Chapter 2: Mammon's Court

"Master Revolver are you sure it's wise to trust Mammon?" In a hidden corner of the digital world two people debated the loyalty of their most trusted affiliate. The one who was currently talking had grey hair, light blue eyes and wore a white suit along with white shoes.

"Yes, Spectre, he's never failed us before and I don't see any reason why he won't be able to assist us in our quest." Revolver had tanned skill, yellow eyes, and black hair highlighted with orange and red. He wore a mask made of yellow glass and a white casing with four white dots centred on his forehead. His clothes were, a white jumpsuit, trench coat, gloves, and black boots.

"But Sir, he could double cross us at any moment!" Spectre said.

"There are three reasons why he won't do that Spectre. One: He holds the cyber world responsible for the current condition of the only person he ever held dear, his sister who's comatose in hospital. Two: We are his main benefactor that provide him with the very money he needs to help improve his sister's condition, he's a logical person so he knows better than to betray us. Three: As pre mentioned his record with us is 100% I've got no concerns that he will fail."

Spectre was still unsure but decided against further questioning "Alright sir if you trust him then I've got no qualms."

Sateriasis still hadn't left the side of the hospital bed that contained his unconscious sister, he passed the time talking aloud in the hope that she would hear him and singing his personal favourite song.

"If I want to see all of my deep desires come true then swing yes, I must with my hammer of unjust for you…" He sung softly, hugging his sister's body with the upmost care he could.

His eyes went down to the envelope that was currently sat on his lap, "I'll leave this with you, my employer's been very generous in allowing to take the payment now." Sateriasis stood up and left the envelope on his chair "I have to leave now it's getting late, don't worry I'll be back again tomorrow." He slowly left the room with an evident look of sadness plastered on his face.

He continued out to the foyer not making eye contact nor speaking to anyone that he happened to come across.

(The next day)

Sateriasis sat in the dark behind his desk with only the computer illuminating the room. On the screen was a flowing stream of code that was indecipherable to the untrained eye. As Sateriasis continued the code began to warp more and more before finally becoming fully corrupted, potentially devastating virus. He then copied the code onto his disk, deleting any remnants of it from his computer.

"That's the last time I ever do that…" Sateriasis promptly collapsed passed out from prolonged periods without sleep.

*Beep!* *Beep!*

"Jesus Christ!" Sateriasis had been asleep for roughly 3.8 seconds when his alarm clock startled him awake.

"I'll sleep it off in class, hopefully no one will notice." He muttered groggily whilst getting dressed.

True to his word as soon as Sateriasis made contact with his seat he buckled over totally down for the count and come hell or high water it would take a mammoth effort to wake him.

Sat not too far away from the sleeping Sateriasis, Naoki was watching what appeared to be a live broadcast from Link VRAINS, right beside Naoki was Yusaku who was on the verge of sleep himself only to be halted from doing so by Naoki's obsessive fanboying.

"Hey! Hey! Did you watch Playmaker's duel against that Knight of Hanoi?!"

"No." Yusaku said bluntly.

"And you call yourself a duelist." Yusaku didn't reply leading Naoki to continue.

"I was there watching! It was really inspiring! Playmaker's so cool!" Naoki said this loud enough to slightly stir the virtually dead to the world Sateriasis, enough for him to mutter "Shut up you twat…"

Then Naoki noticed something missing from Yusaku's person "Where's your disk?"

"I left at home. It is house sitting." Yusaku said dismissively.

"Do they have house sitting functions?" Naoki wondered aloud "Anyways, I keep watching live footage of link VRAINS so that I can't miss when Playmaker shows u-" Nakoi's sudden pause caught Yusaku's attention.

"That's Hanoi!" Naoki shouted at nearly full capacity, almost like a foghorn, making Sateriasis' face cringe.

"What is it? I was just explaining the tower of Hanoi…" The teacher said, unsure of what had caused Naoki's outburst.

"Hanoi! It's a knight of Hanoi!" He held out his tablet and sure enough riding a D-board was the Knight of Hanoi in question issuing his challenge to Playmaker.

"Look!" He went to show it to Yusaku but he had vanished without a trace leaving Naoki talking to himself. Everyone else was either in a state of confusion or shock, so they too didn't see Yusaku depart.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" Naoki spied Sateriasis nearby and went to tell him about the Knight. "Hey Marlon…" He shook Sateriasis who in turn muttered again, now half-awake "Get off me…" Naoki didn't get the idea and shook him again fully awaking the sleeping beast.

"What is it?!" Sateriasis said displeased his formerly peaceful sleep had been disrupted.

Naoki then showed Sateriasis his tablet, the hunter's face turned quickly from one of intense anger into one of intense thought. "It's one of the Knights of Hanoi, Y'know the group I told you about the other day."

'Something about this just doesn't sit right…' Sateriasis brought a finger to his chin 'If this is a proper knight Revolver evidently doesn't trust me but I know for a fact that he does, so that only leaves the possibility that this is an imposter.'

"So what do you think?" Naokki asked earnestly.

"I think it's best if you just observe and not make any rash judgments." Sateriasis switched the screen on his own tablet to that of live footage of Link VRAINS

As soon as he had tuned in to watch, he gazed upon the two individuals and let out a small inward laugh, one of them was indeed Playmaker but the other one was a bulky male that Sateriasis knew all too well 'Go Onizuka, I wonder who gave you that disguise.'

He had joined just before Go started his turn, Go began by summoning two of his Gouki monsters, Suprex and Twistcobra to the field before passing his turn.

'You've got no chance if you think that outdated mess of a plan holds any water.' Sateriasis thought, mocking Go's style of dueling harshly.

Playmaker took his turn and summoned a new monster, Linkslayer, to go alongside Cyberse Wizard. He uses the latter's effect and targeted Gouki Suprex with it, changing it to defence mode and giving all Cyberse-type monsters piercing effect, at the cost of only being able to attack Gouki Suprex.

Playmaker used Linkslayer to attack Suprex and sliced Go's LP in half with a single attack Impressing the hunter greatly.

'You astound me more and more Playmaker. I look forward to testing myself against you.'

After several seconds of silence where all that could be heard was the rush of the wind, Go activated his Skill, Fighting Spirit, reviving all destroyed Gouki monsters. He then proceeded with starting his turn and summoned a third Gouki monster, Riscorpio. He then used the three he'd gathered monsters to Link summon his ace monster: Gouki the Great Ogre.

'People say they sometimes see themselves in their monsters, I concur, Go fits that profile.'

The effects of Gouki monsters sent to the graveyard then activated, allowing Go add three new Gouki cards from his deck to his hand. He used them right away to power up his Great Ogre's ATK up to 5700 and gather two monsters, Twistcobra and Headbatt.

'You're in trouble Playmaker, one wrong move and you're done for, show me why Revolver deems you a threat!'

Since the ATK of Playmaker's monsters dropped by a huge amount thanks to the effect of Great Ogre, it seemed as he was going to lose with one hit, but Playmaker activated his Trap Card, Cyberse Shutter which nullified the gained boost thanks to Headbatt.

'Misplay! Game Over!' Sateriasis became certain that Playmaker was about to meet his end in Go's next turn if he didn't make a miraculous comeback.

However before Playmaker could start his turn, an emergency exit appeared. 'What the hell?!' Sateriasis shouted in his mind, he cursed the person that created the exit and expected his target to slip away but much to his shock as well the others watching the duel, Playmaker ignored the doorway out.

"There are three reasons why I'm continuing with this duel!" Playmaker exclaimed beginning his explanation.

'Three reasons…Just like Revolver does…Just like Gumina did.' Sateriasis' usually calculated, emotionless demeanor faltered as he began to think of his two closest relationships, Revolver was probably the only person he was even relatively cordial with more so than Allen and his dear sister Gumina the one he fought for.

After making his explanation, Playmaker used something that Sateriasis was unware that he had, Playmaker's skill, Storm Access allowing him to access a never before seen link monster when his life points went below the 1000 mark. 'Using the opponent's strength to your advantage, you're crafty Playmaker, I'll make sure to look out for that.'

During his next turn and after consecutive Link Summons, he gathered the winning team for today's Duel. Using Link Bumper's effect, he made Decode Talker attack consecutive time while Honeybot protected his monsters. After destroyed Gouki the Great Ogre, thanks to the effect of Cyberse Annihilation, he inflicted 2600 damage to Go wiping away the latter's LP.

'Playmaker…You were involved in that incident as well…' Sateriasis switched his tablet off as Nakoi went to speak to him.

"Did you watch the duel?" Naoki didn't even wait for Sateriasis to answer before opening his mouth again "That's why Playmaker is so cool! Even when pinned in a corner he wins! It's just incredible!"

"As a matter of fact I did watch it and I admit it was an impressive comeback." Sateriasis said rather dismissively of the whole situation. While watching the duel had provided valuable information about how Playmaker dueled, he wasn't the least bit interested in discussing it with Naoki whom he was already mentally labelling a fanboy.

"Come on show a bit of enthusiasm, you're almost as bad Fujiki!"

"Fujiki?" Sateriasis inquired.

"You don't know him?" Sateriasis nodded.

"How?! He practically sits right next to you!" Naoki said surprised at Sateriasis' obliviousness

"Guess I didn't notice him." Sateriasis shrugged with a blasé tone.

"Anyway…" Naoki shifted the topic "Don't forget to come to duel club today!"

Sateriasis groaned, before dismissively waving Naoki off with his right hand "Yeah, yeah I won't." However in his disdain for the situation, he let something slip. Something Naoki noticed immediately.

"What's that?" Naoki pointed towards something blue imprinted on Sateriasis' palm.

Alarmed, Sateriasis shoved the hand in his pocket "Nothing!"

"Really? It sure looked like something." Naoki inquired, not letting the uncomfortable Sateriasis shut down the conversation.

"Yes! Can't you mind your own damn business?!" Sateriasis' discomfort turned to outright ire.

"Sorry. I was just curious that's all." Naoki relented causing Sateriasis to recompose himself.

"That's fine, just don't mention it again." Once he was certain Naoki wasn't going to bother him, Sateriasis took his right hand out again, hiding it so no one else could see. He sat there the rest of the time until duel club, just thinking.

By the time he had arrived all the other members of the club were there. Naoki and Aoi were the only two with whom he'd any form of contact with. The one who approached had glasses and black hair swept to the right, "Are you here to join?" He asked hopefully.

"I am indeed. I'm freshman Sateriasis Marlon." Sateriasis said bowing, making sure as hell no one else noticed his mark.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Hosoda, Club president." Hosoda said, happy for the new member.

"I'm Tanaka, second-year," a short boy with red hair pulled back into a ponytail said.

"I'm also second year. Sato," a boy even fatter than Naoki with slicked back teal hair and spectacles said.

"I'm freshman Suzuki," a tall boy with brown hair in a bowl cut said.

"I'm freshman Zaizen," Aoi said as if she'd not spoken to Sateriasis the other day. Granted he'd said roughly four words to her so it was probably safe to assume that she'd thought he'd forgotten her name.

"Anyone see Playmaker's duel today? Or yesterday?" Naoki said embracing his fanboy side again.

"Yeah. He did a really good in his comeback against Go and the monster he summoned to defeat that knight of Hanoi was really cool!" Sato said "What was its name again?"

"Decode Talker." Aoi answered bluntly.

"Playmaker really stepped up his game, that monster's so cool and powerful!" Naoki said with stars in his eyes "It might even be stronger than Mammon's ace!"

'Only over my dead body is that card stronger than Corruption Dragon.' Sateriasis thought secretly seething with rage at Nakoi even suggesting that any card was stronger than Corruption Dragon.

"I don't believe your taking all of Corruption Dragon's effects into account." Aoi said.

"Well, which one do you think is better president?" Naoki asked.

"Both of them have very similar effects and are on a similar power level, so it's hard to decide which one is stronger." Hosoda said.

"I have to agree with Shima on this one." Sato said.

"Me too, Decode Talker just looks better." Tanaka added much to the growing annoyance of Sateriasis 'Looks better? You idiot, since when were the best cards in particular the most powerful.'

"I disagree, Corruption Dragon is the more potent of the two." Suzuki's comment made the hunter smirk slightly.

"It's just you two now, Zaizen and Marlon which do you think is the better card?"

Sateriasis spoke first "Personally I haven't seen Corruption Dragon and have only briefly seen Decode Talker, so I'm not really in a position to comment on which one is the most powerful."

"Zaizen?"

"It's hard to pick since they both have their pros and cons. Decode Talker can only gain attack if there is a monster linked to it, if there isn't it remains a 2300 attack point monster. On the other hand Corruption Dragon starts off slightly stronger but just like Decode Talker it requires the presence of another monster to unleash its full power." Aoi explained all the while looking at Sateriasis who was giving off a strange aura.

If she was to believe his words then he was just another ordinary person, however she felt something unsettling about him, like there was another side to him he was hiding.

"I'd say it would be a tie if they were to battle."

"Then that makes it 3 to 1. Decode Talker wins!" Hosoda declared. "Now if we're done comparing cards let's start with the meeting."

A few minutes later Aoi approached Sateriasis who was sitting by himself staring at the roof.

"Ahem…" Clearing her throat to catch his attention "I was just wondering Marlon if you could tell me about your deck?"

She expected him to be very uptight and defensive and to a certain extent he was "Why? I mean I don't see any issue with it, I'm just wondering why you're interested in it."

"Just curious."

"Fine." Sateriasis reached into his right jacket pocket and slid out a deck, handing it over to Aoi "The deck's a family heirloom, it's been passed down from father to son." Sateriasis equivocated, this deck was a fake but the real one was a hand-me-down.

The deck while it was fake, certainly was not weak or poorly built, after years of scavenging for deals and 'shrewd business' Sateriasis had amassed a collection of powerful cards.

"Hey! What are you two doing?" Naoki asked leaning over Sateriasis' shoulder, intruding on the half conversation half interrogation. His eyes widened when he saw some of the dummy deck's cards.

"Where'd you get those?!" He swiped it from Aoi and fanned it out.

"For your consideration, my father owned these cards when he was around, upon his passing they were transferred into my possession."

"Your father must've been some big shot at SOL or something because these cards are amazing." Naoki said in growing amazement at every card he saw pass.

Suddenly Aoi gasped catching both of the boys' attention, "Any reason why you did that?" Sateriasis asked.

"Sorry, I just remembered something…" She apologized. 'I need to ask brother for conformation.'

"Time to test my might." Sateriasis muttered as he made the final preparations for the up and coming bout against his target. 'Everything has to go smoothly, let's see…' Sateriasis went through his mental checklist 'D-Board…Check, deck…Check, now all that's left is to issue the challenge.' Sateriasis' face transformed into the crazed look of Mammon 'And I know just how to do it…'

Mammon surfed on his own D-Board that had been gifted to him as a reward for previous jobs. It was effectively the same as the ones used by the Knights of Hanoi that was white, had purple gems and a green semi-circle.

"You rolling?" He asked the petrified pigeon which flew beside him, who gulped and nodded "Great! Playmaker, the time has come for us to duel!"

The people outside of VRAINS gathered in the city centre, around the screens in a mixture of disbelief and anticipation.

"I know you'll be hesitant to face me but I've got news for you!" People began to murmur about what Mammon meant by this.

"Currently in my possession is a virus of my own making and if you don't show yourself I'll release it upon the entire system, corrupting it in a matter of seconds!" This stunning revelation shocked everyone in the surrounding area excluding the person who this threat was directed to, who watched on alongside Shoichi.

"Yusaku, he means business." Shoichi commented as Mammon began to issue the final part of his challenge speech.

"Now the choice is up to you Playmaker, either you face me in the field of battle or you run with your tail between your legs and allow all of Link VRAINS to be destroyed! You've got three minutes to decide! Now make your choice!"

"The infamous Mammon has issued one hell of a challenge to Playmaker!" The MC announced to the crowd who were still recovering from the shock. "If he fails to show then all of link VRAINS will fall victim to Mammon's deadly virus!"

"Come on Playmaker!" Someone from the crowd shouted in the hope the hero would hear the cry.

The cry was picked up by someone else and pretty soon almost everyone was chanting "Playmaker!" Everyone except the black haired acquaintance of Sateriasis who was busy mumbling into his hand. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Back in VRAINS Mammon continued wait whilst getting his feet re accustomed to the D-Board, spending too much time doing master duels had left him rusty. 'Playmaker, I know you can't hear my thoughts but I really wish you show up, I need to talk to you about that incident.' Feeling comfortable enough in his grip Mammon jumped to the nearest building and glided in as the time limit he'd set continued to dwindle

It was then with less than a minute left, a portal appeared and out of it, Playmaker landed, on the same building with a look of steely determination and undaunted mettle.

"The hero of VRAINS finally shows!" Mammon wouldn't dare let his true emotions be known and continued to camouflage himself behind the mask of insanity. "I take it that you're here to duel."

"Yes I accept your challenge." Playmaker said coolly "Stop your virus."

"Say no more…" Mammon deactivated the virus much to the salvation of Playmaker's AI.

'Oh thank you Playmaker! I thought for sure I was done for! Now let's beat this lunatic!' The Ai's over bloated statement caused Mammon to turn his attention to the eye.

"If it isn't the Ai that's got everyone whipped into a frenzy," Mammon said smirking "Revolver would be most pleased if I not only destroy Playmaker but also retrieve you."

The eye cowered in fear and retreated deep into Playmaker's disk 'He is with Hanoi.' Playmaker now became even more determined to defeat the crazed Mammon.

"Now if there's no issues…" Mammon lifted off from the building, touching down on his board hard "Let's begin!" Playmaker's board came into position behind Mammon's and he too landed on his board beginning the Speed duel.

Watching on with interest was Revolver who was flanked by Spectre to his left, to his right was is a tall man, who had fair skin. He had black and grey hair and mustache, and yellow eyes. He wore a white coat with red outlines, a dark undershirt with red stripe, some black trousers and a pair of brown shoes.

"Time to see just how strong Playmaker really is…" Revolver commented.

Mammon: 4000 LP Playmaker: 4000 LP Cards x4

Turn 1

"He who strikes first wins!" Mammon took the first turn as his hand appeared before him, he mapped out the multiple possibilities mentally "To begin I set one monster facedown and place another card one facedown in the Spell/Trap zone, that'll be all for now." The timidity of the hunter's first turn came as a surprise to many of the people watching. But his associates knew his plan well.

"He's using that strategy." Allen commented with a grin to rival Mammon's.

Revolver too recognised the true power of the seemingly weak opening move "Welcome to Mammon's court, Playmaker."

Mammon's cards x2

Turn 2

"My turn, I draw! To start I summon Cyberse Wizard!" A young man in a cybernetic wizard outfit appeared.

Cyberse Wizard: LVL 4, LIGHT, CYBERSE (1800/800)

"You seem to have an affinity for that monster the amount of times you've used it." Playmaker played no heed to Mammon's remark as he continued on with his turn.

"Since there's no main phase 2 I'll place one card facedown then I attack your facedown monster with Cyberse Wizard!" The wizard charged at the facedown monster, flipping it face up, showing it to be a demented green imp that had black markings all over its body.

"The monster you just destroyed was the level 4 Corruption Ritual Imp! When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, the monster that vanquished it loses 1000 attack points." Out of the purple vortex CRI materialised and latched onto the back Cyberse Wizard, visibly draining the monster's power.

Wizard's ATK: 1800 – 800

"At the end of your turn I activate my continuous trap Endless Corruption!" The card depicted CRI falling into a pit while in the background Corruption Dragon could be seen lying in wait. "At the end of a turn where a monster of mine was destroyed by battle I can add one monster from my deck to hand that has the same level as the destroyed one." He choose his card quickly as it became his turn.

Playmaker's Cards x2

Turn 3

"I draw! I summon Paladin of Corruption." The half pure knight gave a quick slash as he came into position.

Paladin of Corruption Level 4, FIEND, Dark (1600/1200)

"Now I activate his effect! By sending one card in my hand to the graveyard I can deal you damage equal to half my monster's attack points!" Mammon turned as Paladin of Corruption's sword began to charge with black energy "In layman's terms that's 800 points of damage!" Playmaker was struck violently by Paladin, nearly knocking him off his board.

Playmaker's LP: 4000 – 3200

"Unfortunately this card can't attack the turn it activates this effect but that means nothing! Since there's a corruption monster on my field that has 2000 or less attack points I can summon Corruption Gear."

Corruption gear Level 2, FIEND, Dark (0/1000)

"Appear the corrupted circuit that destroys all. Arrowheads confirmed, the summoning conditions are two level 4 or lower Corruption monsters, I set Paladin of Corruption and Corruption Gear in the link markers. Circuit combine! Link 2! Corruption Necromancer!"

Corruption Necromancer was a cloaked figure that seemed to be chanting something under its breath, it held a black book that had multiple symbols on it. Underneath the cloak it also had unnatural glowing red eyes.

Corruption Necromancer, Link 2, FIEND, DARK (1600) Markers:Bottom, Top

'That monster's really creepy! Suits the maniac if you ask me!' AI had regained enough bravado to make his presence known.

"I activate Necromancer's effect. By paying 500 life points I can summon back one corruption monster from my graveyard but it is prevented from attacking for this turn." Necromancer began to open the graveyard portal and ascending from the depths came "Corruption Gear return to the field."

Mammon's LP: 4000 – 3500

"Appear once again the corrupted circuit that destroys all. Arrowheads confirmed. I set Corruption Gear and Corruption Necromancer in the link markers. Circuit combine! Descend now, Link 3 Essence of Greed – Corruption Dragon!"

The huge dragon appeared with a thunderous clap of its wings and a deafening screech.

Essence of Greed - Corruption Dragon Link 3, Dragon, Dark, (2400) Markers: Top, Bottom Left, Bottom Right.

'It's that card again.' Playmaker recognised Mammon's ace in an instant but kept himself composed for the task ahead, AI on the other hand wasn't handling it quite as well.

'AHH! What is that abomination?!' AI exclaimed in unadulterated fear.

Mammon didn't care much for the AI's opinion, continuing on with his turn "To follow, I set one card facedown then Corruption Dragon will attack Cyberse Wizard. Judgment of Corruption."

"Trap activate! Three Strikes Barrier!" Playmaker shouted "When you control exactly three cards on your field I can choose one of three effects! I can either prevent the destruction of my monster, nullify the battle damage I'll receive or I can gain life points equal to the damage my monsters will deal. In this case I choose to prevent my monster from being destroyed!" The resulting shields blocked Cyberse Wizard but the damage was still felt by Playmaker.

Playmaker's LP: 3200 – 1600

'He's getting dangerously close to below 1000 life points, the next move is critical.' Mammon thought.

Mammon's Cards x1

Turn 4

'I'll destroy Hanoi and anyone related to them. This duel ends this turn.' Playmaker thought as he drew his card for the turn. "To begin, I normal summon Stack Reviver!" A small robot appeared.

Stack Reviver, Level 2, Cyberse, DARK, (100/600)

"Since I already control a cyberse monster I can special summon Backup Secretary!"

Backup Secretary, Level 3, Cyberse, LIGHT, (1200/800)

"Appear! The circuit that leads to the future." A circuit appeared in front of Playmaker, "Arrowheads, confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least 2 or more effect monsters! I set Stack Reviver, Cyberse Wizard, and Backup Secretary in the Link Markers!" Playmaker's three Cyberse monsters flew toward the top, bottom-left, and bottom-right markers, glowing red. "Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Appear, Link 3! Decode Talker!"

Digital data started pulling themselves together as they materialized into a warrior with blue armour and purple outlines along with a sword. The warrior let out a battle cry as it broke the Link Gate.

Decode Talker, Link 3, DARK, Cyberse (2300) Markers: Top, Bottom Left and Bottom Right.

"Decode Talker," Mammon said looking at Playmaker's ace "it certainly looks impressive but I need evidence that it lives up to that tag."

"I activate the effect of Stack Reviver from the graveyard, since it was sent there as material for a link summon I can revive one level 4 or lower cyberse monster. I resurrect Backup Secretary in defence mode!" Said monster came back into being.

"Decode Talker gains 500 attack points for every monster linked to it, so far the only monster linked to it is my Backup Secretary. Power Integration!"

Decode Talker ATK: 2300 – 2800

"Battle! Decode Talker attack Corruption Dragon! Decode End!"

Decode swung at Corruption Dragon, tearing through the dragon's armour and obliterating the massive beast but leaving behind a residue of energy.

Mammon's LP: 3500 – 3100

"Trap activate. Reflected Corruption!" Mammon's new trap showed one of his monsters holding up a mirror "Since you destroyed Corruption Dragon I can activate this card and with it I can deal you damage equivalent to what I just took. Layman's terms dictates that'd be 400." The leftover energy was sucked into the card, before then blasting out.

Playmaker's LP: 1600 – 1200

"I'm not done yet either. I activate my skill Life Corruption! Once per duel, I deal my opponent 200 points of damage for each corruption monster in my graveyard! Corruption Ritual Imp, Corruption Necromancer, Corruption Dragon, Paladin of corruption, Corruption Gear are the ones that currently occupy it. That's 1000 points." Playmaker was enveloped by a purple aura as his life points decreased further.

Playmaker's LP: 1200 - 200

'Playmaker! You're on thin ice now!' AI shouted at his captor, scared at what may happen if Playmaker were to lose.

"Calm down. I'm not going to lose." Playmaker said sternly.

"I activate Cyberse Beat down! By paying half my life points I can activate this card during the battle phase of a turn when a Cyberse monster has successfully destroyed another monster via battle! The monster gains an attack boost of 500 and gets to attack again!"

Mammon was just as determined in his conviction "No way! No way! No way! I too activate the last card in my hand. When I'm the recipient of a direct attack I can activate the effect of Corruption Distributer! By sending this monster from my hand to the graveyard we both receive the same amount of damage." The monster appeared just before Decode Talker was able to land the finishing blow.

"If I'm going down, I'll take you with me!" The creature was annihilated and the resulting blast tore Mammon from his board, forcing him to activate a black energy whip to prevent contact from the ground below, landing on a nearby roof.

Playmaker's LP: 100 – 0

Mammon's LP: 3100 – 0

Draw!

"Who would've thought Playmaker to have been such a dark horse?" Revolver commented now certain of what he had to do.

Allen mumbled into his hand again "You got lucky Sat and you know it."

"A draw…" Shoichi muttered with a sigh of relief "You had me worried Yusaku."

Playmaker landed on the same roof, his eyes filled with pure hatred.

"Congratulations Playmaker, you managed to force my hand and for that you must be skilled." Mammon said, ignoring the look he was getting. "Before you leave allow me to ask you one question."

'Why should we listen to you?!' AI said angrily.

"Shut it." Playmaker said harshly. "I'll allow it."

"Why do you fight the knights of Hanoi? What have you to gain from doing so?"

Playmaker thought for a moment before answering "I fight because I have reason to believe they had a hand in an incident I was involved years ago, I fight to discover the secrets of my past."

"Think of three things." Mammon held three fingers up "Three things to live. Three things to go home. Three things to defeat the enemy. By thinking you can still live. Sound familiar?"

Playmaker stayed silent so Mammon continued "If you want to know, someone close to me was involved in that incident as well, they told me about the person that 'saved' them by talking about that rule of three. She said she wished to speak to that person again and to see if they were still in captivity there and if so save them."

"Let me ask you a question then. Why are you fighting for Hanoi?" Playmaker's question caught Mammon out of the blue.

"Why should I?"

'Because we answered yours!'

"I don't take orders from an AI! They're a plague that needs to be eliminated." Mammon snapped back "However I will answer a question from a real person. The reason I ally myself with Hanoi is very simple really. Money makes the mare go. In layman's terms I'll do anything if paid well enough. " Mammon's previously insane look returned in full force.

The two stared at each other for a while, until eventually Mammon decided he had enough waiting around for a reply. "If you think you can fight the Knights of Hanoi by yourself you're insane. This isn't over yet, I'll return and when I do the outcome will be different." Mammon then teleported away leaving Playmaker by himself.

'Thank god we finally got rid of that creep for good! He was starting get on my nerves anyway.'

"Don't be certain. Just as he said, he's coming back." Playmaker then logged out of VRAINS.

However listening in on this conversation was an attentive Colt 'Just as I suspected.' He then removed his mask revealing not only his steel grey eyes but also a tattoo of a green flame on his forehead 'Mammon I don't agree with how you're going about this but I promise to make the people responsible repent for what they did to us.' He too left with priceless information on Mammon to give to SOL upon his return.

(Hanoi Base)

Mammon materialized in the cybernetic Hanoi base, in total abject dismay almost at the state of tears "I'm such a failure…I failed Revolver…I failed Gumina…"

"You haven't failed just yet Mammon." Said Revolver appearing alongside Spectre.

"What do you mean? I failed in my task. Playmaker survived." Mammon just couldn't understand the leader's reasoning.

"You've shown that Playmaker isn't invincible, that he can be dealt with in one way or another." Spectre said whilst Mammon still tried to wrap his head around this.

"We may not have won the battle this time but this is a long term business there will be more to come and it is inevitable we'll prevail for three reasons. One: Playmaker works alone, he hasn't the ability to keep this level of work. Two: It is certain that SOL is also looking for that AI, without a doubt they will send one of their lackeys after Playmaker leaving fight a two fronted assault. Three: As Spectre said your duel has shown me the way forward." Revolver explained to the hunter.

"I understand what you're saying, although I will still consider this a failure." Mammon didn't wait for the response before logging out.

The real world Colt walked to meet with his current employer. Colt was 6ft flat, his electric light blue hair was comparably as long as Sateriasis' if not just slightly shorter. Just as his VRAINS avatar the green flame tattoo was imprinted on the centre of his forehead. He was wearing a red V-Neck shirt underneath a grey suit jacket, with brown trousers and black combat boots. He like Sateriasis and Allen was sixteen years old.

"Zaizen," Colt spoke to his boss, the current Security Manager of SOL, Akira Zaizen step-brother to Aoi. Akira was a fair skinned young man of twenty-six with blue and teal hair and pink eyes. He wore a suit which consisted of a blue coat with a darker one underneath, a white shirt, and a black tie. He also sported blue trousers and black shoes. "I assume you watched the Mammon and Playmaker spat."

"That's right." Akira conducted himself in a very typical business-like manner "Two of the system's biggest rouges facing each other."

"I wanted to say that I believe two things now. One, in my opinion Playmaker must be dealt with as soon as possible."

"Agreed. What was your other point?"

"My second point was that, there may be more to Mammon than meets the eye."

Akira seemed stunned that Colt even suggested there was another side to Mammon "What on earth do you mean?"

Colt pointed to his tattoo "Are you aware of something called the Inferno Project?"

"Gumina I'm so sorry…" After logging out of the digital world, Sateriasis immediately left for the hospital. "I wasn't thinking clearly and let my judgment be clouded." He sat with his eyes closed only exposing himself to the sound of the real world.

He heard the door to the room open turning around he saw that in the doorway stood a tall young, fair skinned teen with black spiky hair. On his right hand, he had a tattoo in the shape of a mirror that was a bright yellow in colour he was wearing a yellow shirt underneath a white suit jacket, with black trousers and black trainers.

"Sateriasis." Allen spoke out to his friend.

"What do you want Allen?" Sateriasis wasn't interested in speaking to anyone refusing to even open his eyes as Allen pulled up another seat.

"I saw your duel with Playmaker and decided it was necessary to talk with the demon of greed. Avaritia himself." Allen said keeping his voice low but it still had a distinct hint of pride in it.

"Don't call me that Superbia." Sateriasis snapped putting heavy emphasize on the last word.

"Alright. I won't. However I still want to talk about that Playmaker duel."

"I wasn't thinking clearly alright! I had other things on my mind." Sateriasis admitted "I got lucky that I even had that card in my hand to begin with." When he heard Allen fail to stifle a laugh Sateriasis' eyes shot open "At least I haven't got my head wedged up my ass and actually have the ability to admit when I'm wrong!"

Allen remained silent, shooting Sateriasis a dirty look. In response Sateriasis showed Allen the palm of his right hand. Fulling showing off to Allen what Nakoi had noticed earlier on. "All of us bear the marking of our vices. Mine represents excessive greed and avarice. Yours, a mirror for self-confidence and extreme hubris."

Allen fidgeted in response "Alright Sat. Point taken."

"The last promise I ever made to my father was to take care of and protect Gumina from harm but as you can see I failed."

A/N: I want to thank the people who have reviewed/favorited this story, I honestly expected this to crash and burn horribly. So your thoughts on this chapter will be of great help to me.

The next chapter will deal with some of Sateriasis' past, mainly the relationship with his father and the reason for his inherent protectiveness of his sister.