Response to Reviews
Thank you to Donkeyboy100, HunterHQ, Noobmaster, Duck Dogers, Pancakes, Anonymous, Kingdom Hearts Guy, Revolver, Guest, Malcom, Unknown, ZeroMK7, Cosmic Cat, T.V. 2000, Portal, 3bodyjaa, Akechi, Unnamed, Decode Talker, Fusion and Guest for reviewing Chapter 73 of Obscured Truth.
Hello, everyone! I hope you're doing well and are safe wherever you are in the world. I must say, from your reviews, you have put down some interesting information. Ones that I look forward to responding to.
But before I get to answering reviews, I have some information to share of my own. I'm not sure if some of you heard, but recently, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kazuki Takahashi, has passed away. Yu-Gi-Oh! Has made a massive impact on my life, so I wanted to do a small tribute to him before the chapter begins.
The first Yu-Gi-Oh! Series I watched was Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, which I really enjoyed a lot. It got me into the other Yu-Gi-Oh! series, such as GX and then the original Yu-Gi-Oh!. After that, I watched Zexal both in dub and sub, Arc-V in dub, and VRAINS in both dub and sub. I'll be honest here in saying that I watched the dub for the most of it. I remember collecting lots of cards (and I still do, but only the important and intriguing ones, such as the ace monsters), as well as keeping in touch with the current news, and making a few friends that share the same interest in the card game as I have. Believe it or not, I also read the mangas for 5D's, Zexal, and Arc-V as well, which were pretty interesting to read. Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! and reading the anime was what inspired me to start writing on Fanfiction, and I'm beyond grateful for all the years I wrote this story, with the people who not only followed and favourited this story, but have stayed with it through its ups and downs. I'll be honest, Obscured Truth didn't have the best start (if I had the info I had now, I'd make massive changes to), but the fact that you chose to stick with this story makes me happy beyond words.
I never met Kazuki Takahashi in my life, and I didn't know who he was until he died. But if I were to say one thing to him, it would be thank you for everything he did for creating this wonderful anime, manga, and trading card game. Your work has touched the lives of millions, and even though you passed onto the afterlife with the Pharaoh, your work will continue to touch others. So I therefore want to raise a small toast to you, Kazuki Takahashi, and thank you for changing my life and the lives of others. Thank you for inspiring me to write on Fanfiction. We'll be forever grateful to you.
Alright, with that tribute out of the way, let's get to answering reviews:
Donkeyboy100: Happy you liked the chapter. It made sense, as honestly, I wanted Blood Shepherd to win. What's more, he was inspired to incorporate Synchro Summoning thanks to Slipstream.
HunterHQ: Emon was able to bribe the waitress into keeping quiet. Simple as that. Honestly, Yuhiro tried Chinese food a long time ago, and it gave him food poisoning, which is why he hates it. Honestly, Blood Shepherd needed another win, and he also got information on how to Synchro Summon from Slipstream. In terms of hobby, I honestly see Arashi doing a web show or at the very least, start up a social media trend through hashtags, as shown in Young Justice: Outsiders. Like I said before, Azrael, Malf, and Wraith used data clones so they can obscure themselves in the shadows. That, and Raguel told Azrael firsthand the truth on who was responsible for destroying the Cyberse World. Even though SOL Technologies took a break on the AI chip project to deal with the Turf War, they were still hellbent on resuming that project. Because let's face it: SOL Technologies needed the Black Market for materials, and with it being damaged for the time being, the company had to use the resources they had to finish the AI chip project. Lightning didn't deal with Aqua in the beginning because he needed Bohman to absorb her, so he was basically delaying her death until his plans began to prosper. For your question about Pawn, both he and the other higher-ups can speak with the Kings, but only if they summon them. I don't reply on profiles because very few people review on them. It's likely Azrael scanned the memories of Ace, Athaliah, and Speckles, as he can use that information to blackmail the trio.
Noobmaster: Great to hear from you again. In terms of hacking, Jericho's skill EXCEEDS that of SOL Technologies. He's that good. All the higher-ups report to the Kings, not just Pawn and Queen. Neither the Kings nor Pawn know about Myojin's sons and whether they're alive or not. For your question on whether the public knows about Project: VIII or not, they don't, as SOL Technologies had to cover it up to save face, and it took a long effort to do so. For your concern about Yuhiro, I suggest you read this chapter. As for Azrael and Wraith, even allies can have disagreements.
Duck Dogers: Ah, now I understand. You were talking about in terms of personalities, not in terms of raw power. For your comment on Infearno, can you just give me a break on that? It was three years ago. Three years! So give me a break already. Yeah, Azrael can certainly be dark, as he certainly believes in survival of the fittest. He also has brought incurable wounds to the characters whether intentionally or unintentionally. Still, I'd be interested in seeing how Azrael and Zahhak would converse with one another, and whether they'd understand one another as well. Yes, Jester does unexpected things, but the only difference between him and Malf is that any damage inflicted by the latter in the network happens in the real world as well. Well, Yuhiro is growing as a character, and is obviously mature compared to Season 1. You'll see more character growth as the story continues.
Pancakes: As much as I don't mind your skits, this time, I prefer that you don't make one like that.
Anonymous: SOL Technologies didn't tell Go about what happened to Kenmochi and Yoroizaka because he was busy in his training, and even if he learned about it, he wouldn't care about them in the state he was in.
Kingdom Hearts Guy: Well, you'll just have to read on to find out Blue Girl's reaction to the information Raguel will tell her about Miyu.
Revolver: Of course Raguel's slowly becoming more and more not himself, and if I were to put him on the alignment chart, I'd say he'd be in the Lawful Evil and/or Chaotic Good categories. Per anime canon, I must follow the Go vs Playmaker rematch, so that's obviously going to stay the same. So don't worry about Stregone interfering.
Guest: It's likely that SOL Technologies got the idea from Beta itself for the AI chip. For Jericho regarding Earth, it wouldn't affect his plans at all.
Malcom: Blood Shepherd didn't take many hits. He practically decimated Slipstream in their duel. In terms of stabbing one another in the back, Azrael was practically about to kill Lightning until the latter confessed his role in Dr. Kogami's death. Plus, Azrael won't kill Lightning because he has to fulfil his end of the bargain. Yes, no one is pure in this world and without sin.
Unknown: That's the likely scenario here, as since there was a bit of Earth inside Crystal Heart, Bohman was able to restore him. Let's just say the Kings aren't ordinary people. Ace is indeed making weapons not just for the Ignis, but for Azrael's plan as well.
ZeroMK7: Glad you liked the chapter. And may I remind you that Blood Shepherd did better in this fanfic than in the entire anime itself. He got a draw against Raguel, a win against Speckles, and a win against Slipstream, thus showing he's gotten stronger. What's more, he acquired Synchro Summoning by this point in the story. For me, my VRAINS ID would be Apophis, with an Ogdoadic/Invoked deck and the powerful Phantasmal Lord Ultimil Bishbaalkin.
Cosmic Cat: Can you blame me? Anime events mostly occurred in this chapter. And Raguel is not himself because of everything that happened.
T.V. 2000: Yes, the heroes won't have to worry about Soulburner's identity being exposed because of Watchman deleting it from Blood Shepherd's mind and servers. Don't worry, all three Kings will actually duel in the story. Unfortunately, like I said above, I must follow anime events at times, so I couldn't have saved Earth even if I wanted to.
Portal: Yeah, Raguel's not himself, and is doing everything he can from not falling apart.
3bodyjaa: Glad you liked the chapter.
Akechi: Everyone has darkness within their own hearts. And considering recent events, everyone will have to be on their guard for what's to come.
Unnamed: Keep in mind that if Blood Shepherd leaked the identities, then Yuhiro would have leaked incriminating information on Blood Shepherd in response. Unfortunately, Urizen and Myojin never reached the stage of even making an Ignis in the first place. You'll just have to see what happens next for your theories.
Decode Talker: Earth chose to join the other Ignis in the war because of what he saw regarding humans. Since Go represented only the bad aspects of humanity, as well as the fact that Earth didn't see the good aspects, that's what motivated him to choose to join the side of the Ignis. For Watchman, he's always had that power, yet he refused to use it until now. I can't wait for you to see what will happen to Watchman next. You'll be surprised.
Fusion: You can say that.
Guest: Your obsession with Stregone is just sad.
Now that all reviews have been answered, I have one more thing to say. As of this chapter, Obscured Truth has reached a milestone of over 100,000 views! Well done, everyone! I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 74: Regrets
In a desolate landscape under a bloody sky, two pendants, one white-ruby and one white-sapphire, fall to the ground before transforming into Excalibur and Muramasa. Their owners, Raguel and Azrael, grab their swords before charging at one another, the blade lock resulting in a flash of light flooding the screen. When the light fades, LINK VRAINS is shown before being replaced my Mirror LINK VRAINS. The Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS logo then appears, with the words "OBSCURED TRUTH" to ominously appear underneath it in rainbow colours. Two symbols also appear underneath those words, with the first one consisting of a dark-orange demonic crest that had lion fangs on the sides, as well as Excalibur slashing it down the middle. The other symbol consisted of a dark-blue demonic crest that had two mirage blades making an X, as well as Muramasa slashing it down the middle.
Yuhiro, Yusaku, Takeru, and Arashi are sitting around a table at Café Nagi, looking at duel footage as they discuss strategies they can use to counter their enemies. At a nearby table, Roxy, Kusanagi, and Greg are chatting, a hamburger in Roxy's hand, and a hotdog in Kusanagi's hand. Rachel is shown nearby playing with Rasterliger, Salamangreat Balelynx, and Linkuriboh, until the four of them turn their heads to see Herald, Ai, and Flame chatting on the best type of entertainment in the world. All four of them go towards the three chatting Ignis and scare them with a large shout. This causes Yuhiro, Yusaku, Takeru, Arashi, Roxy, Kusanagi, and Greg to laugh at the three Ignis, who are still flustered by the prank.
Kengo Dojun looks down at the hospital bed his mother is on, gritting his teeth before making a fist with his right hand. At another hospital room, Yuhiro, Roxy, and Aoi are shown, where they look down on Miyu resting on her hospital bed. Yuhiro puts his hands on the sides of his head, a panicked and stressed look on his face as Roxy and Aoi try to calm him down, his anxiety settling in. Red, glowing cracks start to spread over his body before dimming on and off. Behind him, shadows form, one of which consists of a girl in her pre-teens wearing a white and blue Greek-styled dress, along with sandals twirling around, her shoulder-length blond hair flowing down behind her. The girl's eyes glow red as she raises her right arm in front of her and places her left hand on her chest, as if she were singing. After she disappears, a black-armored knight that had a spiked plume on his helmet, along with dark-steel plates on his arms appears in her place. Strapped to his sides were a pair of jagged, chained blades, each one having a demonic red-orange glyph pattern on them. Attached to his back was a long sword with a massive blade, as well as a set of arms that had large hands, each one having three claws. The multicolored shapes resembling eyes glowed as the knight pulls out all three blades and slashes the screen completely.
Raguel and Playmaker appear, riding parallel to one another on their duel boards, with Cyreath Hercules/Alpha Mode and Firewall Dragon following after them. Next is Soulburner and Slipstream, with Salamangreat Heatleo and Clear Wing Synchro Dragon following after the second duo. Last but not least, Blue Girl and Numera appear, with Trickstar Holly Angel and Geomathmech Final Sigma following after the third duo.
At SOL Technologies, Akira, Hayami, Queen, and Pawn are looking at a monitor that showed Go Onizuka in the training dome, having won a duel against a virtual Playmaker. While the first two individuals frowned with concern, the second two had satisfied smiles on their faces.
In a dark abandoned room, Yukage narrows his eyes as looks at a happy memory of him and Yuhiro playing together as children by using the memory scanner. Blue, glowing cracks start to appear on his right hand, causing Yukage to take deep breaths to calm himself down. After looking at his pendant for a few moments, Yukage puts on his duel disk before he and Wraith raise their right hands to the sky and log into the network. Haru is then shown training under Azrael's tutelage in another room, having faced off against multiple upgraded Bitboots with Hydradrive Nagini, Scyllonic Hydradrive Kragun, and Medusoid Hydradrive Gorgun behind him. Nearby, Azrael and Wraith watch the match, wanting to see how much stronger Haru has become.
The screen then shifts to the interior of a palace, where Bohman is sitting cross-legged, his eyes closed as he begins to meditate. His eyes open before they glow a rainbow color, the glow also spreading to his chest as the room briefly lights up before dimming down. But in the shadows, Malf's eyes glow red as he proceeds to lick his mouth, hunger on his mind.
Silhouettes of Yua Kogami and Katsuya pop up before they morph into their VRAINS personas Demeter and Percival, where the screen goes back to one room of the palace. Windy, who is wearing a cape and eyepatch, commands Stormridership Bahamut Bomber to attack Demeter, who responds by having Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty intercept the attack. In another room, Jin Kusanagi stands with Lightning as the latter snaps his fingers, causing a small squad of Armatos Legio Decurions and Centurions to appear behind him. Armatos Legio Legatus Legionis, along with a young, light-skinned warrior wearing roman armor and a purple cape strapped to the back of it who rode a chariot that was pulled by two armored horses also appeared behind Lightning. Percival growls as Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon rises from behind him, and two copies of Phantom Knights' Spear appear in his hands.
A silhouette of Ace is shown above Uchida Industries, his right hand outstretched over the company. Drachen faces off against a squad of Bitboots with Red-Eyes Black Dragon behind him, hellbent on getting it back from Ace. The screen then flips over to show Electrolyzer trying to escape his restraints using PSY-Framegears Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta, with Jericho ominously laughing in the background.
Smoke appears in various areas of the central station in LINK VRAINS, which has been attacked by multiple Bitboots. Phoenix and Gil stand back to back, with Nephthys, the Scared Flame and Abyss Actor – Evil Heel beside the duelists as they confront one Bitboot each. SengokuQueen and Ghost Girl do the same, with Secret Six Samurai – Rihan and Altergeist Memorygant beside the duelists as they too confront one Bitboot each. Stregone is shown arriving to assist both groups, Quintet Magician and Enlightenment Paladin behind him. Nearby, Rosetta confronts Ace, Black Rose Moonlight Dragon rising from behind her before roaring at Ace, who has Dystopia the Despondent rise behind him in response.
Watching these events using the Spatial Cube is Watchman, who is in his server. A disappointed look appears on his face before he pulls out a total of six long and slender swords that resembled rapiers with short hilts, three in each of his hands. Watchman's eyes glow with a purple color before three copies of Crimson Nova the Dark Cubic Lord appear behind him, which proceed to fuse into Crimson Nova Trinity the Dark Cubic Lord as the screen is covered with purple cubes.
Raguel and Azrael are then shown facing off against one another in a matrix-like battlefield. Turboblaze Dragon, along with three other monsters, appear behind Raguel before combining to form a tall, white-colored bipedal dragon with red irises and black pupils, as well as a long and slender neck. He had a long, voluminous wispy mane streaming out from the upper side of his snout and outwards from his head, with the two protrusions on his head having merged to form into a long, bright and blazing one. His four arms were slender and arm-like with a wing-like appearance and four fingers on his glowing, fiery claws. On his head was a golden piece of armor, with fiery-golden armor pieces on his feathered chest and body. Each of his feet had large grey claws, three at the front and one positioned at the back to resemble high heels. The jet-like engine tail's bands expanded outwards, with the feathers in it spiking upwards before a massive blast of fire erupts from it.
Teravolt Dragon, along with three other monsters, appear behind Azrael before combining to form a tall, purple-colored bipedal dragon with blue sclera and white pupils, as well as a small horn-like protrusion on the tip of his snout. His head sported a thundercloud-like crest tipped with yellow coloration, along with pieces of golden armor as well. At the base of his neck, his shoulders, knees, and wings was a black, stud-like feature resembling that of armor, with spikes appearing on the shoulders. His large wings consisted of a fanned shape that expanded outwards to show three spikes tipped with electricity. Strapped to his back was a halo with three spikes on it. Attached to his arms were baseball-mitt-like formations, with three-clawed hands on the undersides that glowed with electricity. His three-clawed feet also glowed with electricity as well. His tail now consisted of two electric generators with a spike at the end, which hummed before releasing electricity from it.
In a garden of Asagao flowers, Miyu sees Yuhiro on one knee, having grabbed the hilt of Excalibur to try and stand up on his feet, the sword having been planted on the ground. She run over and helps Yuhiro stand up on his feet, the both of them having grateful smiles on their faces. The both of them look upwards as the screen jumps to the bright sky and the glowing sun.
At the Den City Hospital...
BEEP! BEEP!
Kengo Dojun looked at the hospital bed, where he saw an older woman with dark hair resting on a hospital bed. Mom, he thought, as he narrowed his eyes to look at her. His mind then backtracked, as Kengo recalled the worst day of his life. Where a wretched AI put his mother in the hospital, as well as injured him with a reminder of that day in the form of a scar.
A day that would have never happened if Kengo and his mother found a different method of transportation that can be used to return home.
That was the worse day of my life, Kengo continued thinking, as he made a fist with his right hand before narrowing his eyes. But I'll make it worse for the Ignis one by one, and I will hurt not just them, but anyone who dares to join their side, just as they hurt you. He then grit his teeth, having suffered another headache.
After what Watchman did to Kengo, the information on Soulburner's identity, and by extension, the others somehow got deleted from both his mind and his servers. While he obviously still knew their VRAINS personas, he was no longer able to track them in the real world. So why wasn't Kengo able to do it until now?
Well, for one, he had to do research. Lots of research. Thanks to Slipstream, Kengo's mission to track Soulburner in the real world had been delayed, which meant he had to take more time to confirm things. Second was the Turf War, which was something Kengo obviously didn't want to do. He only agreed to do it so he can earn some more money, as well as make sure that he can continue his hunt for the Ignis, and people such as Playmaker and Raguel later on.
If Kengo had only been faster, he would have been able to complete his task within a heartbeat. But Raguel's threat had also been an unexpected monkey wrench in his plans, as should Kengo make any moves at all, he'd leak all the incriminating information about him to the authorities. That was something Kengo couldn't risk, so he had no choice but to back down.
Damn them all! And damn that Watchman for putting him through immense pain! One that eradicated crucial information! The good news was that the headaches were going away, so once Kengo's mind was clear and sharp once again, he'd return to the hunt.
He stood up on his feet, now resolute on what to do next. According to intel, Kengo found out that one of the Ignis had been eradicated. Specifically, the Earth Ignis. This was good news for him, as it meant one step closer to a free world where AI's didn't threaten humanity. Though he was curious on how that happened, and who was able to catch that Ignis. Surely it couldn't be Go Onizuka, as his attitude as a caveman would be a great barrier in completing such a task. But Kengo heard rumors on SOL Technologies' newest project. One that he wanted to investigate for himself before determining what to do next.
Kengo then left the room after pondering over this information, intent on getting answers one way or another.
Elsewhere, at Café Matsuo, in the living room...
"So that's why you're here? To give me a heads up on what's happened on your end?"
"Yes, but by the time you arrived, Roxy said you were already in the network getting a mission done."
This exchange of words was between Yuhiro and Rachel, who were both on opposite sides of the couch, the latter having arrived just when he and the others went into the network to find Earth. According to Roxy, Rachel told her about the information Akira learned from his meeting with Playmaker. Not just that, but what Greg told her as well about Brion, and how his well-intended but catastrophic attempt at bringing justice to SOL Technologies resulted in him being jailed.
Arashi would have joined the conversation, but Yusaku called him and requested his assistance on doing a tune up on the servers at Café Nagi. This was good timing, as he can tell the others about what Watchman did for Takeru, so he left to ensure Rachel and Yuhiro can have privacy in their conversation.
"I honestly can't believe Brion would do such a thing. Does he not know of the ramifications of doing such a thing?" Roxy commented, having crossed her arms.
"What exactly is this information Brion wanted to leak to the authorities?" Yuhiro asked Rachel out of curiosity.
"Along with something about an AI chip, information about SOL Technologies' relationship with the Black Market." Rachel answered, which made both Yuhiro and Roxy gasp out of shock. SOL Technologies had dealings with the Black Market this entire time? Just how corrupt was SOL Technologies, and was there any hope of saving the company before it was too late? Or was it beyond repair?
"Well, I never thought SOL Technologies would be capable of doing such a thing." Herald said.
"And to think that I worked with the Black Market for years and never noticed such a thing..." Yuhiro muttered, having put a hand on his chin. There was no end to the information Yuhiro was learning today, which all began when Go announced that he became a human-AI hybrid by having SOL Technologies put a chip in his brain. Could this day get any worse?
"If it's okay with you, Yuhiro, I shared the profiles on Lightning and Windy." Roxy told him.
"That's fine, Roxy. As long as the others know our enemies' strengths and weaknesses, we'll be able to counter them." Yuhiro replied. In all honesty, he was grateful that she didn't share the profile on Azrael to Rachel, as she'd most likely tell Aoi, Emma, and Gekiryushi about it. If they knew... No. They can't know the truth about him. Not after everything that's-.
"Uh, Yuhiro?"
Yuhiro snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Rachel's voice.
"You doing okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. That's right. I'm totally fine." Yuhiro quickly answered with a chuckle, which made both Roxy and Rachel narrow their eyes at him in response.
Before anyone can say anything, Rachel stood up on her feet and walked over to Yuhiro before tugging on his hand.
"What are you doing?"
"You're going to spend some time with us, silly." Rachel explained.
"W-W-What? What's going-?"
"Rachel said that she wanted you to help her, Aoi, Gekiryushi, and Emma for a change instead of being with Yusaku and the others." Roxy pointed out.
"And you're actually fine with that, Roxy?" Herald inquired.
"I trust Aoi, Rachel, Emma, and Gekiryushi." Roxy immediately responded. "Rachel makes a good point, as you need to work with the other girls every one in a while. A good idea to keep them in the loop, don't you think Yuhiro?"
Yuhiro, in hearing this, nodded in agreement. He obviously worked with Aoi, Emma, Gekiryushi, and Rachel before, which meant he can trust them. And considering how they wanted to protect the Ignis, he was able to trust them more. "Alright, fine. Let me pack a bag really quick." He went upstairs, intent on gathering the stuff needed for the coming night.
"Yuhiro hasn't been himself, hasn't he?" Rachel correctly deduced, with Roxy nodding in agreement.
"No, he hasn't. The information he found out, along with the injuries Azrael inflicted on him physically and mentally, have traumatized him to the bone." Roxy stated.
"But he's getting better day by day, though. I mean, what else could go wrong?" Herald pointed out.
"When someone says that, Herald, it means bad things are coming." Roxy told Herald. "To put it in simple terms, you're jinxing the situation."
"Okay, forget I said that." Herald replied.
"That's not how jinxes work, buddy!" Roxy shouted, which made Herald shiver out of fear. Before anyone else can speak, Yuhiro returned downstairs, the straps of a duffle bag over his left shoulder. He now wore a black and white jersey zip jacket over his dark-blue and white, long-sleeved shirt. Along with his usual pair of jeans, Yuhiro basically looked ready for battle.
"Okay, everything's set for the night." Yuhiro said, having went over and picked up his duel disk before strapping it on his left arm. Suddenly, Rasterliger jumped out of the duel disk.
"I will make sure they're safe." Rasterliger promised Roxy.
"Of course you will, buddy." Roxy said back, as Rachel, Yuhiro, and Rasterliger walked over to the stairs. "Be on your best behavior, Yuhiro!"
"Roxy, I will be fine. Don't worry." Yuhiro replied back, before he, Rachel, and Rasterliger went downstairs. This was going to be an interesting turn of events, that's for sure.
Elsewhere, at Cafe Nagi...
"Hmm, let's see here. Man, you guys certainly have some old equipment here. Functional, but still old." Arashi commented, as he inspected the systems and monitors inside Café Nagi.
"Even though it's old, it's helped us many times before, Arashi. After all, you shouldn't replace something when it can still be functional." Yusaku pointed out, as he walked over from the table he was sitting at to the counter of Café Nagi. With Kusanagi away visiting Jin, that meant Yusaku was in charge of keeping an eye on the truck. Surprisingly, there were no customers, which meant Yusaku didn't have much to do much other than try to find the other Ignis. But during the search, the servers experienced a small 'glitch' in the system. That gave Yusaku the idea to call up Arashi for help after being unable to pinpoint what was causing the glitch, who he saw as one of the most experienced people in using technology.
"I still don't see why I can't lend a hand in this endeavor." Ai said, as he scratched the back of his head.
"Because there's a chance you may be up to something mischievous, Ai." Yusaku answered, having turned his head to look at Ai.
"Me? Mischievous?" Ai sweat-dropped out of nervousness. "Since when would I-?"
"Does the puzzle for that stupid pin count?" Arashi questioned, which made Yusaku smirk.
"Yes, Arashi. Yes it does." Yusaku confirmed, which made Ai slump over out of embarrassment.
"But it was an ultra-rare pin..." Ai complained.
"Okay! And done!" Arashi stated with a triumphant grin, before standing up on his feet. "Turns out you guys had a few little computer bugs in the system, so I expunged them."
"Computer bugs?" Yusaku repeated. Well, at least it wasn't anything bad.
"Yup, and a few evasive ones at that." Arashi replied. "Don't worry, it wasn't anything threatening. Just some algorithmic and mismatch bugs, along with a deficiency in performance. I put in some new programs my dad uses to clean those little critters up, as well as an extra-insurance program of my own should things get out of hand."
"Updating your systems is a good idea, especially during a crucial time like this," a voice commented out of agreement, as Yusaku, Arashi, and Ai turned to see Ryoken walking over to take a seat at one of the tables at Café Nagi.
"Revolver..." Yusaku muttered, before heading over to the table and sitting down at the opposite seat to Ryoken. "What do you want?"
"So you're Revolver in the flesh, huh?" Arashi said. "Uh, nice to meet you in the real world?"
"You don't have to worry, Slipstream. I don't intend to give away any of your identities, for I only want to take care of matters in the network." Ryoken assured Arashi.
"Maybe Revolver's here to give us more get-well gifts, guys!" Ai theorised. "I could use another gift during times like this."
"No. I'm not here to give you another get-well gift, Ignis. I'm here to deliver some news." Ryoken told Ai.
"News?" Ai repeated.
"Yes. SOL Technologies has decompiled the Earth Ignis."
Both Yusaku and Arashi gasped upon hearing this news, while Ai widened his eyes.
"Oh no! Decompiled?!" Ai exclaimed. "Wait, what does decompiled mean?"
"It means that Earth's been decomposed to its source code." Arashi explained, with Ryoken giving him a nod in confirmation.
"Oh? That's it? He wasn't killed? Phew!" Ai cried out of relief. "Sheesh, you had me worried for a second. It's no biggie, as you can take his source code and build him right back up." He pointed at his right eye, which bulged. "Like how Ai was just an Aiball at the beginning, only for this fine specimen to return to normal!"
"Ai, that is not how things work." Arashi stated, before exiting Café Nagi and walking over to where the others were. "You can't just simply grab a few pieces and rebuild the code, expecting it to look the same."
"Normally, that would be the case, Slipstream. However, what happened to the Earth Ignis is a unique situation." Ryoken responded.
"What do you mean by that?" Yusaku asked.
"SOL Technologies' technicians don't know the algorithm of an Ignis, which meant they were unable to decompile it properly. That meant they had to decompile him to a code they would understand." Ryoken emphasized. "Think of it like an egg. Once you decide to crack the shell and make scrambled eggs, you can't just simply unscramble it and put the contents in its shell. In other words, the Earth Ignis can't be restored to his original state."
"N-N-No. That can't be right! You're lying!" Ai accused Ryoken. "How would you know what happens in SOL Technologies anyway?!"
"Ai, if there's anything we know about Revolver, it's that he isn't a liar." Yusaku reminded Ai. "It's likely that he got this information from one of the Hanoi's allies, some of which are in SOL Technologies." That earned Yusaku a half lid glance from Ryoken, which confirmed his hypothesis as true.
"No!" Ai fell to his knees. "So that's what we sensed! Earth's... gone?! He's really gone?!" Tears began to fall out of Ai's eyes. "Why?! Why did this have to happen?! He wasn't bothering anybody. He was just minding his own business. Until they got him." Ai then clenched his fists with a cold glare. "Until the humans got him!"
"Ai..." Yusaku muttered out of concern and shock for his friend. On the other hand, Ryoken simply smirked, while Arashi frowned.
"I'm surprised by your lack of reaction to this information, Slipstream." Ryoken stated, now turning his head to look at Arashi.
"What do you mean?" Arashi questioned.
"If I recall, I heard you wanted to kill Windy, who's your own Ignis. The same Ignis who put your cousin in the hospital." Ryoken reminded Arashi, which made the latter grit his teeth.
"So what? That's still true."
"Of course it's true, as it's only human to get revenge. On the other hand, if you cared about the Ignis, you'd be concerned about your ally's mental state."
Arashi narrowed his eyes. "I am concerned about Ai's mental state, Revolver. He's my friend."
In response, Ryoken raised an eyebrow. "Really now? What happens if another Ignis like this one over here puts a friend or a member of your family in the hospital? What will you do then?"
Arashi then began to start shaking, as if this information was starting to paralyze him.
"I'd obviously protect my friends or family from anyone who tries to hurt them." Arashi began speaking.
"Even if it means crossing the line? Even if it means taking a life?" Ryoken asked with a smirk.
"I...I... I want to get revenge so badly, but I'm afraid that if I do, I'd be no better than a killer! No better than Windy!" Arashi fully answered, now shaking even more.
"That's enough, Revolver!" Yusaku angrily exclaimed, which caused Ryoken to grin back.
"Well, it seems my business here is done." Ryoken said, as he stood up from his chair. "I'll be seeing you both around. As for you, Slipstream, I'm curious on what choice you'll make next." He then walked away from Café Nagi, his visit over.
"Arashi..." Yusaku stood up. "Are you-?"
"Leave me alone! I need time to think!" Arashi furiously snapped, before walking away from Café Nagi, leaving Yusaku and Ai alone.
In all honesty, Yusaku didn't know what to do with this news. Earth was dead, Ai was starting to hate humans, and Arashi was now bothered by what Ryoken just said. Not just that, but Ryoken managed to make Arashi question himself with that conversation. It was unsettling, overall.
Well, there was one thing Yusaku can do for the time being. He sat back down at the chair and gently patted Ai on the back with his hand, which surprised him as he turned around.
"What are going to do now, Yusaku?" Ai questioned, tears still in his eyes. "I want revenge so badly against SOL Technologies for what they did."
"I hear you, Ai. I hear you. I'm not going anywhere." Yusaku simply replied, as Ai continued to cry. Even though there wasn't much Yusaku can do to help end Ai's pain, he can be there to help him get through it.
After all, that's what friends were for.
Elsewhere...
Arashi walked down the sidewalk and turned left towards an area nearby Green Park, needing some time for himself. He was really disturbed by the conversation he had with Ryoken, and how the latter managed to make him doubt himself. When Arashi arrived to Den City, he wanted to get justice on the person or thing that put Takeda in the hospital. He didn't want to kill the one responsible. He simply wanted to turn the culprit over to the authorities. Besides, one can't take the law in their own hands.
But when Arashi found out that Windy, his own Ignis, was responsible for putting Takeda in the hospital, he couldn't believe it. From what Herald and the others told him about Windy, Arashi surmised that he and Windy were one and the same. But Arashi could never comprehend that Windy had a dark side. One that was so hellbent in eradicating humanity, and that made Arashi furious to the point where he wanted to end his life with his own hands.
However, Arashi was terrified that if he were to cross that line, he'd be no better than a killer. Specifically, no better than Windy.
Before Arashi can dwell on this further, he soon heard a commotion nearby. Making a right, Arashi noticed that a pit-bull with white fur was chasing a cat down the sidewalk. And unfortunately, the cat was leading the dog to the street in front of them.
He ran after both animals, where the cat immediately ran across the street with a burst of speed. A car then came nearby, and was about to hit the pit-bull when Arashi leapt forward and grabbed the dog before rolling sideways on the ground.
"Oi, calm down buddy! I got you!" Arashi told the dog, as the latter tried to escape his grasp by scratching his arms and a part of his left cheek, which made the former let out a small gasp of pain. Thinking quickly, Arashi gently massaged the pit-bull's back using circular motions that went upward, which managed to calm him down. Seeing that the pit-bull had calmed down, Arashi put him down on the ground. The pit-bull then walked forward and licked Arashi's hand, the latter having let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, it could have gotten worse." Arashi commented, having noticed the scratches on his arms. He knelt down to the pit-bull's level and looked at his collar. "Ah, so your name's Rufus. Nice to meet you, buddy. I'm Arashi Hada." He proceeded to scratch the area behind Rufus' ears, which made him pant out of happiness. "Good boy." Arashi looked at the collar a second time, which showed the following address:
4329 Deer Ridge Drive
"Seems you ran away, huh? Don't worry, Rufus. I'll get you back home to your owner." After putting the address in his duel disk, Arashi picked up the dog with his arms to ensure that he didn't run away. "I got to say, Rufus. You may be a feisty fellow, but after you've calmed down, you're not so bad. I mean, I've had experience with one of my buddy's dogs, and he was a big husky. Or at least that's his disguise, anyway."
Rufus raised an eyebrow at him, as if he were saying, 'What are you talking about?'
"Then again, I doubt you'd get what I'm saying. We live in one crazy world, after all." Arashi sighed before turning right at the nearest sidewalk. "You know, buddy. I have been going through a lot lately. I mean, I came all the way here to bring the person or thing responsible for my cousin's hospitalization to justice. And what do I find out? That an AI created from me was responsible for such a deed."
Rufus let out a pant out of concern, as if he were saying 'Are you okay?'.
"To tell you the truth, I'm feeling a lot of things, little buddy. Shock, Anger, and Fear being the three main emotions of them all." Arashi stated. "Like, I want to get revenge on this AI for putting my cousin in the hospital, but recently, I found out that one of the eight AIs created was decompiled by a company of all things. Can you believe it, Rufus? A company?"
Rufus facepalmed himself, as if he were saying, 'I have no idea what in the world you are talking about'.
"Then again, I'm ranting like a crazy idiot over here. One that's attending a university in Tokyo here. But still..." Arashi turned to Rufus. "...I'm glad you're listening to me with unconditional love. It's good to vent sometimes, don't you agree Rufus?" The pit-bull proceeded to lick Arashi's face in response. "Hey, cut it out buddy."
Within a few moments, Rufus started barking, which made Arashi confused on why he was doing that. "What's going on, buddy? Want me to-?" His attention was then turned to the missing dog poster attached to the nearby post, which showed Rufus and a teenage girl his age that he recognized.
The young teenage girl was slender and fit, who had tan skin, grey eyes, and grey hair styled as a bob cut. She wore a uniform that resembled a modified karate Gi, which consisted of a cut-off white shirt with a black collar and some symbols on it resembling tigers. She also wore a pair of white shorts with orange and black details on it, a black and orange glove on her right hand, and white shoes. On her head was a black and orange hairband in her hair that resembled rabbit ears.
That's Brea, aka Tigress, Arashi recognized the girl in his mind. As much as he wanted to meet her in person, this was so not the time right now, considering what's happened. But he had to return Rufus to her home, and promised the dog he'd do so. Seeing the address ahead of him, Arashi proceeded to continue carrying Rufus there, and was there within a few minutes. Alright. Here we go, Arashi thought, before he rang the doorbell. To his surprise, the person who answered it was a grey-haired elderly woman wearing a red shirt and a black skirt over her grey pants. She also wore a white, buttoned up coat, as well as a brown scarf covering her neck. She had light-camel eyes, as well as a few wrinkles on her face.
"Can I help-Oh! You've found Rufus, thank you so much!" the woman said. "And it seems Rufus got you a few times with his scratches, hasn't he?"
"Yes, ma'am." Arashi answered, before gently putting Rufus on the ground, who proceeded to run over to the woman.
"Considering what Rufus put you through, why don't I patch you up and give you some food to take home as thanks for your help," the woman offered.
"Uh, yeah. Sure." Arashi replied, before he went inside the house. Looking around, Arashi saw that it was a pretty big house, as appearances can be deceiving. The woman led Arashi over to the living room, which consisted of a couch and a comfy chair with a TV nearby, as well as a cabinet consisting of special objects. Some of which were crystal pieces, while others consisted of ornate objects. Just before Arashi reached the living room, he spotted a nearby room that had a training dummy and a mat.
"Sit on the couch while I get something to help with those scratches," the woman said, with Arashi sitting on the couch while she went over to the drawer to grab some ointment. "I assume you know who I am, young man?"
Arashi raised an eyebrow at that question. "No, ma'am. I don't know who you are. Was I supposed to?"
There was a moment of silence as the woman grabbed two cloths before putting water on one. In the woman's mind, she never expected someone to say that in her life, as everyone knew who she was. But for this boy to not know her identity on the spot was... comforting, to say the least.
"It's been a long time since someone didn't know who I was," the woman finally stated, having turned around with a tray containing the things she grabbed from the drawer. "You can call me Gabriella. And what is your name, boy?"
"My name is Arashi Hada." Arashi introduced himself, as Gabriella walked over to the living room and put the tray down on the table in front of the couch.
"Hold out your arm for a moment, Arashi." Gabriella instructed, which Arashi did as she inspected the wound. "Seems Rufus scratched yeah a bit, huh? Well, good thing the wound's not bleeding. And he even got you on the cheek? Wow, I have to remember to clip his nails." Rufus went over to Gabriella, who ruffled his fur before going over to Arashi, who did the same.
Gabriella put the wet cloth on Arashi's arm for a few minutes before drying it off with the dry one. Once that was done, she put the ointment on the scratches, which helped calm the wound down. "The wounds you got will go away with time. You're lucky Rufus didn't scratch you harder than he already has. Otherwise, I'd have to take you for a rabies shot. And don't worry, Rufus doesn't have rabies, if that's your concern."
"Y-Y-Yeah. Good thing." Arashi agreed, the last thing he needed was a visit at the doctor for a rabies shot.
"Okay, hold still, young man. I'm going to tend to the wound on your cheek." Gabriella did the same thing she did for Arashi's arm on his cheek over a span of five minutes. After doing so, she began thinking deeply, as something crossed her mind.
"What's wrong, Gabriella?" Arashi asked.
"Young man, when you lived long enough as I have, you end up seeing the same eyes in different people. And judging from what I'm seeing, you've been from the Lost Incident, haven't you?" Gabriella correctly deduced, which made Arashi gasp in response.
"Wait, how do you know that?" Arashi inquired out of shock, before snapping out of it. "And for the record, you look young and beautiful as you are."
Gabriella let out a small laugh after hearing this. "You're a sweet boy, Arashi. Want to know something? I'm actually in my late 40's, and people have been saying that I took a drink from the Fountain of Youth. Looks can be deceiving after all, don't you agree?"
Arashi nodded in agreement, knowing what she was talking about.
"As for your question, I met another boy who went through the Lost Incident as I have. His name is Yuhiro Furutani."
"I know Yuhiro too, as well as a few other people who went through the Lost Incident." Arashi said. "How do you know him?"
"I do some work at the Den City Shelter, which is where I met him." Gabriella explained. "Follow me, Arashi." The both of them stood up from their seats before Gabriella led Arashi to a room that contained a training dummy and a mat. On the shelves were some weapons, such as a wooden sword, bo staff, nunchuks, and tonfas. Rufus also followed the duo into the room, where he barked happily at the picture in the room, which showed Brea winning a karate competition, as evident by the trophy in her arms. "My goddaughter Brea always told me about how she helped Yuhiro in missions on the Black Market. Including a recent one, where she helped him, Playmaker, Soulburner, and an idiot named Slipstream take the Gamma Branch down. And I must say, she talked about Slipstream the most. How that guy came from a family of engineers and programmers in Tokyo, as well as how he somehow got into a university at a young age, despite being an idiot."
"She was?" Arashi asked, having raised an eyebrow at that last comment. He obviously didn't make a good impression on her during the Gamma Branch mission, as evident by how she talked down his attempts at trying to start a conversation with her. What's more, Brea was angry with Arashi trying to save her from that trap, who was only able to calm her down upon explaining why he did it.
"She certainly did." Gabriella confirmed, before turning around to Arashi. "And judging by your reaction, I can correctly guess that you're Slipstream."
Arashi's jaw dropped upon hearing that. How was she able to even figure that out? Did Yuhiro tell her this information? Either that, or she was very intuitive.
"Don't worry, I intend to keep your identity a secret. As the 8th Charisma Duelist Krystal, I can promise you that." Gabriella turned back to the picture showing Brea. "Do you know what happened to Brea when she was younger?"
"Roxy and the other Rickety Raiders actually told me." Arashi replied. "If I recall, Brea was born in a family of criminals, and underwent strict training to survive in the real world. And that training placed an emotional burden on her, which explains why she rarely smiles, except to those she trusts. Like Yuhiro and Roxy."
"Bullseye on all those points, Arashi. You're quite perceptive." Gabriella praised Arashi. "One night, Brea had enough, and ended up running to my home, where I took her in. Some time later, her parents were arrested in a heist operation. If I'm being honest, I'm glad that happened. Brea didn't deserve what her parents put her through."
Arashi nodded in agreement. He honestly didn't know firsthand the emotional impact it had on Brea. His experience in the Lost Incident was far different when compared to Brea growing up in a family of criminals, as obvious as that was.
"Roxy was like a true mother figure to Brea, and was affected by what she did to her, even though she had the right reasons for what she did." Gabriella commented, before walking away from the training room, where Arashi and Rufus followed after her. "I try to convince her in trying to reconcile with Roxy every chance I get, but unfortunately, Brea inherited her dumbass daddy's stubbornness, and refuses to do so."
"Can you blame her? The trauma she's been through, combined with what Roxy represented to Brea, has affected her." Arashi replied. "I talked with Roxy, and she's afraid that Brea will hate her forever for what she did. She misses her dearly."
"Oh yes, Roxy certainly does." Gabriella agreed, before a smirk appeared on her face as she turned to Arashi.
"What's so funny?"
"I actually tried to help Brea out by signing her up on multiple dating apps, hoping she can find someone her age who can make her happy. Unfortunately, she ended up shutting down any attempts at those boys trying to woo her, and I stopped after I realized it wasn't working at all."
Arashi gulped after hearing that comment. Suddenly, he was afraid that Brea would beat him up. "Well, I'm afraid that she'll beat me up, as my brain will get damaged if that happens."
Gabriella laughed upon seeing Arashi shiver out of fear. "I doubt Brea would do that, Arashi. You know, I actually told Yuhiro something once, and I think that it can help you out."
"Oh? What would that be?" Arashi questioned, before Gabriella suddenly grabbed him by the cheek. "Oi, what's the big idea?"
"I told him that everyone deserves happiness, no matter what they've been through." Gabriella emphasized, before letting go of Arashi's cheek. "That being said, I think you have a fair chance with Brea, as you're different compared to all the other boys I set her up with. Even though she can be a tsundere at times, Brea is kind and sweet to the people she knows."
Arashi actually laughed upon hearing this, with Gabriella letting out a small chuckle as well. Ah. So that explained why Brea was tough and cold. Apparently, she was afraid that, if she opened herself up to others, she'd get hurt again.
"You know, if you like, you can stay here for a bit longer. Brea's on a jog, and I'm sure she'd like to meet the person who managed to find Rufus and bring him home."
Arashi shook his head in response. "No thank you, Gabriella. I appreciate the offer, but now's not the time. Besides, I'm dealing with a lot of stuff right now, and... well, it's a lot, and I don't know what to do."
"Really now?" Gabriella sat down on the couch and gestured for Arashi to sit down on the comfy chair. "Well, why don't you tell me about it? It wouldn't hurt."
"Alright. But it's a lot of stuff to take in." After Arashi sat down on the comfy chair, he then proceeded to tell Gabriella on why he came to Den City in the first place, which was to get Yuhiro's help in finding the culprit that put Takeda in the hospital in justice. Unfortunately, he found out that his own Ignis, Windy, was responsible for the deed, which led to Arashi wanting to kill him in revenge. Arashi also told her of what recently happened, and how a war was coming as a result of all the events that occurred one after another.
"Like, here's the thing. I want revenge so badly, but I am afraid that if I go through the deed, I'd be no better than my own Ignis. A killer, even. That terrifies me more than anything else right now!" Arashi finished with a sad sigh, who was on the verge of crying. "Am I allowed to feel these feelings, Gabriella? Or am I not?"
Gabriella, having heard what Arashi said, put a hand on her shoulder. "You are allowed to feel what you're feeling, Arashi, and that goes for everyone else. Emotions are neither good nor bad. However, we have a responsibility on deciding what to do in response to these emotions, and our choices will determine what happens next. You want to know what I think?"
"Yeah, sure."
"From the conversations we had today, I think you're a kind and caring person with a good heart. You're someone who's perceptive, and is able to recognize how you're feeling. You are also someone who knows the difference between right and wrong." Gabriella explained. "That is why I believe that you will make the right choice in the end."
Arashi smiled after hearing this. "Thank you, Gabriella. I... uh. I really appreciate you listening to what I'm going through." His phone then vibrated, which caused him to take it out of his pocket. Arashi then read the text on his phone before looking up at Gabriella. "I have to get going."
"Then let me get the treats for you before you leave." Gabriella said, before she stood up and went over to the fridge, while Rufus let out a happy bark to get Arashi's attention, who proceeded to pet him.
Gabriella then carried a tray of brownies in her hands to Arashi, who had stood up on his feet. After she gave him the tray of brownies, the two of them shook hands.
"All the best to you, Arashi. And do tell Yuhiro and Roxy that I say hello."
"I will, Gabriella. And thank you again. For treating the scratches Rufus gave me, as well as the pep talk and advice." Arashi replied, before exiting the house and walking down the steps. Truth be told, Arashi was glad he did this. He not only helped someone in need, but was also able to meet someone who knew both Yuhiro and Roxy. What's more, Arashi got both a pep talk and comforting words from Gabriella. Words that helped assure him that he'd be okay in the end, as everyone went through different struggles, regardless of who they were.
What do I do with Windy now, Takeda, Arashi wondered in his mind, as he walked down the sidewalk. Gabriella was right about one thing. Only he was responsible for deciding what to do next, and whatever choice Arashi made, he'd have to live it with for the rest of his life.
But as long as Arashi stayed true to himself, he'd make the right choice in the end regarding the dilemma on his mind.
Elsewhere, at another area of Den City...
Aoi looked out at Den City from the place she was at with a concerned expression. After what she saw Earth's dissection with Gekiryushi and Emma, she was disturbed to say the least. Disturbed and disgusted that SOL Technologies would kill a living creature just for the sake of money. The Ignis were living beings, just like humans were. Why didn't SOL Technologies recognize that fact? Was it fear of a new species? And her brother Akira, the security chief at SOL Technologies, was there. Why didn't he do anything about it?
"Aoi, is everything okay? You sounded disturbed on the phone." Akira stated, before walking up to her. She turned her head to Akira in response.
"Akira... I saw what happened to the Earth Ignis." Aoi began explaining, which made Akira slightly gasp. "I asked Emma and Gekiryushi why SOL Technologies would do such a thing. But the two of them told me to ask you because they think you were the one who ordered it."
Akira narrowed his eyes at both Emma and Gekiryushi, who were nearby. What those two woman told Aoi was obviously false. There were too many factors in play. Factors that prevented Akira from doing the right thing.
"I don't know what you were thinking, but what you did was not good at all. Why would you do that, Akira?"
"Despite what Emma and Gekiryushi told you, I didn't order Earth to be decompiled, Aoi." Akira began speaking. "My higherups were the ones who gave the order. More specifically, Queen and Pawn, and there was nothing I can do about it."
"Maybe it's just evidence that any spine you had left was broken the moment these higher-ups entered the scene, Zaizen," a voice commented out of nowhere, which made everyone turn around to see a hooded Yuhiro and Rachel walk up to where they were. Rasterliger, upon seeing Aoi, ran up to her in an effort to comfort her.
"What do you mean by that, Yuhiro?" Akira inquired, his eyes having narrowed at Yuhiro. "And how did you know where we were?"
"Sorry, Akira. I told Yuhiro about the get together, and asked if he can come to help us." Rachel apologized.
"I can't believe Roxy would even allow you to hang out with us, Yuhiro." Emma commented.
"We're getting off topic here, Emma." Akira told Emma, who backed down before looking back at Yuhiro.
"Fine, I'll explain. Starting with this." Yuhiro narrowed his eyes back at Akira, the glare surprising the latter. "It seems that Azrael was right about you after all."
Akira and the others gasped upon hearing this. "What do you mean by that?"
"In my duel against Azrael, I heard him saying that the moment you became security chief, you were not able to use that power effectively. Now I'm not saying at all that if I were in your shoes, I'd do a better job, that we can all agree on. All I'm saying is that you will never be able to use it for the good of society because of this fear you have of the higher-ups. A fear that's only in your own self-benefit, and not for others!"
"Yuhiro, what you're saying isn't right!" Herald immediately told Yuhiro, now concerned for his friend.
"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT, YUHIRO!" Akira furiously shouted, having grit his teeth at Yuhiro, who was startled in response. "You think I have a choice on what I can do?! There's only so much power I have in SOL Technologies! Despite my limited power, I managed to delay the bounty hunters so you guys would be able to stay ahead of them! What's more, I even sent Emma and Aoi to help you out!"
Gekiryushi narrowed her eyes as she thought over what she just heard. What Akira just said to Yuhiro in how he helped him and his allies…. could that mean Yuhiro was Raguel this entire time? "Is this true, Yuhiro? Are you Raguel?"
"Gekiryushi, I don't know what you're..." Yuhiro began speaking hesitantly, unsure of how to answer. Unfortunately, he sighed, knowing there was no point in trying to deny it. "Yes. I'm Raguel." Gekiryushi narrowed her eyes at Raguel upon hearing that answer.
"We're getting off topic, Gekiryushi." Akira quietly told Gekiryushi, before he turned back to Yuhiro. "And don't you dare act mighty with me, mister! May I remind you that you've committed numerous crimes on the Black Market?!" That furious retort managed to practically snap Yuhiro out of his anger, to the point where he put his right hand on the right side of his face, as if a headache coming on.
Yuhiro gathered his thoughts before looking back at Akira, having realized what he had done. "Yeah. You're right. I've committed lots of crimes on the Black Market, and have committed an unforgiveable sin as a result. I'm aware of that. It's something that will be with me for the rest of my life. I'm no better than you, nor am I better than anyone in this world. I'm so sorry for what I said, Akira. I really am."
Upon hearing that heartfelt apology, Akira felt all of his anger pop like a balloon. "Yuhiro, it's alright. I forgive you." He put his right hand on Yuhiro's shoulder to assure him that everything was okay.
"Thanks. I appreciate that." Yuhiro replied. "May I just say one more thing?"
"Go ahead."
"You're role as security chief is to protect the people, right?" Yuhiro asked, which Akira nodded in confirmation. "I can't take back the crimes I've committed, nor can I forgive myself for the unforgiveable sin I've committed. There's still time for you to make a choice though."
"A choice?" Akira repeated out of curiosity.
"Yes. On what type of security chief you want to be." Yuhiro clarified. "Do you want to be one that's a slave to SOL Technologies, or one that's a servant to the people?" He then walked past Akira to the railing nearby, a solemn expression forming on his face.
In the time Akira knew Yuhiro, he saw him as a good-hearted individual. It wasn't like Yuhiro at all to antagonize someone out of the blue, and Akira saw this as a sign of one of two things. Either Yuhiro was under a lot of stress with what's happening, or the traumas he's been through are changing him for the worse. Akira really didn't want the second one to happen, as everyone would be affected should that come to pass.
But even after everything that's happened, Akira was still glad that Yuhiro was able to acknowledge what he had done, and apologize for his words as well. It showed that Yuhiro still had humanity in him, and was able to recognize the mistakes he's committed. If Akira was being honest, he was proud of Yuhiro for staying... human.
"Well, with that drama out of the way, we should get back to the main topic here." Emma said, which got the others' attention. "Now I know why you wanted Aoi and I to find the Ignis before SOL Technologies' bounty hunters did."
"Playmaker more than convinced me that humans and Ignis can live together in peace." Akira stated. "But after what happened to Earth, I don't know if that's possible. We may have crossed a line from where there's no coming back."
"Uh, I hope that doesn't mean you're giving up. The Akira I know doesn't give up at all." Aoi pointed out.
"She does make a point. I mean, despite your limited power, you played a role in stopping the Turf War." Gekiryushi added in support, which made Akira smile.
"In that case, we should search for Aqua." Herald suggested, which got the others' attention. "She's somewhere in the network, and if we don't act quick enough, SOL Technologies will likely send bounty hunters after her."
"Yes. It's a good start, and if we do run into one of those bounty hunters, then we'll kick their butts!" Rachel said, before doing a boxing stance, which made everyone chuckle.
"Then it's settled. We'll search for Aqua, and you will hold the fort down at SOL Technologies." Yuhiro decided, before he offered his right hand to Akira, who shook it back in response.
"I wish all of you luck." Akira told them, as everyone left. Yuhiro was about to join the others when Akira spoke up. "Hey, Yuhiro?"
"Yeah?" Yuhiro turned his head back to Akira.
"I'm not sure what you've been through, but please be careful." Akira said. "If you're not, then I fear that something bad will happen not just to you, but to everyone else as well." In response, Yuhiro threw a business card to Akira, who caught it in response. "What's this?"
"A business card for a therapist I know." Yuhiro answered. "She's been helping me out recently, and I believe she can help you out with what you're going through as well." With that, Yuhiro joined the others as they went to Emma's apartment.
Akira looked at the business card thoroughly. It wouldn't hurt for him to go see someone to talk about his troubles. Who knows? He may end up not only feeling better, but be able to get a new perspective as well.
Meanwhile, in the network, at SOL Technologies' mother computer...
Blood Shepherd logged into SOL Technologies' databank, wanting answers for what he found. After he went home, Blood Shepherd immediately reviewed the footage of the network to see who was responsible for Earth's defeat. As he watched the footage, Blood Shepherd was surprised that Go managed to somehow defeat Earth in a duel, even though he was known to be a 'caveman', given his all-brawn and no-brain attitude. But even though Blood Shepherd was grateful that there was one fewer Ignis in this world, there was one thing that both intrigued and disappointed him.
Go had to rely on the aid of an AI chip to defeat Earth in a duel.
And instead of destroying Earth, he chose to bring it back to SOL Technologies.
That led Blood Shepherd to log into SOL Technologies' databank to find out why exactly they wanted Go to bring Earth back rather than destroy him for good. To ensure that he'd get in without being tracked, Blood Shepherd jammed any surveillance SOL Technologies had in place so he can get in and out without being detected. He walked towards the databank, having found what he was looking for.
"I don't like it when people try to keep secrets from me, especially since they should know that it's even pointless to try." Blood Shepherd snarled, before he raised his right arm in front of him. As a result, his right palm glowed purple, which caused the orbiting data spheres to turn into particles before they went into the databank. After all the spheres gathered into one, data then flowed into Blood Shepherd's arm. "Now, let's see why SOL Technologies would want an Ignis."
He analyzed all the data thoroughly to ensure that he didn't miss anything. And after Blood Shepherd finished his analysis, he gasped. "No. This can't be true." In pure fury, Blood Shepherd let out a loud shout, having decided his next plan of action before logging out.
SOL Technologies was in for it now.
A few minutes later, at SOL Technologies...
Akairo entered SOL Technologies, having been called in by Akira. The reason why he couldn't join in on the previous Ignis hunt was because Akairo had to deal with an important project for school. Even though Akairo was a bounty hunter, he still had to deal with schoolwork, as he wanted to get a job one day and make his family proud. Ryoken had told him what had happened on his end regarding the Ignis while he was busy fighting off against Bitboots, which was why Lightning and the others were able to get away. He also asked Akairo to stay low for the time being, and to report anything about SOL Technologies to him should something come up.
As Akairo reached the entrance to SOL Technologies, his phone vibrated, which he pulled out of his pocket before looking at who was calling him. He answered it on the third ring.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Aka. How are things?" Ryoken asked him.
"They're good right now. I'm doing just as you said, laying low and all of that." Akairo quietly explained. "But get this. Akira's called me in to SOL Technologies. Why, I'm not sure, but it has to do with the Ignis."
There was a short silence on the other end before Ryoken spoke up. "Maybe, but given what's happened, we'll have to divide and conquer."
"What do you mean?" Akairo questioned.
"We're focused on the Ignis for the time-being, so I have a request for you to do in the meanwhile." Ryoken began explaining. "As such, I was hoping you can return to Uchida Industries and try to take it back from Ace."
Akairo frowned after hearing this. "Ryoken, Ace already has his hands tightened around the company, along with all the other businesses he had Uchida Industries form partnerships with. Even if I were to get in, it's likely that Ace would have sealed any backdoors to prevent any disturbances in his plans."
"Or Azrael's..." Ryoken muttered.
"Everything okay, Ryoken?"
"Sorry, I was just thinking." Ryoken said. "I'll send you a special program to get you into Uchida Industries. That should help you complete the task."
Within a few seconds, Akairo's duel disk beeped, which caused him to press a button on it. Upon doing so, he found a new program having been sent to him.
"Thanks. I won't let you down." Akairo promised Ryoken.
"Of course you won't, Aka. Just... be careful." Ryoken cautioned.
"I will, buddy. Don't worry." Akairo assured Ryoken, before hanging up. He then entered inside SOL Technologies, where he took a right from the receptionist's desk and headed to the elevator. From there, he went up a few floors before exiting it and turning left. Once that was done, Akairo walked down the hallway and found Hayami nearby.
"Oh, Mr. Gekido!" Hayami said. "I was going to go find you, but it seems you already know the way there."
"No need to escort me, Hayami. Last I checked, I have an appointment." Akairo replied, which caused Hayami to flip through the notes attached to her clipboard.
"Yup! You have an appointment right here!" Hayami confirmed. "I'll just be out of your way." After Hayami walked past him, Akairo continued walking down the hallway before he found Akira's office and entered inside, where he found him doing work on his desk.
"Hey, Zaizen. You wished to see?" Akairo asked, where Akira, having heard his name being called, looked up to see him.
"I certainly did. Thank you for coming." Akira confirmed, as Akairo walked forward to him. "There's a matter we need to discuss, and it's not about the Ignis."
"Not about the Ignis?" Akairo repeated, before the two of them heard a loud commotion outside.
"Stop! You can't just barge in!" Hayami protested, as Kengo proceeded to ignore her and enter inside Akira's office. She then turned to Akira, a panicked expression on her face. "Sorry, sir! I told Kengo that you were busy with another meeting, and-."
"But Zaizen always has time for me." Kengo interrupted, before going over to Akira. "Isn't that right, Zaizen?"
"I'm calling security! You'll find they're not as nice as me!" Hayami decided, before Akira shook his head at her.
"It's fine, Hayami. I'll take care of this." Akira calmly told her, before the door to his office closed. "Can't you see that I'm in a meeting with Akairo?"
"Then you'll have to move that aside, because this is urgent business." Kengo countered.
"Fine. What is this urgent business you speak of?"
"You've been holding out on me, Zaizen." Kengo began speaking.
"What?"
"I was curious on why SOL Technologies would do whatever was necessary to capture an Ignis, and I found out why." Kengo answered, before he threw a small device at Akira, who caught it quickly. He then pressed the button at the top, which immediately showed multiple pages. Some consisting of articles, and others consisting of blueprints.
"Woah! That's just... what in the world is that, Zaizen?" Akairo inquired out of curiosity, having taken a look at what Akira was seeing.
"I wish that I knew, Akairo." Akira replied.
"Don't play dumb. I pulled these documents straight from SOL Technologies' servers." Kengo told the both of them. "You're planning to use the data obtained from the Earth Ignis, along with the other seven Ignis, to create a high-performance Ignis whose loyalty is to the company only."
"Such advanced technology will be a financial windfall for SOL Technologies. So that's what Queen and Pawn's plan was..." Akira muttered.
Akairo, on the other hand, whistled. He couldn't believe that SOL Technologies was planning to create a high-performance Ignis that was far more powerful than all the eight other Ignis combined. If Akairo was being honest, he was a bit scared of how this Ignis would affect humanity should it be created. Thinking quickly, Akairo pulled out his phone and sent numerous texts to Ryoken so he can be in the loop of what was going on.
"You tricked me, Zaizen. I was told to hunt down the Ignis to get rid of them. Something I was more than happy to do. But instead, SOL Technologies wants to create an even more powerful one." Kengo commented. "You made me do the exact opposite of what I wanted."
"Well yes, it seems so, but know that I had no knowledge of this information until now." Akira pointed out.
"Ignorance is no excuse, Zaizen." Kengo responded. "But now that you know this information, what are you going to do?"
"Me?"
"Yes. You." Kengo confirmed. "Are you going to force your bosses to shut down this project? It is your role, is it not? To ensure the safety of the people?"
"While that may be my role, you're mistaken if you think I can tell my bosses what to do." Akira said.
"There's a hierarchy in a corporate environment for a reason, Blood Shepherd." Akairo added in support, which made Kengo snarl back at him.
"Besides, I've already tried, and they ignored me, so my hands are tied." Akira finished.
"But mine aren't, and I'll handle this my way." Kengo decided, before walking to the door. "And tell SOL Technologies that I will not be doing any further business with them until this matter has been resolved." He then left Akira's office, leaving Akira and Akairo in there.
"It seems that I'm not popular with anyone these days..." Akira remarked, having recalled both Yuhiro's and Aoi's words to him earlier today.
"Not sure if this helps, Zaizen, but you still have me around. I mean, I don't have any reason to leave for the time being." Akairo stated, which made Akira turn to him with a smile.
"Thank you, Akairo. That means a lot." Akira replied. "Now about our meeting before Kengo rudely interrupted it."
"Alright. What do you need from me?" Akairo asked, before Akira stood up and pressed the clicker in his hand, which caused an image of Uchida Industries to pop up.
"Recently, Uchida Industries has formed partnerships with multiple companies after the Turf War." Akira began explaining. "In your previous investigation, you found that Ace managed to take over the company."
"Yup, and he had the help of a weasel named Speckles." Akairo stated.
"Unfortunately, Speckles, or Saburo Inoue in the real world, has recently died. So the option of tracking him down and arresting him is out of the picture." Akira replied, before turning to Akairo. "I need you to go to Uchida Industries and gather any evidence of the company's illegal operations. As this is an unofficial mission, you won't have any backup with you. And to ensure that we can keep in touch, I'm sending you this program." Akira went over to his desk and typed something on his computer. Within a minute, a notification popped up on Akairo's duel disk, which showed him a new program available for him to use. "Now any communication between you and I will be encrypted, thus preventing anyone from hacking into it." He then turned to look at Akairo. "If you're busy, you don't have to-."
"I'm in." Akairo immediately decided, which made Akira raise an eyebrow.
"You are?"
"Yeah. I mean, it's a change in pace, and I'd rather help the people than a corrupt company anyway." Akairo impulsively responded, before realizing what he had said. "Sorry. That came out wrong."
"It's fine, Akairo. I know you mean well." Akira assured him. "I wish you the best of luck, my friend. Thank you for continuing to trust me."
"Don't worry about it, Zaizen. I'm just glad I'm assisting a good and ethical person at SOL Technologies." Akairo said, before beginning to exit the office. "I'll let you know all the details when I get back." The door to Akira's office closed, leaving Akira alone as the smile on his face turned into a frown.
I wish everyone knew that even if my hands are tied, I still have a seat at the table, Akira thought in his mind. Some changes can only be done within the company, and not from the outside. Before Akira can continue thinking, words began to play in his mind. More specifically, Yuhiro's and Kengo's words.
"There's still time for you to make a choice though. On what type of security chief you want to be. Do you want to be one that's a slave to SOL Technologies, or one that's a servant to the people?"
"It is your role, is it not? To ensure the safety of the people?"
Akira narrowed his eyes. He obviously knew what type of Security Chief he wanted to be. But the question on his mind was this: How can Akira stop this awful AI chip project ethically with the power he retained?
Elsewhere, at Emma's apartment, in the living room...
WHAM!
Gekiryushi jabbed the shinai in her hands at Yuhiro's stomach, which forced him back as he was forced on one knee. Getting up on his feet quickly, Yuhiro then proceeded to block two strikes from Gekiryushi on his left and right sides, which managed to make her take a step back out of surprise. Seizing the opportunity, Yuhiro proceeded to swing his shinai at Gekiryushi's left side, who blocked it before attempting to strike back.
As Aoi saw the duel between Yuhiro and Gekiryushi, she was amazed on how the both of them were able to not only block one another's attacks, but also respond to them at fast rates. It went to show how trained and tactical both Yuhiro and Gekiryushi were in situations like this.
Rachel was also mesmerized in what she was seeing. Whereas she had to rely on gadgets, programs, and her Final Sigma in case of emergencies to get out of a situation, both Yuhiro and Gekiryushi relied on their wits and training, along with gadgets and programs if needed, to respond to the situation at hand.
"Right there!" Gekiryushi said, before jabbing her shinai at Yuhiro's shoulder, which stunned him long enough for Gekiryushi to charge forward and hit Yuhiro in the stomach. As a result, he was forced to take another step back out of pain. She then charged forward once again, intent on ending the match...
...Only for Yuhiro to smirk before doing a leg sweep at Gekiryushi, which caused her to fall to the ground on her back. And by the time she noticed what happened, Yuhiro pointed his shinai at her, thus ending the match.
"Yay! Yuhiro wins!" Rachel cried out of joy.
"You know, I'm still surprised that you are Raguel." Gekiryushi commented, as Yuhiro helped her stand up on her feet. "I'll be honest, you look younger than I thought you would."
"Well, when Yuhiro gets serious in battle, he tends to look older than he already is." Emma pointed out, which made Yuhiro blush out of embarrassment as the others present laughed.
"Hey, is that really necessary?!" Yuhiro exclaimed, still embarrassed by Gekiryushi and Emma's comments. Something then popped up on his mind, which made Yuhiro turn to Gekiryushi. "Uh, Gekiryushi? There's something I need to tell you. It's about Dancho."
Gekiryushi frowned back, having noticed the change in Yuhiro's tone. "What happened to him?"
"He's been incapacitated by Malf." Yuhiro explained, which made Gekiryushi start to shiver as she processed this.
"H-H-How do you know?"
"A Knight of Hanoi told me this information." Yuhiro simply replied, which caused Gekiryushi to now shake in sadness. Before anyone can do anything, Gekiryushi ran over to a room nearby, needing some time for herself.
"A Knight of Hanoi actually told you this information?" Aoi questioned, as Yuhiro walked over and sat down on the couch.
"Yes, and in the real world too." Yuhiro officially confirmed.
"These real world meetings actually make more sense. I mean, if you meet in the network, there's a chance of someone eavesdropping from you." Rachel said.
"The worst is that you can't identify where and who the eavesdropper is. Trust me, I know firsthand how much it sucks." Emma agreed.
Herald interrupted the conversation with a sigh. "Wow, Aqua is hard to track down, even with the Ignis tracker being used."
"Ignis Tracker?" Aoi repeated, having turned her head to see what Herald was doing on Yuhiro's tablet. While Yuhiro was sparring with Gekiryushi, Herald and Emma worked on trying to find Aqua. Whereas Aoi and Rachel were watching the sparring match with an intense curiosity on who would win.
"Roxy and Playmaker's ally actually invented it so we can track down Earth." Yuhiro explained. "Um, is there a piece of paper and a pen I can use, Emma?"
"Yeah, sure. Just near the drawer." Emma replied, before pointing to the drawer, which was nearby her work desk. Yuhiro walked over to the drawer and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from it before walking back.
"Okay, so when an Ignis travels through LINK VRAINS, they leave a tiny digital trail behind." Yuhiro put down marks on the paper using the pen in his hand. "So Roxy and Playmaker's ally used the algorithms from Ai, Flame, and Herald to enhance its search parameters and identify any pieces of data relating to an Ignis."
"That's actually clever and efficient." Aoi commented, having been impressed by the idea. But before she could say anymore, she saw Yuhiro put his right hand on his head out of pain. "Are you okay, Yuhiro?"
"Yeah, of course, Aoi. I'm totally fine." Yuhiro responded, having tried to get up as if to prove his point. Unfortunately, he nearly stumbled, and was forced to sit down again.
"You are not fine, mister. You're getting some rest." Rachel immediately decided, with Aoi nodding in agreement. She got up and grabbed a pillow before putting it on the carpet, while Aoi got up and grabbed a blanket before throwing it at Yuhiro, who caught it in response.
"Guys, it's fine. I don't need to rest." Yuhiro protested. "I'm still one hundred percent-." Herald stretched up to where Yuhiro was and flicked him in the cheek with his fingers, which caused Yuhiro to fall onto the floor, with his head landing on the pillow within seconds.
"If I can make you fall to the ground like that with the strength I have, it means you're tired." Herald fully emphasized.
"See? Even Herald gets it." Rachel pointed out, before she quickly ran over and put the blanket over Yuhiro.
"But I'm not-." Yuhiro protested for a final time, before Rachel put her finger on Yuhiro's lips to stop him from talking.
"Sleep..." Rachel gently told Yuhiro, which made him close his eyes in response.
"And to make sure Yuhiro falls asleep, I got this." Herald said, before he pressed a button on Yuhiro's tablet, which caused relaxing sleep music to be played as Yuhiro began to fall into a deep sleep. "With everything going on, I felt that-."
"Yeah. A good idea, as we need our strength for the battles ahead." Emma concurred, before she turned to Aoi. "You should get your rest as well, let Herald, Rachel, and myself handle this."
"But I can help!" Aoi pouted.
"True, but you and Yuhiro are combatants, just like myself, Rachel, and Gekiryushi. Refresh yourself with a nice sleep, and we'll wake you if something comes up." Emma pointed out, which made Aoi sigh in defeat before she went over and grabbed a blanket and a pillow. Once that was done, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to sleep. Rachel took Yuhiro's duel disk over to Emma so the two of them can work beside one another, while she pulled out a tablet and began joining in as well after sitting down on the couch beside Aoi. A few minutes later, Gekiryushi entered the living room, her eyes still red from crying.
"Sorry about that. I had to get that out of my system." Gekiryushi apologized, before she turned her head to see the sleeping Yuhiro and Aoi nearby. "What did I miss?"
"Rachel and Herald put Yuhiro to sleep, while I told Aoi to get some sleep as well." Emma explained, before she gestured to the chair nearby for Gekiryushi to sit in.
"No. I cannot." Gekiryushi refused. "With what I recently learned, I need to investigate all my leads on Malf and avenge Dancho. He may be a Knight of Hanoi, but he was my mentor, and a father figure to me."
"Then why don't I take you to see Greg?" Rachel suggested, as she walked over to where Gekiryushi was. "I'm sure he can give you some leads on Malf."
Gekiryushi smiled. "Thank you. I appreciate it very much." She then turned to Emma. "I wish I can help you more on this, but..."
"We all got our personal crap to deal with sometimes. Trust me, I know." Emma assured Gekiryushi. "Go do what you need to do. Herald and I will hold the fort down."
Gekiryushi nodded back at Emma. Even though the both of them fought like little girls, they did want to make a better difference for good causes. She and Rachel then exited the apartment, the former intent on completing her task. Time passed as Emma and Herald continued working. After a half hour passed, Aoi shot up awake, having gasped in the process. Upon hearing this, Yuhiro slowly woke up as well.
"Hey there, sleeping beauty." Emma greeted Aoi, which got the latter's attention. "FYI, you have the cutest snore."
"Huh? What was that?" Yuhiro wondered, having rubbed his eyes.
"S-Sorry about that. I was having a dream." Aoi quickly told Yuhiro.
"Was it a good one? Maybe it was about a certain duelist who dresses in black? Who has an Ignis? Who fought against the Hanoi?" Emma teased Aoi. "If I'm not being clear, I'm talking about Playmaker, and if you go back to the sleep, you can continue that wonderful dream."
Aoi's face turned red out of embarrassment before she gave Emma an unimpressed glare. "Y-Yeah, you made that crystal clear. And I wasn't dreaming about Playmaker at all!"
Yuhiro then began to laugh. "You so did! Don't try to deny it!"
Aoi's face turned red out of embarrassment for a second time before she furiously glared at Yuhiro. "No, I wasn't! I had a dream about a girl named Miyu Sugisaki, a girl I played with at the park!"
Yuhiro and Emma's facial expressions became downcast after hearing that answer, which Aoi noticed.
"Did I say something unsettling?"
"No, no you didn't. Just something that popped up on my mind, that's all." Yuhiro answered, with Emma nodding in agreement.
"So you didn't have a dream with Playmaker after all? Never mind." Emma commented out of disappointment. She was so looking forward to teasing Aoi more about her crush on Playmaker.
"What happened in this dream of yours, Aoi?" Yuhiro asked Aoi.
"Well, I was playing with her in a park. And then she out of the blue, where I spent the rest of the dream trying to find her." Aoi explained.
"I see." Yuhiro pondered over this information, unsure what to say next.
"Did you guys make any progress while Yuhiro and I were resting?"
"Yes and no. We're investigating the lead with the highest possibility of finding Aqua." Herald confirmed.
"But the Ignis tracker Yuhiro gave us is certainly helping." Emma assured Aoi, only for a beeping sound to pop up from the former's computer. "And what do you know? We found something."
"You found Aqua's location?"
"No. But if this ends up working like I hope it does, we'll be able to find Aqua." Emma replied.
"Don't tell me you're tracking his location." Yuhiro pleaded.
"I'm afraid so." Emma told Yuhiro, which made him facepalm himself. "Since Blood Shepherd is hunting down the Ignis, it was only logical for us to pinpoint his location. For he can lead us to Aqua."
"Yeah, but that's risky. I mean, all of us knows what Blood Shepherd is capable of. Heck, only Playmaker was only able to defeat him in a duel." Aoi said.
"Hey! Yuhiro and I managed to end the duel in a draw against the gunslinger!" Herald protested, having been offended by the second part of that comment.
"But regardless, we need to move quickly. We only have one chance at getting Aqua." Emma reasoned, with the others nodding in agreement.
"Hang on a minute. Where's Gekiryushi and Rachel?" Aoi questioned.
"Gekiryushi needed to get a personal task done, and Rachel took her to see Greg for some assistance." Herald answered.
"I'll send a message to Roxy, Playmaker, Soulburner, and Slipstream as well so they're aware of what's happening on our end." Yuhiro told everyone, the others nodding in agreement for a second time before he pulled out his phone and texted Roxy, Yusaku, Takeru, and Arashi.
Beeping sounds came from both Yuhiro's duel disk and Emma's computer.
"Okay, the program is ready to be used!" Herald announced.
"And Blood Shepherd has been pinpointed!" Emma added.
"Great! Let's go!" Yuhiro finished, as he, Aoi, and Emma put on their duel disks before logging into the network.
Elsewhere, at Uchida Industries' private server...
Drachen logged into Uchida Industries' private server, having been able to get in thanks to Ryoken's program. Surprisingly, one of the backdoors was still operational, which got Drachen's attention. However, he wanted to make sure that it wasn't a trap, which is why he used a program to scan the backdoor. After making sure that it was still working and legit, Drachen logged in, intent on carrying out his task for Ryoken and Akira.
"Are you in, Drachen?" Akira whispered through the comms.
"Yes. I'm going radio silent for a bit. I'll update you as I move along." Drachen replied.
"Understood. And good luck." Drachen then trekked through the server, which consisted of a grey landscape as he looked around. Almost like it looked like an underground factory. What happened here, he wondered, as he stayed vigilant of the area. Drachen then found a hole in the ground, which showed a staircase leading down to a floor below the main server. Pressing a few buttons on his duel disk, he activated a cloaking program, which allowed him to sneak downstairs without detection.
What Drachen saw next filled him with horror. He was seeing a massive cavern resembling that of an underground forge. There were multiple bridges having been set up, where people in chains were carrying pieces of data material. Pulley systems were used to transport numerous materials from one side of the cavern to another, some of which carried data material, while others carried pieces of weapons. A minecart system was also used to transport these supplies as well.
As Drachen took pictures on his duel disk of the area, he continued quietly walking down to the cavern's bottom floor, where he saw people carrying pieces of hot data material to workshop tables nearby. These people were then forced to immediately start working on combining the two together with the weapons nearby. While some people were making weapons and gadgets infused with data material, others were in the process of making pieces of structures. While the weapons made sense, Drachen was curious on why people were making individual structure pieces. Were these pieces a part of a massive structure? Or was it a part of something else?
"Are you getting this?" Drachen whispered.
"Yes, I am." Akira whispered back through the comms. "This will certainly help, Drachen."
"It most definitely will." Drachen agreed, before he quickly hid behind a wall, where he spotted a pair of Bitboots walking by. Even though the cloaking program was effective, it only did so much, and Drachen had to make sure that he was careful, or else this entire operation would be shut down. He immediately took the pictures of the Bitboots walking nearby before sending them to Akira, along with the rest he took in the process. After making sure the coast was clear, Drachen continued sneaking through the area, where he saw the types of people working in the cavern. It disgusted him upon seeing women and children being a part of the slave force. Drachen immediately took some more pictures before sending them to Akira. He also sent the file to Ryoken as well so he can be in the loop.
"The Hell?" Drachen muttered, still in shock at what he was seeing. How dare Ace do that to people! "Zaizen, you've seen the pictures I've sent you?"
"I have." Akira confirmed. "My God. Who would do this to people?"
"Very bad people." Drachen replied, before he quickly moved forward and he behind another wall. Poking around the corner, he almost gasped upon seeing Electrolyzer working with the other slaves. It seems that Ace must have somehow kidnapped Electrolyzer and forced him to be a part of the labour force. To ensure that Electrolyzer would cooperate, he was given a total of three electric collars. One around his neck, and the other two around his arms.
What has Ace done to these people? He kidnapped them against their will and forced each one here to work for him, Drachen angrily thought in his mind, as he took more pictures and sent them to Akira, as well as to Ryoken. This was evident by the wounds each of the slaves had, as well as the dark circles around their eyes. "Electrolyzer's here as well, Zaizen."
"Electrolyzer?!" Akira quietly repeated. "But he should be in Den Jail awaiting trial."
"Guess that's not the case here." Drachen quietly responded, before he looked upwards, where he spotted two individuals on one of the bridges that looked down to the ground. The first was a large-rounded man with orange combed-back hair, light skin, and a white tuxedo.
The second was a rough-edged muscular man that wore a red-undershirt with black lines over it, along with grey sneakers and open gloves on his hands. Around his waist was a belt that carried munitions. While he was bald, he wore sunglasses and a metal headset on his head to make up for it.
"Now this is something I thought I'd never get to do." Chainslaver admitted to his ally.
"Yeah, I'm glad to be back in the game!" Sharpshot agreed, before he cracked his knuckles. "How's it going down there, boys?"
"Going great, bosses!" the Bitboots shouted back, who were overseeing the slaves working hard.
Drachen immediately took a picture of Chainslaver and Sharpshot before sending it to Akira and Ryoken. So those two are overseeing this entire mess for Ace, he thought in his mind. While Drachen wasn't aware of Chainslaver, he did know about Sharpshot, and how he was a part of the Delta branch. Thanks to the efforts of Akira and Epsilon, they were able to fend off against Delta's attack. But for Sharpshot to be here under Ace... that didn't sound good at all.
He quickly moved forward and grabbed a Bitboot before dragging him to a dark corner of the cavern nearby, where he proceeded to turn him into particles. Drachen then sent the data of the destroyed Bitboot to Ryoken so they can use it for fighting against the Ignis. As much as he wanted to send the data to Akira, he chose not to because of what SOL Technologies had in mind for the Ignis.
Drachen pressed a few buttons on his duel disk, where two programs popped up. The program on the left showed a code key with a halo on it. The program on the left showed a skull with two bones making an X. Ryoken had told Drachen to try and take the company back, but if things went south, then he was to shut it down. Better for the company to be shut down for a temporary period of time than for Ace to use it for whatever plans he had in mind.
Drachen spotted the digital core up ahead, which was continuously transporting completed weapons and pieces to another area of the network. "Zaizen, I found the digital core of Uchida Industries."
"The digital core?" Akira quietly repeated out of curiosity.
"Yes. The main power source running this operation." Drachen quietly clarified. "I don't know where it's transporting those materials, nor what Ace is going to do with them, but I'm going to put an end to this horrific operation."
"No. Log out. I've only sent you to survey what Uchida Industries is doing."
"But, Zaizen. There's a golden opportunity to-."
"I can't afford to lose you. Log out before-." Suddenly, communications between Drachen and Akira began to fizzle on and off before being cut off completely.
"Zaizen? Zaizen?" Drachen whispered. That wasn't… good at all. He immediately tried to log out, just as Akira said, but found that he couldn't. Either Ace knew he was here, or something else was going on.
Regardless, Drachen can't waste this chance to complete the mission Ryoken told him to do. Akira may have wanted Drachen to gather evidence and survey the area, but Ryoken's request outweighed Akira's in terms of priority and urgency. As Ryoken said, it was better for a company to be temporarily shut down than be a part of unethical practices that can put it further in hot water.
Seeing that the coast was clear, Drachen made a mad dash through the cavern so he can reach the data core and complete his mission. But before he can reach it, a massive, electrical wave spread across the area, which completely shut down the cloaking program and forced Drachen to fall to the ground out of pure shock, having realized that he can't get back up. The slaves nearby just looked at him with empty eyes before continuing to work.
The Bitboots, however, went over to Drachen and picked him up before summoning their duel boards, enabling them to carry the nearly unconscious Drachen to Chainslaver and Sharpshot.
"We found this bozo trekking around the area!" one Bitboot said to the duo. "Want us to expunge him?"
"Not needed. The boss was actually expecting his presence. We'll take it from here, boys." Chainslaver told the Bitboots, who unceremoniously threw the nearly unconscious Drachen onto the bridge Chainslaver and Sharpshot were on before leaving. Chainslaver and Sharpshot then approached the individual in front of them. "Good thing the program Ace has shuts down communications."
"Yup. Good thing indeed." Sharpshot agreed, before hoisting the nearly unconscious Drachen over his shoulder and walking across the bridge, body in tow. After walking to a nearby cavern, Sharpshot walked up the stairs before reaching a room inside the server, where he unceremoniously threw Drachen to the ground prior to leaving the room. As Drachen slowly got his bearings, the room lit up.
"Greetings, Drachen," a familiar voice said, as a digital version of Ace's head, along with a pair of hands appeared. "How do you like the new and improved Uchida Industries?"
"So you show your ugly mug, Ace." Drachen replied, as he slowly got up on his feet. "I'm surprised you would recruit people from the Black Market to do your dirty work."
"Well, considering how I'm a busy man, it is only logical. Besides..." Ace snapped his fingers, which caused his head to be replaced with an image of Emon's head. "I can masquerade myself as your friend Emon Uchida to get the public to give me what I desire."
"Or what your master desires." Drachen countered, which made the digital image of Emon's head turn back to Ace's head.
"True, but at least I'm among the top of the pack." Ace smirked back. "Well, I'll be seeing you around. Busy and all that. Oh, and I have a little friend who wants to get his revenge on you. Have fun." After Ace disappeared, the entire room went pitch black, where small lights orbited around the area.
Summoning Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword, Drachen readied himself for what was to come.
WHOOSH!
A purple arm that was in the shape of a blade launched itself at Drachen, who managed to get out of the way. Within seconds, another one launched itself at Drachen, who immediately proceeded to repel it using his sword.
It then led to Drachen immediately dodging and parrying the attacks coming from the purple arms shape-shifted into blades. While he knew who was obviously doing this, tracking down the perpetrator had to wait, as surviving the attacks became the top priority.
Falling on one knee, Drachen heard cackling laughter as he tried to stand himself up. He narrowly rolled to the side upon seeing Malf lunge at him.
"You...!" Drachen exclaimed.
"As much as I want to take your heart for myself, my lord has other plans for you. Plans that work far better than my original goal." Malf told Drachen, who proceeded to attack him. In response, Drachen rolled out of the way for a second time before immediately standing up and attempting to strike Malf, who parried each of his attacks.
Malf then proceeded to strike Drachen multiple times in the chest, which made him take several steps back before the former pierced him there with his arm. The old man's mastery in martial arts has certainly been another factor in my growth, he thought, before a portal appeared behind Malf, where he walked into with a pierced Drachen in his arm.
In LINK VRAINS, at Lightning's palace...
A portal appeared before Malf exited it, having dragged the wounded Drachen with him.
"Excellent job, Malf." Azrael praised Malf, as he approached his AI.
"It was far easier than I expected it to be." Malf commented, before he and Azrael looked at the wounded Drachen, the former having released him from his stab hold. Drachen, upon doing so, opened his eyes and surveyed the area.
"W-W-What is this place?" Drachen inquired.
"Something you don't need to know about." Azrael told Drachen, before Malf scratched him on his arm, which caused a cut to appear on the bounty hunter's skin. Afterwards, Malf pulled off a piece of purple goo from his skin before poking at it, which caused it to glow before he put it inside the cut. As a result, Drachen ended up screaming as his body began convulsing, trying to resist what Malf was doing to him. Unfortunately, his body gave up the struggle before it stopped convulsing. Malf then snapped his fingers, which caused the unconscious Drachen to stand up, as if he were a puppet on strings. He opened his eyes, which showed red sclera and white irises.
Azrael, upon seeing this, smirked. "Good. We now have the weapon that will break the Hanoi."
"It most certainly is." Wraith agreed, having crossed his arms upon looking at what he was seeing. "Take him to another room, and make improvements to his deck so he can defeat the Hanoi."
"Of course, my lord." Malf complied, before he ordered Drachen to walk with him, who couldn't resist the order as they went over to a room nearby.
Another step of the plan was complete. One that Azrael will see through to the end, no matter how many people had to die for it to be accomplished.
Elsewhere, in another area of the network...
Materializing in a wasteland was Aqua, who managed to take refuge in the area after Earth pushed her off his support avatar. The sky consisted fully of clouds, with no evidence of a sun being present.
"Just when we were discussing whether the humans can coexist with the Ignis, they killed Earth." Aqua said, having recalled the disturbance she felt earlier. She fell down onto her knees and placed a hand on the ground before caressing it with care. "I can't believe I'll never see you again, Earth. But you're not truly gone forever because you'll always live on in my heart." A tear fell down from her eye before it hit the ground, which caused roots to erupt from the spot.
The roots then combined to form into a tall and thin tree, which had a large rock at the top.
Seeing this, Aqua stood up on her feet. "The humans killed Earth with no mercy. That means I should hate them." She then walked away from the tree. "But I can't because I know how wonderful they can be too."
Her mind then recalled two memories.
The first was Miyu playing with her childhood friend, Aoi, the two of them laughing and enjoying their time together.
The second was Yuhiro helping Miyu getting through her physio at the hospital, the both of them grateful for each other's presence. Roxy was also there, encouraging her to keep going no matter what. It even contained a picture of Miyu letting Yuhiro rest on her lap after a tiring day, as evident by Yuhiro's head on her lap.
Those two people, in Aqua's mind, were the ones in the world Miyu cared about the most in the world.
Suddenly, Aqua sensed something, her instinct pushing her to jump away from a spot before a beam pierced her body. Her tribute wasn't as lucky, as a second beam practically tore it into particles.
"I found you, Ignis." Blood Shepherd said, who had his right arm aimed to fire at Aqua as he fired more beams at her, which she easily dodged. "If you wanted to hide, you should have picked a better place than an empty wasteland."
"I wasn't planning on hiding." Aqua clarified, which got Blood Shepherd's attention.
"Oh, really?" Blood Shepherd placed his fourth index finger and pinkie on his palm, wanting to hear Aqua explain her intentions.
"In order to capture me, you have to defeat me in a duel first, and it's a duel I intend to win."
"You've got the wrong idea, Ignis. I didn't come here to capture you, I'm here to destroy you!" Blood Shepherd fully emphasized, before he fired a beam of energy at Aqua, who immediately proceeded to log out of the wasteland and go to another piece of the network.
Whew. I lost him, Aqua thought out of relief. But she couldn't be anymore wrong, as Blood Shepherd appeared out of nowhere before continuing to fire energy beams at Aqua, which caused her to dodge them once again.
"Did you really think you can escape from me?" Blood Shepherd inquired. "I locked onto your digital signature, so no matter where you go, I can always find you!" He sped forward with his duel board and went straight into Aqua's path before aiming his right arm at her. "Begone!"
But before the energy beam can hit her, Blue Girl used the back of her duel board as a shield to block the attack.
"What?!" Blood Shepherd growled, infuriated at Blue Girl for getting in his way.
"Howdy, cowboy!"
Blood Shepherd turned his head to the side and saw Raguel, smirking at him.
"You!" Blood Shepherd hissed, before he fired a beam of energy at Raguel, with Herald immediately using a shield to block the attack. As a result, Blood Shepherd gasped out of shock. No one was able to block his energy beams before, and by an Ignis of all people?! That was just insulting!
"Nice trick, but I got one better." Raguel replied, before he quickly summoned Excalibur and pointed it at Blood Shepherd. "O Wind! Enrage!" A blast of wind fired out of Excalibur, which headed towards the stunned Blood Shepherd and sent him flying before he can even react.
"Who are you?" Aqua asked her saviours, before her eyes widened upon seeing Raguel and Herald. Could the boy be, she began wondering in her mind.
"I'm Blue Girl." Blue Girl quickly introduced herself before extending her left arm at Aqua. "We have to go now!"
After Aqua nodded, she immediately jumped onto Blue Girl's shoulder as she sped away, Raguel following after her.
Unfortunately for them, Blood Shepherd sped up to the duo, having managed to regain his balance.
"You fools just made a big mistake!" Blood Shepherd exclaimed, before he fired multiple blasts of energy from his right arm, with Herald immediately summoning shields to block each one. Raguel and Blue Girl then managed to get behind a large, floating island, with Blood Shepherd still following after them.
But before he can continue chasing them, he saw Ghost Girl in front of him.
"Hey there, Blood Shepherd." Ghost Girl greeted him.
"Ghost Girl. Get out of my way!" Blood Shepherd demanded, hellbent on continuing the hunt. He obviously didn't have time to play games with her, as his target was getting away.
"Uh, no, because you went after my allies." Ghost Girl replied, before she raised her duel disk and pressed a button on it. "I hope you enjoy my little game!"
A blinding light was emitted from her duel disk, which caused Blood Shepherd to raise his right arm in front of his face so he can protect his eyes. The area then took shape in the form of a program Ghost Girl and Herald created. One that resembled a maze with multiple doors.
"Where am I?" Blood Shepherd wondered.
"I regret to inform you that I've lost all traces of the Ignis." Blood Shepherd's AI told him. "This location is blocking all signals."
"Ghost Girl, you dare trap me?!" Blood Shepherd exclaimed, before he proceeded to blast down every single door that was nearby. "Once I get out of here, I will destroy that Ignis, as well as deal with you and the others for getting in my way!"
Meanwhile...
Raguel, Blue Girl, and Ghost Girl all smiled at each other as they heard Blood Shepherd's frustration outside. The three of them were hiding in a storage room, shelves and boards lining the walls. With the program Herald and Ghost Girl created, Blood Shepherd had a ghost of a chance of finding them.
"That worked perfectly." Blue Girl commented, as Aqua popped up from behind her shoulder. "Hey, Aqua. We'll make sure Blood Shepherd doesn't bother you anymore."
"Thank you. All of you." Aqua replied out of gratitude.
"Don't mention it at all, Aqua." Herald said, which got Aqua's attention.
"White Ignis! It's been too long!" Aqua cried out of joy, before she floated over to where Herald was and embraced him.
"Been too long indeed." Herald agreed, before giving her a pat on the back. "How are you doing? Regarding Earth and everything?"
Aqua sighed. "I'm still processing it, but I'm still choosing to trust in the humans." She then turned to look at Raguel. "And you must be Raguel. Or to be more specific, Yuhiro Furutani."
Yuhiro's jaw dropped upon hearing this. "H-H-How do you know that?"
"It seems another person knows your identity, Raguel." Ghost Girl cheekily teased him.
"Great. Just great..." Raguel muttered in annoyance. What was this, an everyone knows his identity bargain sale?
"I have the ability to tell the difference between truth and lies." Aqua told Raguel, before she turned over to Blue Girl. "Just as I know that Blue Girl is actually Aoi Zaizen."
Blue Girl's eyes widened after hearing what Aqua just said. "You know who I actually am?"
"Yes, and I'm glad to see your heart is still as pure as ever. Because this is the second time you helped me." Aqua turned over to Raguel. "As for Yuhiro..."
"Second time? But we just met." Blue Girl pointed out. "And how exactly do you know Raguel? More the less, his real identity?"
"Well..." Aqua sighed before she landed on Blue Girl's palm. "To begin with, ten years ago, you helped me. Or to be more accurate, you helped me by helping a girl named Miyu Sugisaki."
"Miyu?" Blue Girl gasped, before the dots began connecting in her mind. That day when NEW LINK VRAINS was launched, Blue Girl went to visit Café Matsuo in the real world and check up on Raguel. He told her that Roxy's niece had left the Den City Hospital, having completed her physio. In response, Blue Girl wanted to know just who Roxy's niece was, with Raguel telling her that he wanted it to be a surprise.
And a few months prior, when Raguel talked to Blue Girl about Ghost Girl, he mentioned that same niece, who it turns out was involved in the Lost Incident. It was then everything fell into place.
Miyu Sugisaki was Roxy's niece the entire time. The same Miyu who was involved in the Lost Incident. The same Miyu who Yuhiro helped for a very long time!
After connecting everything together, she turned to Raguel, a furious look on her face. "You knew Miyu far longer than I have? And you fought for her this entire time without telling me?!"
Raguel sadly sighed. "Yeah, I have. For a very long time." Blue Girl gritted her teeth after hearing that answer. "I wanted to tell you for a very long time, but Miyu made me, Roxy, and Herald swear not to."
"Sorry, Blue Girl." Herald apologized, aware that apologies wouldn't do a thing right now.
"Yeah. She made me swear as well." Ghost Girl admitted, which made Blue Girl turn her furious glare on her. "The ironic thing is that I'm not the best secret keeper in the world, and yet I was able to keep this secret for a very long time."
"Why? Why didn't either of you tell me?!" Blue Girl demanded, having felt betrayed by her friends.
"Well, Miyu didn't want to worry you. She cared for your wellbeing." Raguel answered, tears falling down from his cheeks, which surprised Blue Girl, even though she was still angry at him. "I know that it may look like I'm justifying my answer, but it's true. I can promise you that."
"Is he telling the truth, Aqua?" Blue Girl angrily asked, as Aqua's eyes glowed for a few seconds before she turned to her.
"Yes. Raguel's telling the truth. Nothing but the truth." Aqua sadly confirmed, which made Blue Girl widen her eyes. In the time she knew Raguel, he would never do anything without a good reason. But even though Raguel had good intentions in Miyu's case, it wasn't right for him, Roxy, or Ghost Girl to keep the truth from her.
Then again, it did make sense. If Blue Girl knew the truth about what happened to Miyu, she'd end up doing something reckless, and it would have costed her dearly.
"Do you have any idea of how much the both of you hurt me? Any idea at all?!" Blue Girl exclaimed.
"We did, but we did it anyway." Raguel guiltily replied, with Ghost Girl nodding in agreement. The both of them certainly felt bad for what they did, yet they couldn't go back on their word upon promising Miyu they wouldn't tell Aoi the truth.
"But your heart is still pure, Yuhiro. Even after everything you've been through, everything you've suffered." Aqua assured Raguel, which got his attention. "Even though keeping the truth from Blue Girl was wrong, you still cared for Miyu's wellbeing."
Blue Girl sighed, having managed to finish processing all of this new information. Even though she was betrayed by Raguel and the others, they were still her friends, regardless of what happened. She then turned to Raguel before speaking. "Once we get out of here, you owe me an explanation. A big one, mister."
Raguel sadly nodded. "Very well. I'll answer any questions you have in the real world. Just not in the network, as you have no idea of who can be listening." Blue Girl nodded back, accepting Raguel's terms.
"I'm glad you still remember Miyu, Aoi." Aqua said, which got her attention.
"I'd never forget her, Aqua." Blue Girl assured her. "I mean, Miyu was the first friend I ever made when Akira and I were traveling from city to city. Even after I believed that I didn't need friends, Miyu came up to me and asked if I wanted to play." She sadly smiled, the memory having reappeared in her mind. "But one day, when Miyu brought her mother's ring to the park, it ended up falling down the drain. I took the blame for the incident, and Miyu's mother ended up taking her away. Then my brother's job ended, and we had to move once again. I never saw Miyu again."
"That's not the end of the story, isn't it?" Ghost Girl deduced, which got Aqua's attention.
"No, it isn't." Raguel agreed.
"Unfortunately, the both of you are correct." Aqua added in support. "Lightning infected Miyu with a virus, and she's in a coma as a result."
"Poor Miyu..." Blue Girl muttered, shocked by what happened to Miyu in the years since they played with one another. Rasterliger then jumped out of Raguel's duel disk before approaching Blue Girl, as if to comfort her. Aqua, upon seeing Rasterliger, ruffled his fur. "Were you able to remove the virus?"
"I tried to remove the virus, but Lightning's program was just two powerful." Aqua sadly replied. "But in the process, I was able to obtain two memories. One of you, Blue Girl, and one of Raguel. The both of you mean the world to her than anyone else."
"Aw, come on. You guys are making me feel like a third wheel." Ghost Girl interrupted. "There's so many intertwining connections going on. You and Miyu know each other, Blue Girl, Raguel knows Miyu, Herald knows Aqua. That's just a lot, if you ask me."
"We're all intertwined in this story one way or another, Ghost Girl." Herald added in support, as Ghost Girl stood up.
"What are you doing, Ghost Girl?" Blue Girl questioned.
"I'm going to deal with Blood Shepherd." Ghost Girl responded. "You two stay safe, okay? Roxy will kill me if you two don't get out of here alive." Both Blue Girl and Raguel watched as Ghost Girl left the room.
A gloomy silence filled the room, not one person attempting to try and break it.
"I sensed you're troubled, Aoi. Is everything okay?" Aqua asked Blue Girl, having addressed her by her actual name.
"No. I'm not okay." Blue Girl admitted. "I'm not okay with what happened to Miyu, I'm not okay with my friends keeping her a secret from me, and I'm not okay with how helpless I'm feeling right now! If I had known this beforehand-."
"But you did help, Aoi. Because you were always in your heart." Aqua assured Blue Girl, which made her look up at her. Aqua then turned her head to Raguel. "You were in her heart as well, Yuhiro."
"You think so?" Yuhiro inquired.
"Of course." Aqua confirmed, before she turned to look back at Blue Girl. "Miyu was never the best duelist, and she lost quite a bit. But she still held onto one important thing during the Lost Incident."
"And what was that?" Blue Girl asked.
"It was hope. Hope that she would see her best friend again. You, Aoi, because you've always inspired her." Aqua responded.
"What? But she's the one who inspired me! I mean, I had no friends before I met Miyu, but when she approached me that day, I learned something important. It may hurt to say goodbye, but it will hurt more if you never say hello."
As Raguel listened to Blue Girl's answer, he sadly frowned. What... have I done, he lamented in his mind. The fact that he had to keep the truth about Miyu a secret to Blue Girl, along the crimes he committed in the Black Market, didn't make him worthy in Miyu's eyes. No, it didn't make him worthy in anyone's eyes.
Raguel's greatest sin amongst everything else was that he used Miyu's happiness to try and absolve him of all guilt. It seemed what Azrael said to Raguel was true after all. What he had done split his spirit to the bone, as well as tainted his name beyond redemption.
"Raguel?" Herald got his attention out of concern.
"It's nothing." Raguel dismissed his partner's concern.
"And you taught Miyu to be brave no matter what, especially in the most difficult of times." Aqua told Blue Girl, which got Raguel and Herald's attention. "And as her Ignis, you taught me that as well." She stood up on her feet. "So I will be brave and help stop Lightning's plan to eliminate mankind."
"You mind if I join you?" Blue Girl requested.
"I would love your help, and I'm sure Miyu would as well." Aqua immediately replied, before she immediately jumped into Blue Girl's duel disk.
"Hooray! We got another Ignis on our side!" Herald cheered, as Raguel and Blue Girl stood up.
"Raguel, once we get back to the real world..." Blue Girl began speaking.
"I'll answer all the questions you have." Raguel promised, before he and Blue Girl shook hands. Soon, Raguel's duel disk beeped. "Excellent. It seems Playmaker and the others found us. Let's go say hello to them, shall we?"
"It'll be good to see them." Blue Girl agreed, before she and Raguel exited the room, intent on meeting up with their allies.
Elsewhere, in the network, at Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd's duel...
KABOOM!
A massive explosion sent Ghost Girl flying off her duel board thanks to General's effect, which inflicted damage equal to Double Sniper's attack points. As a result, she lost the duel against Blood Shepherd, and thanks to it being a Player Kill duel, she lost her account, along with any chances of her logging into the network ever again.
Blood Shepherd jumped off his duel board and landed in front of Ghost Girl, intent on eliminating Ghost Girl for good.
"Fine. A deal's a deal." Ghost Girl conceded. "But before you delete my account, can I share some information with you?"
"No! Your time is up!" Blood Shepherd snarled back, before he raised his right arm and aimed at Ghost Girl. "Consider this payback for helping Raguel acquire incriminating information on me."
"Yeah, I did that. I mean, if you were in my shoes, you'd do the same thing." Ghost Girl pointed out in response. "But still, what I have to share with you is urgent, and it's about dad."
While Blood Shepherd didn't lower his arm, he did stop charging it temporarily. "What did you say?"
"You heard me. Our dad died last year, Kengo. But before he passed away, he asked me to keep an eye on you, and I swore to do so."
"You think that story fixes everything? It! Does! Not!" Blood Shepherd hissed.
"It wasn't my intention to fix anything. I just wanted to let you know. I mean, despite what he did, he is still your dad." Ghost Girl sighed. "That's it. You can kill my account if you still wish to do so."
Blood Shepherd resumed charging his arm, wanting to delete Ghost Girl's account for good. But a small part of him was begging him not to. Why? Was it because Ghost Girl was his half-sister? The last living remnant of the father he never had?
He hated his father the day he left him and his mother. And the day Blood Shepherd saw his father with his new wife and Emma, his hatred intensified more. He never wanted to do anything with his father again, and threw himself into his work so that he wouldn't feel that pain again.
But... Blood Shepherd specifically warned Ghost Girl not to get in his way. Yet she interfered numerous times. He could have erased her during both of those times, and was close to doing so... yet he stopped. Did a part of Blood Shepherd really care for Ghost Girl's well-being after all? Something that he wasn't aware of until now?
Still, Blood Shepherd didn't know about his father's fate until Ghost Girl told him, and how he died last year. He may have hated his father, but he certainly didn't want him to die. And despite this, he never blamed or hated Ghost Girl for living a life of luxury, compared to the hardships he and his mother had to endure.
It was here where Blood Shepherd realized something.
Though he may not admit it, he did care for Ghost Girl's well-being, even after what his father did to him. He only did what he did so that she wouldn't get hurt.
Blood Shepherd lowered his arm, having decided it wasn't worth erasing Ghost Girl's account. He turned around and logged out, his business with Ghost Girl done.
Ghost Girl stood up on her feet, curious on what she just saw. She was the first duelist to survive a Player Kill duel against Blood Shepherd, and not have her account erased, even though Blood Shepherd had the right to do so. As the maze turned into particles, a single question ran through her head: Why did Blood Shepherd spare her?
"Hey, Ghost Girl!" Soulburner shouted from nearby, which made Ghost Girl turn behind her as she spotted him, Playmaker, and Slipstream jump down from their duel boards and onto the ground.
"We got Raguel's message. Where's Blood Shepherd?" Playmaker immediately asked Ghost Girl.
"He left." Ghost Girl simply answered.
"Which way did he go?" Soulburner inquired. "Because he's on the hunt for Blue Girl and Aqua."
"And we must do all we can to help them." Flame added in support.
"Hang on a minute. Where's Raguel?" Slipstream interrupted with his question.
"All of us are up here, Slipstream." Raguel shouted in response, as everyone turned to see Raguel and Blue Girl, with Aqua in the latter's duel disk.
"Aqua!" Ai cried out of joy.
"Ai, it's great to see you!" Aqua replied back.
"Well, it's great to be seen!"
"What Ai means to say is that we're glad you're okay, Aqua." Flame commented. "You may call me Flame, by the way. With the F standing for-."
"We don't have time for that, Flame." Slipstream interrupted.
"Just one question. What are you doing in Blue Girl's duel disk, Aqua?" Ai asked out of curiosity.
"Because Blue Girl and I have agreed to fight together, Ai." Aqua answered. "All of us will work together to oppose Lightning and his allies."
Blue Girl nodded. "And I'll be reborn with this!" Everyone watched as Blue Girl's avatar and suit changed, making everyone except Aqua gasp. When the glow died down, she was shown to now have light blue hair with dark-blue highlights and a bang of pink, which was wavy and extended to the small of her back. She retained her blue eyes, but gained a teardrop tattoo on her cheek, along with heart-shaped earrings. She now wore a long black, white, and blue sleeveless waistcoat with a pink and black skirt, a golden belt with a pink, heart-shaped buckle, and a black armband with a pink stone on her left arm. Her forearms were covered by black wristguards with blue wings on the ends, and pointless pink tips at her hands. Last but not least, she wore blue, pink, and black tights with pink and black boots with blue wings.
"Say goodbye to Blue Girl, and hello to Blue Maiden!" the newly christened Blue Maiden declared.
"Wow..." Soulburner muttered out of amazement.
"Nice upgrade." Playmaker simply commented.
"Looking good." Slipstream finished, giving two thumbs up, with Raguel doing the same.
Blue Maiden then jumped into the air before she landed on her duel board. The four other Lost Incident duelists did the same and followed after her. "It's been a long time since we fought as a team, Playmaker. Raguel."
"I agree. Let's make the most of it!" Playmaker responded. "Our enemies are the Light Ignis, Lightning..."
"...And Azrael." Raguel finished for Playmaker.
"Yeah!" Ai raised a fist.
"To save Jin from Lightning's control!" Playmaker said.
"To save Miyu as well!" Blue Maiden added.
"Right!" Aqua agreed.
"To rebuild the Cyberse World!" Flame stated.
"That's definitely on the list!" Soulburner agreed.
"To stop whatever plans Azrael has in mind!" Raguel said.
"Hell Yeah!" Herald agreed.
"To defeat Windy!" Slipstream finished.
"Let's go!" Playmaker said, as all five duelists rode alongside one another, having identified their goals.
The five of them, along with their allies, will defeat Lightning and Azrael, as well as ensure that every single one of their goals were obtained.
No matter what.
Green, wispy pieces of data are shown floating through the network as a bright light briefly covers the screen, multiple cards popping up one by one.
Yusaku is first shown walking to school before he morphs into his VRAINS Persona Playmaker. Takeru is also shown doing the same thing before he morphs into his VRAINS Persona Soulburner. Last but not least, Yuhiro and Arashi are shown doing the same thing before they morph into the VRAINS Personas Raguel and Slipstream. Ai, Flame, Aqua, and Herald pop up on the screen one by one afterwards.
A split screen then pops up, showing Aoi walking down the street on one side, while Emma scratches the back of her head on the other side, as if she were stressed out. The both of them then morph into their VRAINS Personas Blue Maiden and Ghost Girl. A second split screen pops up afterwards, showing Rachel on her tablet on one side, while Gekiryushi practices her swordsmanship on the other side with concentration. The both of them then morph into their VRAINS Personas Numera and SengokuQueen.
Soon after, a third split screen appears, showing a skinny Go Onizuka clutching his head in pain with his left hand, while Kengo Dojun puts a hand on his chin, as if thinking something over. The screen then cracks, showing a virtual network where Go closes his eyes and spreads out his hands with a smile, while Blood Shepherd aims his right hand at the screen. A fourth split screen appears, showing Akairo completing some schoolwork, while Brion is in his apartment, looking at a picture in his locket with narrowed eyes, which showed his family. The screen then cracks, showing Drachen with Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword in his hand, while Electrolyzer has PSY-Framegears Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta attached to his body.
The main tower LINK VRAINS is shown before the screen cracks in two, which reveals the main tower in Mirror LINK VRAINS. Lightning's faction is shown in the light, but then the screen is enveloped in darkness before depicting Azrael flaring out the Muramasa with Malf and Wraith on his sides.
Revolver, Specter, and Infearno are then shown on the screen, with Revolver on the left, Infearno in the center, and Specter on the right.
The screen changes to show multiple people at Green Park. First is Kusanagi and Roxy beside one another, with Akira speaking to Emma and Gekiryushi nearby. Next is Arashi crossing his arms, with Takeru is looking out at another area while Yusaku simply looks ahead of him, Aoi sitting down on the stairs nearby. Yuhiro is seen looking ahead of him with a stressed expression on his face, a silhouette of Miyu trying to comfort him. Rachel runs up to where Yuhiro is before standing next to him, with Naoki trying to wave his hand to the humans nearby. Herald is shown with Ai, Flame, and Aqua nearby the humans. Last but not least, Ryoken, Youta, and Emon are shown conversing in another area of Green Park.
The screen then shows a grey landscape, where Cyberse Clock Dragon, Salamangreat Heatleo, Cyreath Hercules/Alpha Mode, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, Borreload Savage Dragon, and Cyberse Quantum Dragon fly by one by one before disappearing. Last but not least, a network background appears, with a strand of rainbow data flowing around it before Raguel, Playmaker, Soulburner, and Slipstream appear, along with Ai, Flame, and Herald. All four humans draw a card from the top of their decks before a bright light covers the screen.
Card Gallery
No new cards in this chapter.
QOTC
What is your favorite Yu-Gi-Oh! memory?
Chapter Preview
Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth. Chapter 75: Pure Anguish. Wary about potential enemies, Lightning prepares to cut them down one by one, starting with Blood Shepherd. However, Percival and Demeter launch an attack on Lightning's base, hoping to not only stop the war once and for all, but fulfil their own intentions as well...
Author's Notes
Credit goes to HunterHQ and KingOtakuOverYou for their help in this chapter.
Alright, folks. We're done another chapter. While it consisted mostly of anime events, I do hope you enjoyed it, even though there was no duel. With what happened, there wasn't any point to even put one in. As such, a quick recap is needed:
For this recap, I won't be recollecting everything, as most of it is anime events. Instead, I'll focus on the characters that were affected the most in this chapter. They are: Arashi, Akairo, Yuhiro, and Aoi.
Starting with Arashi, he's been disturbed by Ryoken's comments to him on his rage towards Windy. Arashi's greatest fear is that if he kills Windy, he'd be no better than a killer, and he doesn't want that. So after Ryoken leaves Café Nagi, Yusaku goes to try and help Arashi out, only for the latter to walk away, needing space. As he's walking around, he ends up spotting a dog chasing a cat, and immediately proceeds to save the dog from making a fatal mistake. Why did Arashi do this? Well, it's very simple. Arashi's greatest regret is not being able to prevent Takeda from being sent to the hospital, as his cousin pushed him out of the way to save his life. As a result, Arashi's felt powerless. So saving the dog, whose name is Rufus, helped Arashi get that sense of control back, even if it's only temporary. He ends up taking Rufus home, only to find out that Rufus is Brea's dog. Now even though Arashi wants to meet Brea in the real world, he still has common sense in determining that now isn't the best time, especially with the current crap he's dealing with.
Regardless, he drops off the dog at Brea's house, only to be greeted by Gabriella herself. Recall that Gabriella is the 8th Charisma Duelist Krystal, as well as the person Quinton reached out to for assistance in taking care of the Den City Shelter while he and Miles visited Gil in Chapter 53. The biggest reveal here is that Gabriella is Brea's godmother! Yup, that's right! You heard me! Gabriella is Brea's godmother! Upon entering inside, Gabriella treats Arashi's wounds that he got from Rufus, and the two of them even have a nice talk together as well. Gabriella not only helps Arashi get everything off his chest, she even tells him that it's okay to be feeling different emotions at times. It's his responsibility, however, to make the right choices in response to these emotions. Thanks to Gabriella, Arashi was able to get some self-confidence back in himself, having been able to talk to someone who was wiling to listen, rather than throw words back at their face.
Next up is Akairo. Now since Lightning declared war on humanity, Ryoken told Akairo to lay low for the time being, and to continue reporting back to him on all of SOL Technologies' activities. However, he requests Akairo to take back Uchida Industries, and to destroy it if necessary. And lo and behold, Akira has a similar mission for Akairo, the only difference being for him to gather evidence so Akira can make his case to Queen and Pawn regarding Uchida Industries. Compared to everyone else, who is disgusted by either SOL Technologies or Akira's inability to do the right thing, Akairo is on Akira's side. He doesn't see him not as a failure, but someone who's doing everything they can to make things right.
He logs into Uchida Industries' server, and finds that Ace has set up a pure slave force creating numerous things for Azrael and Lightning. How did Ace even get so many slaves, you may ask? Simple. He took a page from Creknurt's book by forcing people to log into the network, while his allies hid their bodies somewhere in the real world. Unfortunately, Electrolyzer is amongst the slaves too. And guess who's overseeing the slave force? Chainslaver and Sharpshot! That's right! They're back, folks! Ace found both of them and acquired their services in exchange for asylum from the authorities.
But before Drachen can stop this madness, he ends up getting caught trying to reach the data core, where Sharpshot takes him to see Ace. Now just to point something out here: Ace allowed Drachen to look around and see what was going on. He expected Drachen to return to Uchida Industries' server. That's why the reactions between the slaves and Bitboots were different. The slaves didn't care, whereas the Bitboots simply brought the unconscious Drachen to Chainslaver and Sharpshot, where they took care of this matter.
And unfortunately, Malf not only injures Drachen, but brings him to Azrael, where the next phase of their plan begins. How? By Malf controlling Drachen so he can serve Azrael. This type of control, for those of you who were wondering, is similar to how Baby infected Vegeta, along with a good majority of the earth's population in Dragon Ball GT. Aka, Tuffle Parasite Infection. Malf put a piece of himself in Drachen so he can control the latter.
Next up is Yuhiro, and allow me to say a few things. First, I know some of you were expecting Yuhiro to infuriatingly lambast Akira for his inability in stopping all this mess. I was tempted to actually do it, but it'd be an insult to his character growth if I ended up going this route. So instead, I had Yuhiro explain his points, with Akira furiously telling him about how there's only so much he can do, as well as what he did do with the limited power he still has. Akira also reminds Yuhiro of the crimes he committed in the Black Market, and Yuhiro ends up apologizing in response upon realizing what he had done. Here, I wanted Yuhiro to demonstrate his awareness in the crimes he committed in the Black Market. I didn't want him to fall into the 'Holier Than Thou' trope, as some of you pointed out. I wanted Yuhiro to acknowledge what he has done and take ownership of it. It not only demonstrates Yuhiro's integrity, but also the fact that he's still able to retain his humanity as well. On the topic of crimes, the greatest sin Yuhiro ever made was that he used Miyu's happiness to try and absolve him of all guilt from the crimes he committed on the Black Market. Seems Azrael was right about Yuhiro after all, don't you agree?
Now onto Aoi. This is the chapter where she finds out the truth about Yuhiro's connection to Miyu, and boy is she angry with him for keeping the truth from her for so long. Now by this point, Aoi has underwent character development, having realized what happened to Miyu. It's here where she chooses to fight alongside Aqua, along with Playmaker and the others in stopping Lightning. I had her vent her frustrations and anger at the others, while reining it in at the same time. Why? Because I wanted to show Aoi's maturity. While she doesn't like what Yuhiro and Emma did, she understands why they did it. Think of it as seeing other people's perspectives. She is upset, yet is able to acknowledge Yuhiro and Emma's reasons on why they kept Miyu a secret for so long. Regardless, Aoi's still mad at Yuhiro, and the discussion between the both of them will occur next chapter.
One last thing, and it's regarding anime events. I had Blood Shepherd quit the bounty hunter task force before he went after Aqua, rather than after. Why? Because let's face it. Blood Shepherd wants to destroy the Ignis, not capture them for SOL Technologies' nefarious high-performance Ignis plan. By having him find out the truth much earlier, it lines up with Blood Shepherd's character, as he's someone who wants to destroy AI's, not help create new ones.
With the main topics having been covered, I want to thank everyone for reading Chapter 74 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 favorite and follow the story. That way, you will get a notification once the next chapter is released.
What did you enjoy the most about this chapter? The scenes regarding Arashi? The revelations on Uchida Industries? The character growth for the characters highlighted in this chapter? Or was it something else?
That's all for now, folks. Stay tuned, as next chapter, things are going to get epic!
