Roxy's Reports 15: Ace and Rosetta
At Café Matuso, in the morning, at the kitchen following the events of Chapter 27...
"A hush falls over the crowd as Herald studies the tablet." Herald said, studying the tablet in front of him. Right now, he was playing a Scrabble match online. "He makes his move. He takes the letters and forms the word 'Said' from his opponent's word 'Salamander' and earns four points. From there, Herald makes the word 'Instinct' and earns eight points. The crowd gasps as Herald's opponent makes the word 'Tertiary' and also earns eight points. What will happen next, folks?" Herald briefly looked at the tablet before deciding. "Herald uses the remaining eight letters to make the word 'Yearning' from the word 'Tertiary' and earns nine points. And the crowd goes wild, as they chant Herald's name! Herald, Herald, Herald!"
"What the hell are you doing?" Roxy asked Herald, as she sat down at the kitchen table, carrying a small plate with two pieces of toast on it. She then looked at the tablet Herald was looking at. "You're playing Scrabble now? I thought you were into other games."
"Well, I needed a brain teaser." Herald answered. "After all, it doesn't hurt to exercise the brain following a loss."
"Or a morale boost." Roxy stated, taking a bite out of her toast as Herald was embarrassed by her statement. "What? There's nothing embarrassing about needing some morale."
"Ha, ha, very funny." Herald replied, still embarrassed as he crossed his arms. "Say, where's Yuhiro?"
"Taking a shower. Another cold one, to be exact." Roxy replied, going to the fridge and grabbing an apple. The next thing she knew, she heard the notification sound on her laptop. Seeing that it was FaceTime, and knowing who was calling, Roxy accepted the call. The screen then showed Yusaku with Kusanagi and Ai, along with the interior of Café Nagi. "Morning. Didn't expect you guys to call at this time of the day."
"It was Yusaku's suggestion, actually." Kusanagi sheepishly said. "We haven't got a chance to check-in regarding World Gears, and-." But before he could continue, Ai grabbed the screen.
"Something's happened to World Gears, Herald!" Ai panicked. "I felt it last night! Is it still alive? Kidnapped? Dead, even?"
"Ai, it's still alive." Herald assured him. "Unfortunately, Infearno captured World Gears for the Knights of Hanoi. Lord knows what they're doing to it now."
Ai slumped over in sadness upon hearing the bad news. "Aw man."
"That, and a lot of events happened on our side." Roxy stated.
"What do you mean?" Yusaku asked, which led to Roxy explaining the events that occurred following Kitamura's attack on the Hanoi Stronghold. How Rosetta's consciousness data was stolen, and them meeting Hideki Kinoshita, the lead card designer of SOL Technologies. Following Rosetta regaining consciousness, as well as the duel, Yuhiro went to acquire World Gears of Theurlogical Demiurgy, only for him to duel Infearno and lose in the process.
"And if that's bad, Infearno knows Yuhiro's identity, as well as Miyu's." Roxy added. "Which puts us in a very tight spot, unfortunately."
"Yeah. Because if you do anything that will compromise him, he'll do the same thing back." Kusanagi figured out, in which Roxy nodded.
"Have you guys ever deleted your activity logs?" Yusaku suggested. "It helps with eliminating a trail."
"Well, when Yuhiro worked on the black market, we needed them." Roxy answered. "As proof that we completed the mission. But that's something we'll consider for the future."
"Um, can I say something?" Herald interrupted. "Since school's coming up, wouldn't it be a good idea to do profiles on Ace and Rosetta?"
"You mean the biggest cheat of the century and his flower girl?" Ai asked, raising an eyebrow. "I hated that guy, what with his sleight of hand and everything!"
Roxy rolled her eyes as she opened up a blank document on her laptop. "Biggest cheat of the century..." she muttered, as she typed it in. "Looks like we're starting with Ace, then." But before she could say anything else, she heard Yuhiro walking downstairs, who carried a damp towel.
"Morning," he said to Roxy, grabbing his usual breakfast. "Whatcha doin'?" He then turned behind him to see her Face Timing Yusaku and the others. "You're chatting at this time? That's a first." He then took a seat beside her.
"What's with the towel?" Yusaku asked him.
"I got singed pretty badly yesterday, and even with a cold shower, it'll still take time to heal." Yuhiro rubbed his back, causing him to grit his teeth a little. He then took a few bites from his banana.
"Can we please get with the profiles?" Herald impatiently asked once again. "After all, we're on a clock here."
Roxy sighed. "Fine." She turned to Yusaku. "Can you guys tell me what happened in your duel with Ace?"
"I looked into what I could," Kusanagi began, putting a hand on his head, "and there's not much about him I'm afraid, other than his VRAINS ID."
"He said that he works for the Hanoi." Yusaku recalled. "As to when and why, I don't know."
"But at least we know his dueling style, preferably, his deck and ace monsters." Ai stated.
Roxy typed this down before directing her attention to Ai. "What is it?"
"Lets see." Ai said. "I think it had something to do with an 'Evil Eye'."
"The decks called 'Evil Eye' Ai," Yusaku told him. But before Yusaku or Ai could say another word, Herald started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Yuhiro asked Herald.
"All I can picture is Ai in his eyeball form being used as enemy monsters against Playmaker and Ai." Herald responded. "The itsy-bitsy Ai-ball, climb up the waterspout. Down came the rain and-."
"That's so not how that nursery rhyme works!" Roxy interrupted, whacking Herald with her fist. "I'm sorry about that, Fujiki. Could you please continue?"
Yusaku nodded. "The 'Evil Eye' deck revolves around a card called 'Evil Eye of Selene', which provides an attack point increase and protection to the equipped 'Evil Eye' monster by preventing it from being destroyed or targeted by card effects."
"From what I saw, the deck is powerful." Kusanagi added. "But it does come with costs, for every time Ace uses it, he loses 500 life points. It's as though Ace gambles with his life."
"Gambling, huh?" Roxy muttered again, typing up the information on the profile. Why do I feel like I heard this before, she thought, narrowing her eyes.
"What was Ace's main monster?" Yuhiro asked, taking a few more bites from his banana before moving on to his blueberry tarts. He couldn't say 'ace monster' because the duelist's name was Ace, and saying 'Ace's ace monster' was just a tongue-twister.
"The Link 3 Zerrziel, Ruler of the Evil Eyed." Yusaku answered. "If it's Link Summoned by using a monster as Link Material whose attack points were 2600 or higher, it can attack twice. It can also target and destroy a card once per turn."
"Okay. Two deadly effects that can really annoy a duelist." Herald said, as Roxy typed up the information. "Any information on his Skill?"
"I think it's called Life Rejuvenation." Ai replied. "Whenever the user takes at least 1500 points of damage, he can pay 500 more life points to gain life points equal to the number of monsters on the field times 500. It's a risky skill, yes, but it does compliment the riskiness of the 'Evil Eye' strategy."
"And for once, Ai remembers something useful." Kusanagi joked, at Ai's expense, while Roxy and Yuhiro, along with Herald, stifled a laugh as she typed the information down.
"Hey!" Ai shouted. "I remember important things all the time."
"Like what?" Yusaku asked with a bored look on his face.
"Like the fact that Ace was somehow able to clone himself!" Ai responded, surprising everyone.
"How did Ace do this?" Yuhiro immediately asked him. "Does he have access to the black market or something?"
"That's the part I don't know about." Ai admitted.
"Not only can Ace use Data Clones," Yusaku continued for Ai, "but he also had a program that prevented Numera from leaving the area until the duel was over."
Roxy typed the information down onto the profile. She then made a mental note to check-in with Monty along with Yuhiro about Ace once they got the chance. "Are there any other programs he can use that we should know about?"
"I'm not sure if a sleight of hand counts or not." Kusanagi said, shrugging his shoulders. "But I'm guessing no."
"Regardless if Ace's sleight of hand is a program or not, it's always cheating!" Roxy firmly established. "And one day, it ends up being your bad karma." She sighed. "With this information, what grade would you guys give him?"
"I'd say an A for Apocalyptic." Yusaku immediately answered. "Ace's deck, combined with him cheating, makes him a loose cannon."
"Or just a wild duelist." Roxy offered, making Yuhiro roll his eyes.
"A fair warning, Furutani." Yusaku said, getting Yuhiro's attention. "Should you duel against him, prepare for anything and everything, as Ace will do whatever it takes to win, even if it means cheating. After all, this strategy helped him push me back for a while."
"And then Firewall Dragon saved the day!" Ai added. "The best part was that Storm Access wasn't needed this time."
"Yes, considering that you guys always Deus Ex Machina your way out of most duels." Herald stated, angering Ai. "What? It's true."
"You Ignis's are annoying." Roxy told them. "Anyways, here's Ace's profile!" She then showed Ace's profile, which looked like this:
Name: Unknown
VRAINS ID: Ace (I feel like I know that name from somewhere. Must check-in with Monty).
Aliases: The biggest cheat in the century (in Ai's words).
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Residence: Somewhere in Den City
Job: Hanoi's ally (In other words, a hired gun)
Deck: Evil Eye (may be inspired by Chunibyo culture, which is the delusion of gaining special powers through a medium (in this case, an Evil Eye). The 'Evil Eye' deck revolves around a card called 'Evil Eye of Selene', which provides an attack point increase and protection to the equipped 'Evil Eye' monster by preventing it from being destroyed or targeted by card effects. While this strategy is a powerful one, it does come with risks, in the form of 500 life points per attack point increase. In a sense, it reflects Ace, as he 'gambles' with his life over the course of the duel).
Ace Monster(s): Zerrziel, Ruler of the Evil Eyed (For a Link 3 monster, it's deadly. After all, if it's Link Summoned with a monster with 2600 or more attack points, it can attack twice. And if Evil Eye of Selene's equipped, it can destroy a card once per turn. Simple as that.)
Skill: Life Rejuvenation (When the user has taken at least 1500 or more points of damage, said user can pay 500 more life points to gain life points equal to the number of monsters on the field times 500. A risky skill that compliments the riskiness of the 'Evil Eye' strategy)
LINK VRAINS History: First appeared before Playmaker to stop him from getting to Raguel who was dueling Rosetta. He held back Numera and escaped with Rosetta with the two Cyberse cards.
I worry about what will happen to them now. Question is: What's Ace's deal with the Hanoi? He seems to be in cahoots with the Hanoi, but I have a feeling that he's got his own agenda.
Duel Grade right now: A (Apocalyptic) (Ace's deck, combined with him cheating, makes him a wild duelist in Roxy's words. This means that, should you duel against him, prepare for anything and everything, as Ace will do whatever it takes to win, even if it means cheating. After all, this strategy helped him to push Playmaker back for a while).
Notes: Ace's 'Evil Eye' deck revolves around a card called 'Evil Eye of Selene', which provides an attack point increase and protection to the equipped 'Evil Eye' monster by preventing it from being destroyed or targeted by card effects. While this strategy is a powerful one, it does come with risks, in the form of 500 life points per attack point increase. In a sense, it reflects Ace, as he 'gambles' with his life over the course of the duel.
Ace has a program capable of preventing others from escaping, as well as adding cards to his hand somehow. Talk about a sleight of hand, way worse than just stacking the deck.
Just shows that no matter where you go, be it virtual or real life, there will be cheating. As such, countermeasures are required.
Ace also has access to the black market, as he was able to make a data clone of himself. Perhaps we can use this to find his real-life identity (remember: Call Monty).
(Monty also wants Cyberse cards, as he asked Raguel to take Numera's if the situation presents itself).
"This describes Ace in less than 600 words." Ai said. "But why did you implant the fact about Chunibyo culture?"
"Because it was similar to it." Roxy pointed out. "Sheesh."
"You know, since we covered our end, it might be a good idea to cover Rosetta's profile." Kusanagi said. "Might be a good idea to discuss as much as we know about her in the event we have to duel her again."
"While I do agree with what you said, Kusanagi," Yuhiro stated, "Rosetta's our ally now. Although there were a lot of hurdles along the way." He then finished up his blueberry tarts.
"Unlike Ace, we were able to learn a lot of things about Rosetta." Roxy began. "For instance, her real-life identity is Tsubaki Kinoshita, the daughter of SOL Technologies' lead card designer Hideki Kinoshita."
"Or in other words, the guy who turned World Gears of Theurlogical Demiurgy into a card." Yuhiro added, surprising Yusaku, Kusanagi, and Ai.
"Even with a faster system and spending all day to find him, you guys beat us to the punch..." Kusanagi muttered.
"Aliases include Graceful Assassin, The Cyberse Hunter/Hater, A Blood Stained Rose, and A Wilted Flower," Herald listed off, which earned him another whack on the head by Roxy. "Aw come on!"
"I told you, she moved past that." Roxy stated the obvious to Herald.
"Hey, hold on." Ai interrupted. "Why does she hate the Cyberse so much?"
"It's because, when Tsubaki was six years old," Yuhiro explained, "they were partially responsible for her family falling apart. That, combined with an inattentive family and the death of her mother, were also other factors. As a result, she couldn't control her emotions, which spilled over into her ace monster."
"The poor girl just wanted to belong again." Roxy added, as she inputted the information down onto a new blank profile. "And luckily, she found a place to belong again. On Raguel's team!" She laughed as Yuhiro put a hand on his face, embarrassed at what she said.
"Is it necessary to tease Yuhiro at this time?" Herald asked her, in which she responded by glaring at him, scaring the poor Ignis. "Sorry!"
"Could we perhaps talk about Rosetta's deck and strategy?" Yusaku suggested. "Like Herald said, we're on a clock, and Kusanagi was going to spend the day developing a system that can track World Gears."
Upon learning of this, Roxy's attention was obtained. "Alrighty, then! Yuhiro, you're up!"
"Uh..." Yuhiro was at a loss of words before he could speak again. "From what I recall, Rosetta uses a Plant/Rose Dragon deck, which focuses on generating advantage for the player through the use of Black Garden and other Plant-themed cards."
"Could you perhaps be more specific?" Ai asked.
"Lockdown elements with a splash of punishing the enemy through attacking and other methods." Yuhiro replied. "This leads to her ace monster: Black Rose Dragon."
"If you ask me, that dragon was a pain in our asses." Herald commented, crossing his arms.
"Oh yeah? And how so?" Ai inquired. "Because my buddy Yusaku and I had our own share of troubles over the past couple of days, such as Borreload Dragon, that Trickstar lady, um..."
"Let's just say that upon being Synchro Summoned, Black Rose Dragon was able to nuke the field." Roxy answered, surprising everyone except for Yuhiro and Herald as she typed the information down. "As for Black Rose Dragon's second effect, while ineffective against Link Monsters, any other monster is fair game, as long as it's in defense position."
"To clarify," Herald continued, "Black Rose Dragon can change monsters from defense to attack position before putting their attack points to zero."
"Does she have a Skill for Speed Duels?" Kusanagi asked, causing the two humans and Ignis at Café Matsuo to shrug their shoulders, as if to say, "I don't know."
"So with the information we've uncovered," Roxy said, "what Duel Grade should we give Rosetta?"
After a moment of thinking, Yuhiro decided, "I think she deserves a B+." Unfortunately for him, Roxy turned to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you just giving her that because she's a weak duelist?"
"No, no, no!" Yuhiro immediately answered. "Not at all. She's strong in her own way. It's because, in all her duels, she constantly relies on Black Rose Dragon by either protecting her, powering her up, etc. If she broadens her skills, perhaps we can boost her Duel Grade in the future." Roxy then typed the information down, letting Yuhiro breath in relief.
"I have to agree with Furutani." Yusaku stated. "Rosetta relying on her ace monster can get predictable fast. But if she were to evolve as a duelist, I think Rosetta can be on the same level as Ace."
Roxy sighed in defeat. "Fine." She put the finishing touches on Rosetta's profile before showing it to the others.
Name: Tsubaki Kinoshita (daughter of SOL Technologies' lead card designer Hideki Kinoshita).
VRAINS ID: Rosetta
Aliases: The Graceful Assassin (called that by Ace due to her work), Cyberse Hunter/Hater (she hates them for what they did to her family, but is working on moving past that. Way to go, girl!), A Blood Stained Rose (after all, she did manage to wound several Cyberse creatures and incapacitate them), A Wilted Flower (Poor girl begged to be saved from her pain to Raguel following their duel. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I don't know what to decide, it took a rematch, and Kitamura's actions to bring her back to her father).
Gender: Female
Age: 16, likely around Raguel and Playmaker's age.
Residence: A house in Den City alongside her father.
Job: Hanoi's ally (formerly), Raguel's team
Deck: Plant/Rose Dragon (we've only seen Black Rose Dragon. But, like a flower, we're confident she'll 'bloom' and evolve. Meaning we might see more Rose Dragons soon. The deck focuses on generating advantage for the player through the use of Black Garden and other Plant-themed cards. It's ultimate goal is to bring out Black Rose Dragon, a strong Synchro monster that can wipe out the field).
Ace Monster(s): Black Rose Dragon (a powerful Dragon Synchro monster with a devastating nuke effect upon being Synchro Summoned. While her second effect is useless against Link Monsters, if it's against any other monster, it's fair game).
Skill: Unknown (we've only seen Rosetta in Master Duels. Perhaps in the future, if she decides to Speed Duel as well...).
LINK VRAINS History: First appeared before Raguel after she stole Reidrith and Jeanne Azaria's Cyberse monsters following a duel. Raguel ended up defeating her, but she got away with Ace and the stolen cards.
Later on, after Raguel helped find Rosetta's consciousness data and woke her up, she lashed out and challenged him to a rematch. Not only did he manage to defeat her once again, but also helped Rosetta and her father reconcile in the process. As a result, we have a new ally on our side.
Duel Grade right now: B+ (Badass with a +) (Not because Rosetta's a weak duelist; on the contrary, she's strong in her own way. However, as noticed by Raguel and Herald, she constantly relies on Black Rose Dragon by either protecting her, powering her up, etc. If she broadens her skills, perhaps we can boost her Duel Grade in the future).
Notes: Rosetta's Plant/Rose Dragon deck focuses on generating advantage for the player through the use of Black Garden and other Plant-themed cards. It's ultimate goal is to bring out Black Rose Dragon, a strong Synchro monster that can wipe out the field
Apparently, she's discovered to hate the Cyberse because they're the cause of her pain due to her family falling apart. In the past, she was unable to control her emotions, which spilled over into Black Rose Dragon, who unleashed her rage against her enemies. The poor girl desperately wanted to belong again, as following the first duel between her and Raguel, she asked him for help.
Luckily, Raguel's words, along with her father's persistence paid off in the end, as she finally found that sense of belonging again (and hopefully, she'll be able to control her emotions once again).
"As always, another great profile, Roxy." Yuhiro commented, much to her pleasure. Suddenly, both Yusaku's and Yuhiro's watches started beeping, indicating that it was time to go to school.
"Well, time flies by." Roxy said. "You'll show me this system idea you have at some point today, right?"
"Yeah, sure." Kusanagi answered. "I could use another pair of hands in making it."
"See you at school, Herald!" Ai said, before Yusaku hung up on their end. Roxy then made sure to delete the chat.
"Well Roxy," Yuhiro said, standing up, "I guess I'm off to school as well." He then picked up his Duel Disk off the kitchen table, along with Herald. "I will see you this afternoon." He was about to leave when Roxy spoke.
"Yuhiro. About Ace." She took off her glasses and cleaned them. "We need to call Monty about him."
"You heard about him before?" Yuhiro asked, turning his head.
"Yeah." Roxy answered. "When I used to work on the black market, I heard stories of a gambler who cheated to ensure he obtained what caught his eye. I'm not sure what he saw in Rosetta, but that bastard may have been manipulating her to get Lord-Knows-What."
Yuhiro nodded. "If it bothers you that much, we'll look into it after school. Does that work for you?"
Roxy smiled. "Sure. Thanks." Yuhiro then went downstairs, and all the way to the entrance of Café Matsuo, where he could leave and go to school.
If this 'Ace' person is the Ace that I've heard of a while ago, Roxy thought, working on her laptop, then it's only important for Yuhiro to continue preparing for what's to come. After all, is it me, or do I have a bad feeling about all this?
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Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS Obscured Truth: Roxy's Reports 16: Stregone (Updated), Lord Kazuma (Updated) and Infearno (Updated)
Author's Notes
Hi, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the profiles on Ace and Rosetta. I'll be taking a break from Roxy's Reports in order to finish the Tower of Hanoi arc, and then resume from there once it's finished. See you next time!