Roxy's Reports 18: Rosetta (updated) and Ace (updated)
At Café Matsuo, in the evening, following the events of Chapter 40...
"Roxy, we're back." Yuhiro said, entering Café Matsuo. "Hello?" There was no response, except for the sound of snoring. "Guess she must have tired herself out."
"Well, she was helping Miyu for the rest of the day." Herald pointed out, as Yuhiro went over to the backroom and put Herald on the desk, which faced the computer screen.
"I'm going to wash up and put on a fresh change of clothes. You mind starting the next profiles?"
"Nope. Not at all." Herald answered, as Yuhiro left the backroom and went upstairs. He then turned to face the screen before pressing a few buttons on the keyboard. "This is Herald, the White Ignis. Today, I'll be talking about two more people that appeared during the Tower of Hanoi events. Unfortunately, we don't have duel footage of them at the moment. That's why I'm contacting someone to provide us with the footage." Soon, a screen appeared, which showed none other than Frog and Pigeon.
"Hello?" Frog said. "How may we-GAH?" He fell back off his seat.
"Boss, what's the matter?" Pigeon asked, turning to him.
"A weird AI is contacting us!" Frog exclaimed. "What do you want? Are you here to steal our data or something?"
"Okay, why would you think that?" Herald asked back, raising an eyebrow. "You two were there during the Tower of Hanoi events, correct?"
"Uh, yes." Frog answered, trying to sound professional. "What about it?"
"I would like to purchase your duel footage of the duels that occurred in the network during the Tower of Hanoi events." Herald explained, getting straight to the point. "How much is it worth?"
"Let's see." Pigeon grabbed a pencil, paper, and calculator from out of nowhere before performing all the necessary calculations. "According to my calculations-," But before Pigeon could finish speaking, Frog covered his mouth.
"It's worth 835823.70 Yen!" Frog finished, ignoring Pigeon's muffles. Soon, Pigeon used his wings to remove Frog's hand from his mouth.
"Hey!" Pigeon exclaimed. "What was that for?"
"We have a chance to make a lot of money." Frog whispered back. "This is important footage, and if we set a high enough bar, we can start an auction."
"Guys, guys." Herald interrupted, getting Frog and Pigeon's attention. "We're big boys, and I'm sure we can come to an agreement. I'm willing to pay 70 percent of that price, along with this for the footage." He then sent Frog and Pigeon an email, which contained a file.
"What's this?" Frog asked.
"Known as the Duel Alert Detector, or D.A.D., it uses LINK VRAINS satellites to help the both of you find breathtaking duels in the network." Herald explained. "I also thrown in a jetpack to follow the signal, so you'll get there in the nick of time."
"I see." Frog thought this over. "Could you give me a minute to discuss this with Pigeon?"
"You have five minutes." Herald cautioned, causing Frog and Pigeon to gasp before they huddled up at the corner.
"So what do you think, boss?" Pigeon whispered. "We get more money than the cost I was going to originally state, a new program, and a jetpack."
"It's fishy." Frog whispered back. "But tempting as well. With those new assets, we'll be able to reach duels at faster rates."
"And just so you know," Herald added, overhearing their conversation, "this is not a trick whatsoever. I triple-checked the programs to ensure they run. But if you don't want it-."
"WAIT!" Frog and Pigeon shouted at the same time, running back to face Herald. "We'll take it! We'll take it!"
"Good choice. Here's the payment, the program, and the jetpack." Herald sent all of them through an invoice and email. "You got them, right?"
"Yes we did!" Frog eagerly answered. "And here's the duel footage!" Herald received an email from Frog and Pigeon, which contained a file containing the duel footage.
"Pleasure doing business!" Both him and Pigeon then signed off afterwards.
"What was that all about, Herald?" Yuhiro asked, going over to where Herald was and sitting down in his spot.
"Managed to obtain the duel footage that occurred during the Tower of Hanoi events." Herald answered. "Which means we can start doing some profiles!"
"Right." Yuhiro looked through the footage. Sure enough, it contained all the duels that occurred during those events. "Who do you want to cover tonight, Herald?"
"Well, considering how you helped out Tsubaki, why don't we update her profile, as well as the profile of her arch-nemesis?" Herald suggested, pulling up Rosetta and Ace's profiles on the screen.
"Arch-nemesis?" Yuhiro repeated. "Seriously?" Yuhiro shook his head, trying to get the last part of Herald's comment out of his head. "Whatever. Let's just watch the footage." The two of them then began watching the footage of Rosetta and Ace's duel. "Who recorded this exactly?"
"Frog and Pigeon somehow have this footage." Herald answered. "Although I believe there may have been more animal-like reporters on the scene during the Tower of Hanoi events."
Yuhiro nodded. That was most likely the case. After all, someone had to be on the scene recording these events when the Frog and Pigeon duo were not. Yuhiro raised an eyebrow as the duel progressed, getting intense with each passing turn. He had to admit, seeing Rosetta Link Summon for the first time surprised him, especially when it led to her Special Summoning Black Rose Dragon by tributing monsters instead of Synchro Summoning. Eventually, the recording showed her finishing Ace off using Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel and Black Rose Dragon.
"Even against tough odds, she managed to beat him," he commented.
"Still, we have to be careful if we ever run into Ace." Herald added. "Anyway, now that we watched the footage, why don't we update Rosetta's profile?"
"Right." Yuhiro agreed. "So from what I recall, she's the daughter of lead card designer Hideki Kinoshita."
"Also known as the guy who helped put the Cyberse World's core into a card." Herald added, as a face picture of Hideki came up on the screen. "Makes me wonder if he made other Cyberse cards as well."
"We could ask him. But not tonight." Yuhiro offered. "Back to Rosetta. Before reuniting with her father, she once worked under Ace as his 'Graceful Assassin' in the Black Market's Alpha Branch."
"Which happened because of the events following her mother's death from cancer." Herald reminded him, pointing to the Notes section of Rosetta's profile. "Since Mr. Kinoshita focused on the Cyberse so much instead of his own daughter, it led her to hate the Cyberse. For a while at least."
"When I talked with her following my duel against Stregone, she said that she wanted to move past her hatred of the Cyberse." Yuhiro said, typing this information down. "After all, in her words, they are living creatures."
"Well, kudos for her." Herald commented. "Following the events that occurred in the Den City Hospital, Rosetta teamed up with you and the others to take down the Hanoi when they launched the Tower of Hanoi." Sentences then appeared on Rosetta's profile in the LINK VRAINS history section. "You could say she joined your team, Yuhiro."
"Just because we're allies doesn't mean..." Yuhiro sighed as Herald chuckled. Was it worth arguing the logics of romance with an Ignis? No. Definitely no. "Anyhow, after a hard duel against Ace, she managed to defeat him for good. That is, until his recent escape." Yuhiro typed this information down in the LINK VRAINS history section as well.
"And she used different techniques as well to defeat him." Herald said. "With two new monsters, I may add."
Yuhiro nodded. "While Rosetta's deck strategy remains mostly the same, as evident in her duel against Ace, she's added new cards that speed up the summoning of Black Rose Dragon. In the event that doesn't work, she can bring out her other new ace monster to negate the effects of all cards on the field before going in for massive damage." To ensure he didn't forget this, he typed it in the Deck section of Rosetta's profile.
"Which brings us to her new ace monsters." Herald said. "First, there's Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel. A new Level 8 monster with impressive attack and defense points. However, it can only be summoned by banishing one Level 7 or higher Plant monster from the hand, and one Level 7 or higher Plant monster from the Graveyard. It has an effect that can negate the effects of all other cards on the field until the End Phase. A perfect way to shut down the opponent's strategies and finish them off." Yuhiro typed this information in. "Then there's Crossrose Dragon, a Link 2 monster that Rosetta received from her father. During either player's turn, Rosetta can tribute Crossrose and a Plant monster to Special Summon one 'Rose Dragon' or Plant Synchro monster from her Extra Deck. If she does this on her opponent's turn and she brings out Black Rose Dragon while she has another monster, she wipes everything out and can use Crossrose Dragon's second effect to bring it back, rendering the opponent speechless."
"As shown in the duel between Ace and Rosetta." Yuhiro said, replaying the moment when Rosetta used Crossrose Dragon to bring out Black Rose Dragon twice to not only wipe out Ace's cards, but almost eliminate him as well. He turned to Herald. "Say, Herald. What Duel Grade would you give Rosetta?"
Herald thought about it, then said, "To be honest, her growth makes her worthy of an A-. Or an Apocalyptic with a -. As shown in her duels against Ace and Lord Kazuma, Rosetta is starting to broaden her skills rather than just rely on her ace monster. She now has access to an alternative strategy that negates face-up cards in the form of Rosaria, which can catch opponents off guard if they're not careful. Since she's now becoming a Charisma Duelist, we might see her 'bloom' even more."
"While it makes sense, I get the feeling that saying it like that makes it inappropriate." Yuhiro commented, typing the information down in the Duel Grade section of Rosetta's profile.
"What do you mean?"
"You honestly don't want to know." Yuhiro responded. After finishing up the Duel Grade section, he typed in a few more details in the Notes section as well. Once he did that, the finished profile looked like this:
Name: Tsubaki Kinoshita (daughter of SOL Technologies' lead card designer Hideki Kinoshita).
VRAINS ID: Rosetta
Aliases: The Graceful Assassin (formerly) (called that by Ace due to her work), Cyberse Hunter/Hater (formerly) (she once hated them for what they did to her family, but is working on moving past that by viewing them as living creatures), 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, around Raguel and Playmaker's age.
Residence: A house in Den City alongside her father.
Job: Hanoi's ally (formerly), Raguel's team (Herald put that there to irritate me further)
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. Recently, she's added new cards that speed up the summoning of Black Rose Dragon. In the event that doesn't work, she can bring out her other new ace monster Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel, to negate the effects of all cards the opponent has on their field before going in for massive damage).
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), Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel (a new Level 8 monster with impressive attack and defense points. Can only be summoned by banishing one Level 7 or higher Plant monster from the hand, and one Level 7 or higher Plant monster from the Graveyard. It has an effect that can negate the effects of all other cards on the field until the End Phase. A perfect way to shut down the opponent's strategies and finish them off), Crossrose Dragon (a Link 2 Dragon monster that Rosetta received from her father. During either player's turn, Rosetta can tribute Crossrose and a Plant monster to Special Summon one 'Rose Dragon' or Plant Synchro monster from her Extra Deck. If she does this on her opponent's turn and she brings out Black Rose Dragon while she has another monster, she wipes everything out and can use Crossrose Dragon's second effect to bring it back, rendering the opponent speechless).
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.
Following that mess, Rosetta joined the other duelists against the Hanoi, Ace, and Athaliah during the Tower of Hanoi event. After a hard duel against Ace, she managed to defeat him for good (at least, for now).
Duel Grade right now: A- (Apocalyptic with a -) (As shown in her duels against Ace and Lord Kazuma, Rosetta is starting to broaden her skills rather than just rely on her ace monster. She now has access to an alternative strategy that negates face-up cards in the form of Rosaria, which can catch opponents off guard if they're not careful. Since she's now becoming a Charisma Duelist, we might see her 'bloom' even more).
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).
Prior to the Tower of Hanoi, her father gave her Crossrose Dragon, as well as Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel to use. This has allowed her to try out new strategies that she wouldn't have before.
Having witnessed Raguel and Stregone's duel, Rosetta has decided to embark on the path of a Charisma Duelist to try and tell her story to others. We wish her all the best!
Satisfied with Rosetta's updated profile, Yuhiro closed it before opening up Ace's. "Onto the next."
"And thanks to Monty, we know a lot more about this guy." Herald said. "For instance, Ace's name in the real world is Akihiko Akutagawa. With his VRAINS ID being Ace of course."
Yuhiro nodded as he typed this info in the Name section of Ace's profile. From what he recalled, Monty had some bad history with him. While he didn't know what it was, it must have been an issue between Black Market branches. Yuhiro typed this down as well in the VRAINS ID section to ensure he didn't forget. "Based on the file, he runs a casino. Typical from a guy who leads the Alpha branch of the Black Market."
"The only thing that the file doesn't say is where the hell he is in the real world." Herald added, clearly irritated with the lack of information. As Yuhiro typed Herald's comment down, he couldn't help but agree with him. A lack of knowledge was a pain in the ass indeed.
"He was once the Hanoi's ally, but was immediately tracked down along with Athaliah and arrested after the Tower of Hanoi was shut down." Yuhiro said, putting that down in the Job and LINK VRAINS history sections of the profile. "However, thanks to an unknown individual, the both of them escaped. We have to bring them down as soon as possible."
"Agreed." Herald nodded, turning to Yuhiro. "Especially regarding his deck, which is quite troublesome to contend with."
"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." Yuhiro recalled, a hand on his chin. "While this strategy is a powerful one, it does come with risks, in the form of 500 life points per increase. In a sense, it reflects Ace as a casino owner because he 'gambles' with his life over the course of the duel."
"In his duel against Rosetta, he also included a card that reversed the life point loss to increasing life points as well." Herald reminded him, causing Yuhiro to update the Deck section of the profile. "And his new ace monster almost defeated Rosetta as well."
"Dharkon, Entity of the Evil Eye." Yuhiro said, scrolling to the part of the footage where Ace Link Summoned it to his field. "A Link 4 monster with 2800 attack points that's just as deadly as Zerrziel, if not worse. Upon being Link Summoned, it allows Ace to target as many copies of Evil Eye of Selene in his Graveyard and equip it to this card. After it destroys a monster by battle, Ace can not only destroy cards up to the number of copies of Evil Eye of Selene in the Spell & Trap card zone, but also inflict 500 points of damage for each one as well. As a bonus, if Dharkon would leave the field by any means, he can banish one copy of Evil Eye of Selene from his Spell & Trap card zone instead." He turned to Herald. "Judging by everything we discussed, what Duel Grade would you give him?"
Herald thought about it, then said, "Even with the upgrades, he's getting a B for Badass. This is because he hasn't won a single duel yet at all. Despite this, we need to be on our guard, especially with his cheating ways."
"Got it." Yuhiro updated the Duel Grade and Notes sections of Ace's profile before finishing it up. Once he finished, it looked like this:
Name: Akihiko Akutagawa (as according to Monty's file. We hope he's doing well).
VRAINS ID: Ace (Monty's had some bad history with him. Not sure what, but it must have involved a dispute between the branches).
Aliases: The biggest cheat in the century (in Ai's words), Card Shark (the guy does run a casino after all).
Gender: Male
Age: 20 (one again, thanks to the file)
Residence: Somewhere in Den City (something the file does not mention. Don't black market leaders have any honor whatsoever?).
Job: Hanoi's ally (formerly), Black Market boss (he escaped from the prison transport and is on the run along with Athaliah. Whoever broke them out was not in their right mind, that's for sure).
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 also included a card that reverses this cost, ensuring he stays in 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), Dharkon, Entity of the Evil Eye (a Link 4 monster with 2800 attack points that's just as deadly as Zerrziel, if not worse. Upon being Link Summoned, it allows Ace to target as many copies of Evil Eye of Selene in his Graveyard and equip it to this card. After it destroys a monster by battle, Ace can not only destroy cards up to the number of copies of Evil Eye of Selene in the Spell & Trap card zone, but also inflict 500 points of damage for each one as well. As a bonus, if Dharkon would leave the field by any means, he can banish one copy of Evil Eye of Selene from his Spell & Trap card zone instead).
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.
According to the footage sent from Frog and Pigeon, Ace took in a lost Rosetta and raised her as his assassin, but all along planned to use her as a bargaining chip against her father. There sure are a lot of despicable people in the world who prey on the weak and lost.
During the events of the Tower of Hanoi, he attempted to scam the Hanoi for the Cyberse cards they have but didn't know they were devoid of data.
After the Tower of Hanoi was shut down, Ace and Athaliah were immediately tracked down and arrested for their role during those events, as well as other listed crimes. However, thanks to an unknown individual, the both of them escaped. We have to bring them down as soon as possible.
Duel Grade right now: B (Badass) (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. Despite this, in the duels we've seen, he hasn't won any yet, which is why we downgraded him for the time being. But still, be on your guard).
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.
Thanks to Monty's file, we finally know his real-life identity and age. Unfortunately, his current location isn't enclosed. So we created a program to monitor the network, which will inform us if either Ace or Athaliah are found. After all, they need to be stopped, or else more innocent people will pay the price.
Satisfied with Ace's updated profile, Yuhiro closed it before shutting down the computer. He got up from his seat and picked up his Duel Disk, leaving the backroom in the process.
"Hey, Yuhiro?" Herald said.
"What?" Yuhiro replied, walking upstairs.
"How do you think Miyu will react when she finds out about how long you and Tsubaki know each other?"
Yuhiro sighed. This again? Might as well tell him now. "Miyu won't have to worry," he said, putting the Duel Disk on the desk near his bed. "When I was talking with Tsubaki, she told me some stuff about how grateful she was to me for helping her. Tsubaki also pointed out that it'd be in both of our interests if she put her feelings to the side for now, considering what she knew about Miyu."
"Tsubaki confessed her feelings to you or something? Did you have your first kiss with her?" Herald teased him.
Yuhiro sighed for a second time. "No, I didn't, Herald. The last thing Tsubaki needs is to be in a relationship with me. Right now, she needs to heal. And when the time comes, I hope she can find a guy that cares for her, unlike Ace."
Herald was speechless at Yuhiro's reply. "Your loyalty knows no bounds. You may not know it yet, but you're in love with Miyu."
"Go to sleep, or I'll throw a pillow at you." Yuhiro warned, as he went over and closed the door to his bedroom. He then sat on his bed before falling back, his head on the pillow. "Good night, Herald."
"Good night, Yuhiro." Herald responded, going to sleep at the same time Yuhiro did.
Meanwhile, at the Den City Airport...
Tsubaki and Hideki were waiting for their flight to Iceland. After everything that happened, the two of them can finally go to Iceland and honor an important woman in their lives. That woman was Tsubaki's mother and Hideki's wife.
Hideki glanced up as a tone echoed over the airport's speaker, followed by a woman speaking English. "Attention: we are beginning boarding for flight EK39GUIJEP bound to Reykjavik, Iceland. Repeat: now boarding for flight EK39GUIJEP bound for Reykjavik, Iceland."
"You ready, honey?" Hideki asked Tsubaki, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Y-Yeah." Tsubaki hesitantly answered, picking up her bag as she stood up. Hideki stood the same.
"Something on your mind, dear?"
"N-Nothing, dad. I'm ready to go." Tsubaki attempted to the flight's gate, but Hideki stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm proud of you. Of the path you chose." Hideki told her. "No matter what happens, I'll always be with you."
Tsubaki smiled back at him. "Thanks dad. I wouldn't have made my decision if it wasn't for some help."
"Don't worry about Yuhiro, honey." Hideki assured her. "I am 100% sure you'll find a guy who's just like him in the future."
"Dad, come on." Tsubaki whined, as Hideki walked with her to the flight's gate. "You're embarrassing me."
"Let's forget everything that happened and have some fun!" Hideki declared, much to Tsubaki's further dismay.
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Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS Obscured Truth: Roxy's Reports 19: Ghost Girl (Updated) and Roxy
Author's Notes
Hey, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the updated profiles for Rosetta and Ace. With the completion of these reports, I strongly encourage you to read the reports from hereon out. Why? Because I may put in post-credit scenes that occurred following the chapter, as well as give a tease as to what's happening next. Up next will be Chapter 41, which will be released in mid-March. Stay tuned!