"So that's the lead that Playmaker was able to get for two weeks worth of researching?"
Evan leaned back in the driver seat of his car, scrolling through the data Kusanagi sent to them. His 'apprentice' was sitting next to him, looking at all of the data with an expression that Evan couldn't see from the hood covering her face. Despite how much Evan bashed Yusaku's dueling skills, he had to admit that when it came to hacking, he and Kusanagi made for an unstoppable team. In fact, they were so good that it was almost a waste to get rid of them.
Those criminals were predictable. Even though Evan didn't encounter any of them during the raids on the buildings that he expected them to use a hideout, they still left a trail. It wasn't anything big, in fact, the trace they left behind would have gone unnoticed if it was someone else. It was the floor of the building. A few years ago, most people used wooden planks for their floors – good material, but it was easy to damage when dragging something heavy across it. That was how he knew that he was on their tracks; two lines, left by some heavy object that has been dragged out of the building shortly before Evan came looking for the criminals.
It was a very close call, five minutes earlier and he might have caught them. But though he missed them a week ago, now, thanks to Yusaku, he got a chance to catch them again.
The leads that Yusaku found weren't solid, most of them were just from anonymous posts on online forums and data from a few small companies in the city that specialized in real estate trade, but Evan was entitled to believe the information due to how cunning these kids' plan must have been. Using a warehouse located next to one of the warehouses they raided and stole from as a base. No one, not even Evan would have thought about searching for them at such an obvious place, at least until it was too late.
"Avice, do you copy me?" Evan lowered his phone and turned toward the small screen next to the steering wheel.
"Loud and clear." Avice nodded. "I've looked through the data that Yusaku sent you, you're going to go after them, aren't you?"
"They will understand the message only if I'm the one to crush their leader," Evan said. "We will be enough to deal with the situation. If they are still at the warehouse, I'll send you a signal. Your duty will be to contact Den City's police department and tell them to get to the docks. Is that clear?"
"I won't even try to argue the soundness of your plan." Avice sighed. She wouldn't even have to tell her brother to be careful since he was Evan Greyson, so of course, he would have prepared for any traps.
Evan turned off the screen and leaned back into his seat. He looked out of his window, there were dark clouds in the sky, without a doubt, it was going to start raining soon. How long has it been since he last went to the docks? It has been nearly three months, he remembered, but to him, it felt like it was yesterday that he dueled Roxy. The way he swiftly destroyed her hope of victory every single turn before stepping back to let her build herself back up, that flame of pure anger and hatred that he saw in her eyes when she realized that he's been using her as a puppet the entire time. He remembered all of it.
And now he was going back there, along with his apprentice. Speaking off, Evan looked at the girl sitting next to him. There was no visible reaction from hearing where they were heading towards, she was just holding one hand over her Duel Disk, protectively. Evan's apprentice looked up toward her teacher and nodded. It was a silent confirmation – they were ready to go.
"Try to make it look believable." Evan just looked away, coldness returning to his voice. "We want them to think that we're actually hunting them down. An animal would retaliate once you push it against a wall, and we need them to make a bad public name for themselves to ensure that they won't grow into a real threat."
His apprentice responded with a silent nod once more, trying to hold her voice down, as if she was scared that someone was listening on their conversation and would learn her identity if she spoke.
"It's an 'ok' then." Evan sighed. He was starting to doubt how good of an idea bringing her along was, but he couldn't just tell her to go home now.
"Is everything complete?" A middle-aged man asked.
A girl dressed in a simple white shirt and aqua blue shorts turned from her position and nodded. She had short dark blue hair held by a pink heart-shaped hair chip and emotionless grey eyes.
The man had short blonde hair with three small red locks of hair hanging from his forehead. He was wearing a dirty black leather jacket over a dark grey sweater with worn-off jeans and military boots. Black leather gloves were almost constantly on his hands, a way to make sure that he wasn't going to leave any fingerprints behind.
Currently, the two of them were located in a warehouse. Two wooden tables and several chairs were already placed inside with a computer and some strange disk-like device sitting on each table. This was the Gear Hunter's current base of operation. It was a risky place, located so close to all of FullerCorp's warehouse that they broke into, but there was no better place for them to hide at. Even now, they have driven in only the bare minimum of gear that they needed for the start of their plan. Even though they were able to avoid Evan's visit to their previous base thanks to a third-party's warning, right now almost everyone was too scared to show up, leaving only the three of them to get the job done.
"Conan!"
The man turned toward the front door. A boy wearing a black raincoat, with a hood large enough to cover up his face and identity irrupted in, panic apparent in his voice.
"He's coming here!" the boy shouted. "That bastard found this hideout as well!"
"Damn it!" Conan cursed. "Is he alone?"
"I think there was someone else with him, but they were inside a car, so I couldn't see clearly." The hooded boy answered. "What should we do?"
"We can't win this battle." Conan bit his lip, knowing the type of strength Evan and the other Destiny Gears had. "Ricky, you and Dakota take the Titan somewhere safe, while I buy you some time to escape. Understood?"
"Yeah." The hooded boy/Ricky, nodded as did the girl, whose name was Dakota.
The two teens began to collect the equipment. Conan placed his Duel Disk and looked back at the metal door. Victory at the moment was impossible; the enemy was too strong. He closed his eyes, accepting, within his mind, that this was probably going to be his final stand. His mind focused, the fear was pushed to the back. Conan finally walked up to the metal door and pulled a lever, unlocking it, before opening it just enough for his body to slip through and step outside.
Rain pattered against the ground and the windows of the red car that was parked right in front of the warehouse with its lights on. Conan covered his face, his old eyes needing a moment to get used to the bright light that shone upon his face. The old man blinked as lightning streaked across the black sky, outlining the figures of the two duelists standing before him. Conan narrowed his tired eyes and lowered his arms, placing the left one in front of his chest.
"Evan Greyson," Conan called one of the shadows. "We meet, at last."
"I'm not here for corny commentary," the shadow placed a hand on his hips. "I came to duel, win, see you get arrested for stealing, then go home and have a hot chocolate with my family."
"So, you don't even care about the name of the man that stole your equipment? Or the reason behind it?" Conan asked.
"If I needed to ask to get answers, I wouldn't be where I stand now." The shadow turned toward his partner in crime. "Go around and ambush the others as they try to escape."
Conan frowned. Evan knew that this was a distraction, but as long as he wasn't the one who was going, then maybe the others could get away. The older man watched from the corner of his eyes as the smaller shadow disappeared in the rain to follow Evan's orders, leaving the two older duelists to face each other.
"Would you believe me if I say that I didn't want it to come to this? Hunting down small-time criminals like you?" Evan asked.
"Your actions are pointing toward the contrary," Conan stated.
"Yeah, they do." Evan sighed, rising his Duel Disk. "Then, let's get it over with."
"Duel!"
『Conan LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) Evan LP: 4000, Hand: 5』
"Since you're the senior here, I'll let you take the first turn," Evan said.
"You're planning to use an OTK, don't you?" Conan narrowed his eyes. "But I know that your ChronoGear deck is capable of doing FTKs consistently… You want to enjoy it, don't you?"
"Yeah, I want to enjoy beating you slowly," Evan smirked. "It's good that you're understanding the position that you're in."
"Then I don't have a choice but to start first." Conan frowned. "I begin by playing Beat, Bladesman Fur Hire (Lv.3, 1200), then I use its effect to Special Summon Helmer, Helmsman Fur Hire (Lv.3, DEF: 2000)! Now I activate Beat's effect since another Fur Hire was Special Summoned I can add Seal, Strategist Fur Hire from my deck to the hand, then by using Helmer's effect, I Special Summon Seal!"
Evan frowned. A deck made from monsters that could Special Summon each other out and gain additional effect when they do so? Conan's usage of such a deck was most telling about the type of duelist he was, an amateur who most likely hasn't dueled before, so he picked up the easiest deck to use. But no matter how easy to pilot a deck was, if one hasn't mastered its potential, then they didn't represent any danger.
"I activate Helmer's second effect to discard Wiz, Sage Fur Hire and draw a new card from my deck!" Conan glanced at the card he drew and double-checked with the ones already in his hand. "I activate Seal's effect to Special Summon Sagitta, Maverick Fur Hire (Lv.5, DEF: 2400)! And since she was Special Summon, you take five hundred points of damage for every Fur Hire monster with a different name on my field, except for Sagitta!"
The humanoid bird monster aimed her rifle and fired at Evan, hitting the young man in the shoulder, knocking him back.
『Evan LP: 4000 - 1500 → 2500』
"Seal's effect lets me return Wiz, Sage Fur Hire back to my hand, since another Fur Hire was Special Summoned," Conan explained, picking the holographic card. "Appear, the circuit of mercenaries! The summoning conditions are 3 monsters with different Types! I set Seal, Helmer and Beat in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Three! Folgo, Justice Fur Hire (ATK: 2400, Link-3)!"
"Folgo's effect activates! When it's Link Summoned, I Special Summon a Fur Hire with a different type from the ones used as materials, from my deck! I Special Summon Philo, Messenger Fur Hire (Lv.1, DEF: 0)! And now, Philo's own effect lets me Special Summon Wiz, Sage Fur Hire (Lv.8, DEF: 2800) from my hand!"
"Let me guess since it's level is above four, it must have an effect that activates upon Special Summon, right?" Evan noted, starting to see a theme in these cards.
"Exactly." Conan nodded. "When Wiz is Special Summoned, she increases my Life Points by five hundred for every Fur Hire with a different name from each other and from Wiz. But before that happens, Philo's second effect activates! Since a Fur Hire was Special Summoned while Philo is on the field, I can Special Summon Seal, Strategist Fur Hire (Lv.4, DEF: 1000)!"
The Level 4 monster appeared before Conan, after which Wiz raised her wand and bright light washed over Conan, increasing his Life Points.
『Conan LP: 4000 + 2000 → 6000』
"I set a card and end my turn, Greyson," Conan said. "Let's see what you'll be able to do on your next turn! Wiz's second effect will negate any Spell or Trap that you activate through the discarding of a card, and Sagitta protects all of my other Fur Hire monsters from being targeted by card effects!"
(Conan: 1)
"Heh," Evan chuckled. He placed a hand on his hips and raised his head proudly, crimson eyes burning like flames as he looked at Conan. "Listen to yourself, old man. You're talking as if you aren't just a distraction. Fine! I'll show you what I'm capable of even without the ChronoGear deck! My turn, draw!"
『Turn 2 [Evan] LP: 2500 Hand: 6』
"I discard Vision HERO Minimum Ray to Special Summon Vision HERO Faris (ATK: 5, ATK: 1600)!" A pink humanoid monster with large claws appeared before Evan. "Since Faris was Special Summoned, I can place Vision HERO Increase from my deck in the Spell/Trap Zone as a Continuous Trap!"
The shadow of another humanoid monster appeared behind Faris; its dark presence bringing forth a mist that surrounded Evan.
"Normal Summon Elemental HERO Solid Soldier (Lv.4, ATK: 1300), then activate its effect to Special Summon Vision HERO Vyon (Lv.4, ATK: 1000)! And when Vyon is summoned, I can send Elemental HERO Shadow Mist from my Deck to the Graveyard." A shadow humanoid appeared on the field and turned around, firing a beam at Evan's Duel Disk, pulling a card out of it. The Duelist took it and showed it to his opponent, a vicious grin covering his features.
"By banishing Shadow Mist from my Graveyard, I can activate Vyon's second effect and add Polymerization from my deck to the hand." A card jumped out of Evan's Deck and he took it.
"Even though this isn't your deck, you still…" Conan was stuck in disbelief. Evan was going through his moves so smoothly, not even once having any doubt in the cards or effect that he was playing.
"Not my deck?" Evan raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you poor old man, you came up with the idea of trying to destroy my business after VRAINS was destroyed, weren't you?"
"You took the lives of thousands of people and got to walk away unharmed!" Conan shouted back. "Did you think that no one would notice your involvement? That no one would notice how you weren't there when the bomb went off? Most of them didn't, but I did! I saw that you weren't there!"
"I see…" Evan sighed, this kind of discussions were so bland and tasteless, but he was doing it to amuse the old man before destroying him. "Tell me, which one of your relatives was harmed by Hanoi's Tower?"
"You really think that I came after you because your actions harmed me?" Conan asked. "I didn't lose anyone, I was fortunate to have my grandchildren be asleep when that massacre happened. I'm not doing this for personal revenge, but for retribution! I'm doing this for those parents who lost their children because of you!"
"I really can't see why you're doing this old man, I seriously can't." Evan shook his head in disappointment. "No one close to you was harmed, you could have just closed your eyes and moved on, and instead you're trying to play the hero, hunting down a villain that doesn't exist."
"It's called sympathy," Conan stated. "If you don't understand it, then you most likely don't have it."
"You've got no idea how right you are." Evan sighed, raising his hand. "Enough of this charted! Appear, the circuit of dark heroes! Summoning conditions are two HERO monsters! I set Faris and Vyon in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Xtra HERO Wonder Driver (ATK: 1900, Link-2)!"
A human in blue robes wearing a golden staff appeared in the free Extra Monster Zone, crossing its arms as it floated beside Evan.
"Next, I activate Polymerization!" Evan declared, slamming the card in his Duel Disk.
"I activate the effect of Wiz, Sage Fur Hire!" Conan shouted. "By discarding Dyna, Hero Fur Hire, I negate and destroy your Spell's activation!"
The WATER monster pointed her wand at Evan and the holographic manifestation of Polymerization froze before bursting into bits, leaving no traces behind itself.
"Now, you can no longer use Polymerization to Fusion Summon," Conan stated.
"Too bad, your destiny is already sealed, old man," Evan smirked. "I activate Vision Release! This Spell Card allows me to Special Summon Vision HERO Increaser (LV.3, ATK: 900) from the Spell and Trap Zone, then his own effect activates, Special Summoning Vision HERO Gravito (Lv.4, ATK: 500) whose effect activates upon being summoned, adding the banished Elemental HERO Shadow Mist back to my hand!"
"So what?" Conan asked.
"So I win, old man," Evan stated, gesturing toward the field. "Gravito was summoned next to Wonder Driver's Link Marker, which means that Wonder Driver's effect can be activated, adding Polymerization back to my hand!"
"Appear again, the circuit of dark heroes!" Evan shouted, summoning a square above himself. "Summoning conditions are at least two HERO monsters! I set the Link Two, Xtra HERO Wonder Driver and Elemental HERO Solid Soldier in the Link Markers! Link Summon! The dark avenger – Xtra HERO Dread Decimator (ATK: 2500, Link-3)!"
A large and muscular human in a black and red suit appeared from the square, thrusting forward his left arm, which was a large crimson needle instead of a normal human arm.
"Dread Decimator's effect increases the attack points of all HERO monsters it points to, as well as itself, by a hundred points for every HERO monster that rests in my Graveyard. There are five right now, so that's five hundred extra attack points!"
Xtra HERO Dread Decimator, ATK: 2500 + 500 → 3000
Vision HERO Gravito, ATK: 500 + 500 → 1000
Vision HERO Increaser, ATK: 900 + 500 → 1400
"And now, I activate Polymerization once more to fuse together Gravito and Increaser from my field with Shadow Mist from my hand!" three black flames burst behind Evan and shot into the sky, turning into a whirlwind.
"Out of the cards, three tortured hearts shall come together and awaken the ancient titan! Hear their call, the hero that serves justice always in tripled proportions! Fusion Summon! Vision HERO Trinity (Lv.8, ATK: 2500)!"
A large human covered in bulky crimson armor appeared out of the blazing black flames and stepped forward, placing his arms on his waist as he looked forward.
"Due to having three more HERO monsters in the Graveyard, Dread Decimator gains three hundred attack points, while Trinity's attack power becomes double its original attack power until the end of the turn in which it was Fusion Summoned!" Evan threw his arms upward and two black flames burst around his monsters.
Xtra HERO Dread Decimator, ATK: 3000 + 300 → 3300
Vision HERO Trinity, ATK: 2500*2 → 5000
"Let's battle!" Evan shouted. "Dread Decimator, attack Philo, Messenger Fur Hire, and now, Dread Decimator's effect! When it battles a defense position monster, you take the piercing damage!"
"But Philo's defense is zero!" Conan cried, the dark monster piercing through his little bird, destroying it while also causing a powerful shockwave to knock the old man back.
『Conan LP: 6000 - 3300 → 2700』
"Aw, what's up?" Evan chuckled. "Why didn't you activate your set card? Or maybe, it's because Training Fur Hire can't save your right now!"
"How do you know my set card?" Conan growled.
"It was obvious, old man, just look at yourself. You wasted your entire hand in the first turn, used no engines, no nothing that's outside the archetype. It was obvious since you set the card that it would be an archetype exclusive card, and the only ones that Fur Hire has are Mayhem Fur Hire and Training Fur Hire."
"You…" Conan stared at the young man in disbelief. He read Conan's deck completely by just seeing how he played out his first turn. Defeating someone that was on this level through dueling would be impossible…
"Now it's Trinity's turn! Destroy Folgo, Justice Fur Hire!" the crimson hero's chest and shoulder plates opened and three crimson beams shot out of them, piercing through the furry, cutting its body into pieces, while the shockwave that ensued threw Conan against the door of the warehouse.
『Conan LP: 2700 - 2600 → 100』
"Do you know how I realized that you've been following me for only a few months?" Evan asked. "It's because you think that my own dueling skills are limited to the ChronoGear deck. The ChronoGear is nothing more than a golden sword, it's meant to look fancy and flashy, to place fear in my enemies by making them realize that the deck is overpowered beyond belief! I don't need fake cards to be powerful."
Evan paused. He looked at the remaining two cards in his hand.
"Out of the thousands of cards there are, not a single one is useless – the only situation, and that's where the difference between you and me is the biggest. A good duelist recognizes the potential plans lied before him and creates a situation that benefits him, but a great duelist turns any situation into victory. Let me show you. I activate De-Fusion by returning Vision HERO Trinity back to the Extra Deck, its fusion materials return to my field!"
Trinity jumped back and its body burst, the red armor that covered the hero disappearing to leave three smaller dark heroes that took his place. As they landed behind Dread Decimator, its ability increased their attack points.
Xtra HERO Dread Decimator, ATK: 3300 - 300 → 3000
Vision HERO Gravito, ATK: 500 + 500 → 1000
Vision HERO Increaser, ATK: 900 + 500 → 1400
Elemental HERO Shadow Mist, ATK: 1000 + 500 → 1500
"Shadow Mist's effect! Since she was Special Summoned, I can add Mask Change from my Deck to the hand!" The woman dressed in black turned and raised her arm toward Evan's Duel Disk, summoning a dark aura that pulled the Spell Card out of the deck. "Now, I release Increaser to summon a new breed of hero!"
Increaser jumped, the armor that covered his body disappearing and getting replaced by black armor plates.
"Heroes never rest! When one mask has become obsolete, a new symbol of dark justice will enter the scene! Transformation Summon! Masked HERO Anki (Lv.8, ATK: 2800)!"
The black armor pieces all flew in place, turning the shadow into a new symbol of justice.
"Due to another HERO reaching the Graveyard, the effect of Dread Decimator increases its own and all other heroes attack power once more!" Evan raised a finger to point at the sky.
Xtra HERO Dread Decimator, ATK: 3000 + 100 → 3100
Vision HERO Gravito, ATK: 1000 + 100 → 1100
Elemental HERO Shadow Mist, ATK: 1500 + 100 → 1600
Masked HERO Anki, ATK: 2800 + 600 → 3400
"Anki can attack directly by halving the damage it does." Evan sighed. "It's over, old man."
Anki looked back at its owner for a moment before nodding, the two of them reaching a silent agreement that was, usually, unheard of. The dark hero swung forward and slammed its fist against Conan's face, knocking the older duelist out cold.
『Conan LP: 100 - 1700 → 0』
『Winner: Evan』
The lights of the Duel Disks faded. The titans that accomplished each of the duelists burned away into data that was absorbed back into the cards that were their eternal prisons. It was over, in a single turn no less. The only sounds that remained were Evan's own footsteps as he stepped toward his fallen enemy. If he was at his prime he would have carded the man and then tear the card apart summoned one of his largest monsters and had it tear the man limb by limb. But he was no longer in his prime, and he could no longer embrace death either. He was a ghost of the night, walking in the daylight.
"You accused me of not having sympathy old man," Evan knelt down next to the unconscious man. "But you're wrong. The thing I don't have is a heart. But don't worry. Once I have achieved my goals in this world, that ancient black rock beating inside my chest will finally go silent."
One could say that human life was just a play with many genres. Sometimes it was a comedy, another time it was a tragedy. And if the first act in the story was the birth of the protagonist with the last one being his death, then the curtains of Evan's story were about to close down. He was at his last act, waiting to sign up for a sequel before starting the final scene.
Police sirens sounded and flashed in the distance. Evan stood up, placing the black hood over his head, over his face, he walked into the dark, disappearing.
"Did we take everything?"
Dakota placed a computer screen in the trunk of the black car and looked back at Ricky as he asked her a question. She raised her hands and made several symbols, giving the boy a positive answer.
Ricky nodded and opened the door on the side of the driver. "Good then, we'll get out of here and then call the-"
The boy stopped. A shadow, around a head shorter than him and Dakota, was standing in front of the car with a hood concealing her appearance, and the pink blade of a Duel Disk pocking from underneath the cloak. As her friend stopped, Dakota realized what he was about to do and placed a hand on his shoulder to try and stop him.
"Drive." Was all Ricky said; he placed his hand over Dakota's and gently moved it off his shoulder. "Just drive, I'll find you later."
Dakota looked down. She nodded and stepped into the car instead. The shadow stepped silently to the side, letting the car drive off before moving back to their original position, facing against Ricky.
"So, you want to hunt us one at a time?" Ricky asked.
The shadow remained unresponding, its silence causing an unnerving feeling to raise inside Ricky. The shadow's faceless appearance, its silent approach, and the rain were giving her the chills.
"You're not a talky one, are you?" Ricky asked. "Fine then! I don't like wasting time talking either, so let's just do it! Duel!"
『Ricky LP: 4000, Hand: 5 (VS) Unknown LP: 4000, Hand: 5』
"I'm going to take the first turn!" Ricky declared. "I Normal Summon Infinitrack Anchor Drill (Lv.4, ATK: 1800) and activate its effect to Special Summon Infinitrack Trencher (Lv.5, DEF: 2400) from my hand in Defense Position!"
Two large machines, one blue and green, the other green and purple appeared behind Ricky.
"I activate Machine Duplication to Special Summon two more copies of Trencher from my Deck!" Ricky said, materializing two more green and purple machines next to the ones that were already on his field. "Appear now, the circuit that builds the future! Summoning condition is one Non-Link Infinitrack monster! I set Infinitrack Anchor Drill in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Infinitrack Goliath (ATK: 1000, Link-1)!"
The shadow took a cautious step back as the giant blue and yellow robot appeared in front of the other large machines that Ricky had summoned previously.
"Next, using the two Level Five, Infinitrack Trencher, I build the Overlay network!" Ricky threw his arm upward as four green chains shot out of it and a square appeared behind him. The two monsters turned into data that flew into the square as Ricky began to chant.
"The titans of industry, raise from your deep slumber and bring forth the legends of the metal world! Xyz Summon! The titan that divides the oceans! Infinitrack River Stormer (RANK: 5, ATK: 2500)!"
The loud roar of an engine echoed through the storm as a large black and red machine with three canons attached to its front appeared on Ricky's field.
"I activate River Stormer's effect!" Ricky shouted. "I use one of its Xyz Materials to send Infinitrack Harvester from my Deck to the Graveyard! Next, I activate the effect of Infinitrack Crab Crane from my hand! I release Infinitrack Goliath to Special Summon Crab Crane from my hand!"
The blue giant exploded and its remains were grabbed by a large black and green crane that swung them and threw them into a graveyard portal.
"Goliath might have left the field, but it's not gone!" Ricky continued. "Goliath's effect activates! Since it left the field, I can attach it to River Stormer as an Xyz Material, which, in turn, gives River Stormer an additional effect of being protected from destruction by card effects. But that's not the end of it either! I banish Infinitrack Trencher from my Graveyard to Special Summon Infinitrack Harvester (Lv.2, DEF: 2100), whose Effect allows me to add Infinitrack Drag Shovel to my hand, and then I activate the effect of Crab Crane to banish Infinitrack Anchor Drill and add Outrigger Extension from my Deck to the hand!"
The shadow watched on, as their opponent continued his turn. They already had one Xyz Monster with protection and enough monsters to summon a second one, but were they going to stop there? The shadow wasn't sure how Ricky was going to play this first turn.
"I activate Harvester's effect! Once per turn, I target another Machine monster on my field, in this case, Infinitrack Trencher, and make the Levels of my two monsters equal to their combined levels!"
Infinitrack Harvester, Lv. 2 + 5 → 7
Infinitrack Trencher, Lv.5 + 2 → 7
"Next, using the Level Seven, Infinitrack Trencher, and Infinitrack Harvester, I build the Overlay network!" A green square appeared behind Ricky and the two monsters turned into data.
"The titans of industry, raise from your deep slumber and bring forth the legends of the metal world! Xyz Summon! The titan that levels the kingdom of gods with the ground! Infinitrack Mountain Smasher (RANK: 7, ATK: 2100)!"
A giant yellow and blue bulldozer appeared in Ricky's Extra Monster Zone.
"Finally, I activate the Continuous Spell, Outrigger Extension! While this card is on my field, you can't target XYZ monsters I have with card effects. Additionally, once per turn, I can Rank-Up one of my Infinitrack monsters! Mountain Smasher, it's time for you to evolve!"
A new square circuit appeared behind Ricky, its chains, made from that, connected to Mountain Smasher and green data flowed into the machine, evolving it, changing it into something new.
"The titans of industry, raise from your deep slumber and bring forth the legends of the metal world! Rank-Up Xyz Chance! The titan that tore mother Gaia in half! Infinitrack Earth Slicer (RANK: 9, ATK: 3100)!"
A brown and black metal titan rose in place of the already gigantic machine. Its engine roared so loud that the shadow it was facing had to cover their ears out of pain.
"With this, I end my turn," Ricky stated. "Your move."
"Your dueling is Beatdown oriented." The shadow noted. "The cards your use focus mostly on protection from card effects, but it's foolish of you to think that these kinds of attack numbers can't be easily surpassed. My turn, draw!"
『Turn 2 [Unknown] LP: 4000 Hand: 6』
"I discard White Moray from my hand to Special Summon White Stingray (Lv.4, ATK: 1400)!" a white stingray monster appeared on the shadow's field. "Since a monster with less than fifteen hundred attack points has been summoned onto my field, I can activate Reckless Summon to summon two more copies of it from my deck, while you get the chance to summon two more Crab Crane from yours."
"You're giving me free monsters?" Ricky raised an eyebrow. "Fine then, come forth, Infinitrack Crab Crane (Lv.5, ATK: 2100)!"
Two copies of both the green crane and the white stingray appeared on their respective duelist's field.
"Appear, the circuit of life!" The shadow shouted, summoning a square in the rain above her. "Summoning conditions are two WATER monsters! I set two White Stingray in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Mistar Boy (ATK: 1400, Link-2)!"
A red seastar with an eye and mustache appeared on the shadow's field, dressed in a stylish top hat.
"While Mistar Boy is on the field, all WATER monsters I control gain five hundred extra attack points." the shadow said.
Mistar Boy, ATK: 1400 + 500 → 1900
White Stingray, ATK: 1400 + 500 → 1900
"I Normal Summon the Tuner monster, Royal Swamp Eel (Lv.4, ATK: 1700 + 500 → 2200)!" A large white fish appeared next to the stingray. "Now, I tune the Level Four White Stingray to the Level Four Royal Swamp Eel!"
A bolt of green lightning fell from the sky to the shadow's field and the two monsters turned into identically sized rings made of water with pieces of ice shaped like the number '4' floating next to each ring. The rings overlaid with each other, creating a tunnel of ice with a beam of blue light shooting out of it as the shadow began to chant.
"Great whale slumbering in the abyss, awaken in the deep between life and death! Synchro Summons! Come forth! White Aura Whale (Lv.8, ATK: 2800 + 500 → 3300)!"
"So, you are a Synchro user, huh?" Ricky asked, watching as the shadow's monster, a large white whale, appeared on their field.
"White Aura Whale's effect activates!" The shadow cried. "When this card is Synchro Summoned, I destroy all Attack Position monsters on your field!"
"What?" Ricky's eyes bulged. The whale roared, firing a stream of water toward the boy's monsters, cutting them down, Crab Crane, Earth Slicer, all of them disappeared except for… "River Stormer's effect! While Infinitrack Goliath is attached to it, it can't be destroyed by your cards' effects!"
"It's already over!" the shadow shouted. "White Aura Whale attack River Stormer!"
Charging another attack inside its body, the Synchro unleashed another beam of water that washed the final Xyz Monster away, leaving a clear field.
『Ricky LP: 4000 - 800 → 3200』
"Damn it!" Ricky growled.
"I'm ending this duel now." The shadow took another card from their hand and slid it into their Duel Disk's Graveyard. "I discard Mermail Abyssnereia to activate her effect. I destroy White Aura Whale and give all of its attack power to Mistar Boy."
"No…" Ricky gritted his teeth, knowing what was going to happen.
The white whale's body turned into dust that flew around the Link Monster, changing its color from red to white.
Mistar Boy, ATK: 1900 + 2800 → 4700
"Mistar Boy, finish this!" the shadow pointed at Ricky. The now white star grinned in agreement and flew forward, the water around the area all flying toward it, turning into a spear in the center of which was the Link Monster. Ricky bit his lip and closed his eyes as the attack connected.
『Ricky LP: 3200 - 4700 → 0』
『Winner: Unknown』
The boy collapsed on the ground, defeated. He took deep breaths, one of his hands placed against his stomach, which was bleeding from the attack. He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but this shadow's monster was able to cause real damage outside of LINK VRAINS. Ricky looked up and bit his lip; the shadow was coming toward him. He couldn't even see what was hiding underneath that hood, didn't know if the thing underneath was really a human, or something else.
Then, he saw something that caused his eyes to widen. One of the large cranes that were used to move the metal containers had moved above the shadow, holding one of those containers above them. The shadow, immediately noticing the danger, rolled out of the way as the contained was dropped where they once stood, creating a barrier between Ricky and the creature.
That was his only chance!
Winching in pain, Ricky slowly stood back up and turned around, walking away as fast as the pain running through his body allowed him. The trail of blood began to quickly fade behind him, as the rain washed it away. He didn't even glance back, not when he left the docks, nor when he ran through the city toward the abandoned alley where Dakota's car was waiting for him. He never looked back for the shadow, and the shadow never looked out to find him.
Evan looked at the sea, the large waves slamming into the docks and dispersing into nothingness. Again, and again, in a vain attempt to drown the world. Why was all of this so easy for him, when even the endless sea couldn't achieve that goal? Was he standing above nature? Maybe he was since he was capable of wearing this current body, along with all those other ones…
He was starting to forget at times, which life was this one. He had to look around hard, remind himself of all the differences between this and the other ones. In his place, a normal human would be worried about his sanity, but Evan had long discarded that, along with all the other things that made him human. He was no longer a human, but he also wasn't something above human, actually, he was something lesser, a creature that knows only how to crawl in the darkness, an animal unable to doing anything more than the role nature has appointed him.
"You're back," Evan said, sensing the presence of his apprentice slowly moving closer. "I hope you're not too angry about that container."
"I understand that the boy had to escape." The shadow replied. "But aren't you worried that if we let them go, with their leader now in jail, the chaos they are going to cause later on could affect LINK VRAINS' rating?"
"I'm hoping that this causes the authorities to close down LINK VRAINS for good," Evan told her. "I'm only rebuilding it because it must act as the stage of a very important battle. After that purpose is fulfilled, I'll close it down immediately."
"Yeah…You forgot to tell me that before." The shadow sighed.
"I didn't." Evan didn't forget to tell her, he chose not to.
"The rain is beautiful, isn't it?" the shadow asked. They dropped their hood, messy blue and amber locks of hair covered their head as the rain began to fall on them.
"You'll catch a cold." Evan glanced back at his apprentice. "Let's go home, I'll make you a hot chocolate, and then we can sit down on the sofa and watch some anime together, ok?"
"Is that a promise?" Roxy asked, grinning.
Evan just chuckled, running a hand through the younger girl's wet hair. The two of them looked at each other's eyes and smiled before turning to leave. One hand around smaller shoulders, the two shadows disappeared back into the rains, not as a mentor and apprentice, but as father and daughter.
And that's the last "In-between" Chapter. At least until the end of Season 2. This chapter takes place 1-2 days before Season 2's first episode, and with the reveal, I guess we all know who's going to take center stage during the next chapter, don't we?
As per usual, Evan showed how OP he is even when he's not using his ChronoGear deck, so yeah, the Gear Hunters were rekt pretty easily, BUT this was only their first appearance, so they still aren't as experienced or skilled enough to take on the type of duelists that the Destiny Gears is made of. Now, I could talk about the small details all day, but nothing of what I'm going to say is important, so...
Oh, right! Since this season, I plan to have Evan use different DARK decks to rekt his opponent's if you have suggestions, please leave them in reviews or PMs. The ones that I do have plans for him to use right now are Destiny HERO, Phantom Knights, Predaplants and Ruin and Demise (Even though it's 50% LIGHT). A deck that I definitely won't use however are all other DARK-based decks from Arc-V, because, well, I just don't feel like it. Also, Red-Eyes, I won't touch that one because of its legacy (and because Nighthshroud is done with it.)
Now, a quick thanks to Jalen890 for following this story.
Now onto the reviews, or review:
Insertname: I'll only talk about Queen. The problem I've got right now is that I don't know how to make her important yet. I hope that I give her a more important role in the future, but overall, I'm trying not to mess too much with the canon characters, and when the canon has chosen that Queen should be useless... Yeah, I'm not sure if I'll be able to do anything more with her.
Anyway, that's it. Thanks for reading this chapter, and I hope to see you all next time!
Diabolic Tracer out!