Chapter 1: An Escape From Fate
"Beginning simulation number 3768764675." A yellow humanoid said in front of a digital screen. "Include the previous parameters. Now add the obedience of humanity and ignore the involvement of the Ignis." The screen reacted to its command and showed a wall of information.
"The same result again…" The yellow humanoid seemingly frowned from what it received. "Is there nothing that can change this result?" It ponders quietly before sighing.
Having enough of its tests, the yellow humanoid walked away from the digital screen to gaze around its home. The Cyberse World.
If someone were to see this world then they would describe this place as a utopian paradise. However, this utopian paradise is not a place where humans can reach. Why? Because the Cyberse World lies hidden deep within the network of the internet. This world is not a utopia for humans, but for digital beings known as an Ignis.
The world contained six vast landscapes representing its rulers with a giant tower in the middle that connects them. Around the tower is a digital city that expands right before each landscape in a hexagonal shape. At each end of the city is a unique floating monument that is connected by a data storm, a wind made out of data that blows within this world. The landscapes consist of a mountainous range, a vast ocean, a dark gorge, a windy valley, a raging volcano, and a golden plains.
The yellow humanoid is the ruler of the golden plains. He is known by its kind as the Light Ignis. His body is a light lemon yellow with dandelion yellow diamond markings on his body. He has an oval shaped head with two strands pointing in opposite directions and neon green eyes. He and his brethren have no mouth, but that doesn't hinder them as they can communicate verbally even without it.
Currently, the Light Ignis resides on top of a tower he formed in the middle of the golden landscape.
As he overlooks his domain atop his tower, he sees statuesque soldiers occupying the golden plains in an orderly fashion. The Armatos Legio monsters, the Light Ignis' own creation that was based on the Roman Legion of old.
The Ignis is not the only one that lives in the Cyberse World. The Cyberse World also contains Cyberse monsters made by the Ignis themselves as a way to manage their domain and fill this world with more inhabitants.
The sight of his creation soothes him before it was ruined by a familiar figure. It was one of his brethren, the Dark Ignis, bothering his creations
With an irritated sigh, the Light Ignis floats down towards the commotion to confront the resident outcast.
"Dark Ignis, just what are you doing here?" He said with a flat tone, hiding his irritation. "Are Wind and Water's domains not enough for your little… adventure?"
The Dark Ignis squealed in surprise. "GYAH! Oh it's just you…" He let out a relieved sigh. "Sheesh, don't surprise me like that."
The Dark Ignis is similar in stature but looks different compared to the Light Ignis. Like his namesake, his body is black with a purple tint and bright purple markings in the shape of lines and circles also cover it. His head is in the shape of a teardrop that's pointed towards the back and his eyes are yellow in color in the shape of an oval.
"I wasn't trying to surprise you. You were just too busy bothering my legion." Light replied.
"Oh right, I rarely come here so I was curious about your stuff." The Dark Ignis replied cheerfully. "I saw these soldier guys and thought they're kinda neat."
"Hmph, of course they are. They're my creation after all." Light said pridefully after hearing Dark's interest.
"Well they are neat but they're kind of… boring? They just go around here and there." Dark Ignis replied while crossing his arm.
And just like that Light's mood soured again. "Tch. What you call boring is efficient and effective. Unlike you I care about maintaining my domain." Light pointed out calmly but with hints of irritation in his tone. "Maybe if you would stop playing hooky and rule over your domain you won't get bored like this."
"My place is a giant empty gorge. What am I supposed to do with it?" Dark Ignis replied in a deadpan manner.
Light paused for a moment to think. There are some samples of creatures that the giant gorge could inhabit but not that much could thrive. Loath to admit but the Dark Ignis is kind of right on this one, not like he'd ever admit that in front of him though.
"...Cyberse bat monsters that cling to the cliffside?"
"Seriously?"
"Anything's better than what you're currently doing. All your monsters are spawned willy nilly around the world. Your domain is pretty much empty at this point of time."
"It's an empty gorge, there's nothing there for me to do!" Dark Ignis holds his head exasperatedly.
"Be creative, isn't that what you're good at?"
"Eugh, you're really stubborn you know that?" A bead of sweat dropped on the Dark Ignis' head.
"Of course. With you as the exception our domain grows and expands the Cyberse World. It's only natural that we nurture our home so-"
"Okay I don't want one of your lectures today. Even Water's scolding is more tolerable." He cut off Light swiftly before whistling towards the sky. "I'll head over to the ocean, if you want something from me you can go there!"
Shortly after a small purple spherical monster came from the sky and carried the Dark Ignis out of Light's domain.
"...Same as always. Carefree, laid-back, and annoying… like a human." Light muttered as he watched Dark Ignis leave.
"Tch." Light tapped the air and a digital screen appeared before him, displaying the same data he saw previously. "Is that why you have the most prosperous future with humanity?"
Light watched the screen silently.
The data within the screen showed 6 paths, each with its own branching route. Each of them growing longer and splitting off into different routes with the exception of one. The rightmost path, instead of growing like the others, begins cutting through the other paths, disrupting their intended result.
"Every single route, every single parameter, no matter what I change it's still the same." Light's expression turned into an ugly scowl.
"Not with humanity or even with my brethren! Is this supposed to be a joke?" Light smashed the digital screen into particles in anger. "Why is it only me? Each of them have conclusions that end with coexistence with humanity, why do mine intercept their progress and end with destruction! Is this supposed to be my fate?"
The Ignis calmed himself down after his fit of anger.
"If the others know this then… how would they react?" Light gaze towards the center of the world. His eyes then widened as he realized something important. "If Dr. Kogami knows about this then… damn!"
Light frantically opened another digital screen and issued a command. "Scan all information coming into SOL Technologies within the past year!" The screen complied and began processing.
A long list of information was given to Light and he quickly began combing through it with manic fear.
Filter unimportant information and exclude anything that doesn't relate to the Ignis. Pick out anything being sent by Dr. Kogami's ID number… damn it.
Light's fear came true as he saw a message from Dr. Kogami. A warning about the Ignis.
The message contained information Dr. Kogami obtained from his own simulations. One of the key things about the message is how the continued development of the Ignis would eventually lead them to humanity's destruction.
A sense of relief came to Light as the message only mentioned the Ignis as a group, not mentioning he was the cause of that. However, that relief soon turned to dread. The message didn't mention him as the cause of the result but for how long would they know? And even when they didn't know, the Ignis are already branded as a potential threat to humanity. Dr. Kogami and SOL Technologies could attack the Cyberse World at any time. The Cyberse World is no longer a safe place for him.
Should he warn the other Ignis about this? No, the Ignis banding together with him is what would bring destruction in the first place. Should he hide this information and bolster the Cyberse World's defense? Then the other Ignis could grow suspicious of him and sow a seed of distrust that ends in their infighting, another result he found in the simulation. Should he just leave? Then the Cyberse World could be attacked with the other 5 Ignis unprepared against the assault.
The Light Ignis couldn't help but chuckle grimly at his predicament. How laughable, the Ignis lauded by his brethren as their leader couldn't decide what choice he has to make. Band together and eventually become an enemy to humanity, defend his world in secrecy and potentially sowing a seed of distrust between the Ignis, or escape and leave his own brethren to the wolves.
Moments passed as the Light Ignis mull over his choices. With clearness in his mind, he finally made the decision. Light held his hand forward and a gateway opened in front of him. The Ignis gazed behind him and spoke to himself before entering the gate.
"I've made my choice. Sorry everyone, but I value my life more."
-O-
Somewhere within the real world. A blue haired man approaches a stern looking man that looks to be his superior.
"Dr. Kogami!" He called.
"Aso, what is it?" Dr. Kogami asked.
"One of the Ignis' signals disappeared from the Cyberse World." Aso informed the man.
"What?" The news surprised the doctor but he quickly cooled it. "Which Ignis disappeared?" He inquired.
"Based on what we've gathered it would seem that the Light Ignis has escaped the Cyberse World. We have already traced its signal and concluded that it is somewhere within Link Vrains."
"The Light Ignis?" Dr. Kogami cupped his chin as he pondered why Light, of all the Ignis, was the one who went out. There are no reasons for the Ignis to go outside the Cyberse World.
Yes the simulations showed that they are a threat but those simulations are of distant possible futures. Based on the results the Ignis won't be hostile until a long time so why is the Light Ignis… wait, the simulation.
"Could it be? Has it done a simulation of its future just as I did?" Kogami widened his eyes in realization.
It was entirely possible for the Ignis to make a simulation predicting its future. After all, they are an AI that would keep evolving. Seeing their potential future would pique their interest. But if the Light Ignis knows the result then… there's no telling what it would do. A sentient being who knows of its own grim future could be an unpredictable wild card. If the Ignis would lead to humanity's destruction then it must be taken care of before anything happens.
"Aso."
"Yes?"
"Contact SOL Technologies, work together with them to secure the Light Ignis. However, when it is secured, the Ignis must be eliminated."
"Sir?"
"I've informed SOL Technologies about the threat they possess, but none of them heeded my warning. SOL Technologies wants to monopolize the Ignis and the data material they produce. I fear they don't truly understand what is at stake here."
"Dr. Kogami… I understand."
"SOL Technologies would see this as a chance to imprison the Ignis and use them for their own use. Give them a lockdown system in the form of a duel monsters program and insert a virus that would eliminate the Ignis' data." Kogami explained.
"I see. It will be done sir!" Aso leaves to run his superior's plan.
"Ignis… my creation, I'm sorry. One way or another you have to be eliminated for humanity to survive."
-O-
On top of a tall building within Link Vrains' cyberspace, a small gateway opens. The Light Ignis came out of the gateway he made and looked around his position as he landed.
"This must be where the humans gather around." He looked down at the edge of the building, seeing several humanoids interacting with each other far below. Some have the normal appearance of a human and some look like a robot, animal, and other forms. "So that's the digital avatars they use here. How gaudy." Light commented.
The Ignis also noticed that even from afar, the humans with their avatars are bigger than him in size. If he were to calculate it, he would be around 15 centimeters in height, so much smaller than them. Perhaps he could make an avatar for himself later. But Light dismissed those thoughts for now, he has more important things to do.
"Now… where to go from here. SOL Technologies monitors Link Vrains so I can't stay here for long or else they discover my location. Perhaps creating a subspace is the best place to hide myself."
Particles of data began gathering from Light's palm. "A small scale hidden subspace should be simple enough for now. Neither SOL Technologies or Kogami should be able to- hmm?"
Light stopped himself as he saw several machines flying around the building. "That's… SOL Technologies' drones?" The drones suddenly flew towards him and began blaring alarm sounds. "What the- dammit! But I've just arrived here, how did they know I'm here!?"
The AI quickly leaves the building to escape. He should be able to lose them among the nooks and cranny of Link Vrains' digital buildings. He needs to lose them fast before one of SOL Tech's people comes for him.
The yellow Ignis flew all over Link Vrains to lose his pursuers, ignoring the onlookers who saw the chase. With each turn of the corner he loses more of the drones following him. With one last turn at a corner Light looks back to see the drones completely gone.
With the drones out of the way, particles began gathering in Light's palm again. I have to hurry. There's no telling when they'll find me again.
The space in front of the Ignis began to distort, creating what seems to be a crack in the air. A simple crack should be good enough for the entrance, the Ignis thought. Nothing too big nor small that anyone could detect, plus he's adding a stealth program to make sure the crack stays hidden from prying eyes.
Just a little more. Light thought as the process is near its end. From here he can calmly plan his next moves.
"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here." A voice called out suddenly.
Oh you've gotta be kidding me. It's almost done. Light turns to the source of the voice. A masked man in a hooded black uniform is approaching him casually with a smile. Tch. Looks like I have to find another place.
The Ignis turns around to flee again but then something stops him from moving away from the mysterious man. He can move his own body just fine but he can't move past this place.
"Now, now. I can't have you escaping to god knows where." The man jovially spoke.
Light ignores the man and analyzes the area to see what's stopping him. "Duel monsters program?" Light muttered.
"Notice that, didn't you? I figured since you Ignis are AIs modeled from duel monsters data then this would be perfect." The man casually explains.
"Y-you…" Light trailed off, surprised by the man's last sentence. "The people who know about our creations are… who the hell are you?"
"Me? I'm just a simple enforcer from SOL Technologies. Nothing less, nothing more. You can call me Six." The man replied with a smile.
"SOL Technologies' enforcer? I knew it! You must have received a message from Kogami and you're here to end me!" Light shouted angrily towards the man.
Oh he snapped, that's something. So this is how the Ignis could act… interesting. The man mused. The man brandished a device on his left arm and spoke. "Your only choice to escape is by beating me in a duel."
The device attached to Six's left arm is what is called a duel disk. A piece of equipment that is used to play duel monsters. The device is circular in shape with a purple body and blue orb that is circled by a gold outline in the middle. The device also connects to a gold colored panel on the section facing away from him. On the right side of the device is a slot that is filled with a deck of cards.
"Master duel rulings with 4000 life points. Now are you going to duel or are you going to accept your fate?" Six taunted.
Though the man didn't know it, he unknowingly triggered the Ignis with his last bit. "You think I would let you come and erase me just like that? Like hell you will! I'll duel you, I'll win, and I'll survive!" Light shouted.
"Whoo, feisty! Then prepare to duel Ignis. But… can you even duel with that tiny body of yours." Six commented, seeing the Ignis' small body.
"Keep your thoughts to yourself human." Light replied coldly. "I can easily take care of this." Behind the Light Ignis, data began to gather to form a humanoid shape with a copy of Six's duel disk on its left arm.
"Huh… convenient." Six mused as the Light Ignis hovered over the humanoid's shoulder.
"Know this, the Cyberse monsters we Ignis created are not only mere digital monsters. They are also cards we can use in duel monsters." Light pointed out. "So prepare yourself to be beaten by my perfect creation!"
"So a whole new archetype huh?" The man said with a wide grin. "Then I'm looking forward to it. I'm a pretty good duelist y'know?"
"Duel!"
The two shouted together upon activating their respective duel disk. A flat digital blade appears in front of the duel disk's panel and the two draw 5 cards as the duel begins.
Light Ignis: 4000 LP
Six: 4000 LP
"Since I ambushed you, it only makes sense that I go first." Six said jokingly. Let's scope out what you can do first, Ignis. The man thought.
"When my opponent has nothing on their side of the field, I can special summon Hack Worm from my hand. I special summon Hack Worm in defense position." A brown mechanical worm with green linings across its body appears on the field.
Hack Worm (ATK: 400/DEF: 0/LV: 1)
"Then I normal summon Jack Wyvern from my hand." This time a gray mechanical wyvern with green linings on its body appears on the field.
Jack Wyvern (ATK: 1800/DEF: 0/LV: 4)
"I set one card face-down and end my turn."
Light observed the monsters Six summoned before scoffing. "If that's all you have to show for your opening hand then I'm disappointed. Now watch my glorious legion destroy your pathetic monsters!"
He sure is full of himself, is this normal for the Ignis AIs?
"My turn. Draw! I summon Armatos Legio Sica to my field." A marble statue of a dagger wielding warrior appears on Light's field.
Armatos Legio Sica (ATK: 0/DEF: 400/LV: 1)
A monster with 0 attack? Either it has good effects or there's something else. The enforcer speculates.
"From my hand, I activate the field spell Armatos Colosseum." Around the duelist, an image of a golden arena forms around them before disappearing. "When Armatos Colosseum is activated, I can add one Armatos Legio monster from the deck to my hand. I choose to add Armatos Legio Gladius!"
"Now watch my legion's true power! Appear! The circuit that guides the light!"
A portal with 8 arrowheads appears above the duelist as the Ignis chanted.
"The summoning condition is one level 4 or lower Armatos Legio monster." The soldier statue flew towards the portal, entering the arrowhead pointing at the bottom. "Link summon! Appear before me, Link 1 Armatos Legio Decurion!" An imposing gladius wielding gladiator donning a red cape jumps out of the portal.
Armatos Legio Decurion (ATK: 1000/LINK-1 [↓])
"I activate Armatos Colosseum's effect. First I can send a level 4 or lower Armatos Legio in my hand to the graveyard. Then I can special summon as many Armatos Legio as possible from the graveyard in defense position different from the one I sent next to my Armatos Legio Link monster's link arrow. I send Armatos Legio Galea to the graveyard to special summon Armatos Legio Sica to Decurion's links." The dagger wielding statue reappears.
Armatos Legio Sica (ATK: 0/DEF: 400/LV: 1)
"From my hand, I activate Armatos Legio Speculata's effect. I can send to the graveyard an Armatos Legio monster other than Speculata to special summon itself. I send Armatos Legio Scutum to the Graveyard to special summon Speculata in defense position." A marble statue of a hooded warrior appears on the field.
Armatos Legio Speculata (ATK: 0/DEF: 1800/LV: 5)
"Appear once more! The circuit that guides the light!" The arrowhead portal appears again.
"The summoning condition is 2 Armatos Legio monsters." Sica and Speculata flew towards the arrowhead pointing left and right. "Links summon! Appear before me, Link 2 Armatos Legio Centurion!" A white armored warrior with a two-horned helmet and green cape came out of the portal wielding a black spear.
Armatos Legio Centurion (ATK: 1700/LINK-2 [←][→])
"I activate Armatos Colosseum's effect again. I send Armatos Legio Gladius to the graveyard to special summon Sica and Scutum in defense positions next to Centurion's links!" The dagger wielding statue came back to the field alongside a warrior statue holding a shield.
Armatos Legio Sica (ATK: 0/DEF: 400/LV: 1)
Armatos Legio Scutum (ATK: 0/DEF: 1800/LV: 3)
Six whistled as he saw Light's field. "Hoo… a swarming deck that focuses on link summoning. Interesting but I can't help but notice their attack is a bit low there. Can they even beat Jack Wyvern?"
"Don't underestimate my legion yet! Battle!" Light declared. "I attack Jack Wyvern with Centurion!" The warrior brandished its black spear and charged at the mechanical wyvern.
Jack Wyvern's attack is 1800 and his Centurion's is 1700. He's quite confident so his monster must have a good effect to get over it. Six observed.
"At this moment, Sica's effect activates! When an Armatos Legio monster that is linked to this card attacks a monster, I can destroy that monster without battle calculation! Begone!" With Sica's aid Centurion plunged its spear into the wyvern's body, causing a large explosion.
"Next I attack Hack Worm with Decurion!" Decurion slashed the mechanical worm in twain, causing another explosion.
Six braced himself from the force of the explosions. "Effects by linking your effect monsters… so that's how your deck works." He mused.
"Impressed? By forming battle formations my Armatos Legio can gain various effects to aid me. Your pathetic monsters are no match for my legion!" Light boasted. "With this I end my turn."
"Hmhm~ let's see if i can come back from this." The man hummed, unconcerned with his now empty monster field. "My turn. Draw!" The enforcer grinned after seeing what he drew. "I activate the spell Pot of Desires from my hand! Its effect allows me to banish 10 cards from the top of my deck face-down to draw 2 cards."
Light saw a glint behind Six's mask as he drew his cards. He must've drawn a good one.
"By paying 1000 life points I can activate this continuous spell, Dragonoid Generator!"
Six: 4000 → 3000 LP
"During the main phase, I can special summon 1 Dragonoid Token in attack position by this spell's effect. In exchange I can't special summon from the extra deck for the rest of this turn. Dragonoid Generator allows this effect to be used twice so I special summon 2 Dragonoid Tokens in defense position!" Two winged statues with the bottom half shaped like an upside down chess bishop and the upper half having a dragon's head and claws appear on Six's field.
Dragonoid Token (ATK: 300/DEF: 300/LV: 1)
Dragonoid Token (ATK: 300/DEF: 300/LV: 1)
He blocks his own extra deck in exchange for summoning tokens… There's only one thing to come from this. "Tribute summon." Light deduced. Monsters requiring 2 tributes are usually strong. Light should be wary of this but he keeps his cool. Whatever it is, Centurion has an effect that can stop him.
"I use these tokens as a sacrifice to tribute summon. Appear before us, Cracking Dragon!" Six shouted as a large shadow loomed over the field. A massive mechanical dark green dragon with six bladed wings that's connected to six green orbs appears on the field, roaring loudly as if to announce its presence.
Cracking Dragon (ATK: 3000/DEF: 0/LV: 8)
"How do you like that? This is a little gift from the good doctor himself. I have to say, I like this gift a lot."
The good doctor? That can only be… Kogami! The Ignis fumed inwardly.
"This dragon easily trumps over your monsters!" Six exclaimed but he noticed that the Ignis was undisturbed by his dragon. "Oh my, you're still calm after seeing this?"
"Hmph, of course." Light scoffed dismissively. The Ignis then points towards the human in a mocking way. "Let me tell you this, human. Scutum's effect would force you to attack Centurion and once per turn Centurion can negate an attack aimed towards my Armatos Legio monster. Your battle phase will be wasted this turn, that dragon will be destroyed by Sica's effect next turn, and then you'll lose. Give up, this battle has already been decided!" Light declared arrogantly.
"Oh… is that so?" Six replied with the same jovial tone he has from the beginning. Light has to admit, the man's nonchalant behaviour is starting to disturb him. "Well… Now that I know their effects I activate this. Dark Ruler No More."
A white beam blasts through all of Light's monsters, leaving them in a weakened state. "My legion! What did you do to them?" Light exclaimed.
"Dark Ruler No More is a spell that negates the effect of all my opponent's monsters. However, for the rest of this turn you won't take any damage. A pretty nice exchange huh? Now I don't have to worry about Centurion's effect."
"Y-youuuu!" Light seethe in anger and disbelief.
"Next I activate the equip spell, Air Cracking Storm. This spell can only be equipped to a machine type monster so I equip this to Cracking Dragon." The Dragon roared as a blue mechanical device was attached to its body. "Now it's time to battle!" Six declared. "Cracking Dragon, attack Centurion! Traffic Blast!" Cracking Dragon unleashed a breath of blue flames that engulfed the warrior.
"My Centurion!"
"Air Cracking Storm's effect activates! When a monster equipped with this spell destroys an opponent's monster by battle, it can attack for a second time!"
"What!?" The AI gasped.
"Go! Attack Decurion!" Cracking Dragon cranes its head towards the gladiator and engulfed it in flames as it did before with its ally. "Heh… you know, if you didn't tell me their effects I would've attacked normally instead. So thanks for the tip." Six genuinely thanked the AI which irritates him in return.
"Damn you…!" Light quickly assesses what he can do to salvage his situation.
On his field he still has Sica and Scutum and in his hand is another Armatos Legio Scutum. He could summon another Decurion and link Sica by Colosseum''s effect, however without Centurion to negate an attack Decurion can be easily beaten if Six ever drew something like his Jack Wyvern. He couldn't summon another Centurion right away because it would be summoned to the extra monster zone where the left and right links are useless. He needs something on his field right now, either to stall or to beat over the dragon and the rest of Six's monster.
…There is one that has the same attack power as that dragon. Light recalled the card in his extra deck.
"Yes… this could work." The Ignis muttered as he made his plan. "My turn, draw!" The Ignis would've grinned if he had a mouth. "Heh. I summon Armatos Legio Scutum to my field!"
Armatos Legio Scutum (ATK: 0/DEF: 1800/LV: 3)
"You Fool! Cracking Dragon's effect activates!" Light stopped as he heard the man exclaim, did the dragon have some sort of destruction effect? Damn it, he didn't account for-
His panic and horror was cut off when the man laughed out loud. "Hehehe. Sorry but that look on your face is priceless!" Six pretended to wipe a tear from his eyes. "Unfortunately, due to your monster having 0 attacks and you using Link monsters, Cracking Dragon's effect is useless."
The Ignis gave the man a glare full of disdain. "I'm going to enjoy destroying you." Light spoke with seething rage. "Appear! The circuit that guides the light! Link summon! With Sica as the material, I summon Decurion to the field!"
Armatos Legio Decurion (ATK: 1000/LINK-1 [↓])
"Appear again! The circuit that guides the light! The summoning condition is 2 Armatos Legio monsters including a link monster." Decurion and one of the Scutum flew to the arrowhead pointing up and bottom-left.
"Link summon! Appear, Link 2 Armatos Legio Primi Ordines!" A black armored warrior donning a green cape and wielding a similar black spear to Centurion appears out of the portal.
Armatos Legio Primi Ordines (ATK: 1800/LINK-1 [↑][↙])
"Primi Ordines' effect! During my main phase, I can target 1 level 4 or lower Armatos Legio from my graveyard and special summon them to the zone this card points to. I special summon Gladius from my graveyard!" A warrior statue wielding a Gladius appears on Light's field.
Armatos Legio Gladius (ATK: 0/DEF: 800/LV: 2)
"Hmm~ are you going to get Centurion again?" The masked man curiously asked.
"No, what I'm summoning is even stronger. This monster will be the instrument of your destruction!" Light declared. "Appear for the last time! The circuit that guides the light! The summoning condition is 3 or more Armatos Legio monsters." A shadow of Primi Ordines appears next to it before flying towards the arrowhead portal with Gladius and Scutum. The monsters enter the arrowhead pointing up, left, right, and down.
"Link summon! The commander that advances on the chaotic network battlefield! Appear before me! The ultimate Armatos Legio, Link 4 Armatos Legio Magnus Dux!" From out of the arrowhead portal arrives a warrior clad in golden armor sitting on a throne at the back of a massive white elephant donning golden armor with two cannons on its back.
Armatos Legio Magnus Dux (ATK: 3000/LINK-4 [↑][←][→][↓])
"How's that? Gaze upon my strongest monster! Against Magnus Dux your monster is nothing but weaklings!" The Ignis exclaims.
"A link 4 with 3000 attacks? That sure looks powerful." Six whistled, impressed by the monster.
"With this it's your loss, human! I activate Armatos Coloss-"
"Unfortunately, I can't let you do that." The masked man cut off the Ignis mid-action "Sorry Ignis, it's been fun but this duel is ending in my victory." The face-down card on Six's field opens. "I activate the counter trap, Solemn Strike." A lightning bolt strikes the armored elephant, it roared as the lightning erased all trace of its existence.
"What!? Magnus Dux!" Light reached out as his ace monster was destroyed.
"When a monster is special summoned or a monster effect activates, I can pay 1500 life points to negate its summon or effect and destroy that card." Six explains.
Six: 3000 → 1500 LP
"My… my Magnus Dux… damn you!" Light yelled in frustration.
"Phew, good thing I saved that card at the right moment. A second Centurion was my initial target but that big elephant is good too."
His normal summon has been used, his ace monster is destroyed, and now he can't do anything. He… he lost. "Kuh… damn it… I end my turn." Light begrudgingly ended his turn.
"Aww, now I feel bad. My turn, draw." Six drew his card and used it right away. "I summon Jack Wyvern to my field."
Jack Wyvern (ATK: 1800/DEF: 0/LV: 4)
"This is the end of our duel. Battle." At his order. Jack Wyvern and Cracking dragon unleashed their breath and engulfed Light and his humanoid avatar.
"GUAAAAH!"
Light Ignis: 4000 → 0 LP
The Ignis fell to the ground from the impact of the attack and his avatar dissipates into data.
The monsters on the field disappear as the duel ends. However, Cracking Dragon stayed. The man raised a brow but didn't pay any mind to it, the duel system is probably a bit glitched he thought.
Six approached the fallen AI and held his duel disk over him. "Alright Ignis, it's time to go."
"Guh… I… I refuse!" The AI rejected, even in a weakened state. "I won't let you!" A bright light shined from the Ignis, making the enforcer cover his eyes. When the shine fades, Six sees that he is trapped within a cage and the weakened Ignis is floating in front of him.
"A restraining program?" The man tried to force himself out but to no avail.
"H-heh… I made this program quickly when I was about to lose. You may have beaten me but I won't let myself be killed that easily! Hahahahaha!" The Ignis gloated as he slowly floated away from the area.
Right as he was about to leave however, the Ignis noticed a large shadow looming over him. Light turned only to see the gaping maw of Cracking Dragon.
"Huh, Cracking Dragon?" Six muttered in confusion as he saw the dragon.
"Wha-" The dragon snapped its jaw and a chunk of the AI's body is gone. "Huh…?" The Ignis muttered, stupefied by what just happened before screaming in pain. "GYAAAAAAAA!"
"What the?!" Six exclaimed in surprise. "Cracking Dragon, stop!" The masked man fidget his duel disk, trying to stop his summoned monster but to no avail as it keeps consuming the AI. "The order is to capture the AI, not destroy it! What's going on?!"
"No! I can't- I can't die here, not like this! Damn you human!" The Ignis screamed in terror as it was being consumed. He flailed around trying to save himself but his resistance was useless in the face of the dragon. "AAAAARGH!" With one last bite the dragon fully consumed him. Cracking Dragon finally disappears, as if consuming the AI is all it wants to do.
The program restraining Six disappears and he rushes towards the scene of the massacre. He scans the area only to receive nothing of the AI's data.
"Shit, I messed up." Six's mood soured after his failure to get the Ignis. He pulled out Cracking Dragon's card from his duel disk and frowned. "Why… no, the question is how? How did this card stay after the duel ended and attack the Ignis?" The man questioned. He thought it was just a glitch before but it looks like it was something else. "What would happen if I analyzed you?" The man scanned the card and gasped at what he discovered. "There's a virus program in this!?"
He analyzed the program further and found what it's used for. The program would trigger when a duel with an Ignis occurred. Even if he lost that duel the program would run anyway and attack the Ignis, ensuring its elimination.
"Who put it in here- wait, Doctor Kogami gifted this card." The man recalls how he received the card. One of the doctor's assistants, Aso if he recalls, gave this to him and said the card is from the doctor himself before he departed. "If they were the one to put this program then…" The enforcer's features hardened. "Looks like I have to inform my superior." With that, the masked man disappears in a burst of data.
Unknowingly to him, there was a faint light emanating from the crack Light made previously. The unfinished subspace Light made earlier. It may be unfinished but its stealth program is functional enough to fool data scan and somehow parts of Light's data managed to enter as he was torn to pieces by the dragon.
However, bits and pieces are not enough for the Ignis to piece himself together. Unfortunately, the Ignis may have survived the ordeal but now he merely exists within his subspace, unable to do anything.
His last thoughts before being unable to hold his consciousness is that of the Cyberse World, his domain, his brethren, the simulation's result, Dr. Kogami, and that damnable human that did this to him.
But… all his anger and malice is useless now. All he can do is… sleep.
-O-
There was a sudden disturbance in the Cyberse World. The remaining Ignis stop what they're doing, even the aloof Dark Ignis. Something was off, an unfamiliar cold feeling crept up to them. It was as if a part of themselves had suddenly been ripped out.
"Light?"
-O-
Doctor Kogami waited inside an empty room. This was something he expected would happen. SOL's enforcer found out about the virus program and reported it to the higher ups. But… he didn't regret it, it was something that had to be done.
The room suddenly lit up and 5 giant digital avatars appeared before him. These avatars are what SOL Tech's higher-ups used when conducting a meeting digitally in Link Vrains. The avatars are made out of chess pieces, specifically a Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, and King. The pieces are also their codename coincidentally.
"Doctor Kogami. It's a shame we had to meet in this condition." King said.
"King." Kogami acknowledged with a nod. "Indeed it is."
"So it's true? You installed a virus that erased the Light Ignis?" The queen chess piece interject. "Don't you realize how valuable the Ignis' data material is to SOL Technologies?" She asked with more heat.
"Of course, I was the one who made them. That is also why I had to do it." Kogami replied, which irritates Queen.
"Then you don't deny it?" Bishop asked.
"No, I do not." The Doctor shook his head.
"Dammit Kogami! Those Ignis you made in your secret project are too valuable now! We covered the Hanoi Project and only imprisoned you, now you want to delete the Ignis you made? Why?" Queen lashed out.
"I've already given you the reason why I'm doing this."
"Ah, those simulation results of yours." Knight chimed in. "Even if that could happen, there's no guarantee that it would come true right?" She tried to reason.
"Those results were made upon millions of simulations. If the Ignis were to continue existing they would lead to humanity's downfall." Kogami explained.
King sighed at his response. "Once you've changed your mind there's no going back huh?"
"No." Kogami shook his head.
"Rook, you've been quiet this whole time. Got anything to say?" Queen asked the Rook piece.
"Nothing in particular, no. The Light Ignis is gone but the others still exist, yes? Then we can still get their data material." Rook said.
The Doctor's features hardened after hearing Rook. "So in the end all of you only care about the data material."
"Of course we are." Knight said. "What do you expect us to say? Thanks to your AI's data material SOL Technologies rose against all of our competition. In addition to that we've managed to gain the support of Kaiba Corp and Industrial Illusion in order to create Link Vrains."
"Kogami, I think you've been wallowing in your simulations for too long." Bishop said. "You're so busy looking forward that you never have the time to see what path you're taking right now."
A small frown found itself onto Kogami's stoic face. "So that's your stance on this?" He asked sternly. The silence they give is answer enough. "Then this discussion is over." Kogami walked away from the chess pieces.
"And just where are you going, Kogami?" King asked.
Kogami paused and turned his head to the King piece. "To continue my research on the Ignis." He answered.
"Sorry Kogami, but this is not a simple discussion." A cage materialized around Kogami, trapping him inside.
"King? This is-"
"Your punishment." King simply said. "If we leave you alone, this incident with the Ignis would repeat again and we simply can't have that. I'm sorry, but your services are hereby terminated."
The cage began to rumble and particles of data swarmed at Kogami. "Th-this is?!"
"A special virus we cooked up to take care of someone like you." Queen said. "It will sever the link between your real body and consciousness in Link Vrains. And after that, the virus is going to fracture your consciousness data all over Link Vrains' server. This is goodbye, Kogami." She explained with gleeful malice.
Kogami screamed in pain as the virus began its work. He can feel the connection to his body being cut off.
Before the virus could fracture his data, Kogami quickly sent a message to his loyal assistant. Please get this message Aso.
I'm sorry Ryoken. Kogami spent his last thoughts on his son before the virus ran its course. His body disperses in a cloud of data and the cage is left with nothing.
-O-
Not far from the Ignis' subspace, a young boy approached the area where it was located. The boy was just passing by the area at first but while idly strolling through Link Vrains he noticed something peculiar. The space he was looking at looks almost distorted, very hard to see it but it's definitely noticeable.
"Is this… a bug? Didn't know SOL Tech is tardy with their maintenance." The boy mused as he examined the supposed bug. The boy held his left arm to activate his duel disk and a digital keyboard appeared from it. It took him a good amount of tweaking with his keyboard before finding out what the bug is supposed to be.
"This is… a stealth program? Is there something behind here?" The boy wondered. Too curious to leave it alone, he began to try and crack the program. It took him quite a while but he managed to do it. The program was interesting, it was very good and almost hard to crack but it felt like it was… incomplete. Did they want people to find it or just don't care enough to make a good program for it?
The stealth program covering the "Bug" disappears and the boy is met by a small crack in the air. It was way too small for a human avatar to come in so the boy guessed that this is probably something for storing data. Maybe some hacker left something here?
"Let's see what's inside you…" Possible violation of a hacker's property aside, he was already too deep in this to back out. The boy forcefully opens the crack and finds… something? He was not sure how to put it. It looks like a cluster of data to him but seeing it up close just felt… off.
The boy looked around to check that no one was watching him and grinned. "Yoink." He gleefully gathers everything inside the crack into his duel disk.
"Now what are you?" The boy opens the data cluster in his duel disk. His eyes widened as he saw complex algorithms that he did not understand. The data was mystifying to the boy, he stared and stared and stared but nothing he saw made any sense to him. How fascinating.
"Oh?" The boy then noticed something about the cluster of data. It may be too complex for him to understand now but he can obviously see that this cluster of data used to be whole. Bits and pieces missing, some lines of programming being cut off suddenly. "Weird."
Did the creator do something to this? Was it deemed a failure so the creator scrapped and dumped it in Link Vrains? Just what is this thing he found? Thousands of questions formed in his mind, but no one to answer it. No matter though, he can worry about it later. All he needs to know right now is that this is too interesting and he wants to fix this data.
"I don't know what you are but I promise when I'm done with you, you'll be whole again." The boy declared with a wide grin.