Chapter Eight: Man proposes, God disposes
(Flashback, ten years ago)
The first thing he remembered hearing was the sound of sirens and a beeping heart monitor. Then came the sound of a foreign voice "Hey! Kid! Kid! Are you awake?"
He remembers opening his eyes and seeing several doctors either standing near the gurney he was on or pressing their faces over his. When they saw the flicker, one of them declared "He's awake!"
It was a confusing experience for Sateriasis to say the least, the last thing he could think of was the walls of an encased room and the everlasting darkness that belonged to the hellish Inferno Project. "Hey, do you remember your name?"
"…" For a while Sateriasis couldn't answer, to the doctors it was likely due to the shock of the event. But the reason was far more dire than that "I'm sorry." His voice was weak "I don't know my name."
The doctors exchanged perturbed glances "Okay. Do you know who your parents are at least?"
"I… I don't know." He whimpered, the doctors looked at him solemnly, saying nothing as they went back to check his other vital signs.
That left the young Sateriasis enough time to look over himself, however, all that it did was further compound the sheer terror he had every time he thought back to his time in Inferno. On his right hand, the tattoo he had woken with the first time he awoke in Inferno was still there.
The intricate blue design, looked like it had been planned days prior to his abduction. He would later learn that it was meant to represent the vice he supposedly possessed, the vice he was to embrace if he ever hoped that he would escape from the place. At least that's what the computerised voice told him.
Next, he couldn't help but be sickened when he saw the numerous deep scars that adorned his arms. Every single last indent was a reminder of each successive failure he had, every single defeat at the hands of the Ai. Each time following the shocks that scorched his body, something would appear into his chamber. The hellish contraption that caused all of this.
(Hanoi)
A hand on his shoulder kicked Sateriasis out of his flashback and back into present time. "Are you okay, Sateriasis?" Came Baira's voice, trying her best to sooth him.
"Yes." He said quickly, far too quickly for it to be a natural reaction. Even with his voice being altered, there were times when his natural emotions would bleed through. Baira noticed this.
"You're thinking about that horrific project again, aren't you?" She sounded glum, Mammon still hadn't turned round to face her. The fact he didn't even respond didn't help her feel any better.
"The Inferno project…" Baira muttered, causing Mammon to turn his head slightly "The second project to attempt to give free will to Ai. The main culprit is still unknown but the evidence suggests them having been employed at SOL Technologies ten years ago and them having knowledge of the Hanoi Project." Mammon had fully turned around by this point "The children of Inferno and Hanoi both experienced unimaginable torture, you're lucky to have survived for as long as you did."
Mammon was silent for the moment, simply staring at Baira "You can tell us about anything. There's no point in suffering by yourself. Tell me wh-"
She was cut off at that point "No. No matter what you say to try and make me feel any better, no matter how much you all claim to understand my suffering. You can't possibly understand. The Hanoi project and the Inferno project are different. They may have the same goal, but the process of getting there was far different."
"Sateriasis…" Baira watched guilt ridden as Mammon walked straight past her, not caring to look back as he vanished from the base.
Just afterwards Faust came into the picture "Don't bother him about it. He'll tell us, whenever he wants too."
(Den City Plaza)
"Hey, welcome back!" Shoichi greeted Colt, who had returned this time not on an errand run because of Emma. "I didn't catch your name last time."
"Shaytan. Nem Shaytan. Pleasure to make your acquaintance…" Nem trailed off for Shoichi to respond.
"Shoichi Kusanagi. And likewise I'm pleased to me you." Shoichi replied with a smile on his face. "What would you like this time round?"
"I'll just take a regular one again but could you add some more ketchup this time round?" Nem asked, still not having gotten over the less than satisfactory amount on the previous one he had.
"Just for you this time round?" Shoichi said as he started to grill the frankfurter.
"Yeah. My friend isn't exactly in the greatest of conditions at this point of time." It was true, when he had attempted to enter Emma's room the day following her failed endeavour to duel Playmaker. Nem found her unconscious on her couch. "She issued her challenge to Playmaker, only for someone else to come and usurp that chance." Nem's voice turned cold towards the end as his mind flashed back to Mammon.
His marked change of tone was evident to Shoichi and to Yusaku who was once again sitting nearby, working on finding a lead on Hanoi.
"When exactly was this 'challenge' issued, if I may asked?" Shoichi asked, trying not to arouse Nem's suspicions.
"Why are you so curious?" Unfortunately, it didn't really work out as the long haired male caught wind quickly.
"Well, I'm just curious y'know. Whenever something concerns Playmaker it's usually very interesting and as a fan of Playmaker myself, I try my best to keep up date with whatever is going on." Shoichi tried to evade saying anything incriminating, all the while avoiding Nem's piercing glare.
There was a moment of silence before Nem sighed "Ah, sorry about that." He said, regretful "It's really a trivial issue, if I'm correct in my recall it was only about a couple of days ago. When exactly? I don't remember."
Shortly afterwards, the hot dog was finished and under Nem's demands/pleas, the thing was soon majority ketchup, something that when questioned about Nem said "It's just the way I like it." He waved goodbye to Shoichi and walked off into the distance.
As soon as he was a safe distance away and the business part of the truck was closed, Yusaku came up to Shoichi, who invited him inside as they went into the back. The first thing they did was discuss what just happened.
"It's evident that the friend that he talked about was Ghost girl, meaning that he too is employed by SOL technologies." Yusaku said.
However it was rather confusing to Ai, who was still in the dark 'How can you be so sure about that?'
"Three reasons. 1: He had previously come to us before, in that conversation he had mentioned that he had a friend about to duel Playmaker, Ghost girl's invitation was sent the same day. 2: Just now, as he talked about what happened he had an obvious tonal shift as he mentioned the addition of another person. That person in question who interrupted our planned duel was Mammon, meaning he was watching the situation. Finally, 3: His 'friend' is 'sick', according to what Mammon told me, Ghost girl is unconscious and given my prior two points I would believe it would be safe to assume, he is a SOL hunter too."
'Oh, that makes sense…' Ai moped, not pleased he didn't put two and two together.
"But it begs the question, who is he in Vrains?" Shoichi asked.
Yusaku cupped his chin in thought "As of right now, I don't believe we have enough information to say for certain, but he will certainly make himself known soon."
The topic of conversation soon switched "I've got something I want to show you." Shoichi brought up a spectrograph.
Ai eyed the program 'What's so interesting about that? It just looks like a bunch of lines to me.'
"I've been working for a while now to try and decode the true voice of Mammon. He uses very advanced voice modulation software, so it's taken me a while to crack it but I think I've gotten through."
'Ah! That's great! With this, we'll be one step closer to catching that maniac in real life!' Ai said, dancing at the prospect.
When they played back the unaltered voice, it made Yusaku and Ai's ears prick up. Shoichi noticed this "Have you heard that voice before then, Yusaku?"
Yusaku closed his eyes "It's familiar to me, but I can't put my finger on who it belongs to." Ai nodded his head too as the voice's owner alluded him as well.
(Flashback)
Sateriasis clung tightly to his father's robes. The room was filled with the brim of people, his father had been invited to attend the promotion party of a rising star. The director looked down to his petrified son "Sateriasis." His voice firm yet caring "You can't cling to me forever, no man is an island, sooner rather than later you're going to have to branch out, I can't always be there, without proper support a building cannot sustain itself."
Sateriasis was about to reply when he cut off when the person the party was held for came over. "Dantous, my friend! It's a pleasure to see you!" The new head of development stuck out his hand cordially.
"Likewise, Zitor. Congratulations on your promotion." It was after the two finished shaking hands, that another noise, one that sounded an awful lot like a second child. Something that puzzled both Sateriasis and his father as the two looked around for the origin.
However, that search didn't last long when Zitor started to laugh "Apologies for that." He then looked down to his leg "Come on out, Allen. There's no need to be afraid."
Allen slowly edged out from behind Zitor's leg, looking uncomfortable at every single step he took. Wanting desperately to retreat back to his father. "H-Hello…" He stammered out as Sateriasis watched on.
"I thought that it would be best for him to come with me, so he could meet somebody. I may be naïve but I hoped he'd make a friend or two." Zitor explained as he caught sight of Sateriasis "I see you've brought your son too."
Dantous nudged Sateriasis off his robes and closer to Allen "I believe we both have similar reasons."
"Ah, isn't it wonderful how great minds think alike." Zitor said "Now if you wouldn't mind, I would like to discuss something with you, privately. Well, as private as it can be."
The director nodded, but as the two of them went to move, both of their sons swiftly clutched onto anything tangible "Please don't go!" Allen yelled, while Sateriasis teared up.
"Listen to me." Zitor said raising his hand "Dantous and I have some business to discuss, I think you'd both find it awful dull. Why don't you two keep each other company?"
The two children relented and their fathers were able to move off to a less crowded place. Allen and Sateriasis eyed one another nervously, nevertheless the pair wished to fulfil what was expected of them.
"Hi there…" Sateriasis said quietly "My name is S-Sateriasis M-Marlon."
"A-Allen L-Lucifinia." Allen said, even though he wasn't paying any attention to Sateriasis, instead looking longingly in the other direction.
That was the height of their conversation.
Things between Sateriasis and Allen had progressed a lot since then. Being that their fathers were often together to talk about business, they became quite familiar with each other.
"You're a dickhead, Sat." However, that didn't really mean they were the best of friends. Allen was currently holding an icepack to his eye, whilst Sateriasis merely scoffed in response.
"And you're a whiny bastard, Allen." Both of them had traits that drove their opposite number up the wall. For Sateriasis, it was Allen being a vain, egotistical moaner. For Allen, it was Sateriasis' incorrigible avarice and sadistic streak.
Currently they were both making their way to the hospital. Partially because Allen insisted on getting his eye checked out to make sure Sateriasis hadn't ruptured any part of it when he punched him.
Needless to say, the purple haired male didn't care too much for his counterpart when they did arrive. Instead he left the serial whinger to complain to the staff as he went off to his sister's room.
It always pained him to see Gumina's comatose body and he internally cursed himself for not being able to do anything to prevent this from happening. He gently held one of her hands as he closed his eyes. "I know I've been visiting a lot as of recent but a lot of things have happened, so please forgive me. It won't be much longer now, soon I'll fulfil my promise."
Just as he was about to speak again, the sound of his phone echoed throughout the silent room, making him crack one of his eyes open to spy the caller ID. Sighing, he stood up "I'm sorry our time has to be cut short. Don't worry I'll be back here as soon as I can."
(Link VRAINS)
"I hope you enjoyed that show folks! Till next time, bye bye!" Blue Angel signed off to the sound of her adoring fans, it had been yet another day of tiring duels with whomever decided to show their face. But as long as she could at least make one person's dreams come true, then it would be worth it.
However, it had taken her a mammoth effort to even convince her brother that she should go into Vrains. Despite her new understanding of the situation and a general softening of the whole over protective brother complex. Akira was still unwilling to shift until they decided upon compromising, allowing Aoi to maintain her idol status so long as she would relay whenever she'd enter the system.
Sighing, she descended to the ground and dematerialized her D-board before then leaning back on one of the nearby by buildings to catch her breath.
It was then that the sound of footsteps reverberated around the area. Looking around for the origin point, she saw a solitary male figure silently approaching.
Her eyes widened as the figure strode ever closer, in a desperate attempt to escape she bolted off in the other direction, not looking back.
In response the figure raised one of his hands that had gained a blue glow to it. With a flick of his wrist the ground in front of Blue Angel rose and blocked the dueling idol's path. Desperate, Blue Angel tried to run in other directions but every time, the figure cut the path off until they were face to face.
"Don't worry, I'm merely a seraph that embraces everything with his wings, even false and deceitful people." The figure's voice was suave and measured, the kind that would usually sooth any woes but in this case it did the exact opposite, only heightening Blue Angel's fear causing her words to die in her throat.
With another flick of his wrist, now shining yellow, the figure and Blue Angel vanished from the scene.
Outside of the network, everything was passing by normally. Some people talking whilst others stayed glued to the screen that was still showing repeats of the most recent duels.
That was until the feed flickered and became static, causing everyone to become curious as to why this was the case. To their fortune the feed came back nearly instantaneously, however, it wasn't quite what they had expected.
To the shock of everyone, including Yusaku, Ai and Shoichi. The figure who had appeared before Blue Angel was now staring down the screen. He was dressed in a long silver jacket that had a dark grey collar and black trims towards the end of it along with silver gloves on his hands. Underneath he was wearing a black and blue shirt with golden buttons. He was also wearing black trousers and had on silver boots. His hair was green and slicked back with one strand falling down between his grey eyes. One of the most noticeable features of his attire was the deep blue scarf that was draped across his shoulders, almost like a cape. The other noticeable feature was the white mask the figure was carelessly holding with two fingers. Etched onto it was a rather unsettling smile that was a deep crimson red.
"You needn't be alarmed." The figure spoke, kicking everyone out of their stupors "My name is Seraph and I seek an opponent." With his free hand, Seraph directed the rather scared pigeon reporter to change the scene showing Blue Angel ensnared in a multitude of chains against one of the buildings. The sight of this alone was enough to startle the whole crowd that had now gathered.
The screen then cut back to Seraph "She is not hurt, I simply need bait for my opponent to appear. Once they come, she will be free to leave, I'll be waiting." With that he terminated the feed as everyone wore expressions of horror.
'We have to go after him!' Ai shouted, almost jumping out of Yusaku's duel disk.
"Calm down." Yusaku placed his hand on top of the disk, effectively silencing Ai's ramblings so he and Shoichi could formulate a plan. "Shoichi, what do we know about this person?"
Shoichi searched in vain but couldn't come up with anything "Looks like he's either a new member or he's deleting any record of himself, much like we do. He's a total enigma."
Yusaku didn't even respond due to being so deep in thought trying to analyse the situation.
Elsewhere, Colt was perched on a rooftop overlooking the numerous friendly duels going on beneath him.
However, it was very much background noise, as he was busy holding a singular card in his hand. It was his ace. 'I swear on my life, for the ones that kidnapped all of us, the ones who tortured us. I'll make all of you repent.'
His mind then went back to two people he knew were victims of the project 'That Superbia character is a cut and dry case. It was the heat of the moment, his actions gave him away.' But the next person was far more important to him 'Mammon. No matter if we share the same past, my contract to SOL will still state that we are enemies. I intend to follow it to the best of my ability.'
It was then that a screen showing Akira popped up in front of him. "Nem, where are you right now?!"
Quickly recovering from his moderate scare, Colt spoke back "Aren't you supposed to know where I am at all times, Zaizen?"
Akira however, didn't appear to have any time for this, he sounded slightly desperate too "Just answer the question!"
"Calm, Zaizen. To answer your question, I'm near the centre of the server and before you ask, I'm not doing anything in particular. So, I'll have time to do what you require me to." Colt watched as Akira breathed a sigh of relief.
The former security manager's look then turned deadly serious "Nem, Aoi has been taken hostage."
'Really?! Why is she always the target?!' He thought before looking back at Akira 'Oh… That's right.' Colt sighed then nodded "Okay, I'll go find her."
"Thank you, Nem." Akira said, seemingly exhausted and with that the call was disconnected and once more left the SOL hunter to himself. He edged towards the end of the roof, as the datastorm's winds picked up, bringing his D-board with it.
Jumping and landing with a thud, he sped off in search of the target.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Blue Angel questioned whilst struggling to get out of the chains.
Looking down at her, almost as if she were filth, Seraph gave a cold response "I told you, I am a seraph that embraces everything with his wings. Even the disgusting deceitful people who pretend to be somebody they are not. Though believe me when I say that I bear no ill will. I am out here to fulfil an obligation and you were the best way I could gain my target's attention."
Blue Angel laughed bitterly "So, you're just another one of them. Another person using me for their own gain."
Seraph, not being overly concerned by the ramblings of his prisoner, chose to ignore her, focusing in on trying to find his target. That was until Blue Angel uttered "Yet you would appear to be one of the worst. Taking on the name Seraph, you don't deserve a title like that."
That seemed to hit Seraph for six as he glared daggers at her, getting right into her face "Excuse me?" His tone lost the suave nature and gave the impression he was ready to do something ugly. "This name was bestowed upon me, I'd rather you not sully the name whilst you share a name you could never even dream of living up to, Aoi Zaizen!"
In response, Blue Angel spat at Seraph's face causing the male to stagger back dropping his mask "You were one of them weren't you? A lonely person who sought to be loved, to be saved and given what you just admitted to, you can't hide that truth from me."
Still in a trance like state of shock, Seraph replied "Insolent wretch…" Although he was still too dazed to speak fully.
It was at this time Colt arrived onto the scene, snapping Seraph out of his daze and regaining his calm demeanour, picking up his mask he faced Colt "Hello there."
Spying the chained up Aoi over Seraph's shoulder, Colt spoke "I take it, that you're the target. I was sent to take down."
"Likewise." Came Seraph's answer.
"Well, let's not waste any time. I'll make you repent for your sins." Colt cracked a smirk behind his mask whilst his opponent placed his own one on. "What's the point in wearing that now if you have already revealed your face?" Colt asked, baffled.
Seraph laughed in reply as his D-board rushed by, his board was the base SOL design that was coloured silver with tints of blue and black, throughout the design. "I believe it was you said we shouldn't waste time." The green haired teen jumped and meet his board as Colt begrudgingly did the same.
"Speed Duel!" Both of them shouted simultaneously.
Colt's LP: 4000 Seraph's LP: 4000 Cards x4
Turn 1
"I'll take the first turn." Seraph said, surveying his hand "I summon Divine Ascendant Kra!" The monster took on the appearance of an orange skeletal figure that had a glowing blue centre to it. The shoulders were adorned by two skulls whilst a third skull hovered above the body, functioning as the head. Next it had six arms and flowing out of the back were six massive orange wings.
Divine Ascendant Kra, Level 4, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (1600/500)
"Kra's effect. Once per turn when this card is normal or special summoned, I can add one Ascendant Art spell or trap to my hand." The selected card was added into Seraph's hand as he choose two other cards in his hand "I set two cards face down and end my turn."
"Is that it? I would've thought you'd do much more than that. It's pitiful." Colt said annoyed, which only made Seraph laugh again.
"Have you ever heard of the saying 'Man proposes, God disposes'?" Turing back to see Colt shaking his head was his cue to continue "Basically, it means that one can make plans but it is up to fate to decide the outcome. I do whatever I can to make sure that I have the best chances of success, my setup here is more than enough to beat you into submission."
Seraph's cards x2
Turn 2
"My turn, I draw. To being when I control no monsters on my field I can special summon this card from hand. Come on out Codecracker Vigilante!" Codecracker Vigilante cocked and point his gun directly at Kra's head as he materialized.
Codecracker Vigilante Level 3, Warrior, EARTH, Effect (500/500)
"Next I summon Codecracker Drone to the field!" The small drone made its way beside its master.
Codecracker Drone Level 1, Machine, EARTH, Effect (0/200)
"I activate Drone's effect." The drone shot a beam of code into Seraph's disk "It sends the top three cards of your deck to the graveyard and for each monster sent there by this effect. You lose 500 life points."
The cards sent were two traps and one monster "Would you look at that," The bombay doors on Drone opened as it hovered over Seraph "There was a monster in the load, so you best be prepared because this may hurt." The resulting blast knocked Seraph behind Colt but it didn't faze him in the slightest.
Seraph's LP: 4000 – 3500
"Now appear the encrypted circuit that lights the way! Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition is one Codecracker effect monster with 1000 or less attack points! I set Codecracker Vigilante in the link markers." Vigilante headed towards the bottom of the link square "Circuit combine! Appear, Link 1! Codecracker Receiver!" Colt's link monster appeared beside its master with a grunt.
Codecracker Receiver Link 1, Warrior, EARTH, Effect (1000) Link Markers: Down
"Receiver's effect! I can select one level 4 or lower monster from my deck and summon it to a zone this card is linked to. Codecracker Signal Operator joins the fray!" Having combined the pieces he needed, Colt smirked behind his mask.
Codecracker Signal Operator, level 4, Warrior, EARTH (1600/400)
"However, they won't be staying for long!" In response Seraph laughed but Colt ignored him and continued on "Appear for the second time, the encrypted circuit that lights the way! The summoning conditions are two or more Codecracker effect monsters! I set Signal Operator, Receiver and Vigilante in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Link 3! Essence of Wrath – Codecracker Retributioner!"
Emerging out of the Link gate, Retributioner spun the barrel of one of his revolvers before firing a shot into the air with a grin on his face.
Essence of Wrath - Codecracker Retributioner, Link 3, Warrior, DARK (2600) Link Markers: Bottom, Bottom Left and Bottom Right.
"My, you've certainly gone all guns blazing." Seraph said, the eerie passiveness sitting uncomfortably with Colt "I'm honoured that you consider me to be worthy enough of an adversary that you see fit to use your ace monster right away."
"Don't flatter yourself." Colt scoffed distastefully "You're merely a pest that I need to get rid of to fulfil my contract."
Once more, Seraph laughed sounding remarkably like Zitor "Oh? Is that so? Here I thought that you were here to rescue Blue Angel or that you deemed me a good opponent." He said acting like he'd just been stabbed in the heart.
There was a pause before Colt spoke again "It's my intention to end this as soon as possible so I can get back to what I actually want to do. Before I continue, I set one card face down. Now! Battle! Retributioner attacks Divine Ascendant Kra! Wrath shot!" In a flash, two crimson bullets were shot, one heading straight into Kra's head, the other was on a trajectory to where the heart was meant to be.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. I as a seraph embrace everything in my wings as I play the role of saviour. I activate the trap Ascendant Art – Cantarella!" The card art depicted another bone like angel that was bowing down to a shadowy figure on a shining throne, said figure was handing the angel a bishop chess piece.
"This card prevents my monster's destruction and negates any damage." Kra turned around and used two of its arms to catch the bullets in mid-air "But that's not all, until the end of your next turn, your monster shall lose attack points equal to my monster's attack!" Kra then threw the bullets back at the shooter, both of them lodging deep into Retributioner's body.
Retributioner's ATK: 2600 – 1000
Colt's cards x2
"Do whatever you want. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable." Colt said trying his best to hide his irritation. "I'll win in the end and I will not rest until those who have wronged us over the past ten years have been brought to their knees!"
Not fazed whatsoever, Seraph responded instantaneously "Ah, you sound just like Playmaker. Tell me, who is your grudge against?"
"I seek to crush the people who tortured us during those horrific months. The ones who used as chess pieces in a sadistic game! The bastards behind the Inferno project!" Colt yelled practically at the top of his lungs, shattering any attempt at indifference he was making.
"My, what a pitiful lost soul you must be." Seraph mocked callously and with absolutely no compassion whatsoever.
Before Colt could even open his mouth to retaliate, Seraph interjected again "It pains me to see people so caught up in the past. One can truly never move forward if their feet are still shackled to the past. It's my duty to see that those chains are shattered."
"My past isn't like most others. All of us underwent horrific torture during the time we were locked up. Simply forgetting that ever happened is not something that is possible. I still bear scars from that time." Colt said solemnly, like Sateriasis, Colt had come out heavily scarred the only difference being his never faded, be it mental or physical.
Another laugh pierced through the silence that had settled, looking back Colt could see Seraph had removed his mask, showing off the predatory grin etched on his face "So that's all you truly are. A tortured child who refuses to move on. I was once like you, until the day my saviour came to my aid." He finished by placing the mask back on.
Turn 3
"And now I'll show how to shatter the past! I draw! I activate the effect of Ascendant Art – Cantarella from my graveyard. I can banish this card from my graveyard to add one more Ascendant Art spell or trap to my hand." The selected made its way into Seraph's hand as he continued "I now summon Divine Ascendant Ciel!"
Ciel, like Kra before it was a skeletal bony angel. Except this time round it was an icy blue colour and had a lifeless look in its eyes. Unlike Kra, Ciel only had two arms but they were of considerable length. On its shoulders were two heads, one of a falcon and one of an eagle. And finally, it had two large black wings.
Divine Ascendant Ciel, Level 4, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (1800/900)
"Now I activate the spell Ascendant Art – Absolution!" This card depicted Kra, Ciel and two other skeletal angels being faced down by a shadowy finger that was handing each one of them a knight chess piece. "This card allows my monsters to gain 500 attack points for each Divine Ascendant on my field. So that means both of them will be gaining 1000 points!"
Kra's ATK: 1600 – 2600
Ciel's ATK: 1800 – 2800
"The unfortunate repercussion of this card is that my monsters will be destroyed at the end of this turn and I take damage equal to half their original attack points."
'So that's his plan, weaken his opponent's monsters before buffing his own ones to beat his target in an OTK like style. Quite prophetic.' Colt thought, formulating his own plan for victory.
"I activate Ciel's effect!" Seraph said bring Colt out of his thoughts "Once per turn, I can add one card in my banish zone to my hand. I add my Ascendant Art – Cantarella back to my hand. I think I'll set one card facedown."
Colt said nothing, instead logging the information into his plan. "Battle! Divine Ascendant Kra attacks your Retributioner! Tear him to shreds!" Kra disappeared in a flash of blinding light before reappearing behind Retributioner. In response, the assassin turned on a dime and pulled out a knife but it was no use as the angel ripped him apart savagely.
Colt's LP: 4000 – 2400
"Retributioner's effect! When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, the attacking monster is also destroyed and you take damage equal to its current attack points!"
The graveyard portal opened up, sticking out an arm Retributioner fired three shots at Kra, one piercing the angel's body whilst the other two struck Seraph in his shoulders but the green haired male simply brushed it off as if it were nothing.
Seraph's LP: 3500 - 900
"Ah, you're a fighter to the bitter end." Seraph mocked bring Colt to the end of his tether, how was it possible to be so insufferable in so few words? "It was interesting while it lasted but it ends here with Ciel's attack!"
With no monster in the way, Ciel charged forward but before the attack could land, Colt sprang into action "I activate my trap Encryption Barrier!" The card showed a scene of Retributioner standing behind a wall of code whilst pointing one of his revolvers at the monster attempting to breakthrough "When I'm attacked directly, I can send one monster from my hand to the graveyard and lower the damage by that amount. I send Codecracker Researcher to the graveyard!" Said monster appeared just in time to shield Colt from the majority of the blast.
Colt's LP: 2400 – 100
As a result of the attack, Seraph streaked ahead of Colt with a smug grin "You're a persistent bastard as well."
This time it was Colt who laughed "I wouldn't be one to talk. You're about to lose yourself. At the end of this turn, the effect of your spell will finish you off."
"Are you sure about that?" Seraph shot back with an icy tone "It's not unusual for people to preform desperate moves to defend themselves from defeat. Thus rendering this strategy detrimental to my situation. So I set up a contingency plan, that's what it means to do everything humanly possible to win. I activate the quick play spell Ascendant Art – Combustion!" The art gave the scene of a massive explosion consuming the majority of the picture while the angels fled the area "This card destroys all Divine Ascendants on my field and for every one destroyed I get to draw a card."
Ciel dissolved into blue pixels as Seraph drew, saving him from the adverse effects of his previous spell "It would seem that I'm not in as much danger as you believed me to be. You must have a better strategy than that to beat me and save Blue Angel."
Seraph's cards x2
Watching on outside of Vrains, Yusaku, Shoichi and Ai were still debating whether or not they should intervene to save Blue Angel. 'You really can be so cold at times, Yusaku. Are you sure you're not an Ai?' Ai moaned.
"Keep quiet or I'll delete your programing." Yusaku scolded, choosing to return to ignoring the Ignis while the Ai in question silently cried for the neglect he was receiving.
"That Seraph really is a crafty individual. Making you believe he'll make one move to then do the opposite. It wouldn't be a stretch to say this all a setup to trap you." Shoichi said facing Yusaku.
Silently, Yusaku picked up his duel disk as made his way into the access chamber "Nevertheless, there are three reasons why we can't just sit by. 1: We can learn more about both of these characters if we meet them face to face and we can confirm our suspicions on who one of them may be. 2: I can't allow Blue Angel to be used as a pawn yet again and 3: There is a chance that Hanoi could use this situation to their advantage." Shoichi replied with a silent nod before Yusaku logged in.
Still struggling hard to escape the chains, Blue Angel's face lit up upon the sight of Playmaker before her. "I guess I'm going to have to owe you again." She said sardonically.
"Don't get the wrong idea." Was all Playmaker said as he quietly told Shoichi to see if he could find a way to get rid of the chains.
Back at Colt and Seraph's duel, the latter's hand suddenly began to glow red dragging his attention down to it. "Well, well. It would seem like we have an intruder…" He said under his breath.
Turn 4
'Damnit! I'm hanging by a thread! I can't lose now, they'll come for me again if I lose and I won't allow that!' Colt thought in sheer desperation as his mind flashed back to the sight of two men entering his chamber "My turn! I draw! I activate my skill Flash Repentance!"
"Skill, huh? It's not as if it's going to matter." To Colt if there was an award for most insufferable asshole, this guy would be the record title holder.
"When my life points are lower than my opponent's, I can summon one Link monster from my graveyard at the cost of halving my life points. Retributioner return to field and bring him to his knees!" Retributioner re-emerged having completely ditched his unassuming appearance, showing all the weapons he hid underneath. But still the monster wielded his revolvers as his primary weapon.
Colt's LP: 400 – 200
"I activate Retributioner's first effect! By sending one card from hand to the graveyard I can summon one monster from my graveyard but its effects are negated and it can't attack. I summon Codecracker Vigilante to the field!" Vigilante reappeared next to Retributioner although he was visibly weakened "Now it is time for the second effect. Twice per turn, by destroying a card this monster is linked to. I can deal you 500 points of damage."
Vigilante evaporated nearly as quickly as he had appeared, turning into Retributioner's ammunition as the monster in question grinned before loosing his shot at Seraph.
Seraph's LP: 900 – 400
"Before you get any ideas, I'm not done just yet! I activate Cracking Decryption! For every Codecracker I control I now get to destroy one card you control."
'Since he has no monster that face down card is either to destroy my monster or severely weaken it so he can survive to the next turn. I can only be sure of one trap that was in his hand. Cantarella.' Colt thought as he tried to figure out the identity of the card in his mind.
"I'll be ridding the field of your face down if you wouldn't mind." Said card soon underwent numerous glitches and vanished from play.
But none of that mattered to Seraph "Clever move, not only dealing me damage but also getting of what you assumed to be my last line of defence and your victory."
For a moment Colt felt the corner of his lips tug up, that was however was ruined "However, it would be foolish of you to assume that I have only one way to defend myself. You only simply assumed that would be the case. Did it ever occur to you that maybe it was there for another reason?"
With that, the satisfaction Colt had experienced had been smashed into a million shards "I activate the effect of Ascendant Art – Seppuku!" This card had the shadowy figure in more detail. Although still cloaked in the darkness, the six massive wings with glowing red eyes could be seen and the regal nature of the angel could not be in denial. In its hand was the rook chess piece. "This card activates when destroyed by card effect. During this turn if I were to take any kind of damage, you too would lose the same amount!"
'Damn him! Damn him! This bastard won't get away with this. I'll beat him if it's the last thing I do. Anything else is a failure.' Colt clutched his head, falling to one knee.
"Thinking that you could understand my ways, you got careless and let down your guard." Just as he was about to continue, the red glow returned in full force 'Someone is starting to really get on my nerves now.'
Elsewhere, the chains around Blue Angel were still bound tightly and showed no signs of budging.
'AHHH! Why is this taking so long?!' Ai vented only to be met with a glare from Playmaker, immediately silencing him.
"Shoichi, what's the issue here?" Playmaker said under his breath.
Still working through the coding it was then that the realisation struck Shoichi to the true nature of the program "Yusaku, this is a SOL technologies program."
"What?!" Truth be told, that wasn't something Playmaker was expecting to be the case 'That can only mean Seraph too is working for SOL but why would he kidnap Blue Angel?'
"I'll try to see if I can get rid of the program but I can make no guarantees that I'd be able to." In response Playmaker nodded looking solemnly at Blue Angel.
He then looked at the Ignis in his duel disk "Ai, is it possible for you to eat this program?"
'Huh?' Ai exclaimed briefly shocked before thinking it over 'Well… I won't know unless I try!' The Ignis then sprouted out the disk into his monster form and attempted to eat the chain program, notwithstanding the absolute terrified look Blue Angel had on her face.
However, when Ai made attempted to make contact with the program he was immediately repulsed and retreated back into Playmaker's disk 'It's no use Playmaker, that program is abhorrent and it's like it is designed to repulse any intervention.'
Tearing his eyes away from his hand, Seraph took one look at the quivering wreck Colt had become "You're pathetic really. But I pride myself as a Seraph who's able to stop anyone's tears."
"Y-your t-turn…" Colt said, his voice cracking all the while as he tried to force the unwanted memories out of his mind.
Colt's cards x2
Turn 5
"I draw. I activate the effect of Ciel in my graveyard by banishing this card. I can add one more Divine Ascendant from my deck to my hand. Now I activate my own skill Ascendant Will!" Seraph's hand began to glow white "When my life points are below 1000 I can summon two Divine Ascendant monsters from my deck, at the cost of dropping their attack to 0 and negating their effects. I summon Divine Ascendant Kuro and Rota!"
Rota was a green skeletal angel with white wings that was remarkably unassuming in comparison to the other monsters that came before it.
In stark contrast, Kuro was a huge black shadow like angel that had streaks of purple in its body as well. Embedded within its shoulders were two eyes with purple irises. The wings were also a dark light consuming black.
Divine Ascendant Rota, Level 4, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (0/500)
Divine Ascendant Kuro, Level 4, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (0/1200)
"Kra's effect now activates from my graveyard. When a monster is special summoned to my field, I can summon this monster from my graveyard at the cost of also reducing its attack to 0 and negating its effects." Kra descend to the field and took position next to the other two angels.
"Descend now! The holy circuit of angels!" Seraph declared as the Link gate appeared beneath him "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two plus Divine Ascendant effect monsters! I set Divine Ascendant Rota, Kuro and Kra in the Link markers!" All three monsters became yellow beams of light as they shot down to the top, bottom and bottom left arrows "Circuit combine! Link 3! Divine Ascendant Shi!"
Breaking out of the Link gate, revealed the new monster to be the shadowy figure ever present in Seraph's previous spell and trap cards. This skeletal angel was the largest by far, its body was grey with flashes of red on it. On its shoulders were two grey skulls with glowing red eyes. It had four long lanky arms and another skull floating above functioning as the head. Its six wings were revealed to be of a purplish colour scheme and the biggest two of the set had a set of eyes implanted in them. Also on the back were a set of bone like spikes.
Divine Ascendant Shi, Link 3, Fairy, LIGHT, Effect (2600) Link Markers: Top, Bottom and Bottom Left
"Shi's effect. By banishing one Divine Ascendant from my graveyard, I can summon one Ascendant token to a zone this card is linked to. This card then gains 500 attack points for each card linked to it. I banish Kra from my graveyard." The token that materialized was a smaller version of Shi although its wings were folded in.
Shi's ATK: 2600 – 3100
Taking a look back, Seraph observed Colt fighting his way back to his feet "I'm glad to see you've returned back in time for me to put a stop to your tears."
"I w-won't lose to the likes of y-you!" Colt was barely able to etch that out in between haggard breaths.
Seraph threw out an arm "I'll let you continue to believe that. My saviour once told me that the most important aspect of a human was their will to survive until the bitter end. It really is such a shame this will have to end. Battle! Divine Ascendant Shi vanquish Retributioner!" Shi vanished almost instantaneously vanished from Seraph's field but then it soon reappeared above the two duelists. Its wings were soon charged with energy which was then blasted at Colt.
"I told you…" Colt said growling "I'd never lose to the likes of you! I activate the effect of Codecracker Battle Operator. By sending this card from my hand to the graveyard I take no damage!" A barrier appeared just in time to repulse Shi's attack as said monster returned to their master's field.
"It's your turn then. Please don't waste your last chance." Seraph said with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "At the end of the turn when Shi's effect is activated, any monster that didn't declare an attack on my field is destroyed." The token disintegrated as Shi's attack power weakened.
Shi's ATK: 3100 – 2600
Seraph's cards x4
Turn 6
'This is it. He's got no face down cards and without that he can't defend himself' Colt thought before stating his turn "I draw." His eyes lit up as he saw the card he drew "First I activate Retributioner's effect sending one card from my hand to summon Battle Operator from my hand."
"So that's your plan. To defeat me by using a card effect? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't insulted right now." Seraph said in pretend sadness before his tone turned icy "However, that isn't going to be the case because Shi is unaffected by card effects."
Colt smirked "That's fine by me. I wasn't planning on beating you that way, I've got something else planned."
For the first time in a while Seraph was at a loss for words while Colt continued "I activate the Spell Dual Break!" This card showed Retributioner and another monster pointing their weapons at the sight of a cowering monster "The effect of this card allows one monster on my field to gain attack points equal to the total amount of link markers on the field. If you recall Retributioner has three whilst your monster also has three. In layman's terms that's 600 points."
A blue aura surrounded Retributioner significantly strengthening the monster.
Retributioner's ATK: 2600 – 3200
"Battle! Retributioner! Attack Divine Ascendant Shi! Wrath shot!" Retributioner quickly fired three shots with an almost sadistic grin on his face.
Seraph only removed his mask and smiled as the first two shots laded and tore a hole through the eyes on Shi's wings the angel groaned in pain before it was destroyed in an explosion. Out of the blast came the final bullet that struck Seraph in the back, causing him to double over in pain.
Seraph's LP: 400 – 0
Colt: Win!
"You did well, Colt. I commend you for beating me." Seraph said returning to his feet "Although, you're going to have to be fast to get to Blue Angel in time." The red glow on his hand then suddenly evaporated. "Good luck." With that the enigma that was Seraph disconnected from Vrains.
It was just then that Colt's eyes widened 'Shit I forgot!' He thought as he sped off in her direction.
Safe to say, after spending the past few minutes waiting to see if either Shoichi or Ai could crack the program, Playmaker was shocked to see the program disappear causing Blue Angel to start falling to the ground.
For Blue Angel, it was a moment of realisation startling her too much for her to use her whip, she closed her eyes as the thoughts of everyone dear to her rushed through her head.
But it was just then a hand grabbed her and hoisted her up as the person landed on the same rooftop Playmaker was on. "Next time be more careful who you associate with." Colt said unimpressed but people who knew him well enough could hear a tint of happiness in his voice.
At a loss for words but thankful nonetheless also she could do was smile at both Colt and Playmaker before disconnecting too.
'Ah! It's him! He's the one Mammon destroyed in that duel! He works for SOL!' The Ignis said much to the ire of both humans in the system.
"Five seconds in and I already hate you." Colt said before removing his mask. "You should thank me as it looks like you weren't going to do anything other than sit and watch."
"Who are you?" Playmaker said, choosing to ignore both the Ai and the hunter.
"As your Ai put it so bluntly, I'm a bounty hunter working for SOL technologies. My name is Colt." Colt said, levelling Playmaker with a piercing glare. "We'll be meeting again very soon, so I would save any questions you have. Goodbye." With that, Colt also left the Vrains network.
'How rude! Quitting on us like that!'
"You were the one you insulted him." Playmaker stated bluntly in response effectively silencing the Ignis as they too left the system.
(Real world)
"I wouldn't be too concerned, Sir." That voice belonged to a 16 year old male. He stood at roughly 5'10. His hair was coloured an icy blue, it was spiked and swept off to the left with white highlights at the end. His eyes were a dull grey colour. His attire consisted of an open snow white jacket that showed off the black shirt he had on underneath. He also wore grey trousers buckled by a silver belt and he also had white trainers on. Perhaps the most noticeable feature of the boy was the fact he was wearing a well-worn blue scarf around his neck.
Currently the male was twirling a king chess piece in his hands as he heard the voice on the other end of his phone sigh "You could've won that easily yet you didn't. Don't even think about failing again, Haizaki."
In response, Haizaki placed the king down on his board "Wouldn't dream of it, Sir."
"Good." Was all that was said before the call was disconnected.
Elsewhere, Yusaku had just stepped out of the access chamber and immediately went back to working with Shoichi.
"I still don't understand how he got his hand on a SOL program…" Shoichi said before he had an epiphany of sorts "Unless he was given it by someone at the company."
'Who would we know that would be the kind of person to that? Hmm…' Ai said, still trying to figure it out whilst Shoichi and Yusaku already had a suspected in mind.
"The question now is why he do something like this?"
A/N: So that was Chapter eight and it is likely to be the last for a while as I'm going to step away from writing for a bit to clear my head. But I'll certainly come back to this story.
Aside from that, I have nothing really special to say. Only the QOTC: What do you think of Seraph's introduction and how he's portrayed?
I'll see you next time.