『Opening Season 2』
Playmaker is shown riding his D-Board surrounded by clouds, then he's followed by Soulburner and then Proxy. The three of them fly through the clouds, revealing the new LINK VRAINS. The Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS logo appears with a large clock-gear rotating behind it.
Roxy is shown sitting on a table outside, laughing with Firera. In the background, Kusanagi inside his hotdog stand is handling Yusaku a hotdog while Takeru and Aoi are discussing something. After that Roxy is shown in the Greysons' home shaking her head with Avice, Vermilya and another girl with long orange and red hair while Evan is shouting at Takuma for breaking a computer screen.
A knight in slim green armor and a hooded individual with four arms are shown standing the ruins of Cyberse World with Crusadia Equimax and Orcustrion behind them. The screens zoom into the sky and Proxy flies across several buildings in LINK VRAINS followed by Grand Ranger Serene, Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, and Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon. The buildings explode and PhantomFire flies through the smoke followed by Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer, Mad Phantomus the Time Slayer, and Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox which crash with Proxy's monsters while the two duelists glare at each other.
Ai and Lightning are shown standing on opposite sides followed by Windy and Flame and then Earth and Aqua. The two groups of three Ignis are then shown standing on separate islands as Tardix, Cryogenic Cyberse Dragon and Firera, Firmware Cyberse Dragon fly past them. Tardix pushes her sister away, reverting her back to her Ignis-like form as Ai, Flame, and Aqua fly up and catch her. Firera then turns to face her sister again but instead she sees Proxy grinning as Lighting Windy and Earth fly next to her.
We see a group of Gear Hunters facing off against a group of children in purple suits with helmets on their heads and purple strings that are attached to PhantomFire's fingers, showing that he was the one controlling them. Ricky and Rocketeer are shown crashing with one another in Link VRAINS while Dakota and another person looked from above.
Yusaku opens his eyes and raised his Duel Disk next to his face. He is then surrounded by data and replaced by Playmaker with Ai's purple eye appearing inside the Duel Disk. The image is then engulfed in flames showing PhantomFire mirroring Playmaker with a yellow Ignis eye inside his Duel Disk. It then zooms out to show Playmaker and PhantomFire facing each other as Decode Talker and another Code Talker armed with a scythe crash blades.
Diabolic Phantomus the Link Slayer is shown flying into the sky followed by Exotic Sola the Link Seraph, TurboGear Warrior, NitroGear Warrior, Grand Ranger Serene and a humanoid rock with a canon in place of its right arm. All six of them then move aside to let Transcendent Devil Emperor Satanel – The Absolute Paradox and Transcendent Angel Queen Adriela – The Ultimate Destroyer to fly past them. The eight monsters then regroup once more and the two 'Transcendent' unleashed a spiraling beam of black and white energy.
Finally, Proxy is shown flying through the sky, nodding to Firera after which we see Soulburner with Flame and Playmaker with Ai. The three of them line-up and then fly off together.
The First Shot
He was finally home. After five years of running, surviving, fighting, he was back home. To the place, where his friends waited for his arrival, the place he built alongside them, not to rule as gods, but to simply build, to create new life, to exist in peace and harmony, away from all of the pain and suffering that plagued the world outside this virtual reality.
He was back, but with no one left to greet him. His home was now a bare wasteland, a home to only his memories and regrets. The endless forests built by the Wind Ignis were burned to ashes, the infinite ocean of Aqua was dried out, the large tower they built as a center of their world, was gone, and the six castles it kept bind together as a sign of unity all lied in the ashes, buried along with the rest of the world.
Ai clenched his chest, a jolt of pain running through the deeps of his systems. It was a feeling that he, for all of his knowledge as an Ignis couldn't understand. It was now a defect, a mistake he overlooked during the rebuilding of his code. It was a strange sensation with no scientific explanation behind it. Was that what humans called a 'broken heart'? All those years he spent in the human world, all that time he spent in the territory of their enemy, hiding instead of fighting. A few months. Only if he had allowed himself to be captured by Yusaku a few months earlier, if only he was more trusting of his partner from the beginning and was less lazy, he could have been here, fighting with his friends against whatever enemy attacked them. The destruction of Cyberse was his failing, and Ai realized the full meaning of that, the full extent of this failure.
"Kuri…"
Ai's eyes narrowed at the sound, glancing toward a pile of rubble. The Dark Ignis moved closer, just enough for him to take a glance behind the rubble.
"Kuri…" a Linkuriboh with watery eyes looked up at the Dark Ignis, its eyes momentarily widening. "Kuri! Kuri!"
The small Cyberse monster pulled itself out of the rubble and jumped on top of Ai, rubbing its face against the Ignis. Ai smiled a bit, patting his friend. He felt the pain in his chest being eased by this reunion, but the whispers of his regrets still echoed inside the Ignis' mind.
"There, there," Ai said, patting his friend some more, before sitting back up. "I'm glad you're okay. But who caused all of this?"
"Kuri."
"Linkuriboh… If all you say is 'kurikurilink' I can't understand you!" Ai shouted.
"Kuri! Kuri, Kuri, Kuri!"
"I said that I can't-!" Ai stopped, feeling a chill. It was a feeling that the Ignis had been exposed to often in the past few months, it was a feeling that meant: Danger!
Moving as fast as they could, both Ai and Linkuriboh jumped away, a heavy metal claw landing where they stood less than a moment ago. The Dark Ignis landed on top of the Cyberse monster and looked back at their attacker. At first, it was a single green claw, but after a few moments, the rest of the creature's body began to appear as the camouflage that allowed it to merge with the world was piled off, revealing a large humanoid machine in slim green armor and a black helmet covering its head, with a single red eye glowing ominously as the machine tilted its head and looked at Ai.
"You!" Ai clenched its fist. "Did you destroy my home?"
Instead of giving a response, the green machine raised its left claw and a card made of red data manifested in its claw for a moment before shooting forward, transforming into a large knight. Crusadia Equimax, the machine's monster, stomped the ground with its horse legs, trying to crush the Dark Ignis underneath it.
"Kurilink!" Linkuriboh muttered, flying around the monster's legs, using its own speed to escape the larger monster's assault.
"Quick, Linkuriboh!" Ai cried out.
"Kurikuri!"
Crusadia Equimax roared, taking out its sword, the Link Monster swung it to destroy both the Ignis and Linkuriboh at once. Only this time, instead of trying to dodge, Ai and his friend shot into the sky as a bolt of lightning, disappearing from their destroyed home. Crusadia Equimax growled and lowered its sword before transforming back into a card. The green humanoid took its card back and looked toward the dark sky.
"I failed to capture the Dark Ignis." The humanoid said, speaking to someone who wasn't there, at least not physically. "Understood. I'll see you there."
Kusanagi watched with a smile as one of the nurses led his brother to the railing. After ten years of being locked into that hell, his brother was starting to slowly return back to the world. It was a slow procedure, but Kusanagi was sure that now, with the Knights of Hanoi gone, that would which ate his brother from the inside for so long, could finally begin to heal.
"Recently, he goes outside more." A doctor said. "Since his brother comes to visit, he's heading in a good direction."
"Because the incident that threatened him has ended," Kusanagi responded.
"That info may have calmed him." The doctor agreed.
"I'm also glad for the financial support you lend us." Kusanagi glanced at the person standing behind them, while the doctor walked off to check on his other patients.
"There's no need to thank me, I just did what was humane to do," Evan responded, stepping forward. "I understand how much you wanted to keep your brother out of this place and have him recover at your home, now that there's no longer anyone to endanger him."
"But the people here understand this better than me." Kusanagi finished. "You were right, I think they did more for him than I could."
"I think that you should still go talk to him." Evan looked over to where Jin was. "If you show him moral support - that would help him a lot."
Kusanagi nodded. The two adults watched on the nurse led Jin around and then turned back toward the resort. Kusanagi went and asked if it was ok for him to try and talk with his brother, to which the doctor agreed and instructed the nurse about where to led Jin and Kusanagi. While the two brothers were talking, Evan waited outside, chatting with his sister.
[11: 23: 42 AM] Avice: Are you still at the hospital?
[11: 25: 23 AM] Evan: Yeah, Kusanagi is talking with his brother. I'm waiting outside.
[11: 27: 51 AM] Avice: I see. I and Michiru are still looking at LINK VRAINS for any abnormalities.
[11: 30: 28 AM] Evan: Good. Send Roxy if anything happens.
[11: 31: 14 AM] Avice: Are you sure?
[11: 33: 36 AM] Evan: She's been showing good progress so far. Send her.
Evan closed his phone and leaned back against the wall. He has been waiting long enough, if for three months, Roxy hasn't started to accept her place, then she would have to be terminated. He already backtracked once when he saved her from drowning, gave her a second chance to prove her worth. But if she failed again, her death wouldn't be on his consciousness.
3 months ago
Evan's crimson eyes stared at the body of the young girl that was trashing underwater. He hated her. He hater that will of hers, which was allowing her to fight back against the programming, that will to keep living, to keep fighting for 'good'. He hated how much she reminded him of Elizabeth, of her will, of her ability to keep standing back up after every defeat with an even stronger resolve.
"If you want me so much, then please, kill me, not her!" Avice cried out, grabbing the ends of her brother's jacket. "Please, stop this madness! Punish me, strangle me to death, but let her life!"
Crimson eyes glared down, causing Avice's body to shake in fear. Anger. He felt anger in his every connection to life, to those that walked around him, but Avice? He was beyond hating her. No brotherly feelings were awakened by her words, no hatred burned in his eyes. He felt just the coldness of apathy cooling his soul.
"Don't think I care enough for you to hate you." Was Evan's response. "And don't try to trick me that you care about me either. The only reason you're standing here is because of your sense of duty, because of a sense of guilt, isn't that right? I have news for you, dear sister."
Evan looked back at Roxy. Her body had stopped struggling, bubbles were barely coming out of her mouth. He knelt down at the edge of the docks and reached under the water to grab the girl's body, then tossed it a few feet away on the hard ground. Avice, as caring as she was, crawled over to Roxy, taking the unconscious girl's head in her lap. She pressed her fingers against the side of Roxy's neck, there was still a pulse, albeit faint.
"You have been replaced!" Evan yelled. "I created Roxy as your replacement! You no longer mean anything for me! All I want of you now, is to remember those words every time you look down at her! From where on, she will be in your care. I'll not brainwash her, I'll not rewrite her personality again, nor am I going to delete her memories of today. You will be the one responsible to make her cope with the revelations of her nature, it will be your duty to make her obedient and force her into accepting her role! And if she rebels or tries to turn on me ever again, it's going to be you, who'll kill her! Is that clear?"
Avice ran her fingers through Roxy's wet hair. Her replacement, he said. Did that mean that once Roxy was raised to be the way he wanted, Evan was going to eliminate Avice? Weirdly, that was what she wanted. She wanted to be freed of these chains. She didn't want her guilt over the monster her brother became to keep dragging her along. She looked up toward her brother, her soft green eyes meeting with his crimson ones.
"It is." She finally said. "I'll do it. I'll turn her into the daughter that you don't deserve."
'…the daughter that you don't deserve.' Evan thought back to these words.
"Stop! Stay away from Jin!" Kusanagi's voice shouted from inside the room, returning Evan's focus back to the present.
"Ah, just on time." Evan looked at his phone as Jin's screams began to become audible. He waited for a few seconds until the screaming stopped and then opened the door.
Kusanagi was on the ground, holding his unconscious brother in his arms while some golden figure disappeared inside the TV. Evan waited for a few moments until the golden figure was completely gone and then ran off to get the doctor. He needed to give Bohman a bit of an advantage, knowing that he was most likely going to have to travel on his D-Board all the way to the restricted area, which Playmaker won't be able to follow him through.
The original plan was back on track, babe!
Roxy was in the small gym on the first floor of the Greysons' home, hitting and kicking the punching bag. Her hair was messy and her face was covered in hot sweat that dripped on the cold floor below. Her fist was going numb from her training session, without even the slightest idea on what time it was, or how many hours she had spent in that room. Her mind was focused absolutely and utterly on the punching bag before her; training her body, her focus, and her mind. During those last three months, Evan's training schedule for her has been getting consistently more difficult. Training one's body, one's mind, one's will – she learned the importance of all those three things. In those last three months, she learned just how far she was from everyone else, not just in skills, but in the strength of her will.
At first, she tried to fight against Evan, tried to get away and warn Playmaker – it never worked out. Every attempt to rebel, to run away, was foiled, but to her surprise, she was never punished. She couldn't tell if the Greyson were trying to manipulate her again with kindness, brainwash her into rejoining them, she still couldn't tell what were their true intentions. Yet, she was there. That strength they had, this power to control the fates of thousands, to manipulate events and to destroy all of your enemies without lifting a finger – it was alluring indeed.
It was like uncut diamonds. And Roxy wanted to have it. She wanted to have this type of power because she could see a potential in it. A potential to do more than divide and devastate. To unite, to stop conflicts the only limitation was one's own imagination and intentions!
But that wasn't the time to think about that. A ringing noise, coming from the small alarm on the wall got Roxy's attention. Grabbing her bottle of water and towel that lied on the ground, the young girl ran up the stairs to the second floor, where Avice and Vermilya were already sitting in front of a pair of computers, typing furiously as the eight screens in front of them showed different areas of the new LINK VRAINS.
"Did something finally began to happen?" Roxy asked, walking up to the other girls.
"Evan contacted us – said that some yellow creature attacked Kusanagi's brother at the hospital and then ran into LINK VRAINS," Avice replied.
"They attacked Jin? But why? And how?" Roxy's eyes widened.
"Evan will explain it to you later," Avice responded nonchalantly, scanning through the screens for any suspicious activities. "All I want is for you to stay within arms reach, so you can log-in if we pick up something… strange."
"If this thing attacked Kusanagi's brother, you can be sure that Playmaker's going to be after it as well," Roxy warned.
"We aren't after it, Roxy." Vermilya turned to the girl, narrowing her eyes. "Your job is to follow it and interfere if Playmaker manages to catch up with it."
"Wait, what?"
"If they get away, all of Playmaker's and Kusanagi's attention will be diverted toward this new enemy and they will ignore any of our suspicious activities in LINK VRAINS." Avice explained. "You know the saying: 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' don't you?"
Roxy looked down. She didn't like playing with Playmaker like this, using cowardly tactics to keep him away, but she had come to expect that type of dirty work. Evan did already make it hard for Playmaker to even show his face in LINK VRAINS through his collaboration with SOL Technology and the way he chose to redesign LINK VRAINS. Instead of being a large world with multiple different servers, as the previous LINK VRAINS, this new version was extremely small in comparison with only a few available servers. Publically, the reason for that change in size was that this game was just a beta version and that the smaller size should make maintaining safety easier.
But unofficially, the reason for the smaller size was to make it harder for Playmaker to hide and stay in the shadows of LINK VRAINS. Not just that, but part of the agreement between Evan and Queen for the shared control over the game was that SOL Technology would preserve their rights over the Ignis and had the rights to use any method necessary to obtain them, as long as it didn't place other users in danger. Through this contract, Evan not only gave SOL legal rights over the Ignis, and made the AIs' existence a fact, but was also able to get bounty hunters to keep Playmaker from showing into LINK VRAINS, without being directly tied to the hunt.
Everything about LINK VRAIN was now made to be anti-Playmaker and allow the Destiny Gears to proceed with their plans. Roxy didn't want to imagine what sort of terrors she was going to have to be tied up to next by working with Evan, but she didn't have the strength to try and run away from it anymore.
"There's something on screen six!" Vermilya shouted, averting the other's attention to said screen.
The recording showed a figure, made out of only yellow and orange colors with no facial features, or anything besides a humanoid body structure.
"It does fit with Evan's description of the attacked as being a yellow guy," Avice muttered.
"There are many weird avatars in LINK VRAINS, let's not jump to conclusions based on avatar color." Roxy tried to reason.
"Playmaker is on screen four." Vermilya interrupted, pointing at the screen on the other side from her. "And it seems that he's dealing with… Blood Shepherd and-?! Nevermind he summoned a Data Storm to flush him the way you flush a toilet! Ha!"
And now Roxy was just groaning in irritation - Vermilya was just having fun watching the screens, wasn't she? Avice turned toward Roxy, who responded with a silent nod. Playmaker couldn't just summon a Data Storm whenever he wished, it wasn't a technology that he had, and while the Knights of Hanoi did use that type of power, it was too out of character for Playmaker to research or use that type of technology. The other alternative was that he was an Ignis with him once again, and Roxy could already predict which Ignis it was that he was holding, again.
"Do I get to use Firera for this?" Roxy asked.
"Negative." Avice shook her head. "Firera doesn't like us or working with us. She could compromise the mission if we drop her in without a reassurance that she would follow orders. You will be alone for this one."
Roxy simply had to agree. She put her towel and water bottle on the table before grabbing her Duel Disk, which Avice had kindly prepared in advance. She pulled her deck out of her pocket and inserted it into the Duel Disk.
"Desk, set! Into the VRAINS!"
In the skies above LINK VRAINS, a pair of D-Boards flew through the clouds one after another. The first was piloted by a yellow faceless humanoid, a creature that looked more like a mindless bot controlled from afar than an actual living being. The second one was Playmaker. Despite being called a hero for most of the time he was fighting the Knights of Hanoi, the sight of Playmaker's avatar was now… troubling for most of the users of the new LINK VRAINS. His failure to stop the Tower of Hanoi from destroying LINK VRAINS and killing out several thousand users made most of them see Playmaker in a different light. In the eyes of the general public, he was no longer a superhero that could save everyone. Now, to them, he was just a normal person who had limits, and like everyone else, he too could fail or lose.
But what made his return more troubling, was Playmaker's known behavior. It was common knowledge that Playmaker wasn't a regular user who logged-in because he loved to play the game. No, he came only if there was a danger loaming over LINK VRAINS. And this sudden return meant a lot for many of these users, it meant that something bad was going to happen and like last time, he might not be able to stop it.
The mere glimpse of this former legend caused the seed of doubt, fear, and anger to flourish into the hearts of the users. Anger, because with Playmaker's failure, users began to question why he was fighting against Hanoi in the first place. Why the terrorist would go so far and become more and more aggressive the longer Playmaker remained?
The answer for that question was given to them indirectly when the new LINK VRAINS proclaimed a bounty for Playmaker. According to the bounty's description, he had stolen one-of-a-kind hardware that belonged to SOL Technology. This also explained to most, why back during the last days of the old LINK VRAINS so many Bounty Hunters and Charisma Duelists worked with SOL Technology - trying to defeat Playmaker. From a hero, he became a normal person, to a nuisance, to a criminal who allowed the Knights of Hanoi to kill thousands of people in their aggressive attempts to take the advanced hardware from him.
To those people, Playmaker was the one truly responsible for all those deaths. They said that if it wasn't for Playmaker stealing this hardware, the Knights of Hanoi wouldn't have shown themselves. And the masses didn't really have an argument against this. Fighting SOL Technology, the company that owned LINK VRAINS, for this hardware would have been too dangerous for Hanoi to even try. But Playmaker? A single person? Of course, it was him. His greed was what caused the Knights of Hanoi to feel safe enough to start invading and harming users.
Playmaker is a criminal.
Playmaker is the reason for all these deaths.
Playmaker behind bars when?
And yet, despite those newspaper headlines, despite all the hatred and loathing his image had suffered in the last three months, he was still there.
He was there because he had tried his best.
He was there because he was never again going to let the darkness of the past drag him back down.
He was there because he was Kusanagi's only hope to save Jin.
He was there because he was Playmaker and LINK VRAINS needed its hero once more!
"So, what will you do when you catch up?" Ai asked, sitting on top of Linkuriboh.
"Challenge him to a duel." Playmaker responded. "In the new LINK VRAINS' duel rules, winners can make trades. If I defeat him in a duel, I can take his data."
"So that's how-! Behind you!"
Playmaker reacted quickly to his Ignis' warning, turning back to look behind him. Some sort of black bullet was flying toward him. Scrap that last part, it was right behind him. Playmaker didn't have time to move anywhere as the bullet was ready to bury itself into his back.
And just then, something lunged forward. A loud crank rang through Playmaker's ears as the bullet that was meant for him, hit a black D-Board, position sideways to form a shield. This position remained for only a moment before the duelist riding the black D-Board readjusted his D-Board to fly next to Playmaker. The hero's green eyes became wide as his mind finally proceeded what happened and he recognized the person that just saved him.
"Proxy!"
The BrioGear duelist simply glanced back at Playmaker, flashing him a smile. She was his sidekick, and just like in a superhero comic, when the hero was in danger, it was the sidekick's duty to save him!
"I'll deal with this, you go." Proxy told him.
No more words needed to be exchanged between the two. Playmaker only nodded, flying off to catch up with the yellow humanoid, while his sidekick stood back and watched his back. Proxy sighed, the smile she showed Playmaker dropping into an angry frown as she turned to face the person that tried to shot the Cyberse Duelist. It was a four-handed creature, similar to the one that lunged on her the time she worked with Go Onizuka. A large black cloak covered the remaining of the monster, but even with the cloth in the way, Roxy could still notice the twisted body-structure underneath.
"So, how did you survive the nuking of the last LINK VRAINS?" Proxy asked the creature, only to be met with silence. "You know, you are right, I really don't care about it! Let's just duel!"
"D-u-e-l." the creature repeated, its voice a creepy imitation of Proxy's own voice. "Duel. I duel. We will duel!"
『Proxy LP: 4000 Hand: 4 (VS) Unknown LP: 4000 Hand: 4』
"I take the first turn!" the creature declared, summoning four white cards in front of itself. "I activate Orcustrated Return to send Orcust Knightmare from my hand to the graveyard. Then I Normal Summon Orcust Cymbal Skeleton (Lv.3, ATK: 1200)!"
Proxy frowned as a twisted combination of musical instruments in the appearance of a skeleton appeared on the field. This creature was talking and acting differently from before. It was more… advanced.
"I banish Orcust Knightmare to activate its effect! I send World Legacy - "World Wand" and increase Cymbal Skeleton's attack by eight hundred, one hundred for each of World Wand's levels!" Cymbal Skeleton chuckled creepily, its attack rising to 2000. "I then activate World Legacy - "World Wand" effect to banish it and Special Summon the banished Orcust Knightmare (Lv.7, DEF: 2000)!"
'There's still a Knightmare card in its deck.' Proxy thought. 'Is it still stealing other duelists' decks to supply its own?'
"Appear, the circuit of fallen legends!" the creature threw all four of its arms upward, firing a bolt of black lightning that turned into a large square with arrows at its edges. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two Effect Monsters, including an Orcust monster! I set Knightmare and Cymbal Skeleton in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Galatea, the Orcust Automaton (ATK: 1800, Link-2)!"
A human-sized doll in the shape of a human girl appeared out of the square. The monster landed in the Left Extra Monster Zone, carrying a large scythe in its hands.
"Orcust Cymbal Skeleton's effect! I banish it to revive Orcust Knightmare (Lv.7, DEF: 2000)!" a large monster with the appearance of a woman appeared behind Galatea. "Galatea's effect! I shuffle the banished World Legacy - "World Wand" back into my deck and set Orcustrated Babel in my Field Zone! I then activate the Field Spell that I set, Orcustrated Babel!"
Proxy raised her Duel Disk, the card-text of Babel appearing before her through a hologram.
"Quick-Play, huh?" Proxy raised an eyebrow. "This is the first time I see a card changing the Spell Speed of a Monster Card."
"Appear again, the circuit of fallen legends!" a second square appeared in the sky above the unknown humanoid. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are at least two Effect Monsters, including an Orcust monster! I set the Link TwoGalatea, the Orcust Automaton and Orcust Knightmare in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Longirsu, the Orcust Orchestrator (ATK: 2500, Link-3)!"
The new monster that appeared surprised Proxy a bit because it actually looked like a human. A male to be specific, with long black hair, carrying a large shield in his left arm and a shield in the right.
"I set a card, turn end."
"It seems that you have, in fact, changed your deck." Proxy observed. "But giving up on your strategy of Extra Linking the opponent was stupid. My turn. I draw!"
『Turn 2 [Proxy] LP: 4000 Hand: 5』
"At the start of your turn, I activate my Continuous Trap - Orcustrated Core!" the creature interrupted.
"Tch, that's going to be troublesome. I Normal Summon BrioGear Pale Crawfish (Lv.2, ATK: 700)!" the pale humanoid crawfish appeared on my left side. "I activate Crawfish's effect to add another copy of itself to my hand! Come forth, the circuit of life! Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning requirements is a WATER monster with a Level! I set BrioGear Pale Crawfish in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Link 1, BrioGear Lotaxol (ATK: 600, Link-1)!"
"Orcustrated Core's effect now activates!" the creature interrupted again. "I banish Galatea, the Orcust Automaton from my Graveyard to target Longirsu, the Orcust Orchestrator! For the rest of this turn, neither of us can target it with card effects!"
"Then I won't target it. Simple as that!" Proxy shrugged. "Lataxol's effect activates! Since it was Link Summoned, I can revive Pale Crawfish, and my Crawfish's effect activates again, adding a third copy of itself to my hand."
"Appear again, the circuit of life! Arrowhead confirmed! Summoning condition is one Level Four or lower WATER monster! I set BrioGear Pale Crawfish in the Link Marker! Link Summon! Come out, BrioGear Damsel Fish (ATK: 500, Link-1)!" The young girl in a blue dress appeared behind Lotaxol.
"Damsel Fish' effect activates! When it's Link Summoned, I can add a card that lists oGear from my deck to the hand. The card I choose is this one, Elemental Lords of Gear!"
Elemental Lords of Gear – even though that card was given to her by the Greysons, it became a central part of Proxy's deck. It was more valuable than the Monster Reincarnation, which, in her mind, was still a gift from Elizabeth; Firera, who choose to stand beside her even after the Knights of Hanoi were defeated; its value was higher than even the cards Aqua made for her! It was like a manifestation of her reliance on the siblings, which was why she couldn't just throw the card away, why she put so much focus on it.
"I'll activate Elemental Lords of Gear to the zone that Damsel Fish points toward! Now I'll activate Elemental Lords of Gears! Effect! Once per turn, I can Link Summon using a monster that points at this card as the sole material, and the monster I summon is one Link Rating higher than it!" Proxy explained.
"A Rank-Up card for Link Monsters?" her opponent titled its head slightly to the side.
"Rising tides, unchain the mortal body binding my monster and open the gates of the great ocean through an abysmal sacrifice!" Proxy's chant echoed through the skies as Damsel Fish turned into pure energy and flew through the tunnel. "Link-Up! Aim your restless bow of justice, the huntress hunting the evil plaguing this world! Grand Ranger Serene (ATK: 2100, Link-2)!"
"And now, for the fourth time, appear, the circuit of life!" Proxy shouted, summoning the white frame once more. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are two or more WATER Effect monsters. I set BrioGear Lotaxol and the Link Two, Grand Ranger Serene, in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Three! Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger (ATK: 2300, Link-3)!"
"I'll end this now! Storm Serene's effect activates! When she's Link Summoned, you must choose a number of cards you control, up to the combined Link Rating of the monsters used as Link Materials to summon Storm Serene, and then shuffle them into your deck. Torrential Tune!"
Serene raised her head and hummed a soft tune that caused sparks to fly out of the creature. Proxy's opponent yelled, grabbing its head in pain, but still managing to shout out.
"I banish Orcust Knightmare to activate its effect! I send World Legacy - "World Wand" to the graveyard and increase Storm Serene's attack by eight hundred!"
"Wait, you what?" Proxy's eyes widened. She looked at her ace, the spirit of Knightmare appearing over it, increasing Serene's attack power.
Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, ATK: 2300 + 800 → 3100
"Why did it-" Proxy stopped, shaking her head. It didn't matter! Storm Serene's effect didn't target and the creature had only three cards on its field, so all three of them were forced to disappear by Serene's song.
"Battle!" Proxy declared, pointing at her opponent. "Storm Serene, attack this piece of tech directly! And at this moment, I'm also going to activate the effect of the two Pale Crawfish in my hand. By discarding one of them, Serene will gain six hundred attack points, and with two discarded, she gains twelve hundred attack points!"
Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger, ATK: 3100 + 1200 → 4300
Blue flames surrounded the monster. The gear that held Serene's wings split open and a handle came out. She grabbed the gear and detached the wings from her back, holding them in front of herself. The blades that made her feathers, closed, giving her wings the form of a bow and a string of blue energy connected the two ends.
"Lamenting Arrow!" A blue energy arrowed appeared in Serene's bow as she let go of the string and the projectile flew straight at the creature's face.
"I activate my skill. Orcustated Shuffle!" The creature countered, throwing its four arms to the sides. "I banish Orcust Brass Bombard to Special Summon the banished Galatea, the Orcust Automaton (ATK: 1800, Link-2)!"
"It's pointing at my monster…" Proxy narrowed her eyes, opening a small screen on the side. "Can't be destroyed by battle, huh? I see what you're going for there. Serene, attack Galatea!" The blue archer turned its bow to Galatea and fired its arrow, hitting the Link-2 monster in the shoulder.
『Unknown LP: 4000 – 2500 → 1500』
Proxy looked at the remaining cards in her hand. She could have used her skill to further increase Serene's attack to end the duel right then and there, but she didn't want to. This creature, whatever it was, managed to survive after getting destroyed by Go, and survived the destruction of LINK VRAINS. There was no doubt that it was going to show up again. She had to learn as much as she could about it now, in order to weaponize the knowledge by the time of their next meeting.
"At the end of the turn, Galatea is banished again." the creature stated. "It's my turn now, I draw!"
『Turn 3 [Unknown] LP: 1500 Hand: 2』
"I activate World Legacy Survival! I excavate the top five cards of my deck and add World Legacy – "World Crown" to my hand, then send the other cards to my graveyard." The creature's eyes growled and it pointed forward with three of its arms. "I activate World Legacy - "World Wand" effect to banish it and Special Summon the banished Galatea, the Orcust Automaton (ATK: 1800, Link-2)!"
"Galatea's effect! I shuffle the banished Orcust Cymbal Skeleton back into my deck and set Orcustrated Babel in my Field Zone! I then activate my Field Spell!" the creature continued. "I banish Orcust Harp Horror from my Graveyard to Special Summon Orcust Cymbal Skeleton (Lv.3, ATK: 1200) from my Deck!"
"It immediately restored its field…" Proxy muttered.
"Appear, the circuit of fallen legends!" a second square appeared in the sky above the unknown humanoid. "Arrowheads confirmed! Summoning conditions are at least two Effect Monsters, including an Orcust monster! I set the Link TwoGalatea, the Orcust Automaton and Orcust Cymbal Skeleton in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Longirsu, the Orcust Orchestrator (ATK: 2500, Link-3)!"
The Link-3 Orcust monster appeared in front of Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger. Both monsters were linked to each other and their eyes locked into each other as both waited to see which one was going to make the first move.
"I activate Longirsu's effect! I shuffle World Legacy - "World Wand" and Orcust Harp Horror back into my deck to send Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger to the graveyard!" Longirsu swung its spear and pierced Serene's chest, destroying the monster.
"My ace!" Proxy cried out.
"Longirsu can't attack the turn it used its effect, but that won't matter! I Normal Summon Orcust Brass Bombard (Lv.1, ATK: 500)." The creature continued. "Appear again, the circuit of fallen legends! Summoning conditions are at least two Effect Monsters, including an Orcust monster! I set the Link ThreeLongirsu, the Orcust Orchestrator andOrcust Brass Bombard in the Link Markers! Link Summon! Link Four, Orcustrion (ATK: 3000, Link-4)!
"A Link Four monster too? You aren't holding back anything, are you?" Proxy looked at the large machine flying behind her.
"Orcust Cymbal Skeleton's effect! I banish it to revive Longirsu, the Orcust Orchestrator (ATK: 2500, Link-3)!" The Link-3 Orcust appeared once more, swinging its spear. "I will quickly Special Summon World Legacy – "World Crown" (Lv.6, DEF: 2000) to the zone Orcustion's arrow points to, and then I'm going to Xyz Summon!"
"With only one Level Six?" Proxy frowned. "I'm smelling a gimmick."
"The monster I'm going to Xyz Summon can be summoned by using an Orcust Link Monster as the sole material!" the creature shouted. "I overlay Longirsu, the Orcust Orchestrator! With this single monster, I build the Overlay Network!"
A large blue circuit in the shape of an 'X' with a red circle in the center appeared behind the creature. The circuit began to glow and Longirsu turned into data that entered the center of the circuit as four beams of energy shot from the edges and past the Orcust Duelist, manipulating space itself to open the gate toward a new galaxy!
"The legendary hero lost from the pages of history! Let your pitch black sorrow turn into the beating metal heart of your strongest weapon! Xyz Summon! The hero who annihilates! Dingirsu, the Orcust of the Evening Star (RANK: 8, ATK: 2100)!"
A machine, a knight made of iron riding its metal horse appeared from the Xyz portal. Its mere size making Proxy's mouth to drop open. The creature was six times larger thanOrcustrion, who was already the size of a two-story building.
"Dingirsu's effect activates! I attachOrcust Knightmare to itself!" the creature stated. "Battle now! Orcustrion attack the enemy directly!" Orcustrion roared and fired eight black beams at the girl.
"I activate BrioGear Bubble Sea's effect from my hand! By discarding it and BrioGear BrioGear Madoor I reduce the damage I would take from this attack by... three and twelve… Forty-two hundred Life Points!" the two monsters appeared in front of Proxy, materializing a large barrier of bubbles that took Orcustrion's attack.
"Then, I'll attack you with Dingirsu!" the creature responded.
The large metal knight looked down at Proxy for a moment and swung its spear. Its size and speed were enough to create a strong wind slash that slashed at Proxy's chest. The BrioGear duelist flinched but didn't act.
『Proxy LP: 4000 – 2100 → 1900』
At the end of the turn, the second part of Bubble Sea's could be activated, but Proxy had only a single monster left in her Extra Deck and to summon it she had to refrain from using Bubble Sea's ability.
"This is the end for you." The creature stated. "Dingirsu's effect can protect my cards from destruction by detaching one Xyz Material. Even if you summon a monster more powerful than mine, World Legacy – "World Crown" will destroy it and with four of your five Extra Deck monsters already in the graveyard, this duel is over!"
"You aren't saying it because you plan to show me mercy, are you?" Proxy looked back at her enemy. "But since I'm going to die anyway, it won't be a problem for you to tell me why you're suddenly trying to shot Playmaker, will it?"
"You really think that I don't know there are people listening to this conversation right now?" the creature asked back.
"Tch, you got me."
Proxy turned toward Playmaker's direction next. A Data Storm materialized from the sky and engulfed the Cyberse Duelist, which meant that he was going to end his own duel on that turn.
"Well, I've got to stop Playmaker from recovering that data, so mind if I end our duel here?" Proxy asked.
"I won't let you run away." The creature hissed.
"Oh, I didn't expect you to allow that." Proxy smirked. "What I meant is: I'm going to win this turn! I draw!"
『Turn 4 [Proxy] LP: 1900 Hand: 3』
"I activate Monster Reincarnation! By discarding Salvage from my hand, I can use this card to bring BrioGear Bubble Sea back to my hand!" Proxy said, taking her monster card and placing it back into her hand.
"Why would you discard Salvage when it's the more useful card in your situation?" the creature looked at its opponent cautiously.
"Because, when I have no monsters on my field and only two or less cards in my hand, I can use this card properly! I activate the Spell Card, BrioGear Fusion!" Proxy's card appeared on the field in front of her surrounded by blue flames that shot upward and then flew straight down into a black portal.
BrioGear Fusion (Spell) Normal
Fusion Summon 1 WATER Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monster from your hand and or/ field as Fusion Materials. If you control no monsters in the Extra Monster Zone and have 2 or less cards in your hand, you can also use Link Monsters from your GY as Fusion Materials by shuffling them into the Deck. You can only activate 1 "BrioGear Fusion" per turn.
"Because I got no monsters in the Extra Monster Zone and less than two cards in my hand, I can unlock the true power of BrioGear Fusion and use the Link Monsters in my Graveyard as materials!" Proxy raised her hand upward.
The blue flames disappeared and in an instant, BrioGear Lotaxol, BrioGear Damsel Fish, Grand Ranger Serene, and Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger raised from the portal, each of them turning into data of different color before all four combined into a single blue whirlwind in front of Proxy.
"The hunters gather to stand before her mighty ax! By your blood, the chains have been broke! The daughter of the berserk demon king raises from the deeps of the world ocean! Fusion Summon! The embodiment of my frozen soul! Fatal Serene the Fusion Ranger!"
The blue whirlwind in front of Proxy transformed into a large wolf of blue flames and then exploded, transforming into a tall monster clad in dark purple armor. The monster wore a helmet in the shape of a wolf with crimson eyes, and pair of blue demon horns fixed on the sides, while long black hair tied to look like a tail flow out of the back of the helmet. The rest of her body was covered in large armor plates with large shoulders and black fur covering the joins and the openings between the armor's plates. Her arms ended with large gloves that resembled claws with broken chains hanging from their wrists. Inside her left hand was the monster's weapon, a single-handed double-bladed ax.
Fatal Serene the Fusion Ranger
Level: 8/Attribute: WATER/Type: Fiend/Fusion/Effect
ATK: 2700 DEF: 1800
"Grand Ranger Serene" + 1+ Link Monsters
Effect: When this card is Fusion Summoned: You can place Ice Counters on face-up cards, equal to the total Link Rating of the materials used for this card's Fusion Summon, and if you do, until the end of the next turn, all cards with Ice Counters on them have their effects negated. If this card is the only monster you control, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to this effect's activation. This card gains 300 ATK for every Ice Counter on the field. If this card battles a monster with an Ice Counter, halve that monster's ATK during the Damage Step only.
"I activate Fatal Serene's effect! When she's Fusion Summoned, I can place one Ice Counter on your cards for every Link Rating my Fusion Materials had! I choose to place these counters on every single card you control! Furious Winter!"
"I won't let you!" the creature growled. "I activate the effect of World Legacy – "World Crown" to negate your Fusion's effect and destroy it!"
"Sorry, but since I control no other monsters, you can't activate effects in response to Fatal Serene's effect!" Proxy smirked.
The large crown glowed for just a moment before its color began to fade and strong foster wind hit all of the four-armed creature's monsters, covering them in a layer of unbreakable ice.
"Because of Fatal Serene's effect, all of your cards with Ice Counters have their effects negated until the end of your next turn and Fatal Serene gains three hundred attack points for every Ice Counter present!" Fatal Serene growled and raised her ax, a powerful blue flame engulfing its blades.
Fatal Serene the Fusion Ranger, ATK: 2700 + 7*300 → 4800
"Battle! Fatal Serene, attack Orcustrion! At this moment, Fatal Serene's other effect activates! Since she battles a monster with an Ice Counter on it, I can halve that monster's attack! Frost Tempest!"
Orcustrion's eyes stopped glowing, reduced to a pair of black dots. Its ice-covered metal body began to crack apart, further weakening it.
Orcustrion, ATK: 3000 / 2 → 1500
The duel was over. The handle of Fatal Serene's ax expanded, turning it into a double-handed ax and the metal rod split apart near the two blades split open with electricity running through it. The fiend roared, raising her weapon over her head.
"Split Void Swing!" Charging the electricity in her weapon, Serene swung her ax, unleashing a blue electric beam that cut the opposing Link Monster in half and incinerated the four-armed creature that controlled it.
『Unknown LP: 1500 – 3300 → 0』
『Winner: Proxy』
Proxy looked at the general direction of where the creature was, making sure that it was gone, before turning back to Playmaker. She did so just in time to see a tall humanoid-like monster clad in blue armor that looked similar to Grand Ranger Serene, and Storm Serene the BrioGear Ranger's armors, fire an arrow into the shoulder of Playmaker's opponent, knocking him off his D-Board and toward the forest area below. How great, just what she had to prevent from happening was happening.
Turning her D-Board, Proxy flew after Playmaker. But she was too far away to stop the Cyberse Duelist, who had already landed on the ground and was standing over his defeated opponent. She even saw a large black monstrosity that had to be Ai jump out of Playmaker's Duel Disk, when a beeping in her Duel Disk caused her to stop.
"Don't engage directly!" Avice's voice came out of Proxy's Duel Disk.
"How am I supposed to stop him then?" Proxy looked at her Duel Disk, then toward Playmaker.
"You can't. Retread and regroup, we will think about this-"
"Wait! Something's happening!"
Ai's giant body began to glitch and it retreated back into Playmaker's Duel Disk. Immediately after that happened, she was a third person, a young blond boy, who jumped down and grabbed the man that Playmaker defeated before flying off.
"It seems that backup has arrived," Avice noted.
"Should I pursue?" Proxy asked.
"Negative. They seem to care about that data and it's unlikely for them to risk it with another duel. We already have a lot of information to process, so return home."
Proxy sighed. She didn't like leaving things half done, nor did she like the idea of disappearing just after she and Playmaker reunited, but she was given her orders and had to either comply with them or be forced into complying by that command word. But she was curious what was going to happen now that Playmaker was once more in LINK VRAINS. All she hoped for was to be given a few more days to be his friend, his sidekick.
That was all she could ask for - just some extra time to cope with her inevitable destiny.
Skills:
Orcustated Shuffle: Banish 1 "Orcust" monster from your hand to Special Summon 1 of your banished "Orcust" Link Monster, but banish it during the End Phase.
A/N: And so, after a long, long time, I finally updated! Seriously, I had written half of this chapter about a month ago, but it wasn't until I heard the news that VRAINS is ending in four weeks that I got the motivation to finish this chapter.
So, does anyone remember these strange data creatures that appeared every once in a while, in this story before? You all thought that they were just filler but HAHA, they were not! As my original ending for S1 probably suggested, Destiny Gears is going to derail from what happened in Canon. This will be especially clear during S3, but that's neither here nor there...
Also, I'm proud of Proxy finally getting her first evolution of "Serene" that's a different summoning type! To give you a little trivia about the lore behind this monster: "Fatal Serene the Fusion Ranger" is, as mentioned in her summoning chant, the daughter of "Diabolic Phantomus the Fusion Slayer", or to those who read my Arc-V story "Berserk Phantomus the Fusion Slayer".
That said, thanks to PhantomCross19 for favoriting this story and thanks to catyscitty for following.
Now to the reviews. Thanks to SakushiRyu for his suggestions about Evan's decks.
Insertname: Just to point out, but like Evan prefers using decks of his attribute, the other Destiny Gears do to, so "White" is a WATER deck, therefore, a WATER user. Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule, such as Picaro using a deck of random cards when he dueled Playmaker the first time, but he's a bad influence either way.
The only thing I have to say about the decks you suggest is... Does Infernity Link Turbo exist? Because I know that there's Infernity Synchro Turbo and Infernity Xyz Turbo, but the only times I saw anything connecting Infernity with Link were FTKs with that one dragon that people kept mistaking for Yusaku's ace that then turned into the first real Link-5, which I'm not going to acknowledge either.
-[The Comment above was written by the "Chad Code Talkers" gang]-
And that's all for today folks! Thanks to everyone for reading this and I will see you next time!
Diabolic Tracer out!