Roxy's Reports 8: Stregone and Dr. Genome
At Café Matsuo, in the evening, before Chapter 14...
"What a day." Roxy said, as Yuhiro emerged from the closed-off space and walked into the backroom. "You kicked butt, Go got the antidote for his friend, and formed a ragtag alliance with other people to end the 'Another' threat."
"Yup. What a day indeed." Yuhiro agreed. "I'm glad Go won his duel. Otherwise, Fujiki would practically be screwed."
"I'm pretty sure he and his ally would have had a backup plan in case that happened." Roxy said, as she stood up and walked out of the backroom, with Yuhiro following.
"Perhaps." Yuhiro replied, Progleo jumping out of his Duel Disk and following them upstairs to the living room part of the second floor. Seeing Progleo, he kneeled down and ruffled his fur. "You wanted to kick the Hanoi's butt today, didn't you?"
"I sure did!" Progleo said. "Promise me you'll give me a shot at a Hanoi meanie next time?"
Yuhiro smiled at the cub. "Sure thing, little buddy. It's a promise." He then sat down on the couch, along with Roxy.
"Uh, sorry to interrupt," Roxy interrupted, "but wouldn't it be a good idea to create profiles for Stregone and Dr. Genome?" Yuhiro nodded in agreement. As a Hanoi lieutenant dueled today, it would be a good idea to document it down, in case he had to face him one day.
"What about the duelist called Stregone?" Herald asked. "Shouldn't we make a profile on him too?"
Yuhiro smiled at the mention of Stregone. "Of course we're going to make a profile on Stregone! Why wouldn't we?"
Herald raised an eyebrow at Yuhiro as he whispered to Roxy, "What's up with him?"
"Stregone had a big impact on Yuhiro's life when he was younger." Roxy whispered back. "In fact, he taught Yuhiro how to play Duel Monsters." Herald's eyes widened in surprise at Roxy's answer.
"In that case, I say we get started."
"With Stregone's profile first." Yuhiro pointed out.
"Okay, I know you're excited to start, so let me turn my laptop on." Roxy said, as it hummed to life. Soon, she opened up a new, blank document and typed in some information they already knew about Stregone. "Tell me about Stregone's deck, his ace monster, and his Skill."
Yuhiro thought it over before answering. "Stregone's deck is an 'Endymion/Mystical Beast' deck, which consists of Pendulum monsters. The deck focuses on three core strategies. One: Generating Spell counters to use later on as a cost for his monster's abilities. Two: Unleashing Pendulum Summons to swarm the field and summon stronger monsters from the Extra Deck. Three: Using Spell and Trap cards to not only draw cards, but to add cards from the deck to his hand."
"Pendulum Summoning disappeared following the appearance of Link Summoning." Herald pointed out. "The fact that someone uses it to this day can catch an opponent off guard. He's also in possession of a powerful Trap card called Mirror Force, which destroys, not targets monsters."
"It's the ultimate repellant against Link Monsters." Yuhiro agreed with Herald. He then went back on topic. "His ace monster is Arcanite Magician, a Level 7 Synchro monster that can use his effect as many times as he wants during the turn, as long as he has the appropriate Spell Counters to use it."
"That's true, Yuhiro." Roxy said. "But you have to remember: Arcanite Magician's strength comes from Spell counters. Without them, he's only at 400 attack points."
"Noted." Yuhiro then remembered something from the duel between Stregone and the Sergeant of Hanoi. "Oh, yeah. Stregone is in possession of an evolved Arcanite Magician called Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode. Once he's brought out to the field, the opponent's screwed, as for two Spell counters, their whole field is destroyed."
"A monster with the power to do that?" Herald wondered. "Amazing. Who knew this Stregone wielded a strong deck?"
"It's a work of art, that's for sure." Roxy said, typing all the information down. She turned to look at Yuhiro. "What about his Skill?"
"Stregone's Skill is called Illusion Manipulation." Yuhiro answered. "It lets Stregone target cards the opponent controls up to the number of Pendulum cards on his field, and then return them to the bottom of the opponent's deck."
"So if this Stregone had Pendulum monsters on his field, and two of them in his Pendulum Zones," Herald theorized, "he can pretty much sweep almost the entire field clean."
"Just like a sorcerer would, Herald." Yuhiro commented, a smile on his face. "Any other questions, Roxy?"
"Just one more." Roxy answered. "What Duel Grade would you give him?"
"If I'm being honest, an A for Apocalyptic." Yuhiro immediately answered. "The fact that Stregone was able to defeat a stronger Hanoi grunt makes him worthy of that grade. In addition, I know he has other tricks against his opponents. Once he uses them and defeats stronger opponents, I think we can bump him up a grade."
"Noted." Roxy put the finishing touches on Stregone's profile and showed it to Yuhiro and Herald, which looked like this:
Name: Quinton Monell (he's had a huge impact on Yuhiro's life. In fact, Yuhiro's going to visit the Den City Shelter tomorrow after school to help out.)
VRAINS ID: Stregone
Other Aliases: The Sorcerer of LINK VRAINS
Gender: Male
Age: 35
Residence: Den City Shelter (he practically runs the place.)
Job: Charisma Duelist (and #3 at that. Just behind Blue Angel and Go. Way to go, Stregone!), Head of the Den City Shelter
Deck: Endymion/Mystical Beast
Ace Monster(s): Arcanite Magician (it may look weak, but combined with other cards, it's deadly.), Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode (the evolution of Arcanite Magician, with a small attack boost. However, as I was saying with Arcanite Magician, it comes with a nasty effect. This guy can destroy everything the opponent controls, leaving them open for a direct attack.)
Skill: Illusion Manipulation (Stregone can target cards the opponent controls up to the number of Pendulum cards on his field, and then return them to the bottom of the opponent's deck.)
LINK VRAINS' History: First appeared among the Charisma Duelists and rose to become the #3 Charisma Duelist. He's held that record for a very long time, and if he got serious, he could rise to the #2 spot
Duel Grade right now: A (Apocalyptic) (Knowing Stregone, I'm pretty sure he has other tricks in his arsenal against his opponents. Once he unleashes them, depending how good they are, we could bump him up to an S for Savage.)
Notes: Stregone's Endymion/Mystical Beast deck focuses on three core strategies. One: Generating Spell counters to use later on as a cost for his monster's abilities. Two: Unleashing Pendulum Summons to swarm the field and summon stronger monsters from the Extra Deck. Three: Using Spell and Trap cards to not only draw cards, but to add cards from the deck to his hand.
He's in possession of the card Assault Mode Activate, which can bring out an 'Assault Mode' version of a Synchro Monster (and the evolution of Arcanite Magician can really dish out pain!).
As Pendulum Summoning disappeared following the appearance of Link Summoning, Stregone utilizes it to catch his opponents off guard and swarm his field for summons from the Extra Deck.
He's responsible for teaching Yuhiro how to play Duel Monsters (in other words, he saved his life).
He's really good friends with Go, who visits the Den City Shelter every now and then, and vice versa.
Stregone is definitely someone we can trust, in and out of LINK VRAINS. However, it's up to Yuhiro as to whether he'll tell him about his identity as Raguel.
Yuhiro frowned upon reading the last part of the Profile. Progleo, who noticed, jumped up onto the couch and onto Yuhiro's lap.
"What's wrong, Yuhiro?"
"I'm just worried." Yuhiro answered. "If I tell Quinton that I'm Raguel, I'm afraid about his reaction."
"It takes bravery to tell someone the truth." Roxy said. "You just need to find that courage inside you, Yuhiro, and follow through with it."
Yuhiro nodded. "Alright. Thank you, Roxy. And Progleo." He then ruffled Progleo's fur, which the cub liked very much. "Let's get to Dr. Genome, shall we?"
"Okay." Roxy then set up the next Profile, ready to be filled. She also opened a video replay of Go and Dr. Genome's duel. "While we don't know Dr. Genome's real name, we do know a few things about him."
"Like what?"
"His deck, ace monsters, and Skill for starters." Roxy answered. "For instance, Dr. Genome's 'Helixx' deck focuses on summoning high level monsters without tributing and using them for Link Summoning. Some of his cards also prevent damage, protecting him so he can prepare his field for a counter-attack."
"According to the duel, he has two ace monsters." Yuhiro said, looking at the video. "Helixx Necro Darwin and Helixx Gothiclone. While they're both only Link 2 monsters, they can both become deadly once co-linked with each other. For instance, Necro Darwin can resurrect itself, reduce effect damage to zero, and double its attack points. Meanwhile, Gothiclone can make its attack points become equal to a monster it battles, prevent itself from being destroyed once per turn, and inflict damage to the opponent equal to the tributed monster's attack points."
"You gotta be kidding me!" Herald suddenly said, getting Roxy's and Yuhiro's attention as he looked at the screen. "Look at this guy's Skill! That's just unfair." After seeing Dr. Genome use it against Go, they had to agree with Herald. That was just plain unfair. "According to the duel, Dr. Genome's Skill, Minus Mitosis, can cut a monster's attack points and the opponent's life points in half once he Special Summons a Link Monster from the Graveyard. Ouch!"
"It may be unfair, Herald." Yuhiro said. "But it just shows how strong the Hanoi lieutenants are. I got a feeling there may be others we're not aware of yet."
"And that's why it's our job to prepare ourselves for what's next." Roxy added, typing up the information in. "Given the information we discussed, I think we can give Dr. Genome a B for Badass. As a duelist, he's clearly strong, but with the right cards, his strategy can be negated and fought back against." Yuhiro and Herald nodded as she put that information down. "Ta-da. What do you think?"
The profile for Dr. Genome looked like this:
Name: Unknown
VRAINS ID: Dr. Genome
Other Aliases: DNA Doofus (seriously? This guy going on and on about DNA makes him look like a nerd.)
Gender: Male
Age: Mid-30's (rough estimate)
Residence: Unknown (probably with the other Hanoi.)
Job: Hanoi lieutenant (and a pretty strong one at that. We gotta be on the lookout for them, as they could appear anytime soon.)
Deck: Helixx
Ace Monster(s): Helixx Necro Darwin (can resurrect itself, reduce effect damage to zero, and double its attack points. A lot of effects for a Link 2 monster.), Helixx Gothiclone (it can make its attack points become equal to a monster it battles, prevent itself from being destroyed once per turn, and inflict damage to the opponent equal to the tributed monster's attack points. Yikes!)
Skill: Minus Mitosis (After Special Summoning a Link Monster from the Graveyard, Dr. Genome can cut the opponent's monster's attack points in half, as well as their life points, making it a two-punch combo.)
LINK VRAINS' History: Unknown, but he probably appeared at the same time the rest of the Hanoi did (will update once we get more information.)
Duel Grade right now: B (Badass) (he's clearly strong, but with the right cards, his strategy can be negated and fought back against, as evidenced in his duel against Go.)
Notes: Dr. Genome's Helixx deck focuses on summoning high level monsters without tributing and using them for Link Summoning. Some of his cards also prevent damage, protecting him so he can prepare his field for a counter-attack.
Did you know his Helixx monsters are basically mutant-like creatures? Gross!
If Dr. Genome taught us anything today, it's this: The Hanoi definitely has strong duelists on their side, including Dancho and Infearno. Who knows what else they have?
"That pretty much sums his up." Yuhiro said, looking over Dr. Genome's profile. "I think we should-." He unexpectedly yawned.
"Don't do that, Yuhiro." Roxy said. "You'll make me-." She yawned as well. "Damn it. Now we're both tired."
"We might as well rest." Yuhiro replied. "After all, tomorrow is a busy day. Good night, Roxy." He then headed upstairs to his room, Progleo following him.
"Night!" Roxy called back. As she fell asleep, she thought, I'm glad you're willing to work with others once again, Yuhiro. She then wondered: Could it be possible to reconcile with Emma one day?
Chapter Preview:
Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS Obscured Truth: Roxy's Reports 9: Lord Kazuma, Baira, and Blue Angel (Updated)
Author's Notes:
Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed the profiles on Stregone and Dr. Genome. The next three profiles will cover Lord Kazuma, Baira, and an updated Blue Angel profile. We're getting close to Chapter 20 everyone. Just a little longer. See you next time!