Response to Reviews

Thank you to ZeroMK7, HunterHQ, Noobmaster, Unknown, Donjusticia, Anonymous, Guest, Ambiguous, Kingdom Hearts Guy, Electriuser, Unnamed, Guest, Guest, Guest, and E.T. 2000 for reviewing Chapter 58 of Obscured Truth.

Hey, everyone! I'm glad you're enjoying the Turf War arc so far in the story. To give you a heads-up, the Turf War arc will be finished by Chapter 64, after which the story will follow the anime timeline. As such, I hope you enjoy the rest of the arc.

Alright, let's go onto reviews, shall we:

ZeroMK7: Credit goes to you for mentioning the Monarch archetype a while back. As Seamus rules the Gamma Branch, it only makes sense for him to wield it. Raguel's going to have a very hard time against Seamus, that's for sure.

HunterHQ: Since Pawn's a member of the Executives, he doesn't need to worry about being disposed. After all, SOL Technologies NEEDS him. Why is he around Queen? Simple. Of all the Executives, he gets to annoy her to no end and have a great time in the process. The best part: He can get away with it because Queen can't do ANYTHING about it. Otherwise, Pawn being fired will affect SOL Technologies in a bad way. The new weapon is the AI chip, and by this point, it hasn't been made it, so how can Go test something that hasn't even been made yet? I already addressed the error in a PM, so don't worry. Yup. It's basically the entire Guzik family vs the good guys in this chapter. What did to Ghost Girl do to Wyatt in the past? Simple. She betrayed Zeta during a supply run and stole their stuff. Yup. I'm up to something big in regards to Yuhiro, so pay attention to how he slowly changes throughout Season 2. Like I said, the changes that happen will affect him forever. I agree with you in saying that Wraith would be disgusted with Goldie, as she's someone who hesitates to act while Wraith goes right for it. While Herald and Cypher would have a lot in common, there would be differences, that's for sure. And you forgot one thing: Herald would fall head over heels for Lily.

Noobmaster: Well, I did try to put down as many Japanese elements in Epsilon. Yup. Cheshire's appearance is literally based off of Cheshire from Young Justice. When you're going through a crowd, then ponchos are a good way to go. Better to have a meeting in the network than in the real world. Yup, SengokuQueen's character development is better. Keep this in mind: Chapters 57 and 58 occur on the weekend, while this chapter will occur on a school day. As for Kitamura's fate, it may come sooner than you expect it to be. How did Yuhiro know that Akira visited Epsilon? Simple. Do you remember Yuhiro's fly buddies E.M.S.? They help him keep an eye on things in the network, and they're so small that no one can detect them.

Guest: If Lightning did that, it'd cause permanent losses. While Uchida Industries is currently located in Den City, it does have worldwide partners. Like I said before: Chapters 57 and 58 occur on the weekend, while this chapter will occur on a school day. No, the Turf War won't happen in a SINGLE day. It'll take place over many days, so be at ease. Since Epsilon has Sharpshot and his allies captured, it's a legit reason for them to fight back directly after defending themselves for so long.

Donjusticia: Glad you enjoyed reading about Epsilon in the previous chapter.

Anonymous: Ace won't hesitate to undertake action if he's being threatened. For instance, he didn't bother rescuing Clarice as that would not benefit him in the long run. Apologies for the typo. These things happen all the time. If Yeshurun and Dancho dueled, I'd say it would be an even match. Forgot about Rosey and Mimi. Thanks for pointing them out.

Guest: Patience. Watchman will duel before the Ignis War begins.

Kingdom Hearts Guy: Huh? What do you mean for your first question? And yes, Decode Talker Heatsoul is an actual thing.

Electriuser: Glad you enjoyed the chapter. Magical Muskets are a real pain in the butt, as they're all about pulling the deny card over and over again from the hand. Keep in mind that Yuhiro still has his Link Trigger ability, and it nearly consumed him in Chapter 49 when he hit his dead due to Haru's attack. Also, pay attention to how Yuhiro slowly changes throughout Season 2. It'll affect him forever in the long run. Happy you liked Pawn's appearance. He's like the little, annoying brother that never goes away. While Herald and Cypher have a lot in common, there's definitely differences you pointed out there, especially the fact that Herald isn't a pervert while Cypher is (can't believe you reminded me of Cypher's first actions upon first appearing. Yikes). If Cypher did that, Yuhiro, Herald, Roxy, and even Progleo would be angry with what he did.

Unnamed: You're mistaken. The Black Market NEEDED a revamp. People can't go to Ace's casino because he's NOT there. There's a reason why Black Market operations don't happen in the real world, and it involves the three golden rules that every one must follow. Gerdai's archetype won't be revealed until Chapter 61.

Guest: Azrael gave lots of money to Ace to buy Uchida Industries' stocks, so that's a start.

Guest: Ace is too busy trying to solidify his hold on the Black Market, and if he were to send his forces to help Zeta rebuild, he'd be making some detrimental risks.

Guest: The difference between Vernita and SengokuQueen is based on experience. It will take SengokuQueen to understand what it really means to fight on the side of good, which is why character development exists after all.

E.T. 2000: Yup. Ace's actions ended up causing Epsilon and SOL Technologies to form an alliance. I hope you enjoy the duels in this chapter, as this chapter is the one with the most duels so far. Yeah, I can agree with you when you say that Herald and Cypher wouldn't get along, as one is humble and the other is arrogant.

With all reviews answered, it's time for the chapter to commence. Enjoy!

Chapter 59: Return to Gamma

The sky appears, full of clouds. Playmaker races through the clouds on his duel board, followed by Raguel, Soulburner, and Slipstream. Two swords then slice the clouds completely to reveal NEW LINK VRAINS. One of the swords, a katana with symbols inscribed on the blade, crosses downwards to the left. Crossing downwards to the right was a typical western sword, with a golden rain-guard and a blue grip. The sword also had symbols inscribed on the blade as well. The two swords made a shining X, causing the Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS! logo to appear, and underneath it, the words "OBSCURED TRUTH" ominously appear.

Yuhiro and Yusaku are walking down the street to school. Naoki runs past them, a large smile on his face. Aoi walks past them on the other side, smiling lightly and blushing at Yusaku. Then Takeru walks up behind them and wraps one arm around Yusaku. He then wraps the other arm around Yuhiro, surprising him for a few moments before being pulled to the side by Rachel, who's clearly happy to see him. Yuhiro smiles back at her.

Tsubaki and Hideki are shown boarding an airplane as they head to their destination. After sitting down next to each other in their respective seats, Tsubaki looks out in the window, which shows a reflection of Rosetta, while Hideki picks up the airplane guide and reads it. In the sky above them is Ace, a malicious sneer on his face.

Go Onizuka is shown wearing a hoodie as he leaves the waterfront for the last time. Outside of his home, he encounters Kenmochi and Yoroizaka, who are waiting for him. Smirking, the three of them raise their left arms into the air and enter NEW LINK VRAINS, with Go in his new avatar riding beside his new allies. Stregone crosses his arms as he looks down at them, a look of shock and disappointment on his face.

Kusanagi is then shown with Roxy at a nearby picnic table, both enjoying food and laughter while talking about technology. Flame and Ai are shown arguing in Café Nagi, while Herald ends up getting annoyed with their bickering. As a result, he snaps his fingers, causing Progleo to jump onto the desk and startle Ai and Flame.

At SOL Technologies, Akira Zaizen and Hayami are shown in Queen's office, with Queen handing them a signed order regarding Playmaker and Raguel. A look of hesitation appears on Akira's face, but he hides it just in time.

Azrael and Wraith are then shown with Ace and Athaliah standing behind them, shrouded in shadow along with their ace monsters Zerrziel, Ruler of the Evil Eyed and El Shaddoll Construct. Standing behind Azrael and Wraith though, is a black, bipedal dragon with red sclera, white irises, and black pupils obscured in shadow. The dragon roars before disappearing with Zerrziel and El Shaddoll Construct. Jumping above Azrael and Wraith is Malf, sporting a demonic expression on his face. He then extends his right arm forward towards the screen, darkening it completely.

When the screen becomes clear, Playmaker and Raguel are shown riding their duel boards next to each other, with Cyberse Witch and Cyberse Magician in front of Playmaker, and Cyreath Hercules and Cyreath Medusa in front of Raguel. The two are chased by Blood Shepherd, who directs two copies of Battledrone Sergeant to fire at them. Although the two of them are hit by the explosions the missiles caused, they escape unharmed. Suddenly, Drachen orders Red-Eyes Black Dragon to fire at them. In response, Playmaker and Raguel are shown swerving left and right to avoid the consecutive fire blasts. Joining the young man in the hunt is Electrolyzer, who orders PSY-Framelord Omega to attack Playmaker, but Raguel turns his duel board around and activates a card, causing Hercules to glow a bright light before transforming into Cyreath Hercules/Alpha Mode. His eyes glowing red, Hercules/Alpha Mode charged forward with his axe sword and clashed with PSY-Framelord Omega.

The screen then shifts to Slipstream watching the duel between Playmaker and an obscured Bohman, while Raguel duels Electrolyzer. Noticing Haru, who's also watching the duel between Playmaker and an obscured Bohman, Slipstream takes a card and summons Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, who roars at the boy. Haru, in response, takes a card and summons Hydradrive Nagini, who hissed at Clear Wing in the process.

Blue Girl and Rosetta are shown in NEW LINK VRAINS at a picnic table, laughing and enjoying each other's company. The two of them then turn their heads towards the duels going on in the sky, a look of concern on each of their faces.

Watchman's group is then shown, with Percival standing slightly apart from them as he makes a fist with his left hand. Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty and Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon appear before a massive, red-skinned demonic looking monster with golden elements, several eyeballs embedded on its body and four tentacles with bladed claws rises from behind them.

The Knights of Hanoi are shown summoning their monsters. Motor Worm Spread Queen, Helixx Necro Darwin, and Dark Mummy Surgical Forceps first appear before fading into the background. Next is Dark Magician, Berserker of the Tenyi, and Lucifer, Condemner of the Burning Abyss, with Sunavalon Dryanome behind them. Borreload Savage Dragon then rises from behind the four monsters and roars loudly.

Akira is shown at Green Park with Emma, Gekiryushi, and Aoi, giving them details on finding the Ignis. Emma proceeds to make a flirtatious gesture at Akira, making Gekiryushi facepalm and comment on how flirting can be useful at a time like this. The two women then begin to argue, with Akira and Aoi trying to break up the argument.

Yuhiro and Progleo are shown with Miyu at the Den City Hospital, trying to help her walk. Miyu, who's using the parallel bars, ends up slipping, only for Yuhiro to immediately catch her from behind and help her stand up. Roxy then runs out of nowhere and starts pummeling Yuhiro, causing Miyu to almost fall backwards again to their shock. Catching her this time though is Medusa, who appears behind her and smiles, much to everyone's relief. Miyu smiles back, grateful for Medusa's help. The screen then flips around before showing Yuhiro on his knees, clasping an unconscious Miyu's hand in sadness and rage.

Cyreaths Hercules/Alpha Mode, Medusa, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus are then shown in the air, with Turboblaze Dragon racing past them. The five of them prepare to attack alongside Turboblaze Dragon, who unleashes his Desolation Flare attack as well.

Raguel and Herald are then shown on top of a tower, facing off against Azrael and Wraith in a duel. Behind Raguel and Herald is Turboblaze Dragon, while behind Azrael and Wraith is the black, bipedal dragon from earlier in the opening. Both dragons roar at each other. Raguel reeves up his sword, while Azrael unsheathes his katana before the two of them and their dragons charge at each other.

Yuhiro, Roxy, Miyu, Kusanagi, Takeru, and Yusaku are all shown sitting outdoors at a picnic table near the Den City Hospital, all of them eating hot dogs, and Takeru, Kusanagi, and Roxy are laughing. Three duel disks are shown on the table, with Flame lecturing Ai while Herald plays a game on Yuhiro's tablet.

Yuhiro, Roxy, and Miyu are sitting down on a bench outside the Den City Hospital, with Medusa standing nearby them and Progleo on Roxy's lap. Miyu proceeds to rest her head on Yuhiro's shoulder, causing him to blush as she smiles. Yuhiro smiles back at her, while Roxy and Medusa both smile at them, happy they're able to find happiness with each other. The scene then switches to NEW LINK VRAINS, with Raguel, Playmaker, and Soulburner standing on a building and looking out into the radiant sky.

At Den Academy...

"Takeru! Wait up!"

Takeru, who had left Den Academy, stopped walking and turned to see Arashi running towards him.

"Finally! Caught! Up! To! You!" Arashi said, wiping the sweat off his forehead using his right arm.

"Hey, Arashi. What's up?" Takeru asked, the two of them now walking.

"Well, I have a gift for Flame." Arashi answered. Hearing this, Flame emerged out of Takeru's duel disk.

"A gift, you say. How nice of you." Flame stated. "Although I'm curious as to what you can get an Ignis as a gift."

"You remember how I said I'd make Flame his dream vehicle?" Arashi reminded Takeru, who facepalmed.

"Yeah. I obviously do." Takeru replied, before he put two and two together. "Wait a minute..."

"Ta-Da! Behold, the twelve cylinder Flame-mobile! As a race car!" Arashi announced, grabbing it out of his backpack, along with a remote controller. At the center of the vehicle was a dock for a duel disk. Upon seeing it, Flame squealed out of joy, while Takeru sighed and shook his head.

"Flame, there's no way I'm letting you-." Takeru began, only for Arashi to yeet his duel disk off of Takeru's left arm, much to his surprise. "Hey! You can't just-!"

"But I just did!" Arashi proudly said, before attaching Takeru's duel disk to the vehicle.

"This is awesome!" Flame cried with joy, moving the Flame-Mobile forwards and backwards to test it out. He then had the Flame-Mobile turn in a circle to further confirm it was working. At that moment, an idea popped in his mind. "Later, suckers!" Flame then increased the speed on his new Flame-Mobile and dashed off, much to Takeru's dismay and Arashi's amusement.

"You better have a plan to bring Flame back. Because I'm not losing my Ignis..." Takeru warned Arashi, who handed him the remote controller.

"Just press the red button." Arashi instructed, which Takeru did. Upon doing so, the Flame-Mobile stopped going forward, and instead went in reverse, much to Flame's shock. After a full minute, the Flame-Mobile stopped where Takeru and Arashi was.

"Aw, come on! I was having fun!" Flame complained, as Takeru picked up the Flame-Mobile and disconnected his duel disk from the dock before putting it on his left arm once again.

"And let you get lost? Not happening." Takeru decided. Before Flame can refute that decision, the trio then heard a pair of voices arguing.

"Video Games!"

"Soap operas!"

"Video Games!"

"Soap operas!"

"Video Games!"

"Soap operas!"

The people arguing were Herald and Ai, with Yuhiro and Yusaku not bothering to listen to their argument as they caught up to the others. Upon seeing Herald and Ai, Flame crossed his arms out of annoyance.

"What are you guys arguing about?" Flame inquired, getting Herald and Ai's attention.

"We're arguing on what the best type of entertainment is." Herald replied. "I think it's video games, as you can interact with the game and fight bad guys!"

"Soap operas make you care about the characters as you watch the show!" Ai explained. "And since they're so long running, that means you've invested in them!"

"Allow me to refute your ideas with my own." Flame began. "Recently, I discovered the form of entertainment known as Haikus. The purpose of a Haiku is to create humour, to raise social awareness, reminisce on the past, and so much more. You guys want too hear one I recently came up with?"

"No!" both Herald and Ai answered at the same time.

"How long has these idiots been arguing for?" Arashi asked Yuhiro.

"Three whole minutes, and they won't stop." Yuhiro responded, annoyed with Herald and Ai's argument.

"Furutani has a point there." Yusaku agreed. "While Ai's being his usual self, I don't think I've seen him this riled up before. And Herald..."

"He's addicted to video games. Proof: He won't stop talking about how he'll beat me in Broken Bonez one day." Arashi immediately stated, much to Herald's ire.

"I told you, Arashi! One day, I'll-!"

"A million stars up in the sky..." Flame began, getting everyone's attention. "One shines brighter I can't deny. So true love that comes from me to you, my beautiful Ghost Girl." Upon saying this, both Herald and Ai laughed. Hard. "What?"

"That confirms it! You so have a crush on Gore Gal!" Ai exclaimed, still laughing.

"For the last time, it's Ghost Girl, Ai!" Flame corrected him. "Why don't you ever-?"

"Oh, please. I can see you blushing in embarrassment." Herald interrupted.

"Embarrassment?" Flame repeated, crossing his arms in annoyance. Unfortunately, the blush was still there. "I never get-."

"Knock it off!" Yuhiro, Yusaku, and Takeru told their respective Ignis's, having had enough about their petty argument in terms of entertainment. After all, there were more important matters to discuss. Much more important ones.

"With that out of the way, what's the plan for our Black Market trip?" Arashi inquired.

"Considering how the girls took down Beta Branch's Skyhook, we're going to Gamma and do the same." Yuhiro told Arashi.

"Gamma? That's one of the branches in the Black Market, right?" Yusaku asked, with Yuhiro nodding in confirmation as he pulled out his phone to send a few texts.

"I heard stuff about Gamma. How it basically has a 'Strong Survive and Weak Die' attitude." Takeru said. "Considering how there's a lot of strong duelists roaming around the area, I doubt the boss will let us pass to destroy the Skyhook."

"True, but Gamma may still have issues with its electrical power supply, considering how I accidentally sent El Rocco flying back to the electrical generator and took it out in the process." Arashi pointed out, an amusing smirk on his face. "That means we can move in the shadows like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Oh, please!" Ai dismissed the idea. "If you guys were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you guys would obviously be turtles instead of humans!"

"That's not what Arashi meant, Ai." Flame informed him. "Although I'm curious as to which of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles you guys would be."

"Simple. Arashi would be Michelangelo, Takeru would be Raphael, Fujiki would be Leonardo, and I would be Donatello." Yuhiro immediately stated for Flame.

"Hey. There's no way I have an aggressive nature, nor do I not hesitate to throw the first punch!" Takeru protested.

"Really? Did you already forget about those days where you beat up gang members?" Flame questioned, as Takeru sheepishly scratched the back of his head, now embarrassed.

"Fine you make a good point there, Flame."

"Me being Michelangelo totally makes sense, considering how I'm easy going, provide comic relief, and just feel the flow if you know what I mean." Arashi stated. "And what you said in Yusaku being similar like Leonardo makes sense as well. I mean, Yusaku does demonstrate discipline, courage, and a great sense of ethics."

"Honestly, I don't care which of the turtles I would be." Yusaku said with a bored expression, not at all interested at the current discussion at hand. There was one other thing he was curious about. "Say, Furutani. Who were you texting just now?"

"Roxy. I was asking if she can get her old buddies to help us get into Gamma." Yuhiro answered with a grin.

"And who are these allies you're talking about?"

"You'll find out when we log into the network. Let's just say... it'll be explosive." Yuhiro assured the others, much to their confusion and understanding.

In LINK VRAINS...

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Playmaker, Raguel, Soulburner, and Slipstream were on top of a building observing a firefight down below between Gamma's troops and three individuals on a pirate ship with... wheels?

There were four people on the pirate ship that had... wheels, fighting against the Gamma Branch's troops. As for the people on the ship, the first person was a tall, very slender young woman, who had bright, almond shaped blue eyes. She had short, blonde hair, with a pair of headphones on top of her head. As for her outfit, she wore a yellow sleeveless top over a black top that exposed her stomach in two sections, thick opaque black tights, and bright yellow stiletto high heels. To compliment her outfit, she wore glasses.

The second was a slender, fit young teenage girl with tan skin, grey eyes, and grey hair styled as a bob-cut. She wore a predominantly burnt orange and black costume, with a hard orange mask that covered her forehead, nose, and cheeks that resembled a stylized tiger's face. She also wore a black sheath behind her back, which stored her sword. Last but not least, she wore a black belt to store her weapons.

The third was a woman with slightly tanned skin and violet hair tied a ponytail. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of red-shaded sunglasses. For her attire, she wore a black turtleneck that cut of at the navel, as well as red and black jeans and shoes.

The fourth was a tall, dark-skinned woman with curly ash-colored hair and eyes, along with eye shadow around her eyes. She wore a striped hairband, a cyan shirt with orange outlines, orange flats, teal pants and cyan shoes. Covering her eyes was a carnival mask.

"Am I seeing things, or is that a pirate ship with wheels?" Ai questioned out of shock and confusion. Since when did a pirate ship have wheels?!

"No, Ai. You aren't seeing things." Flame affirmed, who was just as confused as Ai was.

"Say, Raguel. Who are these people fighting against Gamma's troops?" Soulburner inquired curiously.

"Gentlemen, what you're seeing now is Roxy's crew. Back then, Roxy and her crew were known as the Rickety Raiders. I got to work with them a few times, and boy was it fun." Raguel commented, a smile of joy on his face.

"I got them to help you guys out in your mission." Roxy added. "However, in exchange..."

"Oh, boy. I got a bad feeling about what Roxy's crew wants with us." Arashi quietly remarked with dismay.

"I HEARD THAT, ARASHI!" Roxy shouted, making Arashi nearly jump out of surprise. "All my crew wants is a few selfies with you guys, as well as a fun duel or two if time permits."

"For a pirate crew, they're wild and free. I also find your crew a bit advanced for a typical one." Kusanagi also stated over the comms.

"It's because unlike typical pirate crews, we have technology on our side, as well as a pirate ship on wheels." Roxy informed Kusanagi.

"If I were a pirate, I would be called Ai-Beard, ruler of the seven seas!" Ai boldly declared, only for Herald and Flame to punch him at the same time, making the poor Ignis wallow in pain.

"No, if you were a pirate, you'd be that governor from Pirates of the Caribbean everyone hates." Herald rudely corrected, making Ai slump over in annoyance and sadness.

Suddenly, Balelynx jumped out of Soulburner's duel disk before jumping off the building and landing on the ground.

"Balelynx, what are you doing?!" Soulburner exclaimed out of worry before jumping off the building and landing on the ground as well.

"Soulburner, what are you doing?" Raguel whispered, also jumping off the building and landing on the ground. Playmaker and Slipstream followed suit before the quartet hid behind a nearby piece of large debris.

"My cat is going into a warzone here!" Soulburner whispered back. "I can't just let her run around like that."

"I wouldn't worry too much about Balelynx." Flame said. "If you don't believe me, just watch." The quartet watched as Balelynx pranced through the warzone, avoiding each of the attacks.

"What's a cat doing walking through this battlefield?" the girl in gray hair asked the girl with short, blonde hair.

"Keep your eyes on the prize, ladies!" the tall, dark-skinned woman told both girls, getting their attention as they returned to their posts.

Balelynx eventually made it to the enemy side, avoiding the Gamma troops' gunfire. Their attire consisted of silver jumpsuits with silver life vests that had a 'G' on the left side. They also wore black pants with high white boots.

"What in the world's a cat doing on the battlefield?" one of the troops asked his comrade.

"I don't know. Just shoot anything that moves. It's Seamus's command, after all," the other troop answered. Before they could do anything else, Balelynx breathed an intense burst of fire at all of the troops, turning each of them into particles.

"Meow." Balelynx cried in victory.

"Balelynx! Get back here!" Soulburner told Balelynx, who went over to him before getting back into his duel disk. "Since when did you give Balelynx that ability, Flame?"

"It was in case of emergency, Soulburner. Besides, who would expect a cat to do that of all things?" Flame replied, a grin evident on his face.

"That takes care of one problem." Playmaker stated, as he and the others ran over to where Soulburner was. "What's the next move, Raguel?"

"THAT! WAS! AWESOME!" the girl with grey hair commented, jumping down from the pirate ship on wheels before the others did the same. After seeing Raguel, she gave him a fist bump, who reciprocated it in response. "Great to see you again, Raguel!"

"Great to see you as well, Tigress." Raguel replied, addressing the girl by her name.

"There's my little honeybunny!" the tall, dark-skinned woman said, going over and giving Raguel a big hug that prevented him from moving.

"Hey, Viola. Let him go, or else he'll suffocate, and we won't be able to say hi to him," the girl with short, blonde hair told her comrade, going over to Raguel and the others. After Viola released Raguel, the girl gave a handshake to Raguel, who reciprocated it. "Nice to see you again, Raguel."

"Good to see you as well, Electra." Raguel replied. "Hey there, Aithne."

"Do my eyes deceive me, or is that Raguel in the flesh and bone?" Aithne inquired with a curious tone, giving Raguel a bro hug. "So tell me. Have you finally found a special girl in your life?"

"Aithne, you gotta be kidding me." Raguel groaned.

"What about, Roxy? Has she finally got a boyfriend?" Viola teasingly asked as well.

"Leshawna, the answer to your question is no." Roxy told her, addressing Viola by her real name.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Raguel gestured over to his three comrades. "Guys, this is Playmaker, Soulburner, and Slipstream. My squad, if you will."

"So you're the famous Playmaker in the flesh." Viola said, going over and shaking Playmaker's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Playmaker replied.

"You're the guy with the fire-breathing cat, huh?" Tigress stated, a hand on her chin.

"Soulburner already has a girlfriend, so back off!" Flame told her.

"Flame, you know that-." Soulburner began, only for Flame to give him a look that basically said 'Just roll with it'. "Sorry, miss. I'm already taken." Unfortunately, Tigress punched him in the arm.

"No one calls me miss and gets away with it. I'm practically fifteen years old." Tigress reprimanded Soulburner before turning to Slipstream. "And who are you?" She looked him up and down. "I never seen or heard about you in LINK VRAINS."

"Uh, Hi-Lo..." Slipstream hesitantly responded. She's beautiful, he thought. And she's my age too. If this is a dream, someone slap me. "Nice to meet you."

"If you're with Raguel, that means you can pull your own weight." Tigress deduced.

"Pull my own weight?" Slipstream repeated. "I survived in Gamma Branch, so I know what I'm-!"

"Okay, enough of the cat fight, you two." Electra told them, dragging Tigress away from Slipstream before a tussle can start. She then turned to Raguel afterwards. "So. What's the plan here?"

"We need to get into Gamma and destroy its Skyhook." Raguel explained, pointing to the giant tower at Gamma. "Can you guys run interference?"

"Here's a path into Gamma. However, the branch managed to repair its power supply, so be on your toes." Electra said, pressing a few buttons on her duel disk, which resulted in a map appearing on Raguel's duel disk. As for Slipstream, he snapped his fingers across his body, as if to say 'Darn it'.

"If you can help keep Gamma off our trail as we infiltrate the main headquarters, that will help a lot." Playmaker stated.

"Leave that to us." Electra replied, as she and Viola climbed back onto the ship using the nearby ladder. "Aithne, Tigress. See if you can help our new friends get into Gamma while we run recon here."

"We got it covered!" Aithne promised, much to Tigress's chagrin. While it was great to work with Raguel again, as well as Playmaker and Soulburner for the first time, that meant she had to endure Slipstream of all people. "Tigress, you'll help our new allies slip into Gamma. As for me, I'll distract them in my most glamorous way."

Oh boy, Raguel thought. When Aithne said 'glamorous', that meant something flirtatious and just... plain out nuts. In a way, Aithne was similar to that of Ghost Girl. Ugh. "Very well. Lead the way."

The sextet went undercover while Electra and Viola proceeded to head over to the cabin and begin interfering with Gamma's systems. Since Balelynx practically turned the troops into particles by burning them, the sextet was able to easily get into the main headquarters through the front door. Turning a left before turning right, they eventually encountered the main area, seeing a lot of people there.

"Okay, lady and gentlemen. This is my stop." Aithne said, doing a flirtatious walk as she headed to the main area. "I'll get the Skyhook's location, as well as well Seamus is. Once I'm done here, I'll forward you the information." The quintet moved forwards and headed deeper into the main headquarters, turning a right and then a left afterwards.

"Roxy, I sent you the map Electra gave us. Send it to Kusanagi as well." Raguel whispered to her.

"Got it." Roxy replied. "Okay, you need to head down the hallway and turn left at the end of it."

"I didn't expect a black market branch's headquarters to be so... ruined..." Ai pointed out, as the quintet climbed over a pair of rocks.

"It isn't important right now, Ai. What is important is destroying that Skyhook." Playmaker reminded him, having successfully climbed over the rock he was on.

"Like I said, I kind of destroyed the power here. Though I'm not sure how the place looks like this." Slipstream questioned. The quintet eventually made it to the end of a tunnel, where Tigress received a notification on her duel disk.

"This way, gentlemen," she said, motioning for the group to follow after her.

"How did this place get so wrecked, Raguel?" Soulburner asked him.

"A month and a half ago, Ghost Girl got a call from a client in regards to a lead on the Project: VIII data." Raguel began. "I was thrown into a cage match with Muziano Guzik, and would have won had someone not damaged the power supply."

"Hey, I said I was sorry." Slipstream stated to Raguel. That comment made Tigress roll her eyes in annoyance. "Come on. The last attack from Clear Wing Synchro Dragon hit El Rocco too hard and sent him flying to that electrical box. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Not make a scene, obviously." Tigress quietly seethed in response.

"Anyway, Raguel and I managed to escape the chaos and found Slipstream getting cornered by a bunch of goons." Herald continued. "We saved him, meet up with Ghost Girl and SengokuQueen, and blew up the database after taking what we needed."

"You blew up the database?!" Flame exclaimed unintentionally in a loud voice that made the quintet take cover near a large rock. Sure enough, there were guards patrolling the area. Even after what happened, Seamus still had the guts to put guards in this area. With guns of course.

"Quiet, Flame! You'll make a scene!" Soulburner warned his partner.

"Yeah! Even I wouldn't give us away!" Ai added.

"Actually, you would Ai." Playmaker told Ai, making him slump over in defeat. This wasn't Ai's day, that's for sure.

"Leave this to me, guys." Soulburner said, as he pressed a few buttons on his duel disk. Within moments, a green and silver bow with arrows appeared in his hands.

"What the-?" everyone else whispered in surprise.

"Crouch down, guys." Soulburner instructed the others before slowly standing up. He immediately fired two arrows from his bow, which hit each of the guards before they passed out. "Okay. Guards are taken out."

"How did you do that, Soulburner?" Playmaker asked out of curiosity as the quintet ran to the elevator. Tigress pressed a few buttons before pressing a floor button that made the elevator go up afterwards.

"I took archery a few months back. What's weird is that after I met Flame, I gained these weird abilities." Soulburner explained. "Like my fiery aura, and these weapons."

"Don't worry. I trained Soulburner how to use them. He won't harm anyone, that I promise." Flame assured them. Before he can say anymore, the elevator stopped on the fifth floor, opening its doors and allowing the quintet to exit it. They continued running down the hallway, and in a minute or so, they encountered a rather large fork in the road.

"Great... five paths to choose from..." Ai complained.

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news you guys, but there's interference on our end in terms of where the Skyhook is." Kusanagi informed the group. "So to find it, you'll have to..."

"Divide and conquer." Playmaker finished, turning to Raguel. "I don't like saying this, but we'll have to split up to find what we're looking for."

"Neither do I, Playmaker." Soulburner agreed. "But if it means shutting Gamma down for good, then I'm willing to accept this choice of action."

Raguel thought for a few moments, then said, "Okay. This is what we'll do. I'll take the right center path. Playmaker, take the path on the far left. Soulburner, take the path on the first left. Slipstream and Tigress, take the path on the far right." Playmaker and Soulburner nodded before running down their respective paths. Slipstream squealed in joy upon hearing Raguel's decision, while Tigress rolled her eyes.

"Do I seriously have to go with him?" Tigress questioned. "I don't mind going with either of you guys, but..."

"Tigress, you need to work with people you haven't met before." Raguel pointed out. "Besides, this gives you the chance to get to know each other a bit." Tigress crossed her arms. "Okay, let's try it this way. You remember that mission where we had to acquire data material eggs from the Zeta Branch and were ambushed by machine gunners?"

"Oh come on. That's not fair..." Tigress complained.

"I had to fight off against an entire squadron of those troops just so you guys can escape. As a result, I had to repair both my sword and gun, which I had to pay extra for because the forger was a jackass that day." Raguel reminded her. "Who knows? Maybe the two of you have more in common than you think."

"Ugh. Fine..." Tigress complied.

"Great. See you on the other side." Raguel ran down his designated path, while Tigress and Slipstream went down their assigned path.

"Okay, just so were clear. We are not buddies." Tigress told Slipstream. "We're just temporary allies on the same mission."

"Alright, beautiful. Whatever you say." Slipstream replied, much to Tigress's chagrin. "Considering that we have this brief time together, why don't you tell me about yourself."

"I'm not telling you a thing."

"Very well. I'll go first." Slipstream thought about what he was going to say next as the duo turned right and continued running down the hallway. "I'm from a family of engineers and programmers in Tokyo, who taught me at a young age. I got an application to the Tokyo Horizon Institute at a young age, and I love tinkering with gadgets and computers to make them even better. I also play video games, am a good jokester, and-."

"Listen, Slipstream." Tigress said, turning around to face him. "I honestly don't have time to get to know you." She turned around and started walking, causing Slipstream to follow after her. "All I have time for is getting this mission done and repaying my debt to Roxy. Once that's done, I'm out of here."

"Debt?" Slipstream repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand." Tigress seethed.

"Alright. Try me. It can't be that bad."

"When I worked for Roxy, who was Angelica at the time, I looked up to her as a leader." Tigress began. "Someone who was strong, inspirational, and able to enjoy the mission no matter what was happening. I wanted to be like her. One day, she suddenly left the Rickety Raiders, without giving us a reason why she did so. I didn't have many mentors in my life, and the fact that one of my most important mentors left totally crushed me."

"Damn. I'm... sorry." If Slipstream was being honest, he didn't know what to say after hearing that story. He looked up to Takeda all his life, and his older cousin didn't once leave him without giving an explanation. In fact, Slipstream was glad he had someone important to look up to. Had it not been for Takeda, he wouldn't have been motivated to enter the showcase and win his admission to the Tokyo Horizon Institute. Slipstream came to Den City to find the one who put Takeda in the hospital to justice. If he succeeded, perhaps Takeda would wake up and recover from his injuries.

"And now you know." Tigress narrowed his eyes. "When Roxy called the crew together and asked us to help you guys out, I only accepted so I can work with Raguel once again. As well as meet the legendary Playmaker of course. Other than that, I don't owe Roxy any-!"

"Look out!" Slipstream tackled Tigress to the ground before a trap door opened underneath his feet, causing him to barely grab the ledge of the ground. Unfortunately, his fingers slipped, causing Slipstream to fall down to the floor.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Tigress said, going over and looking down at the opened trap door. After analyzing the area, she pieced together what happened. While Tigress was talking, she must have stepped on a switch, which activated the trap door. She would have fell into the trap had Slipstream not tackled her at the last minute. "Slipstream fell through a trap door. I repeat, Slipstream fell through a trap set by the Guzik family."

"See if you can find his location." Raguel instructed. "Update us if you find him."

"Roger." Tigress then ran down the hallway. I can't believe he did that, she thought. Idiot. Why would you do that?

Meanwhile...

"AAAAAHHH!" Slipstream screamed before he eventually landing in an area of dirty water. After getting up on his feet, he looked around the area. It was damp, with multiple girders on strapped on the doorways.

Yup. Slipstream was in a sewer.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Slipstream muttered. This was the last place he expected to be in this mission. Luckily, he still had the map Electra gave the group. "Okay, let's get out of there." He started walking, which took longer than usual due to the fact he was walking in water. This. Sucked. A. Lot.

After taking a left and then a right turn, Slipstream eventually found a large door ahead of him, which opened up. "Yes. I'm finally free..." He then ran towards the door, having finally found the way out...

...Only for Muziano to suddenly appear and punch Slipstream so hard that he was sent flying back.

"Oi, watch the mask!" Slipstream complained, staggering before he stood up on his feet.

"Raguel! At last! The time for my revenge is... Wait a minute. You're not Raguel." Muziano said, looking at Slipstream. "Damn it. My trap got the wrong guy."

"Great. It looks like I get to throw down with the fat member of the Guzik Family." Slipstream muttered to himself, recognizing Muziano. Why did he have to duel him of all people?

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Muziano shouted, now angry with that comment. "Little boy, that will be your last words! Then again, I'm glad you're here. Because I can use you as warm up before getting my revenge on Raguel!" He readied his duel disk before activating it.

"So you want to duel, huh?" Slipstream readied his duel disk before activating it. Looks like Tigress will have to find him while he battles against Muziano. "Bring it, dweeb!"

"Let's duel!" Slipstream and Muziano shouted in unison.

Muziano: 4000 LP

Slipstream: 4000 LP

"Say, I got an idea on how to make things interesting." Slipstream stated. "It wouldn't be fun if either of us just snatches the first turn unfairly, so how about we let the roll of the dice decide who gets to choose the duel's turn order?" Unfortunately for him, Muziano remained unamused as his scowl seemed to deepen with annoyance.

"I don't have time for games. I only have time for kicking your ass." Muziano responded.

"Aw, what's the matter? Are you chicken?" Slipstream taunted before making chicken noises, which annoyed Muziano.

"Fine, but I'm rolling first." Muziano decided.

"Works for me!" Slipstream materialized a large dice in his hand and tossed it to Muziano, who caught it. He then tossed the dice up and as it spun around in the air, the two of them waited as it slowed down and began to fall onto the ground, rolling across the floor until it landed on….a five.

Seeing this, Muziano grinned. With a one out of three chance of losing, he was bound to win. Maybe this wasn't a bad idea after all. "It's your move," he said in a mocking tone, which confirmed Slipstream that he was willing to let him take his turn.

"Go, Dice Roll!" Slipstream cried out, as he tossed the dice into the air, which landed on the ground moments later. Once the dice stopped rolling, it landed on a six, much to Slipstream's joy and Muziano's annoyance.

"Alright, I rolled a six. Yippee!"

"Hey! You rigged that!" Muziano accused Slipstream.

"Uh-Oh. Somebody's being a sore loser." Slipstream mocked Muziano, infuriating him further. "And since I won, I think I'll go first. My turn! As I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Speedroid Terrortop from my hand." A chain of red tops with blades attached to them appeared on Slipstream's field.

Speedroid Terrortop ATK: 1200 DEF: 600 LV: 3

"I also summon Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice from my hand." A yellow dice with a single red eye and six red electrodes orbiting around it also appeared on Slipstream's field.

Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice ATK: 100 DEF: 100 LV: 1

"It's time to rev it up! I tune the Level 1 Red-Eyed Dice with the Level 3 Terrortop!" A bolt of green lightning struck Slipstream as the world greyed out and his two monsters disappeared into particles. Two rings, one yellow and one red appeared before turning blue and merging. Four blue rings stacked in a tower appeared, a screen displaying "1 + 3" in front of them. The screen changed to "4" as light surged through the rings.

"Thousand-face possessing shadow of the labyrinth. With that sharp blade, render chaotic darkness!" Slipstream chanted. "Synchro Summon! Come, Level 4! Hi-Speedroid Puzzle!" A humanoid blue and green machine monster that had a blade for a left hand and a cannon for a right hand, as well as a red scarf around its neck, appeared on Slipstream's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.

Hi-Speedroid Puzzle ATK: 1300 DEF: 1600 LV: 4

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Slipstream then outstretched his hand before bending it back and forth at Muziano. "Come on, wimp. Show me what you got!"

"You dare take me for a fool?!" Muziano exclaimed.

"Well, the fact you agreed to my little game just now proves you're an idiot if you ask me," Slipstream sheepishly pointed out.

"That's it! You're dead! My turn! I draw!" Muziano drew the top card of his deck. "I Set two cards face-down and activate my Spell card, Heavy Storm. This'll wipe out every Spell and Trap card on the field!"

"Seriously?" Slipstream replied, both duelists shielding themselves using their arms as a massive storm tore up the field. "Uh, didn't you have two face-down cards yourself just now? Because destroying them was just... so stupid." Unfortunately for him, Muziano grinned.

"Do you really think I'm that dumb?" Muziano inquired. "Believe me when I say I have both brains and brawn. If you don't believe me, then watch for yourself The effects of Statue of the Wicked and Escape of the Unchained activate in sequence. First, since Statue of the Wicked was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Wicked' token to my field!" A statue consisting that of a golden snake on a pedestal appeared on Muziano's field.

Wicked Token ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"Second, when Escape of the Unchained is destroyed, I can Special Summon one 'Unchained' monster from my deck. Emerge, Abominable Unchained Soul!" A humanoid fiend with long purple hair and ears leapt onto Muziano's field. He wore a yellow, ornate robe on his body, along with black pants that had yellow markings on it.

Abominable Unchained Soul ATK: 3000 DEF: 1500 LV: 8

"A monster with 3000 attack points already..." Slipstream muttered with a gulp. Okay, that was... unexpected.

"You got that right, and get this! I'm going to enjoy having both my monsters put you in your place!" Muziano replied, giving Slipstream a thumbs down with a deep grin. "Abominable Unchained Soul's effect! When he's Special Summoned, I can discard a card from my hand to destroy a card on your field! I discard Dark Coffin to destroy your Puzzle!" After Muziano discarded a card from his hand, Unchained Soul fired a purple blast of energy from his hand, which turned Puzzle into particles, much to Slipstream's annoyance. "Time to battle! Abominable Unchained Soul attacks you directly!" Abominable Unchained Soul generated another blast of energy before firing it at Slipstream.

"Sorry, pal. That ain't happening!" Slipstream replied. "I activate the effect of Speedroid Menko from my hand. Since you declared an attack, I can Special Summon this card from my hand, and by doing so, all your monsters change to defense position!" A box of gears with four flaming jets at its edges appeared on Slipstream's field in defense position.

Speedroid Menko ATK: 100 DEF: 2000 LV: 4

Menko then fired a translucent blast at Abominable Unchained Soul and the Wicked Token, changing both of them to defense position.

"You may have escaped this turn, but let's see if you can escape this!" Muziano responded, raising his hand above him. "Appear, the circuit of monstrosity!" A Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two monsters, including an 'Unchained Soul' monster. I'll set Abominable Unchained Soul and the Wicked Token into the Link Markers!" Abominable Unchained Soul went into the top arrowhead, while the Wicked Token went into the bottom arrowhead, turning both of them red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Unchained Soul of Rage!" A massive, four-legged blue beast with long shaggy fur appeared on Muziano's field. The creature had a bronze metal collar with chain remnants around its neck, with bronze metal cuffs near its feet. Its blue eyes glowed as it howled at Slipstream.

Unchained Soul of Rage ATK: 1800 LINK-2 ⬆️⬇️

"Huh? You used a monster with 3000 attack points just to Link Summon a weaker monster?" Slipstream wondered.

"I don't expect a kid like you to understand my strategies. But once you do, you'll wish you hadn't! I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Muziano grinned. What will happen next will definitely surprise Slipstream, that's for sure.

Elsewhere, in the Gamma Branch...

Soulburner walked slowly, bow and arrow in hand. While Gamma was weakened thanks to the combined efforts of Raguel, Ghost Girl, and SengokuQueen a while back, that didn't mean it was out of commission. The guards defending the main gate was proof of that.

"Flame, you do know Tigress wasn't hitting on me, right?" Soulburner pointed out.

"Obviously. She isn't your type." Flame agreed. "I'm just protecting you from other girls. After all, you being a bad boy must have attracted a bunch of girls, right?"

"Yeah, right." Soulburner replied, a look of total doubt on his face. He was glad that didn't happen, as otherwise, his grandparents would kill him. "There's only one girl I'm loyal to."

"And that girl is Kiku." Flame finished. "While I'm glad you have a lucky girl in your life, I for one am totally crushing on that lady named Aithne." A blush appeared on his face. "She's just as hot as Ghost Girl. Perhaps I can write a haiku on her."

"Look who's fickle now." Soulburner muttered. He suddenly hid behind a nearby wall, having noticed a pair of guards nearby. Soulburner fired two arrows from his bow at them, which successfully hit both troops as they fell unconscious from the attack. "Is it just me, or is Gamma's security really horrible?"

"I mean, Raguel and his allies did damage Gamma." Flame pointed out, as Soulburner walked towards the elevator. Before he could press a button, the elevator suddenly went down really fast. "Hold on, Soulburner!"

"To what?!" Soulburner questioned, before it abruptly landed on the ground. "Looks like there's only one way to go." Putting his bow and arrows away, a pair of claws surrounded themselves on Soulburner's arms as he pried the door open. "Roxy. Kusanagi. Do either of you know where I am?"

"It looks like you're in the very bottom floor." Kusanagi deduced.

"Stay on guard, Soulburner." Roxy added. "The last thing either of us needs is a fallen comrade."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine." Soulburner assured them, slowly walking into the main area. Looking around, he deduced he was in a massive jungle, which was evident by the large trees. It also had several green plains and ridges throughout the landscape. "It looks like I'm in a-."

"AAAAYAAAYAAAHH!" a girl shouted, hoping from one tree to another before attempting to tackle Soulburner, who managed to roll away just in time. Taking out his bow, he fired several arrows at the girl, who succeeded in avoiding each one.

She attempted to charge straight forward and attack Soulburner, only for Soulburner to roll to his side before a pair of arm and leg gauntlets surrounded his arms and legs, enabling him to roundhouse kick his opponent to her stomach that she was sent flying back. Luckily, she was able to regain her footing by doing several backflips.

"That hurt! What kind of guy hits a girl like that?!" Jayla demanded.

"Hey, you attacked me first!" Soulburner pointed out. "And what the Hell is this place?!"

"This is the jungle arena, which is survival of the fittest down here." Jayla explained. "Here, only the strongest survives, while the weakest... well, let's just say they end up in pretty bad shape, that's for sure."

"You animals!" Soulburner grit his teeth.

"Now, now, Soulburner. Keep it under control." Flame advised his partner. "I'm guessing to get out of here, we need to beat you in a duel?"

"That's right, Ignis!" Jayla confirmed, activating her duel disk. "My name is Jayla Guzik, and as a member of the Guzik Family, the strongest duelists in Gamma, I won't be going down that easily!"

"We'll see about that!" Soulburner replied, activating his duel disk as well.

"Time to duel!" Soulburner and Jayla said in unison.

Soulburner: 4000 LP

Jayla: 4000 LP

"Ladies first." Jayla said, nominating herself to take the first turn to Flame and Soulburner's annoyance.

"You're no lady if you ask me..." Soulburner scoffed back. He knew a true lady in his life, and that lady's name was Kiku. While she enjoyed teasing Soulburner, she also had a kind and compassionate side to her. Not only that, she was beautiful. If Soulburner was being honest, he was glad to have Kiku as a... Wait a minute! This is so not the time to be thinking about Kiku right now!

"Hmph! Well, no one asked you." Jayla replied. "My turn! I'll start by playing the Continuous-Spell card, Soul Absorption. While this card's on my field, if a card is banished, I'll gain 500 life points for every card."

Flame put a hand on his chin. "Hmm. It seems she plays a deck that focuses on banishing cards." He turned to Soulburner. "Soulburner, be wary. Whatever she's got planned for banishing cards, we have to be prepared for it."

"Don't worry about me, Flame." Soulburner reassured him. "I'll be ready for whatever she's got." He knew that banished cards are much harder to recover than those sent to the graveyard, but the fact Jayla played that Spell meant her deck may not only revolve around banishing cards, but may even get around it too.

"If the two of you are done talking, I think I'll continue!" Jayla pouted. "I now use the Scale 1 Ritual Beast Tamer Zeframpilica and the Scale 7 Ritual Beast Tamer Zefrawendi to set the Pendulum Scale!" Soon, two pillars of light appeared on both sides of Jayla's field.

In the pillar of light on her right was a girl with light-green and light-red hair riding on a bird resembling that of a penguin with wings.

In the pillar of light on her left was a female girl with light-brown curly hair riding on a pink dolphin that had pieces of armor on her fins, head, and tail. She also had a pair of wings as well.

Ritual Beast Tamer Zeframpilica Scale: 1

Ritual Beast Tamer Zefrawendi Scale: 7

"She has Pendulum cards?!" Soulburner and Flame said in unison. Pendulum cards were quite rare these days, and ever since Link monsters were introduced, the amount of users with Pendulum cards decreased. This is because users can only Pendulum Summon one monster from the Extra Deck to one of the Extra Monster Zones. Unless you had a Link monster that worked with your Pendulum monsters, of course.

"My, that's unexpected….How intriguing….." Flame admitted. In a way, he was feeling rather interested with how things were proceeding, even though the enemy was using Pendulum cards. Flame made a mental note to look into Pendulum Summoning for Soulburner later on.

"You haven't see anything yet." Jayla told the duo. "Swing, Pendulum of the Spirits, and show me how to best my opponent! With the set Pendulum Scale, I can Special Summon monsters between Levels 2 to 6 at the same time! Emerge, Ritual Beast Tamer Wen and Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda!" Within moments, a portal opened between the two pillars, where two lights emerged. The lights hit the field and then dissipated, revealing two monsters.

The first monster was a short girl with blonde hair that carried a silver staff with a blue crystal in the middle with her hands.

The second monster was a green-haired woman wearing a green cloak that carried a silver staff with a green crystal in her right hand.

Ritual Beast Tamer Wen ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000 LV: 3

Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda ATK: 1600 DEF: 1800 LV: 4

"This ain't all I can do! I now perform a Contact Fusion!" A Fusion Portal appeared above Jayla, much to Soulburner and Flame's shock. "The summoning conditions are one 'Ritual Beast Tamer' monster and one 'Spiritual Beast Tamer' monster. I banish Ritual Beast Tamer Wen and Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda from my field!" Unlike regular monsters, Wen and Winda combined their staffs as the two of them turned into blue and green particles, which went into the Fusion Portal before swirling into a vortex. A massive tornado of energy then shot downwards from the portal to the ground on Jayla's field.

"Majestic creature of the sea! Make a splash and show this fool your graceful might!" Jayla chanted. "Fusion Summon! Come forth! Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin!" A young-woman with yellow hair that carried a mystical staff, as well as a pink dolphin that had pieces of armor on her fins, head, and tail that the woman rode on appeared on Jayla's side of the field in the right Extra Monster Zone in defense position.

Ritual beast Ulti-Pettlephin ATK: 200 DEF: 2800 LV: 6

"Holy cow! That monster has 2800 defense points!" Soulburner said out of surprise.

"That's the least of our worries, Soulburner…." Flame added seeing the bigger picture.

"Your little friend is right." Jayla confirmed. "Due to Soul Absorption's effect, I gain 1000 life points since I banished two cards!" Her spell card glowed as she was surrounded in a bright aura that increased her life points, much to Soulburner and Flame's annoyance.

Jayla: 4000 + 1000 = 5000 LP

"That ends my turn." Jayla concluded. "Okay, Soulburner. Let's see what you got."

Soulburner narrowed his eyes, seeing the life difference between them had grown. "Just great. With that combo, she's managed to gain a lead over us".

"True." Flame added in agreement. "But I'm certain we'll be able to close that gap with ease." He pumped up his arm. "After all as a team we're unbeatable!"

His partner smirked with confidence at his friends words firing him up "Yeah Flame! Let's do this! My turn! I draw!" He grinned with energy as he drew the top card of his deck. Unfortunately, after looking at it, he slumped over out of shock. The starting hand he got was….less than suboptimal. "Aw man."

Even Flame was taken aback by what he saw. Soulburner's hand consisted of Ritual Forgone, a pair of Emerald eagles, Fusion Tag, Fusion of Fire, and Rise of the Salamangreat! "Okay, I didn't see that coming," he muttered as Jayla grinned upon hearing their words of discomfort.

"Aww, did little Soulburner have a bad hand?" Jayla mocked him. "Looks like this duel will be much easier than I thought!"

"I wouldn't get arrogant if I were you!" Soulburner warned her before taking a second look at his cards. Perhaps... that's it! "I activate the Spell card, Ritual Foregone. By paying 1000 life points, I can Special Summon one Ritual monster from my hand. In exchange, it can't attack, and it's destroyed during the end of my turn. Come on out, Salamangreat Emerald Eagle!" A dark aura surrounded Soulburner and made him wince as a large green and silver mechanical bird appeared on his field in attack position.

Soulburner: 4000 – 1000 = 3000 LP

Salamangreat Emerald Eagle ATK: 2800 DEF: 2000 LV: 8

"A Ritual monster without tribute?" Jayla mused. Perhaps this duel wouldn't be a complete waste of her time after all.

"According to your duel logs, this is your fifteenth duel, Soulburner." Emerald Eagle explained, turning to Soulburner.

"I can count, Emerald Eagle! You know that!" Soulburner replied with an annoyed look. Raguel wasn't the only one with sentient duel monsters, that's for sure.

"Your monster talks?" Jayla stated out of surprise. "That's just weird!"

"He's the historian of our deck, so pardon him." Flame responded, shaking his head. "Okay, Soulburner. You know what to do!"

Soulburner shook his head, regaining focus. "Way ahead of you, Flame! I activate the Ritual Spell card, Rise of the Salamangreat! This card lets me tribute monsters from my hand or field whose levels equal or exceed the level of the 'Salamangreat' Ritual monster I'm summoning from my hand. Sadly, I don't have a 'Salamangreat' Link monster on my field, which means I can't use its second effect. But at least I can do this! I tribute the Level 8 Emerald Eagle on my field!" A dark pink magic circle appeared on the ground in front of Soulburner. Eight flames materialized around the circles edges as Emerald Eagle turned into red particles that entered the center of the circle, which glowed with red energy. The flames then merged and formed a ring of fire.

"Jade eagle flying over the valley of flame, embrace the flames of rebirth, and emerge as a creature of emerald fire!" Soulburner chanted. "Reincarnation Ritual Summon! Descend, Level 8! Salamangreat Emerald Eagle!" A second copy of Emerald Eagle appeared on Soulburner's field. However, he had a much more radiant jade plumage, flaring with green flames, along with sharper features such as its beak and blade features.

Salamangreat Emerald Eagle ATK: 2800 DEF: 2000 LV: 8

"Oh yeah! Now that hits the spot!" Emerald Eagle shouted with a loud cry that made Jayla cover her ears.

"A Reincarnation Ritual Summon?!" Jayla gasped being caught off guard. She heard of Soulburner using Reincarnation Link Summoning before, but for a Reincarnation Ritual Summon to happen was unexpected to her. Her surprised look however soon vanished. "Hmph! Is that supposed to impress me? You could have Ritual Summoned by tributing your Emerald Eagle from your hand, so you wasted your life points for nothing. Not to mention it's already a waste to use one Ritual monster to summon another."

"Who said it was a waste?" Soulburner replied, much to Jayla's surprise. "You see, like my Link monsters, Emerald Eagle gains additional effects should I happen to Ritual Summon him using another Emerald Eagle!" He then pointed his right index finger at Ulti-Pettlephin!

"In other words, all your Special Summoned monsters are wiped out!" Flame finished for him, which surprised Jayla for a third time.

"Oh... I stand corrected." Jayla replied. Unbeknownst to Soulburner and Flame, she had a smirk on her face.

"Now, Emerald Eagle! Emerald Overload!" Soulburner declared, as Emerald Eagle let out a tremendous prominence from his fiery feathers that rained down upon Jayla's field, swamping it in a sea of fire! Soulburner grinned. "Now with your fish out of the way, Emerald eagle can attack you-" His words were interrupted as a bubble appeared around Ulti-Pettlephin, generated by the rider which protected them both from Eagle's ability to his surprise! "What?!"

"But how?" Flame said out of surprise.

"It's simple. Ulti-Pettlephin can't be destroyed by card effects." Jayla chuckled at their naivety, "Too bad, suckers."

Soulburner groaned at this development. "Great. The only way to get rid of that monster is through battle."

"And sadly, we can't." Flame added. "Considering how Emerald Eagle's attack points are equal to Ulti-Pettlephin's defense points, it won't leave a scratch at all."

Jayla smirked at their annoyed expressions. "Is there anything else you have up your sleeve? Or do you want to just end your turn now?"

"I guess I have to end my turn here." Soulburner concluded with disappointment, much to Jayla's amusement.

"I heard about you Soulburner. How a duelist of fire emerged out of nowhere and got everyone's attention with a rather special summoning method." Jayla said. "But the way I see it, everyone was wrong. You're nothing more than a bag of hot air."

"Say that again!" Soulburner dared her.

"Calm down, Soulburner." Flame gently told Soulburner. "Don't let her rattle you. Otherwise, you'll make some mistakes in your hotheadedness and burn yourself out!"

"You're right, Flame." Soulburner smiled at his partner. "I gotta stay calm if I'm to get through this duel."

"A Fire Ignis telling his partner to cool off?" Jayla stated in observation. "That's something I didn't see before. Then again, you guys aren't so hot." She snickered at the duo, much to their annoyance.

"Are you freakin kidding me?" Flame growled as he turned into hot flames. "We're hot enough to turn you to ash! Just you wait!" Soulburner sweat dropped at Flame upon hearing this statement.

"And you were just telling me to be calm ten seconds ago..."

Meanwhile, in another area of the Gamma Branch...

Playmaker treaded carefully on the path he was on, wanting to make sure he didn't get the attention of the guards. If there were any at all. Luckily, he didn't see any of them. Which meant one of two things.

One: Gamma's forces weren't as strong as before due to what Raguel did a month and a half ago.

Two: Seamus called them away on purpose.

If Playmaker had to choose one of the two options, it was the latter one.

"You know, I'm glad we're not facing any guards." Ai stated with happiness. "Because there's no way I'm becoming a human shield for you again."

"Yet you did so voluntarily during the second Speed Duel against Revolver. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to get Transcode Talker." Playmaker pointed out. "Kusanagi, am I getting close to the Skyhook?"

"Unfortunately bud, the path you're on doesn't look like it'll lead you to either Seamus or the Skyhook." Kusanagi confirmed with a sigh. "I'll provide you with the right path in a bit."

"Thanks, Kusanagi. I appreciate-."

"LOOK OUT!" Ai shouted, as a pair of giant pendulum blades suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Luckily, Playmaker was able to roll out of the way, only for another pendulum blade to swing from his left. This forced him to get up and start running. Fast. "Run faster, meatbag. FASTER!"

"Shouting 'Run faster' is not helping at all, Ai." Playmaker told Ai. Seeing an entrance up ahead, Playmaker lunged forward and entered it, enabling him to escape the pendulum blade. Getting up, he noticed a pair of stairs that went downwards. Looking at the digital map on his duel disk, he deduced that the only way to continue was forward. Besides, if Playmaker went back, there was a chance he'd have to face the pendulum blades again. Also, he'd end up right back where he and the others started.

As such, Playmaker slowly walked downstairs, keeping his guard up. Looking around, he noticed a large area that was lit up by candles that emitted purple, ghastly flames. Carved into the center of the arena was a red unicursal hexagram.

"It's too quiet. I don't like this at all." Playmaker said.

"Hey, can't you go a day without acting all moody and disagreeable?" Ai questioned.

"Can't you go a day without blabbing your mouth and sting every thought that comes into your head?"

Ai sighed. "I'll have to say no there. Besides, what could go wrong? I mean, there's eerie candles glowing in a dark arena. Do you think duelists are sent here to duel one another?"

"Very likely, Ai. Very likely." Playmaker confirmed.

"Then again, if this were a movie, someone would spring a trap right about..." Unexpectedly, a giant cage appeared above and trapped Playmaker in the arena. "NOW!"

"You just had to jinx it, didn't you?" Playmaker raised an eyebrow, a little annoyed that Ai had to jinx it at this time of all things.

"Sorry..."

"So you're the famous Playmaker," a male voice said, entering from the door in front of Playmaker before its owner stepped into the cage. "I am Luc Guzik, a member of the four strongest duelists in Gamma."

"Let us pass, bub!" Ai demanded. "We don't have time to deal with the likes of you!"

"Yeah, I don't think so." Luc rolled his eyes. "This cage has a duel lock on it, and anyone who's in this cage must duel to get out of it. Otherwise, they'll be stuck in here for a very long time, and I bet you don't want that at all."

"I see. If I defeat you, will you let us pass?" Playmaker asked.

"Certainly, but I doubt you'll defeat me." Luc responded, readying his duel disk. "Word around the street is you, Raguel, and the newbies Soulburner and Slipstream have lots of skill. So much that people are calling you the strongest."

"Because we are the strongest! After all, my skills helped Playmaker in defeating not only Revolver, but a bunch of Knights of Hanoi as well!" Ai boasted, with Playmaker looking at him with a look of doubt on his face. If memory served, he did all the dueling, while Ai merely talked and talked and talked to no end.

"Only for now." Luc smirked. "If the Guzik Family defeats you and your allies Playmaker, we'll be above everyone else, and Ace will reward us for bringing you guys to him." He smirked. "Perhaps he'll let us call the shots as well."

"Don't boast before a duel begins." Playmaker warned Luc, readying his duel disk in the process. "For if you do, you'll regret it later."

"In my arena, words won't get you anywhere. Only your skills and strength as a duelist will."

"Very well. Let's begin."

"Duel!" Playmaker and Luc shouted in unison.

Playmaker: 4000 LP

Luc: 4000 LP

"I'll let you go first, Playmaker." Luc said. "After all, I want to see what one of the heroes who saved LINK VRAINS can do."

"Very well." Playmaker complied. "My turn! I first activate the Field Spell card, Cynet Storm!" A gust of wind surrounded both duelists momentarily before settling down. "Now all linked monsters gain 500 attack and defense points. What's more, you cannot negate the Link Summons of Link monsters."

"I see..." Luc muttered. A card that prevented the negation of Link Summons would be a challenge for him to get past through. Then again, he wasn't among the strongest duelists in the Gamma Branch for nothing.

"I now activate Link Apple's effect from my hand! I reveal this card in my hand and banish a random face-down monster from my Extra Deck. If it's a Link monster, I can Special Summon this card from my hand. If not, I must discard this card and draw one card from my deck!"

"Oh?" Luc raised an eyebrow. Losing a card from the Extra Deck just to summon a weak monster like Link Apple was... quite risky.

"It's a good thing our entire Extra Deck is composed of Link monsters, so there's nothing to worry about!" Ai announced.

"You're forgetting about our two Fusion monsters, Ai..." Playmaker pointed out, making Ai face fault out of surprise.

"I... can't believe I forgot about that..." Ai admitted.

"Anyhow, I shuffle my Extra Deck!" Playmaker's Extra Deck was then shuffled before stopping momentarily. After looking at the card that was just banished, he turned his attention to Luc. "The card banished was the Link 2 Cyberse monster, Proxy Dragon. That means I can Special Summon Link Apple from my hand." A red apple with a computer screen on it appeared on Playmaker's field, beaming with happiness.

Link Apple ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"Phew, good thing we didn't need it too much." Ai stated.

"Who knows. Let's just hope we don't need it in this duel." Playmaker replied.

"A quick question." Luc said, getting Playmaker's attention. "Is that AI you got that talkative?"

"Yes." Playmaker answered.

"Hey, I'm not that talkative!" Ai protested. "I talk because I give great advice!"

"Which fails most of the time." Playmaker reminded Ai, making him sulk over in defeat. "I activate the effect of Cyberse Converter in my hand. Since all the monsters I control are Cyberse monsters, I can Special Summon this card from my hand." A light, purple machine with two cannons for hands and a face made out of data appeared on Playmaker's field.

Cyberse Converter ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 2

"I activate Micro Coder's effect from my hand." Playmaker added. "If a Cyberse monster on my field would be used as Link Material for the Link Summon of a 'Code Talker' Link monster, I can also use this card from my hand as Link Material as well!" He gestured upwards to the ceiling. "I will now create my circuit!" A Link Portal appeared above Playmaker. "The summoning conditions are two Cyberse monsters. I'll set Link Apple and Micro Coder in my hand as Link Materials!" Link Apple went into the top arrowhead, while Micro Coder went into the right arrowhead, turning both of them red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Code Talker!" A light-blue armoured warrior appeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. In the warrior's hands was a long, translucent sword.

Code Talker ATK: 1300 LINK-2 ⬆️⬇️

"The effect of Micro Coder now activates!" Playmaker stated. "Since Micro Coder was sent from the hand or field as Link Material for the Link Summon of a 'Code Talker' Link Monster, I can add one 'Cynet' Spell or Trap card from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Playmaker's deck, which he added to his hand. "I will now create my circuit once again." A second Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two or more effect monsters. I'll set Code Talker, which is a Link 2 monster, and Cyberse Converter into the Link Markers!" Code Talker went into the top and bottom arrowheads, while Cyberse Converter went into the right arrowhead.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Transcode Talker!" A brown and white armoured humanoid warrior appeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. On Transcode Talker's back was a folded cannon, ready to be used.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬆️⬇️➡️

"I activate Transcode Talker's effect!" Playmaker said. "Once per turn, I can Special Summon one 'Code Talker' monster from my Graveyard to a Main Monster Zone he points to. Return, Code Talker!" On Playmaker's command, Code Talker reappeared on his field in the Main Monster Zone Transcode Talker pointed to. As a result, both monsters were co-linked.

Code Talker ATK: 1300 LINK-2 ⬆️⬇️

"The effects of Cynet Storm, Transcode Talker, and Code Talker activate in sequence. First, Cynet Storm gives all linked monsters gain 500 attack and defense points." Transcode Talker and Code Talker were surrounded in a purple aura each, increasing their attack points.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 + 500 = 2800

Code Talker ATK: 1300 + 500 = 1800

"Second, Transcode Talker not only gives himself and monsters he's co-linked to an additional 500 attack points, you can no longer target either of them with card effects!" Both Transcode Talker and Code Talker were surrounded in an orange aura, which increased their attack points once again.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2800 + 500 = 3300

Code Talker ATK: 1800 + 500 = 2300

"Last but not least, Code Talker gains 500 attack points for every monster he points to, and he can't be destroyed by battle or card effects while pointing to a monster." Playmaker finished, as Code Talker was surrounded in a light-blue aura, which increased his strength.

Code Talker ATK: 2300 + 500 = 2800

"I also activate the Spell card, Cynet Cache. As I control a Cyberse monster whose attack points are different from its original attack points, I can draw two cards from the top of my deck." Playmaker then proceeded to draw the top two cards of his deck. "I Set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Nice setup, Yusaku." Kusanagi praised him over the comm. "With two high-powered attack point monsters and two face-down cards, you're ready for whatever this Guzik family member throws at you."

"Thanks, Kusanagi." Playmaker responded.

"Hey, I was about to say that!" Ai said before turning to Luc. "Prepare yourself, bub! For with this setup, you won't be able to beat us!"

"I'll acknowledge that you've done a lot during your first turn, Playmaker. Then again, I suppose it's expected of one of LINK VRAINS' heroes." Luc replied. "Still, this duel is only beginning, and know that defeating you and your friends will prove that Gamma Branch's strength surpasses all! My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the Field Spell card, Magical Meltdown!" A large, red magical circle appeared at his feet before spreading out to cover the entire duel field. "When this card is activated, I can add 'Aleister the Invoker' from my deck to my hand. What's more, you can't negate my cards or effects that allow me to Fusion Summon or activate cards or effects when I perform a Fusion Summon."

"Aw, glitch!" Ai said. "That card's similar to ours, only it's for Fusion Summoning!" He then got an idea. "Playmaker! I think I have an idea to get us out of this jam!" Ai stretched over to Playmaker's hand, intent on telling him some vital information in regards to the card in his hand.

"Get your hands of my card, Ai." Playmaker told him, flicking his nose.

"I just wanted to help..." Ai bemoaned.

"I summon Aleister the Invoker from my hand." Luc stated, as a young man wearing white and gold robes appeared on his field. In his left hand, he carried a staff, while he carried a tome in his right hand.

Aleister the Invoker ATK: 1000 DEF: 1800 LV: 4

"When Aleister is Normal Summoned or flipped face-up, I can add the Spell card 'Invocation' from my deck to my hand." A card popped up, which Luc took and added to his hand. "I now activate the Spell card, Invocation. This card lets me Fusion Summon one Fusion monster from my Extra Deck by using monsters from my hand or field as Fusion Materials. However, if I'm Fusion Summoning an 'Invoked' Fusion monster, I can also banish monsters from my field and both of our Graveyards."

"What?!" Playmaker exclaimed.

"Our Graveyard?!" Ai added before turning to Playmaker. "This is so not good at all!"

"I banish Aleister the Invoker from my field and Cyberse Converter from your Graveyard!" A silhouette of Cyberse Converter appeared on his field. Aleister turned into red particles, while Cyberse Converter turned into blue particles, with the both of them swirling into a vortex afterwards. Two tornadoes of energy shot upwards and merged to form a magenta whirlwind.

"Bringer of madness! Embrace the power of light and unleash a heavenly guardian that will pierce my enemies!" Luc chanted. "Fusion Summon! Appear, Level 9! Invoked Mechaba!" A silver, mechanical charioteer wielding a lance and shield appeared on Luc's field in the Main Monster Zone Transcode Talker pointed to.

Invoked Mechaba ATK: 2500 DEF: 2100 LV: 9

"Yikes! That monster is deadly!" Ai exclaimed.

"Since Mechaba is in the Main Monster Zone Transcode Talker is pointing to, Cynet Storm gives him 500 attack and defense points." Playmaker explained, as Mechaba powered up.

Invoked Mechaba ATK: 2500 + 500 = 3000 DEF: 2100 + 500 = 2600

"It's time to battle!" Luc declared. "Invoked Mechaba attacks Code Talker!"

"Not so fast! I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Cynet Backdoor!" Playmaker interjected. "This card lets me target a Cyberse monster on my field and banish it. By doing so, I can add one Cyberse monster from my deck whose attack points are lower than the monster I banish. I target and banish Transcode Talker."

"What?" Ai, Kusanagi, and Luc said at the same time as a portal appeared behind Transcode Talker, who jumped in it and disappeared from the field. Once that was done, Playmaker took a card from his deck and added it to his hand.

"I see what you did there." Luc stated. "You banished Transcode Talker to lower my monsters attack points. However, that move will be more detrimental to you than me!"

"Perhaps, but only for the time being." Playmaker told Luc. "Since Transcode Talker left the field, Mechaba's attack and defense points, along with Code Talker's attack points, return to normal." A red aura surrounded both Mechaba and Code Talker, making both monsters groan in pain.

Invoked Mechaba ATK: 3000 – 500 = 2500 DEF: 2600 – 500 = 2100

Code Talker ATK: 2800 – 1500 = 1300

"Very well. Invoked Mechaba, resume your attack on Code Talker!"

"I activate the Trap card, Parallel Port Armor." Playmaker interrupted. "When this card is activated, I can target one Link monster I control and equip it with this card. While this card is equipped, you cannot target that monster with card effects, nor can it be destroyed by battle. I equip this card onto Code Talker!" Two parallel ports attached themselves to Code Talker, surging him up with electricity.

"You'll still take damage." Luc pointed out. "Holy Charge!" Mechaba charged forward at Code Talker and slashed him using his lance, causing an explosion that pushed Playmaker back.

Playmaker: 4000 – 1200 = 2800 LP

"At least that's the only attack this guy can make." Ai stated, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Don't worry, Playmaker. With Code Talker still on our field, we're in the clear this turn."

"Are you now?" Luc taunted. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, The Book of The Law! By tributing one 'Invoked' monster on my field, I can Special Summon one 'Invoked' Fusion monster from my Extra Deck whose attribute is different than the tributed monster. I tribute Mechaba and bring out a trio of fiends that will incinerate my enemies! Arise, Level 7! Invoked Purgatrio!" After Mechaba exploded into particles, three fiends of different sizes appeared on Luc's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. The small fiend had red eyes and a ghoulish grin with teeth. Its body sported bat wings, and protruding from its head was a light-blue staff. The tall fiend was a skinny, human being that had long nails and spikes jutting from its arms and legs. It wore a white mask, with the eyes being covered with a metal brace. Protruding from its chest was a light-blue staff. The large fiend was an overweight, human being that had a single eye, along with a white mask on its head. It had paw-like hands and feet, as well as a light-blue staff that protruded from its arm.

Invoked Purgatrio ATK: 2300 DEF: 2000 LV: 7

"Purgatrio's effect! They gain 200 attack points for every card you control!"

"Say what now?!" Ai exclaimed, his eyes bulging out of shock. Playmaker also gasped as well, for he didn't anticipate Luc Special Summoning another Fusion monster this quickly in the duel.

"You have Code Talker, Parallel Port Armor, and Cynet Storm. That means Purgatrio gains 600 attack points!" All three fiends laughed as their attack points increased.

Invoked Purgatrio ATK: 2300 + (200 X 3) = 2900

"Battle!" Luc declared once again. "Invoked Purgatrio attacks Code Talker! Inferno Kamikaze Attack!" Purgatrio ran towards Code Talker and hugged all parts of his body, causing an explosion that launched Playmaker off the ground before he landed on his back.

Playmaker: 2800 – 1600 = 1200 LP

"Yusaku? Are you okay, buddy?" Kusanagi asked him, as Playmaker slowly got back up on his feet.

"I'm fine, Kusanagi." Playmaker assured him. "Just a little rattled up."

I could have used Mechaba's effect to negate Parallel Port Armor, Luc thought, looking at the cards in his hand, but Transcode Talker is obviously the bigger threat here. Besides, I need to prepare for when Playmaker gets serious. That way, I can stop him from making a winning move. "I activate Invocation's effect in my Graveyard. By shuffling it into my deck, I can add 'Aleister the Invoker' back to my hand." After taking a card from his Graveyard and shuffling it back into his deck, another card popped out of his Graveyard, which he took and added to his hand. "I Set four cards face-down and end my turn."

Meanwhile, in another area of the Gamma Branch...

Raguel continued running down the path he was on. So far, there were no troops, and any troops he encountered were dealt with. Still, Raguel didn't like the silence that echoed in the general area.

That meant something huge was about to happen.

"There you are, Raguel!" Aithne said, running to where he was from a nearby path.

"I'm guessing you were successful in acquiring Seamus's location, as well as where the Skyhook is?" Raguel figured out in a heartbeat.

"Yup! It took my seductive skills to get the information out of those idiots! They weren't the brightest, that I can confirm." Aithne smirked, while Raguel rolled his eyes at that comment. Based on what she said, it was implied that she seduced and made out with a few of the guards there. That reminded him of how flirty and playful Ghost Girl was. Raguel made a note to introduce Aithne to Emma, considering how the both of them are alike in various ways.

Unfortunately, the area went pitch black, making both individuals stop where they were. Raguel soon heard a female scream, and turned around to where it came from. When the lights came back on, his eyes widened. Aithne was nowhere to be seen!

"Greetings, Raguel." Seamus said calmly, a television screen turning on and revealing him.

"Seamus. Where's Aithne?" Raguel demanded.

"She's fine, don't worry. I just had my guards sneak by and bring her to the King's Ring." Seamus responded with a smirk.

"King's Ring?" Raguel repeated, an eyebrow raised.

"It's the place where only the strongest duel." Seamus explained, as a digital map popped up on Raguel's duel disk. "Just follow the directions on your duel disk, and it'll take you to my personal arena. See you then." The screen turned off afterwards.

Raguel facepalmed himself. "I had a feeling Aithne would be kidnapped one day."

"Goes to show that not everyone is perfect in terms of techniques." Herald added. "As such, we should confront Seamus and end this debacle?"

"Right!" Raguel then began running straight down the hallway before taking a left and then a right, following the directions on his duel disk. It took him a few minutes, but he eventually reached a set of stairs, which he climbed on.

Entering the main area, Raguel saw a massive cage surrounding the duel field. A ton of spectators sat in the nearby bleachers, a look of excitement on their faces.

"King's match! King's match!" they chanted, eager to see the coming match.

"Welcome to the King's Ring, Raguel!" Seamus stated, getting his attention. Sure enough, Seamus was there, holding Aithne at knife point.

"It looks like I didn't see this coming. Sorry, Raguel." Aithne apologized.

"Enter the ring, Raguel." Seamus requested, causing Raguel to walk up the stairs and enter inside. "You might as well surrender now. If you do, I'll-." Suddenly, Aithne his head with the back of her head before pressing a button on her belt that stunned him.

"It's called acting, sucker!" Aithne declared, a smirk on her face. She immediately ran towards one of the cage and began climbing it, enabling her to escape the trap. "You got this, Raguel! Kick his ass!"

Raguel rolled his eyes. Of course Aithne wouldn't let herself be caught that easily. For an infiltrator, she was really good at acting. "Get to the Skyhook. I'll see you in a few." After giving him a thumbs up, she escaped by easily pushing through the crowd.

"I'll be honest. I didn't see that." Seamus admitted, wiping his eyes. "Still, it's time for us to settle the score. Guards! Bring the collars!" At his command, four guards entered the ring and put three collars on Raguel and Seamus. Two of them were on their wrists, with the last one being strapped around their necks.

"What's with the collars?" Raguel inquired.

"Let's just say they'll give you a shock each time you lose life points." Seamus grinned at the 'shock' part.

"What?" Raguel's face paled with fear before he regained his focus. The last time he was electrocuted was during the Lost Incident.

"Be careful, Yuhiro. The last thing you need is to relive what you experienced from the Lost Incident." Roxy warned him.

"You'll be fine, Raguel." Herald added. "Since you got electrocuted before, you won't be as injured as before."

"Roxy. Herald. I hope you guys are right." Raguel said.

"Shall we begin, Raguel?" Seamus activated his duel disk, the crowd cheering for the match that was to come.

"Yes!" Raguel confirmed, activating his own duel disk.

"Duel!" Raguel and Seamus said at the same time.

Seamus: 4000 LP

Raguel: 4000 LP

"Since I'm the host of this duel, it's only fair that I go first." Seamus told Raguel. "My turn!" He grinned upon looking at his hand. "I'll start by activating the Spell card, Terraforming. This card lets me add one Field Spell card from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of his deck, which he added to his hand. "From there, I'll activate the Spell card Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards from my deck." Seamus also drew the top two cards of his deck afterwards.

"I wonder what deck Seamus would possibly have to become the strongest..." Herald mused.

"I activate the Field Spell card, Domain of the True Monarchs!" Seamus announced, as a misty air surrounded the duel ring.

"Monarchs?!" Herald exclaimed out of shock. "Not that deck!"

"The Extra Deck Killer..." Raguel muttered. In his time on the Black Market, he heard rumours of a deck that can efficiently shut down the Extra Deck completely. This deck was known as 'The Extra Deck Killer'. Whoever wielded it would be the most difficult duelist to beat. If Raguel was being honest, he didn't expect Seamus of all people to wield 'The Extra Deck Killer'. Then again, Seamus wasn't the strongest duelist in the Gamma Branch for nothing.

"Get him, Seamus!" one crowd member said.

"Show him the power of the Extra Deck Killer!" another crowd member added.

"While I have no monsters in the Extra Deck and I'm the only player who controls a Tribute Summoned monster, you cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck!" Seamus informed Raguel. "Next, I activate Domain of the True Monarch's second effect. Once per turn, I can reduce the level of one monster with 2800 attack points and 1000 defense points in my hand by two. I choose Erebus the Underworld Monarch!" A card in Seamus's hand glowed purple, indicating that it was targeted by the effect of Seamus's Field Spell card. "I also activate Mithra the Thunder Vassal's effect from my hand. In exchange for not Special Summoning monsters from my Extra Deck, I can Special Summon her to my field, and a 'Vassal' token to your field!" Two monsters then appeared, one on Seamus's field and one on Raguel's field.

The first was a female humanoid in a purple jumpsuit wearing a violet visor. She had silver, ridged shoulder pads, along with a yellow waist cloth tied around her waist. Last but not least, attached to her back was a circular piece of cloth with five green ridges on it.

The second was a transparent copy of Mithra.

Mithra the Thunder Vassal ATK: 800 DEF: 1000 LV: 2

Vassal Token ATK: 800 DEF: 1000 LV: 1

"I tribute Mithra to Tribute Summon Erebus the Underworld Monarch from my hand!" After Mithra turned into particles, a massive, dark-skinned humanoid on a throne appeared on Seamus's field. He had spikes on his knees and shoulder pads, with a massive, black-ruffled cape draped around his neck that flowed down to his back. Erebus had two horns on his head, which curved upwards. His red eyes turned to Raguel as a shockwave briefly hit the field before dissipating.

Erebus the Underworld Monarch ATK: 2800 DEF: 1000 LV: 8 – 2 = 6

"When Erebus is Tribute Summoned, I can send two 'Monarch' Spell or Trap cards from my deck to shuffle one random card from your hand, field, or Graveyard back to your deck! I send Frost Blast of the Monarchs and The Monarchs Erupt from my deck to my Graveyard!" Seamus continued, as two cards popped out of his deck, which he took and sent to his Graveyard. "And with that done, I choose your hand!" Erebus fired a dark beam from his finger at Raguel's hand, with one of the cards turning into particles as it went back into the deck before it shuffled.

"Great, we lost a card already." Herald sarcastically commented.

"There's more where that comes from!" Seamus promised. "Mithra's effect! Since she was used for a Tribute Summon, I can perform an additional Tribute Summon this turn! But before that, I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, The Monarchs Stormforth! Once during my turn, if I would tribute a monster for a Tribute Summon, I can tribute one monster you control instead, in exchange for not Special Summoing monsters from my Extra Deck!" Raguel's eyes widened in surprise. "As such, I tribute the Vassal token on your field to Tribute Summon Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch from my hand!" After the Vassal token turned into particles, a large, humanoid warrior with bronze armour appeared on Seamus's field. His eyes were covered by a bronze visor, and draped around his neck was a blue cape.

Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch ATK: 2400 DEF: 1000 LV: 6

"When Thestalos is Tribute Summoned, I can discard one random card from your hand, and if that card is a monster card, you take damage equal to that monster's level times 100! I choose the far left one!"

Raguel took the far left card and showed it to Seamus, who frowned. "The card you targeted was Cyreath Providence," Raguel said calmly, as Thestalos threw a fireball at the card, turning it into particles. The crowd cheered upon seeing Seamus take out two of Raguel's cards from his hand.

"That was a card we really needed!" Herald cried out of shock.

"Ah, yes. Cyreath Providence, a Quick-Play Spell card that allowed you to Link Summon a 'Cyreath' Link monster by shuffling monsters from your Graveyard back to your deck and Extra Deck." Seamus recalled.

"How do you know about that?" Raguel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why, I studied your duels of course." Seamus answered, a confident smile on his face. "As the strongest duelist in the Gamma Branch, it's my responsibility to be constantly informed of potential opponents. That way, I can break them apart with ease. Where was I? Oh yes. I Set one card face-down and end my turn, which means Erebus's level returns to normal."

Erebus the Underworld Monarch LV: 6 + 2 = 8

"My turn! I draw!" Raguel said, drawing the top card of his deck.

"Continuous-Trap card, activate!" Seamus interrupted. "The Prime Monarch! Once per turn, this card lets me target two 'Monarch' Spell or Trap cards in my Graveyard and shuffle them into my deck. By doing so, I can draw a card from the top card of my deck! I shuffle the two cards I sent to my Graveyard earlier back into my deck, which are Frost Blast of the Monarchs and The Monarchs Erupt!" Two cards popped out of Seamus's Graveyard, which he took and shuffled into his deck. Afterwards, he drew the top card of his deck.

"He's preparing for his next turn..." Herald deduced.

"Then we need to stay one step ahead of him." Raguel decided. "I'll start by activating the Spell card, Cyreath Treasure. By discarding a 'Cyreath' monster from my hand, I can draw two cards from my deck." Raguel took a card in his hand and sent it to the Graveyard before drawing two cards from his deck. "Since you control a monster and I don't, I can Special Summon Cyreath Satyr from my hand." A creature with the upper body of a man and the horns and legs of a goat appeared on Raguel's field. The creature had bronze pieces of armor on its head, arms, and legs, as well as long claws on its hands.

Cyreath Satyr ATK: 2300 DEF: 1400 LV: 5

"Then I activate the effect of Cyreath Wandering Soul in my Graveyard. By banishing it from my Graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Cyreath Wanderer' token to my field." A small ball of mist in the form of a ghost appeared on Raguel's field as well.

Cyreath Wanderer Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"I now tribute Satyr and the Wanderer token to Tribute Summon Cyreath P.H.A.N.T.O.M from my hand!" After Satyr and the Wanderer token turned into particles, an armored warrior with purple eyes and spikes on its arms, shoulders, and helmet appeared on Raguel's field. It carried two ghoulish swords, which gave the warrior an eerie glow.

Cyreath P.H.A.N.T.O.M. ATK: 2800 DEF: 2000 LV: 7

"Nice, Raguel!" Herald praised his partner. "Now that we have a Tribute Summoned monster, we can Special Summon monsters from our Extra Deck!"

"True, but the most we can bring out is a Link 1 monster. If we use P.H.A.N.T.O.M to Link Summon, Domain of the True Monarchs will prevent us from summoning from the Extra Deck." Raguel pointed out, much to Herald's dismay.

"I guess you make a good point there..." Herald conceded.

"But that doesn't mean I'm out of options." Raguel pointed his right finger at Seamus's field. "Battle! Cyreath P.H.A.N.T.O.M attacks Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch!" P.H.A.N.T.O.M charged forward and slashed Thestalos in two, causing an explosion as Seamus was forced to shield himself using his right arm.

Seamus: 4000 – 400 = 3600 LP

To Raguel's surprise, the shocks that Seamus said that would happen each time they lost life points did not happen to him just now.

"What gives?!" Raguel demanded. "You said that whenever one of us lost life points, we would receive a shock. How come that's not happening to you?"

"Well..." Seamus smirked. "I think my electric collar is out of order, if you ask me."

"That is so cheating!" Herald accused Seamus, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Cheating? I just don't see it." Seamus replied. "Will you end your turn, Raguel?

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Raguel concluded.

At the haunted duel arena...

"Aw, glitch! That means he can pull off that same combo over and over again!" Ai realized.

"Well done, your ability to state the obvious staggers the imagination." Luc sarcastically commented, making Ai fume with rage.

"Calm down, Ai. Getting riled up won't help us here." Playmaker advised Ai, before turning his attention back to the duel. "My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "Cynet Backdoor's effect now activates. It lets me Special Summon the monster that was previously banished. Return, Transcode Talker!" A portal appeared on Playmaker's field, which Transcode Talker jumped out of, enabling him to reappear on his field in the Main Monster Zone that pointed to Code Talker.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬆️⬇️➡️

Code Talker ATK: 1300 + 500 = 1800

Invoked Purgatrio ATK: 2900 + 200 = 3100

"If you can summon monsters, then so can I!" Luc sneered before gesturing to his face-down card. "Trap card, activate! Back to the Front! This card lets me Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard to my field in defense position. Return, Mechaba!" At his command, Mechaba reappeared on his field in defense position, only in the Main Monster Zone.

Invoked Mechaba ATK: 2500 DEF: 2100 LV: 9

"As I control a Cyberse monster, I can Special Summon Backup Secretary from my hand." A woman with white clothes and a purple cape appeared on Playmaker's field.

Backup Secretary ATK: 1200 DEF: 800 LV: 3

"Purgatrio gets stronger for every card that's on your field!" Luc reminded Playmaker, as all three fiends laughed once again.

Invoked Purgatrio ATK: 3100 + 200 = 3300

"He has a point." Ai said, turning to Playmaker. "If we don't take those fiends out, he'll kamikaze us to death!"

"I'm well aware, Ai." Playmaker responded. "I will now create my circuit." A Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are one Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster. I'll set Backup Secretary into the Link Markers!" Backup Secretary went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Link Disciple!" A red and black machine appeared in the right Extra Monster Zone on Playmaker's field. As a result, both Link Disciple and Code Talker were co-linked.

Link Disciple ATK: 500 LINK-1 ⬇️

Link Disciple ATK: 500 + 500 = 1000

Code Talker ATK: 1800 + 500 = 2300

"I'm not stopping there! I now create my circuit for a second time!" Playmaker declared. "The summoning conditions are two or more Cyberse monsters. I'll set Link Disciple, which is a Link 1 monster, and Code Talker, which is a Link 2 monster, into the Link Markers!" Disciple went into the left arrowhead, while Code Talker went into the top and bottom arrowheads respectively.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Shootingcode Talker!" A blue humanoid warrior with golden outlines on her body appeared on Playmaker's field in the Main Monster Zone Transcode Talker pointed to, resulting in both monsters being co-linked with one another. On her back was a pair of wings, and a compressed bow was attached to her left arm.

Shootingcode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️⬆️⬇️

Invoked Purgatrio ATK: 3300 – 200 = 3100

"The effects of Cynet Storm and Transcode Talker activate in sequence!" Playmaker added. "First, just like before, Cynet Storm gives all linked monsters 500 attack and defense points." Transcode Talker and Shootingcode Talker were surrounded in a purple aura each, increasing their attack points.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 + 500 = 2800

Shootingcode Talker ATK: 2300 + 500 = 2800

"Second, just like before, Transcode Talker-!"

"Like Hell I'll let you increase your monster's attack points further!" Luc interrupted. "I activate Mechaba's effect! Once per turn, if a Spell or Trap card, or a monster effect is activated, I can send the same type of card from my hand to my Graveyard. By doing so, I can not only negate the effect, I can also banish that card as well! I send Aleister the Invoker from my hand to my Graveyard to negate and banish Transcode Talker! Holy Punishment!" After Luc sent the only card in his hand to his Graveyard, Mechaba threw his lance at Transcode Talker, who screamed as he disappeared.

Shootingcode Talker ATK: 2800 – 500 = 2300

Invoked Purgatrio ATK: 3100 – 200 = 2900

"Aw, glitch!" Ai exclaimed. "Without Transcode Talker, we can't use Cynet Backdoor's third effect!" Playmaker was just as shocked as Ai was.

"In that case, I activate the Equip Spell card, Cyberse Annihilation, and equip it onto Shootingcode Talker." An electric aura with various mines orbiting around it surrounded Shootingcode Talker. "When the equipped monster battles your monster, its attack points become equal to your monsters attack points during damage calculation only. Also, if the equipped monster destroys a monster by battle, you take damage equal to the attack points the destroyed monster had on the field."

"Are you kidding me?!" Luc exclaimed in surprise. Meanwhile, Purgatrio laughed as their attack points increased once again.

Invoked Purgatrio ATK: 2900 + 200 = 3100

"Battle!" Playmaker pointed his right index finger at Luc's field. "Shootingcode Talker attacks Invoked Mechaba! Cyberse Annihilation also makes Shootingcode Talker's attack points equal to Mechaba's attack points!" An electric aura surrounded Shootingcode Talker as she powered up.

Shootingcode Talker ATK: 2300 + 200 = 2500

"Shimmering Straight Shot!" Shootingcode Talker pulled her string back as a bolt of energy formed. She then fired it at Mechaba, which pierced him completely before hitting Luc, forcing him to take a few steps back out of pain.

Luc: 4000 – 2500 = 1500 LP

Shootingcode Talker ATK: 2500 – 200 = 2300

"Since Shootingcode Talker destroyed a monster by battle this turn, she lets me draw one card for each monster destroyed by battle this turn." Playmaker added before he drew the top card of his deck. "I Set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Huh?" Ai raised an eyebrow and turned to Playmaker. "Why didn't you attack Purgatrio? We could have dealt a lot more damage."

"Because unlike you, Ignis, Playmaker saw the long-term plan in his attack." Luc answered for Playmaker, taking a few steps forward.

"HEY! I can totally see the long-term plan in a duel!" Ai exclaimed.

"No you can't." Playmaker told Ai.

"Yes I can!"

"I'm impressed, Playmaker. You managed to deal damage even with the setback, and you did it in a way that will help you in the long run." Luc smirked. "I guess this means I have to go all out on you, and it's been a while since I did that. My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I'll start by activating the Spell card, Cup of Ace. I flip a coin, and depending on the result, one of us gets to draw two cards!" A golden chalice soon appeared on the field, along with a golden coin. "What will you declare, Playmaker?"

"Heads! No, tails! No wait, on its sides!" Ai exclaimed.

"I choose Heads." Playmaker calmly decided.

"And I choose tails." Luc declared, as the coin flipped into the air. Unfortunately for Playmaker and Ai, it landed on tails. "As the coin landed on tails, I can draw two cards from my deck." He drew the top two cards of his deck. "I activate the Continuous-Trap card, Swamp Mirrorer! This card lets me declare one monster type and attribute, and by doing so, I can Special Summon this card as a Normal monster with that same type and attribute. I declare the Earth attribute and the Beast type!" A swamp-like creature with rocks all over its body appeared on Luc's field in defense position.

Swamp Mirrorer ATK: 1800 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"But it'll serve as my means to an end! For I'll now invoke my circuit of madness!" A Link Portal appeared above Luc. "The summoning conditions are two monsters with different types and different attributes. I'll set the Fiend type and Fire attribute Invoked Purgatrio, and the Beast type and the Earth attribute Swamp Mirrorer into the Link Markers!" Purgatrio went into the bottom-left arrowhead, while Swamp Mirrorer went into the bottom-right arrowhead.

"Link Summon! Emerge from madness itself! Link 2! Aleister the Invoker of Madness!" A red-eyed human with demonic wings and horns that grew out of his blue-white hair appeared on Luc's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. He wore tattered robes, and his left hand turned to a red claw.

Aleister the Invoker of Madness ATK: 1800 LINK-2 ↙️↘️

"Huh?" Ai scratched the back of his head. "Aleister's a Link monster too?"

"Keep your guard up, Ai!" Playmaker warned him. "Luc's getting started on something big!"

"You're right, Playmaker. I am getting started on something big, and that thing will be your end!" Luc exclaimed. "I summon a second copy of Aleister the Invoker from my hand." A second copy of Aleister appeared on his field.

Aleister the Invoker ATK: 1000 DEF: 1800 LV: 4

"Just like before, when Aleister is Normal Summoned or flipped face-up, I can add the Spell card 'Invocation' from my deck to my hand." A card popped up, which Luc took and added to his hand. "I activate the Spell card, Invocation! Just like before, this card lets me Fusion Summon one Fusion monster from my Extra Deck by using monsters from my hand or field as Fusion Materials. However, if I'm Fusion Summoning an 'Invoked' Fusion monster, I can also banish monsters from my field and both of our Graveyards!"

"Hey! Leave our monsters out of this!" Ai demanded.

"No. I don't think I will." Luc replied. "I banish Aleister the Invoker from my field and Code Talker in your Graveyard!" A silhouette of Code Talker appeared on his field. Aleister turned into red particles, while Code Talker turned into blue particles, with the both of them swirling into a vortex afterwards. Two tornadoes of energy shot upwards and merged to form a magenta whirlwind.

"Bringer of madness! Embrace the power of darkness and become a primal beast that will tear my enemies apart! Fusion Summon! Appear, Level 4! Invoked Caliga!" A male, humanoid lizard wearing tattered robes and manacles attached to his wrists appeared on Luc's field in defense position in one of the Main Monster Zones Aleister the Invoker of Madness pointed to.

Invoked Caliga ATK: 1000 DEF: 1800 LV: 4

"Really? You brought out a weak Fusion monster?" Ai raised an eyebrow.

"Like I told you before, Ai. Never underestimate a weak monster." Playmaker reminded him.

"Playmaker's right, you know." Luc added. "And that reason will be revealed in a little bit. But first, Aleister the Invoker of Madness's effect activates! Since a Fusion monster was Fusion Summoned while this card's on my field, I can discard one card to add one 'Invocation' or one 'The Book of the Law' from my deck to my hand. I discard King of the Swamp to add the former to my hand." A card popped out of his deck, which he added to his hand. "I also activate Invocation's effect in my Graveyard. By shuffling it into my deck, I can add 'Aleister the Invoker' back to my hand." After taking a card from his Graveyard and shuffling it back into his deck, another card popped out of his Graveyard, which he took and added to his hand. "And now I activate the Spell card Invocation once again!"

"AGAIN?! Aw glitch! This is bad!" Ai panicked.

"It is bad for you, but good for me!" Luc grinned. "And since you want me to use my own monsters so badly, I'll do just that! I banish Aleister the Invoker of Madness on my field and Invoked Mechaba from my Graveyard!" A silhouette of Mechaba appeared on Luc's field. Aleister the Invoker of Madness turned into red particles, while Mechaba turned into blue particles, with the both of them swirling into a vortex afterwards. Two tornadoes of energy shot upwards and merged to form a magenta whirlwind.

"Invoker of Madness! Embrace the power of divinity and unleash a world that'll destroy the weak once and for all!" Luc chanted, clasping his hands in front of him. "Fusion Summon! Arise, the perfect world we seek! Level 10! Invoked Elysium!" A massive monster resembling a massive bowl of water that had been cut in half appeared on Luc's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. It had a white and black wall at the top, and a blue orb at the center. White spikes ringed the top of the wall as well.

Invoked Elysium ATK: 3200 DEF: 4000 LV: 10

"OH! M.A.I! GOD!" Ai screamed, putting his hands on the sides of his face. "That's huge!" He turned to Shootingcode Talker. "Still, we got one monster to defend us. So we're safe!"

"You really think that? Allow me to prove you wrong!" Luc responded. "Trap card, activate! Fuh-Rin-Ka-Zan! When there are face-up Wind, Water, Fire, and Wind attribute monsters on my field, I can activate one of four effects!"

"But you have none of those monsters on your field!" Ai pointed out. "Just a Light attribute monster and a Dark attribute monster!"

In response, Luc grinned. "Breaking news, little Ignis. While Elysium's on the field, it's also treated as a Dark, Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth attribute monster. That means it has all six attributes!"

"Six attributes in one?!" Ai gasped. While that was something they encountered before, they never encountered a monster with all six attributes.

"This guy reminds me of Bohman..." Playmaker realized.

Ai turned to Playmaker. "Now that you mention it..."

"And now it's time for me to choose one of Fuh-Rin-Ka-Zan's effects!" Luc announced. "I choose effect one, which means all your monsters are destroyed!" Fuh-Rin-Ka-Zan fried a massive blast at Shootingcode Talker, destroying her and leaving Playmaker's field wide open!

"Even the great Playmaker is no match for the Guzik Family, and it's time I drive it home!" Luc pointed his right finger at Playmaker. "Battle! Invoked Elysium attacks you directly! End of Eden!" A beam of blue energy shot out of Elysium's core, which headed straight for Playmaker!

"I'm not out of this duel, yet!" Playmaker interjected. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Spool Code! When this card is activated while I have three or more Cyberse monsters in my Graveyard, not only can I negate your attack, I can Special Summon up to three Spool tokens in defense position to my field!"

"We're saved!" Ai cheered, as a translucent barrier appeared and protected Playmaker and Ai from Elysium's attack.

Then three blue and white disks with an orange light on them all appeared at once in defense position on Playmaker's field.

Spool Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

Spool Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

Spool Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"Colour me impressed, Playmaker. No one has been able to survive an attack from Elysium until now." Luc praised Playmaker. "I'll end my turn here. Before you make your move, you should know something." He smirked. "While Caliga's on my field, we're only allowed to activate one monster effect per turn, and we're only allowed to attack with one monster as well."

"Seriously?!" Ai exclaimed out of shock.

"Yusaku, you need to end this now." Kusanagi said. "Otherwise..."

"Don't worry, Kusanagi. I'll be alright." Playmaker assured him before going back to the duel. "My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck.

Elsewhere, in the forest arena...

"Okay, enough drama. It's time for me to wrap this up. My turn! I draw!" Jayla said, drawing the top card of her deck. "I activate the Spell card, Pot of Greed. This card lets me draw two cards from the top card of my deck." She drew the top two cards of her deck. "From there, I activate Ulti-Pettlephin's second effect! By returning her to my Extra Deck, I can Special Summon one 'Ritual Beast Tamer' monster and one 'Spiritual Beast Tamer' monster from my banished zone and Special Summon them back to my field in defense position!"

"No way!" Soulburner cried out in surprise, realizing that Jayla can use this combo to gain life points over and over again.

"Oh, this is bad..." Flame muttered.

"Now return, Wen and Winda!" After Ulti-Pettlephin turned into particles, Wen and Winda reappearing on Jayla's field in defense position.

Ritual Beast Tamer Wen ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000 LV: 3

Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda ATK: 1600 DEF: 1800 LV: 4

"I summon Ritual Beast Tamer Lara from my hand." Jayla stated, as a young woman with braided blond hair who wore a green and red cloak appeared on her field. In her right hand, she carried a staff.

Ritual Beast Tamer Lara ATK: 100 DEF: 2000 LV: 1

"I can't use Lara's effect because I have no 'Ritual Beast' monsters in my Graveyard, but I can do this." She thrust her right hand above her. "It's now time to whip out my spiritual circuit!" A Link Portal appeared above Jayla. "The summoning conditions are two 'Ritual Beast' monsters. I'll set Ritual Beast Tamer Wen and Ritual Beast Tamer Lara into the Link Markers!" Wen went into the bottom-right arrowhead, while Lara went into the bottom-right arrowhead.

"Link Summon! Fly into battle! Link 2! Ritual Beast Ulti-Kimunfalcos!" Winda reappeared on Jayla's field in the right Extra Monster Zone, who was riding on a giant green bird that had armor on its head and body. The bird resembled that of a grown-up Gusto Falco.

Ritual Beast Ulti-Kimunfalcos ATK: 1800 LINK-2 ↙️↘️

"Ulti-Kimunfalcos gives all 'Ritual Beast' monsters it points to 600 attack and defense points." Jayla explained, as Winda was surrounded in a green light.

Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda ATK: 1600 + 600 = 2200 DEF: 1800 + 600 = 2400

Flame crossed his arms. "Well that's not too impressive given our monster is much stronger than either of yours."

"Oh, really?" Jayla sarcastically countered, much to Flame's annoyance. "Battle! Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda attacks Salamangreat Emerald Eagle!" Winda fired a blast of energy from her staff at Emerald Eagle.

"Say what?" Soulburner widened his eyes while Flame blinked equally surprised at what was currently happening. He punched his hand forward. "I don't know what you're planning, but this is gonna backfire on you big time! Get her, Emerald Eagle!"

"Leave this to me!" Emerald Eagle replied, as he divebombed through the energy beam and struck down Winda, causing an explosion that made Jayla shield herself using her arm.

Jayla: 5000 – 600 = 4400 LP

"Be prepared, Soulburner." Flame warned his partner. "Nothing happens without a reason."

"I have to give you credit, Fire Ignis. At times, you can be bright and calculative." Jayla told Flame. "Winda's effect! Since she was destroyed by your card, I can Special Summon any 'Ritual Beast' Fusion monster from my Extra Deck and ignore its summoning conditions!"

"Seriously?!" Soulburner exclaimed. This... was so not good at all.

"That's right!" Jayla confirmed. "Come forth, Level 10! Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio!" A massive, winged lion that had pale skin and four legs appeared on Jayla's field in one of the Main Monster zones Ulti-Kimunfalcos pointed to. For a mane, it had a red flower, and there was a large tree on its back. Silver and black armor covered its legs, chest, and head. The black tubes attached to its armour were surrounded in fire, and an older version of Tamer Lara was on its back. Ulti-Gaiapelio let out a monstrous roar so loud that it shook the forest.

Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio ATK: 3200 DEF: 2100 LV: 10

Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio ATK: 3200 + 600 = 3800 DEF: 2100 + 600 = 2700

"Holy cow! That monster's huge!" Soulburner cried out of shock.

"It's not just huge, it has a ton of firepower!" Jayla responded. "Battle! Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio attacks Salamangreat Emerald Eagle! Nature's Force!" Ulti-Gaiapelio gathered red fire in its maw before firing it at Emerald Eagle, who turned into particles as the explosion made Soulburner shield himself using his arm.

Soulburner: 3000 – 1000 = 2000 LP

"Your turn, Ulti-Kimunfalcos! Attack Soulburner directly!" Ulti-Kimunfalcos flew forward and hit Soulburner with enough force that it caused him to fall off the ground before landing on his back on the lush ground.

Soulburner: 2000 – 1800 = 200 LP

"It's unfortunate that Ulti-Gaiapelio doesn't have its other abilities since I didn't summon it the proper way, but oh well." Jayla shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, wait a moment. There's still something else I can do. I activate the Spell card, Soul Release. This card lets me banish up to five cards from either of our Graveyards."

"Say what?!" Soulburner exclaimed, having been caught guard by that statement.

"I banish both copies of your Emerald Eagle!" Soulburner and Flame helplessly watched as both copies of Emerald Eagle exploded in Soulburner's Graveyard before dissipating. "And from mine, I banish Lara, Wen, and Winda. Oh, and Soul Absorption's effect gives me 500 life points for each card banished. Five were banished, which means I gain 2500 life points!" A massive light surrounded Jayla as her life points increased.

Jayla: 4400 + 2500 = 6900 LP

"I end my turn from here." Jayla concluded. "It's disappointing. I expected more from you, Soulburner. Then again, I can't believe Seamus made me fight a noob like you."

"You're calling me a noob?" Soulburner inquired, as he got back up on his feet. "One does not simply call someone a noob and gets away with it."

"As much as I appreciate your spirit Soulburner, we only have one chance to turn the duel around." Flame pointed out. "If we don't draw a monster, well..." He couldn't finish the thought.

"You always said to believe in my deck, Flame." Soulburner replied. "And as Emerald Eagle said, we survived fourteen consecutive duels so far. Let's make this our fifteenth!"

"You got it!" Flame agreed, giving Soulburner a thumbs up.

"My turn! I draw!" Soulburner drew the top card of his deck, and upon looking at it, he and Flame were filled with joy.

At the underground sewers...

"My turn! I draw!" Slipstream said, drawing the top card of his deck.

"Not so fast!" Muziano interrupted. "I activate Unchained Soul of Rage's effect! During your Main Phase, I can target one face-up Special Summoned monster you control and use both it and Unchained Soul of Rage as Link materials to Link Summon a Dark Link monster from my Extra Deck!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what?!" Slipstream exclaimed, having been caught off guard. "That's so against the rules!"

"Not for my monster, it isn't." Muziano replied. "Appear, the circuit of monstrosity!" A Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two or more monsters, including an 'Unchained Soul' monster. I'll set my Unchained Soul of Rage, which is a Link 2 monster, and your Speedroid Menko into the Link Markers!" Menko went into the top arrowhead, while Unchained Soul of Rage went into the bottom-left and bottom-right arrowheads respectively.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Unchained Soul of Anguish!" A massive, four-legged red beast with long shaggy fur appeared on Muziano's field. The creature had a bronze metal collar with chain remnants around its neck, with bronze metal cuffs near its feet. Its red eyes glowed as it howled at Raguel.

Unchained Soul of Anguish ATK: 2400 LINK-3 ↙️⬆️↘️

"Ugh... It's not only stronger, it's also uglier too..." Slipstream hesitantly made a joke, hoping to look at the bright side of things. Yeah. There was no bright side of things in this case.

Muziano smirked. "Hmph! I'm surprised you're able to crack a joke now that you're exposed and helpless!"

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Diced Dice." Slipstream began. "This card lets me roll a six-sided dice, and if it lands on a one or six, I can add another card that does a die roll. If it's anything else, I'll have to re-roll and then a new effect takes place. But before I get to that let's see what lady luck has in store for me!"

Muziano rolled his eyes. Of course he wanted to do a dice roll. His entire deck had cards with dice rolls in it.

"Go, Dice Roll!" A dice flew out of Diced Again and landed on the ground. After it stopped rolling, it eventually stopped at a one. "Alright! Since it landed on a one, I can add the Spell card Roll of Fate to my hand. I then activate the Spell card, Roll of Fate! This card lets me roll a six-sided dice, and depending on the number it lands on, I can draw cards equal to the result. Afterwards, I must send cards from the top of my deck to my Graveyard equal to that same result. Go, Dice Roll! Again!" A dice flew out of Roll of Fate and landed on the ground. After it stopped rolling, it eventually stopped at a four. "Oh yeah! A four! That means I can draw four cards!" Slipstream drew four cards from the top of his deck. Afterwards, he took the top four cards of his deck and sent them to his Graveyard. "I summon Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke from my hand!" A small, robotic kid wearing a duke's outfit, shoes and all, appeared on Slipstream's field. It had brown hair that had a curl at the ends, which was covered with a hat that had yellow feathers on it. In its hands, it carried a staff.

Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke ATK: 1200 DEF: 600 LV: 3

"I also activate the Spell card, Speedroid Summon Dice." Slipstream continued. "This card lets me roll a six-sided dice and then Special Summon a 'Speedroid' monster from my deck whose level is exactly equal to the result of the dice roll."

"Enough with the dice cards!" Muziano exclaimed. "Face me like a real man!"

"Nah, I'd rather rely on tricks instead." Slipstream responded, smirking back at the older man. "Go, Dice Roll!" The dice then flung itself into the air and landed on the field. When it finished rolling, the dice landed on a five. "Yes! I'm feeling super lucky today! Since the dice landed on a five, I get to Special Summon a Level 5 'Speedroid' monster from my deck!" A card popped out of Slipstream's deck, which he took before playing it. "So say hello to Speedroid Rubberband Plane!" A red plane with a rotor extended from its back by rubber bands flew onto Slipstream's field. It had two claws, one on each side. It also had a face, which composed of eyes and a nasty grin.

Speedroid Rubberband Plane ATK: 1800 DEF: 0 LV: 5

"Rubberband Plane's effect! When it's Special Summoned, one monster on the field loses 600 attack points!" Muziano's eyes widened in surprise. "I choose your Unchained Soul of Anguish!" Rubberband Plane charged forward and scratched Unchained Soul of Anguish, making it whimper in pain.

Unchained Soul of Anguish ATK: 2400 – 600 = 1800

"It's time to rev it up! I tune the Level 3 Den-Den Daiko Duke with the Level 5 Rubberband Plane!" Slipstream chanted, as a bolt of green lightning struck him before the world greyed out and his two monsters disappeared into particles. Two rings, one brown and one red appeared before turning blue and merging. Eight blue rings stacked in a tower appeared, a screen displaying "3 + 5" in front of them. The screen changed to "8" as light surged through the rings.

"Wings of radiance and light, spread in magnificence and strike down our foes! Synchro Summon! Appear, Level 8! Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake!" A mechanical, serpentine dragon whose body was comprised of white disks connected by blue sections, and a blue and white head appeared on Slipstream's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. On the dragon, there were also green panels on its back and tail, which formed wings.

Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake ATK: 3000 DEF: 2800 LV: 8

"Hmm... 3000 attack points... not bad..." Muziano admitted, slightly impressed. Emphasis on the word 'slightly'.

"Attack points aren't everything, you know!" Slipstream pointed out. "Kitedrake's effect! When it's Synchro Summoned, I can activate one of two effects." He thought it over for a quick moment before deciding. "I choose to activate the second effect, which lets me negate the effects of all face-up cards you control! Trichroic Mirror!" The panels on Kitedrake's back lit up with blue, red, and green light that spread out to Muziano's cards, with Unchained Soul of Anguish crying out in pain as its effects were negated.

Muziano grunted. "Smart move you made there..."

"Battle!" Slipstream pointed his right index finger at Unchained Soul of Anguish. "Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake attacks Unchained Soul of Anguish! Sonic Tornado!" Kitedrake's panels glowed with light as it roared and charged towards Unchained Soul of Anguish, spinning in the process. Upon impact, Unchained Soul of Anguish turned into particles, causing Muziano to shield himself using his right arm.

Muziano: 4000 – 1200 = 2800 LP

"I Set two cards face-down and end my turn." Slipstream concluded.

"My turn! I draw!" Muziano said, drawing the top card of his deck. "This game has gone on long enough. On this turn, I'll end you, and then Raguel will be next!"

"Man, someone's bitter." Slipstream muttered to himself. "Hey, a quick question. Do you remember that power outage a while back?"

"Power outage? Of course." Muziano raised an eyebrow, slightly confused. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, believe it or not, that was kinda my fault." Slipstream admitted, chuckling to himself. "You see, I was dueling against some noob called El Rocco, and I let him think he was beating me before I pulled the rug underneath him. Unfortunately, the last attack sent him flying to the electrical generator, which caused the power outage. So in a way, if it weren't for me, you would have lost against Raguel."

"You... defeated El Rocco?!" Muziano exclaimed. El Rocco was good friends with the Guzik family, who was the middle man in negotiations between branches. "You little piece of-!"

"Hey, now. Language, big man!" Slipstream interrupted. "If you want to get to Raguel and avenge your little friend, you'll have to get through me first."

"Gladly!" Muziano complied. "I activate the Spell card, Abomination's Prison! This card lets me add one 'Unchained' card from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of his deck, which he took and added to his hand. "I now activate the Continuous-Spell card, Wailing of the Unchained Souls. If I Link Summon an 'Unchained' Link monster, I can target one card on your field and destroy it. I also activate the Trap card, Abominable Chamber of the Unchained. This card lets me Special Summon one 'Unchained' monster from my hand or Graveyard. Return, Unchained Soul of Anguish!" At Muziano's command, Unchained Soul of Anguish reappeared on his field in the Main Monster Zone.

Unchained Soul of Anguish ATK: 2400 LINK-3 ↙️⬆️↘️

"Great... his mutt is back again..." Slipstream muttered.

"Don't worry. It won't be here for long." Muziano assured Slipstream. "Unchained Soul of Anguish's effect! During your Main Phase, I can target one face-up Special Summoned monster you control and use both it and this card as Link materials to Link Summon a Dark Link monster from my Extra Deck!"

"Not again!" Slipstream complained.

"Appear, the circuit of monstrosity!" A Link Portal appeared above Muziano. "The summoning conditions are two or more monsters, including a Link monster. I'll set your Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake and my Unchained Soul of Anguish, which is a Link 3 monster, into the Link Markers!" Kitedrake went into the top arrowhead, while Unchained Soul of Anguish went into the bottom-left, bottom, and bottom-right arrowheads respectively.

"Rage and Anguish, mix together, and bring out a beast that has no equal!" Muziano chanted. "Link Summon! Link 4! Unchained Abomination!" A massive, four-legged purple beast that also had colors of blue and red all over its body as veins appeared on Muziano's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. It had long shaggy fur, along with a bronze metal collar that had chain remnants around its neck, as well as bronze metal cuffs near its feet. The creature also had long thick whiskers at the sides of its head, as well as long horns on its head and the sides of its neck. Its red eyes glowed as it howled at Slipstream.

Unchained Abomination ATK: 3000 LINK-4 ↙️⬆️⬇️↘️

"That looks like the top dog of the pack..." Slipstream gulped. That... was clearly not good at all.

"That's right!" Muziano confirmed. "And now I'm going to show you your place on the food chain! Right at the bottom!"

"Hold your horses! I activate Kitedrake's effect!" Slipstream interrupted. "Since it was sent to the Graveyard by your card, I can add one 'Speedroid' monster from my deck to my hand!" A card popped out of Slipstream's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

Muziano laughed. "That won't help you. The effect of Wailing of the Unchained Souls activates. As I Link Summoned an 'Unchained' Link monster, I can target one card on your field and destroy it!" After thinking for a moment, he pointed his right index at the left face-down card. "I choose to destroy the face-down card on your left!" A purple howl fired out of the card at Slipstream's face-down card, destroying it.

"Not smart, big guy. I activate Wonder Garage's effect!" Slipstream interrupted with a grin. "When it's destroyed, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Machine type monster from my hand. So come on out, Speedroid CarTurbo!" A red and white card with a small engine with a blue battery on top appeared on Slipstream's field in defense position. Underneath the card were small engine parts, as well as a thin, blue box.

Speedroid CarTurbo ATK: 800 DEF: 1200 LV: 3

"That won't matter, because Unchained Abomination's effect activates!" Muziano smirked back. "Unchained Abomination's effect activates! Once per turn, if a card on the field is destroyed by a card effect, except by its own, I can target and destroy one card on the field. I target and destroy CarTurbo!" Unchained Abomination roared as it unleashed a blast of energy from its mouth at CarTurbo, destroying it.

"Battle!" Muziano declared. "Unchained Abomination attacks you directly! Unrelenting Hatred!" Unchained Abomination charged forward and slashed Slipstream using its claw, sending him flying off the ground before he landed on his back.

Slipstream: 4000 – 3000 = 1000 LP

"Ow, ow, ow..." Slipstream muttered, getting back on his feet slowly. "That seriously hurt."

"As much as I want to finish things here, I'll have to end my turn now." Muziano concluded. "Just look at you, grovelling beneath my feet! I can't wait to see that happen to Raguel once I find him and pay him back for the humiliation he put me and my family through!"

"Then keep waiting! Cause I'm not losing!"

"Not what now?!"

"Man, you kind of sound like Go Onizuka." Slipstream said. "He was all like, 'Playmaker, I knew I'd track you down, you pork-chopping tatter', and 'I'm just here for one thing. And that thing is a duel.'"

"DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO A CHARISMA LOSER LIKE HIM!" Muziano shouted, greatly insulted by Slipstream's comment. "Make your move. Because it'll be your last!"

"If that's what you want." Slipstream replied.

At the King's Ring...

"My turn! I draw!" Seamus said, drawing the top card of his deck. "I activate the Spell card, Pantheism of the Monarchs. By sending one 'Monarch' Spell or Trap card from my hand to my Graveyard, I can draw two cards from the top of my deck. I send The Monarchs Awaken from my hand to my Graveyard." After Seamus discarded a card from his hand, he drew two cards from the top of his deck. "I also activate The Prime Monarch's effect once again. Once per turn, this card lets me target two 'Monarch' Spell or Trap cards in my Graveyard and shuffle them into my deck. By doing so, I can draw a card from the top card of my deck! This time, I shuffle Pantheism of the Monarchs and The Monarchs Awaken back into my deck!" Two cards popped out of Seamus's Graveyard, which he took and shuffled into his deck. Afterwards, he drew the top card of his deck.

"He basically drew three cards in a single turn? Seriously?" Herald inquired out of shock.

"I activate the Equip Spell card, Restoration of the Monarchs." Seamus continued. "This card lets me target one monster in my Graveyard that has either 2400 attack points and 1800 defense points, or one monster with 2800 attack points and 1000 defense points, and Special Summon it back to my field in defense position. In exchange, its effects are negated, and I can treat it as two tributes for a Tribute Summon. Return, Thestalos!" At Seamus's command, Thestalos reappeared on his field in defense position.

Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch ATK: 2400 DEF: 1000 LV: 6

"I now tribute Thestalos, who counts as two tributes, to Tribute Summon Thestalos the Mega Monarch from my hand!" After Thestalos turned into particles, an evolved version of him that had spikes on his shoulders appeared on Seamus's field. Like before, he had bronze pieces of armour, only the vambraces and the top of his head had small spikes protruding from them. Thestalos had gold edges on his chest armor and hands, as well as golden spikes on his knees. In addition, a blue cape was draped around his neck, with an additional blue waist cape wrapped around his waist. Last but not least, a bronze visor covered his eyes.

Thestalos the Mega Monarch ATK: 2800 DEF: 1000 LV: 8

"Thestalos's effect activates! When he's Tribute Summoned, I can look at your hand to force you to discard a card. If that card is a monster card, you take damage equal to that monster's level times 200."

Raguel showed the only card in his hand, which unfortunately for him was a monster card. Seamus smirked. "Excellent. I send Cyreath Rippler from your hand to inflict 200 points of damage to you." Thestalos threw a fireball at Raguel, which hit his card before hitting him.

Raguel: 4000 – 200 = 3800 LP

"Tch!" A small shock ran through Raguel, making him slightly wince.

"Everything okay, Raguel?" Herald asked him.

"I'm fine." Raguel replied.

"You won't be fine after this!" Seamus informed Raguel. "Thestalos's second effect! Since he was Tribute Summoned by tributing a Fire monster, you take 1000 points of damage!" Thestalos threw a second fireball at Raguel, which made him take a step or two back upon impact.

Raguel: 3800 – 1000 = 2800 LP

"GAH!" Raguel screamed, as a stronger shock ran through his body, making him take heavy breaths to steady himself.

"Nice job, Seamus!" one crowd member stated.

"Keep kicking his ass, Seamus!" another crowd member added.

"Yuhiro, are you okay?" Roxy asked out of concern.

"I'm fine, but these electric collars are a pain in the ass." Raguel answered back.

"It's time to battle!" Seamus pointed his right finger at Raguel's field. "Erebus the Underworld Monarch attacks Cyreath P.H.A.N.T.O.M! At this point, the third effect of Domain of the True Monarchs activates! When a Tribute Summoned monster attacks your monster, it gains 800 attack points during damage calculation!"

"Uh-Oh..." Raguel muttered, as Erebus was covered in a dark aura, which increased his strength.

Erebus the Underworld Monarch ATK: 2800 + 800 = 3600

"Fist of Judgment!" Erebus's fist was covered in a black aura, which hit P.H.A.N.T.O.M and turned it into particles, causing Raguel to shield his eyes using his right arm from the explosion that occurred soon after.

Raguel: 2800 – 800 = 2000 LP

Erebus the Underworld Monarch ATK: 3600 – 800 = 2800

"GAH!" Raguel screamed for a third time, as a stronger shock ran through his body, making him take heavy breaths once again to steady himself. "I activate P.H.A.N.T.O.M's effect. Since it was destroyed by battle, I can target one 'Cyreath' monster in my Graveyard, except P.H.A.N.T.O.M, and Special Summon it back to my field. I target Satyr!" At his command, Satyr reappeared on Raguel's field in defense position.

Cyreath Satyr ATK: 2300 DEF: 1400 LV: 5

"That monster won't save you! Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch attacks Cyreath Satyr! And just like before, Domain of the True Monarchs gives a Tribute Summoned monster 800 attack points during damage calculation!" Thestalos was covered in a fiery aura, which increased his strength.

Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch ATK: 2800 + 800 = 3600

"Fist of Fire!" Thestalos's fist was covered in a fiery aura, which hit Satyr and turned him into particles.

Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch ATK: 3600 – 800 = 2800

The crowd cheered upon seeing Seamus take out half of Raguel's life points.

"That was awesome!" one crowd member stated.

"Way to go, king!" another crowd member said.

"Make that loser grovel at your feet, Seamus!" a female crowd member added.

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Seamus concluded. "Half your life points gone already. I expected more from you, Raguel. Then again, I guess one of LINK VRAINS' heroes turned out to be a fluke after all."

"A fluke you say?" Herald repeated. "Raguel is not a fluke whatsoever!"

"Thanks, Herald. I appreciate the support." Raguel said, turning to Herald. "Roxy, can you do something about Seamus's electric collar?"

"Don't worry. I'll contact Playmaker, Soulburner, or Slipstream to help you out. So hold on tight for now." Roxy assured him.

Elsewhere, at the underground sewers...

"My turn! I draw!" Slipstream drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the Trap card, Synchro Spirits. This card lets me target one Synchro monster in my Graveyard and banish it. By doing so if the monsters used for that monster's Synchro Summon are in the Graveyard, I get to Special Summon them back! I banish Puzzle and Special Summon Terrortop and Red-Eyed Dice from my Graveyard!" At his command, Terrortop and Red-Eyed Dice appeared once again on Slipstream's field.

Speedroid Terrortop ATK: 1200 DEF: 600 LV: 3

Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice ATK: 100 DEF: 100 LV: 1

"I summon Speedroid Ultra Hound from my hand." A red and white card with a small engine that had a blue battery on top Underneath the card were small engine parts, as well as a thin, blue box, appeared on Slipstream's field.

Speedroid Ultra Hound ATK: 800 DEF: 800 LV: 3

"When Ultra Hound is Normal Summoned, I can send one 'Speedroid' monster from my deck to my Graveyard." Slipstream explained, as a card popped out of his deck, which he took and sent to his Graveyard. "It's time to rev it up! I tune the Level 1 Red-Eyed Dice with the Level 3 Terrortop and the Level 3 Ultra Hound!" A bolt of green lightning struck Slipstream as the world greyed out and his two monsters disappeared into particles. Three rings, one yellow and two red appeared before turning blue and merging. Seven blue rings stacked in a tower appeared, a screen displaying "1 + 3 + 3" in front of them. The screen changed to "7" as light surged through the rings.

"Spread those wondrous wings, and strike down your enemies at the speed of light! Synchro Summon! Appear, Level 7! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!" A white and black dragon covered in white, blue, and black armor appeared on Slipstream's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. She had neon green crystals attached to her body, which acted like wings that shone with bright light.

Clear Wing Synchro Dragon ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000 LV: 7

"I activate CarTurbo's effect from my Graveyard." Slipstream continued. "By banishing this card and one 'Speedroid' monster in my Graveyard, all Wind monsters I control gain 800 attack points until the end of the turn. I banish CarTurbo and Red-Eyed Dice!" Soon, Clear Wing roared with strength.

Clear Wing Synchro Dragon ATK: 2500+ 800 = 3300

"I also activate the Equip Spell card, Premature Burial. By paying 800 life points, I can target one monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it back to my field in attack position. In exchange, I must equip that monster with this card, and when it's destroyed, so is that monster. I target Rubberband Plane!" A red aura surrounded Slipstream as his life points dropped. As a result, Rubberband Plane reappeared on his field.

Slipstream: 1000 – 800 = 200 LP

Speedroid Rubberband Plane ATK: 1800 DEF: 0 LV: 5

"Rubberband Plane's effect!" Slipstream added. "When it's Special Summoned, one monster on the field loses 600 attack points! I choose Clear Wing!"

"What?!" Muziano exclaimed in surprise. "Are you weakening your-?!"

"Clear Wing's effect also activates!" Slipstream stated. "If a Level 5 or higher monster activates its effect on the field, I can target that monster and negate its effects, as well as destroy it. By doing so, Clear Wing gains its attack points until the End Phase. I target Rubberband Plane. Dichroic Mirror!" The neon green crystals attached to Clear Wing shined as she blasted the glow at Rubberband Plane, destroying it and gaining its strength. Premature Burial also turned to particles as a result.

Clear Wing Synchro Dragon ATK: 3300 + 1800 = 5100

"You idiot! You just sealed your own fate!" Muziano said with a large grin. "Since a card was destroyed, Unchained Abomination's effect now activates! I target and destroy your Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!" To his surprise, Slipstream laughed.

"I can't believe you took the bait!"

"What bait? What are you talking about?"

"If a monster effect is activated that targets a Level 5 or higher monster on the field, I can target that monster and negate its effects, as well as destroy it. By doing so, Clear Wing gains its attack points until the End Phase." Slipstream informed Muziano, who gritted his teeth.

"No way! That monster has two effects?!" Muziano exclaimed.

"That's right!" Slipstream confirmed with a cheeky grin. "Dichroic Mirror!" The neon green crystals attached to Clear Wing shined as she blasted the glow at Unchained Abomination, destroying it and gaining its strength.

Clear Wing Synchro Dragon ATK: 5100 + 3000 = 8100

"I can't lose to some kid. I CAN'T!" Muziano shouted in fury.

"Sorry, but you just did." Slipstream replied, pointing his right index finger at Muziano in the process. "Battle! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon attacks you directly! Spinstorm Sky Strike!"

"NOOOO!" Muziano screamed, as Clear Wing rose high into the sky before divebombing straight at Muziano, sending him flying off the ground before he landed on his back in defeat.

Muziano: 2800 – 8100 = 0

"Sorry... Seamus. Jayla. Luc. I... let my pride... get the better of me... again..." Muziano closed his eyes, the duel having tired him out.

"Whew..." Slipstream took his mask off before wiping the sweat off his forehead. Once that was done, he put it back on again. I nearly lost that duel, he admitted in his mind. If I'm to keep up against stronger opponents, I'll need new tricks. Something that they won't expect. An idea then popped in his mind.

Pendulum cards! That's it! When Raguel dueled against Slipstream, he used Pendulum cards, which caught him off guard, that's for sure. The fact that they were so rare meant no one would see them coming, and by no one, he meant no one. He made a mental note to ask Raguel to teach him how to Pendulum Summon after this mission.

"There you are!" a female voice cried out, its owner walking down the stairs at a fast rate. When Slipstream turned his head, he saw Tigress running towards him. To think that she was actually worried about...

SLAP!

"You idiot! What were you thinking?!" Tigress exclaimed, slapping Slipstream again before grabbing him by the collar. "I'm not sure why you chose to get caught in the trap instead of me, but that was just plain stupid of you to do! Why did you do that?!"

"Because I don't want anyone else to suffer as a result of my inability to prevent it!" Slipstream answered, a look of surprise appearing on Tigress's face upon hearing that comment.

"What...what do you mean by that?"

"My older cousin got hit from a car crash because he pushed me out of the way to save my life." Slipstream began. "If I noticed that car coming, he wouldn't be in the hospital. But because of my inability to act, he took the hit instead of me. That was a month and a half ago. Ever since, I've been here to find the one who put my older cousin in the hospital and bring them to justice. While I don't understand what you've been through, I do know what it's like to have someone I looked up to end up in a hospital."

"I'm.. so sorry," was all Tigress replied with before letting go of Slipstream's collar. She then sighed, knowing there was nothing else she can say on the matter. "Let's just get this job done." The two of them then walked over to Muziano, who was obviously unconscious. "How the Hell are we going to carry him? We can't just leave him here."

"Obviously." Slipstream agreed. He would have said more had his comm not beeped. "Yes?"

"I'm so glad your duel's finished." Roxy said. "Yuhiro needs help. Can you restore the power to the King's Ring?"

"King's Ring? The Hell is that?" Slipstream inquired.

"Seamus's special duel arena." Tigress answered for Roxy. "It's likely he's unfairly put the odds in his favor. Not sure how, but it can't be good."

"Leave this to us, Roxy." Slipstream told Roxy before signing off. After pressing a few buttons on his duel disk, various four star shurikens with a single eye on them appeared before going underneath Muziano and lifting him up.

"Guess that makes problem one solved." Tigress commented, checking a map on her duel disk. "It says the nearest electrical circuit is only a few minutes away."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Slipstream and Tigress then started running forward, with the unconscious Muziano being carried by the shurikens following after them. While it took a few minutes, the two of them eventually made it to an unconnected electrical box.

"This box ensures that power is evenly spread out throughout Gamma." Tigress explained, looking at a digital hologram of the box. "It seems that the golden cord's been disconnected at the central port. Only problem is that the disconnection is in the building's walls." This was evident by the broken gold cord that was disconnected to the wall.

"I have a little something for that." Slipstream stated, pressing a few buttons on his duel disk before a small device with a hole and a cannister attached to it appeared, enabling him to grab it at the handle. Spraying a small, gel-like circle at the wall, he and Tigress backed up before he pressed the button, causing a small explosion to occur.

"Excellent! Now I can do this!" Tigress pressed a button on her duel disk, which caused a pair of silver spikes to emerge before she grabbed onto them. Powering them up using the nearby gold cord, the spikes tunneled through the wall before finding the broken wire deeply embedded in the building. After wrapping themselves around the broken wire, the power began flickering where they were. "Aithne sent us the Skyhook's location. Let's go and destroy it!"

"Agreed." The two of them ran to the nearby staircase and exited the sewer arena afterwards.

Elsewhere, at the King's Ring...

Raguel took a deep breath. He already got electrocuted multiple times during the Lost Incident, and he powered through them. If Raguel was able to get through the Lost Incident, then he can most certainly persevere through this. "My turn! I draw!" Raguel drew the top card of his deck and smiled. Yes! This would work for sure. "I activate the Spell card, Pandora's Box. This card lets me draw until I have five cards in my hand. However, I must discard a 'Cyreath' monster from my hand at the end of my turn, or I'll take 2000 points of damage." He then drew the top five cards from his deck.

"Okay, we definitely got something good, that's for sure!" Herald stated, happy with the cards Raguel got.

"I summon Cyreath Shade." Raguel said, as a grey-armored warrior from head to toe jumped onto Raguel's field, wisps of smoke emitting from his armor in the process. His helmet looked like that of an eerie ghost.

Cyreath Shade ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"When Shade is Normal Summoned, I can-!"

"I don't think so!" Seamus suddenly interrupted. "Continuous-Trap card, activate! By Order Of The Emperor! When a monster is Normal Summoned and they activate their effect, I can-!"

"Counter-Trap, activate! Cyreath Intervention!" Raguel interjected. "By paying 1000 life points, I can negate the activation of a card effect, as well as destroy it!" A lightning bolt fired out of Cyreath Intervention, which hit By Order Of The Emperor and destroyed it. Afterwards, an electric aura surrounded Raguel as his life points dropped.

Raguel: 2000 – 1000 = 1000 LP

"TCHHH!" Raguel grit his teeth as a strong shock ran through his body. "With By Order Of The Emperor gone, Shade's effect now lets me target one face-up Spell or Trap card you control and Set it. You're not allowed to activate it in response until the End Phase. I target Domain of the True Monarchs!"

Seamus's eyes widened in surprise as Shade pointed his finger at Domain of the True Monarchs, causing the wisps of smoke to obscure Domain of the True Monarchs completely.

"Clever, Raguel. I'll give you that." Seamus stated, slightly annoyed. However, this was only a minor convenience, as Raguel was down to only 1000 points.

"That was... risky, Raguel." Herald told him.

"It's because I don't have Dispel nor Nymph in my hand." Raguel pointed out to Herald. "Don't worry. I'll take care of Domain of the True Monarchs. Just be patient. Appear, the circuit showing the highest mountain!" A Link Portal appeared above Raguel. "The summoning conditions are one 'Cyreath' monster. I'll Set Cyreath Shade into the Link Markers!" Shade went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Cyreath Scorpius!" A huge scorpion, with large pincers and a long tail, appeared on Raguel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.

Cyreath Scorpius ATK: 1000 LINK-1 ⬇️

"Scorpius' effect! Once per turn, when I control no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'Cyreath' monster from my Graveyard to a zone this card points to." Raguel added. "Return, Rippler!" A ghoul wearing digital pale robes appeared, carrying a small metal wand and triangle appeared on Raguel's field in the Main Monster Zone pointed to.

Cyreath Rippler ATK: 100 DEF: 100 LV: 1

"Appear, for a second time! The circuit showing the highest mountain!" Raguel declared, as a second Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two 'Cyreath' monsters. I'll set Cyreath Scorpius, which is a Link 1 monster, and Cyreath Rippler into the Link Markers!" Scorpius went into the top arrowhead, while Rippler went into the bottom arrowhead.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Cyreath Jason!" A handsome blond-haired man with emerald colored eyes leapt onto Raguel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. He had pieces of golden armor attached to his arms, shoulders, and upper body, as well as on his shins. Strapped around his waist was a medium-sized green waist cape, with a golden belt as well.

Cyreath Jason ATK: 1500 LINK-2 ⬆️⬇️

"When Jason is Link Summoned, I'm allowed to activate the Field Spell card Cyreath Argo straight from my deck!" Raguel continued, taking a card from his deck. "I now activate the Field Spell card, Cyreath Argo! While this card is on the field, all 'Cyreath' monsters on my field gain 300 attack and defense points, and they can't be destroyed by your card effects as well." Jason was surrounded with a yellow aura as his strength increased.

Cyreath Jason ATK: 1500 + 300 = 1800

"Jason's second effect! Once per turn, I can Special Summon one 'Cyreath' monster from my Graveyard with its effects negated to a Main Monster Zone he points to. Come back, Rippler!" At Raguel's command, Rippler reappeared on his field.

Cyreath Rippler ATK: 100 DEF: 100 LV: 1

Cyreath Rippler ATK: 100 + 300 = 400 DEF: 100 + 300 = 400

"Appear, for a third time! The circuit showing the highest mountain!" A third Link Portal appeared above Raguel. "The summoning conditions are two or more 'Cyreath' monsters. I'll set Cyreath Jason, which is a Link 2 monster, and Cyreath Rippler into the Link Markers!" Jason went into the top and bottom arrowheads, while Rippler went into the right arrowhead, turning all of them red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Cyreath Atalanta!" A sharp-eyed huntress who wore beautiful verdant green clothing and had emerald eyes appeared on Raguel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. She had long and unkempt hair, which was green at the front and different blond styles at the back. In her left hand, she carried a jet-black bow.

Cyreath Atalanta ATK: 2400 LINK-3 ⬆️⬇️➡️

Cyreath Atalanta ATK: 2400 + 300 = 2700

"Let's do this, Raguel! I'm ready when you are!" Atalanta said, turning to Raguel and giving him a nod.

"Hi, Atalanta." Herald said, giving her a wave with his hand, who waved back.

"I activate Atalanta's first effect!" Raguel stated, ignoring Herald's comment. He made a mental note to remind Herald that Café Matsuo is not a zoo, and if he kept giving more 'Cyreath' creatures sentience, it will turn into one. And that is something Roxy will not like at all. "When she's Link Summoned, I can target one Spell or Trap card on your field and destroy it. I target the face-down Domain of the True Monarchs!" A shining arrow then materialized in Atalanta's right hand, which she took and pulled back with her bow, aiming it at the face-down Domain of the True Monarchs before firing it at the card and destroying it.

"Why, you-!" Seamus grit his teeth. The fact that Raguel was able to get past Domain of the True Monarchs... one of the best cards of the 'Extra Deck Killer' infuriated him.

"I activate the Equip Spell card, Bow of Apollo, and equip it onto Atalanta!" Immediately, the bow Atalanta carried disappeared before the Bow of Apollo reappeared on her right hand. "The equipped monster gains 300 attack points for every card on your field."

"For every card?!" Seamus gulped. That... didn't seem like a good sign. Still, he had two things in his favor. One: Raguel was at 1000 life points. On his next turn, Seamus will defeat him with the power of the 'Extra Deck Killer' deck. Two: Seamus's electro collar was 'out of order', or so he told Raguel. That meant he wouldn't be shocked, enabling him to keep his head steady in the duel.

"You have The Prime Monarch, Erebus, and Thestalos on your field." Herald calculated. "That means Atalanta gains 900 attack points!" Atalanta was surrounded in a golden aura as she powered up.

Cyreath Atalanta ATK: 2700 + (300 X 3) = 3600

Suddenly, there was a flicker across the ring before the power went back on. Once it did, Raguel noticed something. The electro collar Seamus had was successfully turned on!

"Hey, Raguel." Slipstream said over the comms. "Thought I'd lend you a helping hand."

"Great job, Slipstream." Raguel replied. "I'll take it from here."

"What did you do?!" Seamus demanded. "What did you do?!"

"You'll find out in a minute or so!" Raguel responded, before pointing to Seamus's field. "Battle! Cyreath Atalanta attacks Erebus the Underworld Monarch! Phoebus Catastrophe!" Two shining arrows appeared in Atalanta's right hand before she pulled them back and released them towards the sky, causing a storm of arrows to fall down from the sky and impale Erebus, destroying him in the process.

Seamus: 3600 – 800 = 2400 LP

Cyreath Atalanta ATK: 3600 – 300 = 3300

"Tch!" Seamus felt a small shock ran through his body. Uh Oh, he thought. "How did you turn my electro collar on?!"

"You're not the only one with friends." Raguel reminded him. "Atalanta's second effect! When she destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, she can attack an additional time this turn!" Seamus gasped out of shock. "The battle still continues! Cyreath Atalanta attacks Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch! Phoebus Catastrophe!" Two more shining arrows appeared in Atalanta's right hand before she fired them towards the sky, causing a storm of arrows to fall down from the sky and impale Thestalos, destroying him in the process.

Seamus: 2400 – 500 = 1900 LP

Cyreath Atalanta ATK: 3300 – 300 = 3000

"GAAAH!" Seamus screamed, as a strong shock ran through his body, making him take deep breaths just to steady himself.

"Get up, Seamus!" one crowd member said.

"Don't let that loser defeat you!" a female crowd pleaded.

"Punish him hard, king!" another female crowd member added.

"So, Seamus. How's it feel to get electrocuted by your electro collar that's out of order?" Raguel taunted, making bunny ears at the 'out of order' part.

"You..." Seamus grunted, clearly angry with what just happened.

"I Set two cards face-down and end my turn, and as it's the end of my turn, I discard Cyreath Cackling Juggler from my hand to avoid the 2000 life point penalty for activating Pandora's Box." Raguel concluded, taking the last card from his hand and sending it to his Graveyard.

"I'll admit, Raguel. You're the second duelist to push me this far." Seamus commented.

"Second?" Raguel repeated. "What do you mean?"

"A while back, Go Onizuka came to the Gamma Branch to get stronger." Seamus began. "After he told me his pathetic sob story, I actually allowed him to enter the Gammadome tournament. What surprised me was that he managed to beat every opponent that stood in his way. He even succeeded in making it to this ring right here, the King's Ring, where I personally faced him in a duel. While I won the duel, I was so impressed with Go's skills that I offered to help him become a great warrior. One that would be strong enough to beat you guys in a duel." He sighed. "Unfortunately, he decided to become SOL Technologies' lapdog. Had he accepted my offer, I would have immediately given him Playmaker as a reward for his hard work in reaching the top. Then again, Go's pride wouldn't allow him to be number two, a second fiddle if you will. It's a shame to lose a strong duelist, that's for sure." The entire crowd laughed after hearing Seamus's story of how a pathetic duelist like Go turned down Seamus's offer.

Raguel thought this over for a moment. If Go accepted Seamus's offer, then Playmaker would have dueled against him here, where he wasn't a bounty hunter. Still, if Raguel had to honest, he had to agree with Seamus's point. Go would never accept being the second fiddle, and would do whatever it took to reclaim his rightful spot as number one. If Raguel hoped for one thing, it's that Go wouldn't go down a dangerous road just for the sake of reclaiming his former glory.

"Alright. With that little story out of the way, I think we should continue the duel. My turn! I draw!" Seamus drew the top card of his deck. Raguel and his friends will pay for ruining my show, he thought. I'll show him that I'm the strongest this turn, this I swear! "I activate the effect of The Prime Monarch once again! Once per turn, this card lets me target two 'Monarch' Spell or Trap cards in my Graveyard and shuffle them into my deck. By doing so, I can draw a card from the top card of my deck! This time, I shuffle Domain of the True Monarchs and Restoration of the Monarchs back into my deck!" Two cards popped out of Seamus's Graveyard, which he took and shuffled into his deck. Afterwards, he drew the top card of his deck. "From there, I activate Card of Demise. This card lets me draw until I have five cards in my hand. However, during the fifth Standby Phase after this card is activated, I must send my entire hand to my Graveyard."

"How joyful..." Herald commented, as Seamus drew the top four cards from his deck. "Not only did he get his Field Spell card back, he also refilled his whole hand like it was nothing!"

"Indeed I did, Ignis, and now it's time for me to show you why I'm the strongest in the Gamma Branch!" Seamus declared. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Demise of the Land. This card lets me take one Field Spell card from my deck and activate it!"

"Not that card again..." Raguel muttered, gritting his teeth. That card enabled Dancho to activate Flawless Perfection of the Tenyi from his deck a while back. "Just to remind you, Atalanta gains 300 more attack points thanks to Bow of Apollo's effect." As if to prove his point, Atalanta was surrounded in a golden aura as she powered up.

Cyreath Atalanta ATK: 3000 + 300 = 3300

"With Domain of the True Monarchs activated once again, you cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck while I have no monsters in the Extra Deck and I'm the only player who controls a Tribute Summoned monster!" Seamus reminded Raguel. "I summon Edea the Heavenly Squire from my hand." A female, humanoid monster wearing silver armor with golden outlines appeared on Seamus's field. She had a silver-like circle on top of her helmet, as well as a golden cloth around her neck. Pieces of silver cape draped behind her back.

Edea the Heavenly Squire ATK: 800 DEF: 1000 LV: 2

Cyreath Atalanta ATK: 3300 + 300 = 3600

"When Edea is Normal or Special Summoned, I can Special Summon one monster with 800 attack points and 1000 defense points from my deck in defense position with a different name. However, I can't Special Summon monsters from my Extra Deck in exchange." A card popped out of Seamus's deck. "Come, Eidos the Underworld Squire!" A male, humanoid monster wearing black armor with spikes on the chest plate and his arms appeared on Seamus's field. He had a long, black feather on the top of his helmet, as well as a long, black cape draped on his back.

Eidos the Underworld Squire ATK: 800 DEF: 1000 LV: 2

Cyreath Atalanta ATK: 3600 + 300 = 3900

"Since Eidos was Normal or Special Summoned, I can perform a Tribute Summon in addition to my Normal Summon this turn." Seamus continued. "But before that, I activate Domain of the True Monarch's second effect. Once per turn, I can reduce the level of one monster with 2800 attack points and 1000 defense points in my hand by two. I choose Ehther the Heavenly Monarch!" A card glowed in Seamus's hand, indicating that it was targeted by the effect of Seamus's Field Spell card. "I now tribute Eidos to Tribute Summon Ehther the Heavenly Monarch from my hand!" After Eidos turned into particles, a massive, silver-armored humanoid on a throne appeared on Seamus's field. Long pieces of a white cape draped behind her back, as if it were part of a robe. She wore a long waist cloth, which had a long, red rectangle with a golden symbol on it. Her upper armor had golden outlines all over it, as well as the golden wings on the sides of her helmet. On her back was a golden, metallic halo, while she carried a golden staff in her left hand.

Ehther the Heavenly Monarch ATK: 2800 DEF: 1000 LV: 8 – 2 = 6

"When Ehther is Tribute Summoned, I can send two 'Monarch' Spell or Trap cards from my hand or deck to my Graveyard. By doing so, I can Special Summon one monster with 2400 or more attack points and 1000 defense points from my deck to my field. In exchange, I must return it to my hand during the End Phase." Three cards popped out of Seamus's deck. "From my deck, I send Pantheism of the Monarchs and a second copy of The Prime Monarch from my deck to my Graveyard, and then Special Summon Kuraz the Light Monarch from my deck to my field!" A golden armored humanoid with a golden halo attached to his back appeared on Seamus's field. Draped on his back was a long, golden cape made out of feathers.

Kuraz the Light Monarch ATK: 2400 DEF: 1000 LV: 6

Cyreath Atalanta ATK: 3900 + 300 = 4200

"He's building his army of titans!" Herald realized before turning to Raguel. "I don't like where this is going."

"Show us the Monarchs, Seamus!" one crowd member said.

"Crush that loser with your overwhelming might!" another crowd member added.

"It gets worse for you, Raguel..." Seamus informed the duo. "Because when Kuraz is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target up to two cards on your field and destroy them. In exchange, you draw one card for each of your cards that was destroyed by this effect." Seamus thought it over before deciding. "I target and destroy Atalanta and the face-down card on your right!"

"WHAT?!" Raguel exclaimed out of shock, as Kuraz fired a beam of light at Atalanta and the face-down card on Raquel's right, turning both of them into particles. In addition, Bow of Apollo turned into particles as well since Atalanta was no longer on the field. Afterwards, Raguel drew the top two cards of his deck.

"Don't worry, Raguel. The turn Kuraz is Normal or Special Summoned, he can't attack." Seamus smirked. "However, there's so much more I can do. Like this! I activate the effect of The Prime Monarch in my Graveyard. By banishing one other 'Monarch' Spell or Trap card from my Graveyard, I can Special Summon this card as a Normal monster from my Graveyard to my field in defense position. I banish Pantheism of the Monarchs from my Graveyard!" A heavenly throne covered in a veil appeared on Seamus's field in defense position.

The Prime Monarch ATK: 1000 DEF: 2400 LV: 5

"Battle!" Seamus pointed his right hand at Raguel's field. "Ehther the Heavenly Monarch attacks you directly! And like before, Domain of the True Monarchs gives a Tribute Summoned monster 800 attack points during damage calculation!" Ehther's staff began charging bright energy as she powered up.

Ehther the Heavenly Monarch ATK: 2800 + 800 = 3600

"Not so fast! I activate the Trap card, Cyreath Apparition from my Graveyard!" Raguel interjected. "By banishing this card and one 'Cyreath' Link monster, I can Special Summon one 'Cyreath Apparition' token to my field, which gains attack and defense points equal to the banished 'Cyreath' Link monster's attack points. I banish Atalanta and this card!" A dark orb of light appeared on Raguel's field, before taking the form of Atalanta.

Cyreath Apparition Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

Cyreath Apparition Token ATK: 0 + 2300 = 2300 DEF: 0 + 2300 = 2300

"In addition, I activate the Trap card on my field, Cyreath Endurance! By banishing one 'Cyreath' Link monster from my Graveyard, any battle damage I would have taken is reduced by 500 times its Link rating. I banish Jason from my Graveyard, and reduce battle damage by 1000!" A translucent barrier surrounded the Apparition token afterwards.

"You'll still lose both your life points and your monster from this attack, Raguel." Seamus pointed out. "Ehther the Heavenly Monarch attacks the Apparition Token! Wrath of the Monarchs!" Ehther's staff fired bright energy at the Apparition Token, which caused an explosion upon impact before turning it into particles. As a result, Raguel was sent flying to the wall behind him.

Raguel: 1000 – (1300 - 1000) = 700 LP

Ehther the Heavenly Monarch ATK: 3600 – 800 = 2800

"GAAH!" Raguel screamed, as a strong shock ran through his body, preventing him from getting up temporarily.

"Yuhiro! You can do it!" Roxy encouraged him. "Don't give up!"

"I'll... be fine, Roxy..." Raguel assured her.

"You're almost there, Seamus!" one crowd member encouraged him.

"No one can surpass Seamus, the king himself!" another crowd member stated.

"Tear him apart! Tear him apart! Tear him apart!" the entire crowd chanted.

"I didn't expect you to survive, Raguel. At least I can finish you off on your next turn. I Set two cards face-down and end my turn, and since it's the end of my turn, I must return Kuraz back to my hand. Also, Ehther's level returns to normal" Seamus concluded, as Kuraz turned back into particles, which formed into a card before returning to his hand.

Ehther the Heavenly Monarch LV: 6 + 2 = 8

Elsewhere, at the forest arena...

"I summon Salamangreat Coyote." Soulburner said, as a silver, medium-sized coyote with small embers on its body appeared on his field. The next thing both duelists knew, the power flickered on and off before turning on again.

Salamangreat Coyote ATK: 1000 DEF: 200 LV: 3

"Well, look at that. Little Soulburner's actually doing something at last." Jayla commented sarcastically. Deep down, she felt uneasy upon witnessing the power go on and off. Something told her that Soulburner's allies discovered Seamus's tricks and shut them down for good.

"I'm not done yet." Soulburner told her. "I activate the Equip Spell card, Fusion Tag, and equip it onto Coyote." A silver keychain hooked itself around Coyote. "After equipping this card onto a monster, I can reveal a Fusion monster from my Extra Deck and change the equipped monster's name to the Fusion monster I showed you. I reveal Salamangreat Violet Chimera to you, which means Coyote's name is now changed to Salamangreat Violet Chimera!" A silhouette of Violet Chimera briefly surrounded Coyote before dissipating.

"Fusion?" Jayla repeated.

"I now activate the Spell card, Fusion of Fire! This card lets me Fusion Summon a Fusion monster from my Extra Deck by using monsters from my hand or field."

Jayla raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure what you're planning, but you have no other monsters in your hand or field to Fusion Summon!"

"But you do!" Soulburner countered. "Fusion of Fire lets me use monsters from either of our fields as Fusion Material!"

"Are you serious?!" Jayla exclaimed out of shock.

"Obviously!" Soulburner confirmed. " I use Ritual Beast Ulti-Kimunfalcos on your field and Salamangreat Coyote from my field as Fusion Materials!" Coyote turned into orange fire, while Ulti-Kimunfalcos turned into purple fire, with the both of them going into a Fusion Portal that appeared above Soulburner.

"When the flames consume the old, a new creature emerges to reign supreme! Reincarnation Fusion Summon! Arise, Level 8! Salamangreat Violet Chimera!" A humanoid purple metal lion with grey plating appeared on Soulburner's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. His right hand ended with a lance and his left hand ended with a mouth. Grey and silver spines sprouted out of his sides, which took the form of six wings as light blue flames burned on his wings, back and head.

Salamangreat Violet Chimera ATK: 2800 DEF: 2000 LV: 8

"Oh Hell yeah!" Violet Chimera roared. "It's time to bring up the heat!"

Jayla took a step back, unnerved by what she saw. "Since Ulti-Kimunfalcos is gone…Ulti-Gaiapelio loses his attack bonus," she grunted under her breath as Ulti-Gaiapelio weakened.

Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio ATK: 3800 – 600 = 3200

"However, my Fusion monster is still stronger than yours!"

"For now, perhaps." Flame stated. "But that'll change in mere moments." He smirked upon saying that.

"That's right!" Soulburner confirmed. "When Violet Chimera is Fusion Summoned, he gains half the attack points of the Fusion Materials used for his Fusion Summon! Coyote had 1000 attack points, while Ulti-Kimunfalcos had 1800 attack points. That means Violet Chimera gains 1400 attack points!" Violet Chimera let out a roar as his attack points increased.

Salamangreat Violet Chimera ATK: 2800 + 1400 = 4200

"Oh crap!" Jayla yelled out of shock.

"Oh yeah!" Soulburner responded with a grin. "Battle! Salamangreat Violet Chimera attacks Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio!" Violet Chimera charged forward at Ulti-Gaiapelio, intent on slaying the beast.

"You'll only scratch my life points, which means I'll survive this turn!" Jayla pointed out.

"Nah, I don't think so." Soulburner replied. "For when Violet Chimera is Reincarnation Fusion Summoned, your monsters attack points drop to zero. Violet Crackdown!" Violet Chimera let out a roar so loud that Ulti-Gaiapelio was forced down on his feet in pain.

Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio ATK: 3200 – 3200 = 0

"And last but not least, when Violet Chimera battles a monster whose attack points are different than its original attack points, his attack points double! Violet Submersion!"

"Say what now?!" Jayla widened her eyes as Violet Chimera was surrounded in a massive, fiery aura.

Salamangreat Violet Chimera ATK: 4200 X 2 = 8400

"Go, Violet Chimera! Violet Soul!"

"Feel the wrath of my flames!" Violet Chimera cried out, as he slashed Ulti-Gaiapelio in two before firing a massive stream of fire from his left hand at him, incinerating Ulti-Gaiapelio and causing a massive explosion that sent Jayla flying off her feet.

"I tried. Sorry brothers," she muttered as she landed on the ground in defeat.

Jayla: 6900 – 8400 = 0

"Good to see you won the duel, Soulburner." Kusanagi commented.

"Thanks, Kusanagi. If I may ask, what was with the power flickering on and off?" Soulburner inquired.

"That was both my and Tigress's doing." Slipstream answered. "We should get the Guzik Family to safety. Something tells me that destroying the Skyhook will cause ramifications for everyone in Gamma."

"Noted. See you soon." Soulburner sighed. The last thing he wanted was to carry a feral girl like Jayla to safety.

"You're not going to pick her up?" Flame asked.

"Obviously not! That girl attacked me earlier!" Soulburner answered. An idea popping in his mind, he pressed a button on his duel disk, causing Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf to appear beside him.

"Need some assistance, Soulburner?" Sunlight Wolf inquired.

"Yeah. Could you pick up Jayla for me? There's no way I'm doing it, and I doubt Flame has the body strength to do so."

"I totally have the body strength to do it!" Flame protested, an embarrassed look on his face as Sunlight Wolf went over and picked up Jayla before putting her over his back.

"I doubt it, buddy." Soulburner tried to hide his laughter at Flame's response, only for him to fail at it. The fact that Flame got flustered made him similar to Ai. After looking at the map on his duel disk, Soulburner said, "There's a nearby elevator out of this arena. It should take us outside of this place."

"Lead the way, Soulburner!" Sunlight Wolf responded. The duo then ran towards the nearby elevator, with an unconscious Jayla in tow.

Elsewhere, at the haunted duel arena...

The lights in the duel arena flickered on and off before Playmaker made his move.

"Don't worry about what just happened, Yusaku. Slipstream and Tigress ended Seamus's scheme, which means Raguel can finish Seamus off." Kusanagi assured him.

"That's excellent news, Kusanagi." Playmaker replied.

"I can't believe you guys would cheat like that!" Ai accused Luc.

"Seamus is the strongest duelist in Gamma, and he'll do anything to keep that title. Even if it means putting things in his favor." Luc told Ai.

"That's still cheating!"

"Whatever the case, it doesn't apply specifically to this duel." Playmaker reminded Luc, ignoring Ai's commentary. "As such, I'll continue this duel by creating my circuit!" A Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are three monsters. I'll set all three Spool tokens into the Link Markers!" One Spool token went into the left arrowhead, the second one went into the right arrowhead, and the last one went into the bottom-left arrowhead.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Powercode Talker!" A humanoid warrior in red armour with large shoulder pads and bracers appeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.

Powercode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️➡️↙️

"That monster won't save you!" Luc said. "I activate Elysium's effect! Once per turn, during either of our turns, I can target one 'Invoked' monster on my field or in my Graveyard and banish it. By doing so, I can banish every monster you control with the same attribute! I banish the Fire attribute Purgatrio, which means your Powercode Talker is now banished! Elemental Elimination!" The spikes on Elysium's walls lit up and fired lasers down on Playmaker's field, causing Powercode Talker to scream as he turned into particles.

"Aw, glitch! With two cards in your hand and one Field Spell card on our side of the field, we're basically doomed!" Ai exclaimed, stretching upwards to place his head and hands on Playmaker's face. "DOOMED!"

"Are you done yet?" Playmaker calmly asked Ai.

"Yeah. I'm done…" Ai answered, stretching downwards afterwards.

"I activate the Spell card, Card of Adversity. Since I control no monsters and you control a Special Summoned monster, I can draw two cards from my deck." Playmaker drew the top two cards of his deck. "I also activate the Equip Spell card, D.D.R - Different Dimension Reincarnation. By discarding one card from my hand, I can target and Special Summon one of my banished monsters from my Graveyard. However, if this card leaves my field, the equipped monster is destroyed. Return to the field, Transcode Talker!" At Playmaker's command, Transcode Talker reappeared on his field once again.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬆️⬇️➡️

"I activate the second effect of Recoded Alive from my Graveyard!" Playmaker continued. "By banishing this card from my Graveyard, I can target one of my banished 'Code Talker' monsters and Special Summon it back to my field. Return, Powercode Talker!" Powercode Talker reappeared on Playmaker's field in the Main Monster Zone Transcode Talker pointed to, resulting in both monsters being co-linked with one another.

Powercode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️➡️↙️

"And just like before, the effects of Cynet Storm and Transcode Talker activate once again!" Both Transcode Talker and Powercode Talker were surrounded in a purple and orange aura as their strength increased.

Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 + 500 + 500 = 3300

Powercode Talker ATK: 2300 + 500 + 500 = 3300

"Raise the attack points of your monsters all you want. For you can only attack with one monster thanks to Caliga!" Luc reminded Playmaker.

To his surprise, Playmaker smirked. "I'm aware of that. Which is why I activate Powercode Talker's effect. Once per turn, I can target one face-up monster on the field and negate its effects until the End Phase. And the monster I target is Caliga. Withering Wire!" A clawed wire was released out of Powercode Talker's right gauntlet, as he swung it towards Caliga, which latched onto him and stripped him of his effects.

"No way!" Luc gasped. The situation was now reversed. It was now in Playmaker's favour... and no longer in his.

"I also activate the second effect of Parallel Port Armor in my Graveyard." Playmaker added. "By banishing it and two Link monsters in my Graveyard, one monster on my field can attack twice this turn. I banish this card, along with the Link 1 Link Disciple and Link 3 Shootingcode Talker, and target Powercode Talker!" Two parallel ports attached themselves to Powercode Talker, surging him up with electricity.

"Wait a minute!" Luc gasped for a second time. "This...this was your plan all along?!"

"It's called having a contingency plan, bub!" Ai boasted. "Which means you're screwed!"

"Since when did you ever come up with a contingency plan, Ai?" Playmaker inquired, making Ai sweat-drop out of nervousness.

"Since... never." Ai conceded.

"Battle!" Playmaker pointed his right index finger at Luc's field. "Transcode Talker attacks Invoked Caliga! Transcode Finish!" The cannon on Transcode Talker's back began to unfold into a massive one, which Transcode Talker grabbed and aimed at Caliga before firing a blast out of it, which hit him before turning into particles. "Your turn, Powercode Talker! Attack Invoked Elysium!"

"I don't think so!" Luc interrupted. "I activate the effect of Aleister the Invoker from my hand. By sending him to my Graveyard, I can target one Fusion monster on my field and have it gain 1000 attack and defense points until the end of this turn. I target Elysium!" Elysium was surrounded in a red aura as it powered up.

Invoked Elysium ATK: 3200 + 1000 = 4200 DEF: 4000 + 1000 = 5000

"You're finished, Playmaker!" Luc grinned, knowing the duel was fully in his favour now.

"No, Luc. You're the one who's finished." Playmaker calmly replied. "I activate Powercode Talker's second effect. Once per turn, during damage calculation, if he battles a monster you control, I can tribute one monster he points to and double his original attack points until the end of this turn. I tribute Transcode Talker!" Transcode Talker exploded into particles as Powercode Talker powered up for a second time.

Powercode Talker ATK: (3300 X 2) – 2000 = 4600

"Power Smash!" Powercode Talker charged forward at Elysium, his right fist generating energy in the process. He smashed his way straight through Elysium, destroying and causing Luc to shield himself using his right arm.

Luc: 1500 – 400 = 1100 LP

Powercode Talker ATK: 4600 / 2 = 2300

"And there's still one more attack to go!" Ai reminded Luc.

"End this duel, Powercode Talker!" Playmaker declared. "Attack Luc directly! Power Smash!" Powercode Talker charged forward at Luc, his right fist generating energy for a second time.

"AAARGH!" Luc screamed, as Powercode Talker's fist sent him flying back to the wall before falling to the ground on one knee.

Luc: 1100 – 2300 = 0

"So... this is the power of one of LINK VRAINS' heroes..." Luc muttered, as Playmaker walked up to him. "Even after throwing everything I got, you still... found a way to get past it. I praise you for your tenacity." He smiled. "Forgive me, Seamus. This was a duel... that I could not win." Closing his eyes, Luc fell to the ground on his back and passed out, having ran out of strength for the time being. The cage then turned into particles, the duel having been concluded.

"He's okay, right Playmaker?" Ai asked, as Playmaker went to check Luc's pulse.

"Of course he is, Ai." Playmaker confirmed, picking Luc up before putting him over his left shoulder. Once that was done, he ran towards the duel arena's exit before leaving it successfully. "Kusanagi. Roxy. Can either of you guide me to the Skyhook?"

"Leave that to me, buddy. Sending directions now." Kusanagi replied, as Playmaker turned a left at the end of the hallway, heading towards the skyhook in the process.

Elsewhere, at the King's Ring...

Seamus smirked, glad to put Raguel on the brink of defeat. Based on the crowd chanting, it showed they were enjoying the show. "Heh. So this is the mighty Raguel. While I'll admit you're persistent, in the end, you're still a weak bug that needs to be squashed under my foot." He then noticed Raguel slowly getting up. "Why are you getting up?! Those electric shocks should have taken a toll on you to the point you can't get up!"

"It's because..." Raguel began, only to stop speaking. It's because I'm fighting for someone other than myself, and when you do that, it'll give you the strength you need, he thought. Raguel almost said those words, but then he stopped. This was so not the time for him to be speaking his piece. NOT! AT! ALL! "You know what? I was going to give this boring heroic speech on why I'm choosing to keep fighting, but screw that! It's Raguel time now, motherfucker!"

"WHOA!" Seamus, Roxy, and Herald exclaimed at the same time, the crowd also gasping at Raguel's comment.

"Language, Yuhiro! I thought we discussed this!" Roxy reprimanded Raguel.

"Raguel, this isn't you." Herald added with concern. "Are you sure you're-?"

"Be quiet." Raguel snapped, making Herald sweatdrop out of fear before turning back to Seamus. "My turn! I draw!"

"Not so fast! I activate the Continuous-Trap card, Escalation of the Monarchs!" Seamus said. "Once per turn, during either your Main Phase or Battle Phase, I can Tribute Summon one monster. As such, I tribute The Prime Monarch to Tribute Summon Kuraz the Light Monarch!" After The Prime Monarch turned into particles, Kuraz appeared on Seamus's field once again.

Kuraz the Light Monarch ATK: 2400 DEF: 1000 LV: 6

"Just like before, when Kuraz is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target up to two cards on your field and destroy them. In exchange, you draw one card for each of your cards that was destroyed by this effect. I target and destroy Cyreath Argo and Jason!" Kuraz fired a beam of light at Jason and Argo, turning both of them into particles. Afterwards, Raguel drew the top two cards of his deck.

"You think destroying my field will help you win the duel, but all you did was ensure my victory." Raguel told Seamus. "I activate the Spell card, Cyreath Comradeship. Since you control more monsters than I do, I can Special Summon 'Cyreath' monsters with different names from my Graveyard equal to the difference. As you control two monsters and I control one monster, I can Special Summon one 'Cyreath' monster from my Graveyard. Return, Scorpius!" At Raguel's command, Scorpius appeared on his field once again.

Cyreath Scorpius ATK: 1000 LINK-1 ⬇️

"I summon Cyreath Nymph from my hand." A blue-skinned, four winged creature with two stubby legs and a small beak, as well as a spiked tail appeared on Raguel's field.

Cyreath Nymph ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500 LV: 4

"If Nymph is Normal or Special Summoned while I control a 'Cyreath' Link monster," Raguel began explaining, "I can-!"

"I don't think so! I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Strike of the Monarchs!" Seamus suddenly interjected. "By tributing one Level 5 or higher Normal Summoned or Set monster, I can target one card on your field and negate its effects. I can also draw one card from the top card of my deck as well. I tribute Kuraz and negate Nymph's effects!" After Kuraz turned into particles, a lightning bolt fired out of Strike of the Monarchs and hit Nymph, greying it out. Once that was done, Seamus drew the top card of his deck. "How's that? Your attempt at getting rid of Domain of the True Monarchs failed once again!"

"Really? That statement will be disproved very soon." Raguel promised. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Cyreath Dispel. This card lets me target and destroy one Spell or Trap card on your field. And I choose Domain of the True Monarchs!" Seamus did nothing but gasp out of horror as Cyreath Dispel fired a purple blast at Domain of the True Monarchs, destroying it.

"You played me for a fool..." Seamus said, having realized he took the bait without thinking.

"Appear! The circuit showing the highest mountain!" A Link Portal appeared above Raguel. "The summoning conditions are two or more 'Cyreath' monsters. I'll set Cyreath Scorpius, which is a Link 1 monster, the Cyreath Apparition token, and Cyreath Nymph into the Link Markers!" Scorpius went into the top arrowhead, the Apparition token went into the left arrowhead, and Nymph went into the right arrowhead, all three of them turning red.

"Link Summon! Heed the captain's call! Link 3! Cyreath Galactic Squid!" A red-skinned octopus with a white underbelly and four tentacles was summoned to the right Extra Monster Zone on Raguel's field. The squid had black eyes flashing yellow dots, and multiple rows of teeth within its maw.

Cyreath Galactic Squid ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️⬆️➡️

"Galactic Squid's effect! When it's Link Summoned, I can target two Main Monster Zones on your side of the field, and you can't use them as long as this card is on the field! I choose the middle and far-left Main Monster Zones!" Raguel explained, as Galactic Squid fired two blasts of ink at those zones, turning them black and preventing Seamus from using them. "But why stop with one effect, when I can use the other one as well! Since I control no other monsters, I can tribute this card to shuffle all other cards on the field back into their owner's decks! Bright Overload!" Galactic Squid's black eyes became very bright before firing a massive beam of light from its mouth at every card on Seamus's field, turning them into yellow particles as they returned to his deck. Galactic Squid then turned into particles afterwards.

"You cleared my defenses... just like that..." Seamus muttered. "Still, you don't have a monster to attack, which means my life points are safe this turn!"

"I activate the Spell card, Cyreath Reborn." Raguel responded. "This card lets me Special Summon one 'Cyreath' monster from my Graveyard. Return once again, Satyr!" Once again, Satyr appeared on Raguel's field.

Cyreath Satyr ATK: 2300 DEF: 1400 LV: 5

"That monster's attack points... are enough to defeat me..." Seamus realized.

"Your reign as the strongest duelist is over, Seamus! Prepare for a humiliating defeat!" Raguel declared. "Battle! Cyreath Satyr attacks you directly!" Satyr charged forward and punched Seamus so hard that he was sent flying back to the wall behind him, which made him stagger before regaining his balance. With that, the duel over at last.

Seamus: 1900 – 2300 = 0

"GAAH!" Seamus screamed, as a strong electric shock made him fall on one knee before both duelists' electric collars snapped off of their necks. The crowd gasped upon seeing the end of the duel.

"He...lost...?" one crowd member said out of shock.

"Impossible! That was a fluke! A fake!" another crowd member stated.

"This has to be a dream! Someone confirm if it's a dream or not!" another crowd member added.

"No..."

"It can't be..."

"No one can defeat Seamus..."

The crowd started muttering amongst themselves before they started to get up from their seats, intent on storming the King's Ring and taking Raguel out themselves.

"Guards! Seize him!" Seamus ordered, as four guards quickly entered the King's Ring. Quickly reacting, Raguel put on his Cracker gauntlet and fired short, electrical bolts at each of them, causing each guard to fall unconscious by the blast. Once that was done, Raguel took out his double-barreled gun before shooting it high into the air, making the crowd members stop moving upon hearing it.

"Now I'm only gonna say this once, you sons of bitches." Raguel growled, firing more shots in the air. "Get the Hell out of my arena!" Upon hearing this, the crowd panicked and ran to the ring's exits, each person leaving it in the process. Once that was done, Raguel walked over to Seamus, who was panting from the shock he received earlier.

"This isn't happening! I can't lose!" Seamus exclaimed, denying what just happened.

"Reality is never fair, Seamus. So you might as well accept it and move on." Raguel then grabbed Seamus by the lapels and forced him to get up on his feet. "How did you guys get your hands on that Project: VIII data?"

"I don't know what you're talking about..." Seamus weakly told Raguel, who slammed him to the wall behind him.

"Liar! I know you're hiding something, so tell me the truth! NOW!"

"Raguel, stop!" Herald suddenly said, getting Raguel's attention. "He's beaten. There's no point in being the bad cop right now!" Taking a deep breath, Raguel let go of Seamus's lapels, allowing him to sink to the ground on one knee.

"Please! Have mercy!" Seamus pleaded. "If I spill the beans, he'll kill me and my siblings!"

"He? Who are you talking about?" Raguel harshly questioned.

"Take some deep breaths, Yuhiro." Roxy gently suggested. "The duel's over now. It'll be okay. Deep breaths." Hearing this advice, Raguel took some deep breaths, allowing him to calm down. She was right. The duel was over, so there was no point in getting anymore riled up than he was right now.

"Did you get the other Guzik family members out of Gamma?" Raguel asked the others over the comm.

"Muziano's safe and sound!" Slipstream confirmed.

"Luc's fine, Raguel." Playmaker responded.

"Jayla's okay as well!" Soulburner added.

"My brothers and sister are safe?" Seamus questioned, shocked that Raguel and his allies would get them out of harm's way.

"They are. There's no way I'm letting a family die, that I will say." Raguel confirmed. "Tell me what you know. Please. I need to know the truth."

Seamus sighed. "A while back, a man named Zero approached us with data on Project: VIII in his hand, and asked us to store it until he returned to pick it up. He even paid us a hefty sum of money so we'd honour our agreement."

"Who's Zero?"

"I don't know. What I do know is that people who've seen Zero call him 'The Wanderer'." Seamus widened his eyes in terror. "After our parents died, my siblings are the only family I've got left. If I lose them as well..." Tears started forming in his eyes, the thought of losing them actually making him afraid.

"I'll make sure to keep you guys safe from whoever's after you." Raguel promised, much to Seamus's surprise. "All I ask in exchange is that you and your siblings testify against Ace. Give everything you guys know about him to the authorities. Can you do that?"

"The Guzik Family will fulfil your request to the letter." Seamus complied, knowing there was no point in resisting against the strongest duelist now that he lost. Unbeknownst to the two of them, Azrael watched their entire conversation from a nearby building by using the X-Ray specs integrated in his azure-colored mask.

"That was a rather entertaining show you put on, Raguel." Azrael commented, pulling out a large data sphere and looking at it.

"It still amazes me on how you got Ghost Girl to steal the Project: VIII data from Gamma for you." Wraith added, also looking at the data sphere.

"When you're a proficient hacker, you can disguise yourself as someone who can get others to do exactly as you say through selfish desires." Azrael smirked. "With the Project: VIII data obtained from Gamma and the FBI, there's only one piece to go."

"Do not worry, Azrael. It's only a matter of time until you get the final piece. Once it's obtained, one of your goals will be complete." Wraith assured him before putting a finger on his chin. "I do, however, have a question. Should we send Malf to eliminate the Guzik Family? After all, they did lose against Raguel and his allies."

"No. It isn't necessary. Besides, even if the Guzik Family were to testify against Ace, no one would believe their information about a demented grim reaper and the Black Market's true boss. Furthermore, should Ace fail, it'll only a minor loss, as I can finish the job myself." Azrael answered, before looking out to Gamma's main headquarters. "You shall remain as you are for now, Raguel. Once we duel, you will know who the strongest really is." He then walked away from the scene and started leaping from building to building afterwards.

An hour later, at Herald's private server...

"The Guzik Family has been arrested by the FBI, who were tipped off by an unknown whistleblower. Whether it was a single or a group effort remains to be seen," a female reporter said, as the screen showed each Guzik Family member logging out of LINK VRAINS with guards beside them. The screen then switched to show all four family members in the real world, where they were escorted to police cars by various FBI members. "The arrestees have agreed to testify in regards to the Turf War's events, and may get reduced sentences based on information shared during trial. In other news, authorities discovered a destroyed building structure known as a skyhook. Salvage crews are currently trying to identify who exactly destroyed it, as well as..." Raguel turned the news screen off afterwards.

"Can't believe you got the Guzik Family to actually testify against Ace." Slipstream commented.

"Thanks to you guys evacuating the other Guzik Family members to safety, I was able to easily convince Seamus to lend us a helping hand." Raguel said, his arms crossed. After Seamus told Raguel everything he knew, Raguel alerted the authorities to Gamma before leaving the branch with the others. While they went to arrest the Guzik Family, the quartet, along with the Rickety Raiders, destroyed the Skyhook before logging out of the network. With two Skyhooks destroyed, that meant the one in Alpha was the last one remained.

"Regardless of what happened, we succeeded in completing this mission." Soulburner added before turning to Raguel. "Next time, make sure I don't duel against a feral opponent."

"How was I supposed to predict who duels who?" Raguel pointed out. "We all had difficulties in our duels, right?"

"Obviously!" Ai stated, who was on Linkuriboh's back. "The guy we dueled kept stealing our monsters, am I correct Playmaker?"

"For once, you are correct, Ai." Playmaker confirmed. After the mission was done, Herald invited everyone to his server to chill and relax for a bit. This gave an opportunity for the Ignis to experience a replication of the Cyberse World, as well as for their sentient creatures to come out and have fun. "Herald, how were you able to create a duplicate of the Cyberse World?"

"It took some time, but I was able to do it." Herald answered, who was on Progleo's back. "Giddy up, Progleo!" The cub ran over to Linkuriboh and Balelynx before playing with each of them. Due to how fast he ran, Herald ended up falling off of him before landing on the grass, laughing it off and having a good time.

"Sorry about that, Herald." Progleo playfully apologized.

"Don't worry. You were just having fun."

"I'm glad we can enjoy these peaceful moments, you guys." Flame said, who was lying on the grass in a relaxed state. "Ones where we can forget our troubles and just enjoy what's happening right now. Ones where we can remind ourselves of what we're fighting for."

"You said it, Flame." Soulburner agreed with what Flame said. After all, in life, there were no rewinds. Only flashbacks. Which made it more crucial to enjoy the time you had with those you know in life. Besides, you don't know what will happen next.

Looking at the replicated Cyberse World, Playmaker genuinely smiled. "I hope to see the real Cyberse World one day. Would it be possible for you to take us there when this is over, Ai?"

"Of course! You'll love it, Playmaker!" Ai enthusiastically replied. "It's basically paradise!"

"Kuri Kuri Ku!" Linkuriboh added in joy.

"So tell me, Slipstream." Raguel said, turning to him. "How did you enjoy spending time with Tigress, the person you have a crush on?"

Slipstream blushed upon hearing that question. "There's no way I'm telling you a thing," he pouted out of surprise.

In response, Raguel laughed. "Don't worry, I'm sure Roxy will lend you a helping-."Before he could say anything else, his duel disk beeped. "Sorry. I have to take this call." Raguel walked away from the others before pressing a button on his duel disk. "Hello?"

"Yuhiro! Thank goodness I was able to reach you!" Miles stated, his voice containing concern and worry.

"Miles! Good to hear from you! Wait..." It then occurred to Raguel that something was wrong, as Miles wouldn't call him at this time of the day without a reason. "Is everything okay?"

"It's not okay! My dad's been kidnapped!" Miles exclaimed, the statement causing Raguel to widen his eyes out of shock.

"WHAT?!"

A light shines and the letters spelling out VRAINS light up the screen before a network is formed and several cards are drawn in towards a pillar of light. Playmaker, Raguel, and Soulburner are shown with their respective Ignis and stats, along with real-life forms that across the backgrounds that match their Ignis' colors. The screen then shows each of them being shocked while wearing VR sets as kids, along with Arashi.

The screen gets swallowed with darkness at it reveals a young Yukage huddled up and crying, his shadow shrinking behind him before taking the form of Wraith and comforting him. Yukage looks up with a menacing and soul piercing glare before the darkness consumes him and he's replaced with an older version of himself. Azrael and Wraith are then shown in NEW LINK VRAINS, as they look out into the digital sky. The scene then shifts to Bohman standing tall above NEW LINK VRAINS and holding the earth in his hands with Haru by his side. Malf grins in the shadows behind them, his red eyes shining bright in the process.

A drop of light falls down, and as it explodes, it reveals Playmaker, Raguel, and Soulburner, standing on buildings watching over the network, along with Slipstream as well. Blood Shepherd is shown commanding a trio of Battledrone Sergeants before the screen shifts to Drachen, who is shown commanding Red-Eyes Black Dragon. The screen then shifts a third time to Electrolyzer, where above him was PSY-Frame Driver, with PSY-Framegears Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta. The screen then shows Go Onizuka, Kenmochi, and Yoroizaka with Dinowrestler King T Wrextle, Gouki the Blade Ogre, and Gouki the Solid Ogre behind them ready for battle.

Blue Girl, Ghost Girl, Numera and SengokuQueen are then featured together riding their duel boards across the night sky with shooting stars flying across them. Trickstar Holly Angel was with Blue Girl, while Numera was with Geomathmech Final Sigma. Ghost Girl was with Altergeist Dragvirion, while SengokuQueen was with Secret Six Samurai - Rihan.

The screen then changes to Raguel, Playmaker, and Soulburner riding on their duel boards with Cyreath Medusa and Cyreath Hercules/Alpha Mode, Cyberse Magician, Cyberse Witch, and Salamangreat Heatleo behind them. Following the trio is Slipstream and Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. The four of them join together with a fist bump and smile in the real world as the wind blows, with Kusanagi, Roxy, and Greg watching them from Kusanagi's truck. Rachel then runs toward the quartet, and more specifically, Yuhiro, a look of joy clearly on her face. Unbeknownst to everyone, they're watched from the shadows by a cloaked person who glares at them, biding his time.

Card Gallery

No new cards introduced in this chapter.

QOTC

Which Guzik Family member is your favourite? Also, of the four duels, which one is your favourite? Do you think they'll return in the future?

Chapter Preview

Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth. Chapter 60: Sins of the Father. Having been alerted by Phoenix about his dad being kidnapped, Raguel ventures out with him to search for Aaron Shilton's kidnappers, only for them to realize that Omega was responsible for kidnapping Phoenix's dad. As the duo work on and execute a plan to rescue Aaron from captivity, they get unexpected assistance from Gil, who has other motives for helping them. In the midst of the mission, Raguel finds out that Omega took other hostages in addition to Aaron...

Author's Notes

This chapter is over 30,000 words, thus making it the longest chapter so far in this story! Credit goes to HunterHQ for reviewing the duels, as well as ZeroMK7 for recommending the Monarch archetype back in January. Anyhow, let's get to recapping the chapter, shall we:

Prior to the chapter's main events, I put in a slice of life event with the guys at the focus. What happened, you may ask? Well, Flame finally got his twelve cylinder Flame Mobile in the form of a race car Arashi made for him. The conversation then shifted to Herald and Ai arguing about which form of entertainment is superior. You also see the type of entertainment Flame found for himself, which are haiku's. More specifically, ones about himself and/or about beautiful ladies. For fun, I compared the guys to the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with Arashi being Michelangelo, Takeru being Raphael, Yusaku being Leonardo, and Yuhiro being Donatello. What do you think of these comparisons? Do they make sense? What are your thoughts?

Now onto the good stuff. The rest of the chapter mainly focuses on taking Gamma Branch down. Considering how this operation will be difficult than others, Yuhiro requests Roxy to call in some backup. And who better to call than her old pirate crew, the Rickety Raiders themselves? That's right! As a reward for sticking around, I officially put them in this chapter. Below are the members, along with their real names and VRAINS ID's:

One: Tigress/Brea Kuno = Her appearance is a combination between Tigress from Young Justice and Bea from Pokémon Sword and Shield, with her real-world appearance being based off of Bea from Pokémon Sword and Shield.

Two: Viola/Leshawna Miki = Her appearance is based off of Lenora from Pokémon Black and White. Of the four pirate crew members, she has a family of her own.

Three: Aithne/Mavis Gima = Her appearance is based off of Malva from Pokémon X and Y.

Four: Electra/Eloise Sadow = Her appearance is based off of Elesa from Pokémon Black and White.

It's revealed that Raguel actually worked with them before, which is why he had Roxy ask for their help for the mission in taking Gamma down. We also see Slipstream begin developing a crush on Tigress as well. Honestly, I can't wait to explore that later on in the story, that's for sure. What do you think will happen between them? Let me know your thoughts.

Before we get to the four duels, I want to talk about something here in regards to the Rickety Raiders and Roxy. Prior to the start of the story, Roxy ended up abandoning her crew upon learning about Miyu and what happened to her. Here are the reactions for each of the members:

Tigress/Brea Kuno: Tigress has the most resentment for Roxy because she looked up to her as a mentor, and felt abandoned when Roxy left to take of Miyu. This will be explored later on in the story, especially in Chapter 60.

Viola/Leshawna Miki: Viola has the least amount of resentment among the group because she has a family herself, and understands when family comes first in situations.

Aithne/Mavis Gima: Aithne has a slight amount of resentment for Roxy because of how she left without telling anyone of what happened. After all, there are no secrets in the Rickety Raiders.

Electra/Eloise Sadow: Electra bears some resentment for Roxy because of how she helped in giving Electra assurance that she's doing her best in all their missions. So the fact that the leader who raises your spirits leaves you tends to impact you in a unique way.

Now that I've talked about each of the other four members for Roxy's crew, as well as how they viewed her after leaving them, I want to know which one you're looking forward to seeing the most later on in the story. With that, let's get to the duels:

Duel One was between Slipstream and Muziano, who proved to be quite a challenge for the former, considering how his 'Unchained' deck just literally destroys cards. For this duel, I added in some humorous parts in terms of how Slipstream not only taunted Muziano, but also the luck-related elements in the duel, which annoyed him further. While Slipstream defeated Muziano, he did it barely, which made him realize that he needs new tricks for his deck if he's to avoid that kind of duel in the future. Based on this reflection, it confirms that Slipstream will Pendulum Summon later on in Season 2, that's for sure.

Duel Two was between Soulburner and Jayla, with the latter using the 'Ritual Beast' archetype. For those of you who aren't familiar with this archetype, it focuses on an endless amount of Contact Fusions just to trip the opponent up. I chose this archetype because of how challenging (and annoying) it can be to deal with, especially for a strong duelist like Soulburner. In the anime, Soulburner didn't use Reincarnation Ritual or Reincarnation Fusion Summoning, which I included here to show off how powerful those effects can be. I also had Soulburner draw a pretty bad hand so he can demonstrate how no matter how bad the odds are, you can rise up from them and overcome anything.

Duel Three was between Playmaker and Luc, with the latter using the 'Invoked' archetype. This archetype focuses on Fusion Summoning, with an emphasis of banishing cards from either Graveyard for said summoning method, as well as preventing the opponent from negating it. By choosing this archetype, my intent was to show how Playmaker would respond to someone that uses the opponents monsters for Fusion Summoning their Fusion monsters. While Playmaker had some difficulty, he was able to win the duel by using a combination of Transcode Talker and Powercode Talker.

Last but not least, Duel Four was between Raguel and Seamus, who used the 'Monarch' archetype. As all of you know, this archetype basically locks down the Extra Deck, which is why it's known as the 'Extra-Deck' killer. Another element was added in the form of shock collars, which was actually used in Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's for those of you that remember Yusei's duel in the facility. If you noticed in the duel, Raguel began to act... not like himself. Usually, he would say his reason on why he fights, but because personal reasons don't matter in a match like this, he basically decided to finish Seamus off for good. Halfway through the duel, Seamus also reveals some intriguing information. A while back, Go Onizuka appeared in Gamma, intent on getting stronger. He eventually defeated every opponent before drawing against Seamus, who offered to help him become stronger. Had Go accepted Seamus's offer to stay at Gamma, Seamus would have allowed Go to duel against Playmaker. If Go accepted Seamus's decision, how do you think the story would go? Do you think this was something Go should have done?

Of these duels, which one do you like?

The next part has Raguel demanding who gave Seamus the Project: VIII data. Upon seeing Seamus's plight and fear of losing his siblings, Raguel agrees to keep them safe in exchange for both the information and them testifying against Ace. After hearing this, Seamus tells Raguel that a man named Zero gave Gamma the Project: VIII data to hold onto until he returned. Just who is Zero? You'll have to continue reading to find out.

Meanwhile, Azrael observes the entire conversation, happy with the show Raguel put on. And get this: Azrael is Ghost Girl's client this whole time! Surprise! Who here was expecting that? Anyway, it turns out that Azrael has two out of the three pieces for the Project: VIII data, with Wraith assuring him that he'll get the final piece in no time. When asked whether to sick Malf on the Guzik Family, Azrael says there's no point for two reasons. One: Even if the Guzik Family testifies against Ace, no one would believe the part where there's rumors about his grim reaper. Two: Ace's goal is merely to buy as much time as possible, so if he fails, it doesn't necessarily affect Azrael, as he can complete the mission himself and buy the time Bohman needs to recover. After listing his reasons, Azrael leaves, saying that Raguel will know who the strongest really is in due time.

The last scene is the gang in Herald's private server simply hanging out after a hectic mission. Another slice of life scene, that's for sure. And the fact I finally put Progleo, Linkuriboh, and Balelynx hanging out is all the sweeter. Just before the chapter ends, Raguel receives a call from Miles, learning that his dad's been kidnapped. Who did it? That will be revealed next chapter.

I know this is a lot of information to digest, so I'll stop the recap here, and instead say thank you for reading Chapter 59 of Obscured Truth. As always, please let me know your thoughts about the chapters below in your reviews. Also, constructive criticism is appreciated, as your tips and advice helps make the story better. In addition, don't forget to favourite and follow the story. That way, you will get a notification once the next chapter is released.

Some great news for you guys. As of this moment, my semester is done for the holidays, so expect an increased work rate for the month of December. Hooray!

What did you enjoy the most from this chapter? The duels? The infiltration in Gamma? Slipstream and Tigress's interactions (with Slipstream having a crush on Tigress)? The end scene and the cliff-hanger?

That's all for now. My intention is to get Chapter 60 done before Christmas, so see you then!