Resolve to Protect
"Stop daydreaming! Class is over!"
Vermilya opened her eyes and raised her head slightly from the desk to look around. Usually she was the one taking a nap during class, but this time she found that people weren't talking about her. Instead, it was that Naoki annoying Yusaku again.
"I thought you turned into an Athnoer." Naoki continued.
Vermilya raised an eyebrow.
"Athnoer?" And it seemed that Yusaku didn't have any knowledge about what Naoki was talking either.
"You don't know about Athnoers? You're hopeless."
"Ho?" Vermilya leaned back against her chair and listened carefully to the conversation. She had to give it to Naoki that while his information wasn't one hundred percent correct, either because of his bias toward Playmaker or another reason, it always contained some truth.
"Since people like you don't know what's up, you need people like me to provide the info. Oh well. I do it for the good of society."
Vermilya covered her mouth. Is she laughed, they were going to spot her. Don't laugh! Don't laugh!
"Hey! Wait up!"
Since class had ended, Yusaku collected his stuff and went out with Naoki following after. Vermilya shook her head and went after them, keeping enough distance for Yusaku not to spot her while she listened on their conversation.
"Hey there!" the red haired stalker flinched as a hand grabbed her school uniform from behind and pulled her inside an empty classroom.
"Hey, did you hear something?" Naoki turned around.
Yusaku turned as well. He could have sworn that he felt someone was following them, but there was nothing suspicious. The Cyberse duelist shrugged and continued on his way.
Inside the classroom, Vermilya was getting more and more irritated by the second. Not only was she yanked like a ragdoll, tripped and fell on her rear, but the one that attacked her was also holding a hand over her mouth.
"I think they are gone." Avice sighed and removed her hand from the older girl's mouth before stepping toward the door to make double sure that Yusaku and Naoki were gone. "Seriously, I was able to feel your presence from three classrooms away. Did you not notice the funny looks that people were giving you while you stalked these two? My classmates could start making fun of me for being in the company of a weirdo like you."
"You almost tore off a part of my uniform with that yank!" Vermilya yelled. "And now I got to wash it because you threw me on the dirty floor as well. I'm starting to run out of spares."
"Oh?" Avice turned back to the older girl with a mischievous smile on her face and then approached. The read head panicked and crawled backward as the smaller girl approached her with a small blush across her face. "I'm starting to wonder what you would look like without that uniform getting in the way!"
"We are in school!" Vermilya shouted, reminding Avice of their environment.
"I know." Avice pouted and leaned against the wall. "I was just messing with you. But on a serious note, why were you stalking mister pokerface over there?"
"Naoki was saying something about an Athnoer and I thought that it might be useful for you." Vermilya explained.
Avice shook her head. "I was the one that told him it's called 'Another' and he still got it wrong." The young duelist pushed herself from the wall and put her hands behind the back of the head as she turned around to leave. "It seems I forgot to tell you about it. Come, we will talk on the way to the Duel Club."
"The Duel Club?" Vermilya tilted her head. "You are unironically visiting it?"
"Of course I'm!" Avice exclaimed, annoyed by the girl's question. "They might all be idiots like Naoki in there, but they have enough passion about dueling to give it a part of their school life. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself, if they got hurt by the incident because I didn't warn them."
Vermilya smiled hearing Avice's reasoning. "So you actually care about other people? I never thought I would see the day."
"It's not like this, baka!" Avice pouted.
"So why did you call me here?" Akira asked.
His family had known the Greysons for a year. They had a very friendly relationship, even more so with Aoi who used to look after them when she was younger. Although the close relationship between these two families, Evan never invited Akira to have a lunch break together without having a hidden motive.
"Why are you asking? Must I have an agenda in order to want to spend some time with a good friend?" Evan asked back and took a sip from his coffee.
"Should I start with how you manipulated Emma, me, and even Aoi to bait out a Knight of Hanoi in SOL's mother computer?" Akira reminded him.
Although Aoi, or Blue Angel, proved that she was able to take care of herself and helped Playmaker to defeat the Knight of Hanoi, Akira couldn't forgive Evan for getting her involved in the first place. What if things didn't go according to plan and she got hurt badly? Scratch that, after the duel she was so exhausted that Akira had to order the maid robot to carry some dinner to Aoi's bedroom.
"Aoi wasn't in the plan." Evan pointed out. "There were too many variables and while I deduced that there was a chance for her to show-up, it could have been avoided if she wasn't suspicious of you."
Akira sighed. "You are right. Although Aoi tries not to show it, I can tell that she isn't trusting me as much as she used to." Zaizen looked down at the table in regret. "Tell me, as an older brother yourself, where do you think I do wrong?"
"I don't think you did anything wrong per say." Evan replied and looked off to somewhere else. "It's just teenage hormones, they make kids more rebellious and stubborn. Since you have always protected Aoi, she is now trying to repay you for that, but since you keep her locked inside the apartment, she is starting to think that you were trying to keep her locked into a cage from the start. Then entire reason she created her Blue Angel persona was to prove herself to you and now that you are trying to take that away from her, she is naturally trying to fight back."
"But how am I supposed to let her be after the incident in her duel against Playmaker?" Akira asked. "What if something similar happens again? Or even worse, what if,"
"Don't say that." Evan raised his hand to stop the Zaizen from continuing that sentence. "I'm not judging you. Although I have complete trust in Avice and her ability to protect herself, I don't think I would have reacted much differently from you in a similar situation. Really, to both protect your little sister and also not take away her freedom; that's something you will have to figure out how to do."
Akira took a deep breath and leaned back. "Sorry that I started to talk about my family issues to you."
"Come on now." Evan chuckled and his eyes turned back to look at Akira. "You are my best friend in this city, of course I'm going to be here to listen to your issues! I'm not sure how much it's going to help, but I could have Avice talk with Aoi. Since they are at about the same age and both of them are younger sisters, Aoi might have more of a chance to open up on the issue with her, than with either of us."
"No." Akira shook his head. "That's our issue so I shouldn't use your sister as the middleman. But she will be happy to see both of you, so the four of us should have a dinner together someday."
"It would be the five of us then." Evan jokingly said and looked away again. "Look at the waitress that's serving on table eight. What do you think?"
Akira turned back to look. The waitress that Evan was talking about was a young woman, not more than twenty years old with short black hair with a yellow layer at the sides. She also seemed to be into Goth because of the black lipstick and dark eye shadow she was wearing. In Akira's opinion, she was average.
Akira could already imagine why Evan asked about his opinion. "Evan, no."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to try and seduce her." Evan shook his head. "I'm not into Goth either, but doesn't she look familiar to you? A hint: Her name is Koizumi Etsuko as you Japanese say it."
"I know that name." Akira realized. "She is Gloomy Ruby. She used to be at seventh place in the Charisma Duelist leaderboard."
"Used to?" Evan raised an eyebrow. "I haven't heard of her losing an official match, so how exactly did she lost her place on the leaderboard?"
"Even if you don't lose an official duel, if there's someone with better dueling record than you, they are able to take your place." Akira explained. "Since that incident that left her comatose, Gloomy Ruby, Blaze Rose and Rocketeer haven't show up in LINK VRAINS for a long time and other began to fight for their places in the leaderboard. Right now, Blaze Rose has fallen from being Number Three to Number Eight and Rocketeer is right behind her."
"You haven't disclosed that he is a Knight of Hanoi?" Evan was surprised that Akira would let something like that slide.
"I told my bosses but they choose to keep it a secret." Akira admitted. "Right now, the Charisma Duelists are the only thing keeping other users in the servers. If it were for them to learn that one of the duelists they trusted so much was actually working with Hanoi all along, the servers would fall into complete chaos."
"It's never a good business model to scare your player base." Evan shook his head.
If Picaro choose to reveal his true identity in LINK VRAINS, he could have not only caused chaos, but also gotten himself an army from his followers that choose to remain loyal after that reveal. So why wouldn't he use that trump card to increase his advantage?
"But now I understand why you wanted us to eat here." Akira sighed, disappointed by his friend's actions. "There are three other restaurants that were much closer to both of our workplaces. You choose to come here because you wanted to meet with her in a more casual surrounding, didn't you?"
"You caught me red handed." Evan smiled. "LINK VRAINS needs a useful defense unit against the Knights of Hanoi. I don't think that Kitamura's army would do much in that regard and the new Charisma Duelist are just attention seekers that will abandon the servers once Hanoi shows up."
"You want to make Gloomy Ruby your soldier?" Akira questioned. "She suffered a come and almost lost her life because of LINK VRAINS. It would be cruel to just ask her to come back and fight against Hanoi, risking the chance of falling into a coma for the second time."
"That's why I'm going to ask her through a roundabout way." Evan smirked, before he noticed that Etsuko was coming toward them. "She's coming this way. Quickly, trip her."
"No!"
"Come on, do it for your friend."
"I'm not going to trip her for you."
"Fine, I will handle it."
"Evan, don-"
Because Akira could tell him not to do anything, the Greyson pushed his glass of coffee causing it to spill all over the table and even onto Etsuko's legs. The girl yelped and tripped on herself, falling backward. Closing her eyes, Etsuko prepared to fell a strong pain as her body fell toward the ground with the tray landing on top of her.
That never happened.
Instead of the hard ground, the girl felt a hand wrap around her waist and hold her, while another hand grabbed the tray with the food and balanced it. Surprised, Etsuko quickly opened her eyes and was meet by the charming smile of Evan himself! The girl's face turned completely red at the realization that she was being hold in the hands of a handsome young man, but she quickly pushed those thoughts aside and began to bow and apologize despite her face still being red as a tomato.
"I'm sorry for this! I'm going to clear your table right away! I'm sorry!" Etsuko apologized over and over as she moved to wipe out the spilled coffee, then realized that she had an order waiting, and then was unsure which one she was supposed to do first so she froze there, looking between the tray and the table.
"Don't worry, it's my fault." Evan said and handled her the tray. "My name is Evan Greyson by the way and… Don't you look familiar? I sure would never forget seeing such a beautiful face as yours. Hey Akira, do you remember where I might have seen this girl before? Her brilliant eyes are art that I have seen only once in my life."
Zaizen glared at the Greyson. The plot behind this scene was already obvious to the ex-security managed. Evan wanted him to 'reveal' that Etsuko was Gloomy Ruby, Evan was going to act surprised at first, then using his charming look and honey words was going to confuse the girl and before she knew it, she was going to be back in LINK VRAINS fighting an army of Knights of Hanoi for him. All of this proved to Akira times and times again that Evan was nothing short than a devil in human skin.
Inside LINK VRAINS, chaos has ensued. The Knights of Hanoi were running rampant through the virtual city, hunting down any Duelist that they came across. Logging out was impossible due to the programming they were using and if someone tried to run, they would just use their special red cards to blow up the avatar, leaving no survivors. As that happened, Revolver and several high-ranked Knights of Hanoi were watching over their pawns from the top of the buildings.
"Most of the people there don't even believe in our cause. It's disgusting that Revolver actually let them join." Specter grimaced, watching the lower ranked Knights of Hanoi.
"There are around a thousand of them." Picaro said. "You will need all of them as meat shield once the stronger duelist come out and counterattack."
"Huh?" Specter raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you talking about Playmaker? Please, he isn't that big of a threat."
"I'm not talking about him." Picaro raised his claw and looked at it. "PhantomFire won't directly try to stop us, but if he shows up, none of these Knight will be able to survive more than a turn against him."
"If he is such a dangerous foe, why haven't I heard anything about him?" Specter laughed.
"Because he doesn't want his name to be spoken out by lower beings such as you." Picaro crossed his hands.
Specter gritted his teeth and glared back at the other duelist.
"I don't think that the Charisma Duelists have enough guts to fight back." Nulline sighed in disappointment. "Of course. That Blue Angel probably caress too much about herself to risk her life challenging us."
"Control yourself." MetalX put a hand in front of her. "Your personal vendetta against Blue Angel isn't as important as our mission."
"I know that." Nulline pouted and looked to the side. "But I'm still frustrated about that."
"Blue Angel isn't going to stand aside and watch everything she created go down in flames." Picaro interrupted them. "Even if her brother is trying to keep her away, I'm sure that she's going to come out sooner or later. We just started our attack, so our enemies didn't have enough time to counterattack yet."
"That's right." Nulline admitted and stepped toward Picaro, wrapping her hands around his claw, as well as pressing her breasts against it. "But I'm still frustrated so why don't we,"
"If you don't step aside right now, I'm going to tear those things right off your chest." Picaro hissed.
Heliac remained silent, playing on his console, he ignored the Knights' arguing. Specter's Duel Disk beeped and he looked down at it.
"Specter." Kogami called.
"Dr. Kogami." Specter bowed. "Did something happen?"
"I found several encrypted messages that were randomly sent to users in server GC-Zero-Six-Two." Kogami said. "These messages were encrypted in the language of the Ignis, I don't want to call Revolver because he needs to prepare for his fight, so I want you to send a team to check it out."
"Right away." Specter nodded.
"Let us go. We are the best unit that you currently have." Picaro commented
"No, you must stand here as back-up by the orders of Revolver himself." Specter shook his head and pressed a button on his Duel Disk, causing the hologram of a Knight with a mask that covered its entire face to appear. "Captain, I got a mission for you."
Proxy opened her eyes. Evan's private server has always felt like a void for her, but today it was a little better than usually. Silver Star, Blaze Rose and PhantomFire were all already there, doing what they had to. The siblings were 'constructing' new things while Blaze Rose seemed to be upgrading her D-Board with the help of Masou.
Proxy walked over to several free cubes that floated in the air and pressed them with her fingers, causing them to combine and transform a chair for her to sit into.
"You sat the moment you came." Silver Star noticed. "Did something happen?"
"People are being turn into Anothers left and right, the forums are filled with panic, and there is no one to stop the Knights of Hanoi!" Proxy shouted. "How can you be so calm about it?"
"Unlike with the virus used on Blaze, the Another virus isn't going to kill its victims." PhantomFire pointed out. "The Knights probably have a removal program, so we should first learn who holds it and then strike. If we attacked now, even though I'm able to defeat ten Knights of Hanoi at once, I'm eventually going to get tired from dueling too much. Same goes for the rest of us."
"So we are waiting for the Knights to tire themselves first?" Proxy asked. That idea actually sounded brilliant!
"We aren't just waiting." Blaze Rose corrected and slapped her D-Board. "Picaro knows everything about us. He was one of us. The old tactics that Phantom and Silver taught me, they won't work against someone like him. We will need to evolve if we want to turn the tide of the battle!"
Proxy nodded then looked to one of the cubic screens that showed the Knights' rampage.
"What about Playmaker?" Proxy asked. "Won't he help him out when he joins the fight against the Knights? Isn't creating one united force the main reason you were trying to contact him?"
"We never tried to contact him until you joined." Silver Star pointed out. "Playmaker is fighting against the Knights of Hanoi for revenge. We are fighting against them because Picaro is using them to open the gate toward another world."
"Right." Proxy nodded.
"Something showed up in server GC-Zero-Six-Two." PhantomFire commented. "I'm unable to get visuals though, something is muting the signal."
"Let's go and explore it then!" Proxy jumped from her chair.
"Did you already forget what we said about waiting?" Silver turned around to look at the smaller girl. "It could be just another of Hanoi's traps to try luring Playmaker out."
"That doesn't make sense. Everyone knows that the only server Playmaker is active is the city, so what's the point in making a trap on a server that he never visits?" Proxy questioned the idea.
"She's right." Blaze Rose agreed. "They must be hoping to have extreme look by making a trap on a server that Playmaker doesn't show at."
Silver Star turned back and stepped aside as PhantomFire moved forward with his hands folded. He sighed and a part of the cubes that made the ground flew off, revealing a small portal in the ground.
"We will go and investigate it then." PhantomFire said. "All together. Understood?"
The other three nodded and they jumped one after the other, landing on server GC062, which were the ruins of LINK VRAINS. It was a wasteland with ruins left behind by an old civilization sticking out of the sand. People don't say it, but it was believed widely believed that this server was based on a field applied when Quartet of Quandry got activated.
"That's an interesting place." Proxy muttered, looking around the server. "Where is everyone?"
"People don't usually use the wasteland servers, so this one is supposed to be removed with the next patch." PhantomFire commented.
"That's awful." Proxy looked down.
"Look there!" Silver Star cried and pointed toward one of the ruins.
There was a huge hole carved in the side of the wall and the remains seemed to be glitching out, which meant that the hole wasn't supposed to be there. PhantomFire raised his hand and tried to scan it, but nothing showed up.
"There is no one inside." PhantomFire massaged his chin.
"But there's someone outside!" Blaze Rose cried out and pointed toward a group of Knights flying toward them.
"Hanoi must have caught onto something as well." Silver Star figured out. "Proxy, you go and investigate what's inside while we take care of the Knights!"
"Huh?" Proxy was taken aback, but she nodded.
The smallest of the four ran toward the crash site, leaving the other three to step forward and raised their Duel Disks.
"I think of going for a Speed Duel." Blaze Rose commented. "You two will probably go for a Master Duel, right?"
Silver Star and PhantomFire looked at each other before smirking. They jumped back and two circles appeared underneath them, one green and one red. In an instant, out of these circles appeared two huge D-Boards.
PhantomFire's was black and purple with two red demon wings at the sides and three blades sticking out of the front while a black and purple throne was sitting on the backside of the D-Board with two demon horns forming an arc over it.
Silver Star's design was similar, white and golden in color with eight white wings on the sides and a green energy ring rotating in front of the board. A completely golden throne was located on the back with a golden arc extending above it.
"You gotta be kidding me." Blaze Rose whispered to herself.
The siblings ignored the comment and sat down on the thrones, which activated the D-Boards and they flew off toward the Knights.
"Hey, wait for me!" Blaze Rose cried and jumped on her D-Board, following after them.
"Someone's coming!" One of the Knights pointed out.
"It seems that this wasteland wasn't completely wasted." Another one added.
"We shouldn't leave any survivors anyways, so let's take care of these clowns!" the third laughed.
The three Knights of Hanoi nodded and flew toward the incoming duelists. Once they were all in range, a collective yell was heard.
"Speed Duel!"
Meanwhile, Proxy was still running through the ruins. The girl jumped onto a collapsed column and from there she went to try and reach the hole, which was pretty high from the ground.
"Come on…" Proxy took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Collecting all of her courage for this single moment, Proxy jumped. And she went through the hole! Well, almost. Her leg hooked onto the wall, resulting in a hilarious upside down faceplant against the wall, followed by a not-so-graceful fall on the back by a fourteen years old's scream of pain as the background music.
"Oh." Proxy groaned as she forced herself to sit up. "I'm almost sure that Avice sent me knowing that this would happen."
The girl stood up and looked around. The inside of the place was empty, with only sand filling it. She walked over to the edge of the platform she was onto and looked down. It appeared that there were several more floors that were hidden from the inside because of the sand, and she could also see something in the shape of a blue egg lying in the sand.
"Now I will have to climb down?" Proxy groaned.
She kneeled down and grabbed onto the ground before slowly pushing her legs off the ledge, then her waist as well and… since the ground she was trying to hold onto was smooth, she ended up falling again.
In the skies above the ruins, Blaze Rose was facing a Knight of Hanoi with a yellow mask.
"So I get to fight the formed Number Three of VRAINS?" The Knight laughed. "This is going to be a piece of cake!"
"Former?" Blaze Rose raised an eyebrow. "So these little bitches actually had the guts to replace me. I'm so pissed right now that I'm going to burn you for this!"
"Not a chance!" The Knight laughed. "Let's start! It's my turn first!"
『Turn 1 [KOH] LP: 4000 Hand: 4』
"Since you control no monsters, I'm going to Special Summon two copies of Hack Worm (Lv.1, ATK: 400) from my hand!" Two small grey machines in the shape of worms with green lines running through the sides of their bodies appeared before the Knight. "Next, I release both of them to Tribute Summon Cracking Dragon (Lv.8, ATK: 3000)!" The two worms disappeared and a giant darker version of them appeared on the Knight's side of the field.
"Cracking Dragon?" Blaze Rose raised an eyebrow. "So you must be one of Revolver's royal puppets, right?"
"You got no idea." The Knight smirked and tapped the last card in his hand. "I know that your skill lets you destroy all monsters on the field when a Synchro gets destroyed, so I'm going to look that with my Field Spell, Room of Enchanted Armor!"
Room of Enchanted Armor (Spell) Field
The first time each monster on the field would be destroyed by battle or card effect; it's not destroyed. If a card or effect that would destroy 2 or more cards on the field is activated (Quick Effect): You can send this face-up card from the field to the GY in order to negate the activation, and if you do, banish that card face-down.
"With this, you can no longer use your skill or Link Monsters to defeat my Cracking Dragon!" The Knight laughed. "I end my turn!"
"Is that all?" Blaze Rose gritted her teeth in anger. "You dare waste my time with something like that? I'm going to burn you to cinder for that! Draw!"
『Turn 2 [Blaze Rose] LP: 4000 Hand: 5』
"First, I activate the Spell Card One for One to discard Nitro Synchro from my hand and Special Summon NitroGear Zest Supporter in Attack Position!" Blaze Rose said, pulling the card from her deck.
A small chibi made of rocks that covered its yellow magma insides flew through the Spell and landed in front of its controller. The small creature had a large head made of flames with two darker plates of rock that had a small hole inside each, made for the monster's face.
NitroGear Zest Supporter
Level: 1/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Rock/Effect
ATK: 100/DEF: 200
Effect: While this card is in face-up Defense Position, you can treat it as a Level 2 monster. While this card is in face-up Attack Position, you can treat it as 2 materials for the Link Summon of a FIRE "oGear" monster.
"Cracking Dragon's effect activates!" The Knight of Hanoi raised his hand. "Your monster loses two hundred attack points for each level it has and you take that amount of damage!"
Cracking Dragon turned around and roared at the chibi, which lowered its head and Blaze Rose winched as the damage was applied on her body as well.
NitroGear Zest Supporter, ATK: 100 → 0
『Blaze Rose LP: 4000 - 100 → 3900』
"Next, I Normal Summon NitroGear Extinguisher!" Blaze Rose continued, summoning another monster. This one looked like an insect with six legs made of flames, a black armor covering its back, while two nitro tanks were attached to its green skin with belts. The creature had black compound eyes on the side of its head and a shard mouthpart whose end was burning.
NitroGear Extinguisher
Level: 3/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Insect/Effect
ATK: 600/DEF: 1600
Effect: When this card is Summoned: You can target 1 Level 2 or lower FIRE monster in your GY; Special Summon that target, and if you do, change this card to Defense Position. During your End Phase, if this face-up Defense Position monster is on your field: You can discard 1 monster to set 1 "oGear" Spell/Trap Card directly from your deck, but banish it when it leaves the field.
"Cracking Dragon's effect activates!" The Knight of Hanoi laughed, as the dragon turned around and roared at Blaze Rose, knocking her D-Board back.
NitroGear Extinguisher, ATK: 600 → 0
『Blaze Rose LP: 3900 - 600 → 3300』
"Damn it!" Blaze Rose gritted her teeth, somehow managing to remain on her board. "When Extinguisher is summoned, I can Special Summon Nitro Synchron (Lv.2, DEF: 100) from my Graveyard!"
"Don't forget about my Cracking Dragon!" The Knight shook his finger as another wave of electricity hit Blaze Rose.
Nitro Synchron, ATK: 300 → 0
『Blaze Rose LP: 3300 - 300 → 3000』
"Heh, too bad, because now I got everything that I need." Blaze Rose smirked and formed two balls of fire inside her hands. "Appear, blazing circuit of fate!"
Blaze Rose threw the flames forward and they combined, creating a square that then transformed into a new version of the circuit that was made from black rocks with red manga flowing through them and eight burning arrows attached to the sides and the corners.
"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are at least two FIRE monsters! I set NitroGear Extinguisher and, counting itself as two materials, NitroGear Zest Supporter, in the Link Markers!" The little chibi split into two and the three monsters flew into the burning arrows. "Link Summon! The Blacksmith holding the flames of Gods! Reckless Metane the Link Destroyer"
A green flower with red petals appeared through the circuit and flew in front of Blaze Rose before transforming. Flames burst from the sides of the monster and black rocks flew to them, forming its arms. Then, its roots extended and tied together to form two legs whose feet were bind with large rocks that burned below. The monster's back opened with large red and yellow petals coming out, following by a stream of fire that set the petals on fire, creating the monster's wings. Finally, the petals on the top of the flower opened and a head made from black rocks with burning red eyes gasped for air before roaring.
Reckless Metane the Link Destroyer
Attribute: FIRE/Type: Pyro/Link/Effect
L-Markers: Top, Right, Bottom Left
ATK: 2300/Link-3
2+ FIRE monsters
Effect: (This card is always treated as a "NitroGear" card.) If this card is Special Summoned: Destroy all Defense Position monsters on the field, then inflict 600 damage to your opponent for each monster destroyed by this effect. If a co-linked monster you control battles, after damage calculation: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to half monster's original ATK. Once per turn, you can negate the effects of cards your opponent controls up to the number of monsters this card points to, and if you do, this card gains 300 ATK for each.
"You can Link Summon?!" the Knight gasped.
"That's not the only thing I can do!" Blaze Rose exclaimed. "I activate World Legacy Succession to revive NitroGear Zest Supporter (Lv.1, DEF: 200)! Of course, the effect of your Cracking Dragon is going to deal some damage to me…"
NitroGear Zest Supporter, ATK: 100 → 0
『Blaze Rose LP: 3000 - 100 → 2900』
"Because of Zest Supporter's effect, I can treat it as a Level Two monster while it's in Defense Position." Blaze Rose said and threw her arm upward. "Now, my Level Two Nitro Synchron is going to tune the Level Two Zest Supporter!"
A blue lightning fell onto Blaze Rose's field and created a shockwave as the two monsters turned into four rings of fire, two yellow rotating inside one another and two blue doing the same. The number 2 appeared burning next to each couple of rings and then they all overplayed creating a gate of flames. Inside the gate, four red rings appeared one after another and a light emerged from them.
"Warrior hiding in the pitch black smoke. Turn the fire that surrounds you into steel and sharped it to be your blade! Synchro Summon! Come out, Level Four! NitroGear Fuminja!"
A beating heart made from red magma appeared on the field and its body began to form around it. First came out its arms, silver and black rocks that were shaped to create sharp blades which were extended even further by the flames that they emitted. The rocks at its torso were white and extended into a long tail ending with a ball of black rocks that emitted spears of fire. A single triangular grey rock landed on the monster's body and its side cracked, revealing its eye made of crimson flames.
NitroGear Fuminja
Level: 4/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Pyro/Synchro/Effect
ATK: 1700/DEF: 1600
1 Tuner monster + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target 1 monster on each player's side of the field and change their Battle Position. If you do, the first time a NitroGear monster you control attacks a Defense Position monster during this turn, inflict double piercing damage to your opponent. During the End Phase, if this Synchro Summon was sent to the GY this turn: You can add 1 "oGear" monster from your GY to the hand.
"Ah, a Synchro Summon at last." The Knight chuckled. "But due to Cracking Dragon's effect, your monster is going to lose its attack points!"
Blaze Rose winched again as more of her Life Points were taken away.
NitroGear Fuminja, ATK: 1700 → 900
『Blaze Rose LP: 2900 - 800 → 2100』
"I activate Fuminja's effect!" Blaze Rose reached out. "Once per turn, I can target a monster on both players' field and change their battle position! Fuminja's Art of Deceiving!" The Synchro monster stretched out its tail and wrapped it around Cracking Dragon, forcing the machine and itself to turn into Defense Position. "Then, Metane's effect lets me negate the effects of one face-up card you control and increase its attack by three hundred! I negate your field spell!"
"Oh no!" The Knight gasped and something invisible cracked around them.
Reckless Metane the Link Destroyer, ATK: 2300 + 300 → 2600
"Now battle!" Blaze Rose cried out and threw her first forward. "I attack Cracking Dragon with Reckless Metane the Link Destroyer! Destroyer of Fire!" the plant-rock monster stretched outs its arms and three rings of fire appeared in front of it, each larger than the previous. Then the monster fired a laser of red flames straight through the rings and pierced the dragon.
"Even if you do this, during my next turn I can still make a comeback!" the Knight shouted.
"Wrong!" Blaze Rose turned back. "During the turn in which Fuminja used its effect, you take double piercing damage!"
"I, what?" The flames that pierced cracking dragon continued onward and engulfed the Knight whole, erasing him.
『KOH LP: 4000 - 5200 → 0』
『Winner: Blaze Rose』
"Hmm, despite all of their cockiness, they are nothing more than folder." Blaze Rose sighed. "I should go look how Proxy is doing."
"It seems I got something unpleasant to deal with again." Silver Star sighed while sitting on her throne
"Begging for your life already?" A Knight of Hanoi with a purple mask asked.
"Oh, no." Silver shook her head and then turned to look at the knight that followed her. "That's your line, darling."
"We will see that. My turn!"
『Turn 1 [KOH] LP: 4000 Hand: 4』
"Since you control no monsters, I'm going to Special Summon Hack Worm (Lv.1, ATK: 400) from my hand!" The same monster used by the first Knight appeared on the field. "Then, I will use Machine Duplication to Special Summon two more from my deck and I shall tribute all three to Special Summon Cracking Dragon Mark Two!"
A larger version of the cracking dragon with wings and two heads instead of one appeared behind the Knight of Hanoi and roared.
Cracking Dragon Mark-II
Level: 10/Attribute: DARK/Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 3500/DEF: 0
Effect: You cannot Normal Summon/Set this card. You must first Special Summon this card from your hand by Tributing 3 DARK Machine monsters. Cannot be destroyed by battle with a monster whose original ATK is 3500 or less. This card cannot be targeted and is unaffected by your opponent's monster effects. When your opponent Normal or Special Summons a monster(s) while this monster is on the field: You can make that monster(s) lose ATK equal to its Level x 300 (until the end of this turn), and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the total ATK lost by this effect.
"So they actually updated your boss, huh?" Silver Star commented, unimpressed.
"I set a card and end my turn!" the Knight concluded. "It's your move now!"
"Gladly." Silver Star muttered and drew a card.
『Turn 2 [Silver Star] LP: 4000 Hand: 5』
"First, I'm going to activate AstroGear Fusion to fuse together AstroGear Auslöser Tiger and AstroGear Direkter Speer in my hand!" Silver Star raised the two cards in her hand and they turned into golden dust that flew off and created a portal through which a single beam of light fell down.
AstroGear Direkter Speer
Level: 2/Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 1200/DEF: 0
Effect: If your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card while this card is banished (Quick Effect): You can turn this card face-down; negate the action, and if you do, banish that card face-down. If this card is used as material for the Fusion, Synchro, Xyz or Link Summon of an "oGear" monster it gains the following effect:
Once per turn (Quick Effect): If your opponent activates a Spell/Trap Card (including a Counter Trap), you can banish 1 "oGear" monster from your hand or GY; negate the activation, and if you do, return it to the bottom of the deck.
AstroGear Fusion (Spell) Quick-Play
Fusion Summon 1 LIGHT Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by banishing materials from your hand, field and/or GY. That monster can't be destroyed by card effects during the turn it's Summoned. (Quick Effect): Target 1 "AstroGear" monster you control: Banish this card from your GY; that monster gains the following effect:
Fusion Summon 1 "AstroGear" Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by shuffling monsters you control and/or are banished into the deck, including this card.
"The legend came be only one! A knight in golden armor, slash those who oppose your queen and give way to the triumphal light of destruction! Fusion Summon! Level Five! AstroGear Strahlritter!"
A golden armor with silver elements and two starts on its chest appeared on the field and light flew inside of it, giving it life. The body had the form of a knight in heavy armor with silver gloves. Two mechanical pieces stuck out of its back with yellow electricity connecting them to the multiple silver plates that floated behind the monster forming wings. Its head was covered by a golden helmet with a single green horn on its forehead and a green glow came from within it, bringing the entire body to life. Finally a large white broadsword with a green fuller and wings-shaped handle appeared in the monster's hands.
AstroGear Strahlritter
Level: 5/Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect
ATK: 1800/DEF: 2000
1 "AstroGear" monster + 1 monster with 1500 or more ATK.
Effect: This card can be either Fusion Summoned, or Special Summoned by Tributing the above cards you control (in which case you do not use "Polymerization"). All "oGear" monsters you control gain 300 ATK for each "AstroGear" monster on the field. If this Fusion Summoned card leaves the field: You can destroy all non-LIGHT monsters face-up on the field.
"Cracking Dragon Mark Two's effect activates!" The Knight laughed as his monster opened its mouths and fired two green beams, one at Silver's monster and one toward her.
The AstroGear duelist simply ignored the incoming attack as her D-Board flew to the side to avoid it.
AstroGear Strahlritter, ATK: 1800 + 300 - 1500 → 600
『Silver Star LP: 4000 - 1500 → 2500』
"AstroGear Auslöser Tiger's effect activates!" Silver Star continued. "When it's banished, your Special Summoned monsters lose their effects and attack points."
"W-what?!" The Knight gasped and look up. The lights on his dragon faded, leaving an empty shell behind.
Cracking Dragon Mark-II, ATK: 3500 → 0
"Then, I banish AstroGear Fusion from my Graveyard to giveAstroGear Strahlritter a new effect!" Silver's knight raised its sword again and roared, ready to protect its 'queen'. "I shuffle AstroGear Strahlritter, AstroGear Direkter Speer and AstroGear Auslöser Tiger back into my Deck to Contact Fusion!"
The spirits of the banished AstroGears appeared next to the knight and they all turned into golden dust that flew together and a huge whirlwind shot upward in the sky.
"History records legends, but only a burning soul can transcend to the kingdom of divinity! Come forth, the unnamed legend that took the Grail from the arms of the Gods! Contact Fusion Summon! AstroGear Gral Höchst-Drache!"
A loud roar echoed through the sky and a fortress lower itself from the clouds. Then, the building's body began to change. Two large arms with four sharp claws grew on its sides, the center opened and then extended, forming a long waist with the bottom splitting into two white tails covered by the armor of the fortress. The monster's back split open and two golden rings flew out of it, connecting to its shoulders. The tower that was located on the top of the fortress broke into pieces and the head of a white dragon-like creatures with two mouths and three green eyes roared. Finally, the underbelly of the monster opened and several rhombus shaped weapons flew out of it, then began to rotate around the monster's back, acting like wings that weren't really part of the monster they served.
AstroGear Gral Höchst-Drache
Level: 10/Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Wyrm/Fusion/Effect
ATK: 3800/DEF: 3200
1 "oGear" Fusion Monster + 2 LIGHT monsters.
Effect: All effect damage that you would take is inflicted to your opponent instead. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can declare 1 card-type (Monster/Spell/Trap), and if you do, the first time this turn that your opponent activates a card or effect of that type, its effect isn't applied. If this card you control is destroyed, you can target up to 3 "oGear" monsters in your GY or that are banished: Special Summon these targets in Defense Position.
"Let's end this!" Silver Star shouted and her D-Board flew upward toward the sun. "I attack your updated Cracking Dragon!"
"I activate my Counter Trap!" the Knight shouted and raised his hand. "Negate Attack ends your Battle Phase."
"Insect!" Silver Star shouted. "A monster summoned by using AstroGear Direkter Speer as material gains the ability to negate any spell or trap you activate by banishing a monster in my hand! I banish AstroGear Zweite Klinge to negate your trap!"
AstroGear Zweite Klinge
Level: 2/Attribute: LIGHT/Type:Fairy/Effect
ATK: 200/DEF: 200
Effect: If you control no monsters, you can reveal this card and 1 other "AstroGear" in your hand, Special Summon both cards in Defense Position. While this card is banished, all monsters you control gain 300 ATK and DEF.
"No way, even Counter Traps!" The Knight gasped as his Negate Attack card t cracked and then burst into ember, leaving its user defenseless.
"Moreover, due to Zweite's effect, all of my monster now gain three hundred attack and defense points!" Silver Star commented. "It's over! Absolute GOD Justice!"
AstroGear Gral Höchst-Drache, ATK: 3800 + 300 → 4100
Silver Star's D-Board made a flip and fell with her Fusion Monster following after. The beast roared and its wing ornaments opened, each holding eight spheres of energy inside of them. The spheres then shot forward and pierced through the Cracking Dragon's body, leaving multiple holes into its body before all of them blew up, turning everything within ten miles radius white before it faded into non-existence.
『KOH LP: 4000 - 4100 → 0』
『Winner: Silver Star』
"This wasn't even a duel." Silver Star sighed and leaned back into her throne.
"So you are able to keep up, huh?" PhantomFire commented, his shoulder resting on the armrest of his throne with his cheek pressed against the fist of his hand while he sat in boredom.
"You got a fancy board, but that means nothing!" A knight with a blue mask shouted, just barely being able to keep up.
"I agree with that sentence. What matters is if you will be able to entertain me enough to get your life spared." PhantomFire commented. "So go on. Give me your best."
"You will regret these words!" the knight smirked. "My turn!"
『Turn 1 [KOH] LP: 4000 Hand: 4』
"First, I activate Foolish Burial to send Cracking Dragon from my deck to the Graveyard." The knight started, showing his card to PhantomFire, before discarding it. "Then, since you control no monsters, I'm going to Special Summon Hack Worm (Lv.1, ATK: 400) from my hand and Normal Summon Jack Wyvern (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)!"
PhantomFire didn't even glance back at the monsters that were summoned behind his throne.
"Tch," the knight clicked his tongue in annoyance by the lack of attention. "I activate Jack Wyvern's effect to banish both itself and Hack Worm from my field!" A black portal appeared behind the knight and his monster faded inside of it. "By doing this, I can Special Summon Cracking Dragon (Lv.8, ATK: 3000) from my Graveyard!"
"That monster again?" Evan sighed hearing the name of the card.
"I set a card and end my turn!" The Knight finished.
"Then it's my turn." PhantomFire commented. "Draw."
『Turn 2 [PhantomFire] LP: 4000 Hand: 5』
"I Normal Summon ChronoGear Blue Plague (Lv.2, ATK: 400) and activate its effect to Special SummonChronoGear Berfomet from my hand!"
The little blue ghost threw a clock gear in the air and a large four handed humanoid jumped out of it. The monster looked like what one would expect when they hear the name Berfomet, expect that it was more cyborg-like in nature with metal chin and left eye, a straight blade in place of its right horn and jets in place of its wings. The monster's chest was opened and clock gears spiraled inside of it, giving life to that strange combination of living flesh and metal.
ChronoGear Berfomet
Level: 4/Attribute: DARK/Type: Zombie/Effect
ATK: 1400/DEF: 1800
Effect: Once per turn: You can discard 1 card: Destroy 1 Spell/Trap Card on your field. If this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "ChronoGear" card: You can add 1 "ChronoDevil" card from your Deck to the hand, except "ChronoDevil Pulse Berfomet".
"The effect of Cracking Dragon activates!" The Knight laughed maniacally as his dragon fired several beams toward PhantomFire, only for the duelist to avoid them all.
ChronoGear Blue Plague, ATK: 400 - 400 → 0
ChronoGear Berfomet, ATK: 1400 - 800 → 600
『PhantomFire LP: 4000 - 1200 → 2800』
"So that's how we will play?" PhantomFire raised an eyebrow. "I activate the effect of Berfomet! Since it was Special Summon by the effect of a ChronoGear card, I can add a ChronoGear card to my hand. I add ChronoGear Assembling and activate it!"
ChronoGear Assembling (Spell) Continuous
If you have two or more "ChronoGear" monsters on your side of the field: Special Summon 1 "ChronoGear" monster from your deck whose level is less our equal to the combined level of all "ChronoGear" monsters on the field. Once per turn: If a "ChronoGear" card(s) is shuffled into your Deck, add 1 "ChronoGear" card from your Deck to the hand.
"Now the effect of Assembling lets me Special Summon ChronoGear Hellchain (Lv.3, ATK: 1400) directly from my deck!" The demon in torn black cloak appeared on the field between the other monsters.
"The more monsters you summon, the more damage will you take from Cracking Dragon!" the knight added as his monster fired another easy to dodge beam.
ChronoGear Hellchain, ATK: 1400 - 800 → 600
『PhantomFire LP: 2800 - 800 → 2000』
"Appear circuit of past and future!" PhantomFire threw his right arm forward and shot a purple lightning that tore the fabric of space and time in front of him, creating a black vortex with the edges between it and reality being eight black orbs that floated next to the edges and the sides of the portal.
"Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two DARK monsters! I set ChronoGear Hellchain andChronoGear Blue Plague in the Link Markers! Link Summon! ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty (ATK: 1700, Link-2)!"
"Hey-o!" The Link Monster shouted as it landed on the D-Board and waved.
"A talking Duel Monster?!" The Knight yelled in disbelief.
"Kitty's effect lets me revive ChronoGear Blue Plague (Lv.2, ATK: 400) and its second effect activates! When Blue Plague is summoned by another ChronoGear card, I can gain Life Points equal to the attack power of one monster on the field. I choose your Cracking Dragon."
"My what?" The Knight looked up at his dragon. The little tuner flew over to it and fired a blue flame that flew around the machine and then back to PhantomFire
ChronoGear Blue Plague, ATK: 400 - 400 → 0
『PhantomFire LP: 2000 – 400 + 3000 → 4600』
"Feel honored." PhantomFire said. "Scum like you usually doesn't get to see the legendary monsters that I'm going to summon! I activate Harmonic Link Fusion!"
Harmonic Link Fusion (Spell) Normal
Special Summon 2 DARK monsters from your Extra Deck, (1 Link Monster and then 1 Fusion Monster at a zone that the Link Monster summoned by this effect points to, including on your opponent's side of the field), by using monsters you control as both Fusion and Link Materials. (These Special Summons are treated as a Fusion Summon for the Fusion Monster and a Link Summon for the Link Monster.)
"With this spell, I'm going to both Link and Fusion Summon at the same time!" PhantomFire declared. "Appear circuit of past and future!" The space cracked again. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements are two DARK monsters! I set ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty and ChronoGear Blue Plague in the Link Markers!"
The two monsters nodded and transformed into purple lightnings that flew into the vortex, leaving a shining trait of dust behind them.
"Link Summon! The unholy Demon looking over this world! Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer (ATK: 2300, Link-3)!" The demonic warrior landed in front of PhantomFire and summon its scythe, which it then rested against its shoulder.
"Now, I fuse ChronoGear Time Timer Kitty and ChronoGear Blue Plague!" The trait of dust left behind from the Link Summon flew together and created a vortex which then erupted and a beam of red light lightened up the sky.
"The cat shooting through time, become one with the slow steps of death and give the roots of a new terror! Fusion Summon! The dragon with poisonous fangs! Starving Venemy Overdose Dragon!"
Several purple thorn-covered vines stretched out of the blinding light and after then purple dragon flew out. The monster's legs were made from the same thorn-covered vines and roots with a long whip-like tail at the end of the body. Its main body was slim with a green chest whose sides were covered by purple orb-like ornaments, its waist had two giant mouths attached to it. Its 'arms' were made of dark vines wrapped around to form a structure that resembled an arm and had smaller orbs of the same purple color trapped in between the vines. Its shoulders had huge purple plates on them that could actually open up and reveal another pair of hidden mouths. The monster's lower chin was split into two pieces with sharp fangs covering the inside of its mouth and small doses of its purple poison dropping down like it was drooling.
Starving Venemy Overdose Dragon
Level: 7/Attribute: DARK/Type: Dragon/Fusion/Effect
ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000
2 DARK Effect Monsters
Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): you can target 1 face-up monster on the field; negate its effects until the end of this turn, and if you do, this card gains that monster's effects. If this card battles during the turn this effect is activated it gains 700 ATK during the Damage Step only. If this Fusion Summoned card leaves the field because of a card effect: You can destroy as many Special Summoned monsters your opponent controls as possible, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the total ATK the destroyed monsters had on the field.
"Y-you…" The Knight gulped, looking at the dragon that was just summoned on his side of the field.
"I accept this card as a fight." PhantomFire commented. "Now I enter my Battle Phase and activate Phantomus' effect! I shuffle a monster it points to into the deck and Special Summon a ChronoGear monster from my deck! Since Phantomus points at Starving Venemy I return it back into my Extra Deck to Special Summon ChronoGear Revolving Dragon (Lv.8, ATK: 2800)!"
The new Fusion roared and flew back into Evan's deck, after which a robotic dragon flew out of it and joined the other ChronoGear monsters that were on the fields.
"Cracking Dragon's effect activates." the Knight pointed forward, but it was pointless.
ChronoGear Revolving Dragon, ATK: 2800 - 1600 → 1200
『PhantomFire LP: 4600 – 1600 → 3000』
"Now, the effect of Starving Venemy activates! When it leaves the field because of a card effect, all of your monsters are destroyed and you take their attack points as damage!" PhantomFire threw his arm upward and fired poison at Cracking Dragon. The machine roared and then its body melted by the poison before it blew up, knocking the Knight of Hanoi off the D-Board.
『Knight of Hanoi LP: 4000 – 3000 → 1000』
"Then,ChronoGear Revolving Dragon's effect banishes a card from your field and Graveyard upon summoning!" The monster opened its mouth and fired two bullets that pierced both the Knight's set card and the Cracking Dragon in his graveyard. "Now Phantomus, finish this! Demonic Disc Slash!"
The fiend raised its scythe and threw it at the Knight, cutting the Duelist's body in half, ending the duel in an instant.
『Knight of Hanoi LP: 1000 – 2300 → 0』
『Winner: PhantomFire』
"Another bastard with no skills." PhantomFire tapped his fingers against his throne in boredom.
"Oh." Proxy moaned in pain.
The BrioGear duelist slowly forced herself to get back-up and pressed her hands against her back, pressing it forward until she could hear her spine pop at several places. Sighing in relief, the girl looked around the place. The strange blue egg-shaped device was lying just a few feet away from her. Spotting it, Proxy moved her left hand toward her mouth and spoke into the Duel Disk.
"I'm next to a blue egg." Proxy informed.
"Stand there and don't break it!" Silver Star's voice ordered her from the other side of the line.
"Yes sir!" Proxy saluted and turned off the Duel Disk before looking back at the egg with a mischievous smile on her face. "She didn't say that I can't touch it though."
Glancing around, Proxy moved closer to the egg. She noticed that it had some lines that covered its surface, but she couldn't figure out their meaning.
"Are you an item or something?" Proxy asked herself.
She pressed her hand against the egg and something happened! The lines glowed and then the parts of the egg began to slowly move back, opening up. A brilliant blue light came out of the inside, forcing Proxy to covered her eyes with both hands and step back while the egg's parts continued to open up, revealing more and more of its inside. After it finished and the egg was no longer, the light faded. Proxy removed her hand and looked down at the egg… only that it wasn't there anymore.
"Where am I?"
Proxy shivered and turned to her left before…
"Ah!" She jumped back frightened by the little creature floating next to her. It was light blue with dark blue lines across its body and hourglass shaped hips. The creature had twin pigtails that levitate from its head and two pinks eyes with eyelash marks.
"Ah!" the creature exclaimed as well, noticing the human. "My apologies it seems I scared you." The creature bowed. "But could you give me directions? I think I got lost while trying to get away."
"Uh-huh." Proxy nodded and looked around once again. "This is Link VRAINS. A virtual world for Duelists to come together."
"Ah, I see. Thank you." The creature replied and flew forward.
"What were you running from, um…" Proxy paused, unsure what to call the creature that she just found. Obviously, she couldn't just name it like some sort of dog.
"My friends called me the Water Ignis." The little creature replied.
"Wait, an Ignis?" Proxy's eyes widened. "That must be why you looked familiar at first!"
"You know about Ignis?" the Water Ignis turned back and looked at the girl. "If it's not insolent, could I ask you how you know about us?"
"A friend of mine, um not friend, someone I know has an Ignis as well! Its name is Ai and its black with purple markings." Proxy explained cheerfully.
"The Dark Ignis." The Water Ignis concluded. "If it's possible, could you help me find him? There is an urgent message that I must get to him."
"Of course!" Proxy nodded and raised her Duel Disk. "Just hop in my Duel Disk and I will get you there once I log-out!"
The Ignis narrowed its eyes and observed Proxy carefully before finally giving an approving nod. "Very well, I will,"
"Look out!" Before the Ignis could understand what was going on, Proxy grabbed it and pulled to the side just in time to avoid a black spike that stabbed the wall behind her.
"W-what was that!?" The Water Ignis shouted.
"Him!" Proxy narrowed her eyes.
"So you found me out?" Stepping out of the shadows came a Knight of Hanoi, but he was different from the others. His outfit was more open without sleeves or the long cloak. His mask was covering his entire face instead of just the upper half. He wore black fingerless gloves that reached his armpits and a Duel Disk with spikes on his right hand.
"That's a Knight of Hanoi!" the Water Ignis exclaimed. "Did they find me that fast?"
"It's not you." Proxy shook her head. "They have invaded the whole LINK VRAINS. You just found a bad time to show up."
"My special Ignis-killing projectiles don't work on avatars, so I will have to get it out of the Duel Disk the old way." The Knight muttered to himself. "I challenge you to a duel!"
"You shouldn't accept!" The Water Ignis looked back at Proxy.
"There's no other way to get out." Proxy replied. "They made it so I can't log out. If you want, you can run while I keep him busy. Ok?"
"I…" The Water Ignis looked around, there was no way to escape without getting shot by the Knight's projectiles. "I will watch, if that's ok."
Proxy smiled and nodded. "Of course. I will protect you."
"Hmm, another troublesome human that wants to side with the Ignis." The Knight clicked his tongue. "I will teach you a lesson that you won't forget about betraying humanity!"
"DUEL!" the two shouted as a dueling field materialized between them.
『Proxy LP: 4000 Hand: 5 (VS) KOH Captain LP: 4000 Hand: 5』
A/N: So, another mostly built-up chapter, yay! The Knights of Hanoi are finally invading, an Ignis appeared and, of course, PhantomFire and Silver Star are being extra by using D-Boards with thrones on them. I also got no idea how much more Starving Venom cards Evan is going to have, but they seem to work up far better with his personality than even his Phantomus cards.
On the Hanoi end, we got a new type of enemy: The Knight of Hanoi Captain! In the column of leadership of Hanoi that I made for this story, these Captains' ranking is exactly below that of Picaro and his team, who are right under the rank of the three Lieutenants (aka Faust, Baira and Dr. Genome). Because of that, the Captains carry much stronger decks than those of the regular knights.
As those who had watched the latest episode of VRAINS might notice, I tried to use the new style of Synchro Summoning when I explained Blaze Rose's Synchro Summon. And I just hope that it won't turn out that Aqua was killed offscreen in the canon because as you saw, she is going to play a role in Season 1 of Destiny Gears.
On an unrelated note, I also noticed a fun thing about my oGear duelist and the Ignis. In some ways, their personalities are very similiar. Blaze Rose and Flame are both hot blooded. Rocketeer and Windy, well Rocketeer infected Blaze Rose with a virus that was going to kill her and tried to do the same to his "friend" Proxy without regret, so I think that's enough said there. Aqua and Proxy are both extremely carrying individuals. Silver Star and Lightning are both smart and deceptive. PhantomFire and Ai are both cocky and their personality make them disliked by their kind.
Thanks to TachyonDragonKing for the follow and favorite. So on the reviews.
ScalchopWarrior: As I said, I don't feel it against people for now review. Even less against you. Scal was the most loyal to my stories since they began, so thanks for being beside me buddy.
TachyonDragonKing: Whenever Proxy's desire to 'save' others would disappear is a relative question as well. When someome matures their views on the world don't always turn darker, nor do they always turn lighter, so what will happen with Proxy's views on the world has yet to be seen.
Also, before I end this, I want to thank to thank OPFan37 for his shout-out. If you read this, I do read your story as well, so couldn't exactly keep it a secret from me. You made me feel embarrassed, but thank you and if anyone here doesn't know about OPFan37's VRAINS story, Yu-Gi-Oh Cross-VRAINS, you should feel ashamed.
That's all for today. Thanks to everyone for reading.
Diabolic Tracer out!