Response to Reviews
Thank you to Guest, HunterHQ, Guest, Donkeyboy100, Victorious77, Ambiguous, Anonymous, Electriuser, KingOtakuOverYou, NexusKnight12, Unnamed, Kingdom Hearts Guy, and T.V. 2000 for reviewing Chapter 95 of Obscured Truth.
Hi, everyone! I hope you're having an awesome summer wherever you are in the world, and are safe and sound! I also hope you're looking forward to the next few chapters, as things are only going to get heated up following this chapter!
With that out of the way, let's get to answering some reviews:
Guest: I was waiting for someone to notice that reference! Good eye, there.
HunterHQ: I mean, Yuhiro seriously needs help to get through all of this. It's not one time, where talking with a single person just makes the problem goes away. He'll need a serious wake up call. The Hanoi, in their hearts, knew that Dancho was going to die in the next few days, which was why they said their goodbyes early. Azrael left Ryoken's house alone simply because Ryoken and the others were forced to go on the run. Still, if they returned, then Azrael would have destroyed it within seconds. It's not much of a spoiler, so allow me to confirm what the Hanoi did with Dr. Kogami's body: They purchased a coffin and buried him somewhere he can't be found. Simple as that. Of course Barbara's fine. I never intended to kill her off. Remember: She isn't a one time character. Yeah, Yuhiro's definitely not in his right mind. Yes, I can confirm that the lady Miyu healed was in fact Blood Shepherd's mom. I apologize for not clarifying. What Aoi told Shima regarding the fact that Yuhiro lost someone at the hospital was partially true. Though he technically lost them, it wasn't at the hospital. I can see Yuhiro playing by his own rules every now and then despite following things by the book to an extent. I mean, a lot of people love Hideki and his contributions, so he'll certainly be getting clients should he start his own business. Gil and Miles obviously go to school. Regarding the civil war, despite the group making hilarious wisecracks at one another, they still had a common objective in ending it. Since the soldiers were on Balius' side and were following orders, Gil was only doing what he thought he was doing right in eliminating them. He didn't necessarily care, as they were enemies trying to kill him after all. If Balius had political opposition groups, then he'd have his forces 'take care of them'. And yeah, Brion has to do a massive cleanup to the point where he'd have to establish a new form of government to replace the old one. Almost like how S.H.I.E.L.D had to be taken down and dismantled to eliminate HYDRA. No, I honestly don't think Yuhiro's like Fullcross at all from Cross VRAINS. Or are you referring to the current state of mind Yuhiro's in right now? Lastly, the next few episodes won't take place in Central Japan.
Guest: Urizen does have hatred against Myojin and Arshad, but what's to stop him from going after Yuhiro and Yukage? Answer: Nothing. As for how Jericho plans to bring Urizen and the others out of the dark side of the network, you'll just have to read on to find out for yourself.
Donkeyboy100: Glad you liked the chapter.
Victorious77: Glad you liked the chapter.
Ambiguous: Yuhiro's in a bad state right now, so anything can happen. Unfortunately, Yuhiro doesn't know where the envoys are, so how can he track something down when he doesn't know the location? You can assume revenge is the reason the envoys attacked and murdered Myojin and Lyla. Why didn't Zero destroy the data? It was because he was pressed for time.
Anonymous: Yuhiro didn't necessarily show the others the actual recordings. Brion and the others don't know that Yuhiro and the Cursed Boundary Layer are one and the same. Because they've been away from Den City for a very long time, they don't know what's happened since leaving. Good luck to anyone who's intent on bringing the Cursed Boundary Layer down. Note that because people don't know what the creature running rampant is called, they're calling it the Shadow. Also note that the Cursed Boundary Layer and the Shadow are one and the same.
Electriuser: Glad you liked the chapter. I wouldn't say Urizen's mastered interdimensional travel. Rather, the monoliths are used to communicate with those sent to worlds so they can be conquered to serve Urizen.
KingOtakuOverYou: I mean, not every character can stomach revenge, as they don't want to risk losing themselves. I'll let you in on a secret: Due to the nanomachines having disintegrated in Balius' body, what remained was the pieces inside that were connected to his heart. So he would have died in a day or two due to the poison in his body. As such, Balius was dead one way or another.
NexusKnight12: Let me ask you this: What is the one thing Ai's AtIgnister deck is missing? If you figure that out, you'll be able to figure out what the AtIgnister monsters based on Herald and Wraith look like, as well as the summoning method they represent. And don't worry about misspelling Wraith's name. You were just in a rush, so nothing to worry about at all.
Unnamed: Of course Yukage's actions will always live on in Yuhiro. The officer had assumed that Balius had been shot to shreds before reporting it to Brion and the others. Because the Cursed Boundary Layer did not come from this world, then it'll be difficult for Yukage and the others to destroy. Yeah, it's a bit similar to how Bohman and Lightning set Ai up against humanity by ensuring that he's the last Ignis. To put it simply, a lose-lose situation. The Shadow, aka the Cursed Boundary Layer, isn't capable of spreading like a virus. If Malf fought against the Cursed Boundary Layer, then he'd obviously lose.
Kingdom Hearts Guy: Glad you liked the chapter.
T.V. 2000: Of course there was a lot of interesting things in the chapter. For instance, Yua's valid argument against Ryoken and the Hanoi's righteousness was much needed, as the hypocrisy of it had to be called out. Yeah, the actions Yuhiro made were of his own free will, though the Cursed Boundary Layer had a role in it. Released her from Central Japan? What are you talking about? As for your idea of using Valerie from Pokemon XY as inspiration for a new 'Trickstar' monster, I will certainly look into that, and will give you proper credit should it appear later down the road.
Now that all reviews have been answered, let's get to the chapter, shall we? Enjoy!
Chapter 96: Follow the Wind
The screen is pitch black as the duel disks belonging to Yuhiro, Yusaku, Takeru, and Arashi slowly fall from the top, scattered around the screen, and leaving small trails of stardust behind them. All four duel disks hit an invisible ground in unison, causing them to explode into cards that were used by every character in the story so far. The cards continue to rain across the screen before the Cursed Boundary Layer blackens the screen completely, replacing it with a new scene.
The camera moves from left to right, showing a grassy field with Den City and the following characters: Yuhiro, Miyu, Aoi, Yusaku, Takeru, Arashi, Brea, Go, Roxy, Kusanagi, Greg, Quinton, Miles, Ryoken, Youta, Takeya, Akairo, Emma, Kengo, Akira, Brion, Rachel, Gil, Tsubaki, and Gekiryushi. The wind blows, causing each person's hair and clothes to be blown up a bit. The scene suddenly changes, revealing Playmaker, Raguel, Blue Maiden, Numera, Slipstream, and Tigress on one side, along with a girl that had long, chestnut-colored hair in the form of a crown braid and hazel eyes. Her attire consisted of a long-sleeved, violet leather tunic with a lightweight silver chest plate, lightweight violet shoulder pads that had rainbow orbs at the center, and black, fingerless gloves. On the other side was Revolver, Specter, Lord Kazuma, Gil, and Soulburner, a destroyed LINK VRAINS behind them.
The screen then changes to show Yusaku and Ai in the streets of a raining Den City. Yusaku was looking down, and Ai was looking upwards, the rain drenching their clothes. Yusaku slowly looks up with a vexed expression, while Ai runs a hand through his hair and turns his gaze onward. In another area of Den City, Yuhiro is shown running as his strength was drained, having cried in despair as a silhouette of Yukage is shown with a smile before fading away in the rainy mist. A dark aura emits from Yuhiro as the Cursed Boundary Layer emerges from a large puddle and embraces him tightly before he logs into a desolate, forest-like area in LINK VRAINS that had a dead aura around it. A psychotic grin appeared on Raguel's face as a corrupted Excalibur formed in his right hand.
Opposing Raguel was Playmaker, Soulburner and Slipstream, the three duelists thrusting their right hands forward as Firewall Dragon Darkfluid, Salamangreat Pyro Phoenix, and Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon appear behind the trio and fire beams of energy at Raguel. The blasts impact, but when the smoke fades, Raguel is shown unharmed. Tentacles from the Cursed Boundary Layer appear behind Raguel, along with Cyreaths Pandora and Alastor on his right side, Atalanta/Alpha Mode and Teferi on his left side, and two demons floating above his right and left shoulders. The demon on the right had red skin with clawed hands, orange armor, and a helmet that had a red plume on the back, as well as spikes on the sides. The other demon had grey skin with yellow armor, spikes on his head, and a set of wings. Black, red, and purple particles merged with the corrupted Excalibur as Raguel charges forward at Playmaker and the others, the latter having summoned Decode Talker's sword to block the attack. Nearby, Jericho is shown chasing after Blue Maiden and Numera, only for him to suddenly dodge numerous cannon blasts fired from Tigress nearby, hellbent on protecting the duo.
The Knights of Hanoi are shown next, with Revolver, Specter, Lord Kazuma, Baira, Faust, Dr. Genome, Dancho and Infearno appearing one by one. However, the images of Dancho and Infearno then dissipate before being replaced by Demeter and Ondina. Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty and a mischievous, fallen pixie-like angel with long pink hair whose attire consisted of a black dress with stockings, as well as a pair of wings on her back appeared behind the two of them.
The scene changes to show Zero in an unknown area in the network, frantically looking through screens as he tries to pinpoint the Cursed Boundary Layer's whereabouts before changing to show Jericho in his laboratory, who's looking at his findings with glee. Seven orbs, one white, one black, one yellow, one red, one brown, one green, and one blue orbit around him as he sadistically smiles at what he's seeing.
Kusanagi, Katsuya, and Jin are shown in Café Nagi driving away from an ominous Shadow, intent on escaping its wrath. Roxy is also shown in her car with Miyu, Rachel, and Aoi, also hoping to escape from the ominous Shadow before it gets them both.
In a forest-like area with a large facility in it, Watchman is shown carrying Numera as Alastor pursues the duo on the left, while Atalanta/Alpha Mode pursues the duo on the right. Alastor throws the chained, curved blades at Watchman, who hops to the side and dodges it before throwing a Black Key in response. He then hops forward to dodge Atalanta/Alpha Mode's berserk attacks as he throws two more Black Keys at her. Watchman slides back, three more Black Keys appearing in his right hand as he prepares himself to confront his and Numera's attackers, Crimson Nova Trinity the Dark Cubic Lord appearing behind the duo as well to defend the duo. Elsewhere, a corrupted Hercules/Alpha Mode slashes through the trees with Nine Lives in his hand, intent on pursuing Playmaker and Blue Maiden so he can destroy the two of them. At the last second, Decode Talker and Marincess Wonder Heart appear to block the unrelenting attacks, only for the clash to send them, along with Playmaker and Blue Maiden flying off the ground before landing on it. Decode Talker and Wonder Heart immediately get back up before engaging a corrupted Hercules/Alpha Mode in combat while Playmaker and Blue Maiden continue running from the chaos.
Cyreaths Medusa, Achilles, and two twins, one being a boy with short brown hair and green eyes who wore a white toga with gold cuffs and a black undershirt, the other a girl with long brown hair and green eyes who wore a white dress with gold armlets, look upward to the sky, trying to figure out who to side with as they contemplate their futures.
Yuhiro is shown looking at the destroyed Lost Incident facility lit up in flames, a content smile evident on his face as he lets out a loud and crazy laugh. He then walks away from it, ignoring the bodies in the area as he disappears in the darkness. The screen then jumps to the dark sky and the glowing red moon before being blackened completely.
In the real world...
Emon drove the car down the road, a sad, yet firm expression on his face as he paid attention to his surroundings. For the past while, he had experienced Hell after learning new information. One being how Uchida Industries had unknowingly contributed towards a slave operation in Central Japan, while the other was how Yukage Furutani was responsible who murdered Beatrice that fateful night. All in the name of the Inquisitorius, an organization established by the church that focused on eliminating heresy and other things that opposed the word of God.
And due to that fateful night, it had led Emon to seek out a cult in an attempt to bring her back, only for it to end disastrously in failure, as evident by the scar on his face. Thus leading to other events that brought Emon to where he was today: A man on the verge of death due to how Wraith destroyed the protection program Dr. Kogami gave him all those years ago, which meant he didn't know how much time he had left.
Thus, Emon wanted to settle personal matters with those he had hurt, whether he hurt them directly or indirectly. What's more, Emon also wanted to settle his own affairs in order to ensure that what remained of his assets was transferred onto worthy people he designated in his will. For before all of this, Emon had a will wrote up by a lawyer a long time ago should the worst-case scenario occur.
After a few more minutes of driving, Emon eventually reached the first of his many destinations he had to go to over the next few days. The Den City Shelter. From his knowledge, this was where Stregone, or Quinton Monell in the real world, lived at, along with his purpose of keeping an eye on the children there. Emon's goal was not just to apologize to Quinton for the pain he brought onto the latter, but to discuss the idea of him donating a portion of his assets to the shelter if possible.
He drove over to the parking lot nearby before parking the car, where he eventually got out of the car and started walking over to the shelter's entrance. As Emon did so, he looked around, where he saw kids playing with one another. As for some others, they glared at him, anger and hate evident in their eyes. Emon always wanted to start a family, and was overjoyed with raising two baby boys after he and Beatrice found out they were having kids. Unfortunately, such a possibility was taken away from Emon forever, especially with the choices he made since then. Emon eventually made it to the door, where he knocked a few times before Miles opened the door, having answered it.
"Can I help you, sir?" Miles asked, before gasping at who he was speaking to.
"Listen kid, no offence, but I know that Stregone lives here." Emon quickly got straight to the point, which only made Miles close the door in response.
"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap..." Miles muttered to himself, quickly heading over to where the nearest phone is.
"Wait! It's urgent! I know you see me as a monster, but I need to speak with Stregone. I do not know how much time I have left."
After hearing those words, Miles kept the phone on hand, but stopped dialing, curious on what Emon was saying as he walked back to the door. "Why should I let you in? And what do you mean you don't have much time left?"
"Well, it's a very long story, kid. I'll simply sum it up by saying that I'm dying due to a recently resurfaced disease, and I want to rectify matters with Stregone before I pass away." Emon told Miles.
"Is everything okay, Miles?" Tsubaki asked Miles, who ran over to where he was. After seeing who was at the door, she braced herself, ready for whatever came next.
Emon frowned after seeing Tsubaki. Looks like he was going to kill two birds with one stone today. "I didn't expect to see you here too, Rosetta. I wish to speak with you and your father as soon as I can, as like I told the kid, I'm dying."
Miles closed the door before turning to Tsubaki. "You and him have a bit of history, huh?"
"Yeah. He stole World Gears of Theurological Demiurgy from SOL Technologies a while back, and even roped in my father and I in the Hanoi's plot to destroy the network three months ago." Tsubaki whispered back. "And given recent events..."
"I know. Don't trust a Knight of Hanoi, and all that jazz." Miles replied back. "But from what Yuhiro told me, he did return World Gears back to Herald. Plus, the Hanoi shut down their tower after Yuhiro and Playmaker won. For some reason, my gut's saying that this guy's telling the truth."
Tsubaki nodded in agreement. While the Hanoi were technically criminals, they at least had a sense of morality. "I'll go get Quinton. You let this guy in." She then ran to Quinton's office, intent on warning him of what just happened.
Miles then opened the door to speak with Emon. "Okay, but you gotta promise. No violence, no destroying, and especially no fighting."
"I wouldn't do any of those things, especially not in an area where children reside in. You have my word." Emon promised, which led him and Miles to shake hands. Once that was done, Miles then let Emon inside, the former keeping an eye on the latter to ensure that there was nothing suspicious going on.
"You do know that you're a wanted man, especially after the battles in the network and in the real world, right?" Miles pointed out.
"Yes, but I have my ways of getting around." Emon responded back, as the two of them reached Quinton's office. Once they were there, Miles opened the door, where they saw Quinton and Tsubaki, the two of them having sat down in separate seats.
"Take care of the kids, Miles. Tsubaki and I will take care of this." Quinton said, which led Miles to nod in response before heading downstairs. Once that was done, Quinton gestured Emon to sit down at the seat nearby, which he did. "Alright, Infearno. You're risking a lot being here. So get straight to the point before I reconsider calling the authorities."
"If that's what you want, then I'll gladly do so." Emon complied. "To start, I wish to apologize to the both of you for how my actions had led to the both of you getting hurt."
"A Knight of Hanoi apologizing without any attempt of justifying their actions? That's a first." Tsubaki commented. "Still, apologizing's only the first step. The actions on making up for one's choices comes next."
"On that topic, we're on the same page." Emon turned to Tsubaki. "Believe it or not, the Hanoi has helped behind the scenes in mitigating the damage not just caused by the Turf War, but the attacks in the real world and in the network as well. We even provided shelter to those who were affected by those attacks."
Quinton crossed his arms, having thought this over. "That's certainly nice and all, but Uchida Industries, your company, was the ringleader during the attacks in the network and in the real world. Why exactly would you and the other Hanoi fight against your own company?"
"It may be that who we saw on the broadcast back then wasn't Infearno. It most likely was someone else." Tsubaki correctly guessed.
"That's correct, Rosetta. What you saw on the broadcast was Ace, who masqueraded as me after seizing Uchida Industries from us." Emon confirmed. "And after looking into what happened during the attacks, we concluded that Ace was one of the people who died in the aftermath."
"Ace's dead?" Tsubaki questioned, with Emon nodding in confirmation. She had assumed Ace escaped into the shadows like he always done, but for him to actually die was something she didn't expect to hear today. But where did that leave Tsubaki? It left her feeling that her business was unfinished. That so long as there were people like Ace out there, more people would suffer. Tsubaki made a mental note to look into who finished off Ace for good, and her actions after that would be determined after identifying the reasons they committed the act.
"Even though you helped mitigate the damage during the Turf War and attacks in the real world and in the network, it doesn't help the fact that you lied to your workers and to Den City itself!" Quinton firmly reminded Emon, before realizing that he unintentionally snapped at the latter. "Sorry, I did not mean to snap at you like that."
"It's no problem. You and her have every right to be angry, especially how the Hanoi have received our just desserts over the past several weeks." Emon agreed calmly, much to Tsubaki and Quinton's surprise. "That being said, I do hope my coming death not only satisfies your desire for payback, but also appeases the people's call for my head as well."
"Hang on a minute." Quinton rubbed his forehead. "You're actually dying?"
"He probably is, Quinton. He wouldn't come here and risk everything if that wasn't the case." Tsubaki guessed once again, which led Emon to nod in confirmation to Quinton's question. "That being said, what do you mean by the Hanoi receiving their just desserts?"
Emon thought that question over before answering. "Well, let's see. Azrael stole our resources, forced us to go on the run, put myself and Dancho on the path to death's doors, and so much more. But to sum it up, we've paid a hefty price for our actions."
Quinton and Tsubaki thought all of this over. Never did either of them expect Emon to arrive at the Den City shelter's doorstep, nor did they expect him to apologize for his actions. They also didn't expect to learn what the Hanoi went through after the Tower of Hanoi events, nor did they expect to learn about who was actually controlling Uchida Industries this entire time.
"But moving that aside, there's something else I want to discuss with you." Emon continued. "As I'm dying, I wish to bequeath some of my assets to this shelter, along with the orphanage in Den City."
"You, a member of the Hanoi, want to give the shelter and the orphanage your assets? Ones that were used by criminals such as yourself?" Tsubaki angrily questioned. "Uchida Industries' destruction, along with the battles had led to so many children being orphaned, and the fact that it's your company will make the people less likely to accept your proposition."
"Tsubaki has a point there, Infearno. Thanks to the Turf War and the attacks, both the shelter and the orphanage have had new arrivals, thus making the both of them busier than ever." Quinton furiously backed up Tsubaki's comment. "Why would you even make such an offer in the first place?"
"Because even though I can't rectify everything forever to everyone, I want to at least make things better, especially for the children who suffered in this conflict." Emon firmly answered back. "Even if people don't know the truth, they at least should get some closure after everything that's happened, don't you both agree?"
Quinton and Tsubaki were silent, unsure of how to respond. Here, Emon was admitting that he not only couldn't apologize to every single person who was affected either directly or indirectly, he was also intent on making things better as well. Even if those people would never know the truth, Emon wanted to put the remainder of his time left on this planet so they can at least get some assistance in going through difficult times. To put it simply, no matter what Emon said to try and justify his actions, it wouldn't work. Overall, it sounded that he massively regretted his role in how so many lives were ruined, whether it was directly or indirectly.
Quinton turned back to face Emon, having processed this information over. "Okay, let's say we agree to receive these assets you speak of. What do you have in mind? And are you certain that they haven't been affected in any horrific manner? Because neither the shelter nor the orphanage deserves to go through any Hell right now!"
Emon, in response, smirked. "When you're a businessman, you stay one step ahead of the competition, and put things aside in case the worst-case scenario comes to pass. Rest assured, before all of this, I set up an encrypted bank account with money that neither I nor the Hanoi have touched since its formation. As for other assets, they consist of a few properties and other things that should help down the road. Pass me a piece of paper, and I'll give you the codes to access them."
Tsubaki turned to Quinton, unsure with what Emon just said now. After Quinton nodded in reassurance that it was okay, he turned back to Emon and gave him a piece of paper, where the latter wrote down two headings before writing some information in each category. The first heading was called 'Bank Credentials', while the second heading was called 'Access to Remaining Estate'.
"Your father is a brilliant man, Rosetta." Emon said, having turned to face her. "His unique talents shouldn't be wasted on a company that has failed too many times such as SOL Technologies."
"And why should my father and I heed your words? The last time we crossed paths, you both blackmailed and threatened us for your selfish games!" Tsubaki reminded Emon.
"I'm aware of that fact, Rosetta. All I wanted to let you know is that your father would be better off starting his own business, especially how the people trust him, just like they do with Zaizen." Emon simply made his point. "Besides, companies during rough times are more likely to implement mass layoffs just to save themselves. I do not want a brilliant man like your father to be among those who lose a job. That is all."
Emon stood up from his seat. "Well, I've said my piece. I do hope that what I gave you will help make things better for the people affected moving forward." He then began walking to the door, only to suddenly stop doing so after something crossed his mind. "Oh, I just remembered. If I can give you both advice, the two of you should strengthen your decks down the road."
"Of course we'll get stronger. It's only logical for someone to do so when they're up against a new threat." Tsubaki said.
"Really, now? Well, that's good. For a new threat may come sooner than you think."
"What do you mean by that?" Quinton asked.
"Simple." Emon turned his head to face Quinton. "Given Yuhiro being abnormal and how he's related to everything going on, he may turn on all of you sooner than you think."
"How dare you say that!" Quinton exclaimed, as he stood up from his seat, an infuriated look on his face. "I know who Yuhiro is as a person. He's good-natured, and he wouldn't betray us."
"I believe the same thing. Yuhiro isn't someone who'd become evil." Tsubaki agreed.
Emon chuckled. "The both of you are so naïve. I'm sure Yuhiro's told you the truth about himself to you, Stregone, especially how you were a parent figure to him. If there's one thing I'm grateful for regarding my death, it's that I don't have to deal with Yuhiro becoming a threat when the time comes." He then opened the door before leaving Quinton's office, having said his piece.
Quinton grimaced as he sat back down on his seat, with Tsubaki doing the same. While concern was on both their faces, Quinton had an expression of worry, with Tsubaki having an expression of curiosity instead.
"What did Infearno mean about Yuhiro becoming a threat, Quinton? And what did he mean by how he's related to everything going on?" Tsubaki asked both questions, which made Quinton turn to face her.
"You weren't here when Yuhiro spoke to me regarding his past, so I'll tell you now, but you have to promise me that you will not tell anyone." Quinton told Tsubaki so firmly that she immediately nodded in confirmation. Whatever the information was, it must have been so crucial that Quinton requested secrecy at a time such as this.
While Quinton began telling Tsubaki what Yuhiro told him several weeks ago, Emon frowned as he reached the doorstep. He already said everything he needed to say, and whether Quinton and Tsubaki heeded his warning or not was up to them in the end. If Emon was grateful for one thing, it was that they were willing to accept information regarding what remained of his estate. For as long as it was used for the betterment of those who suffered, it would be okay in the end.
Emon ignored the glares of the children and teens that looked at him as he opened the door and walked to the parking lot, having completed his task. He was certain that Tsubaki would pass the information he told her about how Hideki should leave SOL Technologies while the latter can. Besides, a man with unique talents such as Hideki can make a positive and lasting impact during difficult times. With his task having been completed, Emon walked over to the car before sitting down at the driver's seat and starting it up. He then drove away, intent on completing another task with the time he had left.
Meanwhile, at Café Matsuo...
Roxy ran all over Café Matsuo, shock evident on her face upon realizing that Yuhiro wasn't anywhere in the building. From what she recalled, Yuhiro went to bed last night following a rough day. But prior to that, Yuhiro ended up taking two to three healing stims to help get through that day, as well as heal his injuries he received the bullies. Upon learning this truth, Roxy confiscated the healing stims, knowing that they were doing more harm than good in the end.
"Were you able to find Yuhiro, Miyu?" Roxy asked, as she quickly ran downstairs.
"No, auntie. He's not in the living room and the kitchen, nor is he in the backroom." Miyu answered. "Is he upstairs?"
"I checked every room upstairs. He's not in the washroom, nor his room or anywhere else on that floor." Roxy let out a few panicked breaths, fear evident in her eyes. "Oh, god. How could I not see this coming?"
"Look at me, auntie. Look at me." Miyu firmly stated, which got Roxy's attention. "I'm scared too, but we can't panic. Or else we-."
WHOOSH!
Roxy and Miyu quickly ran downstairs to the first floor upon hearing the sound, and after doing so, saw Medusa having appeared in the area. And the person she was carrying was...
"Yuhiro!" Miyu cried out in pure agony after seeing what happened to Yuhiro. But before she could say anything else, Yuhiro regained consciousness and immediately ran upstairs to the bathroom, as though he suddenly felt queasy. Roxy and Miyu quickly followed Yuhiro upstairs, where they ended up turning away upon seeing him vomit in the toilet.
Yuhiro felt himself sweat as he continued vomiting, the nausea refusing to leave him. Unfortunately for Yuhiro, he couldn't stop vomiting despite having thrown up everything that was in his stomach. Blood and gastric juice erupted from his mouth as Yuhiro recalled every event that happened the night before, especially his gleeful rampage in killing numerous individuals. In Yuhiro's mind, the sharp pain in his stomach and the scratch on his throat was like a punishment to condemn him for his actions. Eventually, the nausea left Yuhiro, allowing him to regain some sense of composure.
"Help me get Yuhiro to his room!" Roxy told Miyu, who grabbed one shoulder while the former grabbed the other. The two of them were able to carry Yuhiro to his room before putting him on his bed, who was still sweating due to having vomited earlier. Light-blue energy appeared on Miyu's hands as she put them on his body to help him heal from his wounds. As she did this, she noticed how the wounds on Yuhiro's body having had begun to try and repair themselves due to his Link Trigger.
Roxy went downstairs and grabbed a medical kit before running back upstairs to Yuhiro's room, where she put it on the desk nearby and pulled out a bottle of Antiseptic wash. Pouring some of it on a cloth, Roxy gently tapped each of Yuhiro's wounds so that it can help mitigate the pain. Eventually, she and Miyu managed to make Yuhiro stable again, though he was breathing heavily due to having vomited so much out of his body.
Yuhiro opened his eyes, having noticed that he was in his room. "Huh? What happened?"
"I found you in an alleyway in Den City last night. You were bleeding and in pain, so I obviously brought you home at Miyu's request as fast as I could." Medusa answered, having appeared in Yuhiro's room.
"I thought you were sleeping in your room last night, Yuhiro. Yet you go walking out late at night during a time like this? I expected more from you." Roxy scolded Yuhiro, who didn't say anything back.
"Auntie..." Miyu muttered.
"Why did you leave the house late at night, huh? You could have went downstairs and rested on the couch as you watched TV."
Yuhiro turned to Roxy. "I went on a late night walk because I couldn't get my thoughts in order. And the television wouldn't help either, Roxy. I needed fresh air."
Roxy sighed out of annoyance, obviously not buying it. "The Shadow is running rampant around Den City, yet you went walking late at night anyway? Given the wounds you received, it was very likely that you were a victim of the Shadow's wrath. You should be lucky that you're not infected."
"But he survived, auntie. He's here." Miyu tried to tell Roxy assuredly.
"That does it. I'll call Leshawna to schedule an appointment." Roxy stood up on her feet. "You need to get-."
"I do not need to get help, Roxy! I am fine!" Yuhiro firmly snapped at Roxy as he stood up on his feet, only for him to feel himself glitching numerous times before stumbling. Seeing him nearly fall over, Roxy quickly put an arm around one of Yuhiro's shoulders to help keep him steady.
"I'm very worried for you, Yuhiro. How you're acting these days isn't natural." Roxy gently pointed out to Yuhiro.
"Maybe so, but I can handle myself." Yuhiro loosened himself from Roxy's grip before looking out at the window, having sadly sighed upon doing so. "Besides, I don't want to be needed anymore."
Both Roxy and Miyu felt their hearts break into a million pieces after hearing Yuhiro say that. He was wrong. There were still people in his life that needed him, and they had to remind Yuhiro of that fact. Of how his actions managed to help people in the end. The two of them helped Yuhiro sit down on the bed before assisting him as he lied down on it. Once that was done, Roxy went over to the medical kit and grabbed a thermometer before taking Yuhiro's temperature, where she grimaced after seeing the result.
"I'm going to the store to get medical supplies. After that, I'll call Den Academy and let them know that you won't be able to make it to school today." Roxy decided, before turning to Miyu to deliver another set of instructions. "Miyu, you keep a watch on Yuhiro until I get back." After Miyu nodded in confirmation, Roxy left Yuhiro's room and headed downstairs. Miyu walked over to the chair nearby and grabbed it before putting it beside Yuhiro's bed, where she sat on it afterwards.
"I'm very worried for you too, Yuhiro." Miyu voiced her concern.
"I know. I just wish I wasn't a burden on you." Yuhiro admitted. "I feel like that's the case for the past few days now."
Miyu shook her head. "You're not a burden to anyone, Yuhiro. Not at all, okay? Please promise me you'll remember that."
"I'll do my best." Yuhiro replied. Though my best is never enough these days, he lamented in his mind. "You don't have to watch over me, Miyu. You should be getting your prep work done. Roxy said that you made great progress so far, right?"
"I'm making great progress, but..." Miyu began trembling. "I don't want to do the prep work today."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Because..." Miyu continued to tremble. "Because you took care of me for a very long time, and I want to repay the favor. I want to be the one to nurse you back to health!"
Yuhiro blinked. He didn't expect that answer from Miyu, but it made sense, as evident by her blushing as she looked down at the ground. If Yuhiro was being honest, it was relieving for Miyu to be here. "Okay, then I'll leave it to you."
Miyu's eyes widened after hearing that answer. She then smiled, happy to hear it. "Yes! I will do my absolute best, Yuhiro!"
The next hour consisted of Miyu doing several things in her attempt to nurse him back to health. Some of which included making Yuhiro a few sandwiches, putting a cold rag on his head every now and then, and ensuring that he took the appropriate medicine so he can get a speedy recovery. She even took his temperature to make sure that all the work helped contribute towards Yuhiro's health. At one point, Yuhiro began to begin feeling better, but the moment he tried to get up, Miyu scolded him for rushing the recovery process, saying that he had to rest until his fever went away. So Yuhiro followed Miyu's instructions and rested for a bit, with Roxy returning home with medical supplies around that time. When she saw that Yuhiro was resting, Roxy praised Miyu for helping him recover, and even teased her that she was enjoying taking care of him. That comment led Miyu to blush before running back downstairs, having remembered to get a task done.
Yuhiro continued resting for another bit, with Roxy and Miyu taking shifts on checking in on him. Rasterliger, at one point, entered inside Yuhiro's room and rested nearby, intent on keeping an eye on him when the others weren't available. After a little while, Yuhiro woke up and stretched, having realized that the sluggishness in his body left him at last. While he felt himself glitch a bit, he was getting better.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Yuhiro turned his head to the door, having noticed the sound. "Who is it?"
"It's me." Miyu answered, as she opened the door before heading over to the nearby seat and sitting on it. "Sorry for intruding, but how are you feeling, Yuhiro?"
"Thanks for your help, Miyu. While my fever broke, my body's still heavy unfortunately." Yuhiro said back.
"I'm glad. Well, then you won't need any more medicine. Auntie's going to be happy that you're recovering. Oh, I almost forgot." Miyu stood up on her feet and quickly ran to her room, where she grabbed her tablet and went back to Yuhiro's room. "I have something to show you."
Yuhiro smiled, now curious on what Miyu was about to show him as she typed on her tablet for a few moments before a screen popped up. It showed a girl that had long, chestnut-colored hair in the form of a crown braid and hazel eyes. Her attire consisted of a long-sleeved, violet leather tunic with a lightweight silver chest plate, lightweight violet shoulder pads that had rainbow orbs at the center, and black, fingerless gloves. "Is this-?"
"Yup! That's my avatar once I log into LINK VRAINS." Miyu happily confirmed. "Well, after I get my prep work and other stuff done, of course."
"Have you decided on a name yet?"
Miyu shook her head. "No, I haven't yet, although I am thinking of ideas. As for a deck.."
"Aoi has the Trickstar deck you can use. She switched over to the Marincess deck recently, and I'm sure she'd be happy to lend her previous deck to you." Yuhiro suggested.
"Sure. I'll ask her to do that for me. I mean, she is going to teach me how to duel soon." Miyu cheerfully said. "Once I'm done my tasks and you're fully recovered-." She gasped upon seeing Yuhiro glitch in and out, a painful expression evident on his face as the heaviness overtook his body for several moments. It was as though his Link Trigger was fighting an intense virus.
"I said that I'm getting better thanks to-." Yuhiro began speaking, before Miyu put her hands on his chest, light-blue energy surrounding them as she helped him calm down.
"You can't push yourself like this, Yuhiro." Miyu told Yuhiro firmly.
"I told you. I'm feeling-." Yuhiro began replying, before he immediately fell asleep once again. Despite everything Roxy and Miyu did to care for him, he still wasn't fully better, especially after the previous night.
Miyu sadly sighed after seeing Yuhiro fall back to sleep. She wished there was a way she can help Yuhiro truly recover and move forward. But the consequences of the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS, along with the deaths of Herald and Yukage, still weighed heavily on Yuhiro's mind. Both Miyu and Roxy knew that Yuhiro was not himself despite him repeatedly telling the two of them that he was fine. She stroked his hair, knowing that he needed to get rest for now. "You get some sleep, okay Yuhiro? We'll figure this out together." Miyu then stood up from the seat before heading over to the door and opening it, having motioned for Rasterliger to follow her seconds later.
"Whatever this Shadow is, I don't think human medicine will be able to eradicate it for good." Rasterliger stated, as he and Miyu walked down the stairs.
"I know, but we have to try something." Miyu replied. "At least my Link ability, along with Yuhiro's, is keeping it at bay."
"True, but we need to find a cure. Or at the very least, convince Yuhiro to seek help before it's too late." Rasterliger and Miyu walked over to the kitchen, where they saw Roxy speaking with someone on the phone.
"Okay. I'll see you guys in an hour." Roxy finished up her call on the phone before hanging up.
"Who was that, auntie?" Miyu asked Roxy.
"That, Miyu, was one of our dear friends. He and the others are coming within an hour from now." Roxy answered. "I think it's about time you meet the others who were involved in the Lost Incident, don't you think?"
One hour later…
Yusaku, Takeru, Arashi, and Kusanagi walked down the street that led to Café Matsuo, knowing that a meeting regarding Yuhiro's wellbeing, along with recent events, was needed.
"Is it me, or do I have a bad feeling that the moment we agree on the right decision, it'll hurt Yuhiro pretty badly?" Arashi questioned.
"In the state of mind Yuhiro's in right now, he needs to be sidelined for the time being, or else he'll act irrationally during the mission." Yusaku reminded Arashi.
"I'm with you there, Yusaku. Yuhiro really needs to recover." Takeru agreed, before turning to Kusanagi. "Say, how's Jin doing?"
"Jin's recovery is going really well, Takeru. Katsuya took him to the lab for bloodwork earlier today." Kusanagi happily answered.
When Yusaku, Takeru, Arashi, and Kusanagi learned that Katsuya was Percival, they were shocked after learning this information. The good news was that Kusanagi was able to reconcile with Katsuya, the two of them deciding to move forward after all the pain they went through. When Yusaku asked Kusanagi whether Katsuya knew their real identities, Kusanagi assured him, Takeru, and Arashi that his cousin didn't know this information. To put it simply, Kusanagi said that it was only fair for Yusaku and the others to tell Katsuya when the time was right.
"Well, if there's one good thing that'll be happening, it's that we'll be meeting Miyu for the first time." Arashi pointed out.
"It'll be good to meet another person from the Lost Incident. At least Jin can have friends after he's recovered." Kusanagi stated. "Not sure if you think about it, but since we're all involved in the Lost Incident one way or another, it's like we're in some sort of club."
"That's not the best comparison I've heard." Yusaku said, which made Kusanagi sigh in annoyance as he rolled his eyes.
"You have to kick a man when he's down, do you?" Kusanagi commented back. He would have continued talking, but the quartet eventually made it to Café Matsuo. Behind the counter was Roxy, who caught sight of them before gesturing the group to follow her inside. After nodding in confirmation, she opened the door and allowed the quartet to follow her upstairs, where they saw Miyu and Rasterliger on one of the couches.
"So, you're Miyu Sugisaki. Nice to officially meet you. I'm Shoichi Kusanagi." Kusanagi introduced himself, as he offered his hand. Miyu, in response, shook it back. "Over here is Yusaku Fujiki, Takeru Homura, and Arashi Hada."
"Nice to meet you. All of you." Miyu replied, as she shook Yusaku, Takeru, and Arashi's hands one by one.
"Likewise." Yusaku responded, as he, Takeru, and Arashi sat down on the opposite couch while Kusanagi leaned on the wall nearby. "We hope you're doing well."
Miyu nodded in assurance. "Yeah, I'm doing well. Although..." She sighed, the others knowing what she was talking about.
"We need to talk about recent events, along with what we're going to do next." Arashi commented.
"I get you there, especially with that Shadow and the bozo with glasses." Roxy agreed, as she sat down beside Miyu, before she remembered something. "How's Jin doing by the way, Kusanagi?"
"Jin's been recovering over the past few days. He's getting better with each day that passes." Kusanagi told Roxy, the latter smiling after hearing this good news.
"The Shadow and the person with glasses. They killed Aqua and the others, right?" Miyu correctly guessed, having returned to the subject at hand. Roxy told her what happened to Aqua, as well as who was responsible.
"I'm afraid so, and because of their actions, only Ai remains." Arashi sadly confirmed.
"If Ai were here, he'd be of great help against these new threats. But given recent events, I doubt that he'd return here." Roxy said.
"According to Ai, when he tried to rescue the other Ignis from Bohman, he saw a person with glasses in there." Yusaku recalled. "There's definitely a connection between that person and the Shadow, especially with Zaizen and Ghost Girl supporting my theory after they were hurt by it during my duel against Bohman."
"Thus a new threat emerges just after we defeated Bohman and Lightning." Kusanagi commented. "Can we have a period of time reserved for peace for once, please?"
"Peace came at a major cost, Kusanagi. We lost a lot of people to win in the end." Arashi reminded Kusanagi, the latter nodding in agreement after remembering those who died in the fight. Flame, Herald, Aqua, and the other Ignis lost their lives due to the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS, thus making Ai the last Ignis alive. "What's been happening on your end, Roxy? How's Yuhiro?"
"Recovering for the time being. Unfortunately, Yuhiro went out for a late walk last night, and encountered the Shadow before fleeing for his life. Although not without injuries." Roxy answered, much to Yusaku, Takeru, Arashi, and Kusanagi's shock after hearing that answer.
"It's not just that incident. He... he hasn't been himself lately." Miyu continued talking, having begun to tremble. "I'm scared. I don't want to lose him. Not after everything that's happened." Roxy put her arms around Miyu to calm her down, which managed to work after a few seconds passed.
"Judging by you arriving here, as well as the topic on Yuhiro's health, I'm to assume that he should be sidelined for the time being until he gets better." Rasterliger correctly guessed.
"Pretty much." Yusaku replied, impressed that Rasterliger was able to immediately discern the decision the group would make regarding Yuhiro so quickly.
"I'm on the same page here." Roxy agreed. "Health takes priority above all else, and for Yuhiro, he really needs to recover."
"So am I." Miyu added in support to Roxy's answer.
"With that aside, we need to talk about what to do about the Shadow and the person with glasses." Takeru said. "A few days ago, Yusaku, Arashi, and I were talking about what happened in Mirror LINK VRAINS when the Hanoi showed up at Café Nagi."
"Wait just a second. The Hanoi came to see you guys in the real world?" Kusanagi questioned.
"Yeah, and they delivered some information to us regarding the Shadow." Arashi confirmed. "It's anything but good."
"According to Revolver, he and the Hanoi gathered enough information to conclude that the Shadow somehow travelled from the network to the real world." Yusaku explained, much to Kusanagi's, Roxy's, Rasterliger's, and Miyu's horror.
"What?! Oh, dear God!" Roxy exclaimed.
"Just when things are slowly returning back to normal, the Hanoi show up and announce that they're not stopping their quest in eradicating all threats from the network any time soon, which means Ai will be in danger." Takeru angrily said, as he stood up on his feet.
"Calm down, Takeru." Yusaku gently tried to placate Takeru, as he also stood up on his feet before placing a hand on the latter's shoulder, only for it to not work.
"How can I calm down, Yusaku?!" Takeru narrowed his eyes in anger and gritted his teeth. "The Shadow's appearance is adding more fuel to the fire, and the Hanoi are once again resorting to extremes instead of backing off! If this keeps up, we'll end up destroying one another, and-!"
WHAM!
The next thing everyone knew, Yusaku punched Takeru so hard in the solar plexus that the latter was caught off guard by the sudden attack. It occurred so fast that Takeru couldn't respond to it at all.
"You need to calm down now." Yusaku firmly told Takeru, the latter being forced to sit down on the couch in response.
"How did... How did you-?" Takeru began asking.
"Not important right now. We have more pressing matters to discuss." Yusaku simply replied, as he sat down on the couch as well.
"We do for sure." Kusanagi agreed, before turning to Roxy. "Were you able to find any information about the Shadow or the person with glasses online?"
Roxy shook her head. "Again, I was busy with other matters at home. Mainly, taking care of Yuhiro and Miyu." She sighed. "Guys, there's something you need to know, and this occurred during the battle in Mirror LINK VRAINS."
"It's your duel against Yuhiro, isn't it?" Yusaku guessed, which made Takeru and Kusanagi gasp after hearing this information. As for Arashi, he frowned, knowing exactly what Yusaku was talking about.
"Why were you dueling against Yuhiro, auntie?" Miyu asked.
"Because I was blackmailed by Yukage Furutani, Miyu. Or in other words, Yuhiro's hybrid brother by blood, adoption, and foster care. The guy who put you in the hospital." Roxy replied, much to Miyu's shock. "To sum it up, while Yusaku was dueling against Kusanagi, Yukage arrived and wanted me to duel Yuhiro and push him to the brink of death. All just so he can see whether his motivation and resolve were there."
Kusanagi pondered over Roxy's answer before speaking. "It was almost like that when Lightning blackmailed me with Jin's consciousness data. Either I had to duel against Yusaku, or he'd kill Jin."
Yusaku grimaced after hearing that comparison. While he and Kusanagi prepared for the situation before, it was just as bad when it came to pass, especially considering how Kusanagi was one of his dearest friends. Given by what Roxy just said, the same scenario certainly occurred for her and Yuhiro once you took Miyu's health into account.
"That's not all. When I dueled against Yuhiro, he had another sentient Cyreath monster with him. Her name was Pandora." Roxy reported. "What's more, Yuhiro managed to bring out a Pendulum Xyz monster with a Rank-Up Magic card."
"What?!" Yusaku, Takeru, Arashi, and Kusanagi exclaimed out of shock. Miyu and Rasterliger also gasped as well.
"Did Herald make those cards before-?" Arashi began speaking.
"No." Roxy put a hand to her chin. "It's very likely that Yuhiro made them on his own before entering Mirror LINK VRAINS, and he may have even made more vicious cards to add to his arsenal as well."
"Oh, that's not good at all..." Kusanagi muttered, worry obviously evident in his tone.
"Yuhiro wouldn't do that. He wouldn't..." Miyu quietly said to herself in disbelief. In the time she got to know Yuhiro, she saw him as a kind-hearted person. One that would stay true to himself and not betray others. But with the losses Yuhiro recently experienced, along with all the stress that happened before that, must have affected his wellbeing. Sure, there were some traces of Yuhiro's goodness still there, but they were getting drowned by a darkness Miyu was scared of. One that she wanted to know how to stop. That way, she can have the kind and loving boy back in her life again.
"Well, this information is another thing on our list of concerns. We have the Shadow, the person with glasses, and the Hanoi's potential return to worry about." Arashi listed off. "And now you're telling me that Yuhiro can make his own cards all of a sudden?!"
"Hideki Kinoshita's the lead card designer at SOL Technologies, yet he needed time and training to reach to where he is today." Yusaku told Arashi. "But for Yuhiro to do it in such a short amount of time is quite unsettling."
"Same here." Takeru agreed.
"Roxy, you mentioned earlier that Yuhiro and Yukage are brothers by blood, adoption, and foster care." Kusanagi spoke up. "I understand the adoption and foster care part, but what does blood have to do with it?"
"It has everything to do with that situation, Kusanagi." Roxy answered. "So sit tight, because there's a lot of information all of you need to know about." She then spoke about how when Yuhiro was a baby, his birth parents left him to die at a hospital, only for Myojin and Lyla to assist in saving his life by providing some of their blood. It wasn't just that, as Yuhiro was also involved in Project: Cross Breed, with its purpose being to take two or more patients who have been dealt a bad hand upon birth and use their unique functioning parts to create a miracle through any means necessary. Yuhiro even had a condition called Alkalosis, which is a condition where the body fluids have excess base alkali. As for Yukage, he had a condition called Acidosis, which is a condition where there's too much acid in the body fluids.
Roxy also added that, while Myojin and Lyla provided their blood to help with the operation, Yuhiro was given pieces of Yukage to repair his damaged lungs, as well as fill in the missing veins in his right arm and left leg. As for Yukage, Yuhiro had to give him some of his pieces, only to repair the former's damaged liver and fill in the missing veins for his left arm and right leg. Hearing all of this information led Kusanagi to nearly vomit, and Yusaku, Takeru, and Arashi to gasp in shock. As for Miyu, she trembled in horror after learning the Hell Yuhiro went through when he was just a baby. Tears nearly fell from her eyes as well.
"Oh, God..." was all Miyu could say once the story was done. "Yuhiro..."
"Yeah, it's all kinds of messed up." Roxy commented, before she frowned.
"Again, Yuhiro needs to recuperate after everything that's happened." Rasterliger reminded everyone present. "What's more, neither the Hanoi or SOL Technologies should know the truth about Yuhiro's origins, lest things get even more worse from here."
"I concur with that decision." Yusaku voiced his agreement on the matter. "Yuhiro's gone through enough as it is right now, and the last thing he needs is to be hunted down like an animal."
The others nodded silently, having finalized the decision to bar Yuhiro from participating in missions until his health improved. The fact that Yuhiro was injured by the Shadow, combined with the trauma from the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS clearly indicated that his health had taken a toll, thus making his recovery a massive priority for him to address.
Arashi narrowed his eyes as he looked the ground, having processed what he and the others had discussed just now. It wasn't just the new information that was bothering him. It was after this was all over, especially once the school year ended, where Arashi would have to make decision on whether to come home or stay at Den City.
"Hey, is everything okay, Arashi?" Kusanagi asked, which got Arashi's attention.
"Y-Yeah, everything's fine. Sorry, a lot's on my mind right now." Arashi answered, before he got a notification on his watch. "I have to go guys. Something came up on my end." He stood up from the couch and headed over to the stairway, but not before looking at the others. "Oh, and again, nice to meet you, Miyu." After saying those words, Arashi went downstairs, intent on exiting Café Matsuo.
Kusanagi's phone vibrated from his pocket, which he pulled out before reading the text that popped up on it. He also narrowed his eyes after seeing the time on his phone. "It's Katsuya. Jin's just finished his doctor's appointment, and is driving him home as we speak. Moving that aside, I should get Café Nagi up and running so I can make some money before the day's over."
"I'll help you with that, Kusanagi." Yusaku offered, with Kusanagi nodding in agreement as the former stood up.
"If it's okay with you, I'd like to help as well." Takeru added, as he also stood up on his feet.
"Well, an extra set of hands will certainly help me out." Kusanagi acknowledged, before turning to Roxy and Miyu. "Take care you guys. Make sure Yuhiro's recovering and not going anywhere. If you find anything about the Shadow or the person with glasses online, let us know asap. We'll update you with our findings as well should we find any."
"Of course. Talk soon." Roxy said, as she, Miyu and Rasterliger walked downstairs with Kusanagi, Yusaku and Takeru before seeing them off.
"Auntie..." Miyu sadly muttered, before running over to Roxy and embracing her, which caught the latter off guard for a few seconds.
"Hey, we'll get through this. Yuhiro will recover, and the Shadow will be stopped. It'll be okay." Roxy assured Miyu, before hugging her back. After a few moments passed, the two of them, along with Rasterliger, went back upstairs. While Miyu and Rasterliger went back to the living room, Roxy walked over to the kitchen before dialing a phone number, knowing someone that can help Arashi get through his dilemma.
"Hello?" a voice said on the other end of the call.
"Hey, it's Roxy. I need your help with Arashi, as I think you can be the one to lend him a hand." Roxy replied, as she continued speaking to the person on the other end quietly.
Miyu, on the other hand, hugged herself. She did not expect to learn where Yuhiro came from and the pain he endured when he was a baby, along with the fact that he had a brother who put her in the hospital just when she left it. A look of resolution replaced the look of fear and shock on Miyu's face. It wasn't Yuhiro's fault that all those things happened. Yukage's actions were his alone, and there were other factors that played outside of Yuhiro's control as well. So she won't let Yuhiro fall into despair, knowing just how good and kind-hearted he truly is both on the inside and the outside.
What no one knew was that Yuhiro overheard the entire conversation from upstairs, having recently got up to use the washroom. Hearing all this information broke his heart upon realizing that everyone he knew had betrayed him. First, it was his friends. Then, it was the woman he deemed his mother. And now it was the girl he loved that betrayed him. Such information made Yuhiro feel more despair than he ever felt before, to the point where he wanted to kill himself and end the pain. But he couldn't. Not when he had a final mission to complete. Not when he had to fulfil his family's destiny and finish what Yukage started.
Yuhiro went back into his bedroom, a sorrowful expression evident on his face. He put on his duel disk, as if he knew what would happen next. "You're out there, right Medusa?"
As if on cue, Medusa materialized out of thin air near the entrance. "Yes, I am here."
"I thought so. Were you guarding me?"
"Yes. Herald wanted the others and I to protect you and those you care about from any of your enemies." Medusa reminded Yuhiro, who frowned back in response.
"...Do you mean that, even if I turn into something other than myself?" Yuhiro questioned, which caught Medusa off guard. It's something he thought he'd never say in his life. The worst case scenario, where Yuhiro would be their enemy. And given how Yuhiro accepted his calling in fulfilling his family's destiny last night, along with finishing what Yukage started, it was clear that there was no going back. That was why Yuhiro put in the urgent note in this file. So that the others will be able to put an end to his suffering, as well as protect the world he cared about.
The orb on Yuhiro's duel disk glowed white as a symbol of a dark-orange demonic crest that had lion fangs on the sides, as well as a typical western sword with a golden rain-guard and a blue grip slashing it down the middle appeared on it. According to Herald, it was something he created as a last resort should something happen to him. A last resort that would not only power up the 'Cyreath' monsters, but ensured that they'd keep Yuhiro and those he loved safe.
Or in other words, a one-time Command Spell with limited restrictions.
"My last request is for you to keep the people I love safe to the very end, no matter what happens in the future." Yuhiro sighed as the symbol turned into particles. "You can pass this request onto the other Cyreath monsters if you wish. I'm sure they'll agree to follow it."
Nodding compliantly and silently, Medusa then turned into particles, which returned to Yuhiro's duel disk.
Yuhiro then walked over to the desk nearby, where he pulled out his deck before taking out three cards. One card was of Rasterliger, while the other two was of Turboblaze Dragon and his evolution. He put them to the side, knowing that he didn't want them to get involved anymore than they already have. To put it simply, Yuhiro cared for Rasterliger and Turboblaze Dragon so much that he didn't want either of them to get hurt. Rather, he wanted those two to enjoy their lives instead.
After doing this, Yuhiro put his deck and duel disk on the desk before heading over to the bed, where he lied on it seconds later. Let the other Cyreath monsters make their decision as to what to do next, he thought in his mind, before falling asleep.
The door slightly opened, where Miyu peeked her head in to check on Yuhiro. After making sure that he was okay, Miyu closed the door and grabbed her tablet before heading back downstairs, wanting to talk to Roxy about her thoughts on her avatar, as well as a few other things on her mind.
Elsewhere, in an area in the network...
Jericho whistled as he showed the footage from the digital monitor in his laboratory to Urizen, the monolith having morphed to him. It showed the Cursed Boundary Layer's rampage in the real world, where it pricked people unconscious by draining their energy before going along its merry way. There were also instances where it brutally murdered people before draining their energy. "I honestly did not expect the Cursed Boundary Layer to travel to the real world like that."
"Neither did I, Jericho." Urizen agreed, as the two of them watched the Cursed Boundary Layer go rampant in the Sincero Penitentiary, where it murdered numerous individuals, wounded others, and destroyed other things. The chaos had led to the Cursed Boundary Layer absorbing a lot of energy as a result of the carnage before being forced to retreat. "Who exactly did you infect using the Cursed Boundary Layer?"
Jericho let out a chuckle. "It's ironic, don't you think, Father?"
"Ironic? What do you mean?"
"Myojin Furutani was the one who imprisoned us in the dark side of the network, yet he could never imagine his own spawn being thrown into his entire mess." Jericho explained, much to Urizen's surprise hearing such an answer.
"You don't mean..." Urizen began speaking.
"Yup. I infected Yuhiro Furutani with the Cursed Boundary Layer." Jericho confirmed, which made Urizen smirk.
"Ah. So that's who you infected with the Cursed Boundary Layer. Well done, Jericho. Well done." Urizen praised Jericho before a thought crossed his mind. "Though I am curious why you didn't infect his older brother."
In response, Jericho pressed a few buttons on his duel disk, which showed a screen that showed vital signs. One group of vital signs was higher than the rest. "Apparently, Raguel went through a chaotic experience at some point during the Ignis war, so I put it in him instead of Azrael after scanning everyone else's vital signs to see which one ultimately seemed fit. Besides, the victim has to be going through intense sorrow or pain for it to work, and given how Raguel was forced to defeat his older brother in their final duel, I'm sure he's going through a lot of Hell right now."
Urizen laughed. "Once again, you have done very well, my son." He turned his attention to the next part of the footage, which showed the Cursed Boundary Layer/Yuhiro's rampage in Central Japan. This included it/him tearing apart through numerous troops and taking in some of their energy, ripping apart Balius before absorbing his energy, and running rampant in its/his attempt to capture Rachel. While Brion and Gil were able to put up a fight, there was only so much they can do before getting clobbered, where the FBI and other troops arrived to launch an attack on the Cursed Boundary Layer/Yuhiro. Due to the overall brawl, it/him was forced to retreat.
Huh. It seems you managed to get your wish on your own, Brion, Jericho thought in his mind, having narrowed his eyes at the footage. The good thing was that Jericho was able to wipe out all of his meetings with Brion from the latter's memory, thus keeping his presence a secret. He then turned to Urizen. "I have some information to share with you regarding the task you gave me, Father. It's also correlated with the experiment you gave me permission to conduct."
"Oh?" Urizen raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
Jericho pressed another button on his duel disk, which caused two golden spheres of data to emerge before floating over to Urizen. After doing so, they formed into silhouettes of Bohman and Haru. "I captured the two AIs Bohman and Haru, as per your command after you approved my experiment. Unfortunately, given the fast rate Cursed Boundary Layer is developing and Bohman's injuries sustained as a Construct, I won't be able to repair him on time so he can fulfil his role in locating the Root of All Knowledge. As a result, I'll have to go with the faulty Construct in Rachel Miyake instead. I do hope that's not too much trouble, Father."
Urizen nodded in understanding. "It's not too much trouble at all, Jericho. Neither you nor I could anticipate the fast rate the Cursed Boundary Layer is developing now that it's in the real world, especially after attaching to someone who's not only unique, but a bomb with a lit fuse as well. As for Bohman and Haru..." He stretched out his right hand, where the silhouettes of Bohman and Haru turned into golden spheres of data once more before going into the monolith. "I will repair them, and ensure they're given absolution in one glorious belief by removing their respective free wills. To serve me."
"I can assure you that Bohman and Haru are both powerful duelists, Father. They will serve you well." Jericho said, as he looked at the monitor regarding the Cursed Boundary Layer, a frown evident on his face. "It's almost like all the other times, only for this one to be so unique."
"The fact that it's unique means we're close to acquiring the Root of All Knowledge." Urizen told Jericho. "In fact, it reminds me of a scenario. One that occurs with each infected person."
"Oh?" Jericho turned to the monolith. "Do tell."
"There is a sacrifice. A piece of meat that is ignored, cursed, and hated by the human world. This meat does not try to hate the world. It tries not to hate the world as long as it has at least one ally on its side."
Jericho began thinking this over. Thanks to the Cursed Boundary Layer infecting Yuhiro, he was able to keep an eye on his vitals, which were more elevated than usual due to the aftermath of recent events. It seemed that Yuhiro's friends were likely talking behind his back on making decisions for his wellbeing, only for him to think that they were betraying him. But Yuhiro was able to hold on so long for a simple reason.
There was a girl Yuhiro truly loved. One that managed to somehow prevent him from fully turning into a monster.
"My, it seems love is precious and strong. The meat cannot hate the world no matter what happens to it. It's intently trying to suppress its mud, believing that hating equals denying its ally. It's barely holding on because it believes in the one and only hope. It does not hate the world because it contains hope, and it does not let out the curse within it." Jericho stated with a giggle.
"But what would happen if it were rejected by its own ally? From the start, it has been denied by the world. If it is betrayed by its only hope, there will be no morality to stop it." Urizen finished.
"So you want me to give Raguel the final push?" Jericho inquired, now understanding what Urizen was trying to get at.
"It's only fair I give you the honor of drawing the curtains for the final act, my son. After all, you have given me a great gift, and I am one to reward my allies for their loyalty." Urizen confirmed. "After you acquire the final Ignis, synchronize the Unity, and when the world's scorched through Eschaton, I will come for the Root of All Knowledge. With it, the New Epoch will finally begin."
"It will be done, Father." Jericho bowed in front of Urizen, the monolith reverting back to its original shape seconds later. He walked upstairs to his laboratory before sitting down at the chair in the middle of the room. Once that was done, Jericho looked at the digital screen in front of him, which showed the results of the Cursed Boundary Layer's rampage in the real world. "A final push, huh? Good thing I have something in mind for that. Hehehe."
Meanwhile, at SOL Technologies, in a court room in the network...
This had been a long few days so far for Drachen. Specifically, this was day three of the trial. He was in what looked like a digital version of a courtroom due to his avatar being put on trial for his role in the attacks and in the real world, thus leading a trial to begin in the first place. The good news was that a great majority of people didn't know Drachen's real world identity, which gave him faith that he'll get through it in one piece. Besides, Drachen risked his life to expunge Ace from Uchida Industries, along with anyone who followed him. What's more, he even agreed to help Akira acquire evidence of Uchida Industries' criminal activities in order to bring the case to the higherups. Unfortunately, that led Drachen to be captured by Malf before being used as a puppet in order to bring Revolver into despair. Luckily, with Malf's defeat, Drachen was able to wake up in the end.
Sitting beside Drachen was Akira and Hayami, along with a male lawyer who wore glasses and had brown hair that reached to the back of his neck. There was also another desk nearby, with two other lawyers sitting down on the seats. A separate group of seats were located nearby the raised desk, which was the jury box. What's more, long bench seats were located at the back so those who were invited can attend the case.
"They're taking a long time to deliberate, aren't they?" Drachen whispered to Akira.
"You've answered all their questions to the best of your ability, and even agreed to you're your memories relevant to the case to be scanned." Akira explained.
"But what about the testimonies from so many other people, Mr. Zaizen?" Hayami inquired.
"All information must be evaluated very thoroughly, Hayami," the male lawyer reminded Hayami.
"That's correct, Oscar." Akira agreed, having addressed the lawyer by his name.
"Remind me, how did you get this guy to help me out?" Drachen asked Akira.
"Oscar's been doing a lot of cases regarding both the Black Market and the recent attacks. One of the best lawyers in Japan." Akira answered. He would have said more, but a group of men and women emerged from a door nearby before taking a seat at the jury box. A man with a black gown, white tabs, and a red sash also emerged from the room before walking over to the raised desk at the back of the courtroom.
"All rise," the judge said, as everyone present stood up before the judge sat down at the seat. "Please be seated." Everyone else then sat down on their respective seats. "Please rise, Mr. Drachen." At the judge's command, Drachen stood up from his seat. "Is there any words you want to say before I announce the verdict?"
"Yes, your honor." Drachen confirmed. "Like I said to you before, what I've done to those people during the attacks... though I did it, it wasn't willingly. I was kidnapped and drugged against my will to do those things by Ace, and I stand by that fact, your honor."
The judge nodded after hearing those words. "I've listened to the testimonies and analyzed all the evidence presented to the court. I've also taken into special consideration Akira Zaizen's appeal of clemency on behalf of Mr. Drachen, and how he contributed towards stopping the Turf War by going into Uchida Industries and stalling Ace long enough to prevent him from acquiring a resource that would have tipped things in his favor. In addition, I also took into account Mr. Drachen's mission to acquire evidence of Uchida Industries' wrongdoings so they can be reported to the authorities, which was passed on to the FBI. However..." The judge sighed. "While Mr. Drachen's done some good work in helping end two major catastrophes, this judiciary finds that they don't make up for the mountain of evidence convicting him as being responsible for his role in leading the Hanoi during the attacks. As such, I announce your verdict, Mr. Drachen. You are deemed-."
"WAIT!" a loud voice shouted, as several people barged through the doors, much to everyone's shock upon seeing who entered. It was Knight, who was with several guards, along with a restrained Chainslaver and Sharpshot.
"Who dares-?" the judge began speaking, before recognizing that Knight was there. "Knight, it's an honor. What brings you here?"
"Your honor, what brings me here is the fact that my men and I have found new evidence regarding Mr. Drachen's case." Knight answered. "Sharpshot and Chainslaver were a part of Uchida Industries at the time, and they've confessed everything to us." He motioned the guards to grab Chainslaver and drag him over to the witness stand. Once that was done, Knight handed Oscar some documents, who narrowed his eyes as he looked at them.
"Mr. Zaizen. Drachen. Are you seeing what I'm seeing right now?" Hayami quietly asked.
"Yup," both Akira and Drachen confirmed at the same time.
Oscar stood up from his chair before approaching the witness stand. "Mr. Chainslaver, according to the documents just shown to me, you worked with Sharpshot and Ace to capture and force Drachen to do your bidding. Is this correct?"
"Yes. You're correct." Chainslaver answered, having trembled before doing so.
"And according to this document, you've been working with Ace for quite a while since he busted you out." Oscar continued, before grabbing a USB stick that came with the documents and presenting it to the court. "With the court's permission, I'd like to play the footage I've obtained just now regarding this case." After the judge nodded in confirmation, Oscar pressed a few buttons on his computer to connect it with the screen. From there, he took the USB stick and connected it with his computer, where footage immediately began playing seconds later, which showed Chainslaver, Sharpshot, and Ace in a room inside Uchida Industries.
"Hang on a minute. Why do you expect Drachen to return here?" Sharpshot asked Ace.
"Because Drachen tried to stop me from seizing Uchida Industries during the Turf War, which he failed to do despite all his best efforts." Ace answered. "He'll likely come back to try and liberate it from my control."
"I sense there's something else going on regarding Drachen, Ace. While you enforced security for this labour force, it's as though you actually want him to come and try to stop you again." Chainslaver figured out.
"My benefactor has given me orders to bring Drachen to him alive should he return, and I know he'll come back to try and stop me. Besides, a certain AI wants payback on him." Ace firmly told Chainslaver.
"But if Drachen succeeds in acquiring evidence of Uchida Industries' recent actions-."
"He will not, Chainslaver. My benefactor commented that everything always has a use, and he certainly sees a... better use for Drachen down the road, especially when you take his plans for making the Hanoi suffer into account. After all, what's more painful than using a person they love to hurt someone else?"
There were murmurs of curiosity and surprise among the audience once the footage stopped playing. Drachen grit his teeth upon seeing it. Apparently, Ace not only expected him to return back to Uchida Industries, but had also made plans to hand him over to Malf and Azrael as well. The worst part was that all three of them planned to use Drachen as a puppet for their plans.
"You see that, ladies and gentlemen? How could Drachen be working with the Hanoi when their allies actually intended on drugging him for their plans in the first place?" Oscar inquired not just to the judge, but to everyone else in the room. "And as according to previous evidence, Chainslaver and Sharpshot weren't members of the Hanoi to begin with, nor were they there during the network and real world attacks. As such, it was very unlikely that Drachen would have had contact with either of them prior to the attacks."
"This is interesting evidence, Oscar. However, we don't have proof that Drachen was drugged into doing these crimes, so we must conclude that he did those crimes of criminal intent," the judge pointed out.
"If I may speak, your honor, I found evidence of this statement after thoroughly looking through the network for information." Knight interjected, as he gestured to Oscar, who looked through the documents he had before finding another USB stick. After receiving the judge's nod of approval, Oscar put the USB stick in his computer before playing the footage, which showed footage of Malf puppeteering Drachen in his attempt to stop Revolver. The footage also showed a small bomb attached to Drachen's duel disk, much to everyone's horror as they saw Revolver reluctantly take Drachen down in a duel. Surprisingly, there was no audio in this clip, as though it was deleted upon being retrieved.
Knight then walked around the courtroom. "That, my friends, is footage of the AI known as Malf using Drachen in an attempt to eliminate Revolver, the leader of the Hanoi. I mean, come on, the bomb attached to his duel disk is certainly proof, don't you all think? But your honor..." He turned to the judge. "You wished to see proof that Drachen was drugged into doing these things, right? Well, allow me to show you all this!" Knight then pulled out a vial that contained dark-purple liquid, which got everyone's attention. "This right here is a piece of Malf that my team was able to find with Rook's assistance, and after very careful analyses by my forensics team, have found traces of the Another virus in it. I strongly hypothesize that this little piece of Malf containing the Another virus was used to drug Drachen into doing those crimes!"
That statement led to gasps of shock from the entire audience, along with several murmurs among the people present discussing on what was just revealed. Both Akira and Drachen widened their eyes with horror after hearing what Knight had just announced. For the former, he didn't expect Malf to be a living incarnate of the Another virus. For the latter, he never expected the Another virus to play a role in him being drugged and corrupted into doing those crimes.
"Mr. Zaizen, were you aware of this?" Hayami quietly asked Akira.
"No, I was not." Akira genuinely admitted.
"Mr. Drachen, does any of this make sense to you?" the judge asked Drachen.
"Like I told you earlier, I was kidnapped and drugged against my will to do those crimes by Ace." Drachen repeated. "And with the information being shown here, I understand the events that led to me getting captured and drugged for Ace and Malf's plans. Or to put it in simple words, this makes sense to me."
"That's a ridiculous comment you made there, Drachen." Chainslaver remarked with a laugh, as he suddenly broke free of his restraints before grabbing the gun hoisted near one of the officers' gun straps and pointing it all over the courtroom, which made everyone scream in horror. "You can't get away with your actions, boy, and when word of this gets out, you and all of SOL Technologies will-!"
WHAM!
Knight grabbed the gun and punched Chainslaver with such force that he was stunned before the guards grabbed him.
"Take this bastard away." Knight told the guards, as they dragged a wounded Chainslaver away from the courtroom before immediately logging out with him. He then gestured for the remaining guards to bring Sharpshot over to the witness stand. "With that little debacle out of the way, your honor, I can resume presenting the other evidence I brought, yes?"
"Y-Yes, you can," the judge answered, as he turned over to Oscar.
"Mr. Sharpshot. According to your file, you worked under Gardai as his right-hand man at the Delta branch." Oscar began speaking. "Some time after the Turf War, Ace broke you out in exchange for serving him."
"It was either that or die, especially how all of SOL Technologies and their little pawns stopped the Black Market's operations." Sharpshot snarled back. "And had it not been for the authorities, then those operations-!"
"Operations, you say?" Knight suddenly interrupted in a tone that shut Sharpshot up. "So you're saying that Uchida Industries, the Hanoi's main benefactor was involved in something worse behind the scenes? An operation that Drachen not only wasn't aware of, but wasn't involved in?"
Sharpshot shut his mouth, refusing to answer the question. Silence ran through the whole area for a full minute while Oscar looked at the documents. He found a third USB driver before immediately putting it in his computer and playing it, which showed footage of Sharpshot ordering the transfer of several slaves and materials, much to the audience's shock and horror. Despite having seen the footage, Knight was also shocked, a look of disgust evident on his face as proof that he detested such actions.
Once the footage finished playing, Knight spoke again. "With the evidence shown just now, I can positively say that Drachen did not willingly commit the actions he had committed. He was drugged into doing those things by Malf, who had pieces of the Another virus inside him under the orders of Ace's mysterious benefactor. What's more, Drachen wasn't involved in Uchida Industries' other operations. Rather, he was committed to bringing it down before something worse came to pass. Don't believe me that he was drugged, even after I showed you the evidence? Why don't you scan his avatar and find out for yourself."
The next several minutes consisted of a judge ordering guards to bring in an avatar scanner, which they did before he requested Drachen to stand up for inspection. Sure enough, upon full scan, Drachen's avatar certainly had traces of the Another virus on it, much to his and everyone else's shock. In Drachen's mind, he still couldn't believe that Malf was a living embodiment of the Another virus, which practically angered him. From his knowledge, the Hanoi destroyed it, so the most likely scenario was that someone stole a sample of it before creating Malf. After Drachen was scanned, a memory scanner was also brought in, which scanned all the memories relevant to the case as everyone saw each one. From Drachen confronting Ace in Uchida Industries, to Drachen speaking with Akira in confirming the mission to shut Uchida Industries down, to him getting kidnapped by Ace before being handed over to Malf, it was all there. What caught Drachen's attention was the part in his duel where Ace told him that he was a Hanoi member, which was somehow muted. Whatever it was, Drachen was practically grateful that he had forgotten that piece of knowledge.
"I don't... I don't believe it..." the judge muttered.
"Your honor, what Drachen said was true." Akira said, as he stood up on his seat. "He was drugged by Malf to do those horrific things against his will, and I didn't know that he'd be kidnapped by Ace. The fact remains that Drachen still played a role in ending two major catastrophes."
"But the fact remains that he still hurt people. We can't sweep that fact under the rug," the judge pointed out.
"You're right, your honor. We still must acknowledge that Drachen did those things, even though he lacked the criminal intent to do so." Knight stated. "But we must also acknowledge that before a decision is made, all evidence is taken into account. The Hanoi, and by extension Ace, drugged him as a slave for their plans."
The judge nodded in agreement. All evidence had to be taken into account, and the fact that this new evidence provided a new perspective on what was going on changed everything. He then turned to Drachen before speaking. "Mr. Drachen, I have a question for you before we deliberate this new evidence."
"What is it, your honor?" Drachen inquired.
"Are you loyal to the people?"
A lot of things popped into Drachen's mind. In the beginning, he only came to Den City at Ryoken's request to help fight the Ignis. But over time, Drachen genuinely wanted to help keep the people safe from whatever threats were there, no matter if his interests clashed with the Hanoi's goals or not. With the Turf War and the attacks, his desire to help save others aligned with the Hanoi's goal in keeping humanity protected from threats, the only difference being that they wanted to protect it from growing threats in the network. However, it was very likely that Ryoken and the others would agree that there would be no point in their mission if mankind was wiped out by something else other than the Ignis.
After thinking this all over, Drachen took a deep breath before replying. "Yes, your honor. I am loyal to the people."
Akira smiled upon hearing Drachen's answer. He wasn't the only one, as Knight also gave Drachen a smile of pure approval as the judge and the people in the jury box went into another room to deliberate over the recent evidence that was shown. It took a very long while for the judge and the people in the jury box to deliberate, for based on what Knight said, all pieces of evidence had to be taken into account. Oscar was even called in to speak with the judge, and after learning why, Knight handed over the piece of Malf to the former so he can show it to the others.
"Do you know how long this is going to take?" Drachen whispered to Akira.
"I honestly wish I knew, Drachen." Akira answered. "If it wasn't for Knight, then the trial would have been over a very long time ago."
Drachen nodded in agreement. Had it not been for Knight, then he would have been severely punished, despite standing by the fact that he had been drugged to do his role in the attacks.
After several long minutes, the judge and the people in the jury box, along with Oscar, returned back to the courtroom, having finally come to a decision. The judge then gestured for Drachen to stand on his feet, which he did.
"Mr. Drachen, in light of recent evidence shown to the court, and having taken into account your role in stopping the two catastrophes, we have decided to pardon you of your crimes," the judge decided, much to the joy of Drachen, Akira, Hayami, Oscar, and Knight. "However, there will be several conditions, as highlighted by the members of the jury. Do we have an understanding, Mr. Drachen?"
"Yes, your honor." Drachen replied, the judge nodding back in response as he read from a list.
"You will enter into a period of probation as advised to me by the members of the jury. During this time, you won't be allowed to log into LINK VRAINS unless being given special permission by SOL Technologies for work and/or volunteer purposes only." The judge took a breath before continuing. "On that topic, you will work with SOL Technologies in assisting its reparation efforts and restoring its reputation. And given how you were employed by Akira Zaizen to join the bounty hunter task force, you will be working under him for this task, thus making him your supervisor. We'll discuss the details with you over the next few days. Do you agree with this, Mr. Drachen?"
"Yes, your honor." Drachen nodded in acknowledgement, having heard what the judge said.
The judge nodded in approval before continuing to speak. "One last thing, Mr. Drachen. Understand that you're not yet in the clear. As such, you will be watched at all times for the next four to six months. Who you speak with and where you go will be taken into account, so I advise you not to do anything fishy during this time. This is your chance to redeem yourself, Mr. Drachen. Succeed, and we'll reduce your probation period to the point where you may be released. You should consider our decision an act of enormous mercy."
"Thank you, your honor." Drachen replied. "Thank you. All of you."
The judge nodded for a final time, pleased with Drachen's response. "And as such, Mr. Drachen's case is officially closed." He slammed the gavel in his hands onto the desk, thus concluding the trial. As for Sharpshot, the judge gestured the guards to bring him to another room, intent on moving onto the next case with the evidence having been revealed today. A case that he was more than willing to look into with Knight's assistance.
Akira, Hayami, Oscar, and Drachen exited the digital courtroom, satisfied and joyful looks on their faces.
"Drachen's freed!" Hayami cheered loudly, happy with the overall outcome.
"Yes, Hayami. It's something that we're all proud of." Akira agreed, the smile still on his face.
"I'm just glad that it's all over. I mean, I thought I was screwed." Drachen commented.
"But you're not yet in the clear, Drachen. Despite having been drugged against your will, you still committed those crimes." Oscar reminded Drachen. "Regardless, I have complete faith that you'll not only regain the people's trust in you, but also help restore SOL Technologies' reputation as well."
"And I have that same faith as well!" Knight stated out of nowhere, as he walked over to the group and shook Oscar's hand. "Another case solved, don't you agree, my old friend?"
"It certainly is the case." Oscar responded.
"Hang on a minute. How do you both know each other?" Hayami questioned.
"Knight was a guest lecturer I got to learn under a few times during law school. He certainly showed us a new way of thinking." Oscar explained, before looking at his watch. "Sorry everyone, but duty calls."
"Thank you very much for all your help, Oscar." Akira said, as he shook hands with Oscar before the latter logged out of the network.
Knight, on the other hand, was about to log out of the network before Drachen caught up to him.
"Do you have time for a quick question, Mr. Knight?" Drachen asked.
"You can simply call me Knight, Drachen." Knight told Drachen. "Anyhow, what's your question?"
"Why did you help me out?"
In response, Knight put a hand on Drachen's shoulder. "Because I didn't want your good works to lead you to being thrown in a cell. I learned how you signed up as a bounty hunter to bring Playmaker and the others to justice, as well as your contributions towards ending the Turf War and stopping the attacks. While you were unfortunately drugged and forced into doing crimes against your will, I see great potential within you, Drachen. I don't want such potential to go to waste, especially as it can help through these dark times."
Drachen nodded. "Again, thank you very much for your help. I appreciate it."
"You, Akira, and I will go over the details over the next few days with the others. In the meanwhile, get some rest." Knight told Drachen, who nodded as the latter logged out.
Akira also nodded after hearing Knight's statement before logging out with Hayami. Once the duo logged out, Knight noticed that his duel disk, which resembled that of a silver shield with a yellow orb, was beeping. Going over to a secluded area in the courtroom, he answered it, which caused silhouettes of Lycaon, Perseo, and Jeromy to pop up.
"Is it done?" Lycaon asked.
"It's done, sirs. Drachen's charges have been dropped." Knight answered.
"Good. He'll be of great help moving forward." Perseo praised Knight for his efforts.
"Permit me to ask a question, sirs. Why did you want me to assist Drachen? He was still a pawn of the Hanoi despite being-." Knight began speaking.
"Because this is an opportunity to capitalize on, Knight." Jeromy told Knight. "Think about this: It's very likely that, despite being a pawn, Drachen had contact with a member of the Hanoi. Maybe even Revolver himself. And now that Drachen's being watched, we'll immediately know the moment he re-connects with one of the Hanoi should he be working with them willingly. Or to sum it up, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."
"Ah. Now I get where you're going at, sirs." Knight thought this over, having understood what Jeromy meant by his answer. It was insightful, intriguing, and tactical at the same time. Maybe there was the chance that the Hanoi sent Drachen to spy on SOL Technologies, and if that was the case, then the company can turn the Hanoi's own strategy onto them.
"Work out the details with Zaizen and Drachen over the next few days. After they're finalized, send the information to us immediately."
"I will, sirs." Knight complied with Jeromy's order, before signing off. Once that was done, he then logged out afterwards, his business done for the time being.
Elsewhere, in the real world...
Arashi walked down the sidewalk, a lot on his mind. First was the Shadow's appearance, and how it's been hurting people during the night. Second was the person with glasses' appearance in the network, who was responsible for murdering the Ignis. Both individuals were deadly because for the Shadow, Arashi and the others couldn't find any weaknesses to exploit in order to defeat it. As for the person with glasses, they didn't know where he was in the network, especially when it's a vast place, thus allowing one to hide wherever they want.
Then there was the disturbing news about Yuhiro, where Arashi and the others learned that he was wounded by the Shadow and recovering. But the more disturbing piece of information that caught Arashi's attention was the fact that Yuhiro was able to make his own cards all of a sudden. According to Yusaku, Hideki, who was the lead card designer, was able to make cards after the education and training to reach the job position he was at today. But Yuhiro was able to somehow make his own cards for his deck while adhering to the rules of creating new cards. How was Yuhiro able to do that? Did his Link Trigger play a role in this situation? Did Yuhiro acquire inspiration from somewhere? Those questions plagued Arashi's mind.
Last but not least was what Arashi wanted to do three months from now, where the exchange program would send him back to Tokyo, while the student named Souta Kubo would be sent back to Den City. Originally, Arashi came here to find out who hurt Takeda and bring that individual to justice. But now that his goal was fulfilled, Arashi didn't know what to do with himself. Should he stay at Den City and request an extension for his program? Or end it and return back to Tokyo?
Before Arashi can continue dwelling on these questions, his phone vibrated in his pocket, which he immediately took out and looked at who was calling. I'm not sure if this is good timing or mere coincidence, but Takeda will certainly help me out, Arashi thought in his mind. He pressed a button on his phone to confirm that he received the Facetime call. "Hey, how are you-?"
"HI, ARASHI!" the voices of Rylee, Hank, Kaitlyn, and Marco said back, which made Arashi jump out of shock as their faces appeared on the screen. Even Chester the monkey was there, who was on Marco's left shoulder.
"Rylee? Hank? Kaitlyn? Marco? What are you guys doing here? Where's Takeda? And why do you have his phone?" Arashi asked those questions in sequence.
"Takeda had to take care of something, so we decided to surprise you with a call!" Kaitlyn happily responded.
"I tried telling her not to prank call you, given how you can get fooled by those ridiculous phone calls, but Rylee prevented me from doing so." Hank explained.
"We just wanted to surprise Arashi, Hank. I don't see what's so wrong about surprising someone out of the blue." Rylee said, which made Hank raise an eyebrow at her.
"I just watched the situation nearby. It was entertaining seeing Hank try to get out of Rylee's death grip." Marco commented, which made Arashi laugh after hearing it, much to Hank's ire and Rylee's enjoyment.
If Brea and Rylee met, they'd be great friends, Arashi thought in his mind. "Say, how's Takeda doing? I was honestly hoping I'd speak with him. Though I do love the surprise call, rest assured."
"Takeda's recovering at a good rate. He's doing physio, along with cognitive exercises to ensure that his visual and verbal memory haven't been affected." Kaitlyn answered. "Though he does get headaches from the concussion, which is what the meds are for."
"But herbal tea can help too." Marco pointed out, only for Chester to slap him once with each hand. "Really, Chester? What did I say about slapping people?"
"Takeda's not a huge fan of tea, remember Marco?" Rylee reminded Marco.
"What about you, Arashi? What's it like at Den Academy?" Hank curiously inquired.
Arashi smiled. "Well, it's like a regular high school, only with more challenging courses. Tell Grandpa Martin I say thanks for putting me on this exchange program. It's... broadened my horizons, and... also changed my worldview for the better."
"We will, don't worry. We'll also tell your parents as well." Marco promised.
"Professor Murchison is going to be very pleased to hear that your horizons and worldview have changed. He chatted with your parents a few times about your grades, and all three of them agreed that you're truly a talented genius." Kaitlyn told Arashi, who chuckled in response.
"Hey, I wouldn't have been the person I am today without their teachings, along with learning new things from my friends at Den City." Arashi replied back, as he noticed that he was near Green Park. Finding a bench nearby, he sat down on it to take a break from walking. "Say, this exchange student that's been at the Tokyo Horizon Institute these past few months. It's Souta Kubo, right? What's he like?"
Rylee gathered her thoughts before being the first one to speak. "Well, for starters, Souta's someone who's been excelling in all the classes he's in with top grades. The classmates call him 'Kid Prodigy', 'Brainiac', 'Boy Wonder', and other things."
"Souta's also someone who, while he keeps to himself sometimes, does interact with people on a regular basis. A few friends, and whatnot." Hank continued.
"Yeah, but that's not the only thing going on for him, especially when you take the other fact into account." Marco continued.
"Other fact?" Arashi repeated.
"Well, here's the thing. Souta's been doing so well in his work that he's under Jitney Phaeton's tutelage." Kaitlyn said, which made Arashi's jaw drop after hearing what she said just now.
"W-W-Wait a minute? Jitney Phaeton? The Jitney Phaeton? The same one who's the chairwoman of the Tokyo Horizon Institute?" Arashi still could not believe what Kaitlyn had said seconds earlier. A ton of students worked hard and competed against one another in order to get Jitney's attention. Such competition was fierce due to how there were so many students at the Tokyo Horizon Institute. Being the chairwoman, Jitney didn't have the time to look each students' grades, so she left the responsibility to faculty members and professors because they were the ones teaching them. Then Souta appeared, and within a few months was able to somehow get Jitney's attention to the point where he ended up learning under her personally.
Arashi also recalled a time where Takeda mentioned that he got a letter of praise personally from Jitney after creating Omni, with her saying that if done right, then AIs will certainly help contribute positively towards mankind's future. She also encouraged him to keep the hard work up, as well as provided him with an additional scholarship so he can continue his studies. According to Takeda, Jitney would have attended the student showcase, but was unfortunately busy attending to other matters.
"Yup," Rylee, Hank, Kaitlyn, and Marco answered at the same time.
"The crazier thing is that he's the youngest student who is learning under Jitney." Marco added, which made Arashi widen his eyes.
"Y-Y-Youngest?" Arashi repeated, still unable to comprehend what he just heard.
"Souta's thirteen, Marco." Kaitlyn reminded Marco in a firm tone, who sighed in response. As if on cue, Chester slapped Marco once with each hand, much to the latter's annoyance.
"But long story short, Souta's the youngest student to ever learn under Jitney herself." Rylee summed up.
"Overall, he isn't a bad kid. In a way, he's almost like you." Hank said.
This is insane. I never thought such a thing would occur until now, Arashi thought in his mind. He did not expect to hear that someone was personally learning under Jitney herself in the weeks since he left Tokyo. Numerous students had tried to get personal tutelage under Jitney, and all of them weren't able to despite their hard work. "We won't know that until I meet Souta in person."
"I suppose you make a good point there." Hank replied.
"Say, Arashi, you'll be returning back to Tokyo in three months, right? Do you plan on ending your participation in the exchange program and coming back home? Or do you think you'll resume it once the term's over?" Kaitlyn questioned.
"Honestly, that's the question I wanted to ask you guys." Arashi admitted, surprised that Kaitlyn beat him to the punch. "In my time at Den City, I found the AI who hurt Takeda weeks prior, but was unfortunately killed before I could capture it. I mean, the whole reason I enrolled in the exchange program in the first place was to find that AI. But now that my mission is over, I don't know what to do next." He did not want to tell his friends the story about him not just meeting Windy, but how his own Ignis hurt Takeda. Arashi also did not want to go into detail about the Lost Incident, how Windy ended up becoming his enemy, and so many other things revolving around this topic.
"I mean, you do learn new things when you're at a different school, thus expanding your horizons as a result." Marco began answering, before gesturing over to Chester. "Look at Chester. Before I met him, he was an animal who had some form of understanding for humans. But he has spent enough time around humans to not just interact with them, but to obey commands as well." To counter that point, Chester slapped Marco once with each hand, which led to a slap fight between the two.
"Okay, get out of here, you two!" Rylee fiercely ordered, as she pushed Marco and Chester away from the phone so they can resolve their differences elsewhere.
"What Marco was trying to say before he and Chester got into a slap fight was that you not just learn new things, you also meet different people and acquire experience many things as well. Ones that you never thought would enter your life if you never seized that opportunity." Hank continued. "It's what learning's all about."
"Hank certainly has a point, Arashi. Life is never what you expect it to be due to how it takes you in different directions based on your experiences." Kaitlyn added. "Sometimes, you just have to go with your gut. Or take a leap of faith. Or follow your heart. Something like that."
"Huh. I never thought of it like that before." Arashi admitted, but before he could continue speaking, he heard a noise nearby. "Sorry guys, I have to go. Tell Takeda I say hi, okay?"
"We will, don't worry." Rylee promised, before they hung up on the other end. After that was done, Arashi put his phone in his pocket and stood up before looking around the area. Green Park was certainly a nice park to be in, as evident by the lush nature around him, along with the gazebo at the center of the park. If Arashi had to guess, the sound he was hearing was most likely a squirrel or two chasing each other to see who got the food first.
He groaned and rubbed his forehead, not wanting anymore surprises for the rest of this day. All Arashi wanted was to take in the information he learned and not hear or see anything new for the rest of today so he didn't go through information overload. Was that so hard to ask for, even if it was for one day? Besides, information overload can prevent people from thinking straight. A great example would be what happened to Yuhiro after he learned the truth about himself, which led him to run away before eventually returning home.
"Ah, damn. What am I going to do?" Arashi muttered. It was nice to hear from Rylee, Hank, Kaitlyn, and Marco, as he hadn't heard from them in a long while. Despite the advice they provided for Arashi to solve his dilemma, he still couldn't figure out what he should do next following everything that previously happened recently.
"Stop moping around for starters," a voice commented out of nowhere, which made Arashi look around to see who else was at Green Park.
"Who's there?" Arashi raised his fists in front of his body before continuing to look around the area, wanting to be prepared in case someone tried to attack him. From what Takeru told him, it was always important that you're not only ready to defend yourself, but be aware of your surroundings as well. This way, you can protect yourself in combat, along with use other things you learned to escape the situation if needed.
The next thing he knew, a person snuck up behind Arashi and put her hands over his eyes, which made him scream as he jumped forward. Upon turning around, he realized that Brea was the one who did it.
"B-B-Brea?" Arashi recognized the person who snuck up behind him, having recomposed himself after seeing a familiar face.
"Yup, it's me!" Brea greeted Arashi back. "Did I scare you?"
Arashi ended up blushing in response to that question. "Of course you scared me! What kind of person sneaks up and covers someone else's eyes like that?"
"Someone who's a friend." Brea countered back with a pout. "That being said, how you doing? It's been a while since we last talked."
"Rough, but fine. Thanks for asking." Arashi answered. He honestly did not expect Brea to show up out of nowhere and surprise him. Was there anything else Arashi should expect for the rest of today? Because he was tired of surprises for one day.
"That's great. Hey, come and take a walk with me. You shouldn't be at this park alone." Brea gestured Arashi to follow her, which he did. He obviously knew that something was up, along with the fact that Brea was a tsundere. So was the 'dere' part in control, or was it the 'tsun' part? Such a thing confused him.
"So what have you been up to since we last talked?" Arashi inquired, wanting to see just what was going on here.
Brea thought about it for a few seconds before responding. "Uh, not much. Had to get some schoolwork done and other things."
"And where exactly do you go to school? I doubt it's Den Academy."
"No, I go to a private school. Maybe I might transfer over to Den Academy one day. I mean, I keep telling Gabriella about the benefits of going to a public school versus a private school, but she insists that I get the best education as possible."
The two chuckled lightly. The good mood continued as the both of them chatted about other things until Brea broke the ice.
"Sorry for bringing this up, but I am both curious and concerned. Before we spoke, you looked stressed out. Everything okay?" Brea asked.
Arashi frowned. Since he got advice from his friends back in Tokyo just now, maybe getting a new and fresh perspective from Brea could help with his dilemma. "Do you remember why I came to Den City in the first place?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"Well, it's a long story." Arashi then proceeded to tell Brea about how he found out that his own Ignis, Windy, put Takeda in the hospital. He also told her about the advice he got not just from Yuhiro, but from Gabriella as well, much to Brea's surprise. From there, Arashi told Brea about the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS, and his decision to spare Windy's life instead of killing him. Last but not least, Arashi added that due to the war, Windy died by Azrael's and Bohman's hands, and now that his mission was over, he didn't know what to do next regarding his enrollment in the exchange program.
Brea nodded after hearing all of this information. "I see. Sorry I made you bring up this information."
Arashi shook his head. "Don't be. Honestly, I could use some advice, as different perspectives can certainly help in decision-making."
Brea chuckled. "Yeah, you could say that." She thought about something before she resumed speaking. "Gabriella tried to help me get different perspectives on how to move forward after what happened with Roxy."
"She set you up on dates with other boys through dating apps, right?" Arashi humorously guessed, which irritated Brea.
"Yeah, and that was annoying." Brea replied. "I shut down the attempts of any guy trying to woo me, and to add insult to injury, I crushed their spirits afterwards in different ways."
"Eloise already told me this, especially how you beat each of them up. Boy, you must have gotten into a lot of trouble for doing that."
Brea's face turned red in response. "Excuse me, I didn't always use my fists. I also had the boys Gabriella set up with me on dates to duel me, and I won against every single one of them." She pouted seconds later. "Alright, I may have gotten in some form of trouble as well."
"Aside from the intent of poking fun at you, which was indeed hilarious, I still have a question. What's the point of you telling me all of this?" Arashi inquired out of curiosity, the two of them having stopped walking as they looked upward at the sky.
"My point is that there's a lot of options to choose from on deciding how to move forward from one step to another. In my case, Gabriella tried to help me move forward by making me meet different people so I can both learn and find happiness from them." Brea responded.
Interesting, Arashi thought in his mind. The people you met throughout your life had some form of influence on your life, along with how your worldviews are affected. Such a thing certainly was interesting for sure. But before Arashi could continue thinking, he snapped out of this thoughts when Brea snapped his fingers in front of him.
"You still haven't reached a form of resolution, haven't you?" Brea figured out.
"Excuse me, I'm someone who needs to sort all of this information out, or else my brain will self-destruct." Arashi protested.
"I think I have an idea on how to narrow your thoughts down." Brea grabbed Arashi's arm and started dragging him.
"H-Hey, stop pulling! I can walk on my own, you know!"
Unfortunately for Arashi, Brea ignored Arashi's protests as she moved forward in an enthusiastic manner.
Ten minutes later...
"A duel arcade? You think this is gonna help sort my thoughts out?"
"Words can only help so much, Arashi. Sometimes, it takes a bit more to help someone out."
This exchange of words was said between Arashi and Brea, the latter having taken the former to a large building with holograms of duel monsters battling outside of it. While Arashi knew the area of Den City, he didn't expect there to be a duel arcade of all things there. As the two of them walked inside, Arashi noted that the place was, unsurprisingly enough, packed with people. Several small arenas were set up around the vast hall, with each duelist being given a space so they can log in and begin their duels in spaces they reserved in LINK VRAINS. After SOL Technologies announced temporary closures of different areas in LINK VRAINS due to maintenance and recent events, the duel arcade gained more clients, as more people flocked there so they can still duel. The duel arcade also had access to temporary areas of LINK VRAINS that can only be accessed a great majority of the time by people who reserved in advance to use them for duels. For those arenas, they were enclosed with walls that had movie screens attached to the outside of each section. This way, not only would the spectators be able to watch the duel from the real world, it also protected the duelists' identities as well. There were even private arenas that duelists can use if they want to hone their skills without the attention of the spectators.
There were even some old dueling arenas from a long time ago, where duel disk technology hadn't been invented yet. While the equipment was outdated, retro duelists loved to use them, which was how the duel arcade was able to attract older clients.
"This is wild." Arashi said, as he looked around the area.
"It's better than logging into the network from a park, don't you think?" Brea stated, as she ran over to a man at the lobby. "Hi, are there any private areas in LINK VRAINS that we can access today? My friend and I want to duel and hone our skills."
"Let's see," the man said, as he looked at the booklet. "Good news, miss. Section 1AB has a spot for a duel in LINK VRAINS. I'll have to give you wristbands for access."
"Great, thank you so much!" Brea and Arashi received their wristbands before the former dragged the latter over to the section the man directed them to. Arashi, however, noticed the tick mark that appeared on Brea's head when the man called her miss.
After entering inside the area, Arashi saw walls lower down the arena in order to both protect their identities and provide the duo with space needed to log into the network. He took one side of the duel arena, while Brea ran over to the other side of the duel arena. If Arashi was being honest, he always wanted to duel Brea, especially how Roxy said that she was a strong duelist.
I really hope Brea's idea works. Because my mind's scrambled right now, and I need all of the clarity I can get, Arashi thought in his mind. "Okay, let's do this!"
"Deck set! Into the VRAINS!" both Brea and Arashi shouted, as the two of them put their decks in their respective duel disks before logging into the network.
Seconds later, at an area in LINK VRAINS….
Slipstream looked around the area he was in after logging into the network. He was on a simple island, which was not only covered in grass, but also had a few trees on it as well. Following the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS, Slipstream no longer wore his mask, as he didn't see any need for it any longer.
"It's not much, but for a private booking, it makes sense." Tigress said, having also looked around the area. "I will admit, I always wanted to duel one of Playmaker's allies to see where my strength is compared to him and the others."
"I thought the reason of doing this duel was to help me sort out my thoughts on what to do next." Slipstream reminded Tigress, having raised an eyebrow at her.
"T-T-That too." Tigress sheepishly replied, her face having turned red before shaking it off. "But moving that aside, are you going to continue saying stupid things, or are we going to duel? Because we only have so much time available in this private arena, and I don't want to waste it!"
Slipstream readied himself, having activated his duel disk. There was a time to duel, and there was a time to talk. Right now, it was the former. "Yeah, we're going to duel. So, bring it on, Tigress!"
"Right back at you!" Tigress also activated her duel disk, having readied herself as well.
"Let's duel!" Tigress and Slipstream shouted in unison.
Tigress: 4000 LP
Slipstream: 4000 LP
"I'll let you go first." Slipstream offered.
"No, no, no. I want you to go first, Slipstream. After all, I want to see the strength you have as one of Playmaker's allies." Tigress replied.
"Okay, if that's what you want. My turn! I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Speedroid Wheel. This card lets me discard a card to roll a six-sided dice and then Special Summon up to two 'Speedroid' monsters from my hand and/or my deck whose total levels equal the result, but I have to negate their effects. However, here's the catch. If I do not Special Summon this turn, I lose life points equal to the result times 500."
Tigress blinked. "You're kidding. You're relying on luck here?" This... was unexpected, compared to how her deck worked.
"Hey, Lady Luck's never failed me before, and I'm confident that it'll help me here." Slipstream responded. "I send Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke from my hand to my Graveyard. Go, Dice Roll!" A green dice appeared in front of Slipstream before it flung itself high into the air, before landing on the field. When the dice finished rolling, it landed on a five. "The dice landed on a five, which means I can Special Summon up to two 'Speedroid' monsters whose total levels equal five. As such, I Special Summon Speedroid Razorang and Red-Eyed Dice from my deck to my field." Slipstream took two cards from his deck and placed them on his field, causing two new monsters to appear on his field.
The first was a yellow boomerang that unfolded to reveal a red head whose body connected to three blades, two as its arms, and the third as its lower half.
The second was a yellow dice with a single red eye and six red electrodes orbiting around it.
Speedroid Razorang ATK: 2000 DEF: 0 LV: 4
Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice ATK: 100 DEF: 100 LV: 1
"I now tune the Level 1 Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice with the Level 4 Razorang!" A bolt of green lightning struck Slipstream as the world greyed out and his two monsters disappeared into particles. Two rings, both of which were yellow, appeared before turning blue and merging. Five blue rings stacked in a tower appeared, a screen displaying "4 + 1" in front of them. The screen changed to "5" as light surged through the rings.
"Lively soul of swordplay, sharpen your edge for the battle against the competition!" Slipstream chanted. "Synchro Summon! Appear, Level 5! Hi-Speedroid Chanbara!" A humanoid monster sitting on a massive blade appeared on Slipstream's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.
Hi-Speedroid Chanbara ATK: 2000 DEF: 1000 LV: 5
"I Set one card face-down." Slipstream grinned. "Okay, Tigress. Let's see what you've got."
"Be careful what you wish for, Slipstream." Tigress warned Slipstream. "My turn! I draw!" She drew the top card of her deck. "I start by activating the Spell card, Graceful Charity. This card lets me draw three cards, but I must discard two cards from my hand to my Graveyard in exchange." After Tigress drew the top three cards from the top of her deck, she took two cards and sent them to her Graveyard.
"I activate the Spell card, Urgent Schedule. As you control more monsters than I do, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower and one Level 5 or higher Earth machine monster each from my deck to my field in defense position, but their effects are negated in exchange." Two cards popped out of her deck. "Come on out from my deck, Ruffian Railcar and Super Express Bullet Train." Soon, two monsters appeared on Tigress's field in defense position.
The first was a red railcar with silver outlines that had two orange barrels at the end, along with a split cowcatcher that had spikes at the end.
The second was a large blue train that had missiles at its sides and front.
Ruffian Railcar ATK: 1800 DEF: 1000 LV: 4
Super Express Bullet Train ATK: 3000 DEF: 0 LV: 10
Two monsters Special Summoned to her field just through one Spell card? It's almost like Speedroid Roulette, the only difference being that she doesn't have to pay any costs for it, Slipstream thought in his mind, before he realized something. "Hang on a minute. The monsters in your deck are basically trains?"
"Excuse me, but your deck has monsters resembling that of toys!" Tigress countered back in a tone that made Slipstream shut his mouth temporarily.
"Point taken." Slipstream conceded. Again, there was a time to duel and a time to talk. Right now, it was still the time to duel. Nothing more. Nothing less.
"Appear, the circuit of motorized rails!" A Link portal appeared above Tigress. "The summoning conditions are two Machine monsters. I set Ruffian Railcar and Super Express Bullet Train into the Link Markers!" Ruffian Railcar went into the right arrowhead, while Super Express Bullet Train went into the bottom arrowhead.
"Safety checks approved! All fuelled up and full speed ahead! Link Summon! Appear, Link 2! Double headed Anger Knuckle!" A bronze and silver train that had a spike at its front and two claws attached to its body appeared on Tigress' field in the right Extra Monster Zone.
Double Headed Anger Knuckle ATK: 1500 LINK-2 ⬇️➡️
"I summon Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede from my hand to my field." Tigress continued, as a white mechanical horse with wings that had a silver-armored knight on its back at the head of a silver train appeared on her field.
Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede ATK: 1800 DEF: 1000 LV: 4
"When Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede is Normal or Special Summoned, I can Special Summon an Earth Machine monster from my Graveyard to my field with its effects negated. Return to me, Ruffian Railcar." At Tigress' command, Ruffian Railcar reappeared on her field.
Ruffian Railcar ATK: 1800 DEF: 1000 LV: 4
"Two Level 4 monsters..." Slipstream muttered, as he gasped upon realizing what will happen next, having recalled how Yuhiro used an Xyz monster against him in their duel.
"Seems you've realized what I'll do next, right? Then let me confirm it." Tigress said. "I overlay the Level 4 Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede with the Level 4 Ruffian Railcar!" A mechanical, galaxy-like portal appeared behind Tigress as Ruffian Railcar and Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede turned into streams of red and white energy that went into the portal, where a pillar of light erupted from it seconds later.
"Impregnable iron fortress, make the earth tremble violently and charge down the railway crawling with enemy soldiers! Xyz Summon! Appear, Rank 4! Heavy-Armored Train Ironwolf!" An armored, dark-blue train resembling that of a wolf with graffiti in the form of flames on its sides appeared on Tigress' field in the Extra Monster Zone Double Headed Anger Knuckle pointed to. At the back sides were silver, chrome armor that had three, glowing green lines on each side. It had three silver claws at the front of its sides, which resembled that of legs. Attached to the front of the train was a large, gold armored mask resembling that of a wolf's face. A cowcatcher was also attached to the front of the train, which acted as its mouth, as evident by the teeth.
Heavy-Armored Train Ironwolf ATK: 2200 DEF: 2200 RNK: 4 OU: 2
"I now activate Ironwolf's effect." Tigress added. "By detaching an Overlay Unit, I can target one Machine monster I control and have it attack directly this turn."
"What?!" Slipstream exclaimed, purely shocked at what he just heard. That did not sound good at all.
"I target Heavy-Armored Train Ironwolf itself!" Tigress decided, as one of the Overlay units orbiting around it went into its mouth, which caused it to glow with energy.
Heavy-Armored Train Ironwolf OU: 2 – 1 = 1
"Uh-oh..." Slipstream muttered. Again, he did not expect this.
"Battle!" Tigress declared. "Heavy-Armored Train Ironwolf attacks you directly! Heavy Metal Pounce!" Ironwolf charged forward onto a set of train tracks that appeared underneath it before going over Slipstream's field and hitting him with such force that he was sent him flying off the ground, having rolled onto it as his life points dropped.
Slipstream: 4000 – 2200 = 1800 LP
"Train tracks in the air?! That goes against the laws of physics!" Slipstream told Tigress, as he slowly got up on his feet. If Takeda, Professor Murchison, or the others back in Tokyo found out that Slipstream dueled against someone who had monsters that rode on train tracks in the air, they'd poke fun at him in response.
"I know, but it doesn't change the fact that I wiped out a little over half of your life points just now." Tigress cheered back, a happy expression on her face. "I Set one card face-down and end my turn, which means the second effect of Super Express Bullet Train now activates. As it was sent to my Graveyard, I can target one Earth Machine monster in my Graveyard and add it to my hand. Thus, I add Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede from my Graveyard back to my hand." A card popped out of Tigress' graveyard, which she took and added back to her hand.
"My turn! I draw!" Slipstream said, as he drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the Trap card, Dust Tornado. This card lets me target a Spell or Trap card on your field and destroy it. What's more, I can Set a Spell or Trap card from my hand to my field. I target your face-down card and destroy it." A tornado fired out of Dust Tornado, which tore up Tigress' face-down card, much to her annoyance. Then Slipstream took a card in his hand and Set it to his field.
"Battle!" Slipstream thrusted out his right hand. "Hi-Speedroid Chanbara attacks Double Headed Anger Knuckle!" Chanbara then prepared to charge forward and attack Double Headed Anger Knuckle.
"Sorry, but I'm gonna have to put a halt to your attack with this! I activate Double Headed Anger Knuckle's effect!" Tigress responded. "Once per turn, during either of our turns, I can send one monster from my hand or field to my Graveyard to not only target a Level 10 Machine monster in my Graveyard, but also Special Summon it to my field in defense mode as well. In exchange, I must negate its effects. As such, I send Double Headed Anger Knuckle from my field to my Graveyard, and Special Summon Super Express Bullet Train back to my field." After Double Headed Anger Knuckle turned into particles, Super Express Bullet Train reappeared on Tigress' field.
Super Express Bullet Train ATK: 3000 DEF: 0 LV: 10
Slipstream frowned. As much as he wanted to inflict damage, the amount he would inflict this turn was reduced. "A battle replay occurs. Hi-Speedroid Chanbara attacks Super Express Bullet Train! Chanbara's effect now activates! At the damage step, when it battles, it gains 200 attack points." Chanbara was surrounded by a green aura, which increased its strength.
Hi-Speedroid Chanbara ATK: 2000 + 200 = 2200
Chanbara charged forward and slashed Super Express Bullet Train, which caused an explosion that turned it into particles.
"Chanbara's second effect activates! It can attack up to two times per turn!" Slipstream announced, much to Tigress' surprise. "The battle continues! Hi-Speedroid Chanbara attacks Heavy-Armored Train Ironwolf! And like before, at the start of the damage step, when it battles, it gains 200 attack points." Chanbara was surrounded by a green aura once again, which increased its strength.
Hi-Speedroid Chanbara ATK: 2200 + 200 = 2400
Chanbara charged forward once more and slashed Heavy-Armored Train Ironwolf, which caused an explosion that made Tigress slightly wince before her life points dropped.
Tigress: 4000 – 200 = 3800 LP
"When Ironwolf is destroyed by an opponent's card by battle or card effect, I can add one Level 4 or lower Machine monster from my deck to my hand." Tigress explained. "I add Lionhearted Locomotive from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Tigress' deck, which she took and added to her hand. "What's more, I activate the effect of Barrage Blast in my Graveyard."
"From your Graveyard?" Slipstream repeated. "When did it-?" He gasped after putting two and two together.
"Angelica taught me to always stay a few steps ahead of my enemies, so I figured you'd go for my card, and you'll end up regretting it within a few seconds." Tigress told Slipstream. "By banishing this card and one Machine Xyz monster from my Graveyard, I can inflict damage equal to the banished Machine Xyz monster's rank times 200. I banish Barrage Blast and Ironwolf from my Graveyard, whose rank is 4, which means you take 800 points of damage!" A cannon appeared beside Tigress as it fired four blasts of energy, which hit Slipstream and made him take a few steps back after all four of them hit the latter.
Slipstream: 1800 – (200 X 4) = 1000 LP
"Damn it..." Slipstream muttered. He had hoped to deal in a decent amount of damage, but ended up paying the price for it the moment he destroyed Tigress' Set card. But Slipstream can make a comeback from this mistake, starting now! "I activate the effect of Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke in my Graveyard. When my life points are 1000 or less, I can banish it from my Graveyard to Special Summon one 'Speedroid' Tuner monster from my hand or Graveyard back to my field. As such, I Special Summon Red-Eyed Dice from my Graveyard back to my field!" At Slipstream's command, Red-Eyed Dice reappeared on his 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 a 'Speedroid' monster on my field with a different name, and change its level from one to six until the End Phase. I target Chanbara, and change its level to six!"
Hi-Speedroid Chanbara LV: 5 + 1 = 6
"I now tune the Level 1 Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice with the Level 6 Hi-Speedroid Chanbara!" Slipstream declared, as a bolt of green lightning struck him before the world greyed out and his two monsters disappeared into particles. Two rings, each of them yellow, appeared before turning blue and merging. Six blue rings stacked in a tower appeared, a screen displaying "1 + 6" in front of them. The screen changed to "7" as light surged through the rings.
"Dragon with shining wings! Descend onto the battlefield with your divine speed, and light up the heavens and earth upon arrival! Synchro Summon! Emerge! Level 7! Clear Wing Fast Dragon!" A white and black dragon covered in white, black, and dark-green armor appeared on Slipstream's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. She had neon blue crystals attached to her body, which acted like wings that shone with bright light.
Clear Wing Fast Dragon ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000 LV: 7 PS: 4
"Clear Wing Fast Dragon?" Tigress repeated. "That's not the card you showed me a while back."
"Think of Clear Wing Fast Dragon as Clear Wing Synchro Dragon's sibling." Slipstream stated. "Oh, and Chanbara's third effect activates. When it's sent to the Graveyard, I can target one of my banished 'Speedroid' monsters and add it to my hand. I add Den-Den Daiko Duke back to my hand." A card appeared from a portal beside Slipstream, which he took and added to his hand. "I Set one card face-down and end my turn."
"At the End Phase, I can activate Ruffian Railcar's effect. Since it was sent to the Graveyard, I can add one Level 10 Earth Machine monster from my deck to my hand." Tigress replied. "I add Night Express Knight from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Tigress' deck, which she took and added to her hand.
"My turn! I draw!" Tigress drew the top card of her deck. "Well, Slipstream. Victory's just up these tracks, and I won't let anyone derail me this turn! Not even you! I activate the Field Spell card, Revolving Switchyard! Then I activate the effect of Night Express Knight from my hand. By reducing its attack points to zero, I can summon it from my hand to my field." A large, white train that had an armored white knight with a lance and shield in its arms at the front appeared on Tigress' field.
Night Express Knight ATK: 3000 DEF: 0 LV: 10
Night Express Knight ATK: 3000 – 3000 = 0
"Next, I activate Revolving Switchyard's effect. When a Level 10 Earth Machine monster is Normal or Special Summoned to my field, I can Special Summon one Level 4 Earth Machine monster with 1800 or more attack points from my deck to my hand, and if I do, its Level becomes 10. But in exchange, you don't take any battle damage for the rest of this turn." Tigress continued.
It's very likely that Tigress will try to finish me off with effect damage this turn, Slipstream deduced in his mind. He fought a few duelists who used similar strategies, such as Bitboot and Windy, and while those duels was a pain in the ass for him, the victories he obtained were satisfying. Little does Tigress know that I have a few backups to deal with something like this, as I've dueled against a few duelists who relied on effect damage to win.
A card popped out of Tigress' deck. "From my deck, I Special Summon a second copy of Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede to my field." A second copy of Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede appeared on her field.
Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede ATK: 1800 DEF: 1000 LV: 4
Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede LV: 4 + 6 = 10
"Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede's effect activates! Just like before, when it's Normal or Special Summoned, I can Special Summon an Earth Machine monster from my Graveyard to my field with its effects negated. Come to me from my Graveyard, Goldilocks the Battle Landscaper!" Tigress decided, as a massive golden city on a floating platform protected by black turrets appeared on Tigress' field in defense position in the center Main Monster zone.
Goldilocks the Battle Landscaper ATK: 0 DEF: 3000 LV: 10
That must be one of the two cards Tigress sent to the Graveyard with Graceful Charity's effect, Slipstream thought in his mind. It was very likely that Tigress would Xyz Summon next, but whether the monster she would bring out required two or three materials was to be determined soon. As such, that meant Slipstream had to solidify his field for what was to come. "Trap card, activate! Back to the Front! I can target one monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon to my field in defense position. As such, I Special Summon Chanbara from my Graveyard to my field." Chanbara reappeared on Slipstream's field in defense position.
Hi-Speedroid Chanbara ATK: 2000 DEF: 1000 LV: 5
"Solidifying your field, huh? Well, let's see how you react once I blow it away completely." Tigress stated. "I overlay the Level 10 Night Express Knight with the Level 10 Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede!" A mechanical, galaxy-like portal appeared behind her as Night Express Knight and Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede turned into streams of white energy that went into the portal, where a pillar of light erupted from it seconds later.
"From beyond the railway, behold the train that makes the earth tremble with its power! Xyz Summon! Appear, Rank 10! Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max!" A massive machine that had a red and gray base, as well as a body made up of numerous green blocks
Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max ATK: 3000 DEF: 3000 RNK: 10 OU: 2
Slipstream gasped after seeing Tigress' new monster. "Oh, crap. That's terrifying..."
"What do you think? This machine's my ace monster, and the one that will light the path to my victory!" Tigress declared. "I activate Gustav Max's effect! Once per turn, I can-!"
"Hold on a second! I activate Clear Wing Fast Dragon's effect!" Slipstream interrupted. "Once per turn, during either of our turns, I can-!"
"Sorry, but you're too slow! I activate the effect of Breakthrough Skill from my Graveyard!" Tigress countered back.
"From your Graveyard?" Slipstream repeated, before it hit him. "That was the other card you sent to your Graveyard through Graceful Charity's effect."
"That's correct, Slipstream. By banishing Breakthrough Skill from my Graveyard, I can target a monster you control and negate its effects until the end of the turn. I target Clear Wing Fast Dragon, which means its effects are negated." Tigress smirked as Clear Wing Fast Dragon let out a painful groan, which negated her effects temporarily. "And with that, I can resume Gustav Max's effect. Once per turn, by detaching an Overlay Unit, I can inflict 2000 points of damage!" One of the Overlay units went into the top of Gustav Max, which caused rainbow lines to spread throughout its entire body.
Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max OU: 2 – 1 = 1
"Cataclysmic Cannon!" Gustav Max's body opened, which caused a massive cannon to emerge and extend towards Slipstream before charging up energy to fire at him.
"Aw, Hell no! I am not going through this again!" Slipstream gestured to his face-down card. "Continuous-Trap, activate! Speedroid Shuriken Hurricane! Once per turn, if a card or effect that would inflict damage to me is activated, you take that effect damage instead!"
"What?!" Tigress exclaimed, before turning to Gustav Max. "Don't fire, don't fire!" Unfortunately, the massive cannon from Gustav Max 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 blast was pushed back to Tigress, which sent her flying off the ground before landing on it.
Tigress: 3800 – 2000 = 1800 LP
Tigress growled as she stood up on her feet seconds later. How dare Slipstream use that effect against her! Such a thing pissed off Tigress, as she did not like to be on the receiving end of a card that inflicted effect damage. "Okay, now I'm really steamed! I originally wanted to finish you off with one blast to rule them all, but you'll receive smaller, yet equivalent blasts of destruction instead! Using Gustav Max, I rebuild the Overlay Network!" The mechanical, galaxy-like portal reappeared behind her as Gustav Max turned into energy that entered it, which caused a pillar of light to erupt from it seconds later.
"From beyond the railway, a new machine is born. Set fire to the world with your unrelenting bombardment!" Tigress chanted. "Rank-Up Xyz Change! Appear, Rank 11! Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe!" A massive, dark-green elongated battle machine that had orange lines running up and down its sides appeared on Tigress' field in the right Extra Monster Zone. It had numerous turrets on its body, along with a single massive cannon that jutted upwards atop its body.
Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe ATK: 4000 DEF: 4000 RNK: 11 OU: 2
Slipstream's jaw dropped after seeing the massive machine in front of him. It was larger than almost any duel monster he had to deal with. Almost. "That's more than meets the eye..."
"Behold the Rank-Up Xyz Change! One of the next steps beyond Xyz Summoning!" Tigress announced with happiness. "I may not be able to defeat you this turn, but I can at least clear your field, especially with Juggernaut Liebe's effect. During the battle phase, it can attack a number of times equal to the number of Overlay units it has plus one." She grinned seconds later. "Since Juggernaut Liebe has two Overlay units, that means it can attack up to three times."
"That means my monsters are toast!" Slipstream realized.
"Battle!" Tigress thrusted out her right hand. "Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe attacks Clear Wing Fast Dragon! Catastrophe Cannon!" The massive cannon on Juggernaut Liebe charged up with yellow energy before firing it at Clear Wing Fast Dragon, which caused a massive explosion before turning her into particles.
"The battle continues!" Tigress reminded Slipstream. "Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe attacks Hi-Speedroid Chanbara! Catastrophe Cannon!" The massive cannon on Juggernaut Liebe charged up with yellow energy before firing it at Chanbara, which caused a massive explosion before turning it into particles. The same explosion made Slipstream fall on one knee as well.
"Since I have no 'Speedroid' monsters on my field, Shuriken Hurricane is destroyed." Slipstream reluctantly informed Tigress, as it turned into particles.
"Thus bringing me one more step closer to victory despite the slight delay." Tigress finished. "I Set one card face-down and end my turn." The card I Set is Forbidden Droplet, a card that lets me send types of cards from my hand or field to my Graveyard to not only negate the effects of monsters the opponent controls but halve their attack points as well until the End Phase. The best part is that they can't activate cards or effects in response to its activation that have the same original type of card I sent to the Graveyard, she began thinking in her mind before she looked at the card in her hand. And with Shuriken Hurricane gone, I can not only now use effects that inflict damage, I can also increase the attack points of monsters I control with cards. As such, when my next turn comes, I'll use the Equip Spell card Train Connection to double Liebe's attack points and give it the ability to inflict piercing battle damage, thus securing me the victory. Sure, it may be overkill, but better for it to be overkill than underkill.
"Ah, damn it..." Slipstream muttered.
"Hey, get up. The duel's not over yet. Or is this you admitting defeat?" Tigress raised an eyebrow out of confusion.
Slipstream slowly rose up on his feet, making sure that he didn't stagger. "I'm obviously not admitting defeat. Not at all. However..."
"Then what is it? Come on, I know there's something holding you back here." Tigress insisted. "Based on what I saw, you could have Synchro Summoned Clear Wing Fast Dragon and attacked before using your monster's effect to negate Double Headed Anger Knuckle's effect, as well as drop its attack points to zero. Had you done that, you could have inflicted a ton more of damage."
"I know that. I..."
"You can tell me."
After a few seconds, Slipstream sighed. "I guess what's holding me back is the information overload in my mind right now."
"About your dilemma regarding whether you should return or not?"
"No, it's not just that. The fact that so much has happened, along with what's currently happening is overloading my mind." Slipstream continued. "Just when we've won, there's so many other enemies that appeared recently, such as the Shadow running around in Den City. And then there's the fact that Yuhiro's no longer himself these days. I don't know. I just feel so helpless and confused."
Tigress frowned. She felt something similar to that, especially after her parents were arrested, thus leading her to run away to live with Gabriella all those years ago. It took her a long while to sort out everything that happened before being able to move forward in life. "When you're facing a ton of things going on, it overwhelms you, especially when you don't know what choice to make next, or how you can help solve a problem. It can freeze you if you're not careful."
"Yeah, that's what's going on for me overall. Got any advice?"
"Honestly, there's no such thing as one choice, nor is there such thing as one path." Tigress began answering, having crossed her arms. "If I can give you any advice, it's this: You can decide which path to take, and even if there are any detours, they can lead you to new things you wouldn't be able to experience had you not chosen that option. Sure, it can be scary, trust me, I know. But sometimes, we just need to take a chance and step forward! So let me ask you this: Are you going to keep being overwhelmed by what's going on, or are you going to identify what to do next based on everything you've learned up to now? That's the choice you need to make at this very moment!"
Slipstream gasped and smiled. "I... Thanks for the advice, Tigress. Everything that's happened has put my thoughts in a train wreck and scattered them all over in my mind. But right now... right now, I'll focus on defeating this duel, and determine the next path in my life with the teachings I've learned. I promise to repay you for your advice, starting here and now. My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the Spell card, Card of Adversity. As you control a Special Summoned monster, I can draw the top two cards of my deck." He drew the top two cards of his deck, and upon looking at them, grinned. "I now use the Scale 1 Speedroid Passinglider and the Scale 8 Speedroid Dominobutterfly to set the Pendulum scale!"
"Pendulum?" Tigress repeated. Pendulum Summons were very rare ever since Link monsters first appeared on the scene, along with the addition of the Extra Monster Zone. That meant if anyone wanted to use Pendulum Summoning, they'd have to incorporate Link monsters whose arrows pointed downwards.
"You heard me." Slipstream confirmed, as two pillars of light appeared on his sides.
In the pillar on his right was a blue and silver glider resembling that of a plane, which had two blue orbs at the back of the cockpit. Attached in front of the cockpit was a small silver and orange pilot, whose arms extended to the front, each of which carrying small lights.
In the pillar on his left was a mechanical butterfly whose wings consisted of two dominoes, one white and one black on each side. 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 Passinglider PS: 3
Speedroid Dominobutterfly PS: 8
"I summon Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke from my hand to my field." A small, robotic kid wearing a duke's outfit, along with shoes appeared on Slipstream's field. It had brown hair that had a curl at the ends, which was covered with a hat that had yellow feathers on it. In its hands, it carried a staff.
Speedroid Den-Den Daiko Duke ATK: 1200 DEF: 600 LV: 3
"Swing, Pendulum of Speed, and open the road to freedom! With the Set Pendulum scale, I can Pendulum Summon monsters between Level 3 and 8 at the same time!" Slipstream declared. "Emerge, Clear Wing Fast Dragon!" Within moments, a portal opened between the two pillars, where one light emerged. The light hit the field and then dissipated, revealing Clear Wing Fast Dragon once again.
Clear Wing Fast Dragon ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000 LV: 7 PS: 4
"Clear Wing Fast Dragon? How were you able to-?" Tigress began asking, only for her to gasp after figuring it out.
"Clear Wing Fast Dragon isn't just a Synchro monster, she's a Pendulum monster as well. Or to put it simply, a Pendulum Synchro monster." Slipstream told Tigress. "And since she's a Pendulum monster, that means I was able to bring her out."
Tigress regained her focus after hearing that answer. "I-I-In that case, I can't let you use your monster's effects! Quick-Play Spell card, activate! Forbidden Droplet! I can send any number of cards from my hand or field to my Graveyard, and choose as many effect monsters you control up to the number of cards sent to the Graveyard by this effect. Until the end of this turn, their attack points are halved, and their effects are negated. You can't activate cards or effects of the same type in response to the cards I send from my hand or field to my Graveyard."
"What?!" Slipstream exclaimed.
"I send Goldilocks from my field to my Graveyard, and negate Clear Wing Fast Dragon's effects, which means your monster's derailed!" After Goldilocks turned into particles, Clear Wing Fast Dragon groaned in pain once more, her effects having been negated once again. Slipstream, after seeing this, smirked. "What's so funny?"
"I'll admit I didn't expect you to negate Clear Wing Fast Dragon's effect, but it's a good thing I had a contingency in case this happened, or else I'd be stuck in a rut." Slipstream took the card in his hand and played it. "I activate the Spell card, Mini-Guts. This card lets me tribute a monster I control to decrease the attack points of one monster you control all the way to zero. The best part is that when it's destroyed by battle, you take damage equal to that monster's original attack points."
"Are you kidding me?!" Tigress exclaimed, having tensed up after hearing this information. This wasn't good at all.
"Nope, I'm not." Slipstream confirmed. "I tribute Den-Den Daiko Duke, and target Juggernaut Liebe!" Den-Den Daiko Duke turned into particles that turned into a bullet of energy, which went straight through Juggernaut Liebe as the damage decreased its strength.
Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe ATK: 4000 / 2 = 2000
"Battle!" Slipstream thrusted out his right hand. "Clear Wing Fast Dragon attacks Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Juggernaut Liebe!"
"Aw, great. Looks like my plans of winning have been entirely derailed off schedule…" Tigress groaned.
"Your chances of winning this duel have been derailed, Tigress, especially with Mini-Guts inflicting a ton of effect damage!" Slipstream declared. "High Speed Corkscrew!" Clear Wing Fast Dragon rose high into the sky before roaring and diving downwards, green winds whipping around her as she turned into a drill of wind. She then corkscrewed straight through Juggernaut Liebe before emerging out of it, which caused the latter to blow up in numerous explosions that sent Tigress flying off the ground, her life points having fallen to zero in the process.
Tigress: 1800 – 2500 – 4000 = 0
"Ugh... That seriously hurt.." Tigress moaned, before she got her bearings back. "Aw, come on! I was so close to defeating you! So close!"
"At least you can see an opportunity to improve your dueling skills." Slipstream said, as he walked over to where Tigress was. "I mean, though you use a reckless strategy, it's also very calculable."
"Are you saying my deck sucks?" Tigress inquired, which made Slipstream tremble in fear.
"No, no, no. All I'm saying is that there's always room for improvement. You've just taken a small detour, that's all." Slipstream assured Tigress, before offering her a hand. "Come on, we should get out of here. We only have so much time in here before our usage in this private area runs out."
Tigress blinked before she spoke back. "Okay, okay, fine. I'm obviously going to do so because I already completed my objective, and I'd rather log out with my dignity than get flustered anymore than I already have. You got it?"
The two duelists then logged out afterwards, having returned to the real world in the process.
Several minutes later, back in the real world...
"Okay, thank you." Arashi said to a person behind the counter of an ice cream truck, as he brought a medium-sized bowl and a large-sized bowl of vanilla and chocolate ice cream back to the table he and Brea were at. After logging out of the network, Brea demanded that he take her for ice cream as compensation for defeating her. When Arashi tried to protest, Brea insisted by saying that friends help cheer one another up after the other is down in the dumps. Since Brea managed to cheer Arashi up, it was only logical for the former to do the same.
"Thank you very much." Brea stated, as Arashi handed her the large-sized bowl of ice cream before he sat down at the seat. As evident by Roxy's statement a while back, Brea was a sucker for sweets, which was why Arashi baked that batch of brownies in the first place. Unfortunately, Gil ate them all, much to Arashi's ire.
"It's nice being with a friend today. After everything that's happened, a simple day of hanging out with someone is a nice change of pace." Arashi commented, who scooped a piece of his ice cream using a plastic spoon before eating it.
"You can say that again." Brea agreed, having also scooped a piece of her ice cream using a plastic spoon before eating it. "Roxy's going to be happy that you're okay."
"Roxy? What does she have to-?" Arashi gasped before turning to Brea, who realized her mistake. "Did she send you to keep an eye on me or something? Was you helping me out all just a sham to make sure I didn't change in a bad way? You better have not been stalking me."
"I wasn't stalking you at all, Arashi. I was walking in the area when.." Brea sighed. "Okay, here's the thing. Earlier today, Roxy called me and requested that I help you out due to what she was going through right now on her end. But I actually wanted to help, I really did. Because..." Her face turned red before she shook it off. "Because it's only l-l-logical for friends to lift each other's spirits up. That, and I owed you a debt for saving my life a while back. But again, rest assured, I wasn't stalking you. When I saw you at Green Park. I found the opportunity to talk to you."
"If there's anything you owe me, it's the truth, okay? Why did you really choose to help me?"
Brea took a breath before replying. "Alright, you remember how I was raised in a family of criminals, along with the strict training I had to go through when I was a child?"
"Yeah, I remember that, along with the emotional burden you endured." Arashi recalled. "And the fact that you ran away to Gabriella one night when you couldn't take it anymore."
"Bullseye on all those points, Arashi. Unfortunately, due to the emotional burden, I ended up having trust issues." Brea continued. "As a result, I wasn't able to make many friends at school, and sometimes, I chose not to make any effort in doing so. Not just to avoid distractions, but so I could avoid opening myself up as well. I really didn't want to risk going through the pain again."
Arashi nodded to confirm that he was paying close attention to what Brea was saying. After all, when someone was telling a story, it was crucial that one pay attention in order to learn what happened, and the overall point in the end.
"One day, I learned that my parents were arrested in a heist operation by the chief at the time, Yuki Fuyuyoshi. She met with Gabriella and I a day or two after the arrest, and the three of us completed the paperwork together so that custody of myself would go to my godmother. Turns out at the time, my parents were involved in worst criminal cases. Ones of which I didn't know about. One of which revolved around something called the Hanoi Project."
Arashi gasped in shock, which made him drop the spoon in his hand. "What did you say?"
"My parents at the time were hired to find some kids on a list who were designated for that project, and before you say anything, I wasn't aware of it at the time. After all, I was a kid, and there was no way my parents would get me involved with such a delicate task, especially one that promised a large sum of money." Brea explained, having bitterly emphasized the last four words. "That was one of the reasons why Gabriella was against me working in the Black Market. So I didn't get myself involved in a very bad case like my parents were in."
"Do Roxy and Yuhiro know about this?" Arashi quickly asked.
"I already told them a long time ago, and they were understanding. I'm one hundred percent sure that I'll have to tell Roxy's niece the truth when the time comes." Brea took a deep breath before continuing. "The sad thing was that, because of my trust issues, I wasn't able to find the right band to join. Specifically, the group of friends that would give me some sense of comfort after being abandoned. Eventually, I met Roxy and Yuhiro, along with the Rickety Raiders, which became my band for quite a while."
"But then you guys went your separate ways for a while after what happened with Roxy." Arashi chuckled. "On the plus side, you guys reunited to help us, which is something I'm extremely grateful for."
"Y-Y-Yeah, it took some strong persuasion from my part, but Roxy was able to convince me to come back in the end." Brea stated. "I'm.. I'm just glad I was able to help." The two of them sat in companiable silence as they ate their respective ice cream. After a minute or so, Arashi broke the silence.
"As much as I appreciate you telling me all of this, can you at least answer my question now?"
A smile appeared on Brea's face seconds later in response. "You're the first true friend I've made in a very long while. I mean, it's not everyday when you meet someone who's willing to risk their life to save someone else. That's the real reason why I wanted to help you get through your dilemma."
Arashi smiled back, happy that Brea told him this information. Still, there was some things he wanted to know about. "I am curious about something. Your deck. How'd you get it?"
"Well, here's the thing. When I was a child, I loved trains growing up. Unfortunately, my parents put a lot of pressure on me to grow up and move on, saying that childhood interests would only hold me back from doing my job. I obviously wouldn't let my love for trains go, as it was something I liked." Brea replied. "So I 'evolved' it into military vehicles like tanks to cover it up. My parents were pleased to learn that I acquired an interest in military vehicles after learning about it. As for my deck, I purchased it online, and it's one of the things I treasure to this day."
"It's ironic when you think about it. Roxy's deck revolves around pirates and their ships, which have cannons. Maybe there's a deeper connection between you and her after all."
Brea rolled her eyes. "I guess you may be right on that one." She pointed her spoon at Arashi, having glared at him. "Do not tell Roxy about your theory, or I'll pummel you to the ground. Got it?"
"Sure, sure. Secret's safe with me." Arashi conceded, not wanting to face Brea's wrath, especially as it can lead Roxy to tease her should she find out about it. "As for Tigress? How'd you decide that for your avatar name?"
"I needed a name that was fierce. Something that made people wary when you heard it. Names such as Firecracker, Cannonball, and Ms. Kaboom were obviously not going to cut it for someone like myself." Brea told Arashi. "And besides, I like tigers too. That's how I came up with the name. Simple as that."
"Alright, alright. I get it. No need to go into further detail." Arashi stopped talking after hearing that answer and responding to it, knowing that there was no need to pry any further into why Brea chose that name for her avatar.
Brea looked upwards at the sky. "There's no such thing as one path in life, Arashi. It has numerous detours and paths along the way, which is what makes it a journey by the time you reach the end. You could say that after you complete one path, it's time to move onto the next one."
Arashi thought that over before replying back. "I'll be honest, I was so caught up in finding out who hurt Takeda and bringing them in that I ended up running away from my own troubles. Hell, I might have become a bit selfish as well."
"But how are you feeling about the journey so far after everything you've experienced?" Brea inquired.
"Right now, despite everything that's happened, I'm enjoying it. Not only did I get to meet new people who changed my life, I also got to learn different things as well." Arashi genuinely answered. "Preferably, the friends I've met and the lessons learned over the past few weeks. If anything, they're as sweet as this ice cream."
"Oh, Arashi." Brea tilted her head and smiled at Arashi, who winced upon seeing that it was... scary. "I think maybe you should shut up and eat your ice cream now, yeah?"
And now we're back at the 'tsun' part of the tsundere, Arashi thought in his mind, having proceeded to eat his ice cream before Brea gave him another scary smile. But before either of them could speak, Arashi's phone rang in his pocket. He grabbed it before answering it. "Hello?"
"Arashi, it's Roxy." Roxy answered on the other end. "Come quick. Something's not right with Yuhiro."
"Yeah, sure. I'll be right there." Arashi promised, before he hung up.
"What's wrong?" Brea asked, having noticed the concern on his face.
"Something bad is going on with Yuhiro." Arashi told Brea, who stood up on her feet.
"I'll go with you. Yuhiro's my friend too, and whatever it is, we'll need all hands on deck."
"Then let's get going." After the two of them threw out their respective ice cream bowls, the duo immediately ran off, intent on heading towards Café Matsuo so they can assist Roxy with whatever was happening to Yuhiro right now.
Meanwhile, in the network, at Herald's world...
Although Herald died, the world he created was still thriving and intact, as evident by the lush green grass and the healthy trees. Unfortunately, the black blotches in several areas were still there, even though the infection they emitted had stopped and calmed down due to the combined efforts of all the Cyreath monsters there. What's more, the sky was darker than usual, and there were no stars as well. In addition, there was a waning moon in the sky, as if to symbolize that something bad is either going on, or is about to. Last but not least, it was snowing a bit too.
At an area in Herald's server was a small mausoleum, which the Cyreath monsters built recently after learning about their creator's death. Aside from the long bench seats at the back, at the center of the room was a coffin, which had a symbol of a dark-orange demonic crest that had lion fangs on the sides, as well as a typical western sword with a golden rain-guard and a blue grip slashing it down the middle appeared on it.
Approaching the coffin was several individuals. Specifically, Achilles, Circe, Odysseus, Castor, Pollux, Hercules/Alpha Mode, and Super Orion. Joining them was a man who had long, silver hair that was tied up in a ponytail, the end parts of his hair having dark-red streaks on it. Several pieces of his hair covered his forehead just above his green-colored eyes, the two longer ones having crossed left and right to encircle underneath them. For his attire, it consisted of a black, doctoral robe coat with golden lines running down from the top to the bottom. On the sides of the coat were two large violet circles, each one having a golden button in the middle. The forearm portion of the coat had glowing, cyan lines on each side of it. He carried a large rod in his hands, which had a mechanical serpent orbiting around it. Strapped to his sides were sheathes containing daggers.
"We are gathered here today to remember our creator, who gave his life to save us all," the man said, as he approached the tomb in the middle of the room. "In honor of his sacrifice, we should respect his wishes and continue protecting mankind."
"I do agree with that statement, Asclepius, but how are going to defeat an enemy we know nothing about?" Circe asked Asclepius, having addressed the man by his name. "This Shadow... whatever it is, it's giving me a bad feeling."
"It's giving all of us a bad feeling, Circe." Odysseus commented, having put a hand to his chin. "It emerged from the network and brutally injured those who were logged in at the time. But now... now it somehow escaped into the real world and is either making people sick, or is killing them mercilessly."
"I don't see you providing any solutions towards this problem, Odysseus. But please, do enlighten us on how we should help Yuhiro and the others eliminate this-."
"Hey, come on, I don't think this is even a time for a fight right now." Achilles gently pointed out, having leaned on the wall nearby. That point not only stopped Odysseus and Circe from arguing, but also made the other 'Cyreath' monsters present nod in agreement as well.
"Indeed. Right now, we need to not only remember our creator, but also deliberate on how we're going to stop the Shadow Circe is speaking of." Super Orion agreed, before turning to Achilles. "How's Atalanta doing?"
"Atalanta's health hasn't improved since I last treated her." Asclepius answered, before Achilles could speak. "Not even the medicine is healing her from whatever she was infected with. However, I can hypothesize that the Shadow most likely is responsible for infecting Atalanta."
"Whatever the Shadow is, I can't help but have a feeling that it may have battled Cyberse creatures from deep within the network before, if not beyond it." Pollux stated, only for Castor to put a hand on her shoulder.
"But it's something we can stop once we learn more about it." Castor assured Pollux. But before he could say anything else, Medusa appeared in the mausoleum.
"You have returned, Medusa. Were you able to acquire information?" Asclepius asked.
"There was a meeting earlier today between Roxy, Miyu, and the others. Yuhiro could not attend due to him being ill." Medusa reported. "From their discussion, I learned that a person with glasses was the one responsible for releasing the Shadow."
"A person with glasses, you say? That could be anyone on the entire planet." Asclepius replied back.
"It's most likely that the person with glasses came from the network, Asclepius. That's what Ai told the others before leaving to areas unknown."
All the other Cyreath monsters gasped in shock after hearing Medusa clarify her answer. If Pollux's statement proved to be correct, that meant there were more dangerous threats out there in the network than any of them could anticipate. Thus making it more urgent for them to work with Yuhiro and the others in finding solutions to stop their enemies before it was too late.
"There is one other thing." Medusa continued. "When Yuhiro returned, he asked whether I'd continue protecting those he treasured, and I assured him that I would. However, he then inquired if I'd continue doing so, even should he turn into something other than himself. Thus, Yuhiro requested that I continue protecting his loved ones, no matter what happens in the future before falling asleep."
"You seriously think Yuhiro's going to snap and turn evil on us?" Achilles inquired out of curiosity.
"It's a possibility. One that Yuhiro's prepared for, especially after what he's been through lately." Medusa said back, the other Cyreath monsters knowing just what she was talking about. "He also added for me to pass this request onto the others, if they're willing to agree to do so."
"I mean, not all humans are bad. Herald showed me that fact. So to honor his sacrifice, I'll also accept Yuhiro's request in keeping his loved ones safe, no matter what the future holds." Achilles leaned off against the wall, as if to confirm this response.
"Utterly risible," a voice commented, as Pandora appeared in the mausoleum. She wasn't the only one, as Alastor and Teferi also appeared on her left and right sides as well.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Your decision was utterly risible." Pandora emphasized. "If someone as purehearted like Yuhiro can go bad, what's the chances of humanity descending into evil permanently?"
That question made the other Cyreath monsters present actually dwell on it. On one point of view, each of their stories ended in some form of tragedy, whether it was by human hands or something else. But on the other hand, Herald showed them the goodness that humanity still has, and can reach towards to this very day. What's more, he showed each of the Cyreath monsters that there was grace in mankind's failings, as it allowed them to learn from their lessons and move forward to a better tomorrow.
Pandora smirked as she saw the others dwelling on this question. She, Alastor, and Teferi were made with the purpose of helping Yuhiro destroy his enemies, so if more of the Cyreath monsters saw the truth about humanity, then it would help Yuhiro complete his goal much faster.
"I'd advise you not to cause disharmony between us, Pandora, especially during a difficult time like this." Odysseus firmly warned Pandora, as he cracked his knuckles.
"I concur on that topic." Circe agreed, as she and Odysseus prepared to confront Pandora, with Alastor and Teferi also getting ready to fight back.
"Enough, Odysseus and Circe! Pandora's one of us! She has a voice at the table, and so do the others!" Asclepius reminded Odysseus and Circe, who backed off with a grunt, knowing that he was right.
"A voice at the table, huh? Asclepius, need I remind you that she tried to murder us while Yuhiro was fighting to save all of us from extinction?" Super Orion pointed out, which made Asclepius to glare at the former in response. As for Hercules/Alpha Mode, he let out a snarl before taking a step forward at Pandora, Alastor, and Teferi. However, he backed down seconds later, knowing that now wasn't the time to be fighting.
"That's better. Every voice needs to be heard before we all come to a decision." Pandora taunted, much to the ire of everyone else in the room.
"No amount of good deeds in this world will compensate for what mankind has done to us. All of us." Alastor spoke up. "We need to either take action now or die by the hands of any enemy."
"You sound like Lightning." Medusa simply said, which caught Alastor off guard.
"I am not that wretched Ignis, Medusa. His actions were sinful and selfish, whereas mine-."
"Were justified? I doubt that."
Alastor growled after hearing that response. "Do not lecture me on loss, Medusa. Need I remind you of how your curse led to the strife between you and your two other sisters, along with you murdering them?"
Medusa, having heard that comment, gritted her teeth back in response.
"Us arguing is not going to honor Herald's memory, everyone!" Castor interjected.
"What will honor his memory is stopping this new threat alongside Yuhiro. It's what Herald would have wanted." Pollux added.
"Insolent fools, all of you! Are you actually choosing to still working with humans to fight against an enemy we don't know about?! One that threatens our own existence?!" Teferi exclaimed.
"At least we'd die with our honor in tact, mad priest." Odysseus answered, which angered Teferi after hearing it.
"Calm down, Teferi. If they truly want to work with humanity, then a change in tactics is needed." Pandora spoke up.
"Meaning what, exactly?" Super Orion inquired.
"Meaning we need to be ruthless from hereon out, Super Orion." Pandora angrily shot back. "Atalanta embraced that ugly truth a long time ago, and if all of you don't do the same-."
Suddenly, the entire area shook, which made everyone run out of the mausoleum and back outside upon hearing it. The next thing everyone knew, shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles erupted from the ground, which made the group quickly avoid them in response. Up ahead was the Cursed Boundary Layer itself, having somehow manifested itself into Herald's world, much to everyone's horror.
An infuriated Hercules/Alpha Mode charged forward at the Cursed Boundary Layer, using Nine Lives to block the shadow, ribbon-like tentacles it sent at him. He then swung Nine Lives at the Cursed Boundary Layer, which practically absorbed the impact before swatting him to the side like a fly. Seeing this, Super Orion fired an arrow of pure energy from his bow while Castor and Pollux charged forward at the Cursed Boundary Layer, hoping to land some blows on it. The arrow of pure energy stunned the Cursed Boundary Layer, allowing Castor and Pollux to slash it with the discus and sword respectively before releasing a combined attack in the hopes of destroying it. Unfortunately, the Cursed Boundary Layer released a shockwave that sent everyone flying off their feet before landing on the ground.
In response, Circe fired energy from her staff at the Cursed Boundary Layer, while Asclepius released energy from his rod that increased the strength of himself and the others so they can fight back against it. Odysseus also smashed his fists together so electricity can emit from them, which he fired at the Cursed Boundary Layer. Unfortunately, like all the other attacks, they had only served to slow down the Cursed Boundary Layer's movements.
Having seen this, Medusa quickly moved at top speed before she temporarily took off her eye cover, which allowed her to blast a beam of light at the Cursed Boundary Layer to slow it down. Seizing the opportunity, Achilles dashed forward with a massive burst of energy before slashing the Cursed Boundary Layer numerous times with the lance in his hands. The burst of speed he unleashed, along with the attacks afterwards managed to actually push the Cursed Boundary Layer back upon impact.
Hercules/Alpha Mode regenerated his health before jumping high into the air and smashing the Cursed Boundary Layer with Nine Lives, managing to land another impact on it. However, the Cursed Boundary Layer responded by unleashing shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles that grabbed Hercules/Alpha Mode before throwing him to the side once again. It then released those same tentacles at Hercules/Alpha Mode, where it proceeded to try and absorb him. As if anticipating what it will end up doing, Hercules/Alpha Mode grabbed the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles with his hands before managing to tear them off his body one by one.
Castor and Pollux, along with Odysseus, launched a combined surprise attack at the Cursed Boundary Layer while Super Orion and Circe fired energy from their weapons to cover them. While the attacks didn't do much on the Cursed Boundary Layer, it gave Hercules/Alpha Mode the opening needed to free himself from their grasp, allowing him to escape before attacking it once more. Alastor, having remembered Herald's words, joined the battle and released the jagged, chained blades in his hands so he can attack the Cursed Boundary Layer, much to Pandora and Teferi's surprise. The attacks managed to land a blow on the Cursed Boundary Layer, which responded by grabbing Alastor and throwing him to the side.
"It's going after World Gears!" Asclepius realized after putting two and two together. "We must protect it!"
After realizing this information, the others, except for Pandora and Teferi, followed Asclepius to where World Gears was, intent on protecting it from the Cursed Boundary Layer. The snake orbiting around Asclepius' rod grew in size as it charged forward towards the Cursed Boundary Layer, which sent shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles in response to intercept and destroy it. The distraction allowed Circe and Super Orion to fire blasts of energy at the Cursed Boundary Layer, with Medusa and Hercules/Alpha Mode closing in to land powerful blows on it. Alastor, Odysseus, Castor, and Pollux also did the same, their combined efforts actually pushing the Cursed Boundary Layer back as a result.
In response to this, the Cursed Boundary Layer released more, shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles at the group, hoping to inflict damage at them. However, World Gears released a wave of energy at the Cursed Boundary Layer, having managed to further impede its attack. The Cursed Boundary Layer, having had enough, released numerous shockwaves that managed to catch the group off guard before releasing shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles at them. While Medusa quickly sped in and blasted beams of light from her eyes to slow the tentacles down, they unfortunately pierced Castor, Pollux, and Odysseus, making the three of them fall to the ground in pain. Achilles sped in and intercepted the Cursed Boundary Layer's attacks, managing to block them using his lance despite the pain he felt in his body.
Hercules/Alpha Mode broke free from the Cursed Boundary Layer's grip before charging forward once more, only for the latter to respond by releasing more shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles towards the former, who kept moving despite being nicked numerous times. The Cursed Boundary Layer released several shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles at Circe and Super Orion, who managed to dodge the attacks along with Asclepius. Unfortunately, the duo was caught off guard by more shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles that appeared out of nowhere, which pierced through and inflicted injuries to the both of them. Within several seconds, the shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles eventually overwhelmed and injured Asclepius despite him having fought to the very end. What's more, several, shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles emerged and wrapped themselves around Hercules/Alpha Mode, more of them coming up from the ground to restrain him as he tried to use his hands to tear each one off of his body.
World Gears then released wave upon wave of energy at the Cursed Boundary Layer, intent on purging it out of Herald's world before anymore damage could be caused. The shockwaves it released actually made the Cursed Boundary Layer scream in pain, having been overwhelmed by its power. Realizing that it was actually being oppressed for the first time ever in its existence, the Cursed Boundary Layer drew in energy from Herald's world in an attempt to survive, which caused the land to wither up and die as a result.
"Should we assist the others? Hell, maybe the thing attacking them?" Teferi asked Pandora.
"No. Let's see what happens." Pandora firmly answered back, now curious on what would happen next. To the horror of both her and the others, the Cursed Boundary Layer began throbbing as it expanded, as if having already drawn in too much energy from the area around it.
"Shit, it's gonna blow!" Achilles exclaimed, having realized that the Cursed Boundary Layer was about to become like a massive bomb. Apparently, World Gears must have came to the same conclusion, having sent out energy to suppress the Cursed Boundary Layer to prevent it from blowing up.
"We need to leave-!" Super Orion began speaking, before the Cursed Boundary Layer released frenzied energy in the form of shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles that pierced the land upon impact in the form of numerous explosions. Hercules/Alpha Mode, Super Orion, and Odysseus tried to dodge the frenzied tentacles, only for the trio to be massively wounded by the attacks before being dragged into the muddy puddle the Cursed Boundary Layer emitted. The same fate also befell onto Castor, Pollux, Asclepius, and Circe, who had tried to fight back with everything they had before the quartet was eventually defeated.
The same tentacles pursued Medusa and Achilles, who ran at very fast speeds so they can escape the same fate that befell onto the others. Just when they were about to hit Medusa and Achilles, Alastor appeared out of nowhere and threw one of the jagged, chained blades in his hands to the frenzied tentacles. As a result, Medusa summoned the Pegasus, while Achilles summoned his chariot before the two of them flew upwards to the sky.
"GO! NOW!" Alastor shouted at Medusa and Achilles, who nodded in response before he charged forward at the frenzied tentacles as he slashed them one by one. However, Pandora fired energy that made Alastor fall to the ground, the frenzied tentacles having pierced him in numerous spots as he tried to escape their wrath.
"Why fight that thing when it could help Yuhiro eradicate all of his enemies?" Pandora questioned. "And here I thought you wanted to avenge those who've taken everything from you."
"Wretched little girl, dealing with that thing takes priority over my needs." Alastor shot back, as he resisted the Cursed Boundary Layer's attempts at capturing him. "Your obsession with dying will cost you, Pandora. That's something I know too well." Eventually, Alastor was forcefully dragged into the massive puddle the Cursed Boundary Layer emitted from the explosion.
"Perhaps, but if it helps Raguel destroy his enemies, and it ensures that I'm freed from living forever, then so be it." Pandora replied, as she fired energy from her finger in the hopes of stopping Medusa and Achilles from escaping. However, at the last second, World Gears released a portion of itself towards the duo, allowing them to not just escape Herald's world, but also avoid Pandora's attack as well. The other reason World Gears did this was so it can live on, knowing that it will eventually be overwhelmed by the Cursed Boundary Layer.
Knowing there wasn't anything else that could be done to stop Medusa and Achilles' escape, Pandora and Teferi let themselves be dragged into the muddy puddle the Cursed Boundary emitted.
Soon, the puddle and frenzied tentacles the Cursed Boundary Layer emitted pierced through World Gears' remaining defenses before it fell at the former's hands, the entirety of Herald's world being eroded after the battle officially concluded.
Meanwhile, in the real world, at Café Matsuo...
"Wake up, Yuhiro! Please!" Roxy pleaded, as she shook Yuhiro numerous times, having saw that the same scenario has happened like before. Specifically, the one where Yuhiro was in another of his nightmares and unable to wake up.
"It's us, Yuhiro! Calm down! It's us!" Miyu gently repeated, who also was helping in the attempt to calm Yuhiro down. Unlike the other times where she and Roxy were successful, this time, it wasn't working. Within several seconds, a shockwave emitted from Yuhiro's body, which pushed Roxy and Miyu back upon being impacted by it.
The door from the main entrance of Café Matsuo opened, where Arashi and Brea quickly ran upstairs before heading over to where the sound was.
"What the Hell's going on, Roxy?" Arashi inquired, as he and Brea entered into Yuhiro's room.
"I wish I knew, Arashi. I wish I knew." Roxy answered.
"Well, we better find out fast, or we're all done for." Brea stated, as the quartet put their hands up in front of their faces to defend themselves against the shockwaves that came from Yuhiro.
"GAH!" Yuhiro said, as he suddenly woke up before sitting up on his bed, a look of pure shock and horror on his face. Before anyone could say or do anything, he suddenly breathed heavily in panic as several obround shadow creatures who had no hands, feet, or head began dancing around him, all of them growing taller within several seconds. Each of the shadow creatures had no hands, mouth, feet, or head, which meant they only had arms and legs in the form of ribbons. On their bodies were eight glowing dots, six of which were in the form of a circle, one in the middle of that circle, and the last one underneath the bottom dot, all of which were their eyes.
One shadow creature, which was smaller than the rest, tried to get in the circle and stop what was going on, only for it to be swatted aside by its brethren before hitting the wall nearby.
"I'm here, Yuhiro! I'm here!" Miyu exclaimed, who ran to try and stop whatever the obround shadow creatures were doing. Unfortunately, another shockwave fired back in response, which pushed Miyu back to where Roxy and the others were.
"Get down, Miyu." Arashi told Miyu, as he ran and helped her escape the energy the shockwaves were releasing.
Yuhiro's eyes widened before he levitated off his bed and let out a small gasp, who then shouted in pain as the Cursed Boundary Layer embraced his body, another shockwave having been released as a result. This led Roxy, Miyu, Arashi, and Brea to seek cover to avoid being sent flying by it.
When the shockwave died down, Yuhiro's appearance had changed. His shirt and pants was now dyed in a jet black color, along with red trims that appeared all over it, as though it were tendrils bonding to his body. Yuhiro's cyan eyes turned red, his skin turned pale, and the left side of his face had several red markings on it, which ended just under his left eye.
Looking at the others in his room, Yuhiro tilted his head to the right before he wickedly smile at them, where he immediately vanished into a portal behind him seconds later.
"Oh, dear God..." was all Roxy could mutter after what she, Miyu, Arashi, and Brea just saw. What happened just now... was not good for everyone at all.
Somewhere, in the network….
A fully corrupted Raguel fell down from the air before landing in a forest-like area, which caused a massive explosion upon impact as several pieces of debris flew in the air and landed on the ground seconds later. While his silver blond hair didn't change, his white tunics with evenly spaced orange lines were dyed jet black, with the evenly spaced lines now turning red. The silver armor attached to Raguel also hardened and grew in weight for several seconds before being dyed into a black color, with red cracks appearing on it. A visor with red vertical lines then covered his eyes seconds later.
Raguel floated above the ground as he raised his arms high into the air, which caused shadowy, ribbon-like tentacles from the Cursed Boundary Layer to erupt from the ground before grabbing several pieces of debris, where it immediately began constructing a familiar place that he went to several months prior by destroying the current pieces of land.
The place where he truly became Raguel.
The place in the network where he got the Cyreath deck.
A pool of data material emerged from the cracks on the ground as Raguel gently floated down from the air before levitating just above it. Within seconds, the castle where he went to all those months ago was rebuilt, though at the cost of destroying a majority of the wildlife in the area. This was evident by the shriveled trees, dead grass, and cracks on the ground.
After Raguel levitated towards a piece of dry land, he raised his right hand above him, which caused a shadowy, ribbon-like tentacle from the Cursed Boundary Layer to shoot upwards before piercing the sky. Within a full minute, a crack appeared in the sky as a person fell from it before landing on the ground some distance away from Raguel, having been forcefully logged into the network in the process.
I'm going to finish what my brother Yukage, as well as my family started once and for all, Raguel thought in his mind, before letting out another gleeful chuckle as he reveled in his newfound power. See you soon, Rachel. For it's time you played your role as the Construct. This way, mankind will prosper for all of eternity, and anyone who opposes me will be destroyed!
In the sunset over Den City, Yuhiro, Miyu, and Arashi are depicted with Yusaku, Aoi, and Takeru looking out over the area.
Silhouettes of Earth, Windy, Aqua, Flame, Lightning, Herald, and Wraith are shown as Ai clenches his heart in despair before morphing into his human form. The screen shifts to the real world, which shows Roboppy looking out a window as a silhouette of his human form is shown with him.
Jin, Kusanagi, and Katsuya look at the starry skies, grateful smiles on their faces as they do so, glad to be reunited with one another, Silhouettes of Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and Codebreaker Virus Berserker appear in the area to ensure the peaceful moment wasn't disrupted.
Emma and Kengo Dojun are shown at the Den City hospital visiting his mother as she wakes up, happy to see her son again. A light-blue glow briefly surrounds her body before dimming, as though it were blessing her. In another area of the hospital, Roxy is shown lovingly embracing Miyu with joy, Aoi also smiling after seeing her wake up. Nearby is Yuhiro, who smiles as he watches the group. However, he lowers his head in sadness as he recalls everything that had to be sacrificed for this moment to occur.
Akira is shown rushing over to a helicopter, intent on completing an urgent business assignment. Hayami follows after him in a hurry, having also been called to assist him in completing the assignment.
A split screen then pops up, showing Tsubaki spending time with Hideki on one side, while Gekiryushi is training at the Shinpi-Tekina dojo, people happy to see the dojo being rejuvenated on the other side. Portrait of Zandaka, Kataru, and Arakan are also in the background. A second split screen appears next, showing Greg and Rachel spending time with one another, while Gil is looking at documents with the Bit and Boot under his command.
The screen then shows Youta, Ryoken, and Takeya looking over a high platform, with Yua, Kyoko, Aso, Eizaburo, and Mikuru in the background watching them. It then shifts to show Emon looking over Beatrice's grave at the cemetery before fading away.
A portrait of everyone riding their duel boards in LINK VRAINS appears on a table as Yusaku and Yuhiro put down their duel disks, having accepted everything that's happened as they strive to move forward towards a brighter future.
Card Gallery
No new cards appear in this chapter.
QOTC
Over the course of Yu-Gi-Oh, there were multiple duel monster spirits shown in each anime. Which duel monster would you want as a duel monster spirit?
Chapter Preview
Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth. Chapter 97: Conflict Amongst Comrades. Having seen Yuhiro's descent into madness firsthand, Roxy sends Arashi to Café Nagi to warn Yusaku and the others about what just happened. Suddenly, she receives a phone call from Greg, who tells her that Rachel has been forcefully logged into the network! With this information having been passed onto the others, Yusaku, Takeru, Arashi, and Brea log into the network to both rescue Rachel and placate Yuhiro before it's too late….
Author's Notes
This chapter certainly had some great moments, as while there were good and heartwarming moments, others were dark and foreboding. Before I begin the recap, I want to inform you all that Obscured Truth finally has an image cover for the story. I do hope that you liked it. But moving that aside, a recap is needed:
First up is the scene regarding Emon, Tsubaki, and Quinton. Here, he drives over to the Den City Shelter in order to speak to the two of them so he can make amends. But how was Emon able to do this, especially how he's a wanted man? Well, Emon has his ways of getting to different places without being seen. Emon also wanted to speak with Tsubaki and Quinton not just so he can make amends with them, but so he can discuss bequeathing his remaining assets onto those who need them. In this case, Emon wants to give a portion of his assets to assist people who have been affected by both the Turf War and the attacks in the network and in the real world so they can be able to move forward. One example being the children in the Den City Shelter and the orphanage.
Upon arriving at the Den City Shelter, Miles goes to call the cops, only for Emon to explain that he's dying. After some discussion with Tsubaki, Miles agrees to let Emon in on the condition that he's not up to any funny business. This leads to the conversation between Emon, Tsubaki, and Quinton later on, with Miles going downstairs to take care of the kids. There, Emon tells Tsubaki and Quinton the truth as to what happened regarding Uchida Industries and how Ace was the one who not just masqueraded as him, but also the one who used the company to hurt people. Emon also tells the duo that Ace died following the attacks in the network and in the real world, which was something they didn't know until now. While Emon adds that the Hanoi helped in mitigating the damage that occurred as a result of both them and the Turf War, Quinton counters that it doesn't change what happened, with Emon responding by listing what the Hanoi lost after the Tower of Hanoi events. Thus leading Emon to provide codes to Tsubaki and Quinton regarding bank credentials and remaining estate so he can at least assist in making things right for those who suffered. After doing so, Emon tells Tsubaki and Quinton two things before leaving for good. The first is that Hideki, Tsubaki's father, should start his own business due to how brilliant of a man he is. The second being to warn Tsubaki and Quinton about Yuhiro, which leads Quinton to tell Tsubaki on what's going on with Yuhiro.
Next up is the scenes at Café Matsuo, where Medusa brings Yuhiro home following the events of Chapter 95. I just want to note that the Cyreath monsters can't teleport to any area of the world, and have to be in a certain radius or distance of where Yuhiro is. I also want to point out how the mental scars on everything that's happened has impacted Yuhiro in a negative way, as he's not only refusing to go to therapy, it's also reached the point where he admits that he doesn't want to be needed by anyone anymore. Thus leading Miyu to take care of Yuhiro while Roxy is out getting medical supplies. I wanted to put in Miyu taking care of Yuhiro to the best of her ability because I wanted at least one heartwarming moment in this chapter before everything went to Hell, and Miyu did a good job. In addition, I had Miyu show off the avatar she created on her tablet to Yuhiro, which she plans to use once she goes into LINK VRAINS. For those of you who are curious, Miyu's avatar is based off of Asuna from Sword Art Online. Specifically, the avatar Asuna used when she was a part of the Knights of the Blood guild. I also added some of my own personal touches to it as well.
An hour later, Yusaku, Takeru, Arashi, and Kusanagi go to Café Matsuo to discuss recent events with Roxy and Miyu, along with making decisions on what to do regarding Yuhiro and his health. Topics include Yusaku, Takeru, and Arashi's encounter with the Hanoi, Roxy sharing information from her duel with Yuhiro back in Mirror LINK VRAINS, along with the events that led Yuhiro and Yukage to be brothers by blood, adoption, and foster care. Following the meeting, Arashi leaves Café Matsuo, things obviously on his mind. Seeing this, Roxy calls someone to help him out, especially with Yusaku and Takeru being busy helping Kusanagi set up Café Nagi for the day.
But unbeknownst to the group, Yuhiro overheard the entire conversation, thus making him realize that everyone betrayed him. As such, Yuhiro uses a piece of Herald's algorithm to request Medusa to protect the others, even in a scenario where he becomes the enemy. Yuhiro also suggests that Medusa pass this request onto the other Cyreath monsters, knowing that they'll honor Herald's wishes in keeping humanity safe. What's more, Yuhiro takes out the cards for Rasterliger, Turboblaze Dragon, and Turboblaze Desolation Dragon out of his deck, knowing that he doesn't want them to be caught up in what would happen next.
Third is the scene involving Jericho and Urizen, the former sharing the results for the Cursed Boundary Layer to the latter. Urizen even praises Jericho not only for the results, but for infecting Yuhiro as well. Following this, Jericho gives Bohman and Haru over to Urizen, having concluded that he won't be able to repair Bohman in time to reach the Root. I do want to say something vital here: While Jericho and the other ISOs can transfer things to the monolith, and by extension Urizen, they can't get materials on the other end. But moving that aside, Urizen now has Bohman and Haru, so like I said before, expect the two AIs to return later on in the story. Following this, Urizen tells Jericho to resume his mission before leaving, the former having confidence that his son will succeed.
Fourth is the trial of Drachen, or in this case, the end of it. Honestly, it would take a very long time for me to write the entire trial from beginning to end, and if I did this, then the chapter wouldn't be posted until much later. Plus, I intend to take Drachen in an interesting direction, and him being thrown in a prison cell would only detract from that. So I had Knight assist in proving Drachen's innocence by providing information that backed up the latter's claim, which was that he was drugged against his will in committing the crimes. Specifically, Drachen's role where he led the attack on the network back in Chapter 76. The evidence revealed leads the judge to pardon Drachen of his crimes under several conditions. First, he can only log into the network for work/volunteer purposes only. Second, he'll have to assist in SOL Technologies' reparation efforts. Third, Drachen will be on a probationary period where he'll be watched by the authorities for the next four to six months. Moving that aside, for those of you who were wondering who Oscar is, he's the lawyer that appeared to help the Guzik Family back in Roxy's Reports 28, so read that one if needed.
Following the trial, Knight gets a call from the Kings, who congratulate him for his success. It turns out that the real reason Knight helped Drachen was so SOL Technologies can use him to find the Hanoi both in the real world and in the network. After all, from the Kings' perspectives, it was very likely that Drachen interacted with the Hanoi, so it was only logical to capitalize on the chance that they can track the Hanoi down. Or in this case, turn the Hanoi's strategy in spying on SOL Technologies against them.
Fifth is the scenes revolving around Arashi, as he's facing a dilemma on what to do next now that his quest in finding who hurt Takeda is over. He talks with his friends back in Tokyo, who tell him several things. First being about Souta Kubo, the exchange student that went to the Tokyo Horizon Institute while Arashi went to Den Academy due to the exchange program. Second being about Jitney Phaeton, the chairwoman of the Tokyo Horizon Institute, and how Souta is learning under her. Third being advice on what to do next now that Arashi got his main goal done. Regarding Souta and Jitney, I won't say much right now, other than that you will see them sooner than you think in this story. After all, it's too early for those two to appear yet.
Following the talk, Arashi continues to ponder what to do next, only for Brea to show up out of nowhere and surprise him. After catching up for a little bit, Brea asks Arashi what's going on with him, which causes the latter to inform the former about recent events. In response, Brea explains to Arashi how Gabriella tried to help her move forward, which, as you already know by now, is setting her up on dates with different boys. And unfortunately for those boys, Brea broke their spirits, the dates turning into disasters as a result. The point that Brea made from this topic to Arashi was that, though there were a lot of paths to choose from, you do get to learn new things before deciding on what to do next. Sadly, this didn't help Arashi out, thus leading Brea to take him to a duel arcade and challenge him to a duel so he can clear his thoughts out.
For Brea's deck, I decided for her to have the Railway deck, which, as you all know, focuses on a straightforward and aggressive strategy revolving around high attack points and brute force. Now some of you may be thinking this question: Why does Brea have this deck? I'll reveal that answer later on.
Due to Slipstream being overwhelmed in his thoughts, he's unable to think straight during the duel, so Tigress helps him clear his head by asking what's truly going on. Slipstream responds by saying that he's overwhelmed by information overload due to what recently occurred. Specifically, the appearances of the Shadow and the person with glasses, along with how Yuhiro's now ill. Due to all of this information, Slipstream doesn't know what to do next. The advice Tigress gives in response to this? It's that only you can decide which path to take, and even if there are any detours, they can lead you to new things you wouldn't be able to experience had you not chosen that option. Though it can be scary, you just need to take a step forward, and it'll lead you to new things as a result.
Thanks to the pep talk, Slipstream was able to defeat Tigress in the end with his new monster: Clear Wing Fast Dragon. I thought it'd be only fair to debut it now to show that Slipstream's growing stronger.
After the duel concludes, it leads to Arashi and Brea getting ice cream, the latter explaining why she chose to help Arashi out once he realizes that Roxy sent her to do so. Here, Brea explains that due to the emotional burden she endured during her childhood, she ended up having trust issues. Thus leading her not to make friends as a result. Brea also explains that her parents were hired to kidnap some of the children for the Lost Incident, which makes her indirectly connected to it overall. A surprise there, don't you agree? Who do you think hired Brea's parents to kidnap some of the kids during the Lost Incident? And which ones do you think they kidnapped? Just note that Brea wasn't aware of this at the time because for one, she was a child, and for two, her parents didn't want her to get involved in a volatile task such as this one. It's also the reason why Gabriella was so against Brea working on the Black Market. She didn't want her to get involved in a very bad case such as the Lost Incident.
As for Brea's parents, they were arrested during a heist operation by someone named Yuki Fuyuyoshi, who was the chief at the time. You'll actually see Yuki later on in the story along with Souta and Jitney as well.
But to sum it up, Brea chose to help Arashi because he was the first true friend she made in a very long time. That, and she wanted to repay the debt back when Arashi saved her from that bear back in Chapter 79, along with how it's logical for friends to help one another out. It just shows more evidence of how Brea's a tsundere, as she can be harsh in one moment and sweet in another. Now Arashi and Brea are obviously not in love with each other right now. They're friends. Arashi doesn't have a crush on Brea, and Brea doesn't have a crush on Arashi. The future will determine whether the two of them fall in love or not. So for those who plan on calling Arashi a simp, I'm warning you now: Do not do that, or I will delete your reviews.
As for why Brea chose the name Tigress for her avatar, it was because she wanted a name that was fierce, along with one that basically said you shouldn't mess with me. Simple as that. Regarding her deck, Brea has it because it reflects one of her interests growing up, which was trains. Since her parents wanted her to discard it, she decided to evolve it into military vehicles, which her parents approved of. This allowed Brea to not only keep her interest in trains hidden, but also retain it as well.
After the talk, Roxy calls Arashi because something's wrong with Yuhiro, which leads him and Brea to return to Café Matsuo, knowing that something's not right here.
Back in Herald's server is the meeting between the Cyreath monsters on what to do next now that Herald died. After Medusa delivers the information from the meeting back at Café Matsuo, along with Yuhiro's request, the other monsters continue the deliberation on how to stop the Shadow. The civil meeting, however, gets tense when Pandora, Alastor, and Teferi appear. It gets even worse once the Cursed Boundary Layer appears and attacks the group. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, a great majority of them fell at the Cursed Boundary Layer's wrath. The good news was that Medusa and Achilles were able to escape due to two reasons. First being Alastor, who heeded Herald's words and fought so they can escape. The second being World Gears, who gave the duo a piece of its energy to ensure their successful escape. Another reason why World Gears did this was so it can live on, as sadly, the Cursed Boundary Layer won the battle against it. The end result? Herald's own server being eroded after the battle was over.
And then we have the last scene, where Yuhiro fully gives into his malice and despair before being fully corrupted by the Cursed Boundary Layer. After logging into the network, he then uses the Cursed Boundary Layer to forcefully log Rachel into the network, thus setting things up for the next chapter. Oh, and for those of you who are curious about the shadow creatures, their appearance is based off of the Shadow Giants from Fate/Stay Night.
Now that everything was recapped, I want to thank you all for reading Chapter 96 of Obscured Truth. Also, constructive criticism is appreciated, as your tips and advice helps make the story better. In addition, don't forget to favourite and follow the story. That way, you will get a notification once the next chapter is released. If you can also answer the QOTC, that would be awesome as well.
What did you enjoy the most about this chapter? The fact that Drachen has been cleared of all charges? Yuhiro finally snapping after so long? The fun and heartwarming moments between Arashi and Brea? Or was it something else?
That's all for now, everyone. See you next chapter, as things are only going to escalate from here!
