New League
Proxy's POV
I stared in awe as data began to gather within the small cube that the Greyson have put on the table in the living room. The little pixels connected and slowly began to form the card of a Link Monster. It always amazed me how there could exist technology with the ability to turn data into physical matter. Just imagine if someone enhanced this technology to be able to do the same thing with things other than trading cards!
"So, that's what the real world looks like?" Firera's miniature form poked from my Duel Disk and looked around the room. "Even though my card is now physical, I'm still connected to it. It feels really weird to be a real being and not just data. Right, Aqua?"
"It's not hard to get used to." Aqua raised from my Duel Disk as well and looked over to the Greysons. "Thank you for having us stay with you. Protecting us from the Knights of Hanoi and all. I'm happy to know that not all humans thing of us as enemies."
"Just don't pull us in any trouble and we're even." Evan waved a hand nonchalantly and turned back to his card making machine.
"Couldn't you be a little more warn toward guests?" I pouted at his cold response. It wasn't going to hurt anyone if he tried to be a little nicer toward others. Even if they weren't fully human. Or half human… Or have any human traits at all…
"It's amazing to see a Duel Monster with a free will." And while Evan was being a meanie, Avice was looking down at my Duel Disk, poking Firera's forehead with her index finger.
Firera didn't show to mind the attention, but from the way that Aqua looked at the Greysons I could tell that she was a little bothered by it and I won't lie, it confuses me how neither of them seems to care about the Ignis, but the moment they saw a Duel Monster with the ability to talk, they completely forgot about everything and put all of their attention onto Firera. They behavior is so hard to read and understand at times that, I swear, it would be easier to have meaningful conversation with aliens that them.
"Don't mind me asking, and I hope that this won't sound insulting to Firera, but why are Duel Monsters with a free will such a big deal for you?" I finally asked them. "I mean, I know that monsters can't have free will normally, but shouldn't it be easy to put an AI into one of them?"
"You are very wrong~" Avice shook her head and sat down next to me on the sofa. "Before LINK VRAINS appeared, almost all monsters used to have a free will. Yes, most of them were unable to talk or show their consciousness for the most part, but it was there. But since humans couldn't understand the existence of a soul within the card, when they started to create a virtual monster, none of them tried to implement a 'soul', creating cool-looking, but hallow replicas of the real thing."
Duel Monsters have souls? That was a… crazy idea if I have to be honest, but maybe that was why I felt such a close connection to my cards. Grand Ranger Serene was always there when I needed her and protected me from harm even outside of duels.
"Can I say; I'm offended that you think of Cyberse monsters as downgrades." Aqua replied before lowering her head. "But I must admit, I have never heard that other monsters could have souls. If this is indeed true, it's a knowledge that humans haven't shared on virtual reality."
"That's because most humans don't know about the existence of souls within their cards." Evan walked over to us and handled me the card of Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon.
"Then how do you know that other monsters have souls?" Aqua asked.
"It's a hunch that I got." Evan put his hand on my head and ruffled my hair.
"Hey!" I protested and tried to push his hand away, but he just laughed. "Stop that!" I pouted at his childishness. "Do you know how long it takes to get my hair this way?"
"It's your fault for being so cute to tease." I looked away, feeling a blush creeping up my face. Jeez, it wasn't fair to first annoy me like this and then say things like this! Completely unfair!
At that moment there was a beeping at Avice's Duel Disk and she looked at it. "A PM from Vermilya." Avice told me and stood up. "It reads here that the Knights of Hanoi are sending even more troops into the servers. It seems that your time to jump back into the actions came quickly."
"Wait, it's my time to go?" I asked her. "What about the two of you? Won't you come to help out? She send the message to you after all?"
Avice tilted her head to the side and then raised her hand in front of me and poked my forehead. Ouch! "How many times do we need to tell you that this war isn't ours? As long as Hanoi doesn't do anything that could destroy the world, be it this one or the virtual, I have no reason to join."
"Then why were you there when the Knights of Hanoi tried to take me?" Aqua question them. "I've the ability to detect a lie and although I find nothing but honestly in your words, I'm unable to form a conclusion about your objectives or what're your intentions."
"As long as you understand that we have no interest in destoying the Cyberse, minor stuff like this doesn't really concern you, does it?" I glared at Evan. That was such a rude way to say something!
"Let me chance Aqua's question then." Firera joined into the conversation. "What she, and me, want to understand is, why, despite you having no interest in fighting the Knights of Hanoi, there's such a strong presence of Cyberse radiating from your decks?"
"You two have Cyberse monsters as well?" I asked them.
The Greysons looked at me and just shrugged before turning around to leave the room. "Hey wait, you haven't answered our question? Aqua, say something?"
"There isn't anything I could say to make them answer us, could I?" Aqua shook her head. "We didn't try to keep Cyberse away from humans before the Knights of Hanoi attacked us. We should be thankful that some of our comrades were safe despite Hanoi's attempts to hunt us down."
"Still…" I looked at them as they left the room. Seriously, how many awesome things do these two have? All those trophies they keep hidden on the third floor, their oGear decks and now they also got a Cyberse Monsters.
"We should go now!" Firera looked over at me. "Come on! My circuit is boiling for a good fight! Let's take a hundred Knights of Hanoi today!"
"Could we settle for just two for today?" I requested. "And nothing above the rank of recruit either, ok?"
"Come on!" Firera groaned and averted her eyes. "I have the right to have some fun as well, don't I?"
I would only prefer if that 'fun' that Firera wants wasn't to fight cyber-terrorists, but I couldn't abandon my friends that are fighting for the network either. There really wasn't an alternative choice for me, was there?
"Into the VRAINS!"
3rd POV
Blaze Rose flew over the building of LINK VRAINS. The girl looked down at the empty streets. Playmaker and Go were somewhere down there, fighting to save LINK VRAINS. Even though she once thought of this place as nothing but a mean to an end, here she was, protecting the servers like everyone else was doing. Blaze Rose closed her eyes for a moment and then reopened them again to look at the Darkness Neosphere looming over her with 4000 ATK.
"Battle!" The Knight of Hanoi laughed and gestured forward. "I attack NitroGear Warrior with Darkness Neosphere!"
The demonic monster with the face of a woman suddenly turned its head on 180 degree and a single eye opened on the back of its head. Blaze Rose's expression changed from neutral to one of disgust and the fiend fired a single purple laser from its eyeball, cutting NitroGear Warrior in half. Blaze Rose put her hands in front of her body as her Synchro's remains exploded.
『Blaze Rose LP: 1600 - 1200 → 400』
"Aaaarrrgggggghhhhhhh!" Despite her desperate attempt to protect herself, her arms did little to spot the shockwave that resulted from the explosion to send her flying off her D-Board. She reached out with her hand to try and grab it, but it was no use, she was too far away to catch anything and the only thing around her were the empty streets below her descending body.
"Got you!"
Blaze Rose gasped. A hand grabbed her own and began to pull her back toward the sky where her D-Board was. The female duelist blinked twice and then turned her head to look at the duelist that just saved her. What she saw was familiar long black hair with several curls falling over crimson eyes, dark purple lipstick, but most important of all, she was a small on the face of her savior, something that she hasn't seen in ages!
"Gloomy Ruby?" Blaze Rose muttered, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. "Is that you? What are you doing here?"
"Someone gave me a motivation to come back here." Gloomy Ruby replied. "Also, I think I'm going to go back to my original name, Shining Ruby."
"You…" Blaze Rose shook her head, a small smile appeared on her face as well. "You idiot! If you plan to disappear just to reappear like this, then at least warm me next time!"
"I can't promise anything." Shining Ruby replied. "Now, don't you have a duel to finish?"
Not saying anything else, Shining Ruby speeded forward, managing to catch up with Blaze Rose's D-Board that was still surfing through the winds. Once she was close enough, the girl pulled her arm back and then threw Blaze Rose forward, with the later landing on top of her D-Board.
"So you came back with a friend?" The Knight of Hanoi asked annoyed. "How annoying. You should have let her crash, but instead she is going to suffer even more now!"
"Don't count on it!" Blaze Rose shouted and the green edges of her outfit began to glow with green flames igniting in her right hand. "When a Nitro Synchro monster is destroyed I can activate my Skill - Burning Spirit! Through this ability, I revive NitroGear Warrior (Lv.7, ATK: 2800) and then destroy all non-FIRE monsters in the Main Monster Zones as well as dealing five hundred damage to everyone whose monster was destroyed by this ability!"
"But the only monster on my field is the DARK attribute Darkness Neosphere!" The Knight of Hanoi gulped and looked at his monster which exploded, knocking him back.
『Knight of Hanoi LP: 3200 - 500 → 2700』
"Because this happened during your Battle Phase, there is no Main Phase two and therefore we move to my turn!" Blaze Rose told her opponent and draw a card, adding it to her hand. "Now let's battle! NitroGear Warrior attack the opponent directly and end this duel! Nitro One-Hit!"
The huge warrior roared and charged at the Knight of Hanoi with its jets, slamming its fists into the unprotected duelist. The Knight of Hanoi screamed and fell of his D-Board, his body turning dark and then falling apart before it could hit the ground. Purging the weak so they couldn't give any information about what Hanoi was planning, a cruel yet effective way to keep the future plans of the Knights of Hanoi safe from the enemies of the group.
『Knight of Hanoi LP: 2700 - 2800 → 0』
『Winner: Blaze Rose』
"You haven't lost your edge." Shining Ruby noted.
"These foot soldiers are nothing are the Knights of Hanoi know it just as well as we do." Blaze Rose commented. "All they are doing right now is buying time and I don't like that they are actually succeeding."
"It won't be over until you cut off the head of the snake, right?" Shining Ruby wondered.
"Yes." Blaze Rose nodded. "As long as the Knights of Hanoi have a leader to follow. This fight isn't one that you need to fight."
"But it's one that I want to be a part of!" Shining Ruby protested. She moved a hand over her chest and then looked away. "After I was saved from Hanoi's virus I thought that everything in my life would change for the better if I just gave up on LINK VRAINS and move forward, but I was wrong. A man that entered my life just showed me that what I was running away wasn't misfortune, but my own fears."
"A man told you this?" Blaze Rose's eyes widened as she realized who that could have been. "Damn you, Greyson."
"The way that you are talking to me, you think of me as a friend, don't you?" Shining Ruby asked.
"Yes, I do." Blaze Rose nodded. "Even though we were never on friendly terms, I didn't have you and, actually, I looked up to your dueling skills a lot!"
"Then there's a reason for me to fight against Hanoi." Shining Ruby smiled again.
"If that's your desire, I can't force you to give up." Blaze Rose sighed and then nodded. "Just… make sure to keep safe, ok?"
"You bet on it!" Shining Ruby gave a thumb up.
"Blaze Rose!"
The two female duelists looked down and met with Go who was riding his own D-Board, coming toward them. The two former Charisma Duelists moved away from one another, giving place for the Number One to fly between the two of them.
"What's going on?" Blaze Rose asked.
"I saw you falling from the sky while I dueled." Go told her. "Are you ok?"
"Don't worry about me." Blaze Rose sighed and gestured toward her companion. "Shining Ruby saved me from the fall."
"So, you are back?" Go turned toward the Vampire user.
"Back and ready to help out with anything I can!" Shining Ruby nodded. "What about the other Charisma Duelists? Where are they right now?"
Go lowered his head almost ashamed to answer her question. "They all abandoned LINK VRAINS the moment the Knights of Hanoi invaded. We and Playmaker are the only ones that remain to keep the line against them. There's also no word from SOL Technology either, so we shouldn't hope on reinforcements either."
"So that's how bad it is?" Shining Ruby muttered. "But even if we are only four, we can still win, right?"
"Absolutely!" Go and Blaze Rose replied in unison.
"Great!" Shining Ruby clenched her fist triumphantly.
As they continued to move through the sky a portal suddenly opened in front of them and a grey blur flew past them. As Shining Ruby and Go could turned their heads to follow it, they noticed that Blaze Rose was gone. That observation was followed by the upper half of a skyscraper suddenly collapsing. Eyes widened, Shining Ruby and Go looked at each other.
"W-what was that?" Shining Ruby asked.
"I don't know." Go shook his head. "But whatever it was, it took Blaze Rose with itself. I'll follow it, while you make sure that no Knights of Hanoi come after me."
"Count on me to keep them off your back!" Shining Ruby nodded in agreement and flew off toward the city.
"Now to find what this thing was." Go muttered to himself and flew in the other direction, soon reaching the collapsed skyscraper whose top was covered by smoke.
The Charisma Duelist jumped off his D-Board and landed on the remains before looking around. The smoke was getting into Go's eyes, prompting him to move his hand in front of his face while further narrowing the range of his view.
"What could have done this?" Go wondered out loud, when he noticed something moving in the smoke.
Realizing what was going on, Go threw his arms to the side and let Blaze Rose's body to slam against his before wrapping his arms around her. Looking down at her avatar, he noticed several large cuts covering her body.
"What happened?" Go asked.
"Something… tried to steal… it's dangerous." Blaze Rose coughed and then put a hand on Go's shoulder. "I-I can stand, so you can let me down now."
"Don't push yourself too much." Go warned her, but followed her request and put her down. "Were you able to take a good look at who attacked you?"
"What." Blaze Rose corrected. "It definitely wasn't a human that got me. Its moves were too fast and well calculated, far beyond the capabilities of a human."
"You are correct there."
As the smoke began to fade away, a creature made of dark grey metal stepped toward the Charisma Duelists. Its body was slim and it stood hunched. Its body had three arms, two of which had only three fingers, while the third started from the elbow of the left hand and had four fingers. The strange creature also had four legs with the second, slimmer, pair starting from the knees of the prime set of legs. Lastly was its face, which appeared to be glitched out with two yellow eyes glowing on the right side of its face.
"What are you?" Go wondered.
"Something beyond the capabilities of human understanding." The creature replied and threw its arms in the air. "Your kind wouldn't be able to understand my name, so call me Li'Tch!"
"If your original is beyond human understanding, this one is beyond our ability to spell." Blaze Rose muttered. "Now, why did you attack me?"
"For your deck, obviously." Li'Tch replied. "I was send by my kin to collect this cursed set of cards!"
"I'm completely lost." Go admitted.
"Then that makes two of us." Blaze Rose sighed and raised her left hand. "But I have a bad feeling about what's going to happen if I let Li… whatever its names was, lay a hand on this deck."
"Taking away someone's deck is the lowest point a scum could reach." Go stated. "Therefore, I'll duel beside you if this is ok with you."
"Heh, I'm still tired from taking twelve Knights of Hanoi in a row." Blaze Rose smirked.
"I took out eighteen." Go responded with a smirk on his own.
"Show off."
"That's how it's going to be then. A two versus one duel." Li'Tch replied and a blue-green cube appeared in its secondary arm. "Then allow me to make sure no unwanted guests interfere with this duel!"
Li'Tch threw the cube in the air and it burst, however, instead of an explosion it released a code made from symbols that neither Blaze Rose nor Go understood. This code fell on the ground and transformed it into a light grey goo-like material that was moving, yet hard enough to keep the three on them on top of itself. Following that the same data raised from all sides and connected together above the duelists' heads, creating a cube.
"This thing created its own field." Blaze Rose examined the surroundings.
"Let's begin!" The back of the monster's primal left arm split open and a small white core appeared inside of it.
"DUEL!"
『Li'Tch Hand: 5 [LP: 4000] (VS) Blaze Rose Hand: 5 & Go Hand: 5 [LP: 4000]』
"To make it more fair, I'll take my turn only in between the turns of opponent one." Li'Tch pointed toward Blaze Rose. "And opponent two." It then pointed at Go.
"That means that right after my turn it would be Blaze Rose's." Go realized. "Why would you put yourself at such a disadvantageous position?"
"Disadvantageous position?" Li'Tch looked at the Charisma Duelist. "I do this because it would be boring for me to defeat the two of you easily. By overcoming this challenge, I won't only finish my task, but also show humans why you have no chance against my kin. I'll make you face despair!"
"You keep talking about humans like you aren't one of us." Blaze Rose noted. "Are you an AI? An Ignis?"
"Take your turn." Li'Tch responded.
"Very well then!" Blaze Rose shouted. "I activate the Spell, One for One, to discard NitroGear Coarms Cicada and Special Summon the Level One monster, NitroGear Laughing Doc (Lv.1, ATK: 200) from my deck!"
A tiny nitro tank with armored white body that had a large red cross at its front and two yellow eyes appeared in front of Blaze Rose.
"Next, I Normal Summon NitroGear Acid Lancer (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)." A green skinned warrior holding a burning spear appeared next. "Also I activate Acid Lancer's effect to change Laughing Doc's battle position and because I changed it to Defense Position, Acid Lancer's effect allows me to also draw a card!"
"Are you going for a Synchro Summon?" Go asked.
"I have a Link Two monster, but it wouldn't be as useful with my current cards." Blaze Rose replied. "But don't worry, I have a way to secure a zone for your Extra Deck monsters." Blaze Rose then threw her arm upward. "Now I tune my my Level One Laughing Doc to Level Four Acid Lancer!"
A blue lightning fell onto Blaze Rose's field and created a shockwave as the two monsters turned into give rings of fire, one blue rotating above the four yellow ones below it. The number '1' and '4' appeared burning next to each the blue and yellow rings respectively and then they all overplayed creating a gate of flames. Inside the gate, five red rings appeared one after another and a light emerged from them.
"Burning in the flames of calamity. Raise a new legend forged with molten metal! Synchro Summon! Level Five! NitroGear Vikignis!"
Out of the beam rose a monster made from red rock with black joins. Its legs were six with a spider's abdomen and a sting coming out of it. The monster's chest and shoulders were covered by dark grey metal and its arms ended with large needles in place of wrists. Its head was shaped like a samurai helmet made from rock with burning orange eyes.
NitroGear Vikignis
Level: 5/Attribute: FIRE/Type: Warrior/Synchro/Effect
ATK: 2200/DEF: 1400
1 Tuner monster + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can tribute 1 "oGear" monster you control; until the end of this turn, this card gains 600 ATK and if it attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent. If this card is Special Summoned from the GY, you can target 1 Tuner monster in either player's GY: Special Summon that target on your side of the field, but send it to the GY during the End Phase of this turn.
"Now I activate the Continuous Spell: Blueprints of Gears!" As the Spell Card appeared on Blaze Rose's field, its artwork showed small robots of different colors working in a factory, rearranging the positioning of much bigger robots.
Blueprints of Gears (Spell) Continuous
Once per turn: You can target 1 "oGear" monster in your Extra Monster Zone; move it to a Main Monster Zone on your side of the field, and if you do, you can declare 1 Attribute; Special Summon 1 "oGear Token" (Machine/?/Level 2/ATK 0/DEF 0) with the declared Attribute to your field in Defense Position.
"With Blueprints of Gears' effect I can move NitroGear Vikignis from my Extra Monster Zone to the Main Monster Zone and then I Special Summon one oGear Token (Lv.2, DEF: 0) with an attribute of my liking. I choose to summon a FIRE token!"
A pile of gears connected together to form a sphere appeared on Blaze Rose's field and Vikignis jumped back to land on the right side of the token.
"I end my turn with this." Blaze Rose finished. "Your turn."
"I draw." Li'Tch's secondary hand pressed against the core on his prime arm and a completely white card formed out of it before flying over in front of Li'Tch, joining five other cards that looked the same way.
『Turn 2 [Li'Tch] LP: 4000, Hand: 6』
"I'll start by Normal Summoning Motolord Heir!" A small monster made from blue, green and red cables tied together into a ball appeared on the field. The creature had several plates of metal attached to the sides of its body and a single red yellow was glowing inside the pile of cables.
Motolord Heir
Level: 1/Attribute: EARTH/Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 0/DEF: 0
Effect: When this card is Summoned: Change it to Defense Position. During the End Phase of the turn this card was destroyed and send to the GY, you can look at the top three cards of your deck: Special Summon 1 "Motorlord" monster among them, also return the rest to the top of your deck in any order.
"When Motolord Heir is summoned it changes to Defense Position." Li'Tch explained. "Next, I set one card and end my turn."
"What? That's all?" Go wondered. "Only a single monster with no defense value and a set card?"
"That's all I need to defeat the two of you." Li'Tch stated. "You humans enjoy implementing difficult combos in your dueling styles in order to confuse each other, but unlike you we don't need to rely on such roundabout tactics."
"So you rely on simple plays because of that?" Go guessed. "But I'll break through this formation. My turn!"
『Turn 3 [Go] LP: 4000, Hand: 6』
"First, I Normal Summon Gouki Suprex (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)." A blue skinned wrestler appeared on Go's field. "When Suprex is Normal Summoned I can Special Summon a Gouki monster from my hand, I choose Gouki Bearhug (Lv.6, ATK: 2400)." A second, larger monster that wore bearskin on its head and back landed next to Suprex and roared. "Then, I'll discard Gouki Twistcobra from my hand to Special Summon Gouki Headbatt (Lv.2, DEF: 0)!"
"You already got three monsters out on the field." Blaze Rose noted. "Are we going to do it now?"
"Not yet." Go shook his head. "When Headbatt is Special Summoned by its own effect, I can increase the attack points of another monster by eight hundred. I choose Suprex." A red aura went through the blue wrestler, increasing its attack points.
Gouki Suprex, ATK: 1800 + 800 → 2600
"Appear! My circuit!" The normal circuit square appeared above Go. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more Gouki monsters! I set Suprex, Bearhug and Headbatt in the Link Markers!" the three monsters turned into whirlwinds that flew into the top, bottom left and bottom right arrows. "Link Summon! Appear, Link Three! Gouki the Thunder Ogre (ATK: 2200, Link-3)!"
A large monster in red, yellow and black fell from the circuit with two electric batons attached to the back of its wrists.
"Now due to the effect of my three Gouki monsters that were send to the Graveyard, I can add three new Gouki cards from my deck to the hand." Go explained as his new cards formed before him. "I'll now activate the Spell – Gouki Re-Match to revive Gouki Twistcobra (Lv.3, DEF: 0) and Gouki Bearhug (Lv.6, DEF: 0)! Finally, I'm going to activate the Field Spell, Gouki Deathmatch, placing three counters on it!"
"Counters?" Li'Tch wondered. "Ah, I see. When your Gouki destroys a monster through battle Deathmatch loses a counter and when there are no more counters you get to Special Summon Gouki with different names from your deck and hand, right?"
"Hmm, so you know about my deck?" Go inquired.
"I just read your cards' effects when they are played." Li'Tch explained. "I believe that you are going to attack me now, correct? In this match, you are allowed to use your ally's cards, so if the girl is fine with it, you could use her monster."
"Then you can go ahead, Number One." Blaze Rose turned to her fellow Charisma Duelist. "Go for it! I'll support you."
"With your strength added, I'll be sure to end it this turn!" Go promised. "I activate Vikignis' effect! By releasing oGear Token, I can increase Vikignis' attack by six hundred until the end of this turn and give it the ability to inflict piercing battle damage!"
NitroGear Vikignis, ATK: 2200 + 600 → 2800
"Now battle! I attack Motolord Heir with Vikignis!" The Synchro gave out a battle cry and threw its burning axes toward the pile of cables, cutting them into pieces that then exploded and set the field on fire. "And because of Vikignis' effect you will take the difference as battle damage!"
"At this moment I activate my Trap Card: Motolord Reprinter!" A large metal square filled with cables and broken gears appeared in front of Li'Tch and absorbed the flames from his side of the field. "When I would take damage, I can Special Summon Motolord Reprinter as a monster and turn the damage into its attack power!"
Motolord Reprinter (Trap) Normal
During the damage calculation of your opponent's turn, if you would take damage, you can activate this card. All damage you take from this battle becomes 0, then Special Summon this card on your field in Attack Position as an Effect Monster (Lv.8/DARK/Machine/ATK: ?/DEF: 0). This card's original ATK becomes equal to the battle damage negated by this card's effects. When this card is destroyed while it was in your Main Monster Zone: Destroy all monsters in your opponent's Main Monster Zone.
'A trap to negate piercing damage…' Blaze Rose thought and looked at her Duel Disk. 'This thing said that its target was my deck so could it be that this deck is…'
Motolord Reprinter, Lv.8, ATK: 0 → 2800
"You were able to avoid taking damage the first attack, but you won't stop the second!" Go exclaimed. "Gouki the Thunder Ogre attack Motolord Reprinter! Ultimo Thunder!"
"Now you are going to attack Twistcobra's effect to release a Gouki and increase Thunder Ogre's attack, right?" Li'Tch asked.
"That's right!" Go responded and pointed toward his other two Gouki monsters. "I activate Twistcobra's effect to release Bearhug and give its attack points over to Thunder Ogre!" the large monster burst into pixels and electricity shot out of Thunder Ogre's arms, increasing its power.
Gouki the Thunder Ogre, ATK: 2200 + 2400 → 4600
The large Gouki monster roared and threw its fists forward, firing bolts of electricity that pierced through the cables of Reprinter, setting the machine on fire after which it exploded. Li'Tch hissed and covered its body with its left arms, which glitched out from the damage it took.
『Li'Tch LP: 4000 - 1800 → 2200』
"You say that your plays were superior, but in the end, together, we were able to break through your field." Go pointed out. "And because it was a Gouki that attacked you the effect of Deathmatch removes one counter from my Field Spell."
"Reprinter's second effect activates." Li'Tch raised his hand and the destroyed monster raised from the ground, landing between Go and Blaze Rose's monsters. "When Reprinter is destroyed while being a monster, I can destroy all monsters in your Main Monster Zones!"
"WHAT!?"
Blaze Rose and Go looked up in shock and the machine exploded, creating a chain reaction of explosions that covered the two Charisma Duelists' entire field. Gouki Twistcobra and NitroGear Vikignis screamed in pain before they faded away as well, leaving only Gouki the Thunder Ogre on their field.
"Due to Thunder Ogre's effect when a monster it points to is destroyed, Thunder Ogre gains four hundred attack points!" the Link Monster raised its arms and electricity flew through them, increasing its strength.
Gouki the Thunder Ogre, ATK: 4600 + 400 → 5000
"However, during the End Phase the effect of Twistcobra will end and your monster will lose most of its boost, right?" Li'Tch asked sarcastically.
"You already know my cards' effects." Go responded. "I end my turn. At this moment the effect of Gouki Twistcobra ends and Thunder Ogre's attack returns to normal."
Gouki the Thunder Ogre, ATK: 5000 - 2400 → 2600
"At this moment the effect of my Heir activates as well!" Li'Tch countered. "During the End Phase of the turn its destroyed I can look at the top three cards of my deck and Special Summon a single Motolord monster among the cards that I looked at, then the rest are returned into whichever order I see fit."
Three cards appeared in front of Li'Tch and it looked through them before turning back toward the two Charisma Duelists.
"It seems I drew the new power given to our kin. BEHOLD! Due to Motolord Heir's effect I'll Special Summon Motolord Fiend from my deck!" Li'Tch took the middle card and threw it onto its field.
A large column of white wind shot into the sky. Darkness covered the virtual sun and lightnings began to fall onto nearby buildings, destroying them. Data fell around the three duelists, disintegrating into the air until nothing remained.
Several cables stick out of the ground and began to tie themselves together, creating the monster's limps. First, they created four bent backward legs, then a long body that had two long arms sticking out of its sides and a single red optic sticking from the top of the headless body.
The ground underneath the duelists then began to crack and pieces of metal flew toward the cable monster, attaching themselves to it. The data of the new times began to change, transforming them into rusty metal plates that covered the beast's chest and back with two buzz saws sticking from its back. The cables that made the monsters arms and legs all knitted around several metal poles, giving the body a supporting structure to keep it standing.
Instead of an actual head, the new monster had a jaw made from all sort of sharp metal structures with the inner layer being covered in saws and rotating blades. The single red optic glowed on the left side of the monster's mouth. The beast smashed its arms into the ground and pulled out two metal poles that it connected to the back of its left wrist.
Motolord Fiend
Attribute: DARK/Type: Machine/Pseudo-Link/Effect
ATK: 2600/Link-3
Effect: (This card is always treated as a Level 7 monster.) When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Moto" card: Choose three of this card's locked Link Arrows and activate them. Once per turn, you can destroy all cards that this card points to. If this card is destroyed by a card effect: Special Summon this card on your field during your next Standby Phase.
"W-what is this?" Go questioned.
"A Main Deck monster with Link Rating?" Blaze Rose gulped nervously.
"Behold! The superior Link Monsters that don't need an Extra Deck in order to exist!" Li'Tch laughed. "Pseudo Links are the new evolution of monsters that can manipulate their own Link Markers at will! For instance, when Motolord Field gets summoned out on the field by the effect of a Moto card I can choose which three of its arrows I want to activate. The ones I will go with are the top, the left and the right ones!"
Motolord Fiend, Link Arrow: ? → Link Arrow: Left, Top, Right
'Its monster is co-linked with mine now.' Go thought. 'That must be bad news.'
"Unfortunately, you won't have the chance to use Motolord Fiend's effects!" Blaze Rose declared. "Due to your own request, your turn will only come between mine and Go's so now it's my turn again. Draw!"
『Turn 4 [Blaze Rose] LP: 4000, Hand: 4』
"First, I'll Normal Summon NitroGear Zest Supporter (Lv.1, ATK: 100)." The small chibi made of rocks jumped lively on Blaze Rose's field. "Then I activate the Spell Card – Circle of the Fire Kings to destroy NitroGear Zest Supporter and revive NitroGear Vikignis (Lv.5, ATK: 2200)!"
Suddenly NitroGear Zest Supporter's body burst into flames and Vikignis came out of them.
"When Vikignis is Special Summoned from the Graveyard its effect lets me bring out a Tuner from my Graveyard, so, raise again, NitroGear Laughing Doc (Lv.1, ATK: 200)!" Vikignis reached out and cased a circle of flames through which a tiny nitro tank flew onto the field. "And now, I tune my two monsters together!"
A blue lightning fell onto Blaze Rose's field and created a shockwave as the two monsters turned into four rings of fire, five yellow rotating inside one another and one blue doing the same above the others. The number '5' and '1' appeared burning next to the yellow and blue rings respectively and then they all overplayed creating a gate of flames. Inside the gate, six red rings appeared one after another and a light emerged from within them.
"The flaming beast living if a forest of ash and fire. Arm yourself, a final war is coming our way! Synchro Summon! Level Six! NitroGear Twin Blaster (Lv.6, ATK: 2400)!"
Out of the beam of light came a green skinned monster with black armor on his shoulder, arms and legs along with several orange spikes. The creature had bee-like wings on its back and two large black cannons on its shoulders.
"Next, I activate the Continuous Spell - NitroGear Active Force! This card can once per turn change the battle position of one on the field!"
"Oh? But Motolord Fiend and Gouki the Thunder Ogre don't have defense therefore they can't have their attack positions changed." Li'Tch pointed out. "In other words, you can only activate the effect to change Twin Blaster's battle position."
"Heh, but I'm not going to use that effect." Blaze Rose snapped her fingers and her Synchro monster's body ignited. "Twin Blaster's own effect will increase its attack points by a thousand during battle if I have activated a Spell during this turn!"
NitroGear Twin Blaster, ATK: 2400 + 1000 → 3400
"Now I'm going to destroy that Pseudo-Link Monster of yours and end this duel in two swings!" Blaze Rose exclaimed. "Go, Twin Blaster! Attack Motolord Fiend! Twin Nitro Explosion!"
The Synchro monster roared and aimed its cannons down firing two orbs of molten rock toward Motolord Fiend. The Pseudo-Link roared and swung its claws cutting through the first orb, but the second one hit it in the chest exploding. The fiend screamed out and its body faded into the resulting cloud of smoke.
『Li'Tch LP: 2200 - 800 → 1400』
"Now that your fiend was destroyed we can attack you directly with Gouki the Thunder Ogre and end this match." Blaze Rose scoffed at the strange creature she was facing. "That's what you get for challenging us thinking that you are superior."
"Is that so?" a glowing card formed in Li'Tch's hand and the monster threw it into the cloud of smoke. A beam of light shot into the sky and all of the smoke flew away revealing Motolord Field standing in the center of a huge crater.
"Y-your monster is still alive?" Go gasped.
"That's because I activate the effect of my Trap Card – Motolord Scarecrow!" A white card appeared next to Li'Tch, however neither Go nor Blaze Rose could read what was written on it. The entire card text was made from symbols that weren't human-made and the artwork itself appeared to be glitched out making it impossible to understand anything about the card.
Motolord Scarecrow (Trap) Normal
When a "Moto" card(s) you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect while you have no Spell or Trap Cards in your Spell/Trap Zone, you can destroy this card in your hand instead of one of those cards. If this effect is activated during the Battle Phase, end the Battle Phase.
"But you had only one set card on your field." Go pointed out. "Unless you…"
"Bingo! I activated Motolord Scarecrow from my hand! I'm able to do that only when there are no Spell or Trap Cards on my field, but in return for this condition, Scarecrow lets me destroy it in place of one of my Moto cards. Also because this effect happened during the Battle Phase, I'm also able to end the Battle Phase."
"During the end of the battle my monster's attack also returns to normal." Blaze Rose muttered as Twin Blaster's flames died down and the monster returned to normal.
NitroGear Twin Blaster, ATK: 3400 - 1000 → 2400
"I'll end my turn there." Blaze Rose finished.
"You had two turns to beat me and you could even drop my Life Points below a thousand, such a disappointment." Li'Tch sighed. "It's time to get serious, so try to keep up with me. My turn. Draw!"
『Turn 5 [Li'Tch] LP: 1400, Hand: 4』
"First I'm going to Normal Summon Motolord Spawn." A pile of metal with several cables sticking out of its body and a single blue optic sticking from the top of the pile appeared next to Fiend's left arrow.
Motolord Spawn
Level: 1/Attribute: EARTH/Type: Machine/Effect
ATK: 0/DEF: 0
Effect: If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and send to the GY, you can Special Summon 2 "Moto Tokens" (Machine/EARTH/Level 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 0) in Defense Position. During your Standby Phase: You can banish this card from your GY: Add 1 "Moto" card from your deck to the hand.
"And now, I'm going to activate Motolord Fiend's effect! Once per turn I can destroy all cards that this monster points to! Motor Arrow!" Li'Tch raised his arm and three crimson arrows appeared around his monsters, one in front of it and two at its sides. The beast roared and its arrows all shot to the sides, striking down Motolord Spawn and Gouki the Thunder Ogre.
"Destroying his own monsters… How vicious." Go commented.
"When Spawn is destroyed I can Special Summon two Moto Tokens on my field!" Two portals appeared at each side of Li'Tch and two pairs of cables tied together in the form of worms fell from the portals. "And now we will go to the fun part! Appear, circuit of collapse!"
A large square appeared behind Li'Tch, however it wasn't the same as others. Part of it were torn off and the arrows had large cracks inside of them, the inside of the square was dark and hollow.
"Arrowheads confirmed!" Li'Tch laughed and threw his left arms forward. "Summoning conditions are two Moto monsters! I set my two Moto Tokens in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Motolord Engineeroid!"
A mechanical bird-like creature appeared out of the square. The beast's chest was opened with pieces of hardware and large piles of cables sticking out of it. The monster appeared to have had legs which were torn from the knees down leaving only a metal pipe and several cables that were hanging from the holes in its knees. Engineeroid had long arms, which acted as wings with the fingers splitting into a hundred small blades that formed some sort of metal feathers. Finally, the monster's head had five red optics in the center and a mouth whose lower jaw was missing entirely. The strange bird-like monster flew over Li'Tch and made a loud screeching sound.
Motolord Engineeroid
Attribute: LIGHT/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect
Link Arrows: Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right
ATK: 600/Link-2
2 "Moto" monsters
Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can destroy 1 monster this card points to. While this card is co-linked opponent cannot target this card for battle or with card effects, also you take no battle damage from battles involving monsters this card points to. If this Link Summoned card is destroyed by battle or card effect and send to the GY: Special Summon 1 "Moto" monster from your GY, except for a Link Monster.
"So they are using regular Link Monsters as well?" Go wondered.
"Humans have the saying about this, don't they? Ah, right. If it's not broken don't fix it." Li'Tch chuckled. "But now something is going to break. I activate the Spell Card – Motolord Salvaging from my hand! I target one Moto monster with Link Arrows on my field and Special Summon as many Level two or lower machine monsters from my deck to its unoccupied Linked Zones. I choose Engineeroid."
Motolord Salvaging (Spell) Normal
Target 1 "Moto" monster you control that has activated Link Arrows: Special Summon any number of Level 2 or lower monsters with different names from your hand or Deck to your zone(s) that target points to, then destroy it. If the monster destroyed by this effect activates its effect in the GY this turn, Special Summon 1 "Motolord" monster with 800 or less ATK from your GY, but its effects are negated, also it's banished during the End Phase of this turn.
"Come out, Motolord Offering and Motolord C-Arrow!" The zones that Engineeroid pointed at began to glow green and two walls of data raised from them, transforming into the monsters.
First one was, like most other low level representatives of the archetype a grotesque pile of metal and cables with two poles sticking out of the top of the monster with small flames burning on them.
Motolord Offering
Attribute: FIRE/Type: Machine/Pseudo-Link/Effect
DEF: 500/Link-1
Effect: (This card is always treated as a Level 2 monster.) If this card is Special Summoned from your deck or GY, you can activate 1 of this card's Link Arrows. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and send to the GY, you can target 1 card on the field: Banish that target, but add it to your hand on your second Standby Phase after this effect resolves.
The second monster had the appearance of a clock whose display was torn off, leaving the gears and mechanisms that filled it exposed. Two rusty clock arms were sticking out of the monster's back and a single red optic was staring from inside the monster's body.
Motolord C-Arrow
Attribute: EARTH/Type: Machine/Pseudo-Link/Effect
DEF: 500/Link-1
Effect: (This card is always treated as a Level 1 monster.) If this card is Special Summoned from your hand or deck, you can activate 1 of this card's Link Arrows. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and send to the GY, you can destroy 1 Spell/Trap card your opponent controls, and if you do, inflict 600 damage to your opponent.
"And sadly because of Motolord Salvaging's effect the monster targeted for its effect is going to be destroyed." Li'Tch whipped its face with a finger, imitating crying as Engineeroid was destroyed. "However due to Engineeroid's effect, because it was destroyed I can revive Motolord Heir (Lv.1, DEF: 0)." The first monster that Li'Tch played reappeared on the field through a dark portal. "And then because Engineeroid's effect activated in the Graveyard on the same turn that it got destroyed by Salvaging's effect I can revive it with its effects negated."
A second portal appeared in the sky and Engineeroid flew through it, floating above the other Motolord monsters.
"Also, due to the effect of my Pseudo-Links they gain a single Link Arrow." Li'Tch continued as a circle with eight arrows appeared around Offering and C-Arrow. "I give Offering the Top Right and C-Arrow the Top Left Link Arrows."
Motolord Offering, Link Arrow: ? → Link Arrow: Top-Right
Motolord C-Arrow, Link Arrow: ? → Link Arrow: Top-Left
"Appear, circuit of collapse!" the broken square formed above Li'Tch's head for a second time. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more Moto monsters with different names! I set my Link Two Motolord Engineeroid, and Motolord Heir in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Motolord Master!"
Three lightnings fell from the sky, transforming into blue towers that had the appearance of a king and two bishops. The central figure then split open revealing two yellow eyes, while its dies opened up and several cables came out of them, attaching it to the other two towers, which began to change as well. The bishops' lower parts shifted, stretching out to attach themselves to the king's back, their mitres split into five pieces that moved as fingers. The creature slammed its first against the ground and three more lightnings fell behind it, charging its Link Arrows.
Motolord Master
Attribute: DARK/Type: Cyberse/Link/Effect
Link Arrows: Bottom-Left, Bottom, Bottom-Right
ATK: 3000/Link-3
2+ "Moto" monsters with different names
Effect: When this card is Link Summoned draw a card for each "Moto" monster that this card is co-linked with. Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can either destroy 1, or all monsters this card points to, send the same number of cards from your opponent's side of the field to the GY. If this card you control would be destroyed by battle or card effects, you destroy 1 other "Moto" monster on your field instead.
"And now Master's effect activates letting me draw a card for each monster that it's co-linked with upon summoning. With Fiend, Offering and C-Arrow that's three monster that its co-linked with, which means that I get to draw three new cards!"
"A full hand…" Blaze Rose bit her lower lip.
"I activate Motolord Master's effect! Once per turn I can destroy all monster this one point to and send the same number of cards from your field to the Graveyard!" Fiend, Offering and C-Arrow broke into pieces and exploded. Their remains flew over to Gouki Deathmatch, NitroGear Active Force and Blueprints of Gears turning all three cards into pixels that faded back into the Charisma Duelists' decks.
"And now for Offering's effect! When it's destroyed and send to the Graveyard I can banish one card on the field but it's added to my hand during the Standby Phase of my next turn. I choose to banish NitroGear Twin Blaster!"
"Added to your hand?!" Blaze Rose gasped. "That means…"
The girl looked up and saw Motolord Offering's spirit appearing behind the Synchro monster, locking its poles around the monster's body to lock it in place. The warrior roared and fought against the machine but no matter how much it struggled, NitroGear Twin Blaster's body began to fall apart into pixels until it faded away completely.
"And now I'm going to activate the Normal Spell – Motolord Reactor." Another blank white card appeared in front of Li'Tch as it began to explain the effect. When this spell activates I can target one Moto monster with a Link Rating in my Graveyard and equip it to another one that's on my field. I choose to equip Motolord Engineeroid to Motolord Master!"
Motolord Reactor (Spell) Normal
Target 1 "Moto" monster with a Link Rating in your GY and 1 "Moto" monster on your field: Equip the first target to the second one, and if you do, the equipped monster gains 600 ATK for each Link Rating that the first target has. While the second target is equipped to a monster by this effect it gains the following effect:
If the equipped monster would be destroyed by a card or effect, you can destroy this card instead.
"Now due to its Reactor's effect my Motolord Master will gain six hundred attack points for each of Engineeroid's Link Ratings!" Li'Tch's monster leaned forward and roared as its strength and size increased.
Motolord Master, ATK: 3000 + 1200 → 4200
"Now his monster is strong enough to beat any one of us in one hit." Blaze Rose gulped.
The female duelist looked down at her hand. She couldn't believe it, but she was actually trembling! Despite all of her training and all the experience she obtained as a Charisma Duelist this deck was like nothing she has seen before. Was it strong? No, in fact Blaze Rose would say that when it came to pulling out strong and organized plays it could be dominated by almost any other deck out there. But there was something about it that absolutely terrified the Charisma Duelist and made her stomach curl.
"Seeing how your deck focuses on simple beatdown tactics the chances for you to use any hand traps is near zero." Li'Tch's eyes turned up to show that it was 'happy' while taunting Blaze Rose. "Of course ending one of you here wouldn't be a challenge anymore so instead I'm going to attack the male instead!"
Motolord Master opened its mouth and a cannon filled with rotating blades and several large cables that connected the side of the gun to the insides of the monster's throat. Motolord Master's entire body began to heat up, the metal covering it turned red and smoke flew through the small opening in its armor. With one final roar, the beast fired its beam toward Go.
"Go!" Blaze Rose cried out.
"I see, so you realized what the card that I added to my hand was?" Go noted before pressing a card in front of him. "I activate the effect of Gouki Octostretch from my hand! By discarding this monster I can halve one instance of Battle Damage that I would take!"
The spirit of his monster appeared in front of Go and pushed both of its arms forward to try and stop the incoming blast. Go put his arms around himself, the massive amount of energy sending him flying backward.
『Go LP: 4000 - 2100 → 1900』
"Go!" Blaze Rose cried out again before glaring back at Li'Tch. "Damn you! I'll make you pay twice for this!"
"Come on now, he's still in the duel after all." Li'Tch shook his finger. "This attack was a rocky move, next turn I'm going to pump it up, but for now I'm going to lay down a card and call it a turn."
Blaze Rose took a glance at Go. The Charisma Duelist was slowly getting back onto his feet, he wasn't going to give up, she knew that, but his body was already trembling even so slightly from the damage that he took. Dueling all day long would put a stain on one's body, even if it was someone as strong as Go.
"Don't push yourself." Blaze Rose warned him.
"T…That's nothing." Go muttered before standing back up. "You have been fighting the whole day as well, so you must be just as tired as me, right? Do you think I would leave a friend of mine to fight alone because of something small like this?"
"So that's how it is?" Blaze Rose wondered with a smile. "Then show them what you got!"
"I plan to! My turn, draw!" Go shouted.
『Turn 6 [Go] LP: 1900, Hand: 3』
"First I'm going to Normal Summon Gouki Suprex (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)." The blue skinned wrestler appeared on Go's field once again. "When Suprex is Normal Summoned I can Special Summon a Gouki monster from my hand. Come out, Gouki Riscorpio (Lv.5, ATK: 2300)!" A large red wrestler with a scorpion tail on its back appeared next to Suprex.
"Next I activate the Spell Card: Gouki Face Turn! With it I destroy Suprex to Special Summon Gouki the Thunder Ogre (ATK: 2200, Link-3) from my Graveyard!" The blue humanoid burst into sparkles and the Link Monster raised in its place. "When Suprex is send from the field to the Graveyard I can add another Gouki card from my deck to my hand." A card materialized in front of Go and he showed it before continuing. "Appear! My circuit!"
The circuit square appeared above Go once gain and his monsters turned into four whirlwinds that flew into the top and all the bottom arrows. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more Gouki monsters! I set Suprex and the Link Three, Gouki the Thunder Ogre in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Four, Gouki the Master Ogre (ATK: 2800, Link-4)!"
A large wrestler wearing black clothes with golden gloves and belt appeared out of the circuit holding a huge axe over its shoulders while its red cape floated behind it freely.
"When Gouki Riscorpio is send to the Graveyard I can add a Gouki card to my hand, I choose Gouki Shout!" Go showed the card and then pressed the other card that was in his hand. "Next I'm going to activate Gouki Re-Match to revive Gouki Twistcobra (Lv.3, DEF: 0) and Gouki Bearhug (Lv.6, DEF: 0)!"
"Ho? And what good are those monsters going to do for you?" Li'Tch asked. "I've already calculated any move that you could make against me!"
"There's no absolutely perfect plan!" Go declared. "I activate Bearhug's effect! When this monster is Special Summoned by the effect of a Gouki's card I can halve the attack points of one monster you control! Your Motolord Master will lose half of its attack points!"
The wrestler turned toward the huge machine in front of it and roared, covering Motolord in a red aura that would reduce its attack points.
"At this moment I activate my Continuous Trap – Motolord Rectification! This negates one effect that targets a Moto monster I control and then increases my Life Points by the attack of the monster that was targeted!" The trap materialized between Motolord Master and Gouki Bearhug before firing a blue beam that washed over Li'Tch.
『Li'Tch LP: 1400 + 4200 → 5600』
Motolord Rectification (Trap) Continuous
Activate when your opponent targets a "Moto" monster you control with a card effect: Negate the activation, and if you do, gain LP equal to the targeted monster's ATK or DEF (whichever is higher). While this card is face-up on the field other "Moto" cards you control cannot be targeted by your opponent's cards or effects. (Quick Effect): You can target 1 "Moto" Trap Card in your GY; destroy this card, then add that target to your hand. You cannot set the card added by this effect until the end of next turn.
"Due to Rectification's effect you cannot target cards I control with card effects except for itself." Li'Tch explained. "So, what are you going to do now?"
"I activate Twistcobra's effect!" Go's monster gained a red aura as its effect activated. "I releaseGouki Bearhug to give its attack points to Gouki the Master Ogre!"
Gouki the Master Ogre, ATK: 2800 + 2400 → 5200
"When Gouki Bearhug is send to the Graveyard I can add another Gouki card from my deck to the hand, then I'm going to simultaneously activate the Continuous Spell: Gouki Shout and the Equip-Spell: Gouki Grit!" Two spells materialized on Go's field and then began to glow. "First, with Gouki Shout all of my monster are going to gain three hundred attack points for every Gouki monster on the field when they attack! Next, when Gouki Grit is activated I target a Gouki monster that was destroyed this turn and Special Summon it, then this card gets equipped to it! Raise again, Gouki Suprex (Lv.4, ATK: 1800)!"
"So you are hoping to increase the damage by summoning more monsters and powering up your Ogre through the Continuous Spell?" Li'Tch shook its head. "You humans keep going through such long plays just to do something like this? Pathetic!"
"Even though our style of dueling is simple and straightforward, it's our bond as duelists that strengthen us!" Go exclaimed. "I'll show this to you with this battle! Go, Gouki the Master Ogre! Destroy Motolord Master!"
Gouki the Master Ogre raised its axe and then charged at Motolord Master, swinging the weapon toward its head.
"At this moment the effect of Gouki Shout increases my Gouki's attack points by three hundred for each Gouki on the field!" A golden aura surrounded Gouki the Master Ogre and its attack power increased right before it swung its axe down onto the machine.
Gouki the Master Ogre, ATK: 5200 + 900 → 6100
Li'Tch stuck its legs in the ground from the shockwave that followed that attack. Motolord Master roared and collapsed behind the duelist who watched its ace's fall without any emotion. Or at least not one that its disturbed expression could showcase.
『Li'Tch LP: 5600 - 1900 → 3500』
"Too bad, but it seems like I'll have to activate Engineeroid's effect." Li'Tch stated. "I destroy this equip card to negate Motolord Master's destruction."
"Motolord Engineeroid isn't supposed to have an equip effect!" Blaze Rose yelled back at the creature.
"Hmm?" Li'Tch tilted its side to 180 degree. "You actually read the card effects? Humanity must be quickly evolving then, but sadly, you missed to read the effect of Motolord Reactor who gives the monster used as equip spell the ability to protect the equipped monster at the cost of its own existence."
"Such an effect." Go grunted. "But because Engineeroid lost the monster that it was equipped with its attack points return back to normal!"
Motolord Master, ATK: 4200 - 1200 → 3000
"Of course because the battle ended your monster loses attack as well." Li'Tch pointed out as Master Ogre's attack fell a bit.
Gouki the Master Ogre, ATK: 6100 - 900 → 5200
"At the end of this turn the bonus given to my monster from Twistcobra's effect will end as well." Gouki stated as Master Ogre dropped its axe and its attack fell even more.
Gouki the Master Ogre, ATK: 5200 - 2400 → 2800
Go turned his head toward Blaze Rose. "I'll leave the rest to you."
"That's fine." Blaze Rose nodded and took a step forward. "It's my turn! Draw!"
『Turn 7 [Blaze Rose] LP: 4000, Hand: 2』
"I Normal Summon NitroGear Extinguisher (Lv.3, ATK: 600)." An insect with six legs made of flames and black armor covering its back appeared before Blaze Rose. "I activate Extinguisher's effect; when its summoned I can Special Summon a Level two or lower FIRE monster from my graveyard, but then Extinguisher will have to change to Defense Position! Come back, NitroGear Zest Supporter (Lv.1, DEF: 200)!"
'Defense Position?' Li'Tch thought. 'This would mean that the girl will try to Synchro Summon again…'
"I activate the Normal Spell – NitroGear Drift! While I control two or more FIRE monsters and none of them are Tuners, I can bring out a Tuner from my deck at the cost of negating its effects. Come out, Nitro Synchron (Lv.2, ATK: 300)!"
A tiny portal appeared on the field and the little tuner jumped through it landing next to all the other monsters on the field.
NitroGear Drift (Spell) Normal
If you control 2 or more FIRE monsters but none of them is a Tuner: Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower "oGear" Tuner monster from your deck, but its effects are negated. You cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck during the turn you activated "NitroGear Drift", except for Synchro Monsters.
"While in Defense Position, Zest Supporter counts as a Level Two monsters! I tune my Level two Zest Supporter and my Level ThreeExtinguisher to the Level Two Nitro Synchron!"
An orange lightning fell onto Blaze Rose's field and created a shockwave as the three monsters turned into five rings of fire. Two blue rings rotated above the five yellow ones below them with the numbers '2' and '5' appearing next to each set of rings respectively. The rings all overplayed, creating a gate of flames inside of which, seven red rings appeared one after another and a light emerged from them.
"Gathering the burning souls of molten warriors will combine to call forward a new force of nature! Become the path that lights the way! Synchro Summon! Burn it all! NitroGear Warrior (Lv.7, ATK: 2800)!"
"And now the effect of Nitro Synchron activates! If it's used as Synchro Material for the summoning of a Synchro monster I can draw a card!" Blaze Rose placed her hand on top of her deck. "The result of this entire duel might lie on this draw. No panic, right? Well, here goes nothing!"
Blaze Rose draws her card and it shines a bright red. The Charisma Duelist looked at the card she got and her eyes widened. "So that's destiny's decision… I activate the Spell: Nitro Heartbeat!" A card appeared beside Blaze Rose showing Nitro Warrior holding a burning heart with cables and other robotic attachments. "With this card's effect, I banish a Synchro in my Graveyard to give its attack power to a Synchro on my field! So, I banish NitroGear Vikignis to give NitroGear Warrior a huge boost!"
NitroGear Warrior, ATK: 2800 + 2200 → 5000
Nitro Heartbeat (Spell) Normal
Target 1 "Nitro" Synchro monster you control and 1 in your GY; banish the target in your GY, and if you do, the first target gains its ATK. If the monster targeted by this effect destroys a monster by battle during this turn both players take damage equal to half the destroyed monster's ATK in the GY. During the End Phase of the turn this card is activated, destroy the targeted monster and take damage equal to the original ATK of that monster.
"Battle!" Blaze Rose cried out and threw her fist forward. "I attack Motolord Master with NitroGear Warrior! Nitro One-Hit!"
"Then I'm going to activate Motolord Rectification's other effect! By destroying this card, I'm able to add a different Moto Spell or Trap card from my Graveyard to the hand. I choose Motolord Scarecrow and then activate its effect from my hand to destroy it in place of my Motolord Master!" Li'Tch's trap appeared in front of him and blocked NitroGear Warrior's attack before exploding.
『Li'Tch LP: 3500 - 2000 → 1500』
"Exactly fifteen hundred Life Points… If the monster targeted with Nitro Heartbeat was destroyed, both of us were going to take damage equal to half of its attack power, which would mean that my Life Points would have fallen to zero." Li'Tch put a hand on his hips and looked at the Charisma Duelists with an expression that could be described as mocking. "And next, because of Scarecrow's effect, the Battle Phase ends!"
Blaze Rose bit her lower lip. This last attack was her only opening and Li'Tch was able to block her move. Humiliated, the Charisma Duelist looked down and muttered:
"During the End Phase of the turn in which Heartbeat is activated, the monster who gained a boost through its effect is going to be destroyed and I'm going to take damage equal to its original attack power."
NitroGear Warrior roared and grabbed his chest with both arms in desperation as its chest began to heat up and the skin around its heart became red. The monster threw its head upward and cried out, its body exploding into violent flames that surrounded Blaze Rose throwing her backward on the ground while she screamed.
『Blaze Rose LP: 4000 - 2800 → 1200』
"Blaze!" Go shouted and ran toward the fallen Charisma Duelist, but she raised a hand, stopping him.
"This… focus on… the task at hand…" Blaze Rose panted before looking up at her fellow Charisma Duelist.
"The duel isn't more important than your health!" Go argued.
"Heh," Blaze Rose chuckled darkly put her hands on the ground, slowly raising her burned and tattered body off the ground. "If the one who taught me how to duel heard those words, they would have thought that you are a 'filthy casual'."
"If you two are done, it's my turn now." Li'Tch reminded them. "But what am I saying, you two can continue to chatter, right after I take what's ours, ok? My turn!"
『Turn 8 [Li'Tch] LP: 1500, Hand: 4』
Li'Tch studied the card that it got before its eyes curved to make its face look like its smiling. "First off, the effect of fiend activates, allowing me to revive it during my Standby Phase and I'm going to put it right… There!"
A black portal opened in front of Gouki the Master Ogre's top link and the deformed creature climbed onto the Monster Zone before howling.
"And now, Motolord Fiend's effect activates! Since it was Special Summoned from the effect of a Moto card, it gains three Link Arrows! I choose to give it a top, a left and a right arrow!" A glowing circle appeared around Fiend's body and three red arrows formed around, with the top one coming in different contact with Gouki the Master Ogre's top arrow, causing sparks of electricity to shout out from the two.
Motolord Fiend, Link Arrow: ? → Link Arrow: Left, Top, Right
"Fiend has the effect to destroy all cards that it points to." Go noted.
"Exactly! But before that, the effect of Offering will now put the banished NitroGear Twin Blaster into my Extra Deck!" Blaze Rose's Duel Disk glowed and the Synchro monster's card popped out of it before fading away into pixels
"Damn you." Blaze Rose hissed while her card's data flew into Li'Tch's hand and rebuilt itself.
"Don't be so angry, this is a game." Li'Tch wagged his finger. "I think to now activate the effect of Fiend and destroy all monsters that it points to!"
"I won't let you!" Go shouted. "I activate Master Ogre's effect to return Gouki Twistcobra and Gouki Suprex to my hand, then negate the effects of Motolord Fiend and Motolord Master!"
The two Gouki monsters jumped onto Li'Tch's monsters and locked their bodies around the machines before fading away, a grey aura remaining behind to keep the monsters' effect negated.
"Now even if I attack it won't be enough to destroy both of you." Li'Tch noted. "Such a good tactic, however, I'm going to have to shattered that hope of yours! Continuous Spell activate! Moto Factory!"
Moto Factory (Spell) Continuous
When this card activates, you can target 1 Level 2 or lower "Moto" monster in your GY: Special Summon that target. Once per turn: When a "Moto" monster is destroyed and sent to the GY; you can Special Summon 1 Moto monster from your Deck whose Level is less that the destroyed monster. If this card is destroyed by a card effect and send to the GY: You can target 1 Machine-Type monster in your GY; Special Summon that target, but its ATK and DEF become 0.
"When Moto Factory is activated, I can Special Summon a Level two or lower Moto monster from my graveyard, so come back, Motolord Heir (Lv.1, DEF: 0). Next, I'm going to Normal Summon Motolord Tuner!"
A pile of metal and cables appeared. Its body had several red and blue cables coming out of it with eleven light bulbs connected to them. Out of all the light bulbs, only one was glowing at the moment to showcase that the monster's Level was 1.
Motolord Tuner
Level: 1/Attribute: EARTH/Type: Machine/Tuner/Effect
ATK: 0/DEF: 250
Effect: Once per turn: You can reveal 1 target 1 other monster on your field and reveal 1 Synchro Monster in your Extra Deck; until the end of this turn, this card's Level becomes equal to the difference between the targeted monster and the Synchro Monster. Once per turn: You can release this card and 1 other "Moto" monster you control; Special Summon 1 Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck whose level is equal your tribute monsters original levels, ignoring its summoning conditions. During the End Phase, banish the Synchro Monster summoned by this effect face-down.
"Motolord Tuner's effect activates! I target Motolord Heir on my field and reveal the NitroGear Twin Blaster that's in my Extra Deck! Now for the rest of this turn, Motolord Tuner's level will become equal to the difference between Motolord Heir and Twin Blaster's Levels! The difference is five, therefore Motolord Tuner becomes a Level Five monster!"
Four more of Motolord Tuner's light bulbs began to glow, turning the monster into a Level 5.
Motolord Tuner, Lv. 1 → 5
"Even if you do this, Twin Blaster can only be Synchro Summoned with a Nitro Tuner." Blaze Rose pointed out.
"Hehe, I already know that." Li'Tch threw its arm upward. "Behold! I activate Motolord Tuner's second effect! By releasing both itself and Heir, it allows me to Special Summon any Synchro monster from my Extra Deck with its summoning condition ignored!"
"Ignoring summoning conditions!?" Go exclaimed.
"That means…" Blaze Rose's gaze harden.
"Come out!" Li'Tch cried out and six rings appeared behind him and a crimson beam shooting out of them. "Serve me, NitroGear Twin Blaster (Lv.6, ATK: 2400)!"
Blaze Rose's Synchro jumped out of the light and smashed its fist into the ground. It then looked at Blaze Rose and roared threateningly toward her.
"Awww~ It seems that your monster doesn't like you anymore." Li'Tch pouted. "Anyway, since I heard that humans like to win their duels AFTER reaching below a thousand Life Points, I'm now going to activate Cosmic Cyclone to pay a thousand of My Life Points and banish Gouki Shout!"
『Li'Tch LP: 1500 - 1000 → 500』
A whirlwind shot out of Li'Tch card and pierced Go's Spell Card, causing it to disappear from the field.
"Now let's battle! Twin Blaster attacks Gouki the Master Ogre!" The Synchro fired two beams from its shoulders. "And Twin Blaster's effect activates! If a Spell Card was activated during this turn, its attack power increases by a thousand during battle!"
NitroGear Twin Blaster, ATK: 2400 + 1000 → 3400
The beams pierced Go's Link Monster and it exploded, knocking Go.
『Go LP: 1900 - 600 → 1300』
"It's over!" Li'Tch burst into maniacal laughter Motolord Master and Motolord Fiend both charged at Blaze Rose and Go respectively, smashing the duelists' bodies into the ground.
『Go LP: 1300 - 2600 → 0』
『Blaze Rose LP: 1200 - 3000 → 0』
『Winner: Li'Tch』
"Even though I was giving them a handicap, they were still too weak to entertain me." Li'Tch sighed and floated over to Blaze Rose's body. "Humans, your age has long since passed, but you are still too stubborn to admit that you are outdated. Even the strength that you use to fight isn't your own. Disappointing."
Saying that, the strange creature stretched out its right arm and several black strings came out of it, attaching themselves to Blaze Rose's Duel Disk. The strings became red in color and they began to absorb the data of her deck, turning the cards inside the Duel Disk into pixels that then faded away, until her entire Deck Slot was empty.
After absorbing all of the data that it wanted, Li'Tch flew off to search for its next target, not knowing that it was being watched from a different server.
Sitting on his throne, PhantomFire lazily followed what was transcending in the city server with Silver Star standing beside him. He snapped his fingers causing two more screens to appear before him. The first one showed a group of Knights of Hanoi preparing to depart from inside their base while the other one was a communication screen that connected with Masou.
"How can I serve you today, master?" The AI bowed.
"Hanoi are finally starting to make their move against us." PhantomFire sighed. "Protect the server, you are allowed to use maximum strength."
"Understood." Masou replied and its screen faded away.
"What about Li'Tch?" Silver Star questioned.
"Destroy them with no mercy. Break them completely and retrieve the data they stole."
A sinister smirk appeared across Silver Star's face and she bowed before her brother. "It will be done as you wish."
After saying that, Silver Star's avatar teleported out of the server, leaving the demonic duelist on his own. PhantomFire leaned back into his throne and looked in front of himself, like a royal personality ruling for his loyal subjects. And even with no one in the room to obey him, he didn't need puppets when the world was already his.
Proxy's POV
"Finish this! Serene Arrow!" Grand Ranger Serene fired an arrow from her bow, piercing a Knight of Hanoi's chest.
『KOH LP: 1200 – 2100 → 0』
『Winner: Proxy』
"And victory is ours again!" Firera cheered while Aqua looked back after the defeated Knight in deep thought.
"Is something the matter, Aqua?" Proxy asked the Ignis.
"Hmm? No. No, I was just… thinking." Aqua muttered and looked away.
"Um, did I do something to make you angry?" Proxy asked again, concerned about the Ignis. "If I did something, then please forgive me, I just didn't notice."
"You didn't do anything." Firera interrupted, catching the Duelist's attention. "Aqua just doesn't like violence, even if it's necessary. She still feels bad for what her origin had to go through in order for Aqua to be born."
"Is that so?" I didn't know the full details myself, but if Aqua felt bad about it, then her origin definitely didn't have a good time. "If you are feeling so bad about it, why don't you go visit her?"
"I don't know, but you should visit her." Aqua raised her head and looked at me. "It wasn't your fault that things happened the way they did, right? And if your origin was hurt because of the incident, then maybe they would need someone to help them heal, a friend?"
"Yes…" Aqua turned to look toward the horizon. "Maybe one day I would do that. But right now we must defeat the Knights of Hanoi to ensure this future."
"HAi everyone!" I heard a loud voice coming from behind us and turned to see Playmaker and his Ignis flying behind us.
"Most of the Knights have started to retreat toward the buildings where our D-Boards can't fly through." Playmaker told us; as unfeeling as always I see… "We'll have to continue the chase on foot from here on."
"Leave it to us! We'll defeat all of the Knights of Hanoi, right girls?" I exclaimed and looked down at my Duel Disk, both Firera and Aqua nodded, agreeing with me.
"I don't think that I could let you continue!" Something flew past us, pushing me to the side. Ouch!
"Proxy!" "Aqua!" I heard Playmaker and Ai screamed respectively, but I was alright, maybe just a little fazed from the sudden push.
I shook my head and opened my eyes again, stopping my D-Board immediately. There was someone standing in front of me. No, it wasn't someone but something. Its body was bulky with white scales covering it. The creature had four arms, with the main pair being covered in muscles while the secondary one was slim with small purple blades sticking out of it. Its head didn't have a face or any distinctive features, except for two black cables jutting from the back of its head.
"Ugh, something grisly showed up, Playmaker!" I heard Ai as his holder's D-Wheel stopped next to mine.
"Hello, humans. My name is Gli'Wre." The creature introduced itself. I winched; its voice sounded distorted, like several people and a machine were talking at the same time. "I'm here to take a deck known as BrioGear. It's advised that you hand it over peacefully, or I'm going to be forced to use more forceful methods."
"My deck?" Why anyone would be going after my deck of all things!?
"Why don't you explain yourself first?" Playmaker flew in front of me. "Coming here and telling a duelist to handle their deck to you, which raises a lot of questions that need to be answered first!"
"Indeed, just suddenly appearing before you to ask for the BrioGear would raise a lot of questions for a human." Gli'Wre nodded. "But I'm going to only give you a quick summary. That set of cards you carry there is a key to unlock the chains holding my comrades as prisoners! By giving it to me, you are going to do not only a favor to me, but also all of humanity."
"A favor to humanity…?" I couldn't get what this creature meant by this. How could me, giving up on my deck, benefit humanity?
"You keep saying humans, does that mean that you aren't a human?" Aqua interrupted.
"Of course." Gli'Wre nodded again. "I'm an AI just like you, but on a higher plane of existence."
"Why you…" Ai clenched its fists angrily. "At least we got charisma! You are plain as a wall!"
"Ai." Aqua groaned and I had to agree with her, facepalming myself.
"Since I'm going to take the deck, I could also take the two AIs. Even though you are inferior, as Ignis, you are able to adapt much better than the normal AIs. We could make you one of us."
"If that means to look like this, I'm going to pass." Ai replied and turned up to Playmaker. "Playmaker, let's duel this guy!"
I looked over Yusaku's avatar. I got no idea how strong Gli'Wre would be, nor if I had any chances of beating it and I didn't want to put Aqua or Firera in dangerous because of my own weakness. Despite that, this was my fight, it wasn't right to have Playmaker fight them instead of me.
"I-"
"I'm challenging you to a duel!" Playmaker shouted before me and raised his Duel Disk. "I don't know what're you, but telling a duelist to just hang their deck with such an ominous vibe, I can't let you do as you please!"
"Playmaker…" Even though you didn't have to do this; thank you.
"I see, then..." Gli'Wre raised its arm and…
"Aaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhh!" I cried out. Several blades came out of nowhere and impaled my knees and arms, unleashing some black data that began to cover my avatar. Stop it!
"Proxy!" I looked up at Playmaker, but even doing that was a torture, the motor system of my avatar was quickly shutting itself down and…
"She's infected with a virus!" Aqua said, rather calmly given the situation. "I and Firera should be able to destroy the virus in time, so don't worry about us!"
"The virus is meant to only stop her avatar from moving – call it a paralysis if you want, but I needed to ensure that no lethal actions would be required to finish my task." Gli'Wre said.
Why you… I couldn't move, but I would have kicked that AI in the head if it was near me!
"I calculated that removing the virus would take two hours for an Ignis, which means that I got enough time to duel you, human." Playmaker narrowed his eyes. "Let's go! We will solve this through a Speed Duel!"
Gli'Wre flew off without a D-Board and Playmaker followed after him. I gritted my teeth and tried to ignore the pain as Aqua and Firera began to work onto removing the damn virus. I felt so useless right now, just watching Playmaker's back as he fought for me, again.
A/N: First update of this story since I moved and it took me only, well, a lot of time. Also, Gli'Wre and Li'Tch finally make their official debut. Technically, they did appear before during chapter 23, but this is their official debut as villains!
Although, with all the other weird creatures that appeared so far in Destiny Gears, I feel like their reveal wasn't as shocking or anything, but the impact that they are going to have onto the story will be noticeable.
Thanks to everyone who's still following this story, also thanks to Dan Ctin for the follow and favorite!
Now onto the reviews.
ScalchopWarrior: Well, writing Aqua and Proxy's partnership to be as dynamic as Ai and Playmaker would be a bit of a challenge because Aqua and Proxy have pretty similar personalities. Actually, that's something I even noted before, but so far every oGear user seems to share personality traits with the Ignis of the same attribute, which is surprising given that Picaro and Blaze rose were written much before Windy and Flame were revealed.
Guest: Yeah, turns out that I was too quick writing the last few chapters because apparently Lightning choose to use the EXACT same moment as the Tower of Hanoi's activation to begin his own evil master plan. That's why I hate this little yellow thing despite it being the most logical of all the Ignis we saw!
Anyway, for the sake of this story, we'll say that the invasion happened after the Tower was shut down.
ThePLOThand: So, there are THREE reviews of yours for me to cover, but due to a "Special" reason I'm going to leave your last review out of this response.
So, first: While characters in the anime would explain what their cards do is a staple, that's not always the case. For instance, no one explained their cards' effect in the Dark Side of Dimensions movie, plus Evan is an asshole by nature, so he has even less of a reason to explain the card, when the entire duel was basically him testing how much his 'students' have learned since they left.
Also, I read CCV's effect and I don't know how exactly I combined them. There might be a part of the card's text that I missed so if you could explain it in more detail?
Now onto the second review: While I now notice that Destiny Poisoner is similar to Starve Venom, his purpose wasn't to be a reference to that card because, heck, Evan has his own Starving Venom monsters as shown in later chapters. So, I would call that similarity between the two Fusions a coincidence.
As for the AstroGear monsters' names, there IS an in-story explanation that I could give, but there is also my own choice which is the embarrassing part. If I were to summarize it, in my school if you choose to learn German or Russian as your second foreign language, well... The A(s) you get are for being present during the classes.
But that's all for today! Thanks to anyone who actually read this far and 'till next time. Cya!