Roxy's Reports 30: Gardai and Sharpshot
At Café Matsuo, one day after the events of Roxy's Reports 29...
Herald, Arashi, and Roxy all wore 3D glasses as they watched Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Considering how they were recuperating from the events of the Turf War, this was just one amongst many ways for them to kick back and get some well needed rest before the next battle.
"It's a shame Yuhiro's missing this." Herald commented, moving his head to the side as if to avoid the whip that was being used by Indy on the bad guys.
"Definitely! He loves adventure films!" Roxy added. Unfortunately, Yuhiro was doing one of his classes online today, which meant he was busy for the morning. Arashi, on the other hand, had his online class later on in the late afternoon. That meant he can enjoy this movie.
"Indiana Jones is such a classic series of movies to watch, especially his infamous quotes. Like this one!" Arashi said before clearing his throat. "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?"
"Not bad, Arashi. You got the voice down, alright." Roxy stated. There was another reason why the trio was watching the movie at the moment. Roxy originally wanted to get started on the next set of profiles, but found out she had to update her computer. So while that was going on, she popped in the movie to kill some time.
"It's here! The Ark of the Covenant!" Herald suddenly said, as the screen shined, which showed the holy object, much to the awe of the trio. As if to interrupt the moment, Roxy's computer beeped, which indicated that the update was complete, much to Roxy's joy and Herald and Arashi's dismay.
"Gentlemen, the computer is fully updated, and now we can begin our profiles!" Roxy announced, as she grabbed the TV remote nearby and pressed a button on it, turning the movie off before the screen changed to show a picture of Gardai himself. "To start, this guy is known as Gardai, also known as the leader of the Delta branch, and a snake charmer." Words were typed into the 'Name', 'VRAINS ID', 'Other aliases', 'Gender', and 'Age' sections of Gardai's profile.
"Unlike the other people from the Black Market, he's on the run from the authorities." Herald continued, as words were typed into the 'Residence' section.
"So we basically have a criminal boss running around loose in Central Japan?" Akashi asked, with Roxy and Herald nodding in confirmation. "Well…. I hope we don't encounter him in the future."
"I doubt it, Arashi. After all, Delta has been dismantled, and any remaining forces, from what I heard, are locked down by the FBI and the police." Roxy told him.
"If we go back to the topic of snakes, Gardai has a ton of them. I mean, he has an entire chamber full of them." Herald commented. "He loves snakes because of their silent sneakiness and how they never let their prey go upon sight." Words were typed into the 'Notes' section of Gardai's profile.
Arashi thought this over before responding. "Well, it does fit the silent and deadly trope, compared to using weapons like guns and knives."
"Thus making Gardai the most powerful amongst all the assassins in Delta." Roxy finished Arashi's thought, as more words were typed into the 'Notes' section. "From the footage I saw, the FBI, SOL Technologies, and the police worked together to bring Delta down. And in the midst of the battle, some agents of Central Japan, along with Amadeus, its governor, were there to support Gardai."
"But what would men from Central Japan be doing in the Black Market?" Herald wondered. "Could we end up having more enemies than anticipated?"
"If we had more enemies, we would have known already." Arashi pointed out. "I mean, come on. We already have enough enemies on our plate as it is. There's Bohman and Harlin, I mean Haru. Sorry, I get those names mixed up sometimes. Then there's our azure assailant and his AI Malf. As for the Black Market, it's been crippled, and Ace, Athaliah, and Speckles are on the run."
Roxy and Herald nodded back in confirmation. They, indeed, had a lot of enemies on their plate. The enemies Arashi named, combined with the Knights of Hanoi and SOL Technologies' bounty hunters, was certainly a long list for them to deal with.
"Sorry about that. I derailed that conversation and brought it to another topic. A quick question: Did this Gardai fellow have a sense of honour?"
"Well, he did, believe it or not." Roxy answered, much to Arashi's surprise. "After Go defeated him in a PK duel, Gardai's account was locked, and he is on the run from authorities. Karma definitely dealt him a bad hand for attacking Epsilon."
"Oh, yeah. I forgot that Ace hired Gardai to eliminate Epsilon." Herald admitted, as the entire conversation was typed into the 'LINK VRAINS' 'history' section on Gardai's profile. "The irony is that, because of Ace's attack, SOL Technologies was able to form an alliance with Epsilon."
"Indeed." Roxy agreed, as words were typed into the 'LINK VRANS' history' section. She grabbed the TV remote and pressed a button on it, which showed footage of Gardai's duel against Go. "Gardai uses the 'Ogdoadic' archetype, focuses on control through the Graveyard that revolves around sending their monsters to the Graveyard and Special Summoning them afterwards. They are organized in pairs of DARK and LIGHT monsters with the same Level that have similarly-designed effects."
"So in other words, his Graveyard contains nothing but Reptile monsters." Arashi added, as words were typed into the 'Deck' section of Gardai's profile. The footage then changed to show Gardai's ace monster, which basically consisted of a massive snake with wings. "Okay, that's not normal!"
"Gardai's snakes are anything but normal." Roxy commented. "This, Arashi, is Ogdoabyss, the Ogdoadic Overlord, which is a Level 10 monster with 3200 attack points and 2200 defense points. If it's in the Graveyard, Gardai can simply tribute three monsters to bring it back to his field. Once, during either player's turn, Gardai can send all monsters straight to the Graveyard, except those that were Special Summoned from the Graveyard. This doesn't target either, giving Gardai the opening needed for victory."
"Are you freakin kidding me?!" Arashi exclaimed out of shock. "Now that's just... overkill."
"In a sense, you're right, Arashi. But to point something out, we've experienced monsters just as bad as Ogdoabyss." Herald countered, as words were typed into the 'Ace monster' section. And I hope we don't encounter worse monsters than a giant snake with wings, he thought in his mind.
"I mean, if that's the case, Gardai might as well get an A for Apocalyptic." Arashi replied. "What? This guy's practically a snake charmer that's in charge of an entire group of assassins. And his deck lets him play around with his opponents before eating them up like mice."
Herald, upon hearing the last part, laughed. "I honestly don't see Gardai of all people eating mice."
"There are crazy people in this world, Herald. You'd be surprised by the types of people that exist." Roxy replied, putting the finishing touches on Gardai's profile before saving it. After doing so, she showed it to Herald and Arashi, which looked like this:
Name: Gardai
VRAINS ID: Gardai
Other aliases: Snake charmer (he has an entire room filled with snakes!)
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown (looks like he's in his late 40's).
Residence: On the run (FBI and police are pursuing him).
Job: Leader of Delta Branch
Skill: Unknown (like the others, he dueled in a Master Duel).
Deck: Ogdoadic (this archetype focuses on control through the Graveyard that revolves around sending their monsters to the Graveyard and Special Summoning them afterwards. They are organized in pairs of DARK and LIGHT monsters with the same Level that have similarly-designed effects).
Ace monster: Ogdoabyss, the Ogdoadic Overlord (a Level 10 monster with 3200 attack points and 2200 defense points. If it's in the Graveyard, Gardai can simply tribute three monsters to bring it back to his field. Once, during either player's turn, Gardai can send all monsters straight to the Graveyard, except those that were Special Summoned from the Graveyard. This doesn't target either, giving Gardai the opening needed for victory).
LINK VRAINS' history: Ace hired Gardai to eliminate Epsilon in exchange for him not bothering Delta for the duration of the Turf War. When that failed Sol and Epsilon turned their efforts towards him to prevent them from joining Ace.
Go defeated him in a PK duel, and now he's on the run from the FBI and police. Hope he gets found before he strikes again when we least expect it.
Duel Grade right now: A (Apocalyptic) (The fact that Gardai runs a network of assassins, as well as have connections with other areas of Japan, makes him a dangerous opponent. His deck is also dangerous, especially how he can use his monsters effects during either players turn).
Notes: Gardai has a love for snakes due to their silent sneakiness and hunters that never stop pursuing their prey one they get your scent. Reflects his deck in a real sinister way.
Unlike his men who rely on crude guerrilla tactics with guns and knives his preference is through poison, which he no doubt has done time and again on his hits both in Vrains and the real world.
According to Greg, agents of Central Japan were at his branch include Amadeus the governor, likely trying to establish a deal in hiring him. This should set things back for them both.
Gardai has a code of honour to an extent, as he kept his word to Go after being beaten but makes him no less deadly.
Satisfied with the first profile, Roxy closed up Gardai's profile before moving on to the next one. "Alrighty, now we can move on this Gardai's right hand man." She pressed a button on the TV remote towards the TV screen, which showed a picture of Sharpshot.
"Hang on, is that dude actually carrying guns in his hand?" Arashi asked. "Because he literally looks like he is."
"Except for Gardai, everyone carries some form of modern day weaponry. This guy, however, carries a lot of them." Roxy commented. "While we don't know what his name is in the real world, we do know his network ID as Sharpshot, and how he's Gardai's right hand man." Words were typed into the 'Name', 'VRAINS ID', 'Gender', and 'Unknown' sections of Sharpshot's profile.
"In a sense, regarding his name and weaponry, he's like a smaller version of Blood Shepherd. A sharpshooter if you will." Herald said. "I wonder who would win between them if they encounter one another."
Roxy shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows to be honest with you? But regardless, this guy proved to be a threat, as he was sent by Gardai to assassin at Yeshurun and eliminate Epsilon. He even tried to take Yeshurun's family hostage to try and complete the task."
"Are you kidding me right now?" Arashi inquired in a tone of just pure disgust. "Who would do something like that? I mean, there's worse things, like other ways to kill people, such as car crashes, houses burning down, but who in their right mind would take a family hostage?"
"Like I told Herald, there are some sickos in this world, Arashi." Roxy said, as words were typed into the 'LINK VRAINS' history' and the 'Notes' section. She pressed a button on the TV remote, which showed the footage of a duel between Akira and Sharpshot. "Known as the 'Magical Musket' archetype, Sharpshot's deck focuses on using monsters to accumulate their Spells/Traps in order to disrupt almost any moves their opponents may be attempting. All of their monsters can activate their effects when a Spell/Trap is activated in the same column as theirs (including opponent's). In addition, they also allows player to activate "Magical Musket" Spell/Traps from their hand, essentially turning them into hand traps, making their moves harder to predict and protect against."
"So in other words, it's hand-trap the game all over again?" Arashi asked.
"Oh, yeah. It definitely is all over again." Roxy answered in an annoyed tone, as words were typed into the 'Deck' section of Sharpshot's profile. "It's like the PSY-Frame deck, where it lets the user Special Summon monsters from the hand, deck, and Graveyard after negating and destroying cards. The difference between PSY-Frame and Magical Musket is this: While the former lets you Special Summon monsters, the latter has more flexibility in terms of not Setting cards, thus letting you keep your hand of cards."
"Thus making the 'Magical Musket' archetype one of the ultimate deniers in the game of duel monsters." Herald added, as the footage sped up to show Sharpshot's ace monster. "Ah, it seems Sharpshot summoned his ace monster. Known as Magical Musket Mastermind Zakiel, this monster is a Level 8 monster with 2500 attack and defense points. This monster can be tribute summoned just by tributing one 'Magical Musket' monster. While it shares the same abilities with the other monsters in allowing Sharpshot to activate Spell and Trap cards from his hand, Zakiel lets Sharpshot draw cards equal to the number of Spell and Trap cards activated during the opponent's end phase. In other words, it lets Sharpshot refill his hand for the next turn."
"I guess that makes sense. I mean, this guy, being a sharpshooter, has to refill his hand one way or another, right." Arashi pointed out, as words were typed into the 'Ace monster' section of Sharpshot's profile. "Just one question. Is an assassin as dangerous as this guy locked up? Otherwise, he'll be causing havoc in the real world."
"He isn't locked up, unfortunately. He's currently on the run, and authorities are trying to hunt him down." Roxy answered, as words were typed into the 'Residence' section of Sharpshot's profile. "But if this guy ever tries to attack us, Café Matsuo has two lines of defence."
"Two lines of defence?" Arashi repeated.
"I loaded Café Matsuo with a wide variety of defence systems, which include stun bullets, tasers, sound guns, and plenty more." Roxy smirked after listing all those defence systems. "As for the other one….." She sighed out of embarrassment, as if she didn't want to say what was next on her mind.
"I recently created more sentient Cyberse creatures that are Greek-related from Fate/Grand Order for Yuhiro's deck!" Herald announced with pride, much to Roxy's dismay. "If I recall, there's Circe, Achilles, Super Orion, and other monsters."
"He's gonna turn this place into a zoo, isn't he?" Arashi whispered to Roxy.
"At the rate Herald's going, he certainly will." Roxy whispered back. Perhaps they could use this to their advantage.
"In times like this, the more allies we have, the better we'll survive the next round of battles. After all, if our enemies are getting stronger, then so must we." Herald pointed out, having heard what Roxy and Arashi said to one another. "Anyhow, we're getting off topic. What duel grade should we give this guy?"
Roxy thought it over for a moment, then said, "I think B-, or Badass with a – would be logical for Sharpshot. He's unpredictable in duels, and will take any course of action just to complete his assignment. The faster you deal with him, the more likely you'll prevent him from doing something dangerous." Words were typed into the 'Duel Grade right now' section of Sharpshot's profile. "Anyhow, with that done, here's Sharpshot's completed profile!" She put down the finishing touches before showing Herald and Arashi the profile, which looked like this:
Name: Unknown (darn it. This sucks).
VRAINS ID: Sharpshot
Other aliases: Sharpshooter (may give Blood Shepherd a run for his money in terms of the shooting gallery. If they were to duel, I wonder what would happen).
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown (he looks like he's in his 30's).
Residence: Unknown (rumor is that he escaped, and is on the run).
Job: Gardai's right hand man
Skill: Unknown (once again, he only dueled in a Master Duel against Akira).
Deck: Magical Musket (also known as the denier itself, this archetype revolves around using their monsters to accumulate their Spells/Traps in order to disrupt almost any moves their opponents may be attempting. All of their monsters can activate their effects when a Spell/Trap is activated in the same column as theirs (including opponent's). In addition, they also allows player to activate "Magical Musket" Spell/Traps from their hand, essentially turning them into hand traps, making their moves harder to predict and protect against).
Ace monster: Magical Musket Mastermind Zakiel (a Level 8 monster with 2500 attack and defense points. This monster can be tribute summoned just by tributing one 'Magical Musket' monster. While it shares the same abilities with the other monsters in allowing Sharpshot to activate Spell and Trap cards from his hand, Zakiel lets Sharpshot draw cards equal to the number of Spell and Trap cards activated during the opponent's end phase. In other words, it lets Sharpshot refill his hand for the next turn).
LINK VRAINS' history: Sharpshot was hired to assassinate Yeshurun, but was stopped by Akira and taken into custody.
Duel Grade right now: B- (Badass with a -) (He's unpredictable in duels, and will take any course of action just to complete his assignment. The faster you deal with him, the more likely you'll prevent him from doing something dangerous).
Notes: Sharpshot tried to take Yeshurun's family hostage to force him to surrender and luckily was thwarted.
With both profiles done, Roxy saved Sharpshot's profile before turning her computer off.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. Class ran a bit longer than usual." Yuhiro said, walking downstairs and heading over to the living room. Only to find that the trio had not only finished the profiles, but had watched a movie in his absence. "Really? You guys couldn't have waited for me to get class done prior to watching the movie and doing the profiles?"
"Well.. maybe next time?" Herald replied with a chuckle.
"It's no big deal. Besides, I'll be there for the next round of profiles." Yuhiro went over to the other couch and sat down on it. "Say, Roxy. What profiles do we have left?"
"Only the profiles for Alpha, and once that's done… well, we'll just have to see what tomorrow brings us." Roxy answered. "After all, we can't predict the future."
"But we can prepare for it. It's the logical thing to do." Arashi stated, with the others nodding in agreement. While they didn't know what would happen next, it was certainly a good idea to prepare for it. Besides. As Herald said, they'll have to get stronger to prepare for the battles ahead. By doing so, they'll be able to win those battles, and take another step closer towards completing their respective goals.
Meanwhile...
Gardai continued running for his life, hoping to evade the police for as long as he can. After all, he was heading towards a single location.
Central Japan.
There, he would be safe. Besides. He worked with Balius and ensure that his rule in Central Japan was solidified. And since Gardai was one of Balius' most important allies due to the former having access to lots of weaponry, Gardai was confident that Balius would provide him asylum in Central Japan.
Eventually, Gardai made it to the border of Central Japan, which was guarded by various troops.
"Halt! Who goes there?" one of the troops said, as Gardai approached them.
"I'm Gardai, leader of the Delta Branch. I worked with Balius himself!" Gardai answered. "I'm on the run, and am seeking asylum." Two of the troops headed over to Gardai and escorted him to the gate, the other troop heading over to the phone and dialing a number.
"Balius, sir. A man known as Gardai is at the gates. Should we let him in?" the troop asked.
"Yes. Escort him to the central palace." Balius answered. Nodding in confirmation, the troop made a hand signal to the troops with Gardai, motioning them to bring Gardai to the nearby car. After opening the gates, the men drove the vehicle through them and entered Central Japan itself.
Yes. I'll be safe here, Gardai thought with relief. After ten minutes, the car pulled up at the palace, the troops escorting Gardai out before heading towards the gates. When they opened, the two troops brought Gardai over to a room, where they saw Balius overlooking a map.
"Gardai, come in." Balius said, gesturing to a nearby chair, which Gardai went over and sat in.
"Thank you so much." Gardai replied with a smile, as Balius went over to his chair and sat in it on the opposite end of the table. "Considering how I'm one of your crucial allies, it's only logical for you to come to my time of need when I came to yours."
"I concur." Balius agreed. "So, Gardai. Please give me a report on what happened in Delta. I heard things, but I want to hear the full account from you." And so, Gardai told Balius everything. How SOL Technologies attacked Delta, how their bounty hunters invaded the branch's headquarters and shut it down, and how SOL Technologies (with assistance from the FBI and police) was able to seize Delta for themselves. "I see. What happened to Amadeus?"
"He... unfortunately got captured." Gardai answered.
"And Athaliah?"
Gardai was silent upon hearing this question for a few moments before responding. "I don't know," he admitted.
"I see." Balius thought this over. "And what of Brion? I'm assuming he was with SOL Technologies during the attack?"
"He was, sir." Gardai confirmed. "I luckily have his location in the real world. Something I can barter with in exchange for letting me live, of course. I mean, don't you want to-."
BANG!
Much to Gardai's shock, Balius pulled out a gun and quickly shot him right between the eyes, ending his life before he can even respond to what was happening.
"I'm perfectly aware of where Brion is. And yet, I unfortunately can't do anything at the moment to get rid of him." Balius admitted. This was true. Considering his duties in Central Japan, which included solidifying his hold in the country and ending small resistances, he had to deal with those first. And from what Gardai told him just now, he had to cut some loose ends. Ensure that no one can trace his allies back to Balius. That meant he had to kill Amadeus and Athaliah, as well as seize all of Gardai's assets.
"Sir, about the body..." one of the troops began.
"Take his body and throw it in the nearest ocean." Balius ordered. "Put bounties on Amadeus and Athaliah, and spread this information to whatever mercenaries are available. As for Gardai's assets, contact my chief hacker and have him meet me here. Oh, and get a janitor to clean up this mess."
"Yes sir!" both troops complied, taking Gardai's body and dragging it out of the room.
Balius pondered over these recent events. This Turf War has taken away some of my valuable assets, which will certainly be strong losses for Central Japan, he admitted. Still, it's better to cut loose ends sooner than later. After all... He narrowed his eyes. Who knows what will happen if someone connects the dots?
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Next time onYu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS Obscured Truth: Roxy's Reports 31: Gil, Enzo, Athaliah, and Greg
Author's Notes
Hi, everyone! I hoped you enjoyed the profiles for Gardai and Sharpshot. Only one more to go, and then we'll resume the story. So see you next time!