreed with the methods used, the Hanoi Project was the first step toward the next stage of humanity's evolution! It's something that kids like you two won't understand."

"Is that your excuse?!" Playmaker roared. "I was unable to move forward since the incident occurred! The things that Zaizen talked about, youth, friends, creating memories that I would cherish in the future, all of this was taken away from me, by you! Not only my past, the Hanoi Project stole my future as well, it opened a hole in my heart that can't be fixed, no matter how much I tried to forget, the memories would still come back, haunt me!"

MetalX chuckled at those words. "Your past is closer that you think, Playmaker! It's not even a hand away, but you are too ignorant to realize that. This blind hatred of yours is what will bring you down in the end. My turn!"

『Turn 3 [MetalX] LP: 2900 Hand: 4』

"The effect of my two Lycoris activated!" Blue Angel called out. "When you add a card from your deck to the hand, they inflict two hundred damage to you!" The two fairies pointed at the Knight of Hanoi and fired needles of light at him, stabbing him in the shoulder.

『MetalX LP: 2900 - 200 → 2700 - 200 → 2500』

"Also, when a Trickstar monster inflicts effect damage to you, Holly Angel gains that much attack power! Holy Blessing!" The golden aura appeared around Holly Angel's body for the second time, raising her attack power.

Trickstar Holly Angel, ATK: 2000 + 200*2 → 2400

"Ha!" MetalX breathed out and raised his head to look at the idol. "You aren't done yet, are you?"

"No." Blue Angel confirmed and one of her set cards flipped face-up. "I activate Trickstar Reincarnation to banish you entire hand. Then you must draw the same number of cards from your deck!"

"If I draw four cards, the effect of your Lycoris will inflict sixteen hundred damage to me." MetalX calculated. That wasn't enough to defeat him, but with just 600 Life Points, it would be way too easy for Playmaker and Blue Angel to defeat him on their next turns. "Because of that I'm going to activate Shi En's effect and negate Trickstar Reincarnation!"

The monster swung its katana at Blue Angel's trap, shattering it into pieces. The idol of LINK VRAINS cried out and raised her hands to protect her face from the shards of her destroyed trap. Just like she expected, he wasn't going to risk taking all of that damage.

"If I add any cards to my hand while your Trickstar monsters are on the field, I will keep taking damage and your ace will grew stronger." MetalX observed. 400 damage per every card he adds was something he didn't have the luxury to allow. "First, I activate another Six Samurai United and then, I Normal Summon Secret Six Samurai – Hatsume (Lv.3, ATK: 1600)!" A woman in a pink Japanese dress with a ninja mask on her face appeared on the field. "And since a Six Samurai appeared onto the field, my Gateway of the Six gains two more Bushido Counters while Six Samurai United gains one."

"He started collecting counters again." Ai said, observing the Hanoi's plays. "My instincts are telling me that bad things are going to happen, Playmaker."

"AIs don't have instincts." Playmaker pointed out firmly, making Ai winch at the coldness of his partner.

"Ouch. That hurt my feelings." Ai muttered and returned into the Duel Disk.

"I activate Hatsume's effect." Two cards were rejected from MetalX's Duel Disk and he showed them to Playmaker. "I banish Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki and Kagemusha of the Six Samurai from my Graveyard to Special Summon Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan (Lv.4, ATK: 1800 → 2100)!" The warrior in black armor appeared beside its comrades and prepared its sword. "Then, three Bushido Counters are distributed between my two spell cards."

"Eight counters." Ai counted on its fingers. "That are eight counters that it can use against us!"

"Now behold, as my Six Samurais are going to reach the next evolution in their combat skills!" MetalX cried out and threw his left arm into the air. "I fuse Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En and Secret Six Samurai – Hatsume!"

The three monsters turned into blue, red and pink particles that flew into the sky and mixed together into a vortex of colorful lights.

"Legends living in the shadows of their own stories, join together and let the world tremble before your new might! Fusion Summon! Secret Six Samurai – Rihan (Lv.5, ATK: 2400)!"

In a brilliant flash of light, a warrior, wearing a dark uniform with bright green lights coloring his armor and the blades of his weapons jumped into the air and made several flips before landing on both of his legs and right hand while holding out the left, which had five claws attached to the back of the wrist.

"Huh? Why would he get rid of his stronger monster to summon a weaker one?" Ai tilted its head to the side in confusion. "What do you think, Playmaker?" And silence… "Why do I even bother asking?"

"With another Six Samurai making its entrance, Gateway of the Six gains two more Bushido Counters, raising to eight!" MetalX's spell glowed to showcase that effect. "Now I remove four counters from Gateway of the Six along with two from Six Samurai United to revive Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En (Lv.5, ATK: 2500)!" The red Synchro monster returned behind the Fusion. "I remove two counters from Gateway to increase Shi En's attack by five hundred. Now battle! Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En attack Trickstar Holly Angel!"

The 3000 ATK samurai charged at its target. Holly Angel flew back and swung her whip, but Shi En cut through it with his katana and then slashed at the trickster as well, destroying the fairy. Blue Angel winched, feeling the pain from that attack through her body.

『Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 4000 - 600 → 3400』

"Since a Trickstar battled this turn, I can activate my trap!" Blue Angel called out and another of her set cards flipped face-up. "I activate Trickstar Scatter to destroy Shi En!"

MetalX scoffed "When a Spell or Trap activates, Shi En can negate and destroy it."

"What?" Blue Angel gasped as MetalX's monster slashed through her trap for a second time this turn. Damn it! She thought that Shi En's effect could activate only once per turn, but it seemed that the Hanoi's monster didn't an absolute restriction after all.

"Next, I'm going to attack your attack position Trickstar Lycoris with Secret Six Samurai – Rihan!" The ninja charged at the teen idol and cut through her, earning a cry from the fairy as she faded away.

『Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 3400 - 800 → 2600』

"Lastly, Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan destroys your last Trickstar Lycoris." The last Trickstar only closed her eyes as she was cut down as well.

"He cut through my Trickstar monsters like a hot knife through butter." Blue Angel gritted her teeth.

MetalX narrowed his eyes, ignoring the anger of the idol. He gave a quick glance to the last two cards in his hand and then took one of them.

"I set one card. Turn end." MetalX sighed. "At this moment, the effect of Gateway of the Six ends as well and Shi En's attack returns to normal."

Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, ATK: 3000 – 500 → 2500

"Then it will be my turn next." Playmaker muttered.

He looked carefully at MetalX' field. He had three monsters with over 2000 ATK, one of which was able to negate any spell or trap's activation and a Fusion whose effects were unknown. There was also that Six Samurai were an old deck, so not many duelists bothered researching how it worked because the chance of actually facing against it were very low and insignificant. That was probably the reason why MetalX choose to play it instead of something more new, easier to use with Master Rule 4. All of that made dueling this particular Knight of Hanoi a real challenge.

"It's my turn! Draw!" Playmaker drew his sixth card. He knew that the answer to defeating MetalX's formation lied somewhere inside his deck, hopefully within the cards he had access to at the moment.

『Turn 4 [Playmaker] LP: 2600 Hand: 6』

"I Normal Summon Link Streamer (Lv.4, ATK: 1600)." The strange Cyberse monster that looked like a combination between a bird and a satellite appeared on Playmaker's field, under his Extra Monster Zone. "And since the only monster I control is a Cyberse, I can Special Summon Cyberse Converter (Lv.2, DEF: 1000) from my hand!" a second monster that looked like a drone appeared next to Link Steamer's left side. "Then, the effect of Link Streamer Special Summons one Data Token (Lv. 1, DEF: 0) when another Cyberse is summoned on my field."

The center of Link Streamer's chest glowed and a much smaller satellite flew out of it, landing at the monster's right side. He already had the materials needed for a Link 3, but that wasn't enough. He needed more, something that would let him take a huge portion of MetalX' Life Points in one swing.

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Playmaker threw his left arm in the air and a circuit opened above his head. "Arrowhead confirmed! The summoning condition are is one Normal Monster! I set the Data Token in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link One, Link Spider (ATK: 1000, Link-1)." Playmaker's spider Link monster appeared in the Extra Monster Zone. Although he preferred not to use it unless he had a Normal Monster to summon out with its effect, he couldn't wait for one in this duel.

"For the second time, appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" the Link circuit opened once again. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Effect monsters! I set Cyberse Converter and Link Spider in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link Two, Underclock Taker (ATK: 1000, LINK-2)! A strange blue Link Monster landed in the right Extra Monster Zone.

"Hmm, Underclock Taker could reduce a monster's attack power by the power of a monster it points at." Ai observed the field noticing that Playmaker's strongest monster so far was right under Underclock Taker's arrow. "Ha, you can reduce a monster's attack by sixteen hundred, Playmaker!"

"I activate Underclock Taker's ability!" Playmaker gestured toward his monster. "I reduce Shi En's attack by Link Streamer's sixteen hundred until the end of this turn!"

Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, ATK: 2500 – 1600 → 900

"Now my Shi En is the weakest monster on the field." MetalX observed. "You plan to attack it and dish out some damage, don't you?"

"No! I'm ending the duel this turn!" Playmaker declared and threw his arm upward once more. "For the third time, appear, the circuit that leads to the future! I set Link Streamer and the Link Two, Underclock Taker in the Link Markers!" The two monsters turned into whirlwinds that flew into Playmaker's circuit, hitting the top, bottom left, and bottom right arrows.

"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link Three, Decode Talker (ATK: 2300, LINK-3)! Playmaker's ace, the DARK Code Talker jumped from the circuit and landed in front of its master, groaning angry as it swung its sword.

"It's here! It's here!" Ai jumped on Playmaker's Duel Disk. "Using Decode Talker, we are sure to win this duel!"

"When there is a Link Monster on the field, I can Special Summon Link Infra-Flier (Lv.2, DEF: 1800) next to one of the zones that Decode Talker points at! And with a monster summoned next to Decode Talker's Link Arrow, I can Special Summon Sea Archiver (Lv.3, DEF: 2100) from my hand!" The two monsters appeared behind Decode Talker, giving it a burning red aura.

"So, you got both your ace out and materials for another Link Summon." MetalX chuckled. "You have really gotten better since the last time, Playmaker."

The Link VRAINS hero gritted his teeth and gestured toward his monster. "Decode Talker's effect makes it so that he gains five hundred attack for every monster it points to! Power Integration!"

Decode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500*2 → 3300

"If you attack him now, MetalX will still have a hundred Life Points left." Ai pointed out before patting Playmaker's deck. "You know whom you must call, right?"

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" cried out and a fourth circuit appeared immediately. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Cyberse monsters! I set Link Infra-Flier and Sea Archiver in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link Two, Flame Administrator (ATK: 1200, LINK-2)!"

"Because now Decode Talker is linked to less monsters it losses attack." Ai lowered its head sadly. Then it jumped up cheerfully. "BUT Flame Administrator's effect raises the attack of all our Link monsters by eight hundred!"

Decode Talker, ATK: 3300 - 500 → 2800 + 800 → 3600

Flame Administrator, ATK: 1200 + 800 → 2000

MetalX stepped backward. Playmaker - one of the children that were imprisoned for six month and used for the creation of the Ignis. When Picaro ordered him to infiltrate the Data Bank and duel this unstoppable force of nature, MetalX knew that it wouldn't be an easy fight, but the boy's dueling skills have really gotten better from what they used to be ten years ago.

The Knight of Hanoi lowered his head a little. "So, that's how much you hate us, Playmaker."

---

"After the knight left me trapped, where could he have gone?" Proxy asked.

She and Blaze Rose rode their D-Boards through the field, looking for the escaped Knight of Hanoi. There was no sight of him in the sectors where they searched and Avice had yet to give them instructions. Although she hated that the Greysons often used her as a bait, Proxy had to admit that when it came to the serious parts, she would always dependent on either Evan or Avice to lead her.

Judging by how Blaze Rose looked left and right every four seconds, Proxy wasn't the only one dependent on the Greysons.

"What are you two doing?" Avice asked the two girls through their Duel Disks.

"What do you mean by that?" Proxy looked at the screen. "We are looking for the Knight of Hanoi that you sent me here to capture."

"Exactly! Why are you still there when the knight is in the center of the Data Bank?" There was a moment of silence.

"Why did you tell us that earlier?!" Blaze Rose finally snapped.

"Why else would the Knights of Hanoi infiltrate SOL Technologies' mother computer? I thought that this was common sense!" Avice retorted.

Proxy sighed. It was so hard to hold off on the urge to facepalm. They spent ten whole minutes flying through the computer, avoiding death traps and what not just to learn that they were doing everything wrong. She was never the type to quickly get angry and always believed that trying to solve problems peacefully and level headed always the best solution. Despite that, her personal believes didn't stop her from getting livid at Avice.

---

Back to the duel, MetalX waited for Playmaker to call his attack. With its 3600 ATK, Decode Talker was able to caused 2700 damage, more than enough to win the duel on Playmaker's first turn. The Knight of Hanoi chuckled at the thought, it would be so pathetic if he lost on his nemesis' first attack. How would he look Picaro in the eyes ever again after such a humiliation?

"Playmaker! Use my power as well!" Everyone's eyes were drawn toward Blue Angel.

The duelist in question was looking at Playmaker, who blinked in confusion. Don't take it wrong, he knew what Blue Angel was referring to, she wanted him to use her monsters and power-up Decode Talker even further. Finally, he understood her intentions. Blue Angel probably believed that this way, she would get revenge for her brother.

"Right." Playmaker nodded, agreeing with Blue Angel.

"I activate Trickstar Reincarnation's effect from the Graveyard! By banishing it, I can revive a Trickstar monster from my Graveyard." Blue Angel exclaimed and a portal appeared behind her. "Come back, Trickstar Holly Angel (ATK: 2000, Link-2)!"

Out of the portal flew Blue Angel's ace. The blue fairy swung a few times in the air and landed on Decode Talker's spare zone, boosting the powerful monster once more. The warrior raised its sword and a golden aura surrounded its body.

"Power Integration!" Playmaker declared.

"On top of that, Holly Angel gains extra attack points because of Flame Administrator!" Ai threw its arms outward.

Decode Talker, ATK: 3600 + 500 → 4100

Trickstar Holly Angel, ATK: 2000 + 800 → 2800

"That's overkill…" Ai muttered to itself.

"Battle!" Playmaker shouted. "Decode Talker destroy Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En and end this duel! Decode End!"

The link monster charged at its opponent and swung its broadsword, which Shi En blocked with its katana. The two monsters began to trade blow after blow until the samurai finally made a mistake. Shi En swung its katana aiming for Decode Talker's head, when the Link Monster ducked to avoid the attack and then slashed at the warrior's waist, cutting the monster in half.

"Argh!" MetalX gritted his teeth. "I activate the trap, Bushido's Resolve! This negates the damage from a battle involving a warrior monster I control, then I get to Special Summon two monsters from my deck whose combined attack is equal or less than the damage negated!"

---

Bushido's Resolve (Trap) Normal

During your opponent's turn, at damage calculation involving a Warrior monster you control: Make the battle damage you take from this battle 0, and if you do, Special Summon 2 Level 4 or lower monsters from your Deck whose total ATK is equal to or less than the damage you would have taken from that battle.

---

"He already had something ready to counter our attack!" Ai's head fell in disappointment.

"Unlike Blue Angel, whose Trickstar deck focuses on effect damage and isn't offensive by itself, you, Playmaker, use a pure Beatdown strategy, so it was obvious that you would try to finish this duel with high attack numbers." MetalX pointed out. "Your strategy isn't all that profound or hard to read through. Despite what others might try to paint you as, you aren't anything special, Playmaker! By the effect of Bushido's Resolve I Special Summon Secret Six Samurai – Kizaru (Lv.4, DEF: 1000) and Secret Six Samurai – Fuhma (Lv.1, DEF: 1800)!"

As Shi En disappeared from the field, a warrior in a black and white outfit, as well as a warrior in a purple and red outfit appeared to replace it. Of course, MetalX could have just used his Synchro's effect to protect it, but then, the next attacks would have caused him much damage.

"The effects of Gateway of the Six and Six Samurai United now activate." MetalX pointed out. "Since my monsters were summoned at the same time, only three Bushido Counters are distributed between my spells." The two spells glowed with new counters appearing on top of them. "Then Kizaru's effect lets me add a Six Samurai monster from my deck to the hand, but its attribute has to be different from the ones on my field. So I add Secret Six Samurai – Douji."

"Um, I think that he outplayed you." Ai pointed out dumbly.

"I'm not done." Playmaker said. "Trickstar Holly Angel will attack Secret Six Samurai – Rihan!"

The fairy jumped up and hit the Fusion warrior in the face, shattering its body into pieces. MetalX grumped and stepped back, covering his face with a hand from the damage.

『MetalX LP: 2500 - 400 → 2100』

"Finally, Flame Administrator is going to destroy Secret Six Samurai – Kizaru!" The FIRE Link raised its arms and fired a stream of flames at the warrior, burning it alive. Playmaker knew that this wasn't enough, be was barely able to cause any damage, but at last the Extra Monsters were all gone. "I activate the Spell, Cyberse Cache to draw two cards since a Cyberse monster whose attack is different from its original attack appeared on my field. I set a card and end my turn!"

"In the end, if it wasn't for the power lent to you by Blue Angel, you wouldn't have been able to deal any damage to me." MetalX pointed out. "In fact, Playmaker, you might try to act tough, but things wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for the skill that the Ignis lent you!"

Playmaker gritted his teeth. He knew that the Knight was trying to anger him and make him take actions based on emotions instead of logic. Problem was that this tactic was working! This deck he had was the strongest weapon against the Knights of Hanoi and Playmaker's dueling skills were the hand wielding it. To have his entire growth as a duelist, all the fear and panic episodes he underwent before being able to hold a deck again, denied by his sworn enemy was enraging.

"That's why you can never be forgiven…" Playmaker threw his right arm forward and pointed at MetalX. "Not only did you take away my past, my future, and my entire life, but you don't even feel regret for what you did!"

The smut look on MetalX's face dropped and was replaced by a grimace. "Oh, I had a lot of regret about the past, Playmaker. "I regret and hate the Hanoi Project no more than you do. I hate myself for not wondering how my colleagues' were able to gather the data of the project, but tell me, doesn't it feel good to hold the fruit of our success in your hand?"

"The fruit of your success?" Playmaker's eyes widened. "What do you mean by that?"

"He is just trying to confuse you!" Ai suddenly interfered and pointed at the Knight. "Didn't you figure out that he is trying to win by manipulating you?"

"What's the point in trying to cover-up the truth when he is going to figure it out from the Data Bank, Ignis?" MetalX asked, causing the AI to start sweat bullets and his color scheme to turn completely white.

"Cover-up the truth?" Playmaker looked down at his Duel Disk and narrowed his eyes. Unlike him, Ai was horrible at hiding his true emotions, so the Cyberse Duelist was able to easily notice the anxiety of his companion. "Did you hide something from me?"

Ai winched and slowly turned around to look at his partner. "I… Um, you… see…"

"Revolver already told you most of the truth during you duel with him." MetalX pointed out. "He told you what the Ignis truly is, but he never told you how it was created!"

Playmaker felt a chill go down his spine. "You don't mean…"

"Exactly!" MetalX shouted and pointed at Ai who was hiding inside Playmaker's Duel Disk. "The Ignis was created from the Lost Incident! The answer why you had to suffer and go through all of the pain was sitting on top of your wrist all this time!"

"W-what?" Blue Angel stepped back and turned toward her brother. "Niichan, is that true?"

Akira looked at her sister for a moment before turning his head to the side. He meekly nodded to confirm what MetalX said. It was all written inside the files that SOL Technology tried to hide. The name of the Project, the staff that worked on it, and of course the purpose of all that happened ten years ago. He didn't want to start imagine how Playmaker would feel to learn that information, which was also why he didn't want the Cyberse Duelist to get his hand on SOL Technology's data bank. To learn that the Ai he was protecting from Hanoi was the reason behind his suffering in the first place would be truly devastating.

"Why?"

"Huh?" Everyone's eyes turned back to Playmaker after he whispered something. Ai gulped, but didn't look his partner in the eyes.

"Why did you hide this?" Playmaker asked again, but no answer came. "Answer me, Ai!"

"B-because I was scared." Ai muttered and slowly lowered itself back into the Duel Disk until only the top of its head remained outside. "After the Knights of Hanoi came and attack my home, I wasn't sure if I could trust humans. The moment I saw you, I recognized who you were, and I knew that if you learned what I was, how I came to be, you will erase me. I spent the last five years running away from Hanoi, afraid that they might capture and destroy me, so I lied to you about not remembering anything. I'm sorry Playmaker."

"The Knights of Hanoi are fools, too afraid of the future!" MetalX shouted. "They saw the potential that the Ignis has, so they wanted to destroy it, but Playmaker, this program that you are holding hostage, has the ability to unlock the stairway to a perfect utopia!"

"What are you saying?" Blue Angel asked.

"I'm saying that I'm not a shortsighted fool like Revolver and his followers." MetalX chuckled at the idea and then looked directly at Playmaker. "I want the Knights of Hanoi destroyed just as much as you do, Playmaker. But unlike me, you don't need the Ignis in order to achieve your goals! I bet you also don't want it after hearing the truth, so just give it over to me! Let us work together to bring this corrupt group to the ground and create humanity's virtual utopia in spite of their believes!"

"Nononono!" Ai waved his arms in front of Playmaker. "Please, don't give me to him! I know that I don't have the right to ask you for this, but pleasepleaseplease, don't do it! It's a bad idea!"

Playmaker looked down at Ai and then back to MetalX. What choice was he supposed to make there? Yusaku never trusted Ai all that much, he always knew that it was trying to hide something, but for it to hide the truth about the incident despite that it saw how desperately Yusaku was trying to discover what happened ten years ago. And now he knew everything. His past, the innocent life that he had were all taken away, he was stripped of the chance to grow into a normal human being and why? To be used as folder for the creation of an AI?

No, there was no point thinking about it. There was only one true decision for Playmaker.

"I will never accept your offer!" Playmaker responded and looked down at Ai.

"Playmaker you…" if an artificial intelligence was able to cry, Ai was definitely going to break down into tears.

"You will choose to keep the Ignis despite knowing its true origins?" MetalX clenched his fists in anger. "You will choose to keep it selfishly instead of aiding me in destroying our true enemy?!"

"Yes." Playmaker nodded and closed his eyes. "I admit, there is no friendship between me and the Ignis - he is just a hostage. But I can understand its motives for hiding the truth." Playmaker opened his eyes with a newfound resolve in them. "Back when I was locked inside that white room with no hope of ever seeing the outside world again, I was scared as well. Even after I was rescued and undergo months of therapy, I was never able to overcome that fear. I was unable to fully trust anyone ever years after. I understand best of anyone what it's like to live alone, unable to trust the people that are around you!"

"Damn you, Playmaker!" MetalX roared and raised his Duel Disk. "If you won't aid me, then I will destroy you and tear that Ignis right out of your Duel Disk! My turn!"

『Turn 5 [MetalX] LP: 2100 Hand: 3』

"I Normal Summon Secret Six Samurai – Douji (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)!" A rifleman in purple armor landed on MetalX's field and aimed at his opponents. "And with its appearance, the effects of Gateway of the Six and Six Samurai United activate, gaining three more Bushido Counters in total! Now I remove four from Gateway and two from Six Samurai United to revive Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En (Lv.5, ATK: 2500)!"

"Aaaaaand he keeps bringing that one back from the grave." Ai groaned.

"With Shi En back, my spells gain three counters again." The spells glowed again, their counters raising to 4 on Gateway of the Six and 1 on Six Samurai United. "And when a Six Samurai is summoned onto the field, Douji's effect lets me send a Six Samurai from my deck to the Graveyard. I send Secret Six Samurai – Genba. I also remove four counters from Gateway to return Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan back into my hand, and then Special Summon it since another Six Samurai is already on my field."

The familiar warrior appeared on the field once again with its 1800 ATK that quickly raised to 2100 because there were other Six Samurai monsters beside it. Gateway of the Six and Six Samurai United glowed, the total amount of Bushido Counters on the field becoming 4.

"I use all four counters to return Secret Six Samurai – Rihan back into my Extra Deck!" the glow of MetalX's cards died down completely as he returned one of his boss monsters for later use. "Then I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Shadow Art of the Six Samurai to release Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan and Special Summon my banished Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki (Lv.3, ATK: 200 → 1700), raising the total amount of Bushido Counters to three!" The four Six Samurai monsters already on the field put their weapons together to greet their comrade's return through a blue vortex in the ground.

"The preparations are complete!" MetalX cackled. "I fuse, Legendary Six Samurai – Kageki, Secret Six Samurai – Doujiand Secret Six Samurai – Fuhma! Legends living in the shadows of their own stories, join together and let the world tremble before your new might! Fusion Summon! Secret Six Samurai – Rihan (Lv.5, ATK: 2400)!"

"He recycled even the Fusion Monster?!" Blue Angel gasped. The Knight of Hanoi had practically just rebuild his entire field with just two cards.

"But he's not bringing out anything new." Playmaker pointed out. "His entire strategy is linear without any progression after he summons his two Extra Deck Monsters."

"So you finally figured that out?" MetalX raised an eyebrow. "But it's too slow, I distribute three Bushido Counters between my spells since another Six Samurai joined the field. Then, I'm going to use four counters from Gateway of the Six to add Secret Six Samurai – Kizaru into my hand and then I activate Rihan's effect! I banish Kizaru from my hand to banish Decode Talker!"

Rihan's blades began to glow white and the monster fired its claws toward Playmaker's ace. Decode Talker's eyes glowed and it jumped away from the blades using its sword to deflect some of them away.

"I activate Decode Talker's second effect!" Playmaker exclaimed and gestured toward his monster. "When a card on my field is targeted with a card effect, I release a monster that Decode Talker points to and negate that effect! Then Decode Talker destroys the card whose effect it negated. Cyberse Sanctuary!"

Trickstar Holly Angel's body faded and its spirit was absorbed into Decode Talker who swung its blade and send the remaining blades flying back at Rihan. The Six Samurai made a backflip, dodging the blades, until one of them hit the warrior's shoulder and the monster exploded.

"I activate Secret Six Samurai – Fuhma's effect in my Graveyard! When exactly one of my Six Samurai monsters would be destroyed by a card effect, I can banish it from my Graveyard instead!" The smoke around MetalX's monster disappeared and Rihan stepped forward, pulling out the blade that was stuck into its shoulder. "Of course, since Decode Talker now points to one monster less, its attack power drops!"

Decode Talker, ATK: 4100 - 500 → 3600

"Let's battle Playmaker! I attack Flame Administrator with Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan!" The samurai monster jumped in front of the red robot and brought its katana down onto the Cyberse.

"Oh, no!" Ai panicked. "If Flame Administrator goes down, Decode Talker will lose all of its extra attack points!"

"I activate my Trap, Doppler Phase Coating and equip it to Flame Administrator!" Playmaker replied calmly, a barrier forming around his monster. "With Doppler Phase Coating the equipped monster won't be destroyed by battle once every turn."

"Very well then, but damage calculation will still proceed as usual." MetalX pointed out. As Kizan's sword made contact with the barrier, a spark of electricity fell toward Playmaker, causing him to wince.

『Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 2600 - 100 → 2500』

"He, you probably expected me to use Shi En's ability to negate your trap, but I'm not stupid enough to fall for that!" MetalX pointed at his remaining monsters. "Secret Six Samurai – Rihan finish Flame Administrator!"

The fusion Six Samurai flew over the Cyberse and destroyed the barrier with its blade before cutting the robot into pieces.

『Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 2500 - 400 → 2100』

"Now your Decode Talker loses all of its attack boost!" Playmaker glanced at his ace and indeed, the knight had dropped its sword and was breathing heavily.

Decode Talker, ATK: 3600 - 800 - 500 → 2300

"But because Doppler Phase Coating left the field, the Battle Phase ends." Blue Angel glanced at Playmaker who nodded.

"Our Decode Talker is safe for now!" Ai cheered.

"I activate the effect of Six Samurai United to release it along with the two counters that it holds in order to draw two new cards." MetalX's spell faded away along with the last Bushido Counters on his field and two new cards appeared in front of him. "I set a card and end my turn!"

"It's my turn to shine then!" Blue Angel exclaimed. "Draw!"

『Turn 6 [Blue Angel] LP: 2100 Hand: 3』

"I'm going to start by activating the Spell, Trickstar Temptation! With this spell, I get to Special Summon a Trickstar from my hand at the cost of negating its effects and halving its attack!"

"Don't think I will let you swarm your field, Blue Angel! Shi En's effect negates Trickstar Temptation and destroys it!" the idol winched after her spell shattered into pieces and disappeared from the field.

"That's what I was hoping of." Blue Angel smirked and tapped another card from her hand. "I Summon Trickstar Lilybell (Lv.2, ATK: 800) next to Decode Talker's arrow."

"She's powering up our monster!" Ai exclaimed and Decode Talker raised its sword once again.

Decode Talker, ATK: 2300 + 500 → 2800

"Let's battle!" Blue Angel smirked and reached with a hand toward the Cyberse, who kneeled in front of her, like a knight to a princess. "Playmaker, I hope you won't mind if I borrow Decode Talker for a bit."

The Cyberse Duelist only glanced at the idol and gave a nod of approval without saying anything to her.

"Thanks, but first, Lilybell is going to attack the opponent directly!" the little fairy swung her bell and slammed MetalX in the chest, knocking him back.

『MetalX LP: 2100 - 800 → 1300』

"And if you forgot, when Lilybell inflicts damage to you, I can return a Trickstar monster from my Graveyard to the hand." Blue Angel continued. "I choose Lycoris and then I activate its effect to return Lilybell back into my hand and Special Summon her!" the pink fairy waved goodbye disappeared from the field, only for Lycoris to take her place with 1600 ATK.

"Finally, Lilybell's first effect activates, when she is added to my hand, I get to Special Summon her on my field." The smaller fairy appeared yet again holding the huge bell. "Also, since Decode Talker now points to two monsters, its attack gets a buff again!"

Decode Talker, ATK: 2800 + 500 → 3300

"I'm going to attack Shi En with Decode Talker! Decode End!" The Cyberse turned around and its sword slammed against Shi En's katana. The two warriors pushed away from one another and then charged again, trading blow after blow, until Decode Talker pushed its enemy's sword off its arms and then swung the broadsword to finish off the warrior.

"I activate Shi En's second effect! If it would be destroyed, I can destroy Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan instead!" As Decode Talker was about to finish off MetalX's strongest monster, one of the lesser Six Samurais jumped in and took the hit instead. "Of course, I'm still going to take the damage from that battle."

『MetalX LP: 1300 - 800 → 500』

"Finally, because Lilybell left the field and then was summoned again, my monster is able to attack you again." Blue Angel stated victoriously and her fairy swung its belt to finish off the limping Knight of Hanoi.

"I activate my trap, Secret Defense Art, to negate your attack." A barrier formed around MetalX and reflected the attack, pushing the fairy away. "Then, I gain Life Points equal to the attack power of the strongest monster on the field, which is Decode Talker!"

---

Secret Defense Art (Trap) Normal

If your opponent declares a direct attack while your LP are 1500 or less, you can negate that attack, and if you do, gain LP equal to the ATK of the monster with the highest ATK on the field. During the End Phase, expect during the turn in which this card was sent to the GY: You can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon 1 Warrior-Type monster from your GY that was destroyed by battle and send there this turn.

---

"Oh, what?!" Ai slammed its head against Playmaker's Duel Disk as a blue aura flew from Decode Talker toward MetalX, healing him.

『MetalX LP: 500 + 3300 → 3800』

"Tch, I might have been unable to defeat you, but my move is far from complete!" Blue Angel shouted and raised her arms above her head. "Come out, the circuit of dreams and hope!"

A square opened above the idol and Lilybell winked before transforming into a purple heart that flew into the circuit.

"Arrowhead confirmed! The summoning condition is one Level Two or lower Trickstar monster. I set Trickstar Lilybell in the Link Marker! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Trickstar Bloom (ATK: 100, Link-1)!" A little fairy with yellow and green clothes flew out of the circuit and landed on Blue Angel's field.

"When Trickstar Bloom is Link Summoned, you draw one card." Blue Angel declared, and then gestured toward Lycoris. "Then, when you add cards from your deck to the hand, Trickstar Lycoris inflicts two hundred damage!"

『MetalX LP: 3800 - 200 → 3600』

"I activate my trap, Trickstar Maribold. When I Link Summon, this card lets me return second Trickstar Lycoris from the Graveyard to my hand and then I Normal Summon Trickstar Candina (Lv.4, ATK: 1800) whose effects lets me add Trickstar Mandrake from my deck to the hand."

"Are you done already?" MetalX gritted his teeth.

"Not close!" Blue Angel replied before summoning another square. "First, I return Candina to my hand in order to Special Summon my second Trickstar Lycoris (Lv.3, ATK: 1600)! Now, come out again, the circuit of dreams and hope! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Trickstar monsters. I set Trickstar Bloom and Lycoris in the Link Marker! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Trickstar Crimson Heart (ATK: 2000, Link-2)!"

"This one looks creepier than Holly Angel." Ai muttered to itself.

"I activate Crimson Heart's effect! I discard a card to let both of us draw one more card!" Blue Angel tapped one card from her hand, causing it to fade before a new one formed in its place. "And since you added cards to your hand, the effect of Lycoris activates again, dealing two hundred damage!"

"That's getting annoying." MetalX breathed out after another small needle hit him in the shoulder.

『MetalX LP: 3600 - 200 → 3400』

"The effect of Trickstar Mandrake activates from my Graveyard! Since it was sent there from the hand, I can Special Summon it" the little fairy appeared on the field with 1000 defense next to Crimson Heart. "Crimson Heart's effect then heals us by two hundred points!"

『Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 2100 + 200 → 2300』

"I open the circuit of dreams and hope again!" Another square formed above Blue Angel. This time Lycoris and Mandrake flew into the arrows that were located at the sides, making them glow red.

"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Trickstar monsters. I set Trickstar Mandrake and Lycoris in the Link Marker! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Trickstar Black Catbat (ATK: 2000, Link-2)!" the Trickstar wearing black clothes appeared next to Crimson Heart's Link Arrow. "The effect of Crimson Heart activates again!"

『Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 2300 + 200 → 2500』

"But in order for Catbat to be summoned next to Crimson Heart, Decode Talker must be linked to one less monster!" Ai grabbed its head and looked over to the Link 3, whose attack dropped from 3300 to 2800.

"I'm not done yet! For the last time, open the circuit of dreams and hope!" The circuit appeared for the fourth time, but this time it was in front of Blue Angel instead of above her. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two Trickstar monsters. I set Trickstar Crimson Heart and Black Catbat in the Link Marker! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Trickstar Bella Madonna (ATK: 2800, Link-4)!"

"You had a Link Four monster hidden away?" MetalX gulped, feeling what was going to follow next.

"Since Bella Madonna doesn't point to a monster, it's unaffected by card effects!" Blue Angel pointed out. "And once per turn, if Bella Madonna doesn't point to any monsters, I can inflict two hundred damage to my opponent for each different Trickstar in my Graveyard!"

The Trickstar raised its arm and a ball of light formed inside of it before she threw it at MetalX, launching the Knight of Hanoi backwards.

『MetalX LP: 3400 - 1800 → 1600』

"I set a card and end my turn!" Blue Angel finished.

"Woah, she just wiped out three thousand and eight hundred points worth of Life Points in a single turn." Ai gulped and looked back at Playmaker. "You are lucky that the two of you are on the same side and this isn't a rematch."

"It seems like I underestimated the two of you a little bit." MetalX groaned, getting back up after taking so much damage. "Picaro was right, you both are troublesome opponents."

"Picaro? Is he the one who sent you here?" Playmaker asked.

"Yes, he is." MetalX nodded to confirm. "He knew that sooner or later you will pick up on the trail that would lead you to SOL Technology, so he had me infiltrate the company and wait for you to show up."

"So the two of you were working together to get me?" Ai asked.

"Yes, we still do." MetalX looked down to his palm before clenching it into a fist. "Picaro was the one who showed me the true importance of the Ignis' existence and gave me a reason to continue moving forward."

---

It all happened in the underworld server of Link Vrains 8 months ago. After I learned the truth about how the Hanoi Project happened and about the six children that were tortured to create the Ignis, I began to despise both the project and my older colleagues who had united under the group known as Knights of Hanoi.

They were everywhere, hunting and destroying and Cyberse that they could find. I was never a good duelist, but I wanted to fight against them like everyone else, so I did something else. With my knowledge about programming, I was able to hack their servers and accounts, extract information and then sell it to the black-market or post it anonymously in forums.

Yukimuro Hiroki, a scientist in his early thirstiest was writing and decrypting codes from inside his bedroom, when suddenly someone knocked on the front door. The man stopped writing and looked toward his living room. Strange, he wasn't expecting anyone to visit today.

"Who is it?" Hiroki asked.

Instead of getting an answer, someone knocked on the front door again, this time more impatient than before. Hiroki bit his lip, whoever it was, they weren't going to reveal their identity unless he unlocked and let them inside, which might be too late. Of course, he could just not answer at all, but he already let them know that he was inside the apartment, and they could probably break his door.

"I-I'm coming." Hiroki gulped and stood up.

The scientist walked into the living room and then, instead of opening the door, he walked into the kitchen and opened one of the drawers, pulling a knife out of it. After arming himself somewhat, the man took a deep breath and went back to the door.

"Took you long enough, old man." Before Hiroki could reach the door was kicked open so suddenly that it made the scientist tumbled back, dropping the knife.

He gasped and looked up to see an eighteen years old in front of him. The young man was tall with long blue hair that was tied into a ponytail and had lightning-shaped yellow bangs that juts upward. His eyes were pink. He wore a torn grey singlet, worn out jeans and calf-high motorcycle boots. Five golden bracelets on his arms and two triangular earrings of the same material hanging from his ears finished the man's appearance.

"I have been looking for you for a while, MetalX." The young man said, shocking the scientist.

"H-how do you know this name?" Hiroki asked, his arm searching for the knife that he had dropped while his eyes remained locked on the boy in front of him.

"If you think that the Knights of Hanoi wouldn't be able to figure out who's been hacking their servers and giving out our information, you are wrong." The man replied with a smirk and walked past the scientist.

Hiroki gritted his teeth. He could feel the knife against his fingers and gripped it with his arm.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Hiroki cried out, the man's leg stepping on the back of his wrist.

"Don't be a fool." The man narrowed his eyes. "Do you even know why I came here?"

"To take me out!" Hiroki hissed from the pain on his hand. "The Knights of Hanoi send you to silence me because I know what monsters your leaders are!"

Much to Hiroki's surprise, the young man chuckled and stepped off his hand. The scientist retreated back and held his hand, his eyes carefully following for the unknown intruder's movement.

"The Knights of Hanoi really sent people to get rid of you, but I got rid of them all before anyone could find your address." The man replied, sitting down on the sofa. "You don't need to thank me for that."

"Wait, you have been protecting me from the Knights of Hanoi?" That surprised Hiroki, he didn't think that anyone had the courage to face the group on their own. "But why?"

"Because I need help, and out of everyone you would understand me the best." The man replied, closing his eyes. "I know that you were part of the project that created the Ignis, and that means you are probably also aware of the world that they created."

"The Cyberse…" Hiroki muttered, confirming his knowledge on the subject. "But why is that interesting for you? Don't tell me… Are you one of the six?"

The man chuckled again. "No, thankfully I'm not one of them. But it would be hard to explain, so take a look into it instead."

Saying that, the man pulled a small flash drive and threw it over to Hiroki who caught it, albeit with some difficulties. Nodding, he walked back into his room and inserted the flash drive into his computer. Momentarily, everything showed up on the screen and his eyes widened as realization stuck him.

"This is…" He couldn't believe it! He just couldn't believe that such a thing could possibly exist.

"A virtual world similar to the Cyberse, but created with a completely different algorithm." The man walked into the room and leaned against the wall. "From what I know, this place wasn't created by neither an Ignis nor a human and its possibilities are much bigger than those of a normal virtual reality. If we discover it, that virtual world might be the answer to saving humanity, to immortalize our species. A perfect utopia with no crimes, hunger or wars!"

"Magnificent." Hiroki whispered, but his smile soon turned into a frown and he looked back at the young man. "But how will my knowledge about Cyberse be of use for you?"

This question caused the smile on the young man's face to drop as well. "There is a gate that connects Link VRAINS with that unknown world, but it was sealed with a gate that needs six specific keys in order to be unlocked. One of the keys was entrusted on me and I was able to get away before they took it away from me, but the other five are all in the hands of people that I have no chance of defeating. However, I recently found out that it's possible for a similar gate to exist inside of Cyberse as well. I need your help in order to get there and locate it."

"You want my help to travel into the Cyberse?" Hiroki muttered and looked back at the screen in front of him. "From the data you gathered, I could say that the chance of a gate to exist there would be eighty seven percent."

"So, are you going to help me?" the man asked.

"Yes." Hiroki nodded and looked forward with determination in his eyes. "I created the Ignis because I believed that they could save humanity, be the perfection that we could never be. I would never want them to be destroyed and if there truly is a utopia hidden inside the network, the power we gather there might help us destroy Hanoi and reset the peaceful coexistence between humanity and the Ignis."

"Heh, that's the spirit." The young man smiled and walked over to the scientist, reaching out for a handshake. "My name is Takuma Kita, my virtual alias is Rocketeer."

After that day, I joined with Picaro within the ranks of Hanoi and began my research on the hidden utopia while planning my revenge on the Knights of all of their sins against humanity and the Ignis.

With Picaro I was able to see a light in my work for the Hanoi Project. He gave me something worth fighting for!

---

"A utopia hidden within the network?" Ai rubbed his chin in thought. "That's the first time I hear about this, but I was never interested in such things to begin with."

"So Rocketeer was working for the Knights of Hanoi all along?" Blue Angel clenched her fist. He was always someone that she could sit down with and talk, tell him about her struggles, the difficulties she had in both the virtual and real world. Then he would always say something to cheer her up and they would laugh it off together. To think that his kind persona might have all been just a false mask…

"I don't care about your reason to fight." Playmaker closed his eyes for a moment. "All that matters for me is to defeat every single Knight of Hanoi that stands in my way and this includes you as well."

"So in the end you are still going to say this?" MetalX barked in anger. "Fine! I'm going to destroy you then, Playmaker! My turn! DRAW!"

『Turn 7 [MetalX] LP: 1600 Hand: 5』

"First off, I banish Elder of the Six Samurai from my hand to activate Rihan's effect and banish Decode Talker!" the warrior activated its claws and fired all of the blades toward the Cyberse monster, which raised its sword to defend.

"Oh no!" Ai's eyes widened and it turned back to Playmaker. "Quickly! Use its effect to negate the effect."

"It would be pointless to do so. The enemy could just defeat it in the battle phase if I used the effect." Playmaker shook his head, letting the blades pierce through his Link's body and erase it.

"No! Decode Talker!" Ai cried out in despair.

"I Normal Summon The Six Samurai – Irou (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)!" MetalX continued, summoning a warrior in green armor holding a katana. "Then, I activate Asceticism of the Six Samurai to Special Summon a monster with the same attack as Enishi from my deck! Come out, Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)!" another warrior in dark purple, appeared on the field carrying a katana as well. "While Enishi is on my field along with two or more Six Samurai monsters, it gains five hundred attack points. Also, since I summoned two Six Samurai monsters, Gateway of the Six is going to gain four counters! Now I remove all of them to increase Shi En's attack by one thousand!"

Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi, ATK: 1700 + 500 → 2200, DEF: 700 + 500 → 1200

Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En, ATK: 2500 + 1000 → 3500

"Let's finish this! I attack Trickstar Bella Madonna with Legendary Six Samurai – Shi En!" The Synchro's eyes glowed and it swung its katana at the fairy, cutting through her scythe and flesh with a single strike, the following explosion throwing both duelist in the air.

"Kyyyyaaaaaaaa!" Blue Angel and Playmaker cried out before their bodies slammed hard on the ground!

『Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 2500 - 700 → 1800』

"Aoi!" Akira shouted, but Ghost Girl held him.

"Don't! You can't help her in your condition!" the treasure hunter tried to talk sense into the older Zaizen but it was pointless.

"It was just seven hundred damage, yet it hurt so much!" Ai whined. "Quick, Playmaker, stand up!"

The Cyberse Duelist didn't respond. He was lying on the ground and despite how hard he was trying to get back up, the damage he took during his duel with Akira was putting its toll on his body already. He wasn't sure if there was anything that they could do. There was just a single face-down card on their field and Shi En had the ability to negate any Spell or Trap's activation, which mean…

"Playmaker! Blue Angel!" The two duelists raised their heads, hearing a familiar voice.

"P-Proxy?" Blue Angel was the first to see the BrioGear duelist running toward them with Blaze Rose following shortly behind her.

"Y-you!" Blaze Rose stopped and glared at MetalX, while Proxy tried to help the fallen duelists back up.

"I thought that you were captured when the AI Duelist defeat you." Playmaker muttered and stepped back up on his own.

"You two know each other?" Blue Angel raised an eyebrow, watching Playmaker and Proxy.

The young girl blushed a little and looked away while Playmaker just stared toward their opponent. Of course, with neither of them saying anything explain this became Ai's duty…

"Proxy is Playmaker's sidekick!" Ai shouted and gestured toward the two.

"S-seriously?" Blue Angel gasped and turned toward Proxy. "So that was why you were there to save Playmaker from Picaro that one time!"

"Excuse me, but we are in the middle of a duel here!" MetalX crossed his arms. "You can talk after I defeat them and take the Ignis from Playmaker!"

"I won't let you!" Proxy stepped in front of the Charisma Duelist and Playmaker. "I came here to stop you from hurting my friends! And although I'm too weak to fight on my own, my goal hasn't changed!"

"That's heartbreaking and all, but its bad sport to interrupt in the middle of a duel." Ai coughed into its palm, before realizing something. "Wait! We are the ones losing right now, right? Forget what I said and go for it, Proxy!"

"That's enough." Playmaker sighed and stepped forward, putting a hand on Proxy's shoulder.

"P-p-p-playmaker?" Proxy gasped in surprise, then felt a hand on her other shoulder as well. "Blue Angel?"

"I appreciate that you care about us, and think of me as a friend, but this duel is ours to finish." Blue Angel smiled at the young girl. "Right, Playmaker?"

"Yes." The Cyberse Duelist nodded and the two of them pulled Proxy behind themselves. To be pushed back and protected after saying that she was going to be the done doing the protecting embarrassed Proxy so much that her face went completely red. It wasn't helping that Blaze Rose was standing at the side, laughing so much that she was having trouble breathing.

"Don't worry, I'm going to make this duel a short one! I attack you directly with Secret Six Samurai – Rihan!" MetalX shouted, his Fusion Monster jumped into the air and threw its blades toward the two duelists.

"I activate my Counter Trap, Link Barrier!" Blue Angel threw her right arm forward and a barrier of solid light formed out of her palm, freezing the blades midair.

"W-what?!" MetalX shouted.

"Link Barrier allows me to banish Trickstar Bella Madonna from my Graveyard to negate a direct attack and end the Battle Phase!" Blue Angel stated. "Because it's a counter trap, Shi En is unable to negate its activation and effect!"

---

Link Barrier (Trap) Counter

When an opponent's monster declares a direct attack: Banish 1 Link Monster with the highest Link Rating; negate the attack, then end the Battle Phase. When this card's effect resolves, you must send 2 cards from the top of your deck to the GY, times the Link Rating that the banished monster had.

---

"Then, after this trap resolves, I must send eight cards from my deck to the Graveyard." Blue Angel stated, taking the cards and dropping them in the Graveyard slot. "Then, I banish the two copies of Trickstar Reincarnation that I sent to the Graveyard in order to revive Trickstar Black Catbat (ATK: 2000, Link-2) and Trickstar Crimson Heart (ATK: 2000, Link-2)!" Crimson Heart landed on the middle Main Monster Zone while Black Catbat made her appearance at the most right zone, leaving one empty space between them.

"Tch, during the End Phase the effect of Asceticism of the Six Samurai should destroyLegendary Six Samurai – Enishi, but I banish Secret Six Samurai – Douji from my graveyard to negate it." Electricity formed around Irou, but the dark monster swung its katana, dispersing the negative effect of the spell. "Then I'm going to set two cards and end my turn!"

"I will leave the rest of this up to you, Playmaker." Blue Angel looked over and the Cyberse Duelist nodded.

"I'm going to end the duel this turn for sure." Playmaker said. "My turn, draw!"

『Turn 8 [Playmaker] LP: 1800 Hand: 3』

"First off, I activate Crimson Heart's effect to discard Parallel Port Armor from my hand and let both of us draw a new card!" Playmaker looked over his new card and nodded. "I activate the Equip Spell, Cynet Deflag to revive Link Streamer from my Graveyard!"

"I activate Shi En's effect to negate your spell from activating and destroy it!" MetalX declared, shattering Playmaker's card. "Your hope has been shattered, Playmaker."

"You think so?" Playmaker asked and then pointed toward the ground. "I pay half of my Life Points to activate Deflag's effect from the Graveyard!"

"You what?!" MetalX yelled.

『Blue Angel & Playmaker LP: 1800/2 → 900』

"Revive, Link Streamer (Lv.4, ATK: 1600)!" the satellite-like monster appeared back on Playmaker's field. "Next, I Normal Summon Cyberse Gadget (Lv.4, ATK: 1400) and activate its effect to revive Link Infra-Flier (Lv.2, DEF: 1800)!"

"Hmm, what are you aiming for, Playmaker?" MetalX narrowed his eyes. Playmaker's strategy was to summon multiple monsters to Special Summon a strong Link Monster, but his Code Talkers were no match for the Six Samurais, so… "Don't tell me that you are going to summon THAT monster?!"

"Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!" Ignoring his opponent's question, Playmaker opened a square above his head. "Arrowhead confirmed! The summoning condition is one Level Two or lower monster. I set Link Infra-Flier in the Link Marker! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Talkback Lancer (ATK: 1200, Link-1)!" The little warrior appeared in the Extra Monster Zone, pointing down at the zone between the two Trickstar monsters.

"The effect of Link Streamer Special Summons one Data Token (Lv. 1, DEF: 0) when another Cyberse is summoned on my field." Playmaker continued. "Appear, the circuit that leads to the future! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition are two or more Cyberse monsters. I set Link Streamer, Cyberse Gadget and Data Token in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Excode Talker (ATK: 2300. Link-3)!"

"With Excode Talker's effect you can boost all of our other monsters!" Ai pointed out.

"That still won't be enough." Playmaker stated. "I activate Cyberse Gadget's effect! Since it left the field, I can Special Summon one Gadget Token (Lv.2, DEF: 0)! Now for the third time! Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!"

The square appeared much higher than it did before. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition are two or more monsters. I set Gadget Token and the Link Three Excode Talker in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear, Firewall Dragon (ATK: 2500, Link-4)!" A single beam fell from the circuit and landed on Playmaker's field letting out a fierce roar.

"So you summoned your strongest monster." MetalX took a step back. He knew what effect this monster had and that it wasn't going to end well for him.

"I activate Firewall Dragon's effect!" Playmaker declared. "Once while its face-up on the field, I can return a number of monsters from either side of the field or Graveyard to the hand, up to the number of monsters its co-linked with! Firewall is co-linked with Trickstar Crimson Heart, Trickstar Catbat and Talkback Lancer, so I return Legendary Six Samurai – Shien, Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi and Secret Six Samurai - Rihanback to your hand. Emergency Escape!"

MetalX took his cards and removed them from the field. "Fusion and Synchro monsters return to the Extra Deck instead of the hand."

"Now you can finish this with our four monsters!" Ai pointed out.

Playmaker looked carefully at his opponent's field once again. MetalX only had The Six Samurai – Irou to protect him from a direct attack, but there were still two set card on his field, which could be troublesome to deal with.

"I activate Micro Coder's effect from my hand!" Playmaker stated and another square above him. "When Micro Coder is in my hand, it can be used as material for the Link Summon of a Code Talker monster. Appear, the circuit that leads to the future!"

"You can use monsters in your hand as Link Materials?!" MetalX and Blue Angel shouted almost simultaneously with one another.

"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition are two or more monsters. I set Micro Coder and Talkback Lancer in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link Summon! Code Talker (ATK: 1300, Link-2)!"

Playmaker threw the last card that he held into the air and it transformed into a grey whirlwind with Talkback Lancer turning into a blue one. The two monsters slammed into the up and down arrows of the square after which the smaller version of Decode Talker landed into the Extra Monster Zone.

"While Code Talker is linked to another monster it can't be destroyed by card effects and also gains five hundred attack points!"

Code Talker, ATK: 1300 → 1800

"And since Micro Coder was used as Link Material from the hand, we get to add a Cynet card from our deck to the hand." Ai put its arms on its hips proudly while Playmaker showed that the card he added was Cynet Backdoor.

"Let's battle!" Firewall Dragon roared, hearing Playmaker's declaration and took off, flying high above the field. "I attack The Six Samurai – Irou with Firewall Dragon! Tempest Attack!"

MetalX could only cover his face with both arms as Playmaker's monster fired a red beam of energy at his samurai, obliterating the warrior with its tremendous power.

『MetalX LP: 1600 - 800 → 800』

"Double Traps activate!" MetalX cried out as both of his set cards flipped face-up. "First, I activate the effect of Shien's Scheme to Special Summon Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi (Lv.4, DEF: 700) and The Six Samurai – Nisashi (Lv.4, DEF: 700) from my hand, and then I use Return of the Six Samurai to revive Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan (Lv.4, DEF: 500)!" All three of MetalX's monsters appeared in front of him one after another. "Then, Enishi and Kizan gain bonus attack points by their own effects."

Legendary Six Samurai – Enishi, ATK: 1700 + 500 → 2200, DEF: 700 + 500 → 1200

Legendary Six Samurai – Kizan, ATK: 1800 + 300 → 2100, DEF: 500 + 300 → 800

"With the way things are, even if we destroy all of his monsters, his Life Points will remain unchanged." Ai stated. "Also, because of his trap, he already got four Bushido Counters and could use them to search any card he needs during the next turn! You have to find a way to finish it this turn, Playmaker!"

"Trickstar Crimson Heart, Trickstar Black Catbat and Code Talker will attack your remaining monsters!" the three Link Monsters brought their weapons together and unleashed a wave of red, black and grey energy that cut all of the remaining Six Samurai monsters.

"Not half bad." MetalX dusted his clothes. "But you failed to defeat me in this turn, again and there is nothing to protect your field from me during my next turn."

"But we got the advantage!" Ai exclaimed.

"If your opponent gets The Six Samurai – Yariza and another monster out on the field, it will be over for you." Blaze Rose explained from the side. "And even if he doesn't draw it, with four counters on, Gateway of the Six would be able to search it out."

"Eh?!" Ai's eyes became the size of dinner plates.

"I said that the duel will end this turn." Playmaker replied and raised his arm. Firewall Dragon raised its head and roared in agreement. "I activate the effect of Parallel Port Armor from my Graveyard! Banish it along with Link Spider and Talkback Lancer in order to allow Firewall Dragon a second attack this turn! Tempest Attack!"

The Cyberse monster connected its wings together and its color scheme changed from blue to red with a pulse of energy forming behind it. MetalX had only 800 Life Points remaining while the dragon had 2500 attack power, the outcome of that attack was obvious. The Knight of Hanoi closed his eyes and spread his arms out, waiting for the attack. The dragon finished charging its attack and fired a beam of red light that enveloped the entire area and MetalX's body faded away.

『MetalX LP: 800 - 2500 → 0』

『Winner: Playmaker & Blue Angel』

"Well, that was it." Blaze Rose sighed and walked over to the two duelists. She looked over to the area that MetalX was standing a moment ago, but there was nothing there. "It seems our little guess was using a remote program to duel from a safe distance. What a coward."

Blue Angel turned on her heel to face the Charisma Duelist. "So, how long have you been a part of this?"

"Hmm?" Blaze Rose raised an eyebrow at the question. She looked around, Ghost Girl was still holding Akira, Proxy was shyly trying to approach her 'partner'. All in all, none of the things around her gave the Nitro Duelist the slightest of idea what 'this' thing that Blue Angel talked about actually was. "What are you referring to?"

"Everything! The fight against Hanoi, being always beside Playmaker's 'partner' and such." Blue Angel gestured around. "How long have you… had a purpose to duel?"

"Since I found out that there were people who needed my help." Blaze Rose replied simply. "I never dueled for popularity, but lately, with all of the Hanoi attacks and all that happened in my personal life, I realized that people like us, with our dueling skills, had a responsibility. Why are you asking?"

Blue Angel just shook her head and turned to walk back to her brother. "Let's just say that everything that happened today made me wonder what my purpose is."

"Good luck finding it." Blaze Rose shrugged and turned back to Proxy. "Well, that was a weird conversation, but jobs done so how about we,"

Blaze Rose stopped herself, noticing that Proxy wasn't paying any attention to her. In fact, the BrioGear duelist had slowly walked over to Yusaku, who was standing at the center of the Data Bank waiting for Ai to finish eating all of the necessary information. He probably wouldn't need it since Ai sort of revealed that its memories were still intact, but it did lie to him once and there was nothing stopping it from doing so again. It was best to be cautious, even if Ai wasn't the smartest.

"Sorry." Proxy muttered, looking down at her feet. "I was supposed to find the Knight of Hanoi and stop him before he could reach you, but like usually, I failed and you had to clear up my mess."

"Don't apologize."

"Hmm?" Proxy raised her head, surprised to hear that.

"Thanks to you failing, I learn things that would have otherwise remained hidden from me." Playmaker stated. "You were of big help for me."

"R-really?" Sparks appeared inside Proxy's eyes and she looked like a little child that was praised by its parents for completing a difficult task.

"Ah, I'm full!" Ai interrupted, floating on top the Duel Disk with its belly visibly sticking out. "I got everything, Playmaker. It's time to go back."

"Yes." Playmaker nodded and turned back to leave. Alarmed, Proxy reached out to stop him, but she suddenly stopped herself. What was she ever doing? The girl slowly retracted her hand back and lowered her head, not saying a single world as the Cyberse Duelist jumped on his D-Board and flew away. With the BrioGear Duelist now alone, Blaze Rose walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You did your best. That's what counts."

Proxy raised her head to look at the older girl and smiled a bit to show that everything was ok. But on the inside, she felt conflicted.

---

A/N: I feel that this might be an underwelming way to come back, but I'm back. Yay!

In all seriousness, it took me two months to write this chapter! And while the reasons for that were many, the main one was that I realized midway through writing it that Six Samurai aren't as good in Master Rule 4 as they were before it... It was also hilaroious to me that a 1 vs 1 duel against Trickstar would end in Six Samurai getting completely rekt, while a 1 vs 1 duel against Cyberse would end with Cyberse getting completely destroyed before turn 4 comes around the corner. I surely hope that Konami is going to keep printing good Cynet Spell/Trap Cards like those from the last Structure Deck instead of whatever the heck Yusaku's Spell/Trap lineup is supposed to be...

Also, I want to point out that I'm apperently borderline stupid because when I wrote the last chapter, I was expecting Secret Six Samurai to be the highlight of MetalX's deck with their awesome protection from the Graveyard. Then I re-read the effects and found out that it protects only from effect destruction and only 1 monster. I don't know why, but I always thought that Secret Six Samurai – Rihan's self-banishing effect was negating targeting effects. When I learned that I'm wrong, I had to completely change my plans for how the duel's going to go and rewrite the chapter.

At the time I'm writing this chapter, there were also several news about YGO that came out and I would like to cover these as well. Not spoiling the anime, but the card game just got a Cyberse and BorreLOAD Synchro Monsters, so that might be something. I'm just happy that the team is following the trend of giving Playmaker more DARK monsters, because that's his Ignis' attribute, but it would have been much better in my opinion if they gave him ONLY Dark Cyberse monsters from the beginning.

Also something hilarious to me is that both the TCG and OCG keep banning cards connected to Firewall loops instead of hitting the actual problem itself. I mean, at this point Firewall Dragon has appeared so little in the anime that people probably wouldn't know the card existed if it wasn't for all of the loops and FTKs connected to it! But at least now Superpoly is unbanned when both Evan and Avice's Fusion Monsters are almost generic, so my OCs are getting more powerful with every banlist. Mwahahaha!

Now, to the reviews.

ScalchopWarrior: Thanks for the review.

ThePLOThand: There are three reviews so I will start from the oldest one. No, in this story Evan and Avice don't hate humans, but they still see them as bugs, but despite that they have enough self awarness to know how much of an asshole is unhealthy to be while living in a society.

I really don't see why some people think that using old summoning methods makes you "outdated" in Link VRAINS. I guess that it might be because OPFan's fanfic treated Fusion/Synchro/Xyz that way, but none of the other VRAINS writers whose stories I read do this, so I don't understand why some people expect that treatment as default... The 1 card draw from Burning Draw is stupid indeed, but he summoned Sunlight Wolf only once so that might be the reason why he didn't use Reincarnation on it. Remember that Soul Burner's Ritual and Fusion have a similiar Reincarnation mechanic (in the OCG at least) but he never used it.

Finally, I don't understand the first part of your third review, but currently Proxy is trying to figure out what happened after the crash incident that caused her to wake up in Den City, but she is also trying to help out as much as possible before she finds out the truth and leaves. As for Evan and Avice, I already got a plan how to make their appearance here make sense, but that's not something people who read this fanfic alone should worry about.

So, that's all. Thanks fo reading, I hope you liked the chapter and if you do, please leave a a review and maybe, you could favorite/follow the story if you liked it really that much.

Diabolic Tracer out!