Response to Reviews
Thank you to Kingdom Hearts Guy, HunterHQ, Guest, Anonymous, Ambiguous, Unknown, TheBlazingButterfly777, Noobmaster, T.V. 2000, Unnamed, Edgar, Guest, Pikachu99, Big Duels, and Runtues for reviewing Chapter 83 of Obscured Truth.
Hey, everyone! As always, I hope you're well and are safe wherever you are in the world. Folks, this is it! At last, we are finally at the Mirror LINK VRAINS arc, and there will be interlude chapters that connect Season 2 and 3 once it's over. So I hope you look forward to what will happen next, because I sure am, especially with what I have planned.
Anyhow, let's get to answering some reviews:
Kingdom Hearts Guy: Of course it's interesting. Pay close attention, and you'll be surprised on what happens next.
HunterHQ: Unfortunately, innocents are always caught in the crossfire when it comes to things like war. It's just life. Both light and darkness are constants, even though the latter is tend to be more favoured over the former. After defeating Gilgamesh, Yukage wounded him to the point where he had to rest and recover for a while. Thanks to Azrael, Balius' plans were set back, so Azrael ended up doing some good in the end. For your concerns on Herald, there's only so much he can do to help Yuhiro keep himself in check. Of course Rachel can use Final Sigma in the real world. And Brion's mind didn't break because of the positive influences in his life after the traumatizing experience he went through. For Yuhiro, while he's willing to listen, he doesn't like it upon realizing that someone's trying to tempt him into doing something. You could say Gil's concerned with what he saw in the previous chapter. No one's aware of the data material caches' existence, save for Ace. So when Yuhiro looked into Ace's duel disk, he got the locations, and will go find the other locations later on. He just went to one location given time constraints. The Lost Incident scientist was restrained to the point where he couldn't commit suicide, thus allowing Jericho to torture him before death. ISOs stands for Isomorphic Algorithms, and is not the name of the faction that Jericho belongs to.
Guest: Yes, Blue Maiden used her energy whip against the Bitboots and to help Playmaker a few chapters ago. Ace created the method so that should the FBI acquire the bodies or the minds, the other would still be transported to Central Japan. Regardless, Balius would have found a use for either the bodies or the minds if he couldn't get both. No, Gil didn't find the other Deadly Seven monsters in the wreckage. Greg learned about the operations in Central Japan from Akira during their meeting back in Chapter 73. As for your last question, it falls into spoiler territory.
Anonymous: You already seen some time stuff from Herald back in Chapter 68, where he helped in 'pausing' the wounds on Yuhiro so Roxy and Arashi can patch him up. If Watchman didn't prioritize keeping Soulburner's identity safe, then he could have helped rescue Earth before getting captured by Go. In my defense, Chainslaver put up a far better fight than last time due to him getting much stronger. For the slaves, they were different than the ones at Uchida Industries that were taken hostage.
Ambiguous: Yuhiro's only able to keep Pandora and the others in check due to his power, so even if he were in his normal state, he can handle himself. It's just that he's tired of people reminding him of how his mistakes had led to horrific consequences both for himself and for others. If Yuhiro used Pandora and the others against Gil and/or Yukage, while he could have won, the others would have been alerted to their presence. Sharpshot's real world body was en route in a separate truck with the slaves to Central Japan. Speckles, Athaliah, and Ace were hidden in different locations in the real world. And why would Azrael do like what Zarc did? It's... not the best option available to evade death, as Azrael wants to attain eternity, but at the same time retain his humanity.
Unknown: Yeah, negativity and negative emotions are really common because of how sin has generated a surplus of it. No, Yuhiro doesn't plan to give away Ace's deck to anyone for now, as he utilized it to create new cards for the 'Cyreath' deck. And Yuhiro doesn't feel any guilt for slicing down the Black Market troops, nor does he feel guilt in brutally torturing Sharpshot.
TheBlazingButterfly777: I can't answer that question for you.
Noobmaster: Yes, the way Yuhiro's deck shook with rage is just like what happened in USUM and BW2, with Ghetsis saying his vile plans to the protagonist. And Atalanta was obviously used in the duel against Chainslaver, as she nearly ended the duel thanks to her effects of inflicting effect damage and dealing double battle damage. Heck, if you used Pandora to Link and Ritual Summon before bringing out Atalanta/Alpha mode, the latter can inflict quadruple battle damage. Well, Slipstream did use Pendulum monsters back in Chapter 71, and I can confirm that he'll use Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon real soon.
T.V. 2000: Oh, yes. Yuhiro's certainly changing, and it will have consequences for him in the future. Ones he'll have to live with for the rest of his life. Sadly, the third member of the unholy trinity won't appear in Season 2. ISO stands for Isomorphic Algorithms, and is not the name of the faction that Jericho belongs to.
Unnamed: Well, that's something Yuhiro can do, as focusing on the positive can help him acquire a better outlook on life. Do note that Yuhiro and Yukage logging into the network doesn't change their age or what not. For Watchman, because of how he's permanently in the network, he no longer ages. I can however state that despite being old, Watchman is powerful as an Inquisitor, especially once you see him unleash the ultimate weapon of the church. How did the Hanoi react to seeing Yuhiro murder those troops? They were concerned, shocked, and appalled at what they saw. The Hanoi had also begun making preparations should it get worse following the Ignis war.
Edgar: It could be worse.
Guest: I will confirm that the other higherups will duel in Season 3. You are correct. Dascium was used in the construction of the SOLTIS, though it wasn't used for the AI chip.
Pikachu99: Glad you're happy that Herald finished Pokemon: Legends Arceus. Oh, and as for your comment on Slipstream, that is your opinion. And rest assured: Haru will have a far better duel than in the anime against Blue Maiden. Because that one sucked, in my opinion.
Big Duels: There you are. I was wondering where you went. In terms of Pandora's appearance, I can confirm that God of War 3 was one of the two inspirations for her, with Child from Young Justice Phantoms also serving as inspiration as well (be sure to watch Young Justice, as you'll enjoy it). Regarding the ten duels, nine individuals are going into Mirror LINK VRAINS, with one of them duelling twice, and I'm sure you'll figure out who's duelling twice. And Jericho's certainly going to play a part in the Mirror LINK VRAINS arc, especially near the end of it. For your QOTC, if memory serves, both people lose their consciousness data if a duel in Mirror LINK VRAINS ends in a draw. I'll have to double check on that one. You are correct in one of the two duels you guessed in your review. Ultimately, I'll do my best for the Mirror LINK VRAINS arc in differentiating it from other VRAINS fanfics, and I do hope you enjoy it.
Runtues: Thanks very much. I appreciate it. I can confirm that I'm putting in the Tri-Brigade archetype in the story. I hope you enjoy the story moving forward.
Now that all reviews have been answered, it is time to finally begin the Mirror LINK VRAINS arc. Just make sure you've read Roxy's Reports 33 before reading this chapter so you can make sense of what's going on. I do hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 84: Into The Battle
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 is Cyreath Pandora twirling around before he eyes glow red, where 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, Cyreath Alastor appears in her place, his multicolored shapes resembling eyes glowing 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 Maiden and Numera appear, with Marincess Marbled Rock 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 a room of a palace, 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 another room of the 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 Magnus Dux, along with Tribunus Laticlavius and Legatus Legionis 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 Black Keys, three in each of his hands. Watchman's eyes glow purple 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 Cyreaths Blazing Orthros, Aetos Dios, and Lernaean Hydra, 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 Cychaics Pluto, God of the Underworld, Jupiter, God of the Storm, and Neptune, God of the Sea, 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 SOL Technologies...
Bishop and Knight walked down the hallway of the company, frowns evident on their faces. The duo didn't expect the Kings to call another emergency meeting, especially after how Queen's actions had led to further turmoil for the company. Did someone disobey the Kings' directive and committed an error? Neither Bishop nor Knight knew, and they will find out what's going on during the meeting.
Eventually, the duo reached the holographic room, with the other higherups waiting for them. Pawn frowned upon seeing Bishop and Knight enter the room, with Rook deep in thought as well. According to the report, Queen couldn't obviously attend the meeting due to being temporarily exiled from the company. However, it was likely that one of the higherups would send Queen an email on what was going on.
Within seconds, the room changed to a digital landscape, where Lycaon, Perseo, and Jeromy once again appeared in person. Considering how urgent the meeting was, it was only logical for the brothers to once again appear in person compared to how they usually attend meetings as holograms.
"Kings," the other higher-ups welcomed the brothers, having bowed in front of them.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice, everyone." Jeromy said. "We will get started right away on the meeting, especially with recent developments."
"Recent developments, sirs?" Rook repeated. "Did someone else act in disobedience against your directive?"
Lycaon shook his head. "Nah, that's not it, Miyama. It's regarding our arrangement with Balius." As if on cue, a data sphere orbited above Lycaon's right palm, which floated upwards before turning into a digital screen. Footage then began playing, which showed the FBI intercepting the trade meeting between Central Japan's agent and Katsu Myoga, also known as Chainslaver. As everyone in the room knew, Pawn struck a business deal with Balius to provide Amadeus and double the payment in exchange for securing Amadeus' freedom. They were also aware of who was involved in acquiring Dascium on Central Japan's end, along with the fact that SOL Technologies put the previous Overseer as a mole in the Black Market to ensure its cooperation with the company.
The higher-ups and Kings watched as the FBI cut off escape for Katsu, Amadeus, and the agent before arresting them and the other troops. Before Amadeus could escape, they saw Gil use chains out of nowhere to dispel the hostage situation and restrain the former. After that, it showed Greg giving orders to the FBI officers to pursue the slaves in the real world while he led a task force to free them in the network. Katsu, however, used the commotion to try and escape, only to be forcibly logged into the network.
"We also have footage from what occurred in the network." Perseo continued, as a second data sphere orbited above his palm before it floated upwards and turned into a second screen. It showed footage containing the FBI's attack on the Black Market's battleship that transported the slaves in the network. Whereas the other higherups gasped in pure shock and horror, Lycaon, Perseo, and Jeromy narrowed their eyes in anger and concern as they saw Raguel slash his way through the troops stationed there. From there, the group saw Raguel and the FBI free Brion and the captured slaves from Sharpshot's clutches before logging each of them out, along with Raguel brutally interrogating Sharpshot on how to stop the airship. What surprised everyone was how the airship turned itself around before landing. Who could have helped Raguel and the FBI in stopping the airship?
"Thanks to Raguel's actions, along with the FBI's involvement, we'll be exposed if we don't act soon." Jeromy emphasized fiercely to ensure the other higherups understood the delicacy of the situation.
"I did not expect the FBI and Raguel to somehow find Brion and the slaves. I made sure everything was accounted for too." Pawn admitted. Even with the higherups, sometimes, errors were made. After all, everyone was human.
"Maybe someone in SOL Technologies is a double agent for Raguel and the FBI." Rook hypothesized, having put a hand on his chin.
"But they could have had other allies too that weren't from SOL Technologies. The only question is: Who would be foolish enough to assist Raguel and the FBI in such an endeavor?" Knight questioned.
"I'm sure we'll find out the answer to these questions once we get straight to work on covering things up, Kishi." Bishop pointed out.
Before anyone else can speak further, a screen then popped up that showed a phone on it. Jeromy pointed his right finger to the screen and pressed the green button, which caused Balius to appear on the screen.
"Why did you allow this to happen, Balius?" Jeromy demanded.
"Allow what to happen?" Balius repeated out of confusion. "I've received word from an agent that Amadeus and the slaves are being headed to Central Japan as we speak. Here." He showed the higher-ups footage of Amadeus and the captured slaves being transported to Central Japan.
"Is that so?" Lycaon raised an eyebrow. Balius was acting rather... strange about what just happened. Surely, he'd be aware of what was going on. "Need I remind you that the dealings between SOL Technologies and Central Japan are on the line?"
"You don't have to worry, your excellencies. I have everything under control." Balius assured everyone present. "Why the accusations all of a sudden? Could it be that you're doubting my ability to manage things on my end?"
"No one's doubting anything." Pawn interjected, which got the attention of the three Kings and Balius. "All of us have faith in your ability to keep things under control on your end. We're just... troubled by recent events, that is all. Right, guys?"
Whereas the other higherups nodded in agreement, the Kings contemplated this information over. That fact was true, for the ruler in Central Japan had a say in military matters, and can use their power to keep things under control.
"Make sure that things are under control, and SOL Technologies will reward you very handsomely." Perseo told Balius, who nodded in response.
"Like I said before, I have everything under control." Balis assured the higherups for a final time before the call ended.
"While Balius ensures that things are under control on his end, we need to put a stop to Raguel and the FBI." Jeromy continued, having turned to the other higherups before looking at Bishop. "Kaido, contact Zaizen, and have him put a bounty on Raguel's head."
"We just removed the bounties off of Raguel, Slipstream, Playmaker, and Soulburner." Bishop reminded Jeromy. "If we were to put them on again-."
"Do you question the order of the Kings, Kaido?"
"No, sirs. I understand your orders perfectly." Bishop apologized with a bow.
"Kishi, I want you to deal with the FBI. Make sure they don't look further into the case regarding Central Japan." Perseo ordered.
"It will be-." Knight began to comply, but before he can finish his sentence, a screen suddenly popped up, which showed a male employee, his face filled with extreme concern and urgency.
"What is it?" Lycaon questioned. Employees at SOL Technologies wouldn't dare to interfere in the meetings between the higher-ups unless it was extremely urgent.
"Something is wrong with the network!" the employee reported. "It's been glitching on and off, to the point where we're unable to control it any longer!"
"Show us..." Perseo hissed, as the employee quickly typed on the digital keyboard before sending results to the Kings. Soon, more screens popped up, which showed people logged in the network being filled with panic as the general area began shaking. It wasn't just the main area that was filled with tremors. It was over a great majority of the network too!
"Contact Zaizen! Have him deal with this matter immediately!" Jeromy ordered, the employee nodding in confirmation before signing off. Akira recently put in the security update, as ordered by the Kings, yet for something like this to occur even with extra security... it wasn't good at all.
"Miyama, call back all salvage teams that are currently in the Black Market servers! Have them cease operations for the time being until this matter is settled!" Lycaon said to Rook.
"Right away, sirs." Rook complied, before turning into particles.
"Kaido and Kishi. Establish ground control for this situation regarding the network." Perseo stated to Bishop and Knight. "Assure the public and authorities that this situation will be contained at all costs."
"Yes, sirs!" both Bishop and Knight complied, before turning into particles.
"Er, what about me, sirs?" Pawn asked the three Kings.
"Hyodo, ensure that all of the network's resources are secure. For we need to prepare ourselves should the worst come to pass." Jeromy told Pawn.
"I will get to it immediately, sirs." Pawn complied with a bow, before he turned to particles, leaving the three Kings alone in the holographic room.
"What could be causing this, brothers? Could it have to do anything with the coming war?" Lycaon wondered.
"Most likely, Lycaon. Most likely." Perseo said back, having crossed his arms as he and the others looked at the screen showing the tremors in the network. "It could be a sign that the players are coming together."
"No, Perseo. It is a sign that the players are coming together." Jeromy clarified. If everything went well, they would be in the victors in this fight, especially in how there were always casualties on both sides when it came to war. And with the SOLTIS foot soldiers already in development, nothing would stop the Kings once their plan reached to fruition.
Meanwhile, at Café Matsuo...
Yuhiro quietly hummed to himself as he walked down the pathway that led to Café Matsuo. While the talk with Herald had been good, it was Yukage and Wraith arriving in the area that caught him off guard, especially when they came from the network. Then again, Yuhiro wasn't surprised, as Muramasa was just like Excalibur in how they allowed the user to log into the network whole. The parting words Yukage spoke, however, spooked Yuhiro.
"If you intend to seeing your values through to the end, don't just stop after the war's over. Keep avenging on all that have wronged you. From the Hanoi, to Lightning and myself, to Watchman, keep avenging until everyone that has ever wronged you have paid for their transgressions."
The parting words were on Yuhiro's mind, especially in how he was confused about it. What did Yukage mean about the topic on avenging? Did he somehow know that Yuhiro and the others will win the war, and advised him to continue fighting until everyone has paid for their actions in full? It seemed like it the way Yukage was speaking.
"You've been quiet since we left the cemetery, Yuhiro." Herald stated the obvious, having emerged out of Yuhiro's duel disk.
"Sorry, I've just been thinking about what Yukage told me, especially the avenging part." Yuhiro apologized.
"It's odd that Yukage and Wraith would mention that. Well, odder than the truthful points on the world made today, especially in devolution and evolution." Herald pondered on the words Yukage and Wraith said regarding that topic. More specifically, the animal part, where animals in captivity would eventually lose their natural behaviors, skills, and instincts as they degenerated into something else. There was also the food part, where modernized techniques have altered ancient grains like corn and rice into the vegetables humans know to this day.
"Well, Yukage and Wraith actually make sense on the topics of devolution and evolution." Yuhiro admitted. "After the Hanoi was defeated, my strength wavered due to there being no hardships. You could say that I almost lost the drive to get stronger as a result. But when Yukage showed up, well, I guess you can say that he succeeded in wanting me to get stronger."
"Yeah, I guess you're right on that." Herald agreed, before turning back to Yuhiro. "But what makes you different from Yukage is the reason you chose to become stronger. You didn't become stronger to pursue a selfish goal. You became stronger so you can protect the people in your life, as well as make the future a better reality for yourself and those you care about. A selfless goal overall."
Yuhiro nodded back, having understood what Herald meant. "Of course, and like I said before, we are the masters of our own fate. We will win this war in the end, and make our own future!"
"Awesome words, Yuhiro. Truly awesome words." Herald applauded Yuhiro, glad to see that he's regained his resolve. He then turned his head to look ahead of him. "Oh, it seems like we're back at Café Matsuo."
"Seems like it indeed." Yuhiro replied, having walked up to the counter upon recognizing the individual manning it. "Arashi, is that you?"
"Yup. Roxy's putting the finishing touches with Kusanagi on the program, so she sent me to handle things with the steward bot." Arashi said back.
"Really now?" Yuhiro smirked. He and Roxy intended to make Arashi man the front at some point, and it seems they succeeded.
"Well, if it's any consolation, you're doing a good job." Herald told Arashi.
"Thanks, Herald." Arashi responded, before gesturing to the door. "You should go let Roxy know you're back. Let her know you're okay."
"I'll do that." Yuhiro assured Arashi, before opening the door and walking to the backroom, where he saw Roxy typing fiercely on the digital keyboard. After knocking on the wall a few times, Roxy let out a small gasp, having been spooked before seeing Yuhiro.
"Damn, you gave me a surprise." Roxy stated, having gestured for Yuhiro to take the seat beside her, which he did. "How are you feeling, Yuhiro?"
"Yeah, I just needed to clear my head for a bit. But I'm fine now." Yuhiro assured Roxy.
"Well, that's great to hear, Yuhiro." Kusanagi commented on the screen from Café Nagi. "Again, I speak from everyone that you running off alone into the network wasn't the best idea."
"I hear you, Kusanagi. Still..." Yuhiro made a fist with his right hand. "I didn't want those enslaved people to suffer anymore than they already have, and some of them were... children."
"What?!" both Roxy and Kusanagi exclaimed, having been caught off guard upon hearing this information. While the duo was aware that a slave operation was set up under Ace's rule, the fact that there were child slaves shocked them to the core.
"Okay, that's just dark. But moving that aside, I'm glad you're back, Yuhiro. We can't afford anymore distractions now that we've reached the endgame." Kusanagi told Yuhiro.
"Don't worry about me, Kusanagi. My mind is totally clear now." Yuhiro assured Kusanagi, the latter having smiled back as the three humans got back to work.
"Hey, guys. Sorry I'm late." Takeru suddenly said, having entered inside Café Nagi before taking a seat near Kusanagi.
"It's no problem, Takeru. I'm glad you got your personal matter taken of before the war." Roxy stated.
"Hang on a minute. What was your personal matter, Takeru?" Herald inquired.
"Takeru reached out to his girlfriend Kiku for advice." Flame immediately answered, which made Takeru roll his eyes in annoyance.
"Knock it off, Flame. Kiku's not my girlfriend." Takeru reminded Flame.
"So you say."
Takeru sighed before responding. "As Flame said, I talked to Kiku to get some advice. And before you guys say anything, I didn't specify what I was talking about to her. All I said was that there was a matter I needed to take care of, and her advice on how to get through it, as well as some reassurance of course."
"You are aware that Kiku knows your identity as Soulburner, right?" Flame pointed out.
"Yes, I'm aware, Flame." Takeru replied, which made the others chuckle upon hearing that comment.
Everyone present continued to work on the program for several more minutes, where after some time passed, it was finally complete.
"Alright! The program is finally done!" Herald cheered.
"And about time too." Kusanagi wiped the sweat off his forehead with his right forearm. "Shame Yusaku and Arashi are busy. If they were here, we could have gotten this done a bit faster."
"Did I miss something, Kusanagi?" Yusaku questioned, having walked over to where Kusanagi and Takeru were.
"Oh, Yusaku. We finished up the program just now." Kusanagi reported. "Why don't you go take a look at it while I close up for the day?"
"Sounds good." Yusaku responded, before Kusanagi stood up on his feet and headed outside to close things up. "The program seems to be working correctly. Though I'll need Arashi's insight on it to ensure that it's fully ready."
"I'll go get him. Besides, I have to close up soon." Roxy offered, before standing up on her feet and heading over to the counter.
"Ah, Yuhiro! Glad to see you're okay!" Ai piped in.
"Of course I'm fine, Ai. I just needed to clear my head, that's all." Yuhiro reminded Ai, before turning to Yusaku. "As for my mission, it was a success. All the slaves are freed."
"That's good to hear, Yuhiro. Like Ai said, I'm glad to see you're doing well." Yusaku replied.
"Okay, I'm here!" Arashi interjected, before running over to the backroom and sitting on one of the three seats available. "What did I miss?" After Yusaku explained that the program was complete and needed a double check to ensure that it was operating smoothly, Arashi nodded in understanding. "Leave this to me!" As he got to work, Yuhiro stood up from his seat before exiting the backroom, where he saw Roxy in the process of closing things up on the main floor.
"We've reached the endgame, haven't we?" Yuhiro stated, as Roxy turned to see him go over to the counter.
"I guess we have." Roxy agreed, having placed her hands on her hips as she and Yuhiro looked out into the general area in front of him. "Who would have thought that we would meet and befriend the people we know today?"
"I didn't expect it either, Roxy." Yuhiro confessed. "Still, it's good that we met Herald and the others. No, it's great that we met them, along with everyone else for that matter."
"Oh, I get what you're about to say."
"Just as you learn things from your friends, you learn things from your enemies too. For it's amongst many ways of acquiring knowledge." Yuhiro turned his head to Roxy. "My worldview all those years ago was narrow, all focused on a goal that appeared to be selfless, but was selfish in the end."
"It was mine too, Yuhiro." Roxy concurred with a sigh. "Like I said before, we've both been selfish, despite our best intentions. I'm not the woman I used to be, Yuhiro. I was rash and arrogant at the time, even though I showed leadership traits. Then again, I wasn't the best leader."
"But you learned from your experiences, and as a result, you became a better person." Yuhiro replied, which got Roxy to turn her head to face him. "I mean, I'm not the same person I used to be. Despite my best intentions, I was narrow-sighted, impulsive-."
"You're still impulsive, Yuhiro." Roxy interrupted, which caused the two of them to chuckle.
"Alright, fine. I'm still impulsive." Yuhiro conceded, the smile still evident on his face. "But moving on, I was too emotional, a jerk, a bit moody at times, and a bit of a compulsive helper. To sum it up, all those experiences changed me for the better. I'm happy to say that because of those experiences, I grew as an individual."
Roxy gently put her hand on Yuhiro's head before gently ruffling his hair. "And that's one of the reasons why you're my son. Despite everything that happened, you still managed to retain your humanity and your selflessness. You're right in saying that you were a bit of a compulsive helper back then. But now... now you're willing to let others work with you in solving problems. Again, I'm damn lucky that you're my boy."
"Thanks, Roxy." Yuhiro said, before Arashi entered inside the general area of the first floor.
"Hey, guys. Everything's set to stop Lightning. Yusaku's already contacted Revolver, so we should get going soon." Arashi told Yuhiro and Roxy, having brought Yuhiro's duel disk with him. After Yuhiro strapped his duel disk onto his left arm, the trio walked over to the staircase. While Arashi walked upstairs to the living room, Roxy pulled Yuhiro into a tight hug before he too can go to the living room.
"While I'll do my best to keep an eye on you in the network, you just watch yourself as always, okay?" Roxy asked, with Yuhiro hugging her back.
"Don't worry, Roxy. I'll be fine." Yuhiro responded.
"It's not just that." Roxy proceeded to hug Yuhiro tightly. "Yuhiro, please promise me that you won't lose yourself. Promise me that you'll keep going, no matter what happens."
"But..." Yuhiro sighed. Given recent events, Roxy wanted to make sure that Yuhiro not only stayed calm, but had the resolve to continue fighting no matter what transpired, which was something the latter understood. "Okay, mom. I hear you, and I'll do my best to ensure that I don't lose myself."
Satisfied with Yuhiro's answer, Roxy let him go with a nod before heading over to the backroom. As for Yuhiro, he went upstairs to the living room, where he saw Arashi sitting on one of the couches.
"You ready for this, Yuhiro?" Arashi inquired.
"I am, and we will win this!" Yuhiro declared, with Arashi smiling back before preparing to log into the network. As for Yuhiro, he raised Excalibur in front of him, his eyes having glowed red in the process. "Seal Thirteen, release!" Within seconds, a transient corridor appeared that swallowed up Yuhiro before logging him into the network whole. Now that everything was prepared for the war, there was no going back, especially with what was at stake.
Several minutes later, in LINK VRAINS...
The time had come. Everyone's work and effort would finally pay off. They had finished the modifications to the Tower of Hanoi in order to turn it into a scan program, and all the preparations had been complete. Now all the group had to do was turn on the Tower, find Lightning and Azrael, and defeat them once and for all.
"I had a feeling Revolver would call the two of you here for this war." Raguel told Specter and Infearno, the latter two at Revolver's right and left sides.
"While the Hanoi are strong in their own way, Specter and myself are the strongest alongside Revolver. It's only natural for him to bring us along for this fight." Infearno explained.
"Yes, but rest assured, our alliance is only temporary. After the Light Ignis and Azrael are destroyed, we'll settle things between us." Specter added, with Raguel nodding in understanding with Infearno and Specter's points. This alliance wouldn't last forever, as once Lightning and Azrael were defeated, the Hanoi would go after Raguel and the others for the Ignis. Then again, with the Crisis to deal with, they might have to join forces with the Hanoi sooner than everyone realized.
"Moving that aside, we have work to get done." Watchman interjected, having crossed his arms. When Raguel glanced at Watchman, the former was still troubled by what Azrael and Wraith mentioned during their second bout.
"Whether it was out of concern for you or his own pride, I don't care at all. In fact, in those years after the attack on the Cyberse World, you had plenty of chances to kill the Hanoi and stop them, but you held back. Sealed your own powers away even so you didn't have to make the decision on whether to cross the line or not."
"Do you see the truth now, Herald? Raguel? Allies are supposed to share information with one another, not withhold it, and Watchman's no ally, no matter what he claims."
Raguel was also still surprised that Watchman chose to seal his own powers away so he didn't have to make a decision on whether to cross the line or not. Maybe Azrael and Wraith were not. Maybe Watchman was not the ally Raguel thought he was, as allies shared information with one another. But regardless, Raguel withheld information too from his friends, especially when he didn't tell Blue Maiden about the truth regarding Miyu for a very long time.
So instead of judging Watchman based on his past actions along with their reasons, Raguel decided to judge him based on the actions and words he performed and said during the war. Perhaps then Raguel would be able to ultimately determine whether Watchman truly was his ally or not.
"Watchman's right. We should get going." Revolver said to the group, as he snapped his fingers and made the portal open. He walked towards it with Specter and Infearno, along with the trapped Frog and Pigeon. Playmaker and Soulburner stepped in next, then Raguel and Slipstream, and Blue Maiden and Watchman last as the nine duelists entered the old LINK VRAINS.
"Hey, wait. Where's Ghost Girl?" Soulburner asked.
"I ordered Ghost Girl to go to LINK VRAINS while we went to stop Lightning and Azrael." Blue Maiden replied, which caused Raguel, Playmaker, and Slipstream to look at her in concern.
"You ordered her?" Playmaker inquired.
"Alright, requested." Blue Maiden clarified. "Just in case something bad happens there, she can assist Akira in mitigating the damage. Because let's face it. All of us know that she can handle herself."
"That's a wise decision, especially in how we can't be in two places at once." Slipstream commented. And considering recent events, it's better that we have backup on the sidelines than have more people join us in going after Lightning and Azrael. The last thing we need are more casualties, he thought in his mind. A part of Slipstream was honestly grateful that Roxy made Brea stay on the sidelines, despite her being a strong duelist. Besides, Brea wasn't involved in any way with the Lost Incident, Project: Apotheosis, or the coming war. Better for her to help on the sidelines than risk being thrown further into this mess.
"So, Specter. Where are the other Knights of Hanoi?" Ai wondered. "If memory serves, there's three more of you still active, right?"
"You are correct on that matter. And on that topic, they're in the real world, ready to back us up if needed." Specter replied.
Backup beyond Roxy and Kusanagi, Raguel thought with a frown. That made sense, as not everyone needed to go with the group in stopping Lightning directly.
Revolver stopped in front of the Tower. "There's no time to waste. Let's begin our search, shall we?" Everyone glanced at the Tower of Hanoi before making sounds of affirmation. Revolver, Watchman, Playmaker, Raguel, and Blue Maiden formed a circle and raised their hands while Soulburner, Slipstream, Specter, and Infearno took a few steps back. A red circle appeared beneath them before shrinking into a stylized red pentagram between them.
"Initiate scan program!" Revolver declared, as the pentagram lit up before red lightning shot upwards. The lightning traveled up the lopsided Tower, and upon reaching the top, dispersed in a wave across the old LINK VRAINS. The world shook as the Tower righted itself and turned blue. Six expanding rings formed around the Tower as energy traveled up and down. Blue lightning shot off of the top as the rings kept expanding.
"The tower's energized! Prepare for impact!" Revolver's visor darkened while a dark blue sphere formed around the other eight humans. "Engage!" The rings contracted into six blue lights on the Tower before a beam of light shot upwards.
As the Tower's scan worked, Revolver opened up a window in LINK VRAINS. The nine humans and four Ignis watched as the buildings at Central Station flickered.
Raguel blinked. "What the Hell?"
"What is that?" Slipstream inquired, as the buildings seemed to elongate before splitting in two.
"It's a second copy of LINK VRAINS layered on the original." Ai reported.
"No wonder we could find Lightning and Azrael's location. They were hiding in plain sight." Herald seethed the last two words, angry he couldn't realize it sooner.
"That's why we couldn't find the Light Ignis. He created a mirror world to hide inside." Revolver stated.
"How frustrating, yet creative..." Specter muttered, both frustrated and impressed by what Lightning did.
Elsewhere, at a floating castle inside Mirror LINK VRAINS...
"The humans have found us." Windy said, who stood on Echo's shoulder.
"They would have done it eventually, Windy." Wraith pointed out, who was on Azrael's duel disk as said individual leaned on the wall nearby. Malf was nearby, having cracked his knuckles so he can prepare for the coming fight.
"While Wraith makes an excellent point, it was surprisingly sooner than I expected." Lightning admitted. "As a result, Bohman isn't ready to engage them."
"While you see that as a compliment, I see that as an opportunity for me to get my revenge." Windy replied, as his visible eye narrowed before he made a fist with his left hand. "They nearly took everything from me, so I'll take everything from them in return."
"In due time." Azrael assured Windy, as he walked over to where Lightning and Windy were. "For now, we should provide a welcoming party for our enemies, don't you agree?"
Lightning and Windy nodded at Azrael's idea, having seen the merits of it. By watching how the enemies duelled, they can get further insight on how to respond to the strengths of their respective decks, and eventually crush them by exploiting their weaknesses.
Meanwhile, back in old LINK VRAINS...
"Whatever comes now will be the beginning of the end." Revolver said. He, Playmaker, Blue Maiden, Soulburner, Slipstream, Raguel, Watchman, Specter, and Infearno stood on an island while LINK VRAINS and Mirror LINK VRAINS were spread out before them, separated by a band of visible light. "Let's go to Mirror LINK VRAINS."
Everyone except Revolver, Specter, and Infearno leapt onto their duel boards and headed towards the band of light.
"Let's go, Specter and Infearno." Revolver turned his head to Specter and Infearno, the latter two nodding in response.
"Bye, everyone. Try not to get digitized." Pigeon commented.
"Wait up! Revolver, please take us with you!" Frog requested.
"Boss, are you nuts?!"
"You fool! Our backs are against the wall here, and we don't have much choice here!"
"You're right." Pigeon admitted, visibly deflating.
"Come on, take us!" Frog repeated.
"Beyond that portal is a warzone, and no one is going to protect you." Revolver warned Frog and Pigeon.
"You will likely be captured by either Lightning or Azrael, and whatever they have planned for you both won't be merciful." Infearno added.
"We don't care!" Frog countered. "Someone needs to know what happened, and we're going to ensure the people know the truth!"
"That's right! For the truth is important!" Pigeon supported Frog's comment. "Plus, if we don't go, we can't pay back our debts!"
"Pigeon, don't talk like that!" But before either Frog or Pigeon could say anything else, Specter grabbed the orb and shook it to shut the duo up.
"The moment you go through that portal, it won't be safe. Is this what you want?" Specter asked Frog and Pigeon.
"YES!" both Frog and Pigeon confirmed for the final time.
Revolver smiled, having understood the merit of Frog and Pigeon's idea. "Very well. Report our final battle to the world. For as you said, it's important for the people to know the truth regarding what's truly going on."
Infearno frowned but didn't disagree. As for Specter, he took the orb holding the two journalists and then the three Knights of Hanoi entered the band of light, following their six comrades.
But what no one noticed was that just before the pillar of light closed up, several purple energy blades were fired at the pillar's edges, which kept it from closing up as Jericho arrived on his duel board before jumping onto the island.
"Excellent. It seems I'm just in time for the festivities." Jericho commented, before throwing several purple orbs to his right side, which fell straight to the ground. He also threw several purple orbs to his left side as they fell straight to the ground as well. This way, it can distract someone long enough so that Jericho can complete his work. And with his masking program already set up, no one would be able to see him enter into Mirror LINK VRAINS while he could see anyone there. After looking around for several moments, Jericho jumped back onto his duel board before he entered into the band of light.
A few minutes later, Zero stepped out of a portal before kneeling down on the ground on the island he was on before touching it. He then pressed a few buttons on his duel disk, which released a scanning wave that scanned the area. After a few seconds, it beeped, which got Zero's attention upon seeing where the source was. He jumped down the island he was on and landed on another small island, carefully walking over to where the source emitted from. After touching the purple orb, Zero moved a step back, his eyes having widened in shock at what he saw. "Kairi, I found something. It's a snare belonging to our enemies."
"What?" Kairi said back, having heard what Zero reported. "That could mean..."
"Yes. It appears one of Urizen's disciples is on Earth." Zero confirmed.
"This isn't good at all..." Kairi muttered on the other end. Considering how Urizen's disciples put out a ton of snares to ensure they completed their missions, that meant there wasn't much time Zero and Kairi had in stopping a greater threat from taking place. And if one of the disciples realized that Earth was the Lost World... no. Kairi didn't want to think of what would happen should Urizen learn this information. "Zero, disable the snares as fast as you can, and go after whichever disciple is on Earth. We don't have much time left."
"Leave it to me, Kairi. I won't let you down." Zero assured Kairi, before hanging up and quickly fired a blast of energy at the pillar of light, which kept it open while he got to work on the snares. While Zero suspected that the disciple may have gone into the pillar of light, he couldn't be sure due to how the snares masked their presence from anything and anyone else. To put it simply, until Zero disabled the snares, he wouldn't be able to pinpoint the disciple's location precisely. As such, the sooner Zero disabled the snares, the sooner he can defeat the disciple and save Earth from a potential invasion by Urizen's forces.
Elsewhere, in Mirror LINK VRAINS...
The nine duelists rode their duel boards through the gate, with Playmaker and Raguel in the lead and the three Knights of Hanoi at the rear. They all sped along, though Blue Maiden found herself hit by a burst of turbulence. Her duel board wobbled, but Playmaker grabbed her arm.
"I got you." Playmaker stated.
Blue Maiden's duel board then stabilized as she smiled at Playmaker. "Thanks, Playmaker."
"Be careful. If you leave the path and enter the turbulence, who knows where you'll end up." Playmaker warned Blue Maiden, the latter nodding in understanding.
"This place may be similar to that of the Tower of Hanoi, where you'll lose your consciousness data once you lose a duel." Infearno told the others present.
"So to sum it up, let's all be careful." Raguel finished.
"There's the exit!" Ai announced, with everyone looking ahead to see a door of light.
"Let's go!" Playmaker said.
"This war ends today!" Revolver declared.
"There are a lot of enemies ahead of us." Raguel stated. "Lightning, Azrael, Malf, Wraith, Bohman, Haru, and Windy."
"But we'll not only find them, but defeat every single one!" Slipstream declared.
Soon, the nine duel boards exited the gate and finally reached their destination. Everyone gasped at what they saw.
"Here we are. Mirror LINK VRAINS." Playmaker said, he and the others looking around the general area. Mirror LINK VRAINS looked almost the same as LINK VRAINS itself. The only differences were the red sky and violet lights.
"They should be somewhere around here." Ai stated, having looked around to see if there were any places that looked odd, as they may be the ones where Lightning and Azrael made their headquarters.
"Okay, you two. It's the end of the road." Specter told Frog and Pigeon. "I don't know what'll happen, but you knew the risks. Go wherever you like." He thrust out his hand and sent their sphere away. Said sphere broke apart, restoring them to their original size and making them fall. Fortunately, Pigeon managed to catch Frog and the duo flew away.
"Do you know if LINK VRAINS is okay, Playmaker?" Blue Maiden asked Playmaker.
"I'll check right now." Playmaker replied, before he pressed a button on his duel disk. "Kusanagi, can you tell me the status of LINK VRAINS?"
"Well, Yusaku. The whole network's in an uneasy state." Kusanagi reported.
"Or to be specific, the entire network's glitching, and everyone's panicking. I expect Zaizen to go into LINK VRAINS to assess the situation carefully." Roxy added.
"If something does happen, let us know." Raguel requested.
"Of course." Roxy said back.
"Just be careful, you guys." Kusanagi urged.
"Invaders detected!"
All nine duelists looked ahead to see a swarm of red-and-blue suited men floating in front of them.
"We will eliminate you!"
"Great. Just great. It's Bitboot... again." Herald cursed.
"No. We are not dealing with these douchebags ever again!" Raguel shouted, before pressing a button on his duel disk, which caused a data sphere with energy flowing over it to appear in the palm of his right hand. He then sped forward towards one of the Bitboots before plunging his right hand into one of their chests, which caused that Bitboot to clutch his chest in pain.
"Gah... I don't feel so good." Bitboot commented, before tendrils of data burst out of his body before piercing the others, all of them screaming as each one quickly turned to particles.
"It seems Gil's bomb worked." Flame observed, the nine duelists speeding past the remains of those Bitboots. The group then saw those same tendrils of energy head straight towards Lightning's castle.
"Hey, guys. Maybe those tendrils of energy can help us find out where Lightning and Azrael are in this place." Soulburner stated.
"Then let's get going." Watchman said, as he and the others followed after the tendrils of energy, intent on stopping Lightning and Azrael now that the cannon fodder had been eliminated.
Meanwhile, at Lightning's castle...
"WHAT?!" Lightning exclaimed, as he and Jin saw the Bitboots he sent completely turn into particles through a spherical monitor. Lightning and Jin weren't the only ones inside the palace's throne room, for Azrael and Wraith, along with Windy and Malf were watching the same thing on the spherical monitor.
"It seems our enemies created a virus bomb to disable Bitboot." Azrael stated the obvious.
"Impossible! There is no way the humans could have captured a Bitboot!" Lightning exclaimed for a second time.
"Well, you'll just have to suck it up, Lightning. Because it's been done already." Windy snidely told Lightning humorously, the latter glaring at the former in response.
Lightning put a hand to his chin as he began thinking furiously in his head. All the Bitboots belonged only to him, and only he can command them all. Lightning also thought back to all the times he sent Bitboot out to complete missions. From trying to deal with Soulburner, to stalling for time so Lightning can escape with his allies, and even to assist Azrael in his mission to reach the dark vault. Wait a minute! Of course! That was the only explanation! "Azrael, the Bitboots under your command back then were your responsibility! You allowed the enemy to-."
"Allowed, you say?" Azrael boringly repeated, as he leaned off against the wall and walked towards where Lightning was. "Compared to my mission, the livelihood of those cannon fodder was nothing. And do note that you trapped Raguel and the others in your former castle so you can have them see you slaughter Blood Shepherd."
"Then who was responsible?" Lightning questioned.
"If I were to guess, one of Raguel's allies captured a Bitboot before using their data to create the virus bomb." Azrael hypothesized. He already knew that it was the correct answer, yet it was good to see Lightning getting pissed off upon seeing something that he wasn't able to control.
"This isn't good at all." Lightning told the others. At the rate things were going, the enemy will arrive at where Lightning and Azrael were, and with Bohman not fully synchronized, everything will fall apart unless he does something soon.
"Guess you weren't as careful as you thought you were, Lightning." Wraith mocked Lightning, which caused the latter to furiously glare at the former as Windy howled with laughter.
"Enough, both of you." Azrael broke up the fight between Wraith and Lightning before it can escalate further. He then turned to Lightning. "If you don't act soon, then everything you've done up until now will turn to ashes."
"Then what do you suggest I do?" Lightning asked.
"Let Malf infect the Bitboots and enhance them. This way, their code will be changed, and the virus bomb will not have an effect on them." Azrael suggested. "Surely, you see the merit in my suggestion, right? Unless you want to take a risk, of course."
Lightning thought over Azrael's idea. Unfortunately, it was the truth. He couldn't take any risks right now, nor could he afford to waste any more time. By complying with Azrael's request, Lightning would be able to buy the time needed for Bohman to synchronize himself with Mirror LINK VRAINS. "Fine. You can do it."
"Excellent." Azrael then turned to Malf. "Alright, Malf. You know what to do."
"Just leave it to me." Malf said, as he exited the throne room, a malicious grin evident on his face. A minute later, everyone heard the screams of several Bitboots as Malf got to work.
In Azrael's mind, this was a win for him, as Malf would acquire knowledge on their enemies every time a Bitboot was defeated in a duel. It would then enable Malf to become stronger so he can fulfil his role regarding Azrael's plans for eternity. To sum it up, everything was going according to plan.
Meanwhile, in Mirror LINK VRAINS...
"Ha! No more Bitboots means smooth sailing from here to Lightning and Azrael's location!" Ai said.
"Say, Raguel. Where did you get that virus bomb?" Blue Maiden asked him.
"You two remember Gil, right?" Raguel said back, with Blue Maiden and Aqua nodding in response. "Apparently, he captured a Bitboot, and used their code as a base for the bomb."
"You could say that it was his personal way of getting revenge on Lightning for the attacks in the network and in the real world." Herald added.
"And I'm assuming that's how he managed to get the Light Ignis's algorithm?" Revolver piped in.
"That's correct." Slipstream vouched for Raguel.
"Uh, guys. I don't mean to interrupt the convo, but something's coming!" Soulburner stated, which got everyone's attention as they looked ahead to what was going on in front of them.
To everyone's shock, they saw several Bitboots headed towards them, only with a few differences. Each of them had piece of hardened, purple goo on their knees and shoulders. Their ties were now colored purple with black stars and red eyes instead of the general black, along with those same elements on their coats. For their eyes, it consisted of purple spiked-shaped glasses instead the glasses Bit and Boot originally had. Finally, purple horns were attached to the sides of each Bitboots' head, which curved upwards like that of a bull.
"What the Hell?" Raguel muttered, with Herald letting out a gasp upon seeing those Bitboots.
"Aw glitch! Malf powered up those Bitboots!" Ai stated the obvious.
"Which means the virus bomb won't work on them, as their code has been rewritten into an original one." Playmaker correctly surmised.
"Be on alert, everyone. They may be cannon fodder, but that doesn't mean we should underestimate these Bitboots." Watchman told everyone.
"Right!" everyone agreed in unison.
"Let's go kick their asses, everyone!" Slipstream declared. The nine duelists split off, each taking on their own opponent.
"Hello there, Slimpstream. Bet you weren't expecting the new and improved versions of us." Bitboot greeted Slipstream.
"Excuse me?! You dare call me that?!" Slipstream exclaimed out of pure anger and annoyance. When Slipstream first logged into the network, there were people who accidentally missaid his name, where he was willing to forgive them since he was new to the network. However, there were those who intentionally called Slipstream by that name, and they ended up regretting it by the time he pulverized them in duels. "Allow me to show you what happens when someone calls me that name, okay? Because it ain't gonna be merciful."
"Bring it on!" Bitboot replied.
"Speed Duel!" Bitboot and Slipstream shouted in unison.
Bitboot: 4000 LP
Slipstream: 4000 LP
"I'm going first, Bitboot. My turn!" Slipstream said. "I activate the Spell card, Speedraw. When I control no cards, I can draw two cards from the top of my deck in exchange for sending one 'Speedroid' monster from my hand to my Graveyard. I send Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice from my hand to my Graveyard." After Slipstream sent the declared card to his Graveyard, he drew the top two cards of his deck.
"From there, because I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Speedroid Terrortop from my hand." A chain of red tops with blades attached to them appeared on Slipstream's field.
Speedroid Terrortop ATK: 1200 DEF: 600 LV: 3
"When Terrortop is Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one 'Speedroid' monster with a different name from my deck to my hand." Slipstream continued. "I add Speedroid Dominobutterfly from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Slipstream's deck, which he took and added to his hand.
"I summon Speedroid Dominobutterfly from my hand to my field." A mechanical butterfly whose wings consisted of two dominoes, one white and one black on each side appeared on Slipstream's field. Its had arms, with the right fingers being colored black, white the left fingers were colored white. Its head consisted of a small, single scope in the middle of it.
Speedroid Dominobutterfly ATK: 100 DEF: 300 LV: 2 Scale: 8
"It's time to kick my circuit into overdrive!" Slipstream declared, as a Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two Wind monsters. I set Speedroid Terrortop and Dominobutterfly into the Link Markers!" Terrortop went into the bottom-left arrowhead, while Dominobutterfly went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning both of them red.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Hi-Speedroid Rubber Band Shooter!" A dark-blue rubber band gun whose body was composed of a rotating barrel with an engine at the back flew onto Slipstream's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. It had six fins at the front that glowed green at the top, as well as six fins around the back of the barrel. At the front was a cone with a shining blue light.
Hi-Speedroid Rubber Band Shooter ATK: 1000 LINK-2 ↙️↘️
"I activate Rubber Band Shooter's first effect, which lets me Normal Summon one Wind monster from my hand to my field once per turn" Slipstream continued. "As such, I summon Speedroid Double Yoyo from my hand to my field." Two green discs with blades attached by a single, grey center then appeared on Slipstream's field.
Speedroid Double Yoyo ATK: 1400 DEF: 1400 LV: 4
"Double Yoyo's effect! When it's Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon one Level 3 or lower 'Speedroid' monster from my Graveyard. I Special Summon Red-Eyed Dice from my Graveyard to my field!" A yellow dice with a single red eye and six red electrodes orbiting around it on Slipstream's field.
Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice ATK: 100 DEF: 100 LV: 1
"Next, I activate Red-Eyed Dice's effect. When it's Normal or Special Summoned, I can target one 'Speedroid' monster I control with a different name and change its level from one to six until the End Phase. I change Double Yoyo's Level to 5!" Soon, Red-Eyed Dice glowed as one of its electrodes went into Double Yoyo, which changed its level to five.
Speedroid Double Yoyo LV: 4 + 1 = 5
"I tune the Level 1 Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice with the Level 5 Double Yoyo!" A bolt of green lightning struck Slipstream as the world greyed out and his two monsters disappeared into particles. Two rings, one gold and one green appeared before turning blue and merging. Six blue rings stacked in a tower appeared, a screen displaying "1 + 5" in front of them. The screen changed to "6" as light surged through the rings.
"Magical sword with the form of a cross! Use your power to rend all enemies!" Slipstream chanted. "Synchro Summon! Appear, Level 6! Hi-Speedroid Kendama!" A dark blue machine resembling a cross with a large sword attached to its center appeared on Slipstream's field in the Main Monster Zone Rubber Band Shooter pointed to.
Hi-Speedroid Kendama ATK: 2200 DEF: 1600 LV: 6
"I activate Kendama's effect. Once per turn, I can banish a 'Speedroid' monster from my Graveyard to inflict 500 points of damage to you! I banish Terrortop!" Soon, Kendama blasted Bitboot with a bolt of blue energy, which made him wince as his life points dropped.
Bitboot: 4000 – 500 = 3500 LP
"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Slipstream concluded. "Alright, Bitboot. Let's see if what Malf did to you actually makes you Tweedlesmarter or Tweedledumber."
"You'll regret those words! Our turn! We draw!" Bitboot said, as he drew the top card of his deck. "We summon Darkscourge Saber Sardine from our hand to our field!" A purple and grey mechanical fish that had a black star emblem with red eyes on its sides appeared on Bitboot's field.
Darkscourge Saber Sardine ATK: 800 DEF: 300 LV: 3
"Damn. So it wasn't just their appearance that was infected by Malf. Bitboot's deck was also enhanced as a result..." Slipstream muttered. While Bitboot's deck looked the same, appearances can be quite deceiving, as their monsters and cards could have new effects as a result.
"We activate Saber Sardine's effect. Once per turn, by paying 400 life points, we can Special Summon one 'Darkscourge token' in defense position to our field." Bitboot continued, as their life points dropped, which caused a small purple and green orb that had a black star emblem with red eyes appeared on Bitboot's field in defense position.
Bitboot: 3500 – 400 = 3100 LP
Darkscourge Token ATK: 200 DEF: 200 LV: 2
"Appear, our circuit!" A Link Portal appeared above Bitboot. "The summoning conditions are two 'Darkscourge' monsters. I set Darkscourge Saber Sardine and the Darkscourge token into the Link Markers!" Saber Sardine went into the left arrowhead, while the Darkscourge token went into the bottom arrowhead, turning both of them red.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Darkscourge Battle Coela!" A large, purple mechanical fish with black star emblems on its sides that had red eyes appeared on Bitboot's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Instead of yellow eyes, it had red eyes, and light-red glowing lines ran over its body instead of green lines.
Darkscourge Battle Coela ATK: 2000 LINK-2 ⬅️⬇️
"We activate the Equip Spell card, Darkscourge Torpedo, and equip it onto Battle Coela!" Bitboot continued, as a set of cannons with red spores on the sides attached themselves to Battle Coela's back. "We also activate Battle Coela's effect. Once per turn, we can move it to a Main Monster Zone it points to." Battle Coela moved downwards to the Main Monster Zone it pointed to.
"From there, we activate the Field Spell card, Castle Link. Once per turn, we can target one Link monster we control and move it to a Main Monster Zone it points to. We target Battle Coela, and move it to the Main Monster Zone it points to on the left." Battle Coela then shifted to the left, indicating that it switched Main Monster Zones.
"The time has come! We activate our Skill, Markers Portal!" Bitboot announced. The stars on Bitboot's body glowed as he placed his arms in front of him, one crossed on top of the other. "Once per duel, when our life points are less than our original amount, we can activate a Link Spell card from our deck. In addition, the Link Spell card that was activated by this Skill can no longer be negated or destroyed by your card effects."
"Of course it does that..." Slipstream muttered out of annoyance. He hoped that Judgment Arrows was forever gone after this war was over, for he never wanted to see it again.
"We activate the Link Spell card, Judgment Arrows!" The Link Spell card appeared in the Spell & Trap card zone that Battle Coela was pointing to.
Judgment Arrows ↖️⬆️↗️
"When a Link monster Judgement Arrows points to battles, its attack points are doubled. However, should Judgment Arrows leave the field, all monsters it points to will be destroyed." Bitboot reminded Slipstream, the latter sighing out of pure boredom. "We also activate Battle Coela's other effect. Once per turn, we can move this card to the Link Marker of a card linked to it. Therefore, Battle Coela moves to Judgment Arrows' far-left Link Marker." Battle Coela performed said action, moving further away from Bitboot.
"We activate Torpedo's effect. Once per turn, we can inflict 900 points of damage times the number of times the equipped monster moved this turn. Since Battle Coela moved three times, you take 2700 points of damage!"
"Sorry, I won't be the one taking effect damage, especially with this! Continuous-Trap, activate! Speedroid Shuriken Hurricane!" Slipstream replied, as he gestured to his face-down card. "Once per turn, if a card or effect that would inflict damage to me is activated, you take that effect damage instead!"
"What?!" Bitboot exclaimed, before turning to Battle Coela. "Don't fire! Don't fire!" Unfortunately, the cannons attached to Battle Coela's back fired, which caused a tornado with shurikens that had one eye on the sides to fire out of Shuriken Hurricane in response. As a result, the cannon blasts were pushed back to Bitboot and made him wince as they took damage instead.
Bitboot: 3100 – (900 X 3) = 400 LP
"You'll regret that, bub! Battle!" Bitboot thrusted out his right hand. "Darkscourge Battle Coela attacks Hi-Speedroid Rubber Band Shooter! And when a Link monster Judgment Arrows points to battles, its attack points are doubled!" Battle Coela was surrounded in a golden aura that doubled its attack points.
Darkscourge Battle Coela ATK: 2000 X 2 = 4000
"Sorry, but you triggered Shuriken Hurricane's second effect." Slipstream cheekily said. "Once per turn, when the attack points of a monster are changed, you take damage equal to that change."
"GAAH! Stand down! Stand down!" Bitboot pleaded to Battle Coela, only for it to fire once again, which caused a second tornado with shurikens that had one eye on the sides to fire out of Shuriken Hurricane in response. As a result, it absorbed the cannon fire before heading straight for Bitboot, which caused him to be sent flying as his life points dropped straight to zero.
Bitboot: 400 – 2000 = 0
"I regret signing up for the infection for power deal!" Bit said.
"So do I!" Boot added, before the both of them turned into particles.
Slipstream said nothing as he rode past by Bitboot, having already been disintegrated for good. Well, at least he set another example on what would happen to those who called Slipstream by that wretched nickname. I didn't expect Lightning to allow Malf to infect the Bitboots. He's most likely desperate if he had to resort to such a measure as this, Slipstream thought in his mind. I do hope the others are okay.
Elsewhere, in another area of Mirror LINK VRAINS...
"We heard about you both, Water Ignis and Blue Maiden, as well as how dangerous the both of you are." Bitboot said.
"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult, but you're still going down!" Blue Maiden declared.
"That's right! Even if you were infected under Lightning's orders, it doesn't change the fact that you're in our way!" Aqua added, her eyes having narrowed at Bitboot.
"In that case, prepare yourself!" Bitboot responded.
"Let's Speed Duel!" Bitboot and Blue Maiden said at the same time.
Blue Maiden: 4000 LP
Bitboot: 4000 LP
"We're going first. Our turn!" Bitboot said. "We summon Darkscourge Saber Sardine from our hand to our field!" A purple and grey mechanical fish that had a black star emblem with red eyes on its sides appeared on Bitboot's field.
Darkscourge Saber Sardine ATK: 800 DEF: 300 LV: 3
"We activate Saber Sardine's effect. Once per turn, by paying 400 life points, we can Special Summon one 'Darkscourge token' in defense position to our field." As Bitboot's life points dropped, a small purple and green orb that had a black star emblem with red eyes appeared on Bitboot's field in defense position.
Bitboot: 4000 – 400 = 3600 LP
Darkscourge Token ATK: 200 DEF: 200 LV: 2
"Appear, our circuit!" Bitboot declared, as a Link Portal appeared above them. "The summoning conditions are two 'Darkscourge' monsters. I set Darkscourge Saber Sardine and the Darkscourge token into the Link Markers!" Saber Sardine went into the left arrowhead, while the Darkscourge token went into the bottom arrowhead, turning both of them red.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Darkscourge Battle Coela!" A large, purple mechanical fish with black star emblems on its sides that had red eyes appeared on Bitboot's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Instead of yellow eyes, it had red eyes, and light-red glowing lines ran over its body instead of green lines.
Darkscourge Battle Coela ATK: 2000 LINK-2 ⬅️⬇️
"We activate the Equip Spell card, Darkscourge Torpedo, and equip it onto Battle Coela!" Bitboot continued, as a set of cannons with red spores on the sides attached themselves to Battle Coela's back. "We also activate Battle Coela's effect. Once per turn, we can move it to a Main Monster Zone it points to." Battle Coela moved downwards to the Main Monster Zone it pointed to.
"From there, we activate the Field Spell card, Castle Link. Once per turn, we can target one Link monster we control and move it to a Main Monster Zone it points to. We target Battle Coela, and move it to the Main Monster Zone it points to on the left." Battle Coela then shifted to the left, indicating that it switched Main Monster Zones.
"The time has come! We activate our Skill, Markers Portal!" Bitboot announced. The stars on Bitboot's body glowed as he placed his arms in front of him, one crossed on top of the other. "Once per duel, when our life points are less than our original amount, we can activate a Link Spell card from our deck. In addition, the Link Spell card that was activated by this Skill can no longer be negated or destroyed by your card effects."
"I think we already know what that card does, so why don't you just activate it already, okay?" Blue Maiden ordered, which made Bitboot sweat drop upon hearing that response.
"Okay, okay. We activate the Link Spell card, Judgment Arrows!" The Link Spell card appeared in the Spell & Trap card zone that Battle Coela was pointing to.
Judgment Arrows ↖️⬆️↗️
"When a Link monster Judgement Arrows points to battles, its attack points are doubled. However, should Judgment Arrows leave the field, all monsters it points to will be destroyed." Bitboot stated. "We also activate Battle Coela's other effect. Once per turn, we can move this card to the Link Marker of a card linked to it. Therefore, Battle Coela moves to Judgment Arrows' far-left Link Marker." Battle Coela performed said action, moving further away from Bitboot.
"We activate Torpedo's effect. Once per turn, we can inflict 900 points of damage times the number of times the equipped monster moved this turn. Since Battle Coela moved three times, you take 2700 points of damage!" The cannons on Battle Coela's back then fired at Blue Maiden, who winced as her life points dropped.
Blue Maiden: 4000 – (900 X 3) = 1300 LP
"We Set one card face-down and end our turn." Bitboot concluded.
"Keep your guard up, Blue Maiden. These Bitboots aren't like the ones Soulburner and Slipstream dueled." Aqua warned Blue Maiden.
"Don't worry, Aqua. I'll tread carefully." Blue Maiden assured Aqua. "My turn! I draw!" She drew the top card of her deck. "I activate the Spell card, Graceful Charity. This card lets me draw the top three cards from the top of my deck in exchange for discarding two cards from my hand to my Graveyard." After Blue Maiden drew the top three cards of her deck, she drew the top two cards of her deck.
"I summon Marincess Sea Horse from my hand to my field." A girl wearing a pink and golden dress who had blond hair appeared on Blue Maiden's field.
Marincess Sea Horse ATK: 1400 DEF: 1000 LV: 3
"Shine! The circuit of love, friendship, and bonds!" A Link Portal appeared above Blue Maiden. "The summoning conditions are one Level 4 or lower 'Marincess' monster. I set Marincess Sea Horse into the Link Markers!" Sea Horse went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Marincess Blue Slug!" A little girl wearing a blue dress that had yellow dots, along with dark-blue and purple hair with yellow highlights appeared on Blue Maiden's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.
Marincess Blue Slug ATK: 1500 LINK-1 ⬇️
"Okay! I'm gonna give it my best!" Blue Slug promised Blue Maiden and Aqua.
"Yes, you certainly will." Aqua encouraged Blue Slug, who waved hi back.
"Hang on a minute! Your Cyberse monsters talk?!" Bitboot demanded.
"Yes, they do. Is there a problem with that?" Aqua angrily questioned back, which made Bitboot sweat drop for a second time.
"When Blue Slug is Link Summoned, I can add one 'Marincess' monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I add Sea Horse from my Graveyard to my hand." Blue Maiden announced, as a card popped out of her Graveyard, which she took and added to her hand. "I activate the effect of Marincess Sea Horse from my hand, which lets me Special Summon her to a Main Monster Zone a 'Marincess' Link monster on my field points to." At Blue Maiden's command, Sea Horse reappeared on her field in the Main Monster Zone Blue Slug pointed to.
Marincess Sea Horse ATK: 1400 DEF: 1000 LV: 3
"Shine, for a second time! The circuit of love, friendship, and bonds!" A second Link Portal appeared above Blue Maiden. "The summoning conditions are two Water monsters. I set the Link 1 Marincess Blue Slug, and Sea Horse into the Link Markers!" Blue Slug went into the left arrowhead, while Sea Horse went into the bottom arrowhead, turning both of them red.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Marincess Coral Anemone!" A young woman with orange hair appeared on Blue Maiden's field in the Main Monster Zone Blue Slug pointed to. She wore a white and pink dress with yellow frills resembling that of a jellyfish over purple tights.
Marincess Coral Anemone ATK: 2000 LINK-2 ⬅️⬇️
"Alright! Don't worry, Blue Maiden! With my assistance, you'll win this duel!" Coral Anemone assured Blue Maiden.
"I activate Coral Anemone's effect. Once per turn, I can target one Water monster with 1500 or less attack points in my Graveyard, and Special Summon it to my field to a Main Monster Zone she points to." Blue Maiden continued. "I target and Special Summon Sea Horse back to my field." At Blue Maiden's command, Sea Horse reappeared on her field in the Main Monster Zone Coral Anemone pointed to.
Marincess Sea Horse ATK: 1400 DEF: 1000 LV: 3
"How many times are you going to bring that weakling back to your field?" Bitboot inquired.
"As many times as needed." Blue Maiden replied, before thrusting her right hand above her. "Shine for a third time! The circuit of love, friendship, and bonds!" A third Link Portal appeared above Blue Maiden. "The summoning conditions are two or more 'Marincess' monsters. I set the Link 2 Marincess Coral Anemone, and Sea Horse into the Link Markers!" Coral Anemone went into the left and bottom arrowheads, while Sea Horse went into the right arrowhead, and Mandarin went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning all three of them red.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Marincess Marbled Rock!" A woman in a red dress with spiky violet hair appeared on Blue Maiden's field in the Main Monster Zone Blue Slug pointed to. Spiked coral sat atop her shoulders, and fins adorned the sides of her dress. She also carried a fan-like weapon in each of her hands.
Marincess Marbled Rock ATK: 2500 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️
"I'm at your beck and call, Blue Maiden!" Marbled Rock said, ready for battle.
"Thank you, Marbled Rock!" Aqua called back, grateful that Marbled Rock was on their side.
Bitboot, on the other hand, facepalmed. Thanks to Aqua, there was no telling how many of Blue Maiden's Cyberse monsters were sentient. But moving that aside, it was irrelevant compared to the duel they were involved in.
"Coral Anemone's effect activates! Since she was sent to my Graveyard, I can add a 'Marincess' card from my Graveyard to my hand. I add Marincess Sea Star from my Graveyard to my hand." Blue Maiden added, as a card popped out of her Graveyard, which she took and added to her hand.
"Wait a minute! Sea Star was one of the cards you discarded earlier!" Bitboot realized.
"You're correct, and now Sea Star will play a role in helping us win this duel!" Aqua confirmed.
"That's right, Aqua. I activate Sea Star's effect from my hand." Blue Maiden said. "By discarding this card from my hand to my Graveyard, I can target one 'Marincess' monster on my field, and increase its attack points by 800 until the end of this turn. I target Marbled Rock!" After Blue Maiden sent a card from her hand to her Graveyard, Marbled Rock was covered in a blue aura, which increased her strength.
Marincess Marbled Rock ATK: 2500 + 800 = 3300
"In addition, I activate Marbled Rock's effect." Blue Maiden added. "Once per turn, I can target one 'Marincess' card in my Graveyard, and add it to my hand. I target and add Sea Star from my Graveyard to my hand." Two cards popped out of Blue Maiden's deck, which she took and added to her hand. "And I once again activate Sea Star's effect from my hand."
"You can't do that! It's illegal!" Bitboot protested.
"Normally, yes. But for Sea Star, I can activate her effect up to two times per turn." Blue Maiden clarified. "And like before, by discarding this card from my hand to my Graveyard, I can target one 'Marincess' monster on my field, and increase its attack points by 800 until the end of this turn. I target Marbled Rock once again!" After Blue Maiden sent a card from her hand to her Graveyard, Marbled Rock was covered in a blue aura once again, which increased her strength.
Marincess Marbled Rock ATK: 3300 + 800 = 4100
"Last but not least, I activate the effect of Marincess Decision from my Graveyard. By banishing this card and one 'Marincess' monster from my Graveyard, one monster you control loses attack points equal to the banished 'Marincess' monster's original attack points until the end of this turn."
"What?! This isn't good!" Bitboot exclaimed.
"Of course it isn't good for you." Blue Maiden responded. "I banish Coral Anemone, which means Darkscourge Battle Coela loses 2000 attack points!" A current of water with Coral Anemone in it headed straight for Battle Coela, the former hitting the latter with such force that its attack points decreased.
Darkscourge Battle Coela ATK: 2000 – 2000 = 0
"Battle!" Blue Maiden thrusted out her right hand. "Marincess Marbled Rock attacks Darkscourge Battle Coela!" Watery energy surrounded the fans in Marbled Rock's hands as she got ready to throw them at Battle Coela.
"Don't count us out yet!" Bitboot said back, as he gestured to his face-down card. "Counter-Trap, activate! Darkscourge Hallucination! When you declare an attack while we control a 'Darkscourge' monster-."
"I don't think so! I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Marincess Typhoon!" Blue Maiden countered. "When you activate a card effect, I can negate the effect and banish it."
"Oh no!" Bitboot gasped.
"The best part is that if I control a Link 2 or higher 'Marincess' monster, I can banish cards you control up to the number of 'Marincess' Link monsters I control. That means I can banish an additional card you control. I banish Battle Coela!" A typhoon of water blasted out of the card before consuming Battle Coela completely, which made Bitboot gasp for a second time out of pure shock.
"A battle replay occurs. Marincess Marbled Rock attacks you directly! Fan Vortex!" Blue Maiden shouted, as Marbled Rock threw the fans at Bitboot before firing two bursts of water from her hands as well, which caused an explosion that sent him flying off his duel board by the time his life points dropped to zero.
Bitboot: 3600 – 4100 = 0
"Even with the infection boost, we keep losing!" Bit exclaimed.
"Thus being our fate as cannon fodder." Boot commented, as the both of them turned into particles.
"Awesome job, Blue Maiden." Aqua praised Blue Maiden.
"Thanks, Aqua. I really appreciate it." Blue Maiden replied, as she rode past the disintegrated Bitboot. As evident by the infected Bitboot, there was more to come, and Blue Maiden couldn't falter now. Not when there was so much at stake. But thanks to the training and advice Blue Maiden acquired from Aqua, Roxy and Ghost Girl, she was more than prepared for whatever she may encounter next.
Meanwhile, in another area of Mirror LINK VRAINS...
Soulburner whistled as he activated his duel disk. While he knew he was going to duel Bitboot, he didn't expect to duel one that was infected by Malf. "Damn, Flame. I honestly didn't expect Lightning to ask Azrael and Malf to infect the Bitboots like that."
"It seems Lightning must have been desperate to the point where he'd make such a request to Azrael and Malf." Flame agreed.
"Hey, knuckleheads! We're about to begin a duel here!" Bitboot interrupted, as they activated their duel disk.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's get to it. Because the sooner we begin, the sooner you'll lose!" Soulburner replied
"It's time to Speed Duel!" Bitboot and Soulburner said in unison.
Soulburner: 4000 LP
Bitboot: 4000 LP
"We choose to go second." Bitboot said, having remembered the last time he dueled against Soulburner. Or at the very least, the last time a Bitboot dueled against Soulburner. Better to learn from your predecessor's mistakes so you don't make the same mistake.
"Given by how Malf enhanced these Bitboots by infecting them, we need to tread carefully if we're to achieve victory, Soulburner." Flame warned Soulburner.
"Just leave it to me, Flame. My turn!" Soulburner stated. "I activate the Spell card, Terraforming, which lets me add one Field Spell card from my deck to my hand. I add Salamangreat Sanctuary from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Soulburner's deck, which he took and added to his hand.
"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Salamangreat Circle. This card lets me activate one of two effects, and I'll choose effect one, which lets me add one 'Salamangreat' monster from my deck to my hand. I add Salamangreat Gazelle from my deck to my hand." A second card popped out of Soulburner's deck, which he took and added to his hand.
"I summon Salamangreat Meer from my deck to my hand." Soulburner continued, as a small orange, red, and black meercat appeared on Soulburner's field.
Salamangreat Meer ATK: 800 DEF: 600 LV: 2
"I blaze the circuit that scorches the path to the future!" A Link Portal appeared above Soulburner. "The summoning conditions are one Normal Summoned monster with 1000 or less attack points. I set Salamangreat Meer into the Link Markers!" Meer went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning it red.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Salamangreat Almiraj!" A light-blue mechanical one-horned rabbit with ears resembling that of wings appeared on Soulburner's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. She had brown eyes, and a mane of fire surrounding her neck, along with the horn burning with fire.
Salamangreat Almiraj ATK: 0 LINK-1 ↘️
"Don't worry, Soulburner. I'll help you bring this guy down." Almiraj said.
"Even the small can make a big contribution when used correctly." Flame commented.
"What Flame's trying to say is that you'll certainly be of great help, and I'm grateful for it." Soulburner stated. "But moving that aside, I activate the effect of Salamangreat Gazelle from my hand. Since a 'Salamangreat' monster was sent to my Graveyard, I can Special Summon it to my field from my hand." A white and black metal gazelle with flames on its back appeared on Soulburner's field.
Salamangreat Gazelle ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000 LV: 3
"And when Gazelle is Normal or Special Summoned, I can send a 'Salamangreat' card from my deck to my Graveyard. I send Salamangreat Spinny from my deck to my Graveyard." A card popped out of Soulburner's deck, which he took and added to his hand.
"I blaze the circuit that scorches the path to the future for a second time!" Soulburner announced, as a second Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two Fire effect monsters. I set the Link 1 Salamangreat Almiraj, and Gazelle into the Link Markers!" Almiraj went into the top arrowhead, while Gazelle went into the bottom arrowhead, turning both of them red.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf!" A green and gray wolf that stood on his hind legs appeared on Soulburner's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Around his neck was a ring of fire.
Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf ATK: 1800 LINK-2 ⬆️⬇️
"You're going down!" Sunlight Wolf said, having grit his teeth in anger at Bitboot.
"Wait a minute! Your Cyberse monsters talk too?!" Bitboot exclaimed out of shock before groaning in annoyance.
"Whether it's the creatures, humans, elements, or something else, we all have a voice in-." Flame began speaking.
"Just continue your turn already, knuckleheads!" Bitboot demanded.
Flame narrowed his eyes before crossing his arms. "Hmph. How rude."
"Just ignore them, Flame." Soulburner told Flame, before refocusing his attention on the duel. "I activate the effect of Salamangreat Spinny from my Graveyard. Since there's a 'Salamangreat' monster on my field, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard to my field. However, it's banished once it leaves my field. Now come, Salamangreat Spinny!" A black and orange metal armadillo covered in small flames appeared on Soulburner's field in the Main Monster Zone Sunlight Wolf pointed to.
Salamangreat Spinny ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 3
"Sunlight Wolf's second effect! Since a monster was Normal or Special Summoned to a Main Monster Zone he points to, I can add one Fire monster from my Graveyard to my hand. However, I can't Normal or Special Summon monsters with the added monster's name for the rest of this turn. I add Meer from my Graveyard to my hand." A card popped out of Soulburner's Graveyard, which he took and added to his hand. He could use Meer's effect and bring it out to his field, but it wasn't a good idea for the time being.
But there was something else Soulburner can do instead. "I blaze the circuit that scorches the path to the future for a third time!" A third Link Portal appeared above Soulburner. "The summoning conditions are two or more fire effect monsters. I set the Link 2 Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf, and Spinny into the Link Markers!" Wolf went into the top and bottom-left arrowheads, while Spinny went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning all three of them red.
"King of the fiery jungle! Awaken, and protect the land and its creatures!" Soulburner chanted. "Link Summon! Rise! Link 3! Salamangreat Heatleo!" A large, dark-blue skinned, anthropomorphic lion wearing orange and red armor, along with wings and gauntlets shaped like mouths appeared on Soulburner's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.
Salamangreat Heatleo ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ↙️⬆️↘️
"Let's see if you have what it takes to stand against me!" Heatleo roared.
"I'll make sure you can intimidate this guy for good with this, Heatleo! I activate the Field Spell card, Salamangreat Sanctuary!" Soulburner said, as a red magical circle appeared above him. "Once per turn, if I Link Summon a 'Salamangreat' Link monster, I can use one 'Salamangreat' Link monster I control with the same name as the entire material. I set Salamangreat Heatleo into the Link Markers!" Heatleo burst into flames and went into the magical circle above the duel field, causing it to burst into flames.
"Reincarnation Link Summon! Rise again from the valley of flame! Link 3! Salamangreat Heatleo!" Heatleo reappeared on Soulburner's field in the right Extra Monster Zone, only fire formed a mane around his neck and wings.
Salamangreat Heatleo ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ↙️⬆️↘️
"Yes! Now that is more like it!" Heatleo roared, having been invigorated with new power.
"Why the Hell would you make such a dumb move?! There's no cards on our field you can target at all!" Bitboot pointed out.
"I have my reasons, which you'll see soon." Soulburner assured Bitboot. "I Set one card face-down and end my turn."
"Our turn! We draw!" Bitboot said, as they drew the top card of their deck. "We summon Darkscourge Saber Sardine from our hand to our field!" A purple and grey mechanical fish that had a black star emblem with red eyes on its sides appeared on Bitboot's field.
Darkscourge Saber Sardine ATK: 800 DEF: 300 LV: 3
"We activate Saber Sardine's effect. Once per turn, by paying 400 life points, we can Special Summon one 'Darkscourge token' in defense position to our field." As Bitboot's life points dropped, a small purple and green orb that had a black star emblem with red eyes appeared on Bitboot's field in defense position.
Bitboot: 4000 – 400 = 3600 LP
Darkscourge Token ATK: 200 DEF: 200 LV: 2
"Appear, our circuit!" Bitboot declared, as a Link Portal appeared above them. "The summoning conditions are two 'Darkscourge' monsters. I set Darkscourge Saber Sardine and the Darkscourge token into the Link Markers!" Saber Sardine went into the left arrowhead, while the Darkscourge token went into the bottom arrowhead, turning both of them red.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Darkscourge Battle Coela!" A large, purple mechanical fish with black star emblems on its sides that had red eyes appeared on Bitboot's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Instead of yellow eyes, it had red eyes, and light-red glowing lines ran over its body instead of green lines.
Darkscourge Battle Coela ATK: 2000 LINK-2 ⬅️⬇️
"We activate the Equip Spell card, Darkscourge Torpedo, and equip it onto Battle Coela!" Bitboot continued, as a set of cannons with red spores on the sides attached themselves to Battle Coela's back. "We also activate Battle Coela's effect. Once per turn, we can move it to a Main Monster Zone it points to." Battle Coela moved downwards to the Main Monster Zone it pointed to.
"From there, we activate the Field Spell card, Castle Link. Once per turn, we can target one Link monster we control and move it to a Main Monster Zone it points to. We target Battle Coela, and move it to the Main Monster Zone it points to on the left." Battle Coela then shifted to the left, indicating that it switched Main Monster Zones.
"The time has come! We activate our Skill, Markers Portal!" Bitboot announced. The stars on Bitboot's body glowed as he placed his arms in front of him, one crossed on top of the other. "Once per duel, when our life points are less than our original amount, we can activate a Link Spell card from our deck. In addition, the Link Spell card that was activated by this Skill can no longer be negated or destroyed by your card effects."
"Great. It's the same, boring combo as before." Soulburner commented.
"An efficient, but predictable combo." Flame emphasized.
"We activate the Link Spell card, Judgment Arrows!" Bitboot said, as the Link Spell card appeared in the Spell & Trap card zone that Battle Coela was pointing to.
Judgment Arrows ↖️⬆️↗️
"When a Link monster Judgement Arrows points to battles, its attack points are doubled. However, should Judgment Arrows leave the field, all monsters it points to will be destroyed. But moving along, we also activate Battle Coela's other effect. Once per turn, we can move this card to the Link Marker of a card linked to it. Therefore, Battle Coela moves to Judgment Arrows' far-left Link Marker." Battle Coela performed said action, moving further away from Bitboot.
"We activate Torpedo's effect. Once per turn, we can inflict 900 points of damage times the number of times the equipped monster moved this turn. Since Battle Coela moved three times, you take 2700 points of damage!" Bitboot added.
"Crap..." Soulburner muttered.
"It appears Malf's infection has increased Bitboot's power in addition to making his appearance quite hideous." Flame stated.
"Say goodbye to over half of your life points! Voyage to Hell!" Bitboot announced, as the cannons on Battle Coela's back then fired at Soulburner, who winced as his life points dropped.
Soulburner: 4000 – (900 X 3) = 1300 LP
"We Set one card face-down." Bitboot thrusted out his right hand. "Battle! Darkscourge Battle Coela attacks Salamangreat Heatleo! And when a Link monster Judgment Arrows points to battles, its attack points are doubled!" Battle Coela was surrounded in a golden aura that doubled its attack points.
Darkscourge Battle Coela ATK: 2000 X 2 = 4000
"No, you don't! I activate the Trap card, Salamangreat Rage!" Soulburner suddenly countered. "When this card is activated, I can activate one of two effects. I choose effect two, where I can target a 'Salamangreat' Link monster that was Link Summoned using a monster with the same name as its material, and destroy cards you control up to its Link rating. I target Heatleo, which means I can destroy up to three cards."
"What?!" Bitboot exclaimed.
"Say goodbye to Battle Coela and your face-down card!" A fiery claw emerged out of Rage, which slashed Battle Coela and Bitboot's face-down card completely as the both of them turned to particles.
"W-We end our turn."
"My turn! I draw!" Soulburner stated, as he drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the Spell card, Link Fire's Return! This card lets me target one 'Salamangreat' Link monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it back to my field. In exchange for not attacking or activating its effects this turn, I can inflict damage equal to its Link rating times 200. I Special Summon a copy of Heatleo from my Graveyard to my field!" A copy of Heatleo then appeared on Soulburner's field, only in the right Extra Monster Zone.
Salamangreat Heatleo ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ↙️⬆️↘️
"And since Heatleo's Link rating is three, you take a total of 600 points of damage." Flame summed up, as three balls of fire burst out of Link Fire's Return, each one hitting Bitboot as his life points dropped.
Bitboot: 3600 – (200 X 3) = 3000 LP
"I activate Sanctuary's effect once again. Once per turn, if I Link Summon a 'Salamangreat' Link monster, I can use one 'Salamangreat' Link monster I control with the same name as the entire material." Soulburner reminded Bitboot. "I set a copy of Salamangreat Heatleo into the Link Markers!" One copy of Heatleo burst into flames and went into the magical circle above the duel field, causing it to burst into flames.
"Reincarnation Link Summon! Rise again from the valley of flame! Link 3! Salamangreat Heatleo!" A copy of Heatleo reappeared on Soulburner's field in the right Extra Monster Zone, only fire formed a mane around his neck and wings.
Salamangreat Heatleo ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ↙️⬆️↘️
"I now activate this Heatleo's effect. Since he was Link Summoned, I can target a Spell or Trap card on your field and shuffle it into your deck!" Soulburner added.
"Oh no!" Bitboot gasped.
"I target Judgment Arrows! Resounding Roar!" One of the Heatleos let out a loud roar, which caused Judgment Arrows to return to Soulburner's deck.
"Bring the heat, Soulburner!" Flame said.
"Oh, don't worry, Flame. I intend to incinerate this guy to ashes!" Soulburner promised Flame. "Battle! The first copy of Salamangreat Heatleo attacks you directly! Inferno Strike!" One of the two Heatleos charged forward and slashed Bitboot with his fiery claws, which caused him to wince as their life points dropped.
Bitboot: 3000 – 2300 = 700 LP
"The battle still continues! The second copy of Heatleo attacks you directly! Inferno Strike!"
"You're finished!" Heatleo roared, as he charged forward and slashed Bitboot with his fiery claws, which caused an explosion that sent him flying by the time their life points dropped to zero.
Bitboot: 700 – 2300 = 0
"We lost due to that Field Spell card again!" Bit exclaimed.
"It seems we never learn, do we?" Boot said back, as the two of them turned to particles.
"Whew. That was a bit trickier than I thought." Soulburner admitted, as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his right forearm.
"I'd be lying if I said it was easy." Flame added. "But nevertheless, we need to defeat the rest, especially if we're to get to Lightning and Azrael."
Meanwhile, in another area of Mirror LINK VRAINS...
"We need to defeat this guy asap, Playmaker. Otherwise, we won't be able to get to Lightning and Azrael." Ai told Playmaker.
"I understand that Ai, but that doesn't mean we should be reckless." Playmaker pointed out in return.
"I suppose you're right." Ai begrudgingly agreed.
"Are the both of you done talking? Because we got a duel to start." Bitboot stated, as they activated their duel disk.
"Then let's get started." Playmaker responded, as he activated his duel disk.
"Speed Duel!" Playmaker and Bitboot said at the same time.
Playmaker: 4000 LP
Bitboot: 4000 LP
"I'm going first. My turn!" Playmaker stated. "I activate the Spell card, Cynet Mining. By sending a card from my hand to my Graveyard, I can add one Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster from my deck to my hand. I send Dotscaper from my hand to my Graveyard, and add the Level 3 Backup Secretary from my deck to my hand." After Playmaker took a card and sent it to his Graveyard, a card popped out of his deck, which he took and added to his hand. "Dotscaper's effect now activates! As it was sent to my Graveyard, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard to my field!" Soon, a green and white monster made out of digital bricks appeared on Playmaker's field.
Dotscaper ATK: 0 DEF: 2100 LV: 1
"As there's a Cyberse monster on my field, I can Special Summon Backup Secretary to my field." A woman with white clothes and a purple cape also appeared on Playmaker's field.
Backup Secretary ATK: 1200 DEF: 800 LV: 3
"I summon Catche Eve L2 from my hand to my field." Playmaker continued, as a woman with cat paws and a tail who wore a blue poncho, white skirt, and blue hat appeared on his field.
Catche Eve L2 ATK: 800 DEF: 600 LV: 2
"I will now create my circuit!" A Link Portal appeared above Playmaker. "The summoning conditions are two or more effect monsters. I set Dotscaper, Backup Secretary, and Catche Eve L2 into the Link Markers!" Dotscaper went into the top arrowhead, Backup Secretary went into the bottom-left arrowhead, and Catche Eve L2 went into the bottom-right arrowhead.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Decode Talker!" A warrior who wore dark-blue and purple armor with golden lines around it appeared on Playmaker's field. In his right hand, he carried a large, purple sword.
Decode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ↙️⬆️↘️
"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Playmaker concluded.
"Our turn! We draw!" Bitboot said, as they drew the top card of their deck. "We summon Darkscourge Saber Sardine from our hand to our field!" A purple and grey mechanical fish that had a black star emblem with red eyes on its sides appeared on Bitboot's field.
Darkscourge Saber Sardine ATK: 800 DEF: 300 LV: 3
"We activate Saber Sardine's effect. Once per turn, by paying 400 life points, we can Special Summon one 'Darkscourge token' in defense position to our field." As Bitboot's life points dropped, a small purple and green orb that had a black star emblem with red eyes appeared on Bitboot's field in defense position.
Bitboot: 4000 – 400 = 3600 LP
Darkscourge Token ATK: 200 DEF: 200 LV: 2
"Appear, our circuit!" Bitboot declared, as a Link Portal appeared above them. "The summoning conditions are two 'Darkscourge' monsters. I set Darkscourge Saber Sardine and the Darkscourge token into the Link Markers!" Saber Sardine went into the left arrowhead, while the Darkscourge token went into the bottom arrowhead, turning both of them red.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Darkscourge Battle Coela!" A large, purple mechanical fish with black star emblems on its sides that had red eyes appeared on Bitboot's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Instead of yellow eyes, it had red eyes, and light-red glowing lines ran over its body instead of green lines.
Darkscourge Battle Coela ATK: 2000 LINK-2 ⬅️⬇️
"We activate the Equip Spell card, Darkscourge Torpedo, and equip it onto Battle Coela!" Bitboot continued, as a set of cannons with red spores on the sides attached themselves to Battle Coela's back. "We also activate Battle Coela's effect. Once per turn, we can move it to a Main Monster Zone it points to." Battle Coela moved downwards to the Main Monster Zone it pointed to.
"From there, we activate the Field Spell card, Castle Link. Once per turn, we can target one Link monster we control and move it to a Main Monster Zone it points to. We target Battle Coela, and move it to the Main Monster Zone it points to on the left." Battle Coela then shifted to the left, indicating that it switched Main Monster Zones.
"The time has come! We activate our Skill, Markers Portal!" Bitboot announced. The stars on Bitboot's body glowed as he placed his arms in front of him, one crossed on top of the other. "Once per duel, when our life points are less than our original amount, we can activate a Link Spell card from our deck. In addition, the Link Spell card that was activated by this Skill can no longer be negated or destroyed by your card effects."
"Oh, great. Judgment Arrows is back for like the umpteenth time now." Ai repeated in a bored tone.
"Of course it's back, Ai. What else would you expect from Bitboot?" Playmaker commented.
"We activate the Link Spell card, Judgment Arrows!" Bitboot said, as the Link Spell card appeared in the Spell & Trap card zone that Battle Coela was pointing to.
Judgment Arrows ↖️⬆️↗️
"When a Link monster Judgement Arrows points to battles, its attack points are doubled. However, should Judgment Arrows leave the field, all monsters it points to will be destroyed. We also activate Battle Coela's other effect. Once per turn, we can move this card to the Link Marker of a card linked to it. Therefore, Battle Coela moves to Judgment Arrows' far-left Link Marker." Battle Coela performed said action, moving further away from Bitboot.
"We activate Torpedo's effect. Once per turn, we can inflict 900 points of damage times the number of times the equipped monster moved this turn. Since Battle Coela moved three times, you take 2700 points of damage!" Bitboot added, as the cannons on Battle Coela's back then fired at Playmaker, who winced as his life points dropped.
Playmaker: 4000 – (900 X 3) = 1300 LP
"We Set two cards face-down. Battle!" Bitboot thrusted out his right hand. "Darkscourge Battle Coela attacks Decode Talker! And when a Link monster Judgment Arrows points to battles, its attack points are doubled!" Battle Coela was surrounded in a golden aura that doubled its attack points.
Darkscourge Battle Coela ATK: 2000 X 2 = 4000
"Not so fast! I activate the Trap card, Cynet Refresh!" Playmaker countered. "When your Cyberse monster declares an attack, all monsters in the Main Monster zones are destroyed. However, at the End Phase, all Cyberse Link monsters in their owner's Graveyards that were destroyed by this effect are Special Summoned to their owner's fields."
"Tch!" Bitboot grit his teeth as Battle Coela turned to particles. "We end our turn, which means Battle Coela returns to our field." Battle Coela reappeared on Bitboot's field, only in the Main Monster Zone Decode Talker pointed to.
Darkscourge Battle Coela ATK: 2000 LINK-2 ⬅️⬇️
"Decode Talker gains 500 attack points for every monster he points to." Playmaker explained, as Decode Talker's strength increased.
Decode Talker ATK: 2300 + 500 = 2800
"My turn! I draw!" Playmaker drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the Spell card, Cyberse Cache. As I control a Cyberse monster whose attack points are different than its original amount, I can draw the top two cards from my deck." He proceeded to draw the top two cards of his deck.
"We don't know what you're up to, but there's no way in Hell we're letting you pull of your combos, which is why we have this! Trap card, activate! Darkscourge Chaff!" Bitboot interjected, as he gestured to his face-down card. The card showed pieces of Battle Coela falling off of it in a vortex, which proceeded to tear apart several underwater lifeforms in the process. "When this card is activated, we can send cards on your field to your Graveyard up to the Link rating of one 'Darkscourge' Link monster we control. We control the Link 2 Battle Coela, which means we can normally send up to two cards to your Graveyard. However, seeing that you only control Decode Talker, we'll just send him to your Graveyard instead."
"Tch!" Playmaker grit his teeth as black spikes fired out of Chaff, which turned Decode Talker into particles. "I activate the Spell card, Cynet Restoration, which lets me add one Cyberse monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I add Backup Secretary from my Graveyard to my hand." A card popped out of Playmaker's Graveyard, which he took and added to his hand.
"Next, I summon Cyberse Gadget from my hand to my field." A white and blue mechanical humanoid with red shoulder pads appeared on Playmaker's field. It had a silver data card attached to its left arm.
Cyberse Gadget ATK: 1400 DEF: 300 LV: 4
"When Cyberse Gadget is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target one Level 2 or lower monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it to my field in exchange for negating its effects. I target Catche Eve L2 in my Graveyard, and Special Summon it back to my field!" Soon, Catche Eve L2 reappeared on Playmaker's field.
Catche Eve L2 ATK: 800 DEF: 600 LV: 2
"I will now create my circuit!" A Link Portal appeared above Playmaker. "The summoning conditions are two Level 2 or higher Cyberse monsters. I set Cyberse Gadget and Catche Eve L2 into the Link Markers!" Cyberse Gadget went into the left arrowhead, while Catche Eve L2 went into the top arrowhead.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Update Jammer!" A blue-haired short man wearing a trench coat, a rebreather, and a metal backpack appeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.
Update Jammer ATK: 2000 LINK-2 ⬅️⬆️
"When Cyberse Gadget is sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Gadget' token to my field." Playmaker added, as a small, white machine with prongs on its sides appeared on Playmaker's field in defense position
Gadget Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 2
"As there's a Cyberse monster on my field, I can Special Summon Backup Secretary to my field." At Playmaker's command, Backup Secretary reappeared on his field.
Backup Secretary ATK: 1200 DEF: 800 LV: 3
"I will now create my circuit for a second time!" Playmaker said, as a second Link Portal appeared on his field. "The summoning conditions are two or more effect monsters. I set the Link 2 Update Jammer, and Backup Secretary into the Link Markers!" Update Jammer went into the top and left arrowheads, while Backup Secretary went into the bottom arrowhead.
"Link Summon! Emerge! Link 3! Transcode Talker!" A brown and white armoured humanoid warrior appeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. On Transcode Talker's back was a folded cannon, ready to be used.
Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬆️⬇️➡️
"Update Jammer's effect now activates. Since he was sent to the Graveyard as Link Material, the Link monster that used it as Link material can attack twice." Playmaker informed Bitboot, who frowned in response.
"From there, I activate Transcode Talker's effect. Once per turn, I can Special Summon one 'Code Talker' monster from my Graveyard to a zone he points to. Return, Decode Talker!" At Playmaker's command, Decode Talker returned to his field in the Main Monster Zone that Transcode Talker pointed to, resulting in both monsters being co-linked with one another. Somehow, Playmaker can tell that Decode Talker was furious with Bitboot for sending him to the Graveyard, and wanted payback as a result.
Decode Talker ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ↙️⬆️↘️
Decode Talker ATK: 2300 + 500 = 2800
"Transcode Talker's second effect not only gives himself and all monsters he's co-linked with 500 attack points, you can no longer target them with card effects as well." Transcode Talker and Decode Talker glowed with energy as their strength increased.
Transcode Talker ATK: 2300 + 500 = 2800
Decode Talker ATK: 2800 + 500 = 3300
"Increase the attack points of your monster all you want! Because Battle Coela plus Judgment Arrows equals your monster being toast!" Bitboot pointed out.
"I'm not planning to attack yet, especially when I still have a few moves to make." Playmaker responded, before he thrusted out his right hand to the sky. "I will create my circuit for a third time!" A Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two or more monsters. I set the Link 3 Transcode Talker and the Gadget token into the Link Markers!" Transcode Talker went into the top, left, and right arrowheads, while the Gadget token went into the bottom arrowhead.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 4! Firewall Dragon!" A massive blue and white dragon with circles all over its body appeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone, which resulted in both it and Decode Talker being co-linked with one another.
Firewall Dragon ATK: 2500 LINK-4 ⬅️⬆️⬇️➡️
Decode Talker ATK: 3300 – 500 = 2800
"I activate Firewall Dragon's effect! Once, when its on the field, I can return monsters on the field or Graveyard back to their owner's hands up to the number of monsters co-linked to this card. Firewall Dragon is co-linked with Decode Talker, which means I return Darkscourge Battle Coela to your hand."
"But since it's a Link monster, it goes back to your Extra Deck instead, sucker!" Ai pointed out, much to Bitboot's ire.
"Go, Emergency Escape!" Playmaker shouted, as Firewall Dragon fired blue electricity from its head at Battle Coela, electrocuting it into particles and returning it back to the Extra Deck.
"Oh no! We're done for!" Bitboot panicked. They had his face-down card ready to be used should Playmaker's monster have higher attack points than Battle Coela, even with Judgment Arrows. But now, they were screwed.
"You totally are done for, Bitbucket!" Ai taunted.
"Battle!" Playmaker declared, as he thrusted out his right hand. "Firewall Dragon attacks you directly! Tempest Terahertz!" Firewall Dragon's wings transformed into eight pieces that formed rings of energy around it. The dragon then gathered energy in its mouth before firing it at Bitboot, which caused an explosion that made them wince as their life points decreased.
Bitboot: 3600 – 2500 = 1100 LP
"The battle still continues! Decode Talker attacks you directly, Bitboot! Decode Destruction!" Decode Talker then charged forward before slashing Bitboot with the sword in his hand, which caused an explosion that sent them flying off their duel board as their life points dropped to zero.
Bitboot: 1100 – 2800 = 0
"This is ridiculous! How come we keep losing?!" Bit exclaimed.
"It's as though we're not meant to win a single duel at all!" Boot exclaimed as well.
"We're blasting off again!" both Bit and Boot said in conjunction before turning into particles.
"Uh, Playmaker. Did Bitboot just quote-?" Ai began asking.
"Not now, Ai." Playmaker replied, as he sped past the disintegrated Bitboot. For the time being, he had to deal with the other Bitboots if he and the others were to defeat Lightning and Azrael, especially with so much on the line.
Elsewhere, in another area of Mirror LINK VRAINS...
"The fact that you guys keep popping up is just ridiculous at this point." Herald told Bitboot.
"Hey, Lightning needed foot soldiers, so he made us." Bitboot replied.
"Enough." Raguel said, before activating his duel disk. "Let's just get this over with."
"Agreed." Bitboot also activated his duel disk, immediately responding to the challenge.
"Speed Duel!" Raguel and Bitboot shouted at the same time.
Raguel: 4000 LP
Bitboot: 4000 LP
"Like I said before, I've had it with your constant interference, Bitboot! You guys always get in our way, and for that, I'll defeat you on the first turn! My turn!" Raguel angrily stated. "I activate the Spell card, Glorious Cyreaths. If I control no monsters in my Main Monster Zones, I can Special Summon one 'Cyreath' monster from my hand, deck, or Graveyard and draw the top card of my deck. I Special Summon Cyreath Doppelganger from my deck, and draw!" A card popped out of Raguel's deck, which he took and played to his field. Soon, a pale, shadowy man materialized itself on Raguel's field.
Cyreath Doppelganger ATK: 500 DEF: 500 LV: 4
Seconds later, Raguel drew the top card of his deck.
"I didn't make that card..." Herald muttered. He made all the cards in the Cyreath deck, yet he didn't recall making Glorious Cyreaths. Which raised the question: Was there other cards Herald wasn't aware about? Did Raguel somehow make them without him knowing? If the answers to both questions were Yes, then Herald feared the worst, and was glad he made the contingency in the first place.
"Appear, the circuit showing the highest mountain!" Raguel said, as a Link Portal appeared above him. The summoning conditions are one 'Cyreath' monster. I set Cyreath Doppelganger into the Link Markers!" Doppelganger went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Cyreath Scorpius!" A huge scorpion, with large pincers and a long tail, appeared on Raguel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.
Cyreath Scorpius ATK: 1000 LINK-1 ⬇️
"I activate Scorpius' effect. Once per turn, when I control no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'Cyreath' monster from my Graveyard to a zone this card points to. Return, Doppelganger!" Raguel continued, as Doppelganger reappeared on his field, only in the Main Monster Zone Scorpius pointed to.
Cyreath Doppelganger ATK: 500 DEF: 500 LV: 4
"Appear, for a second time! The circuit showing the highest mountain!" A second Link Portal appeared above Raguel. "The summoning conditions are two 'Cyreath' monsters. I set the Link 1 Cyreath Scorpius, and Doppelganger into the Link Markers!" Scorpius went into the top arrowhead, while Doppelganger went into the bottom arrowhead.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Cyreath Jason!" A handsome blond-haired man with emerald colored eyes appeared on Raguel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. He had pieces of golden armor attached to his arms, shoulders, and upper body, as well as on his shins. Strapped around his waist was a medium-sized green waist cape, with a golden belt as well.
Cyreath Jason ATK: 1500 LINK-2 ⬆️⬇️
"When Jason is Link Summoned, I'm allowed to activate the Field Spell card, Cyreath Argo straight from my deck!" Raguel added, taking a card from his deck. "I now activate the Field Spell card, Cyreath Argo! While this card is on the field, all 'Cyreath' monsters on my field gain 300 attack and defense points, and they can't be destroyed by your card effects as well." Jason was surrounded in a yellow aura as his strength increased.
Cyreath Jason ATK: 1500 + 300 = 1800
"Jason's second effect! Once per turn, I can Special Summon one 'Cyreath' monster from my Graveyard to a Main Monster Zone he points to in exchange for negating its effects. Return for a second time, Doppelganger!" At Raguel's command, Doppelganger reappeared on his field, only in the Main Monster Zone Jason pointed to.
Cyreath Doppelganger ATK: 500 DEF: 500 LV: 4
Cyreath Doppelganger ATK: 500 + 300 = 800 DEF: 500 + 300 = 800
"Appear, for a third time! The circuit showing the highest mountain!" Raguel announced, as a third Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are one 'Cyreath' monster. I set Doppelganger into the Link Markers!" Doppelganger went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.
"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Cyreath Crimson Soul!" A small, humanoid spirit with fire on its orange skin appeared on Raguel's field in the Main Monster Zone Jason pointed to. It wore a crown that had a red, blue, and yellow jewel on it. Wrapped around its neck was a small cape that flowed behind it.
Cyreath Crimson Soul ATK: 1000 LINK-1 ⬇️
Cyreath Crimson Soul ATK: 1000 + 300 = 1300
"I summon Cyreath Barbarian from my hand to my field." Raguel said, as a man with spiked cuffs, close-cropped blond hair and mustache.
Cyreath Barbarian ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000 LV: 4
Cyreath Barbarian ATK: 1500 + 300 = 1800 DEF: 1000 + 300 = 1300
"Appear, for a fourth and final time! The circuit showing the highest mountain!" A fourth Link Portal appeared above Raguel. "The summoning conditions are three or more 'Cyreath' monsters. I set the Link 2 Cyreath Jason, the Link 1 Crimson Soul, and Barbarian into the Link Markers!" Jason went into the left and right arrowheads, Crimson Soul went into the bottom-left arrowhead, and Barbarian went into the bottom-right arrowhead.
"King of the Gods, stand together with your brethren, and ensure that Olympus conquers this evil before you!" Raguel chanted. "Link Summon! Come forth! Link 4! Cyreath Zeus, Lord of the Storm!" A muscular, white-haired man with pure white eyes leapt out of the Link Portal and appeared on Raguel's field in the Extra Monster Zone. His attire consisted of a white toga, with a golden side guard on each arm.
Cyreath Zeus, Lord of the Storm ATK: 3000 LINK-4 ↙️⬅️➡️↘️
Cyreath Zeus, Lord of the Storm ATK: 3000 + 300 = 3300
"The effects of Barbarian and Crimson Soul activate. First, when Barbarian is used to Link Summon, the Link Summoned monster gains 500 attack points." Raguel began speaking, as Zeus's strength increased.
Cyreath Zeus, Lord of the Storm ATK: 3300 + 500 = 3800
"Second, when Crimson Soul is used for the Link Summon of a Link monster, not only does the Link Summoned monster gain 1000 attack points, it can't be destroyed by battle or card effects this turn as well!" Zeus was surrounded in a fiery aura as his strength increased once again.
Cyreath Zeus, Lord of the Storm ATK: 3800 + 1000 = 4800
"Increase the strength of Zeus all you want! You can't attack on the first turn!" Bitboot reminded Raguel.
"Who said anything about attacking?" Raguel countered back with a smirk. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Cyreath Excalibur. This card lets me target one 'Cyreath' monster on my field or in my Graveyard, and inflict damage to you equal to its attack points! I target Zeus, which means you take 4800 points of damage!"
Bitboot gasped out of pure horror. "WHAT?!"
"I told you I'd defeat you on the first turn, and I always keep my word." Raguel told Bitboot, as yellow particles appeared before merging into Excalibur, which began forming into a giant beam of light. He then raised Excalibur high above his head, hellbent on finishing Bitboot off for good. "EXCALIBUR!" Raguel brought the giant beam of light down towards Bitboot, which caused a massive explosion that sent them flying off their duel board as their life points immediately dropped to zero.
Bitboot: 4000 – 4800 = 0
"This is the most humiliating loss of all time!" Bit exclaimed.
"Moving that aside, something is not right about that human." Boot told Bit, the both of them nodding in agreement and fear as they turned to particles.
"Oh God..." Herald muttered. This was the second time that Raguel compromised his integrity, the first being when he had his monster attack Gil directly.
"Something the matter, Herald?" Raguel questioned, which snapped Herald out of his thoughts.
"Uh, no. I'm fine, Raguel." Herald assured Raguel. "I was just caught off guard that you actually went through with that first-turn kill move just now. In all the duels you've been involved in, you never did that before."
"I'm aware of that, Herald. But we have a mission to complete, and I couldn't give a damn about the lives of those cannon fodder." Raguel hissed, which made Herald shiver in fear as the former sped past the remnants of the defeated Bitboot.
In Herald's mind, this was not good at all for both him and Raguel, and it was getting worse and worse. However, Herald had hope that Raguel would pull himself together so that he can avoid the fate his nightmare showed him.
Or so that's what he told Raguel anyway. Herald hated lying, for the fact that Playmaker and the others were alive meant that the events showed in his nightmare occurred after they won the war against Lightning and Azrael. As such, Herald told Raguel of what would happen should they lose so that the latter would utilize his willpower to ensure that he stayed intact, selfless, and kind.
For if Herald's nightmare truly came to pass...
...Then his contingency will be needed more than ever to ensure that it's not only quelled, but also prevent the potential loss of human life.
Elsewhere, in Mirror LINK VRAINS...
Jericho brutally slashed the Bitboots with the short sword in his hand, which looked like a black blade with a blue orb at the end of the hilt. He also put a snare in each of the destroyed Bitboots before throwing them aside so he can buy more time to complete his mission. For you never know who would be in your way of completing your task.
"Alright! Another one bites the dust!" Jericho cheered, before throwing a purple blade of energy at several other Bitboots, which impaled all of them long enough for him to plunge his right hand into their stomach and place the snare in them before they fell off their duel boards.
After speeding away from the destroyed Bitboots, Jericho pressed a button on his duel disk, which consisted of a purple orb that had a black and white circle with yellow X's on it. It also emitted a purple energy blade that had yellow X's on the sides. Soon, a total of five screens popped up, each of them showcasing the duels between Slipstream, Blue Maiden, Playmaker, and Raguel against their respective Bitboots. "Interesting. So it seems Lightning gave Azrael and Malf the green light to infect the Bitboots. It's not much data, but I'll have to make do until the main events."
He then sped away, intent on continuing to observe the duelists and gather data that will be useful in his mission. And besides, if it was required, Jericho was more than capable of crushing his opponents with his Cyberse deck. After all, he had the element of surprise on his side, and had a complete lack of regard for any potential human casualties that may come up.
Meanwhile, in Lightning's castle in Mirror LINK VRAINS...
Haru kneeled in a dark room, watching the monitor that showed Blue Maiden destroying the enhanced Bitboot in a duel. While he was apprehensive with what happened, he was grateful that they bought the time needed for Bohman to synchronize with LINK VRAINS.
"You see, Haru? Humans are such fools. Why would they enter my world, knowing I already have every advantage here?" Lightning boasted over the intercom, as Haru rolled his eyes. That statement was partially incorrect. While the humans were foolish to launch an attack, Lightning did not anticipate them using a virus bomb to destroy the Bitboots until Malf infected them so they can go out and distract Playmaker and the others.
"Even though Bitboot's attacks scattered the humans, it's only a matter of time that they arrive, which is why we must act quickly."
"Of course." Haru agreed. "Who's she on the monitor?"
"This is Blue Maiden, Haru. Her identity in the real world is Aoi Zaizen, the younger sister of Akira Zaizen, who is SOL Technologies' security manager." Lightning answered.
"So they're siblings..." Haru muttered.
"Stepsiblings." Lightning corrected, his image now replacing Blue Maiden's. "But to keep things simple, we'll call them siblings. Oh, yeah. I set it up for you and Bohman to be siblings."
"Is that so?" Haru quietly said to himself. While Lightning may have set it up for Haru and Bohman to be siblings, he didn't take into account the true sibling bond that would be forged over time. And thanks to Azrael, Haru was firm in his belief that he truly was Bohman's younger brother. Nothing, not even Lightning, will take that away from him.
"Moving along, Blue Maiden and Aqua are dangerous opponents. If they found Bohman's location, he won't be able to complete his synchronization with Mirror LINK VRAINS. I want you to deal with them."
"No." Haru defied Lightning's order, much to both of their surprise. Never had Haru questioned Lightning's orders because he didn't see any reason for him to do so. But when Azrael entered into the picture, he taught Haru to forge his own ideals and think for himself. As a result, Haru became stronger as both an individual and a duelist.
"No?" Lightning raised an eyebrow out of confusion and anger. Haru never questioned his orders before, and it was the first time he did so. What Haru said next will determine Lightning's next course of action.
"I have followed your orders, and I will continue to do so." Haru began clarifying, as he stood up on his feet. "This time, I ask for something in return."
"In return?" Lightning repeated. Ah. That made sense. As Haru said himself, he followed all of Lightning's orders, and will continue to do so, which calmed the latter down. Perhaps it was a good time to grant Haru's request... as long it was reasonable compared to Azrael's ridiculous demand for ten thousand Bitboots. "What is it that you seek?"
"Simple. After I defeat Blue Maiden, I want a chance to defeat Raguel for good, no questions asked." Haru answered.
Lightning put a hand to his chin as he thought this over for a few seconds before deciding. "You will have to speak with Azrael on that matter, but if he is okay with it, then I am okay with it too. After all, from what Azrael told me, you've grown strong over time."
"Thus making me the ideal candidate for the task at hand." Haru finished with a nod of understanding.
"Win and return safely, and I will reward you for your efforts if you succeed." Lightning stated.
"For sure. Leave this to me." Haru replied, before Lightning cut the link. He then walked out of the pitch-black room with a frown on his face. "Although in battle, there are no sure things. What if Blue Maiden does win? I mean, I will defeat her. But if for some reason I can't, then right now would be my last chance to see Bohman."
Haru then walked up the steps towards a glowing and sitting Bohman, who opened his eyes on Haru's entrance. Nearby was Azrael and Wraith, who were watching the duels on a screen that emitted from the former's duel disk. "What is it, Haru?"
"Hey there, Bohman. Just thought I'd stop by to see how you're feeling." Haru said.
"Stronger by the minute, Haru. You need not worry." Bohman assured Haru.
"Glad to hear."
"But you didn't come to just check in on me, did you? Tell me what's truly on your mind."
Haru then turned away from Bohman before walking down the steps. However, at the last second, he turned back to Bohman. "Playmaker and the others have already invaded Mirror LINK VRAINS."
"I'm aware of this, Haru. Once the synchronization is complete, there'll have nowhere to run." Bohman replied.
"Yeah, but I'll take care of them. I've grown strong enough to the point where I'm more than capable of eliminating our enemies."
"No, Haru. Do not engage them." Bohman told Haru, the latter having gasped in response.
"What? Why not?"
"It's too dangerous."
Haru rolled his eyes before he fully turned to Bohman. "You can't be serious, and besides, you can't fight them at the state you're in."
"There's a clear difference in your skills," Bohman explained. "You won't be able to defeat her."
"We won't know until I try!" Haru argued.
"I'm warning you as your older brother. If you lose in Mirror LINK VRAINS, you'll be erased for good, and I don't want that." Bohman warned Haru, which made both Azrael and Wraith roll their eyes in annoyance. To think that Bohman would doubt the skills Haru gained himself.
Haru glared back at Bohman. "Need I remind you that from the very start, I had to take care of you? Hell, I was made first, not you! Are you not aware of that?!"
"I am, but it doesn't change the fact that you and I are brothers." Bohman answered. "And I am grateful that-."
"ENOUGH!" Haru shouted, having grit his teeth as he fully turned around before walking down the steps and heading to the exit of Bohman's chambers. "I'm leaving."
"Please, Haru! Don't go! This is a mistake that will cost you everything!" Bohman pleaded.
"Let him go, Bohman." Azrael firmly told Bohman, which made the latter grit his teeth in response. "He's already made his decision."
"But-."
"Azrael..." Haru muttered, before he turned to him. "Lightning said that I can settle my score with Raguel if I succeed in defeating Blue Maiden. You'll give me that chance, won't you?"
"Yes, I will." Azrael affirmed, which made Haru smile back as he continued heading down to the exit.
"I won't lose, Bohman! With the skills and mentorship I've acquired, I'll defeat Blue Maiden and prove that fact!" Haru asserted, before fully leaving Bohman's chambers. He was grateful that Azrael had faith in his strength, but furious that Bohman did not. Even though Bohman had good intentions in the fact that he didn't want to lose Haru, why couldn't he have faith in him and his skills as a duelist?
"Haru..." Bohman whispered as his little brother left. He then turned to Azrael. "While I'm grateful that you helped Haru grow as an individual and a duelist, I'm still disgusted with the fact that you two used him to create Malf."
"And that is your opinion." Wraith responded, as he turned his head to look at Bohman.
"You weren't there for Haru, Bohman. Like Haru said, he had to take care of you to ensure your physical and mental health was stable." Azrael reminded Bohman. "And during the time you recovered, I trained Haru so he could become stronger. Because let's face it. If it weren't for me, Haru's deck would have been weak, and he would have had only one duel in this entire story."
Bohman frowned. Azrael did make a point that Haru would have been weaker. But Bohman was insulted because of what Azrael just told him: That he wasn't there for Haru. "Are you saying I failed as an older brother?"
"Of course Azrael's saying that, Bohman. Because it's the truth." Wraith confirmed.
"You had spare time after your third bout with Playmaker, right Bohman? You could have spent it training with Haru so the both of you can not only get stronger, but so you can spend time with one another as brothers. But did you? No. You chose to spend it by syncing up with Mirror LINK VRAINS." Azrael continued, having thrust out his right arm to the side. "Your absence impacted Haru, and if it weren't for me, he would have saw himself as nothing more than a tool. Hell, even a failed AI. In the end, YOU FAILED!"
"How dare you say that!" Bohman roared back, which obviously didn't intimidate Azrael and Wraith. "If I wasn't syncing with Mirror LINK VRAINS, I would have dueled you here and now for not only insulting the bond between Haru and I, but for also using him as a template to create Malf as well!"
"Don't worry, Bohman. Our duel will come. But until then..." Azrael pressed a few buttons on his duel disk, which caused a screen to pop up that showed Haru exit the courtyard of the palace after jumping onto his duel board. "Let's see how Haru does with the training and mentorship I gave him up until now. If he defeats Blue Maiden, I bet you'll be proud of the duelist he's become. But if he doesn't, then you'll know the feeling of losing someone you care about the most, just as I have."
Bohman could do nothing but grit his teeth back before directing his attention to the screen. While he had faith in Haru's abilities as a duelist, he was only being logical after telling him how his skills didn't match up to Blue Maiden's skills. And underneath that logic, Bohman didn't want to lose Haru. For despite what Haru said, he was truly Bohman's little brother.
In Bohman's mind, Azrael and Wraith will pay dearly for insulting the bond he had with Haru, as well as for using him in Malf's creation. And after Playmaker and the others were dealt with for good, he'll put Azrael and Wraith in their place.
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 duel monsters appear in pairs. First is Firewall Dragon and Firewall eXceed Dragon, second is Salamangreat Heatleo and Violet Chimera, third is Cyreath Hercules/Alpha Mode and Turboblaze Dragon, fourth is Clear Wing Synchro Dragon and Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake, and fifth is Borreload Savage Dragon and Borreload Dragon before all of them disappear one by one. 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
Bitboot:
Darkscourge Saber Sardine (LV: 3/Cyberse/Dark/ATK: 800/DEF: 300)
Effect: Once per turn: You can pay 400 LP; Special Summon 1 'Darkscourge token' to your field in defense position (LV: 2/Cyberse/Dark/ATK: 200/DEF: 200). If this card is in your GY, except the turn it was sent there: You can Special Summon this card from your GY to your field, but banish this card when it leaves the field. You can only use this effect of 'Darkscourge Saber Sardine' once per turn.
Darkscourge Torpedo (Equip Spell card)
Effect: Equip only to a 'Darkscourge' Link monster. Once per turn: You can inflict damage equal to the number of times the equipped monster moved this turn X 900. If this card is in your GY, except the turn it was sent there, and you control a 'Darkscourge' Link monster: You can equip it to that monster, but banish it when it leaves the field. You can only use this effect of 'Darkscourge Torpedo' once per turn.
Darkscourge Chaff (Normal Trap card)
Effect: When this card is activated: You can send cards your opponent controls to their GY up to the Link rating of one 'Darkscourge' Link monster you control. If this card is in your GY, and you control a 'Darkscourge' Link monster: You can Set this card from your GY to your Spell & Trap card zone, but banish it when it leaves the field. You can only use each effect of 'Darkscourge Chaff' once per turn.
Darkscourge Battle Coela (LR: 2/Cyberse/Dark/ATK: 2000/⬅️⬇️)
Effect: 2 'Darkscourge' monsters. Once per turn: You can move this card to a Main Monster Zone this card points to. Once per turn: You can move this card to a Main Monster Zone a card linked to this card points to. If this card is used as Link Material for the Link Summon of a 'Darkscourge' Link monster: Inflict 1000 damage to your opponent, then Special Summon 1 'Darkscourge token' to your field in defense position (LV: 2/Cyberse/Dark/ATK: 200/DEF: 200). You can only use this effect of 'Darkscourge Battle Coela' once per turn.
QOTC
What do you think is the worst fate to suffer from upon losing a duel in the history of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series (do note that it can be from any of them. The first Yu-Gi-Oh, GX, 5Ds, Zexal, Arc-V, VRAINS, Sevens, Go Rush)? Ex. Being banished to the Shadow Realm, losing your consciousness data, losing your soul by the Seal of Orichalcos, being turned to dust following a Shadow Duel involving an Earthbound Immortal, etc.
Chapter Preview
Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth. Chapter 85: Bonds Beyond Time. The heroes continue to break through Lightning's defenses one by one, with Lightning and Azrael continuing to learn about the heroes' strategies and how their decks work. As the battle in the sky continues, Haru challenges Blue Maiden to a duel with a full resolve of his brotherhood with Bohman, with Blue Maiden prepared to match his with her own...
Author's Notes
Credit goes to HunterHQ for reviewing the duels in this chapter.
Like I said above, we've finally reached the Mirror LINK VRAINS arc. I do hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the arc, and as promised, I will give you a quick recap:
The first thing that happens is the emergency meeting between the higherups at SOL Technologies. I found this important because of how SOL Technologies' business dealings with Balius will be exposed should they not do something quick. As such, the group immediately begin making plans to deal with Raguel and the FBI, only for them to learn about what is going on with LINK VRAINS. This leads the Kings to delegate tasks to ensure the network's safety and integrity is kept in line. Simple as that. Oh, and you know how Wraith sent both SOL Technologies and Balius fake footage saying that everything's good? Well, both sides got it, and aren't aware of what's really going on behind the scenes. It isn't good for either side, that I will obviously confirm.
Next up is the prelude scene before everyone goes to Mirror LINK VRAINS. I found this important because it gave me an opportunity for Yuhiro and Roxy to reflect on the individuals they are today compared to the people they were back then. Before Yuhiro leaves, Roxy wishes him good luck, and makes him promise to not only keep going no matter what, but to make sure that he doesn't lose himself. Given recent events, it makes sense for Roxy to tell Yuhiro this, for as his adoptive mom, she cares for Yuhiro's wellbeing. After that, Yuhiro once again logs into the network whole for the final battle.
Before I move onto the anime scenes, I just want to highlight something that occurred after the heroes went into the pillar of light: Jericho is following after them. Let me remind you that Jericho's been given the green light to initiate his experiment back in Chapter 79. But what is it? While I won't tell you what it is, it does involve Jericho going into Mirror LINK VRAINS. And like I told you guys before: Jericho won't be teaming up with either side. Rather, he'll simply provide commentary on the sidelines as he gathers information from each of the duels that occur during the arc. So be at ease, everyone.
After Jericho throws his snares in the general area, Zero enters the scene, where he contacts Kairi upon learning what's going on. Here, Kairi has Zero disable the snares as fast as he can so he can go after whatever disciple of Urizen is on Earth. Do note that Kairi is scared that should Urizen put two and two together that the Lost World is Earth, it'll be the end of everyone, which is why she makes the urgent request to Zero. For those of you who are confused and are like 'Jericho went to Mirror LINK VRAINS. Go after him, dammit!', it isn't that simple. The snares Jericho and the other disciples have completely masks their presence from anything and anyone else. To put it simply, until someone disables all of the snares, they wouldn't be able to pinpoint the disciple's location precisely. It's like searching for a needle in a planet-sized haystack.
Then it's onto the anime scenes, along with five duels that show different ways on how you can defeat Bitboot in a duel. However, something's different: Malf infected the Bitboots. This is because of how the heroes used Gil's virus bomb against them, which ended up causing a chain reaction that would have destroyed every single Bitboot save for the ones under Gil's command. Lightning is completely caught off guard upon seeing this, and with no choice, has Azrael and Malf infect the Bitboots so they can not only evade the virus bomb, but give the heroes a challenge as well.
As such, the Bitboots have 'Darkscourge' versions of the 'D-Scale' cards, which are obviously stronger versions of the cards they once had. Basically, the whole point of the duels was to give everyone another win, but the duel that stood out the most in my opinion was Raguel's duel against Bitboot. By this point, he's had it with their constant interference, and so proceeds to defeat them in a FTK using Excalibur. This makes Raguel the first OC to ever defeat someone with a FTK, at least to my knowledge anyway. It's to further demonstrate Raguel's ruthlessness, especially with everything going on. And all of this further worries Herald, as he's afraid of his nightmare coming true.
Last but not least is the anime scene regarding Haru, Lightning, Bohman, Azrael, and Wraith. While there are some similarities, there are obviously a few differences in this story, especially with how Haru developed as a character by this point in the story. Let me know what you think of it.
With that, I want to thank you all for reading Chapter 84 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 from this chapter? The duels? The appearances of Jericho and Zero? The meeting between the higherups at SOL Technologies? Or was it something else?
That's all for now, folks. Next chapter will continue the opening attack in Mirror LINK VRAINS, so expect a total of five more duels before we get to the main events, one of which obviously being Haru vs Blue Maiden. See you then!
