Chapter 4: Three Things
Blue Angel pointed at Morningstar. "Morningstar! I challenge you to a duel!"
She smiled at him as Frog and Pigeon watched behind her. "Oh, a duel between Blue Angel and Morningstar!" Frog said excitedly. "It won't be as interesting as a duel between her and Playmaker, but the ratings will be through the roof!"
"It looks like we may get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here, people!" the MC said in Den City's main square. The television screens behind him showed a smiling Blue Angel and an emotionless Morningstar. "A duel between LINK VRAINS' Duel Idol and its most legendary hunter! This is so exciting!"
Yusaku Fujiki watched from next to Café Nagi. His expression was as emotionless as Morningstar's. A part of him wondered if Morningstar would surprise him. Of course, if he was right about Morningstar's character, he already knew what was going to happen.
Morningstar looked at Blue Angel as he mulled something over in his head. I sensed something over here. It felt like when Hanoi attacked LINK VRAINS a few days ago. But that presence is gone now. Did it notice me and flee, or did Blue Angel and the reporters scare it away?
He refocused on Blue Angel and gave his answer.
"No." He turned and walked away.
"Eh?" Blue Angel said, surprised at that. She hadn't expected that. Neither had Frog, Pigeon, the MC, or anyone else except Cam, who was watching from the back room of Café Junpei, and Yusaku.
"O-Oi!" she said, annoyed at him as she placed her hands on her hips. "Didn't you hear me? I challenged you to a duel!"
"I heard you," he said, continuing to walk away. "I just don't care. There's no benefit to us dueling. Besides," he glanced back at her, his eyes narrowed, "I don't accept challenges from those who duel only for self-satisfaction."
Blue Angel growled a little, insulted while confused at what he said. Dueling only for self-satisfaction? What did he mean by that?
"And anyway," he finished, "dueling me won't make him acknowledge you."
Blue Angel gasped as she watched Morningstar log out. Who was he talking about? Did he mean Playmaker? Or did he…
"Well, that was unexpected," Frog said, sighing as he and Pigeon turned to Blue Angel. "Call me if Playmaker shows up. I have another assignment-." That was all he said before Pigeon flew away, carrying Frog with him. Blue Angel watched them leave, then sighed in disappointment.
"Playmaker hasn't shown up." She looked behind her at the voice. It was a man in a white suit, his face hidden in shadow.
"Who are you?" she asked him. "Are you a Knight of Hanoi?"
"Hello," Specter said. "Duel world's idol, Blue Angel." He seemed to walk towards her as the area around them shifted into a purple pattern. Blue Angel braced herself as his image got larger, striking her and breaking into pieces.
"Your passion towards Playmaker…" she turned around and saw him over her shoulder. He had blue eyes and grey hair. She backed away, only to bump into something. She turned around again and faced him. "… has deeply impressed me. I'm a fan of yours. A passionate fan."
"You're obviously lying!" Blue Angel, confused and annoyed.
"I'm not lying." This time he appeared beneath her, his image spread over the floor. His face got larger as he said, "I just want you to defeat Playmaker." He reappeared behind her and threw a card at her. She turned around fast enough for it to strike her chest.
"That card will open a door deep in your heart," Specter said. "A key that frees your hidden desires. Good luck." He faded away as Blue Angel's Duel Disk glowed purple and she returned to the rooftop. She breathed heavily, not remembering what just happened.
"What am I doing up here?"
Yasutake stretched as he walked down the stairs into the kitchen. Cam was making coffee and pancakes.
"Morning," Cam said, nodding at Yasutake.
"Morning," Yasutake responded, heading over to Cam's other side and getting a plate and fork for himself. He took a few of the pancakes that were already done and sat down at the island in the kitchen. As he ate, Cam kept talking.
"You know, there are a bunch of nasty comments on the net about you declining Blue Angel's challenge," he said, keeping one eye on the frying pan and the other on Yasutake, who shrugged in response.
"I don't care what they say about me. I'm not in this for good publicity."
"Well, I'd prefer that to what they're saying," Cam said, smirking. "I went through a few of them last night. The nicest ones called you a chicken, a coward, and basically said a true duelist accepts all challenges."
"And the worst?"
"Contained language that I'm not comfortable repeating to you," Cam said, then frowned. "You said Blue Angel only duels for self-satisfaction. What did you mean?"
Yasutake finished chewing his piece of pancake before he answered. "Zaizen spoke to me on the way to school yesterday. She said her brother doesn't trust her. From that, I inferred that she duels to prove to her brother that she can take care of herself. In other words, she duels for attention." He scowled at that. "Such a stupid reason to duel. Until she realizes that, Blue Angel isn't worth dueling."
"That's a little harsh, isn't it?"
"Maybe. But it's necessary. She won't grow as a person until she learns to fight for a worthy cause."
"And what to you is a worthy cause?"
"Fighting for others' sake," Yasutake answered. "Like I do for you and Sachi, and Go Onizuka does for the orphanage. That, or fighting for herself."
"…Isn't that contradictory?"
"A little," Yasutake admitted, looking uncomfortable momentarily. "What I mean is fighting not for the sake of the attention or praise of others, but for your own dignity. Because you enjoy it. Dueling like that… is what I wish I could do."
Cam sighed. "I wish you could do that, too, Yasu. Do you think she'll understand what you meant?"
"Probably not," Yasutake said, shrugging as he turned back to his pancakes. "People never seem to understand when someone tries to help them by insulting them."
"I wonder why that is," Cam said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "In any event, you'll see her at school today. Maybe you could do something to make it up to her."
"I'm not going to school today," Yasutake said, not looking up as Cam turned around and stared at him.
"Why?"
Yasutake stopped moving, his eyes on his plate. "If I run into Shima or Zaizen, they'll want to know what happened in the VR duel yesterday."
"Ah," Cam said, understanding. There was no way Yasutake could answer their questions. Nor would he want to. "So you're staying here today? You know you'll have to go back to school eventually."
"By then, I'll have developed a cover story," Yasutake said, cutting into his pancake again. "Besides, there's something I need to look into." Or someone.
Yasutake typed into the computer and frowned. He'd looked up as much information as he could on Yusaku Fujiki, but it was annoyingly sparse. He found a picture of him, an address – somewhere downtown – and a phone number. He'd managed to hack into the school's database to check Yusaku's grades and found them to be rather low. He had several absences and reports of falling asleep in class, but his scores were just high enough to keep him from failing. He was also not registered for any clubs – except Duel Club – suggesting that his social life was almost nonexistent.
This matches the pattern I suspected when I saw his Deck, Yasutake thought, leaning back in his chair. One: Playmaker does not want to stand out in the real world, so he pretends to be a slacker. Two: Playmaker is a highly skilled duelist, so in the real world he pretends to be an amateur duelist, so he won't be suspected. Three: He maintains a distance from others so that others can't reveal his identity and they can't be used against him in turn.
Of course, it was entirely possible that Yusaku actually was a poor and lazy student and an amateur duelist, but Yasutake was naturally suspicious enough to consider him a prime suspect.
I could rat his identity to Bishop or Akira Zaizen, and they could use their resources to investigate him, Yasutake thought, then shook his head. SOL Technologies isn't very subtle. If they investigate him, Hanoi will find out. And if it turns out he isn't Playmaker, then I'll just ruin his life for no reason.
"C'mon, everybody!"
Yasutake looked up at the voice of the MC. Whenever they were back here, he and Cam left the news on so that they would know what was going on in LINK VRAINS.
"Blue Angel vs Playmaker is finally starting! Yeah! The greatest battle in history is here!"
What? Yasutake started at the screen. Sure enough, it showed Blue Angel and Playmaker riding a data stream. Why was Playmaker dueling Blue Angel? He hadn't shown up when she'd challenged him yesterday. Had something changed?
I don't like this, Yasutake thought as he stood up and walked into the sealed room. Whatever was going on, he needed to see it first-hand. He took out his Deck and inserted it into his Duel Disk. "Deck set! Into the VRAINS!"
Morningstar found himself on a rooftop overlooking the data stream. As he looked down, he saw Blue Angel and Playmaker race past him. Seeing they were too fast, he released the drone and programmed it to follow them.
Whatever Playmaker is up to, I'll find out, Morningstar thought, then frowned as something hit him. When Fujiki joined Duel Club, he sat behind Zaizen. Did he join because of her? And if he is Playmaker, does he know Zaizen is Blue Angel?
His thoughts on that were interrupted by the duel. He had to admit that while Blue Angel's reasons for dueling were worthless, her skills were certainly first-rate. She dealt 400 points of damage on her first turn and summoned a Link Monster with 2000 attack points. When Playmaker started his turn, she inflicted more damage and raised her Holly Angel's attack points. Certainly impressive. That said, Morningstar could do without the winking and laughing at the camera. She might be an idol, but did she have to act ridiculous?
Playmaker, on the other hand, was taking it seriously. Morningstar watched as he performed three consecutive Link Summons, but he wasn't impressed. He'd seen him do it before against Go Onizuka. Morningstar himself had done it against Go and Watcher. He was impressed, however, by Blue Angel's strategy to take down Decode Talker. Even though Playmaker prevented its destruction by battle, she destroyed it with a Trap Card. Not bad, Zaizen. Now if only she could duel for a real reason.
"My turn! Draw!" When she drew the card, Morningstar felt something. What the-? What was that?
That presence, he thought as he narrowed his eyes. That's the same presence I felt yesterday before Blue Angel appeared. It's Hanoi!
Blue Angel, for her part, seemed to also notice something, but she brushed it off and refocused on the duel. Morningstar, meanwhile, activated the drone's scanner. If she did have a Hanoi card, it wouldn't pick it up until she played it, but if he got a sample of the code, he could find out what Hanoi wanted with Blue Angel. And why she had a card from them in the first place.
Morningstar watched as Blue Angel's Lilybell attacked Playmaker directly and knocked him off his D-Board. Fortunately for him, he grabbed a ledge and teleported back to his D-Board. Good. Falling from that height could cause damage to his real body.
He watched with increasing concern as Blue Angel's D-Board started wobbling. Hanoi's card was starting to affect her. He looked at the scanner. It was getting a small signal, but it wasn't strong enough to get a sample. She'd have to play it first.
That concern temporarily turned into a smirk as he watched Playmaker dive headfirst into a data tornado. He knew what he was doing. His Life Points were 800, so he was using his Skill to add a random Link Monster to his Extra Deck.
I'll have to prevent that when I duel him, Morningstar thought. Either keep his Life Points above 1000. Or just challenge him to a Master Duel. No Skills that way.
He also noticed that Blue Angel was annoyed about Playmaker using his Skill. She hadn't seen that coming. He kept watching as Playmaker Link Summoned Encode Talker. A Light version of Decode Talker? Morningstar narrowed his eyes. There was no way that was random. The AI in Playmaker's Duel Disk must be helping him choose the right Link Monsters somehow.
Even without the AI, Playmaker was covering all his bases. He negated the damage Blue Angel tried to inflict with her Skill and placed a counter on the monster responsible.
"It's not over! I still have one final card!"
Morningstar narrowed his eyes again. This was it.
Blue Angel suddenly became very quiet as she used the effect of a card called Dark Angel. Then, her voice dropped an octave as she explained the card's effect, her limbs moving like a rag doll. Morningstar zoomed the drone's camera in on her eyes. He gasped.
They were lifeless. No light shone from them. Just like Sachi's.
He quickly looked at the scanner. Yes, that was it! The code behind Hanoi's card. He quickly copied a portion of it, then started running. He needed to get close. Whatever Hanoi's card was doing, it wasn't going to end well. He kept the drone's camera on, though, so he could see what was happening.
Playmaker countered her use of Dark Angel with Encode Talker's effect. Apparently Blue Angel didn't like that, because she started screaming. Eventually though, she ran out of breath and crumpled on her D-Board.
Damn it! Morningstar thought, grinding his teeth as he jumped over the rooftops. If this keeps up, that card will cause her mental damage. You have to end this now, Playmaker!
Evidently Playmaker agreed with him, because he raised Encode Talker's attack points and lowered Holly Angel's attack points to the point where he could win this with one blow.
As Encode Talker attacked Holly Angel, Morningstar noticed something on Blue Angel's face. He zoomed the camera in. She was… crying.
"Final Encode!"
Morningstar ran through the park, looking for Blue Angel. She'd fallen off her D-Board around here. Noticing something, he stepped behind a tree and watched. It was Playmaker, kneeling over Blue Angel's unconscious form.
"I will eat Hanoi's program!" Morningstar watched as the AI in Playmaker's Duel Disk become a giant… thing with one eye and absorbed data from Blue Angel before returning to the Duel Disk.
"Wake up, Blue Angel!" Playmaker said, but there was no response. "No good. She's not responding."
"Playmaker, look out!" Playmaker looked behind him, with Morningstar following his gaze. It was the SOL security drones. Playmaker turned back to Blue Angel.
"I'm logging out!" he said, then did so. Morningstar did as well. There was nothing he could do here.
Yasutake stepped out of the sealed room and ran to the monitors. He quickly hacked into the monitors of the local hospital. If Aoi had gone to school today, and he was right about Playmaker's identity, then…
Sure enough, the hospital soon got a call from Den Academy about a student falling into a coma. Yasutake watched from the cameras as an ambulance left for the school, then returned to the hospital. He watched as Aoi Zaizen was brought out of the ambulance and taken inside. He also noticed from another camera that Yusaku Fujiki had followed the ambulance.
Not long after, a limo pulled up to the hospital and a man with blue and teal hair in a suit ran out of it. Yasutake recognized him as Akira Zaizen. He found Aoi as they took her to the exam room. Akira tried to go with her, but one of the doctors stopped him. As the doctors wheeled Aoi away, Akira turned to Yusaku, who had been watching. Yasutake activated one of the microphones in the hallway so he could hear them.
"You're the one who called me?"
"Yes. I found her unconscious on the roof."
"Thank you," Akira said, then looked uncomfortable. "Umm… I don't know if I should ask this, but are you and Aoi…"
"We're just classmates," Yusaku answered.
"I see." Akira smiled, trying to put on a brave face. "Things are fine now. Go home."
"Okay." Yusaku turned to walk away, but Akira called him back.
"Wait a second. What's your name?" Yusaku turned around.
"Fujiki. Yusaku Fujiki."
Yasutake watched as Yusaku walked away. Well, that settled it. Yusaku would only have known to check the roof if he had known Aoi was Blue Angel. And given Aoi's distrustful and suspicious nature, she likely hadn't told him, meaning he'd learned on his own. Only a skilled hacker would have known that.
I found you, Playmaker, Yasutake thought. But, Playmaker was not his immediate concern. Doing what he could to help Aoi was. He uploaded the code he scanned with the drone and went through it.
As he parsed it, he couldn't help but wonder; how had Blue Angel gotten a Hanoi card? She wouldn't have approached them on her own. And from what he'd seen, it was like she didn't know about the card in her deck either. Had they tricked her somehow? That seemed the most likely conclusion – Hanoi was notorious for being sneaky and deceitful. But why do something like this? Why put Aoi Zaizen in a coma? What did Hanoi have to gain?
While these thoughts were going through Yasutake's head, Cam walked into the back and looked at what Yasutake was working on.
"You went into LINK VRAINS to watch their duel in person, didn't you?"
"I did," Yasutake said. "And when she went crazy, I got a scan of a Hanoi card."
"Hanoi!?" Cam said, surprised. Then he scowled. "Of course. Who else would do something like that? Do you know what this is yet?"
"No," Yasutake said. "But I'll find out eventually. And when I do… I'm going to do everything I can to fix this."
Cam watched Yasutake for a while then said, "This is more than just someone being hurt. What's up?" Yasutake stopped typing briefly and stared at the screen.
"Before she confronted me yesterday, before I logged out, I sensed a Hanoi presence," he said. "It disappeared when she appeared, so I assumed it had left. But…" he narrowed his eyes with anger. "It didn't leave. That presence just concealed itself. That's when Blue Angel received Hanoi's card, I know it. If I hadn't refused her challenge… If I hadn't left her alone…"
"They would have found a way to her eventually, Yasu," Cam said, a pitying look on his face. "Hanoi is the worst kind of villain: patient and persistent. Even if you'd dueled her then, you likely only would have delayed their plan."
"Or I could have prevented it outright," Yasutake countered. "Whatever Hanoi's reason for this, whatever my own guilt in this happening, I will do everything I can to help Zaizen and her brother."
"Her brother?"
"I saw her eyes briefly when she used the card," Yasutake said quietly. "They were just like Sachi's. I don't want Akira Zaizen to go through what you have." He resumed his typing, with Cam watching him.
"Let me take over," Cam said. When Yasutake protested, he firmly said, "You're not the only one who wants to prevent others from feeling our pain. And besides, you need rest. This is going to take a long time to go through, so you can take a break."
"I-."
"Yasu," Cam said, narrowing his eyes. "It's late. Go to bed." Yasutake wanted to object, but sighed and stood up.
"Tomorrow is Saturday," Yasutake said. "As soon as you have something, let me know."
Yasutake walked into the back room. It was the afternoon after Playmaker's duel with Blue Angel. He and Cam had been running the bakery in shifts, with the other in the back going through Hanoi's code. Every now and then, Yasutake had hacked into the hospital's cameras and checked on Aoi. There was no change at all. Though, there was cause for celebration now.
"We did it!" Cam said, a relieved look on his face. There were bags under his eyes and he looked exhausted, but he was smiling. "We finally finished parsing this code!"
"So what is it?" Yasutake said, looking at the code. His eyes widened in realization. "This is-."
"A virus," Cam confirmed. "But unlike any I've seen before. This is a virus designed to invade a person's brain and control them."
"Is that even possible?"
"By going through the LINK VRAINS system, yes. Whoever wrote such a program must be incredibly intelligent."
"Can we do anything? Perhaps write a removal program with what we have?"
Cam thought about, then shook his head. "Not with this fragment. We'd need the entire code. Even then, this virus is more complex than anything I've ever seen. It would take both of us months to write it."
Yasutake sighed in irritation. "Then what can we do?"
"Zaizen's best option is a removal program," Cam said. "And the only people with that would be-."
"The Knights of Hanoi," Yasutake finished, frowning at that. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "That's it!"
"What?"
"Why Hanoi targeted Blue Angel! They weren't using her just to duel Playmaker! They've turned her into a hostage!"
"A hostage?" Cam said, then it hit him. "They're going to force Playmaker to duel them with the removal program as the stake."
"Yes," Yasutake said.
"Playmaker! You'll pay for what you did to me!"
The two of them turned from each other to the screen that was tuned in to LINK VRAINS. It showed Blue Angel standing on a skyscraper.
"What the-?" Cam said.
"If you're watching this, come on out! And duel me again!"
"I thought you said she was still in the hospital."
"She is! See?" Cam switched one of the monitors to the hospital camera. Sure enough, it showed Aoi Zaizen unconscious in a hospital bed.
"Then," Yasutake said, his eyes narrowing, "this is a trap for Playmaker. And an obvious one."
"But who's trap is it?" Cam wondered. "Is it Hanoi? Or SOL?"
"If it's SOL, Bishop would have called me in." At least, that was what Yasutake told himself. Bishop often made moves without informing him about them. Those same moves often made his job much harder, and occasionally led him to yell at Bishop. Not in person, of course. It was bad manners to do that.
Yasutake got up from his chair. "I'm going to LINK VRAINS. Playmaker must know this is a trap, but if he wants to help Blue Angel, he'll walk into it anyway."
"What are you going to do? Help him, or duel him?"
"I'm not sure," Yasutake said hesitantly. "But, Zaizen's safety takes priority over Playmaker's AI." He entered the sealed room and put his deck in his Duel Disk. "Deck set! Into the VRAINS!"
Morningstar landed on a rooftop some distance from the one the fake Blue Angel was on. As he landed, he noticed someone else enter LINK VRAINS. It was Playmaker, and he landed on the same rooftop as the impostor. Morningstar jumped over to them, getting as close as he could without them noticing him.
"You came, Playmaker," he heard the fake say. He had to admit, whoever it was, they were good. They'd gotten the voice down perfectly.
"Who are you?" Playmaker asked her. "I know you're not Blue Angel." Like Morningstar had thought, Playmaker knew it was a trap.
"Oh, you already found out? Because I talk like an old lady? I'm shocked! Oh well." She pulled a rose out of thin air. "Sorry, but I'm going to capture you. Even though brute force isn't my style!"
She threw the rose at Playmaker. When it landed at his feet, it glowed and created a circle around him. It exerted a pressure on him that forced him to his knees.
Morningstar watched as the light spread from the building to the ones around it. Oh no. He quickly leaped from his rooftop to the next one, trying to get as far away as possible. Once he reached a safe distance, he turned around. The outer buildings had twisted and morphed into spires of rock. The building Playmaker was standing on lowered as a building resembling a church rose out of nowhere.
"What the-?" Cam said, annoyed. All the cameras had gone out. He couldn't see Yasutake, Playmaker, anything. "Yasu, can you hear me?" he asked into the earpiece Yasutake wore in LINK VRAINS. There was no response. Whatever this was, it was jamming communications somehow. Still, there had to be a way to see what was going on. Maybe the SOL's emergency cameras…?
"Ah!" he said as he hacked into them. He still couldn't see Yasutake, but he could see Playmaker. Thankfully, Morningstar could too. After the spires formed, he'd jumped onto one and held onto it. He had a good view of Playmaker, who couldn't see him. He watched as vines of energy reached out from the circle and wrapped themselves around Playmaker.
"I stayed up all night to write this program. I wish you'd congratulate me," the fake Blue Angel said as she snapped her fingers. She'd stopped using Blue Angel's voice and was using her own this time. Wait a minute… Morningstar knew that voice. And the spires… and that desire for flattery… it was her!
Morningstar watched as the building lowered itself more and Playmaker was pulled down. If Morningstar was right, he'd entered the church. He scowled.
"Ghost Girl," he muttered. "Of all the mercenaries SOL could have hired, they had to hire you."
Morningstar jumped down to the ledges on the outside of the church. Finding a window, he looked in. Playmaker was trapped in the embrace of something resembling a ghoul's hand. There was a bed where the altar should be, with Blue Angel lying unconscious on it. Two other people were there. One was Akira Zaizen. The other…
Morningstar scowled again. The woman had long grey hair and grey eyes with a black mask that covered the lower half of her face. She wore a simple skin-tight black and blue jumpsuit that left her forearms and upper legs exposed and black stockings and boots.
Ghost Girl… it had to be you. No one else could write a program like this in one night.
Morningstar refocused on the others. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but it seemed like Akira was confronting Playmaker. His eyes fell on the unconscious Blue Angel. If he was right, that was her conscious mind, the part that entered LINK VRAINS while her body remained in the real world. So that was what the virus did. It kept her from logging out of LINK VRAINS, but kept her mind in a constant shut-down mode, trapped between two worlds.
His focus was drawn from Blue Angel to Playmaker when he started screaming. Akira's right hand had turned purple and was held in a fist. The bindings on Playmaker were tightening. Morningstar's eyes widened in shock. Akira was torturing Playmaker! Why?
Morningstar growled. Why didn't matter. Even though he often had to hurt his opponents to capture them, he never did anything after that. Once the prey was caught, there was no point in tormenting them! He couldn't let this continue!
Before he could break the window and do… he wasn't entirely sure what… a bolt of lightning broke through the roof. What the hell was that? As the lightning disappeared, someone was shown kneeling where it had struck. It was a tanned man with yellow eyes behind a transparent mask and black hair with orange and red highlights. He wore a white jumpsuit and trench coat. As he stood up, Morningstar moved to the roof, where the lightning bolt had destroyed most of the ceiling.
"Revolver?" he heard Ghost Girl ask.
"A Knight of Hanoi!" Akira answered.
"Let Playmaker go," Revolver said as he faced away from Akira and Ghost Girl.
"What?"
"I'll be the one to face him."
"I can't allow that!"
"I see." Revolver turned around and faced them. "You underestimate my power." He raised his hand towards the sky, and everyone, Morningstar included, looked up. A data cyclone descended on top of him. As he gestured to Akira and Ghost Girl, it spread outward and broke one side of the church.
"He can control the Data Storm?" Morningstar whispered, his eyes wide. "Are you kidding me?" Also, "you underestimate my power?" Did he just make a Star Wars quote?
"I can easily destroy LINK VRAINS," Revolver told Akira. "But I don't care about that. I only have one objective. Playmaker's AI."
"You think we'll just give it to you?" Akira said. Morningstar had to give Akira credit. Despite the show Revolver put on, he was still standing his ground.
"You'll give it to me," Revolver said. "We put a computer virus into your sister, Blue Angel."
"What?" Akira said, surprised. Morningstar raised an eyebrow. He didn't know? Had he thought Playmaker responsible for what happened to Blue Angel? Was that why he had tortured him?
"Only we can remove the virus," Revolver said.
"Why my sister?"
"For hostage."
"Hostage!?"
"It could've been anyone. As long as it inflamed Playmaker's sense of justice and drew him out."
Revolver turned to the side. "But a no-name wouldn't be effective. That's why we used Blue Angel."
"Used Aoi? Hand over the removal program!" Akira shouted.
"That'll depend on you," Revolver said, completely calm. "SOL Technologies' Security Manager, Akira Zaizen." He turned back to face Akira. "Your job is to retrieve Ignis. If you retrieve Ignis, you'll fulfill your job for SOL Technologies. But…"
Revolver pointed to Blue Angel. "Your sister won't wake up from the darkness for the rest of her life. If Playmaker defeats me in a duel, I'll give you the removal program."
"No way!" Akira said, his anger not abated. "Entrust my sister's future to people who I don't know?"
"There's only one path," Revolver said. "Now choose your sister's future!" There was a pause as Akira considered.
"No," Morningstar whispered, standing up. "There's two paths." He shot his Data Anchor towards Revolver, drawing the attention of Akira and Ghost Girl. Before it could latch onto Revolver, someone else appeared and wrapped the Anchor around their wrist.
"What!?" Morningstar said, surprised. No one had anticipated his Data Anchor like that before! He jumped down, glaring at the person who had the red cord around their wrist.
The person had fair skin, grey hair, and light blue eyes. He wore a plain white suit with a black stripe over the chest and black shoes. He smirked at Morningstar.
"Too bad, Morningstar," he said. "If Master Revolver hadn't anticipated you, that would have worked."
"Morningstar!?" Akira said, finally getting over his surprise enough to speak. Playmaker was likewise surprised, but he stayed quiet.
Ghost Girl's eyes had widened when she'd seen him, but they returned to normal as she chuckled. "I should have known you'd be here," she said. "You never could stay away from a big score."
Morningstar ignored her as he kept glaring at the second Knight of Hanoi. "Who are you?"
"My name is Specter," he answered, the red cord fading. "I'm familiar with this Data Anchor program of yours. A very potent tool. Keeps the person who fired it and the person who it catches from logging out until they have a duel. Useful to have for a hunter."
Morningstar continued to stare. This feeling… he widened his eyes. "It was you!" he said, angry with Specter and himself. "It was your presence I felt before Blue Angel challenged me! You're the one who put the virus in her!"
Akira and Playmaker gasped and looked at Specter, who laughed softly. "Yes, that was me. I admit, I was surprised to see you stop by. I didn't think anyone would be able to sense me."
"You did this to Aoi!?" Akira said, his anger transferring from Revolver to Specter. "Release her! Now!"
"I can't," Specter said calmly. "Master Revolver is the one with the removal program. He's the only one who can free her." He maintained his gaze with Morningstar. "My mission is to keep you busy while Master Revolver duels Playmaker."
Morningstar growled. He hated to admit it, but he had no choice. Now that it was active, the Data Anchor kept him from logging out. Of course, he could wait for its timer to run down, but that took 24 hours. He didn't have the time, or quite frankly the patience to wait that long.
"Zaizen," Morningstar said, his gaze never leaving Specter. "Let Playmaker go. While I would prefer to duel Revolver myself, I can't. Besides," his gaze shifted to Revolver briefly, "I don't have the AI program you want. Or 'Ignis,' as you called it."
"No you don't," Revolver said, sparing a glance at Morningstar. "You interfered during our hunt for Ignis when you defeated one of our Knights and gave him to SOL. Specter can handle you himself."
"Ho! This guy defeated a Knight of Hanoi?" Ai said. "Does that mean he's an ally?"
"No," Morningstar answered the AI. "I have been contracted by SOL to retrieve you for them." Akira gasped at that. He hadn't hired Morningstar, which meant his superiors had. But why hadn't they told him? "I only dueled Hanoi that time because SOL pays me for each Knight I defeat." He narrowed his eyes at Specter. "I wonder how much they'll pay me for your account?" Specter only smirked in response.
"Well, since Morningstar is occupied, that leaves Playmaker," Revolver said. "As I said before, choose your sister's future!"
Akira stood still for a moment, then unclenched his fist. "My sister's life is irreplaceable," he said as the purple glow dispersed. The program holding Playmaker dispersed along with it, causing him to fall.
"That was horrible," Ai commented. Revolver smirked at that.
"I'll be waiting for you, Playmaker," he said. Another data cyclone engulfed him and carried him out of the church.
"And I'll be waiting for you, Morningstar," Specter said. Unlike Revolver, he walked outside, stepping over the rubble.
"Are you going?" Ai asked Playmaker. "He's a powerful foe."
"I've come this far in order to battle him," Playmaker said before running out.
"Playmaker," Akira said, making Playmaker halt. "I can trust you, right? What I did to you was horrible. But for my sister, you'll still… You'll still fight for me even though you should hate me?"
"I don't hate you," Playmaker said. "I only hate the Knights of Hanoi." He left, heading towards the data stream. Morningstar sighed.
"I was going to intervene when I saw you torturing him," he told Akira. "I understand pain is sometimes necessary, but what you did… well, at least you understand it was awful." He walked out, but Akira stopped him too.
"Morningstar, why are you here?" he asked. "You didn't have to try to challenge Revolver, but you did anyway."
Morningstar thought about it, then said, "I blame myself for what happened to Blue Angel. If I had accepted her challenge, or hadn't left so quickly… perhaps I could have prevented this." He turned to face Akira. "But I didn't. Because I refused her challenge, this happened. This is my repentance." He turned away from Akira, not wanting to see his reaction and ran out. As he did so, he released his drone and set it to record. Cam would be able to watch Playmaker and Revolver's duel that way.
He called his D-Board and rode the data stream. Specter came alongside him, riding a longer white model with three orange gems at the front, yellow angles on the sides, and a dark green semicircle-shaped piece on the back. Morningstar noticed that the two of them were riding in the opposite direction of Playmaker and Revolver. Evidently, they were to deal with them separately.
"Speed Duel!" Morningstar and Specter shouted.
Specter: 4000 LP
Morningstar: 4000 LP
Before they could start though, the ground erupted. "What the-?" Morningstar said, glancing down with wide eyes. The streets beneath him had broken apart, and lava spewed forth from them. He looked around the city. Massive swaths of it had been consumed by magma while the sky was covered in black clouds.
"It looks like Master Revolver has set the stage for his duel with Playmaker," Specter commented. What? Revolver had done this? Morningstar narrowed his eyes. Note to self: do not underestimate Hanoi's leader.
"I'll go first! My turn!" Specter said, sweeping his hand in front of him to reveal his cards. I'll use one of the cards Master Revolver gave me. "I pay 1000 Life Points to activate the Continuous Spell: Dragonoid Generator!"
Specter: 4000→3000 LP
"Twice per turn, I can Special Summon a Dragonoid Token in Attack Position," Specter explained. Two small dragons with the lower body of a spike appeared on his field.
Dragonoid Token ATK 300 DEF 300 LVL: 1
Two low Level monsters? Morningstar thought, narrowing his eyes. Oh no…
"I Tribute the two Dragonoid Tokens to Tribute Summon! Appear, Cracking Dragon!" The black armored dragon that Morningstar had fought before appeared on Specter's field and roared.
Cracking Dragon ATK 3000 DEF 0 LVL: 8
"Do all Knights of Hanoi use that card?" Morningstar muttered.
"I Set one card," Specter said. "I end my turn. Due to Dragonoid Generator's effect, you must Special Summon Dragonoid Tokens equal to the amount I summoned." Morningstar narrowed his eyes again. He knew what Specter was doing.
"I Special Summon two Dragonoid Tokens on my field," he said, causing the same small dragons to appear on his field.
Dragonoid Token ATK 300 DEF 300 LVL: 1
"Cracking Dragon's effect now activates," Specter said. "When you Normal Summon or Special Summon a monster, its attack points decrease by its Level times 200. And you take that amount as damage! Crack Fall!" Cracking Dragon sent out a blast of wind that made Morningstar wince as his tokens glowed red and he glowed yellow.
Dragonoid Token ATK 300→100
Morningstar: 4000→3600 LP
Morningstar scowled at the tokens on his field. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?" he asked Specter. "You didn't just do this for the damage."
Specter smirked. "You're right. Your duels with Onizuka and Watcher confirmed that your Link Monsters require a certain archetype to summon."
Which means I can't use these tokens to Link Summon,Morningstar thought. Then what Specter said struck him. "You know about my duel with Watcher? How-?" His eyes narrowed in understanding. "You were the ones who hired Watcher to steal SOL's files."
"Yes, we did," Specter said. "We knew that even if he failed, his skills were enough to escape into LINK VRAINS. At that point, we knew SOL would contact you to find him. And thereby give us an opportunity to study your moves and monsters."
Morningstar growled. That meant Hanoi had seen three of his duels – against one of their own, against Go, and against Watcher. During those duels, he'd used most of his Link Monsters, which would have confirmed their theory that Specter was now exploiting: all of Morningstar's Link Monsters required "Cyspirit" monsters to Link Summon.
Of course, this move wouldn't stop him. It would only slow him down.
"My turn! Draw!" Morningstar drew, looked at his card and smirked. Oh, this was going to be fun. "I activate the Equip Spell: Cyspirit Chain!" The card showed Cyspirit Linker wrapped up in black chains, with Cyspirit Kid pulling on them, trying to get them off. "And I equip this card to one of my Dragonoid Tokens." The Token in question glowed red as Morningstar played his card. "Cyspirit Chain sends one 'Cyspirit' monster from my Deck to the Graveyard, then it treats the equipped monster as having the same name as the sent monster."
So you figured out a way around it, Specter thought, narrowing his eyes. To be honest, he wasn't surprised. In all of Morningstar's duels, he'd shown himself to be incredibly competent and adaptable.
"The Dragonoid Token is now treated as having the same name as Cyspirit Teleporter!" Morningstar said, gesturing to the sky. "Appear! The circuit between light and darkness!" The burst of electricity he sent to the sky created the Link portal.
"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition is one 'Cyspirit' monster. I set the Dragonoid Token treated as Cyspirit Teleporter in the Link Marker!" The token entered the bottom arrow, turning it red.
"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Come forth! Link 1! Cyspirit Cacophonic Caller!"
One of the Link Monsters he had used against Watcher appeared on his field.
Cyspirit Cacophonic Caller ATK 500 LINK-1 ↓
"Cacophonic Caller's monster effect! Once per turn, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'Cyspirit' from my Deck to the zone it points to, but that monster cannot attack and it will be destroyed during the End Phase. I Special Summon Cyspirit Dancer!" The skeleton in a leotard appeared on his field.
Cyspirit Dancer ATK 1000 DEF 200 LVL: 2
"Cracking Dragon's effect now activates!" Specter reminded him. "Crack Fall!" The burst of wind hit Morningstar as Dancer glowed red and he glowed yellow.
Cyspirit Dancer ATK 1000→600
Morningstar: LP 3600→3200 LP
Morningstar smirked. "That's what I was waiting for."
"Hmm?" Specter said, wondering what he meant.
"Since I took effect damage, I can Special Summon Cyspirit Saver!" The dwarf in white armor carrying a small shield appeared on Morningstar's field.
Cyspirit Saver ATK 0 DEF 1300 LVL: 2
"When Cyspirit Saver is Special Summoned using its own effect, I take no effect damage for the rest of the turn!" Specter narrowed his eyes. He remembered this monster from when Morningstar had used it against the Knight of Hanoi. It had kept him from losing then.
"Appear! The circuit between light and darkness!" Morningstar said, sending another bolt of electricity at the sky and creating the Link portal again.
"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two or more 'Cyspirit' monsters! I set Cyspirit Dancer, Cyspirit Saver, and Cyspirit Cacophonic Caller in the Link Markers!" His monsters entered the top, bottom, and bottom-left arrows, turning them red.
"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Come forth! Link 3! Cyspirit Rapid Revolutionary!"
The monster that had defeated both the Knight of Hanoi and Watcher appeared on Morningstar's field.
Cyspirit Rapid Revolutionary ATK 2200 LINK-3 ↙↑↓
"Since I used Cyspirit Dancer to Link Summon a 'Cyspirit' Link Monster, Rapid Revolutionary gains 600 attack points!"
Cyspirit Rapid Revolutionary ATK 2200→2800
Morningstar noted that his Dragonoid Token was linked to Rapid Revolutionary. That meant that if Rapid Revolutionary attacked Cracking Dragon, it would gain 500 attack points and destroy it. Of course, there was far more he could do.
"The monster effect of the Cyspirit Teleporter in my Graveyard!" Morningstar declared. "By banishing it, I Special Summon Cyspirit Dancer from my Graveyard!" The skeleton in a leotard reappeared at Rapid Revolutionary's other Link Marker.
Cyspirit Dancer ATK 1000 DEF 200 LVL: 2
"I activate the effect of Cyspirit Chain in my Graveyard! By shuffling a banished 'Cyspirit' monster back into my Deck, I can activate this card from my Graveyard!"
"What?" Specter said, narrowing his eyes. That wasn't something he expected.
"I shuffle Cyspirit Teleporter back into my Deck," Morningstar said. "And equip Cyspirit Chain to my other Dragonoid Token. By doing so, I send Cyspirit Swordsman from my Deck to the Graveyard and treat my token as having the same name as Swordsman." He gestured to the sky.
"Appear! The circuit between light and darkness!" The lightning bolt created the Link portal for a third time.
"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are two 'Cyspirit' monsters! I set Cyspirit Dancer and the Dragonoid Token treated as Cyspirit Swordsman in the Link Markers!" His monsters entered the left and right arrows, turning them red.
"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Cyspirit Thrilled Tunneler!"
The skeleton in a prospector uniform and a drill for an arm appeared on Morningstar's field, summoned to Rapid Revolutionary's bottom-left Link Marker.
Cyspirit Thrilled Tunneler ATK 1600 LINK-2 ←→
"And as before, Dancer's effect increases Thrilled Tunneler's attack points by 600!"
Cyspirit Thrilled Tunneler ATK 1600→2200
"Three Link Summons in one turn," Specter mused. "As expected of you, Morningstar."
"I set two cards," Morningstar said, then gestured to Cracking Dragon. "Battle! Rapid Revolutionary, attack Cracking Dragon! At this point, Rapid Revolutionary's monster effect activates! Since it points to one monster, it gains 500 attacks points during the Damage Step when battling a non-Link Monster! Final Revolution Shot!"
Cyspirit Rapid Revolutionary ATK 2800→3300
Rapid Revolutionary merged its pistols into an elongated rifle and fired a blast of yellow energy at Cracking Dragon. The blast hit it and destroyed it, with Specter wincing from the damage.
Specter: 3000→2700 LP
Cyspirit Rapid Revolutionary ATK 3300→2800
"Not bad," Specter said, smirking. "Master Revolver was right. Cracking Dragon wasn't enough to defeat you."
"Go, Thrilled Tunneler! Attack him directly! Cyber Drill!" Thrilled Tunneler struck Specter with its drill, causing him to yell from the damage.
Specter: 2700→500 LP
"Yes!" Morningstar started a little from the voice over his earpiece. "You managed to knock him down to 500 Life Points! Not bad, Yasu!"
"Cam? Communications are back up?"
"They have been for a while. I just didn't want to distract you from the duel. You should know that Playmaker defeated Revolver's Cracking Dragon as well. And," he paused, "Ghost Girl is following them and observing."
Morningstar heard the anger in Cam's voice. "I don't like her, either, Cam, but right now, she's on our side. I'll try to end this quickly, so I can go after Playmaker and Revolver."
Morningstar turned back to Specter. "I end my turn."
Specter smirked. "You reduced my Life Points to 500. Very impressive. Master Revolver was right to worry about you."
"I'm not sure that's a compliment," Morningstar said.
"It is. Master Revolver makes a point of not underestimating his opponents. That's why," his eyes narrowed, "he had a card made special just to defeat you."
"What?" Morningstar said, his eyes widening. "A card made to defeat me?"
"My turn! Draw!" Specter drew, then said. "I activate the Continuous Spell: Superior Dragonoid Generator! This card can only be activated by sending Dragonoid Generator to the GY!" The card showed a similar portrait to Dragonoid Generator, except it showed two dragons instead of one. "This card has the same effect as Dragonoid Generator, except it allows me to Special Summon from the Extra Deck!"
That means he's going for a Link Summon, Morningstar thought.
"I activate Superior Dragonoid Generator's effect to Special Summon two Dragonoid Tokens to my field!" Two more tokens appeared on his field.
Dragonoid Token ATK 300 DEF 300 LVL: 1
"I Normal Summon Jack Wyvern!" This monster was a black dragon machine with a green line running down its body.
Jack Wyvern ATK 1800 DEF 0 LVL: 4
"Jack Wyvern's monster effect! I banish this card and one face-up Machine monster I control to Special Summon one Dark monster in my Graveyard!"
There's only one Dark monster in his Graveyard, Morningstar thought, narrowing his eyes. This isn't good.
"I banish Jack Wyvern and one of the Dragonoid Tokens to bring back Cracking Dragon!" The black mechanical dragon reappeared, roaring as it did so.
Cracking Dragon ATK 3000 DEF 0 LVL: 8
Cracking Dragon is strong enough to destroy my Thrilled Tunneler, Morningstar thought. But he knows that Rapid Revolutionary can destroy it next turn. He must be after something else.
"Trap activate!" Specter declared. "Return from the Different Dimension! I pay half my Life Points, then Special Summon as many banished monsters as I can! Return to me, Jack Wyvern!" His monster reappeared as Specter glowed yellow.
Specter: 500→250 LP
Jack Wyvern ATK 1800 DEF 0 LVL: 4
"I activate the Equip Spell: Link Unit!' Specter said. "And equip it to Jack Wyvern. Now, if Jack Wyvern is used to Link Summon, it counts as two Materials!"
"With Jack Wyvern, Cracking Dragon, and the Dragonoid Token on his field…" Morningstar muttered. "This isn't good."
"It's time, Morningstar! You've had a good run, but this is the end! Appear! The future circuit!" This time, he sent the bolt of lightning into the sky that created the Link portal.
"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are three Machine monsters! I set Cracking Dragon, Dragonoid Token, and the Jack Wyvern treated as two materials in the Link Markers!" His monster entered the arrows, with Jack Wyvern splitting in half. His monsters made the top, bottom, bottom-left, and bottom-right arrows light up.
"Circuit combine! Link Summon! Appear! Link 4! Neo Cracking Dragon!"
The monster he summoned was twice as large as Cracking Dragon. Like Cracking Dragon, it was mostly black and made of metal, but it had twelve wings attached to green orbs circling it, three mechanical heads, and its tail split in half at the back. When it appeared, it roared, creating a great blast of wind
Neo Cracking Dragon ATK 3000 LINK-4 ↙↑↓↘
"Neo Cracking Dragon?" Morningstar repeated, narrowing his eyes as he fought the wind. "What kind of monster is this?"
Specter chuckled at Morningstar. "This monster was made special just to defeat you, Morningstar. We studied your Link Monsters, and this card is the result of that! Neo Cracking Dragon's monster effect! If I have Cracking Dragon in my Graveyard, and I control no monsters that are linked to Neo Cracking Dragon, it gains 1500 attack points!"
"What?" Neo Cracking Dragon glowed red as its attack points increased.
Neo Cracking Dragon ATK 3000→4500
"4500 attack points," Morningstar muttered. "Cam, is Playmaker fighting a monster like this?"
"No, he's facing a 3000-attack point dragon. Though it seems to have a rather nasty effect."
"So does this one."
"The second effect of Superior Dragonoid Generator activates!" Specter said, drawing Morningstar's attention "Since I Link Summoned a Machine monster, I draw one card!" He did just that.
"It's time to end this duel," Specter said. "Neo Cracking Dragon's second effect! Once per turn, until the end of the turn, all Link Monsters you control lose attack points equal to their Link Ratings times 300."
"What?" Morningstar said, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Rapid Revolutionary is Link-3, and Thrilled Tunneler is Link-2," Specter said. "Meaning they lose 900 and 600 attack points respectively. Not only that, but you take the same amount of damage! Ultimate Crack Fall!" Neo Cracking Dragon let loose a massive green wind that made Morningstar yell with pain as his monsters glowed red and he glowed yellow.
Cyspirit Rapid Revolutionary ATK 2800→1900
Cyspirit Thrilled Tunneler ATK 2200→1600
Morningstar: 3200→1700 LP
"Trap activate!" Morningstar declared. "Cyberse Beacon! Since I took damage, I can add one Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster from my Deck to my hand. I add Cyspirit Gardna from my Deck to my hand!"
Cyberse Beacon, Specter thought, narrowing his eyes. That was one of the cards Playmaker used against the Knight he faced. As Master Revolver suspected, these two have some of the same Spell and Trap Cards.
"This is the end!" Specter said. "Battle! Neo Cracking Dragon, attack Thrilled Tunneler! And in case you're thinking of using your other face-down, you should know that you cannot activate any Spell or Trap Cards when Neo Cracking Dragon attacks." Neo Cracking Dragon gathered green light into its three mouths, but Morningstar was prepared.
"I may not be able to use Spell or Trap Cards, but I can use monsters! I activate the effect of Cyspirit Gardna in my hand! If you declare an attack against a 'Cyspirit' monster, I can Special Summon this monster and redirect your attack to it!" A white skeleton warrior in black armor with a blue left eye carrying two massive shields appeared on his field in Defense Position.
Cyspirit Gardna ATK 1000 DEF 2000 LVL: 4
"It makes no difference," Specter told him. "Neo Cracking Dragon can inflict piercing battle damage! You will still lose! Go, Neo Cracking Dragon, attack Cyspirit Gardna! Triple Traffic Blast!" The three mouths fired three streams of green energy that merged into one stream that struck Gardna.
"Gardna's monster effect!" Morningstar shouted over the wind from the attack. "The turn it uses its effect, all battle damage is halved, and Gardna cannot be destroyed by this battle!" He yelled as the attack went around Gardna and struck him, even though Gardna remained.
Morningstar: 1700→450 LP
"Impressive," Specter said. "I suppose I'll have to wait till next turn to defeat you." He swiped another card from his hand. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Download Cure!" The card showed a data card with a syringe crossed over it. "Since you took battle damage from an attack involving a Machine monster, I gain Life Points equal to the damage you took." He glowed yellow as he said this.
Specter: 250→1500 LP
"Then, Download Cure allows me to Set one card from my Deck," Specter said. "I end my turn. At this point, Neo Cracking Dragon's effect ends and the attack points of your Link Monsters return to normal."
Cyspirit Rapid Revolutionary ATK 1900→2800
Cyspirit Thrilled Tunneler ATK 1600→2200
"And then, since I used the effect of Superior Dragonoid Generator, it summons a Dragonoid Token to your field. It would summon two, but your monsters take up too much space."
Dragonoid Token ATK 300 DEF 300 LVL: 1
Specter looked back at Morningstar. "You must realize by now it's pointless to resist. Neo Cracking Dragon was made to counter all your Link Monsters. Especially your Datastorm Dragon and Thrilled Tunneler."
Especially them? Morningstar wondered. He opened the info he had on Neo Cracking Dragon. As he read the card's description, his eyes widened in shock.
"I see," he said. "Neo Cracking Dragon cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, and my monsters can only select it as an attack target. That nullifies both my Datastorm Dragon's destruction effect and Thrilled Tunneler's direct attack."
"And none of your monsters can increase their attack enough to reach Neo Cracking Dragon's attack points," Specter said. "Well, Pied Pikeman potentially could, but it requires pointing to three monsters for that, and in a Speed Duel, that's impossible for it."
"He's done his homework on you, Yasu," Cam said. "Can you defeat that monster?"
"Defeat it? No. But I can defeat Specter." He had one monster that could win this duel for him, but it required getting rid of his Dragonoid Token.
"My turn! Draw!" Morningstar looked at his card and smiled. This would do.
"I Tribute the Dragonoid Token to Tribute Summon Cyspirit Wanderer!" The skeleton in poncho and trousers appeared on his field.
Cyspirit Wanderer ATK 1900 DEF 200 LVL: 5
I haven't summoned this monster in a very long time, Morningstar thought. But, I don't have a choice.
"Appear, the circuit between light and darkness!" His bolt of lightning created the Link portal again.
"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning conditions are three or more 'Cyspirit' monsters! I set the Link 2 Thrilled Tunneler, Gardna, and Swordsman in the Link Markers!" His monsters entered the left, right, top-left, and top-right Link Markers, turning them red.
Specter raised an eyebrow. What's this? There are no Link Monsters with that pattern!
Circuit combine! The galaxy's rage that breaks all limitations! Link Summon! Take flight! Link 4! Cyspirit Neo Nova!"
This monster was larger than his previous ones and about the same size as Datastorm Dragon. At first it appeared to be a black skeleton dragon, but its skin grew over the bones. It had dark silver armor covering its upper torso and most of its legs with midnight black skin underneath it. Its black tail spread behind it and ended in a white star-like point. Its large metallic wings had dark silver spines, and black membranes between them with white dots all over them, making them look like the night sky. Its head was covered in dark silver armor with three black horns pulling backwards from it. Like all the Cyspirits, it had a blue left eye and a red right eye. It roared as it was summoned to Rapid Revolutionary's bottom-left Link Marker.
Cyspirit Neo Nova ATK 2500 LINK-4 ↖←↗→
"What the-?" Specter said, his eyes wide with shock. "We've never seen this card before."
"That is because I rarely use this monster," Morningstar told him. "I only use it when I have no choice."
Specter growled. "You may have surprised me with that monster, but I'm afraid summoning it will be your end! Trap activate! Final Crack Fall!" The card showed Cracking Dragon, Hack Worm, Hack Dog, and Jack Wyvern, all releasing a massive wind. "Since Cracking Dragon is either on my field or in my Graveyard, when you Link Summon a Cyberse Link Monster, you take damage equal to that monster's attack points! Take this! 2500 points of damage!" The Trap Card sent a blast of red energy at Morningstar, but he wasn't worried.
"Counter Trap activate! Cyspirit Break!" The card showed Cyspirit Pied Pikeman emerging from an explosion. "When a Spell, Trap, or monster effect is activated that would inflict damage to me while I control a 'Cyspirit' Link Monster, I negate the activation of that effect!" The blast broke apart before it hit Morningstar, making Cam sigh with relief. That was too close. Specter grit his teeth.
"I activate Neo Nova's first monster effect!" Morningstar declared. "Since it points to at least one monster, once per turn, I can draw one card for each monster it points to, but during the End Phase, I must send an equal number of cards from the top of my Deck to the Graveyard. Neo Nova points to both Rapid Revolutionary and Neo Cracking Dragon. Therefore, I draw two cards! Orbital Gain!" Neo Nova glowed white, as did his hand.
He placed his hand on top of his Deck and closed his eyes. This is it. If I don't draw the right cards, I will lose. He opened his eyes as he drew. He looked at his cards and smiled. This was it!
"I activate the effect of Cyspirit Wanderer in my Graveyard!" Morningstar said. "By shuffling it back into my Deck, I Special Summon a 'Cyspirit' Link Monster from my Graveyard, but the summoned monster cannot declare an attack this turn. Return to me, Thrilled Tunneler!" Thrilled Tunneler was summoned to Neo Nova's right Link Marker and Rapid Revolutionary's bottom Link Marker.
Cyspirit Thrilled Tunneler ATK 1600 LINK-2 ←→
"Since I control a 'Cyspirit' monster, I Special Summon Cyspirit Navigator to the field!" The skeleton in a pirate's outfit and a black tricorne hat appeared on his field, summoned to Neo Nova's left Link Marker.
Cyspirit Navigator ATK 1300 DEF 1100 LVL: 3
Specter looked at the field. Neo Nova was now linked to four monsters. That meant it could use all its effects. This wasn't going to be pretty. And it was about to get worse for him.
"I activate the Equip Spell: Cyspirit Multiplier!" Morningstar said. "I equip this card onto Neo Nova. Now, Neo Nova can attack twice during the Battle Phase. And now, I activate Neo Nova's third monster effect! Once per turn, if Neo Nova points to at least three monsters, it gains 800 attack points for each monster it points to until the End Phase!"
"What?" Specter said, his eyes widening in surprise. "It has such an effect?"
"Neo Nova points to four monsters. That means it gains 3200 attack points! Celestial Charge!" Neo Nova roared as it glowed red.
Cyspirit Neo Nova ATK 2500→5700
"Of course, the turn I activate this effect, Neo Nova is the only monster that can declare an attack. But that hardly matters. Between Neo Nova's attack points and Cyspirit Multiplier's effect, you will lose."
"I will not," Specter growled. "I activate the effect of Final Crack Fall in the Graveyard! By banishing it, all battle damage I would take this turn is halved!"
Morningstar narrowed his eyes at that, but continued. "Battle! Neo Nova, attack Neo Cracking Dragon! Cosmic Cannon!" Neo Nova charged white energy in its mouth, then fired it at Neo Cracking Dragon. The blast hit it and made Specter wince from the damage.
Specter: 1500→900 LP
Once the smoke cleared, Neo Cracking Dragon was revealed. Like its card said, it could not be destroyed by battle or card effects.
"Cyspirit Multiplier allows Neo Nova to perform a second attack!" Morningstar said. "Once again, Neo Nova! Cosmic Cannon!" Neo Nova attacked again and struck Neo Cracking Dragon, making Specter wince again.
Specter: 900→300 LP
"Pretty good attempt," he said. "But in the end, this is the limit of your strength."
"No," Morningstar said, his eyes narrowing. "There are no limits to what I can do. I learned that ten years ago. Besides, I have three reasons to fight, and they give me the strength to go on!"
"What?"
Morningstar held up one finger. "One! I am obtaining vengeance on you for what you did to Blue Angel!" He held up another. "Two! I have people to protect and support, and defeating you will do that!" He held up a third finger. "Three! Playmaker saved my life when I first fought Hanoi. Now, I will return the favor to him!"
"Three reasons," Specter mused, thoughtful. Master Revolver occasionally spoke of three reasons. He had thought it a habit, but Morningstar had the same speech pattern. Could there be some relationship between the two? His thoughts were interrupted by Morningstar.
"I activate the effect of Cyspirit Pilot in my hand!" Morningstar declared. "Since a 'Cyspirit' Link Monster failed to destroy a monster in battle, I can discard Pilot to let my monster attack again!"
"What!?"
A white skeleton in an aviator's jacket with goggles covering its empty right eye socket and left blue eye appeared on Morningstar's field. It disintegrated, and the light from it made Neo Nova glow.
"For a third time, battle! Neo Nova, attack Neo Cracking Dragon! Cosmic Cannon!" Neo Nova gathered its energy into its mouth and launched its attack at Neo Cracking Dragon. Like the first two times, the blast struck the machine dragon, but this time, Specter yelled from the attack as he was sent flying from his D-Board.
Specter: 300→0 LP
Defeating you may not save Blue Angel, Morningstar thought as he aimed his Duel Disk at Specter. But handing you over to SOL should earn a hefty reward.
Before he could fire his net, however, he was distracted by something in the sky. Something that was shining extremely bright. What was that? Unfortunately, he soon had larger worries. As the thing in the sky shined brighter, the data stream starting bending.
"W-What is this!?" Morningstar shouted. As the wind grew even stronger, he couldn't hold onto his D-Board anymore. He was yanked off it, and blacked out.
"Yasu! Yasu!" Cam yelled into the com, but the signal broke up. "YASUTAKE!" he screamed.
Morningstar opened his eyes slowly. Where was he? He was lying down on rock. He pushed himself up, wincing as he did so. Everything hurt. As he pushed himself to his knees, he looked up and gasped.
He was kneeling on a massive floating green rock on the edge of a field of green rocks. Around the rocks, everything was purple and moving.
"I'm inside the Data Storm?" he whispered. "How did that happen? Did Revolver do this?" He turned to the side and gasped again.
Playmaker and Revolver were each standing on a rock like Morningstar's, facing each other. The two of them were trapped inside a massive cage.
"They're in a Master Duel?" Morningstar whispered. He narrowed his eyes at Revolver. "Was this why Revolver wanted a Speed Duel? To draw Playmaker in?" Whatever the reason, he settled in to watch. His Data Anchor wouldn't work on someone who was already dueling, and he doubted Playmaker would appreciate him butting in.
He watched as Playmaker summoned Decode Talker alongside his Encode Talker. From what he could tell, it was strong enough to break Revolver's defense.
"The Field Spell Fire Prison's effect activates!" What? What was that? The cross emblem at the top of the cage glowed and released lights.
"Cyberses in the field, Graveyard, and hand lose their effects and can't attack!" Revolver explained. "Cyberses also can't be targeted by effects nor attacked! It's as if Cyberses don't exist!" Morningstar watched as Decode Talker and Encode Talker started to glitch.
"Vanish, Cyberse!" The two Link Monsters vanished completely, leaving an empty field.
"What?" Morningstar said, his eyes wide. "What was that? Did he remove them?" He checked his Duel Disk. No, Decode and Encode Talker were still there, but they couldn't attack or be attacked. Meaning… Morningstar looked up. With that Field Spell, Revolver could attack Playmaker directly. This wasn't good.
His attention was drawn by a sound. He glanced to his right and saw Ghost Girl land next to him.
"Morningstar!" she said. She sounded surprised. "I didn't expect to see you in here."
"And I didn't expect to see you," he said tersely. "Someone let you in?"
"Yes. I think it was an ally of Playmaker's on the outside." She turned to the duel and gasped. "Playmaker and Revolver!" She'd had a few drones with her, including the one Morningstar released. Morningstar waved at it. His com was down, so he knew Cam couldn't hear him, but with the drone inside the Data Storm, he could at least see Morningstar was okay.
"Did you defeat Specter?"
"Yes," he answered. She glanced at him.
"You're not still mad about the job back in June, are you? I did send you an apology."
"I'm not still mad about what happened in June," he said.
"Good."
"I'm still mad about the Mercury job."
Ghost Girl didn't answer for a few seconds, then said, "Fair enough. What's happened so far?"
"Revolver has the advantage," he said. "His Field Spell has made it appear as though Playmaker's Cyberse monsters don't exist." He showed her his Duel Disk and the field. She glanced over it, then returned to the duel.
"It seems you don't know what Ignis is." Morningstar glanced down at the duel. Revolver had said that.
"I'll tell you before you lose. Ignis isn't a regular AI. Since long ago, there have been tests to create life within the network. But only regular programs were able to be created. They lacked a certain something to be considered a life form."
"What do you mean?" Playmaker asked. Morningstar wanted to know that too.
"Free will," Revolver answered. "Even in humans, we don't know where free will is located inside our bodies. But someone created it in a program. He accomplished what God did. In ancient mythology, God gave heaven's forbidden fire to humans. This fire quickly evolved mankind. Modeled after the myth, he named the new life form 'Ignis.' Ignis is AI with free will."
"Free will?" Playmaker repeated. "No way! A program can't have free will!"
Revolver scoffed. "I naturally expected that reaction. But it doesn't matter if you believe this story or not. Ignis created the Cyberse and is trying to conquer the network. We'll do whatever it takes to kill Ignis and the Cyberse! Now, I'll continue this duel and end you! Here I go, Playmaker!"
"Have you heard anything about this?" Ghost Girl asked Morningstar. "About AI with free will?"
"Why?" he asked. "Hoping for a cut when I fulfill my contract?"
"Just curious," she said. "I get why you don't like me, but we both want Playmaker to win this. For now, truce?"
Morningstar was silent for a while, then said, "Truce. I can't say I have. When I was contracted, I was only told Playmaker was in possession of a SOL AI. They didn't say any more than that."
"Don't give me that. You're too smart for that to be the limits of your knowledge."
"I know his AI is responsible for creating the Data Storm," he said. "I also know it gave Playmaker his Skill. It's certainly a more advanced AI program than any I've ever seen, but free will? That seems to be stretching it too far."
Before Ghost Girl could respond, Revolver shouted, "Appear! The future circuit that lights up my path!" The two of them looked down on the duel. Seeing the monsters on his field, Morningstar realized what Revolver was doing. He watched as Revolver created the Link portal and set his Sniffer Dragons and Twin Triangle Dragon in the Link Markers.
"Circuit combine! My new wind that pierces through the closed world! Link Summon! Appear, Link 4! Borreload Dragon!"
This dragon was one of the fiercest monsters Morningstar had ever seen. Its body was mostly red and silver with green lines running over it. Its arms resembled gun barrels and its wings glowed green.
"3000 attack points," Morningstar muttered. "This isn't good."
He and Ghost Girl watched as Revolver used Borreload Dragon to attack Playmaker directly. They shielded their eyes from the flash of the blast, with both yelling from the blowback. When the light faded, they looked down at the cloud of dust.
"Playmaker!" Ghost Girl gasped. Playmaker was lying down on the ground, his Life Points reduced to 600.
"Damn it!" Morningstar growled. "He can't survive another blast like that!" He worried for a second that Playmaker had fallen unconscious, but Playmaker stood up soon enough.
"I can still fight!" Playmaker drew, but he wobbled on his feet. Even though he was standing, that attack had done a great deal of damage.
"Playmaker," Morningstar muttered, then gasped. He felt something. A heartbeat from no body. What was that? His eyes widened. The pulse of the Cyberse. He felt it!
He watched with amazement as Playmaker made Decode and Encode Talker visible again and used them to Link Summon a Link 4 monster – Firewall Dragon. With its appearance, the cage surrounding Playmaker and Revolver disintegrated. Evidently with Playmaker's two Link Monsters gone, it destroyed itself.
Morningstar stared at Firewall Dragon. It reminded him of his Neo Nova, only blue and white instead of black and silver, and it had several circles on its body, including the back of its head. It even had the same attack points and Link Rating. Of course, it likely had very different effects. Certainly, its attack against Beltlink Wall Dragon was impressive.
Morningstar smiled. "He may have less Life Points than Revolver, but Playmaker isn't out of this yet."
"I hope so."
The two of them watched Revolver's turn in silence as he drew more cards and used his Borreload Dragon's effect in combination with Autorokket Dragon's effect to destroy Playmaker's Parallel Port Armor, then used Borreload Dragon's effect to take control of Firewall Dragon.
Well that's just rude, Morningstar thought. Using his own monster to defeat him? Note to self, if I ever duel Revolver, make sure to have two or more monsters on the field while he has Borreload Dragon out.
Thankfully, Playmaker blocked Firewall Dragon's attack with a Trap Card that then brought it back to him. He was even able to use another Trap Card to bring his Encode Talker back, then used Firewall Dragon's effect to return one of Revolver's cards to his hand. Or he tried to, but Borreload Dragon's effect prevented it from being targeted, meaning he targeted a Magnarokket Dragon, which tried to destroy Firewall in response, but Playmaker used a Trap Card in his Graveyard to prevent it.
"Playmaker managed to destroy Fire Prison, but he's in bad shape." Morningstar glanced at Ghost Girl as she commented that. "The next turn will be the decider." He returned his gaze to the duel. As much as he disliked Ghost Girl, she was right. In all likelihood, this would be the last turn.
They kept watching as Playmaker activated a Continuous Spell Card called Battle Buffer and attacked Borreload Dragon with Firewall, then used Encode Talker to raise Firewall's attack points. The attack in turn activated Playmaker's Spell Card, which raised Encode Talker's attack points higher than Borreload's. Unfortunately, Borreload's own effect reduced Encode Talker's attack enough to destroy it.
"Playmaker has no monsters left than can attack," Ghost Girl commented. "If Revolver uses Magnarokket's effect to remove Firewall next turn, Playmaker has no way to stop Revolver's attack."
"Don't be so sure," Morningstar said, narrowing his eyes. "Playmaker is both meticulous and tenacious. He must have another card to play."
He did. By banishing his Recoded Alive from the Graveyard, he brought Decode Talker back and increased its attack points to 4500.
"That Battle Buffer Spell Card is something," Morningstar muttered. "I should get a copy of it."
Decode Talker attacked Borreload, but thanks to a Trap Card and Magnarokket's effect, Revolver destroyed Decode Talker.
Revolver smirked. "It's really over this time, Playmaker. Only Firewall Dragon remains on your field. It's powered up, but it already finished attacking. You have no cards in your hand and only 400 Life Points. You'll lose on my next turn!"
"No, I won't lose! I have three reasons why I must defeat you!"
What!? Morningstar gasped on hearing that. Three reasons!? Did he just say…
"One: I'll defeat you and uncover the truth about what happened ten years ago! Two: I'll regain the time that I lost! Three: I'll save my friend who saved me!"
"Ten years ago…" Revolver muttered, shaken to his core. "Three things… You're the one from that incident ten years ago?"
"That's right. I'm that emissary of revenge!"
"Incident ten years ago?" Ghost Girl wondered. She didn't notice Morningstar stiffen up next to her as he stared at Playmaker in horror.
Ten years ago… Three reasons… He thought back to the white room, to the VR headset, to the voice that talked to him. Damn you, Playmaker!
"You're a fool, Playmaker," Revolver said. "To help SOL Technologies without knowing the truth!"
"Oh my," Ghost Girl said. "The incident ten years ago… SOL Technologies… Did I overhear something very interesting?" She then noticed Morningstar, who had tensed up and was glaring at Playmaker. "Morningstar? What's wrong?"
"Damn you," he muttered. "Damn you, Playmaker. You bastard…"
"There's only one thing I must do," Playmaker said. "I'll crush the Knights of Hanoi and learn everything!" He then used Parallel Port Armor's effect in his Graveyard to banish it, Decode Talker and Encode Talker, and let Firewall attack again. Morningstar could only watch as the blast from Firewall's attack sent Revolver screaming into the rock pillar behind him.
"Playmaker won!" Ghost Girl said, then turned to Morningstar. "Did you see that, Morningstar? Isn't that good?"
Morningstar gasped, brought down to earth. "Y-Yes," he said. He watched as the AI in Playmaker's Duel Disk became that thing it had become when it consumed Hanoi's data after Blue Angel lost and attacked Revolver, biting off his arm.
Suddenly, a bolt of yellow lightning struck down, pinning Ai in place as a green beam of light struck Revolver and lifted him up. Once Ai returned to Playmaker's Duel Disk, Revolver threw a card at Playmaker. The removal program!
"Playmaker! The wind didn't blow for me today. But as long as you have that AI, this duel was only the start. We will meet again." After saying that, Revolver disappeared.
The data tornado, and the rocks inside it, soon broke apart, but not before destroying a few more buildings. Playmaker, Ghost Girl, and Morningstar all teleported back to the church where Akira waited.
"Playmaker!" Akira said, looking relieved.
"This is the removal program," Playmaker said, placing his hand over Blue Angel. "With this, she'll…" His hand glowed green as a stream of data entered Blue Angel's chest. She broke into blue code, but not before smiling.
"Where's Aoi?"
"Seems she was able to log out," Ghost Girl said.
"That means…"
Ghost Girl nodded. "You should go to her."
"Okay!" Akira said, smiling. "Playmaker!" He turned to Playmaker, but he was walking away.
"Oi!" Ghost Girl said. "You're already leaving?" Playmaker didn't answer her as he logged out.
"How cool," she commented. Morningstar rolled his eyes. She would be the one to say that. He turned to leave, but Akira stopped him.
"Morningstar. I understand why you said what you said, but… I don't blame you for what happened to Aoi." Morningstar turned to Akira. He was smiling. "Thank you for helping."
Morningstar didn't respond, instead just turning and leaving.
Ghost Girl sighed. "He never changes."
Yasutake walked out of the sealed and almost immediately fell over, only to be caught by Cam.
"Easy, Yasu," he said, the relief in his voice evident. "After everything that happened, you're lucky to still be standing."
"How's Aoi Zaizen?" he asked him. "Did she wake up?" Cam helped him to one of the chairs and showed him the hospital's camera feed. Akira was there, and he was crying while Aoi watched him with open eyes.
"She's fine," Cam said, then turned to Yasutake again. "Did you expect your girlfriend not to wake up?"
It took five seconds for what Cam said to register in Yasutake's mind. "WHHHAAAATTTTT!?" he screamed, his eyes bugging out. "G-Girlfriend!? S-She is not my girlfriend! She's not even my friend! Why the hell would I be with a famous Charisma Duelist!? Do you think her taste is that bad!?"
Cam laughed at Yasutake's rant and the look on his face.
Revolver materialized in Hanoi's digital hideout, his arm still missing.
"Let your guard down?" Revolver turned as an old man with a grey beard in a lab coat appeared. "It's not like you. Or were you shaken when he talked about ten years ago?"
Revolver bowed his head. "I'm sorry, father." His arm reformed itself as he clenched his fist. "But next time, I promise!"
The old man closed his yellow eyes. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." He opened his eyes again. "I was able to get useful data from the duel. But if we can't acquire that Ignis, I must proceed with the final plan. I'll be making preparations."
Revolver bowed. "Understood." His father dematerialized. "Three things," Revolver muttered. "That speech pattern… Playmaker, are you…"
"Master Revolver." Revolver turned around and saw Specter materialize. He bowed to him.
"Forgive me, Master Revolver, but I lost my duel to Morningstar."
"But you managed to avoid capture. That's good. How did Neo Cracking Dragon fare?"
"He defeated it easily," Specter said. "Not once did I get the feeling he was struggling." Revolver scowled at that. It was bad enough having an enemy like Playmaker. With someone like Morningstar against them… This fight was only going to get harder.
"Master Revolver, there's something else." Revolver looked up at that.
"What?"
"Before the duel ended, Morningstar spoke of three reasons he was dueling me." Revolver gasped. "I recognized that as something you did. And then during your duel with Playmaker, he said the same thing."
Revolver didn't respond for a while, then said, "Thank you, Specter. Please, leave me." Specter bowed and dematerialized.
"Morningstar as well…" he mused. "If Morningstar was also involved in the incident ten years ago…" He scowled. "This war just got far more interesting."
"Wow," Cam said, after listening to Yasutake talk. "A card that makes Cyberse monsters disappear? I can't say I've heard of that before."
"But it's fairly easy to get around," Yasutake said. "You only need to get rid of the two monsters on the field, and its destroyed. But…" He narrowed his eyes. "That's not what concerned me the most about the duel."
"What did, then?"
"Did you hear what Playmaker said, near the end of the duel? He said he had three reasons why he must defeat Revolver."
"Yeah, so? It's the same thing you do."
Yasutake looked at Cam. "And that was taught to me while I was in that place." Cam's eyes widened.
"You mean…"
"Yes," Yasutake said, his voice low. "Playmaker was in that place too. And he knows something about what happened to us."
He narrowed his eyes. I'm that emissary of revenge! That was what Playmaker had said to Revolver.
I will find you, Playmaker, he thought. And I will make you tell me everything you know about the incident. You will tell me what you know about who was responsible and why it was done. Then, I will fulfill my contract and hand that AI over to SOL. You may have defeated Revolver, but you will not defeat me!
Specter vs. Morningstar
This Duel is conducted as a Speed Duel.
Turn 1: Specter
Specter pays 1000 LP to activate the Continuous Spell Card Dragonoid Generator (Specter: 4000→3000 LP). Now, up to twice per turn, Specter can Special Summon a Dragonoid Token during his Main Phase though he cannot Special Summon from his Extra Deck for the rest of the turn. Revolver Special Summons 2 Dragonoid Tokens (300/300/1 each). Specter Tributes both Dragonoid Tokens to Tribute Summon Cracking Dragon (3000/0/8). Specter Sets 1 card. During the End Phase, the effect of Dragonoid Generator Special Summons Dragonoid Tokens to Morningstar's field equal to the number of Dragonoid Tokens Summoned by Specter this turn. Two Dragonoid Tokens (300/300/1 each) are Special Summoned to Morningstar's field. The effect of Cracking Dragon activates as a monster was Normal or Special Summoned, decreasing the ATK of the monster by 200 x its Level until the End Phase and inflicting the same amount of damage to Playmaker (Dragonoid Tokens: 300→100) (Morningstar: 4000→3600 LP).
Turn 2: Morningstar
Morningstar draws. He activates the Equip Spell Cyspirit Chain, and equips it to 1 Dragonoid Token. Due to Cyspirit Chain's effect, he sends Cyspirit Teleporter from his Deck to his GY, and the equipped monster is treated as having the same name as the sent card. Morningstar uses the equipped Dragonoid Token treated as Cyspirit Teleporter to Link Summon Cyspirit Cacophonic Caller (500/1/↓) to the Extra Monster Zone. He activates the effect of Cacophonic Caller, Special Summoning a Level 4 or lower "Cyspirit" monster from his Deck to the zone it points to, but the Summoned monster cannot declare an attack and is destroyed during the End Phase. Morningstar Special Summons Cyspirit Dancer (1000/200/2) in Attack Position. The effect of Cracking Dragon activates (Dancer: 1000→600) (Morningstar: 3600→3200 LP). Since Morningstar took effect damage, he Special Summons Cyspirit Saver (0/1300/2) from his hand in Attack Position. The effect of Saver prevents Morningstar from taking effect damage for the remainder of the turn. Morningstar uses Cyspirit Dancer, Cyspirit Saver, and Link 1 Cyspirit Cacophonic Caller to Link Summon Cyspirit Rapid Revolutionary (2200/3/↙↑↓) to the Extra Monster Zone. Since Dancer was used to Link Summon a "Cyspirit" Link Monster, Rapid Revolutionary gains 600 ATK (Rapid Revolutionary: 2200→2800).
Morningstar activates the effect of Cyspirit Teleporter, banishing it from his GY to Special Summon Cyspirit Dancer (1000/200/2) to Rapid Revolutionary's Link Marker. Morningstar activates the effect of Cyspirit Chain in his GY, shuffling the banished Teleporter back into his Deck to equip it to the other Dragonoid Token. He sends Cyspirit Swordsman from his Deck to the GY and treats the equipped Dragonoid Token as having the same name. Morningstar uses Cyspirit Dancer and the Dragonoid Token treated as Cyspirit Swordsman to Link Summon Cyspirit Thrilled Tunneler (1600/2/←→) to Rapid Revolutionary's bottom-left Link Marker. Since Dancer was used to Link Summon a "Cyspirit" Link Monster, Thrilled Tunneler gains 600 ATK (Thrilled Tunneler: 1600→2200). Morningstar Sets 2 cards.
Morningstar attacks Cracking Dragon with Rapid Revolutionary, with the effect of Rapid Revolutionary increasing its ATK by 500 since it points to 1 monster and is battling a non-Link Monster (Rapid Revolutionary: 2800→3300). Cracking Dragon is destroyed (Specter: 3000→2700 LP) (Rapid Revolutionary: 3300→2800). Thrilled Tunneler attacks directly (Specter: 2700→500 LP). Morningstar ends his turn.
Turn 3: Specter
Specter draws. He sends Dragonoid Generator to the GY to activate the Continuous Spell Card Superior Dragonoid Generator. Now, twice per turn, he can Special Summon a Dragonoid Token during his Main Phase, but during the End Phase, it will Special Summon the same number of Dragonoid Tokens to Morningstar's field. He Special Summons 2 Dragonoid Tokens (300/300/1 each). He Normal Summons Jack Wyvern (1800/0/4). Specter activates the effect of Jack Wyvern, banishing it and one Dragonoid Token to target the Cracking Dragon in his GY and Special Summon it (3000/0/8). Specter activates his face-down Return from the Different Dimension, paying half his Life Points (Specter: 500→250 LP) to Special Summon the banished Jack Wyvern (1800/0/4). Specter activates the Equip Spell Link Unit, and equips it to Jack Wyvern. If Jack Wyvern is used to Link Summon, it counts as 2 Link Materials. Specter uses Cracking Dragon, Dragonoid Token, and Jack Wyvern treated as 2 materials to Link Summon Neo Cracking Dragon (3000/4/↙↑↓↘) to his Extra Monster Zone. Since Cracking Dragon is in the GY, Neo Cracking Dragon gains 1500 ATK (Neo Cracking Dragon: 3000→4500). Since he Link Summoned a Machine monster, Superior Dragonoid Generator lets Specter draw 1 card.
Specter activates the effect of Neo Cracking Dragon, lowering the ATK of Morningstar's Link Monsters by their Link Ratings x 300 and inflicting damage to Morningstar equal to the lost ATK (Rapid Revolutionary: 2800→1900) (Thrilled Tunneler: 2200→1600) (Morningstar: 3200→1700 LP). Morningstar activates his face-down Cyberse Beacon. Since he took damage, he adds Cyspirit Gardna from his Deck to his hand. Neo Cracking Dragon attacks Thrilled Tunneler, but Morningstar activates the effect of Cyspirit Gardna in his hand, Special Summoning it (1000/2000/4) since his opponent attacked a "Cyspirit" monster, and making it the attack target instead. Neo Cracking Dragon inflicts piercing battle damage, but the effect of Gardna halves all battle damage and prevents its destruction by battle (Morningstar: 1700→450 LP). Specter activates the Quick-Play Spell Card Download Cure. Since his opponent took battle damage, Specter gains the same amount of Life Points (Specter: 250→1500 LP) and Sets 1 card from his Deck in his Spell/Trap Zone. During the End Phase, the effect of Neo Cracking Dragon ends (Rapid Revolutionary: 1900→2800) (Thrilled Tunneler: 1600→2200), and the effect of Superior Dragonoid Generator activates, Special Summoning Dragonoid Tokens to Morningstar's field equal to the number of Dragonoid Tokens Summoned by Specter this turn. 1 Dragonoid Token (300/300/1) is Special Summoned in Attack Position. Specter ends his turn.
Turn 4: Morningstar
Morningstar draws. He Tributes the Dragonoid Token to Tribute Summon Cyspirit Wanderer (1900/200/5). He uses Wanderer, Gardna, and the Link 2 Thrilled Tunneler to Link Summon Cyspirit Neo Nova (2500/4/↖←↗→) to Rapid Revolutionary's bottom-left Link Marker. Specter activates his face-down Trap Card Final Crack Fall. Since he has Cracking Dragon on his field or in his GY and his opponent just Link Summoned a Cyberse Link Monster, Morningstar takes damage equal to that monster's ATK. Morningstar activates his face-down Counter Trap Cyspirit Break, negating the activation of Final Crack Fall since he controls a "Cyspirit" Link Monster. Morningstar activates the effect of Neo Nova. Since it points to at least 1 monster, Morningstar draws 1 card for each monster it points to. It points to Neo Cracking Dragon and Rapid Revolutionary, so Morningstar draws 2 cards.
Morningstar activates the effect of Cyspirit Wanderer in his GY, shuffling it into his Deck to Special Summon Cyspirit Thrilled Tunneler (1600/2/←→) from his GY to Rapid Revolutionary's bottom Link Marker, but it cannot declare an attack this turn. Since Morningstar controls a "Cyspirit" monster, he Special Summons Cyspirit Navigator (1300/1100/3) to Neo Nova's left Link Marker. Morningstar activates the Equip Spell Cyspirit Multiplier, equipping it to Neo Nova. Morningstar activates the effect of Neo Nova. Since it points to at least 3 monsters, it gains 800 ATK for every monster it points to until the End Phase (2500→5700). Specter activates the effect of Final Crack Fall in his GY, banishing it and halving all battle damage he would take this turn. Neo Nova attacks Neo Cracking Dragon, but Neo Cracking Dragon's effect prevents its destruction and the effect of Final Crack Break halves the damage (Specter: 1500→900 LP). The effect of Cyspirit Multiplier lets Neo Nova perform a second attack. Neo Nova attacks Neo Cracking Dragon again (Specter: 900→300 LP). Morningstar activates the effect of Cyspirit Pilot in his hand, discarding it to allow a "Cyspirit" Link Monster that battled this turn to declare another attack. Neo Nova attacks Neo Cracking Dragon (Specter: 300→0 LP). Morningstar wins.
Neo Cracking Dragon
Attribute: DARK Type: [Machine/Link/Effect] ATK 3000 LINK-4 ↙↑↓↘
3+ Machine monsters
If "Cracking Dragon" is in your GY and you control no monsters in this card's Linked Zones; this card gains 1500 ATK. Cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects. If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate any Spell/Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step. If this card attacks an opponent's Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent. Your opponent's monsters can only select this card as an attack target. Once per turn: you can lower the ATK of all Link Monsters your opponent controls equal to their Link Ratings x 300 (until the end of this turn), and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK lost by this effect. The turn you activate this effect, only this card can declare an attack.
Cyspirit Gardna
Attribute: LIGHT Type: [Cyberse/Effect] ATK 1000 DEF 2000 Level: 4
When an opponent's monster declares an attack against a "Cyspirit" monster: You can Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, change the attack target to this card, and proceed to damage calculation. This card cannot be destroyed by that battle. The turn you activate this effect, all battle damage you take is halved. You can only activate this effect of "Cyspirit Gardna" once per turn.
Cyspirit Neo Nova
Attribute: LIGHT Type: [Cyberse/Link/Effect] ATK 2500 LINK-4 ↖←↗→
3+ "Cyspirit" monsters
This Link Summoned card gains these effects depending on the number of monsters it points to.
-1 or more: You can draw 1 card for every monster this card points to. During the End Phase, send an equal number of cards from the top of your Deck to the GY.
-2 or more: You can increase the ATK of 1 monster this card points to by 1200. This card cannot declare an attack the turn this effect is activated.
-3 or more: This card gains 800 ATK for every monster this card points to until the End Phase. This card is the only monster that can declare an attack this Battle Phase.
-4: If you have less cards in your hand than your opponent; you can destroy as many cards in your opponent's Spell/Trap Zone equal to the difference. Your opponent takes no battle damage the turn you activate this effect.
You can only activate each effect of "Cyspirit Neo Nova" once per turn.
Cyspirit Pilot
Attribute: LIGHT Type: [Cyberse/Effect] ATK 1100 DEF 300 Level: 3
If a "Cyspirit" Link Monster you control attacked an opponent's monster, but the opponent's monster was not destroyed by the batle: you can discard this card and target the attacking monster; it can make a second attack on the same monster in a row. You can only activate this effect of "Cyspirit Pilot" once per turn.
Cyspirit Chain Equip Spell Card
When this card is activated, send 1 "Cyspirit" monster from your Deck to your GY; the equipped monster is treated as having the same name as the sent monster. Once per Duel, if this card is in your GY, you can activate the above effect by shuffling 1 banished "Cyspirit" monster back into your Deck.
Superior Dragonoid Generator Continuous Spell Card
Activate this card by sending 1 face-up "Dragonoid Generator" on your field to the GY. During your Main Phase: You can Special Summon 1 Dragonoid Token (Machine/EARTH/Level 1/ATK 300/DEF 300) in Attack Position, also during the End Phase your opponent Special Summons 1 "Dragonoid Token" to their field in Attack Position (even if this card leaves the field). You can use this effect of "Superior Dragonoid Generator" up to twice per turn. If you Link Summon a Machine Link Monster: draw 1 card.
Download Cure Quick-Play Spell Card
If your opponent takes battle damage from an attack involving a Machine monster: increase your LP by the same amount and Set 1 card from your Deck in your Spell/Trap Zone.
Final Crack Fall Normal Trap Card
If you have "Cracking Dragon" on your field or in your GY: When your opponent Link Summons a Cyberse Link Monster; inflict damage to your opponent equal to that monster's ATK. You can banish this card from your GY; all battle damage you take this turn is halved.
Cyspirit Break Counter Trap Card
When a Spell/Trap Card, or monster effect, activated that would inflict damage to you while you control a "Cyspirit" Link Monster: Negate the activation. You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 "Cyspirit" Link Monster in your GY; Special Summon it. You cannot activate this effect the turn this card is sent to the GY.
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Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Hidden Memories. Chapter 5- Why We Fight
Response to Reviews & Author's Notes
Thanks to HunterHQ, D3lph0xL0v3r, JaneValentine007, and ClearwingYuta for reviewing Chapter 3. Credit to sanedimentio for the creation of Cyspirit Neo Nova. I changed a few of its effects around and made it harder to summon considering how powerful they are. I also changed its appearance somewhat so that it looks like Firewall Dragon, only black and silver and without the blue circles on it. And of course the red and blue eyes.
In response to HunterHQ's question about using older archetypes, we have not seen anyone use Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS yet, so I am uncomfortable using any of them, even if they have Link Monsters now. Until we see those kinds of monsters in VRAINS, I won't be using those archetypes. As for the Subterrors, that's an idea, but it would have to wait a few chapters.
In response to ClearwingYuta's question about shipping Aoi and Yasutake, I refer him to Yasutake's "WHHHAAAATTTTT!?" above. I personally ship Aoi and Yusaku, so the chances of romance between Aoi and Yasutake is low, if not non-existent.
In terms of Specter's Deck, it's the same thing as Naoki - he hasn't dueled yet, so if he duels in the anime, I can say this was an alternate Deck he used. I have also gone back to previous chapters and made a few updates, namely on the effects of the "Cyspirit" Link Monsters so that they only gain their effects when Link Summoned.
I hope everyone enjoyed Chapter 4 of Hidden Memories. This isn't as long as the last one, but it is still long. I wrote this before the next chapter of Academy of Chaos because I honestly liked it more. Also, schoolwork is getting in the way. For those of you who are upset Blue Angel and Morningstar didn't duel, I will give this spoiler: they will duel in the next chapter.
Please post a review, as feedback is important to me personally and helps me improve this. Also, sanedimentio is literally the only person who has suggested Link Monsters. I feel Morningstar has enough, but if anyone wants to suggest "Cyspirit" monsters, Spell, or Trap Cards, they are welcome to. Please post your suggestions either in reviews, or PM me.