Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth

by DivadX

Yuhiro Furutani, one of 8 children kidnapped 10 years ago by an unknown group, now works as Raguel, an agent in LINK VRAINS' Black Market. One day, he fights the Knights of Hanoi and encounters Playmaker, who becomes his newest assignment. Follow Yuhiro as he now must decide who he wants to become: as both a duelist and as an individual.

108. Chapter 108: War on SOL: Part Five

Response to Reviews

Thank you to HunterHQ, Ambiguous, Guest, Unknown, Donkeyboy100, Electriuser, Guest, Kingdom Hearts Guy, Anonymous, Kcufad, Noobmaster, Unnamed, Guest, T.V. 2000 and Guest for reviewing Chapter 107 of Obscured Truth.

Greetings, everyone! I do hope you're all doing well, and are safe and sound wherever you are in the world! But before I get to answering reviews, I have a special announcement to make. This chapter is a special chapter because it celebrates the fifth year anniversary of Obscured Truth! Thank you to all of you for reading Obscured Truth and keeping up with the story. I hope you look forward to what's coming next, for I certainly am. If you know anyone who would enjoy the story, I encourage you to recommend Obscured Truth to them, and make sure you tell them to favorite and follow so that they can be notified of when the new chapter comes out.

With that out of the way, let's get to answering reviews:

HunterHQ: Indeed. There is certainly a lot of blame on Watchman for what he's done. Brion actually used public executions in order to warn any remaining loyalists on what will happen to them if they continue supporting Balius. For your inquiry on why Brion didn't repurpose Balius' possessions, it was because he didn't want to risk it falling into the hands of Balius' followers. Technically, if access to LINK VRAINS in Central Japan wasn't limited, then Balius could have provided his army with duel disks and accounts before launching an attack. Yes, the Guzik family still has their respective decks. Regarding your theory on Aerith, I can't answer that question due to spoilers. Yuhiro's deck glitched because it was still recovering from the pain following his rampage in the network several chapters ago. If Ai acted the way he was from the very start, the Knights of Hanoi would have had much more difficulty in stopping him. In my defense regarding Faust, he didn't know that Baira was defeated already at the time. That's definitely true. Specter's cruel remark about Earth cost him big time. For Lord Kazuma, he'll learn the lesson about the consequences on what will happen if he's complacent. Don't worry about the effects. The timing was in sequence and fine. It's unfortunate for Revolver, as he lost his friends all over again, and now he only has his mother left. Of course it's possible for Ai to converse with the sentient 'AtIgnister' monsters outside of a duel. I mean, if Yuhiro's able to do it with the 'Cyreath' monsters, then Ai can do so to. It wasn't Ondina's day for sure, as she was defeated by a house bot of all duelists in the world. Rest assured, the new deck for AI-E (as per our discussion and your feedback) has already been decided. For your question on the deadly virus, if the Hanoi unleashed it on Ai, then he'd just destroy it within seconds. After all, just because a virus worked on someone doesn't mean it'll succeed the second time around. At least not all the time, anyway. It's obvious the envoys' attention will be divided because so many duels are occurring at the same time. Hopefully, Ai's gamble pays off in the end and his friends figure out what's really going on here. None of the other envoys know that Dogma was responsible for murdering Emon. All they know is that Emon passed away.

Ambiguous: Do not remind me of Batman: The Killing Joke. That movie was just dark and cruel, if you know what I mean. I can confirm that Ai's certainly capable of entering back into Kusanagi's servers and SOL Technologies' databanks. Though he'd have a trickier time to enter into Roxy's servers because he not only didn't go there before, but would had to navigate the traps the latter set up as well. The monolith Jericho has wasn't just for communications. It was also to transfer things to Urizen. However, it isn't a transportation device. There are certainly instances where people forgave murderers for murdering their loved ones, which enabled them to move on in the end. I can confirm that the bodies of those who were defeated were certainly attended to, as it wouldn't make sense for them to die due to anime canon showing the duelists to be alive in the end.

Guest: Like I said before, the reason why I called the next few chapters War on SOL is to not only prevent spoilers, but also to make people guess on what will happen next as well. Ai would have had a contingency set in place with his clones if the heroes tried to destroy them through other means. And Raguel certainly got karma for his actions, as Ai was able to create the data clone program because of him. Regarding the case of AiAi Wall, Ai would have informed the people he was dueling that he'd have to remove a counter once his next turn came around. Note that Jericho's still angry with Soulburner for defeating him back in Chapter 97. He's just not showing it right now. Will there be a Jericho vs Soulburner duel down the road? It's a maybe.

Unknown: Of course Zero's the closest to work with when it comes to combating Jericho and the others. That's true regarding the disciples and envoys, as they are different people. While they're all loyal to Urizen, the question of whether they're loyal to one another is a different one. I've seen the recent episode of Pokemon Horizons, and how Spinel made Amethio look bad, so I'm aware of what you're talking about. Brion got the Soltis BEFORE Ai launched the attack on Queen and Pawn. Funny you should mention Ai's Skill…

Donkeyboy100: Glad you liked the chapter.

Electriuser: It's been a long while since you left a review on the story. I hope you're doing well. Unfortunately, duelists will sometimes have bad hands, which can either impede their turn or result in them losing the duel in the worse case scenario. Happy you liked Lord Kazuma breaking the fourth wall in the previous chapter. Believe it or not, he did the same thing back in Chapter 99, so reread it again if you need a reminder.

Guest: How does that have anything to do with the story at all? It's completely irrelevant and ridiculous.

Kingdom Hearts Guy: I guess there's some similarity to the Battle City saga from the first Yu-Gi-Oh! series. But not too much at all.

Anonymous: Roboppy's in a very far section of the server, so that's why it takes him a bit longer to catch up with Ai at the prism after defeating Blood Shepherd and Ghost Girl. Yup. Ai definitely had a good strategy in getting the majority of the group focusing on either him or his clones while Roboppy battles against duelists to level up and get experience points. IF Azrael does appear in Season 3, it'll be in a different way. As for your unexpected scenario, funny you should mention it…

Kcufad: Bit and Boot should certainly lucky to be with Gil, as they would have died with the rest if they weren't. In my defense regarding the Bitboot duels, the first turn was slightly different due to their decks being corrupted by Malf, thus resulting in them having 'Darkscourge' versions of their cards. Besides, the Voyage to Hell combo is practically the only thing Bit and Boot knows by this point. You certainly made me laugh once again, as that's something I can see Windy, Lightning and Malf say with one another, especially since neither of them could expect a tree to fly. In a way, it's like Azrael's babysitting three AIs who made bets that went wrong for them. Had Haru defeated Blue Maiden, then he would have been given permission to duel Raguel, only to obviously lose in the end despite giving it his all. Regarding the case of Ai, he didn't work with Watchman at all. Not sure why you came up with that theory. Thanks for the feedback regarding fights between characters. I'll make sure to split it into more paragraphs moving forward. Azrael didn't confuse motivation with determination. He meant what you said, which was this: Motivation is something that can guide someone into becoming stronger. Someone that could be the better version than the one that is in front of you. Someone that could push everything back. So you're correct on that. As for your comment on Jericho, he finds what's happening in the Mirror LINK VRAINS duels amusing, especially since there's a goldmine of information he can grab for himself. Why does he make all those comments and break the tension? It's because Jericho loves the entertainment and revelations that come from the duels. Lastly, I'm glad you liked how Watchman works as a character, which shows the depths humans can go to regarding their selfishness. In the end, Slipstream did the right thing by sparing Windy, as killing him would have resulted in his mental health being severely affected.

Noobmaster: It was indeed satisfying to see Ai kick the asses of everyone who looked down on him, thus making each one regret doing so as a result. Roboppy was certainly right about the Hanoi being self-righteous, as they defended their actions by saying that it was for the greater good. Had Lightning been the last Ignis to survive, then he'd be able to restart his plans all over again with a few adjustments. If any of the other Ignis survived, then the situation everyone's in right now wouldn't happen. If Herald and/or Wraith survived, then the responsibility of ensuring the balance of this world would be in their hands. Ai doesn't need his monster form since he can simply take someone's data himself. Ai didn't get the chance to visit Herald's server after everything that's happened lately. If the 'Cyreath' monsters allowed Ai to take World Gears, then while it would result in the Cyberse World being restored, Herald's server would be greatly weakened in the process. Yeah, the fact that the theme 'AI destroying humanity' thing occurs several times does give Matrix, Terminator and/or Ultron vibes. I can confirm that any nano machines Balius had in his reserves were permanently destroyed by Brion and the FBI. Besides, the nano machines weren't up for sale. In Aqua's defense, she isn't aware of the Konosuba anime. Nor is she aware about the fact that the word 'Aqua' is the name of one of the characters from said anime. If someone made fun of Aqua for having a name similar to the anime character from Konosuba, then Aoi and Miyu would be furious at that person. Expect the envoys and Jericho to talk about Specter in either this chapter or the next one. Glad you liked the Where's Waldo reference from the previous chapter. For your question, Yuhiro won't create any clones or copies of Arin, and any centurions he once had are now helping restore Herald's server. I can confirm that Dr. Kogami joined SOL Technologies some time after Zero was thrown out of the company.

Unnamed: Like I said a long time ago, Jin won't be dueling in this story, with the reasons being revealed later on. What you said is obviously true, as Kusanagi can't protect Jin forever. If Ai has enough data from the deceased Ignis, then it's possible for him to resurrect the decks they once owned. Ex. The 'G Golem', 'Stormrider' and 'Armatos Legio' decks. Yes, Dogma is a doctor, this I can confirm. Yup. The experience the Knights of Hanoi went through in Season 3 will make them conclude that they need to update their strategies and keep up, lest they fall behind. But in the defense of some Knights of Hanoi members such as Revolver, Lord Kazuma and Infearno, they did update their strategies by incorporating new cards and techniques. It's thanks to those new cards and techniques that they got stronger over time. I can confirm the heroes and villains have phobias, as they wouldn't be more real if they didn't. I can certainly see Go and Quinton host a charity fundraiser event to not only support the Den City Orphanage and Shelter, but also have some fun as well. Do note that anime canon sometimes prevents characters from doing things sometimes. While a few people got Slipstream's name wrong when he first started out as a duelist, the first two people that got it wrong in the story were Bit and Boot themselves.

Guest: I hope you enjoy the duel between Raguel and the Ai clone, which continues this chapter!

T.V. 2000: It was a surprise for me as well, as I didn't expect to publish two chapters in the same month after such a long while. Brion certainly proved that he was better than Balius by not only sparing the lives of the concubines and their kids, but also giving them provisions and new identities as well. Note that Brion still had to execute several of those who were still loyal to Balius so there wouldn't be any unexpected problems. The reason why Brion agreed to help Akira was because he wanted to make amends for his foolish actions back in Chapter 65, which would have resulted in grave consequences had he succeeded in reporting the AI chip to the authorities. Glad you liked the three duels in Chapter 106. While I put the Link arrows for Blue Tooth Burst Dragon in the chapter, I'll double check to make sure they are there. For some reason, Fanfiction's having reasons with it not being able to put in the Link arrows in the document. I do hope you understand. And both Miyu and Aoi did very well in their duels against Akira and Roxy, thus showing their guardians just how strong they are. As to why Arin's Miyu's duel partner, it's because Miyu didn't get the chance to bond with Aqua. Plus, Arin's a part of Yuhiro, so she'll always have a part of him with her. On the topic of Yuhiro, he deserved the fierce scolding Miyu gave him before leaving Café Matsuo. Regarding the Knights of Hanoi battling against the real Ai, it wasn't shown in the anime, which was why I put the duels in Chapter 107. I'm glad you liked the appearance of Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon, as he was able to give Ai quite some trouble in his duel against Drachen and Lord Kazuma. Happy you liked the Roboppy vs Ondina duel as well. My thoughts on Roboppy's first duel being against Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd? They're mixed. On one hand, Roboppy was able to show how strong he was compared to Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd, which demonstrated his role as an antagonist alongside Ai in Season 3. But on the other hand, it would have been interesting if Roboppy's debut duel was against one opponent. As for AI-E's deck, I have something in mind. One that you will not expect at all.

Guest: Indeed. Once something is revealed, things will never be the same again, and it applies to everyone no matter what side you're on. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch Transformers One due to other matters needing my attention at the time. For your question on Bahamut's thoughts, it's a little bit of both. He's following Jericho's plan because of how Urizen helped him in the past, and is also seeking a worthy opponent in the process. To sum it up, Bahamut was perfectly aware of Playmaker and the others opposing Jericho's plans, yet he's willing to go with them both to repay Urizen for his help and to find a worthy opponent as well.

Now that all reviews have been answered, let's get to the chapter, shall we? I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 108: War on SOL: Part Five

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, Tigress and Aerith on one side. 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. Miyu and Roxy follow after Yuhiro, with Arin turning into a blanket to keep him warm as the quartet head back to Café Matsuo.

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 disappear before being replaced by Demeter and Ondina. Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty and Ghostrick Angel of Mischief appeared behind the two of them as well.

The screen then changes to show Akira walking on a sidewalk in the real world, having looked upwards at the sky. His image is shown on a large screen that Jericho was looking at back in his laboratory, as if having determined his next target. A sadistic grin appears on his face as seven colored orbs, one white, one black, one yellow, one red, one brown, one green and one blue orbit around him. Soon, a zebra-skinned demon with horns and long, black braids appears behind Jericho, having carried a large, burning blade in his hands. Also appearing behind Jericho was a male teenager who wore a black and dark blue striped outfit that consisted of several black studded belts strapped around his legs and arms, a short black cape and clawed gauntlets, and a dark enclosed knight helmet with a black mask tinted red, resembling that of a beak. Nearby was an imprisoned Watchman, who groaned in pain as he tried to recover from the torturous pain he received to no avail.

Aoi and Yusaku are shown sitting on a bench together, with Yuhiro and Miyu sitting on a similar bench nearby, the quartet gathering their thoughts together before speaking. The screen then shifts to Kusanagi and Katsuya driving the Café Nagi truck, with Roxy following after the duo by driving her car, as if the trio were on an important mission.

Ai and Roboppy are shown next, the camera zooming in on his right eye and revealing the reflection of Playmaker and Raguel. The reflection turns real, and the camera zooms in on Playmaker and Raguel's left eyes, showing Ai's reflection as his grin turns into a wider one.

Back in LINK VRAINS, Roboppy appears riding on his duel board, Appliancers Vacculephant and Laundry Dragon appearing behind him before he thrusted out his right hand, which caused both monsters to fly downward. Next, Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd appear riding on their duel boards, Altergeist Memorygant and Battledrone General appearing behind the duo. Go Onizuka appears next, Gouki the Giant Ogre and Gouki the Great Ogre appearing behind him before being replaced by SengokuQueen, The Six Samurai – Tajima and Secret Six Samurai – Rihan appearing behind her. Stregone appears next, Quintet Magician and Nirvana High Paladin appearing behind him. Revolver appears seconds later, Borreload eXcharge Dragon and Borreload Dragon, along with The Fang of Critias appearing behind him. Drachen appears after Revolver as Red-Eyes Black Dragon, The Claw of Hermos and Archfiend Black Dragon Skull rise up behind him before being replaced by Lord Kazuma, with Dragon Magia Master, Dark Magician the Dragon Knight and Dark Magician – Showtime emerging behind him. Numera appears with Geomathmech Final Sigma behind her, along with Tigress as Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max appears behind the latter. Slipstream is shown next, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon and Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon rising up behind him before being replaced by Soulburner, Salamangreats Heatleo and Pyro Phoenix also appearing behind him in the process. Percival and Gil then appear afterwards, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and Abyss Actor – Ballistic Balladeer appearing behind the two of them. Last but not least is Zero, Yggdrago the Sky Emperor appearing behind him as energy surrounded his body.

Unbeknownst to all of the duelists, Jericho is shown looking down at them on a very tall building, three individual and darkened silhouettes on each of his sides appearing beside him as they disappeared to show Dogma, Brigadier, Juggernaut, Cryomancer, Despa and Apsed, and Bahamut. Silhouettes of duel monsters also appear behind the group one by one, with the first two being Dogmatika Alba Zoa and Tri-Brigade Shuraig the Ominous Omen. The next pair of duel monsters were Springans Ship – Exblowrer and Icejade Gymir Aegirine. The last pair of duel monsters were Despian Quaeritis and The Bystial Lubellion. The six duel monsters then disappeared, where Persona Force – Robin the Crow, along with Persona Soul – Pandora and Persona Force – Teferi the Mishima rose above the group before all three of them let out a loud roar. Standing away from the group were Issachar and Hallucina, with Blue Tooth Burst Dragon and Chimera the Illusion Beast also appearing before both monsters let out a loud roar.

Blue Maiden and Akira are shown back-to-back, their hands raised as Marincess Great Bubble Reef and Tindangle Acute Cerberus fire beams of energy at their common foe, determined expressions evident on their faces.

Ai is shown again, his lips curving into a grin as he points his right hand forward. The camera then zooms back to reveal he was in space and riding a duel board, Dark Templar AtIgnister, Wind Pegasus AtIgnister, and Light Dragon AtIgnister behind him. The three monsters charge forward at Raguel, Playmaker and Aerith. Raguel uses Cyreath Medusa to stop Wind Pegasus AtIgnister, Aerith uses Trickstar Bella Madonna to stop Light Dragon AtIgnister, and Playmaker uses Decode Talker to clash against Dark Templar AtIgnister.

A battle-wounded Raguel is shown facing off against Jericho in a desolate, network-like battlefield. Turboblaze Desolation Dragon appears behind Raguel, while a massive, six-winged humanoid appears behind Jericho.

At the Asagao Gardens, a picnic is being held. Roxy and Kusanagi are shown cooking hot dogs and hamburgers, while Greg and Katsuya are serving them to the group. On one side of the large picnic table was Yusaku, Aoi, Takeru, and Jin. Across from them was Yuhiro, Miyu, Arashi, Brea, and Rachel. Arashi makes a joke, which caused Brea to humorously punch him in the shoulder, a smirk on her face while a similar one appears on Rachel's face. Takeru laughs after seeing Arashi in pain, while Aoi and Yusaku let out a small chuckle as well. Jin, on the other hand, lets out a small gasp of concern for Arashi. Miyu is shown happily resting her head on Yuhiro's shoulder, the two of them smiling at one another in gratitude and happiness. Arin also raised his arms in joy upon seeing the happy expressions on Yuhiro and Miyu's faces, having sat on her shoulder to watch them. Afterwards, everyone present look up at the sky as a rainbow appears above the sun, smiles all evident on their faces.

In LINK VRAINS, at a special server in the network, in the pyramid structure…

"Both Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd have been defeated by Roboppy!" Roxy reported through the comms.

"What?!" Akira, Blue Maiden, Aerith and Arin exclaimed at the same time.

"No way… Ghost Girl was…" Akira muttered, shocked by how Ghost Girl and Blood Shepherd were defeated by Roboppy despite the duo being able to make a counterattack against the latter's strategies.

"What about Playmaker and the others?" Aerith asked.

"Yeah, please tell us that they're doing well." Arin added, also worried about the situation.

"They're still in combat against Ai's clones." Kusanagi answered through the comms. "As for the other Ai clones, they're being intercepted by Demeter, Electrolyzer, Percival and Zero. They should be able to ward them off."

"I really hope they can for all of our sakes." Blue Maiden commented. While she didn't see how Demeter and Percival dueled, she was aware how strong Electrolyzer and Zero were as duelists. This was due to Electrolyzer being able to utilize his monsters both in the network and in the real world, while Zero managed to defeat one of Raguel's data clones way faster than everyone else several weeks ago.

"You're not doubting their dueling abilities, are you, Blue Maiden?" Aerith asked.

Blue Maiden turned to Aerith. "Of course not, Aerith. My hope is that we don't experience any more casualties than we already have right now."

"Same here." Aerith sighed. Just like with Blue Maiden and Akira, the last thing she wanted was for any other duelists to be defeated by Ai and Roboppy. Not after what happened to a majority of the Knights of Hanoi. Yuhiro, please be safe, Aerith thought in her mind, hopeful that Raguel will not only be okay, but also make it back from the battle safely as well.

Meanwhile, at another area in the network…

Playmaker looked at the duel field thoroughly, wanting to get an understanding of what was on Ai's field at the moment.

Ai: 4000 LP

Playmaker: 4000 LP

Right now, Ai had a total of three cards on his field. Specifically, his monster being Fire Phoenix AtIgnister, the Field Spell card Ignister AiLand and the Continuous-Spell card, AiAi Wall. As long as AiAi Wall was on Ai's field, Playmaker couldn't declare attacks, nor target or destroy it with card effects. In addition, if Playmaker Link Summoned, Ai can place a counter on AiAi wall once per turn, thus further delaying the duel further. However, during the End Phase, Ai would have to remove a counter. Long story short, Ai was banking on Playmaker Link Summoning so he can buy more time for him and Roboppy to succeed in finding Akira's location.

With Ignister AiLand, Ai would be able to Special Summon monsters from his hand to his field as long as he had no monsters in his Main Monster Zones. As for Fire Phoenix, he had a wide variety of effects. First, Ai can inflict damage equal to his attack points when he attacks a monster in exchange for the opponent not taking any damage. Second, if Fire Phoenix is destroyed by a card effect, Ai can simply destroy a card on Playmaker's field in response. Lastly, Ai would be able to bring Fire Phoenix back to his field the turn it was destroyed.

Fire Phoenix AtIgnister ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️️️️

AiAi Wall C: 3

"I know you're being thorough, Playmaker, but you'll waste time the longer you analyze my field." Ai pointed out the obvious.

"That may be true, Ai, but caution is always needed when it comes to dealing with powerful duelists. You of all people should know that fact." Playmaker responded. "My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the Spell card, Counter Cleaner. By paying 500 life points, I can remove all counters on the field."

"Aw, glitch! That's… unexpected." Ai gasped, having been caught off guard by what happened just now.

A red aura surrounded Playmaker, which made him groan as his life points dropped.

Playmaker: 4000 – 500 = 3500 LP

A vacuum soon appeared afterwards, which sucked up all the counters AiAi Wall had before the card greyed out, having lost its power.

AiAi Wall C: 3 – 3 = 0

"Since I control no monsters on my field, I can Special Summon Linkslayer from my hand to my field." A male warrior wearing golden armor with feline-like headgear appeared on Playmaker's field. Attached to his back was a dark-red cape, which briefly floated upwards before floating down. Two blades of energy soon formed from his wrists, showing that he was ready for battle.

Linkslayer ATK: 2000 DEF: 800 LV: 5

"I now activate Linkslayer's effect. Once per turn, I can discard up to two cards from my hand to target that many Spell and Trap cards on your field and destroy them. I'll discard Dotscaper, and target and destroy AiAi Wall on your field!" Playmaker decided, as he took a card from his hand and sent it to his Graveyard. Once that was done, Linkslayer swung his arms forward, which sent a wave of energy that destroyed AiAi Wall before turning it into particles.

"Dotscaper's effect also activates! As it was sent to my Graveyard, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard to my field!" Soon, a green and white monster made out of digital bricks appeared on Playmaker's field.

Dotscaper ATK: 0 DEF: 2100 LV: 1

"I will now create my circuit!" Playmaker said, as a Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are one Level 1 monster. I'll set Dotscaper into the Link Markers!" Dotscaper went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Linkuriboh!" A small, blue machine monster with large eyes appeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. He had a tail with a Link Arrow that pointed downwards attached to the end.

Linkuriboh ATK: 300 LINK-1 ⬇️️

Linkuriboh's eyes widened with sadness upon seeing Ai as Playmaker's opponent, shocked that such a scenario was going on. "Kuriiiiii..."

"I'm very sorry, Linky, but I must pursue the path I'm on right now." Ai truly apologized. He really didn't want to hurt Linkuriboh, especially since the latter was his best friend. Well, aside from Roboppy, of course. "I hope you'll understand why I chose this path once this is all over."

"Like I told you earlier, Ai, I plan on showing you the error of your ways, and that's a promise I plan to keep!" Playmaker reminded Ai. "I summon Clock Wyvern from my hand to my field." A mechanical blue and purple dragon appeared on Playmaker's field.

Clock Wyvern ATK: 1800 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"When Clock Wyvern is Normal or Special Summoned, I can halve its attack points to Special Summon a Clock token to my field!" As a red aura surrounded Clock Wyvern that halved its strength, a cluster of purple crystals appeared on Playmaker's field in defense position.

Clock Wyvern ATK: 1800 / 2 = 900

Clock Token ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"I will now create my circuit for a second time!" Playmaker continued, as a second Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two Cyberse monsters. I'll set the Link 1 Linkuriboh and the Clock token into the Link Markers!" Linkuriboh went into the bottom arrowhead, while the Clock token went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning both of them red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Clock Spartoi!" A dark-brown humanoid with red lines on its body that wore white and gold armor appeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. In its right hand, it carried a lance.

Clock Spartoi ATK: 800 LINK-2 ️️⬇️↘️

"When Clock Spartoi is Link Summoned, I can add a copy of 'Cynet Fusion' from my deck to my hand." Playmaker said, as a card popped out of his deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"But I'm not done yet. I will create my circuit for a third time!" A third Link Portal appeared above Playmaker. "The summoning conditions are two monsters. I'll set Clock Wyvern and Linkslayer into the Link Markers!" Clock Wyvern went into the top arrowhead, while Linkslayer went into the bottom arrowhead, turning both of them red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Security Dragon!" A small, white and red mechanical dragon appeared in the Main Monster Zone Clock Spartoi pointed to, resulting in both monsters being co-linked with one another.

Security Dragon ATK: 1100 LINK-2 ⬆️⬇️

"Clock Spartoi's effect also activates! When a monster is Special Summoned to a Main Monster Zone it points to, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster from my Graveyard to my field to a Main Monster Zone it points to in exchange for negating its effects." Playmaker added. "Return to me, Clock Wyvern!" At Playmaker's command, Clock Wyvern reappeared on his field.

Clock Wyvern ATK: 1800 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"Oh, boy. I know what's coming next…" Ai muttered, aware of Security Dragon's effect.

"I activate Security Dragon's effect." Playmaker stated. "Once, if it's co-linked, I can target one monster you control and return it to your hand. I target Fire Phoenix AtIgnister!" Security Dragon fired red electricity from its head at Fire Phoenix, who groaned in pain as he returned to Ai's Extra Deck.

"In addition, I activate the Spell card, Cynet Fusion. This card lets me Fusion Summon one Cyberse Fusion monster from my Extra Deck, by using monsters in my hand or field as Fusion Material. I'll use Clock Wyvern, Clock Spartoi and Security Dragon on my field as Fusion Materials!" Clock Wyvern turned into red particles, Clock Spartoi turned into blue particles, and Security Dragon turned into green particles. The red, blue and green particles then swirled into a vortex, which led to three tornadoes of energy that shot upwards before merging to form a white and yellow whirlwind.

"Dragon embodying grand power! Emerge from the storm and unleash the strength of legends!" Playmaker chanted. "Fusion Summon! Come on out, Level 7! Cyberse Clock Dragon!" A purple-colored dragon with four eyes, along with pink lines running across its body emerged out of the whirlwind and appeared on Playmaker's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. It had black armor on its thighs, lower arms, shoulders, and the back of its neck and tail. Its hands and feet were pink with white claws, and its wings were split into six golden sections.

Cyberse Clock Dragon ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000 LV: 7

"When Cyberse Clock Dragon is Fusion Summoned, I can send a card from the top of my deck to the Graveyard equal to the combined Link ratings of the Fusion Materials used for its Fusion Summon." Playmaker explained. "Both Clock Spartoi and Security Dragon have a Link rating of two, which means I send the top four cards of my deck to the Graveyard." He took the top four cards of its deck and sent them to the Graveyard. "And for every card sent to the Graveyard by this effect, Cyberse Clock Dragon gains 1000 attack points!"

"Aw, glitch! That's not good!" Ai exclaimed.

"Go, Cyberse Clockup!" As if on cue, Cyberse Clock Dragon glowed red and roared.

Cyberse Clock Dragon ATK: 2500 + (1000 X 4) = 6500

"With AiAi Wall and Fire Phoenix gone, this duel is as good as over!" Playmaker declared. "Battle! Cyberse Clock Dragon attacks you directly! Pulsating Surge!" Purple lightning gathered across Cyberse Clock Dragon's wings and upper body, which gathered in its mouth before firing it at Ai. The copy screamed as he was sent flying off his duel board, his life points having dropped to zero in the process.

Ai: 4000 – 6500 = 0

"Well played, Playmaker. You passed the test." Playmaker's Ai clone said. "I really hope you'll forgive me once this is all over." With that, the Ai clone turned into purple data before dissipating completely.

I have to keep searching, or else the real Ai will end up slipping past me, Playmaker thought in his mind, as he turned his duel board around, intent on seeing where the real Ai was in order to stop him before it's too late. He also did so in order to rendezvous with the others in order to form another plan of action, especially since Ai's using data clones to ensure none of them can get in his way.

Elsewhere, at another area in the network…

Soulburner narrowed his eyes at the duel field, wanting to get an understanding of what was on Ai's field at the moment.

Ai: 4000 LP

Soulburner: 4000 LP

Right now, Ai had a total of three cards on his field. Specifically, his monster being Fire Phoenix AtIgnister, the Field Spell card Ignister AiLand and the Continuous-Spell card, AiAi Wall. As long as AiAi Wall was on Ai's field, Soulburner couldn't declare attacks, nor target or destroy it with card effects. In addition, if Soulburner Link Summoned, Ai can place a counter on AiAi wall once per turn, thus further delaying the duel further. However, during the End Phase, Ai would have to remove a counter. Long story short, Ai was banking on Soulburner Link Summoning so he can buy more time for him and Roboppy to succeed in finding Akira's location.

With Ignister AiLand, Ai would be able to Special Summon monsters from his hand to his field as long as he had no monsters in his Main Monster Zones. As for Fire Phoenix, he had a wide variety of effects. First, Ai can inflict damage equal to his attack points when he attacks a monster in exchange for the opponent not taking any damage. Second, if Fire Phoenix is destroyed by a card effect, Ai can simply destroy a card on Soulburner's field in response. Lastly, Ai would be able to bring Fire Phoenix back to his field the turn it was destroyed.

Fire Phoenix AtIgnister ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️

AiAi Wall C: 3

"Tick tock, Soulburner. The more time you spend figuring out my duel field and the cards that are on it, the more time you waste, which could have been used towards protecting Zaizen." Ai told Soulburner.

"You don't have to remind me, Ai." Soulburner responded back. "Now that I know what your cards do, I'll be able to fight back with style. My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the effect of Salamangreat Meer from my hand. By discarding one other 'Salamangreat' card from my hand to my Graveyard, I can Special Summon it from my hand to my field. I'll send Salamangreat Spinny from my hand to my Graveyard." After Soulburner took a card from his hand and sent it to his Graveyard, a small orange, red, and black meercat appeared on Soulburner's field.

Salamangreat Meer ATK: 800 DEF: 600 LV: 2

"I activate the effect of Spinny in my Graveyard. Since there's a 'Salamangreat' monster on my field, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard to my field. However, it's banished once it leaves my field. Now come on out, Salamangreat Spinny!" A black and orange metal armadillo covered in small flames appeared on Soulburner's field.

Salamangreat Spinny ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 3

"I blaze the circuit that scorches the path to the future!" A Link Portal appeared above Soulburner. "The summoning conditions are one Normal Summoned monster with 1000 or less attack points. I set Salamangreat Spinny into the Link Markers!" Spinny went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning it red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Salamangreat Almiraj!" A light-blue mechanical one-horned rabbit with ears resembling that of wings appeared on Soulburner's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. She had brown eyes, and a mane of fire surrounding her neck, along with the horn burning with fire.

Salamangreat Almiraj ATK: 0 LINK-1 ↘️

"Don't worry, Soulburner. I'll help you bring this guy down." Almiraj promised.

"Trust me, Almiraj. You'll play a good role in helping me win this duel." Soulburner assured Almiraj.

"Hold on, Soulburner. Once per turn, when you Link Summon a Link monster, AiAi Wall gets a counter." Ai told Soulburner, as a fiery orb went into AiAi Wall seconds later.

AiAi Wall C: 3 + 1 = 4

"I know that, Ai, but it's not gonna stop me! I blaze the circuit that scorches the path to the future for a second time!" A Link Portal appeared above Soulburner. "The summoning conditions are one Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster. I'll set Salamangreat Meer into the Link Markers!" Meer went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Salamangreat Balelynx!" A red and white mechanical cat with her tail on fire appeared on Soulburner's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.

Salamangreat Balelynx ATK: 500 LINK-1 ⬇️

"When Balelynx is Link Summoned, I can add the Field Spell card, Salamangreat Sanctuary from my deck to my hand." Soulburner explained, as a card popped out of his deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"I blaze the circuit that scorches the path to the future for a third time!" A Link Portal appeared above Soulburner. "The summoning conditions are two Fire effect monsters. I'll set the Link 1 Salamangreat Almiraj and Balelynx into the Link Markers!" Almiraj went into the top arrowhead while Balelynx went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 2! Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf!" A green and gray wolf that stood on his hind legs appeared on Soulburner's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Around his neck was a ring of fire.

Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf ATK: 1800 LINK-2 ⬆️⬇️

"You're going down!" Sunlight Wolf said, having grit his teeth in anger at Ai, who chuckled in response. He, along with the other 'Salamangreat' monsters, were shocked upon learning that Ai was the enemy. After everything that's happened, why would Ai choose to betray humanity and become their enemy? Hopefully, the truth will be unveiled soon, and Sunlight Wolf and the other 'Salamangreat' monsters would work with Soulburner to figure things out before it was too late.

The conditions have now been met. It's time to begin bringing this duel to a close, Soulburner thought in his mind, as he looked at one of the cards in his hand before refocusing on the duel. "I activate the effect of Beat Bison in my hand. When I have three or more 'Salamangreat' monsters in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon this card from my hand to my field." A large, red and light-purple armored buffalo with golden horns and flames all over its body appeared on Soulburner's field.

Salamangreat Beat Bison ATK: 2800 DEF: 1000 LV: 8

"From there, I activate Beat Bison's effect. Once per turn, I can target Fire Link monsters in my Graveyard up to the number of cards you control and return them to my Extra Deck. Then I'm allowed to negate the effects of face-up cards you control up to the number of Fire Link monsters I returned to my Extra Deck by this effect until the End Phase!" Soulburner revealed, much to Ai's surprise.

"Aw, glitch! You found a way past my solid defense!" Ai exclaimed.

"I'll return Almiraj back to my Extra Deck and negate AiAi Wall's effects!" A card popped out of Soulburner's Graveyard, which he took and returned to his Extra Deck. Once that was done, Beat Bison let out a loud roar, which sent a burst of flames flying towards Ai's field that greyed out AiAi Wall. "I now activate the Spell card, Fusion of Fire. This card lets me Fusion Summon a Fusion monster from my Extra Deck by using monsters from my hand or field. The best part is that I can also use monsters from either of our fields as Fusion Material!"

Ai gasped despite knowing what Fusion of Fire's effects were, knowing that the duel was ending very soon. "That's not good…"

"I'll use Fire Phoenix AtIgnister on your field, and Salamangreat Sunlight Wolf on my field as Fusion Materials!" Fire Phoenix turned into orange fire, while Heatleo turned into purple fire, with the both of them going into a Fusion Portal that appeared above Soulburner.

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

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

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

"When Violet Chimera is Fusion Summoned, he gains half the attack points of the Fusion Materials used for his Fusion Summon until the end of this turn! Fire Phoenix had 2300 attack points while Sunlight Wolf had 1800 attack points, which means Violet Chimera gains a total of 2050 attack points!" Soulburner stated, as Violet Chimera let out a roar before his strength increased.

Salamangreat Violet Chimera ATK: 2800 + (4100 / 2) = 4850

"Well, this just went from bad to worse…" Ai muttered. The duel was pretty much over for him as of now.

Soulburner thrusted out his right hand. "Battle! Salamangreat Violet Chimera attacks you directly! Violet Soul!"

"Begone!" Violet Chimera shouted, as he charged forward and slashed Ai before firing a massive stream of fire from his left hand at him, which sent the latter flying off his duel board upon impact. Ai's life points also dropped to zero at the same time, thus determining the outcome of the duel.

Ai: 4000 – 4850 = 0

"Nicely played, Soulburner." Soulburner's Ai clone praised Soulburner. "Maybe you'll be strong enough to live on without Flame in time." With that, the Ai clone turned into purple data before dissipating completely.

Since Ai's not in this area, I should look around to see where the real Ai is at, Soulburner thought in his mind, as he turned his duel board, intent on finding where the real Ai was located at in order to stop him as fast as possible. He also did so in order to rendezvous with the others in order to form another plan of action, especially since Ai's using data clones to ensure none of them can get in his way.

Meanwhile, at another area in the network…

Slipstream analyzed the duel field so far in the duel, wanting to know what he was dealing with in his duel against the Ai clone.

Ai: 4000 LP

Slipstream: 4000 LP

Right now, Ai had a total of three cards on his field. Specifically, his monster being Fire Phoenix AtIgnister, the Field Spell card Ignister AiLand and the Continuous-Spell card, AiAi Wall. As long as AiAi Wall was on Ai's field, Slipstream couldn't declare attacks, nor target or destroy it with card effects. In addition, if Slipstream Link Summoned, Ai can place a counter on AiAi wall once per turn, thus further delaying the duel further. However, during the End Phase, Ai would have to remove a counter. Long story short, Ai was banking on Slipstream Link Summoning so he can buy more time for him and Roboppy to succeed in finding Akira's location. However, Slipstream rarely Link Summoned, so this wouldn't be too much of a deterrent for him.

With Ignister AiLand, Ai would be able to Special Summon monsters from his hand to his field as long as he had no monsters in his Main Monster Zones. As for Fire Phoenix, he had a wide variety of effects. First, Ai can inflict damage equal to his attack points when he attacks a monster in exchange for the opponent not taking any damage. Second, if Fire Phoenix is destroyed by a card effect, Ai can simply destroy a card on Slipstream's field in response. Lastly, Ai would be able to bring Fire Phoenix back to his field the turn it was destroyed.

Fire Phoenix AtIgnister ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️

AiAi Wall C: 3

"You know, for a guy who's speedy, you're taking some time in analyzing the duel field, don't you think?" Ai questioned.

"Hey, man, a duelist who rushes into things will end up losing." Slipstream countered. "But now that I got an understanding on your cards, I know what to do in response to them."

Ai smiled pleased to see Slipstream's confidence. "That's great to hear, Slipstream. I mean, unlike Windy, you take the time to analyze the opponent's field before acting. After all, patience is a strong virtue to have these days."

Slipstream frowned after hearing Ai's comment. "Where are you going with this, Ai?"

"Simple. Given how you're Windy's Origin and he is your Ignis, there are some similarities between the both of you." Ai explained. "For instance, the both of you pull pranks, are sometimes very talkative and at one point wanted to get revenge on people for wronging you quite harshly. If memory serves, you wanted to murder Windy for sending your cousin to the hospital a while back, am I not correct? I do hope your cousin's doing well since that dreadful day."

"My cousin woke up from his coma several weeks ago, Ai. He's been better since what happened. But on the topic of revenge, you're right." Slipstream acknowledged. "I… I originally wanted to kill Windy for what he did to my cousin. But it's thanks to you guys that I was able to let go of my revenge and move on with my life. Are you're doing all of this just for revenge, Ai? If it is, then like I told you earlier, you'll experience the same pain and despair Raguel went through should you continue on this path."

Ai sadly smiled. "I'll be honest in saying that revenge is a side benefit for my actions, Slipstream. But like I said earlier, you should take comfort in the knowledge that my actions and objectives are different. Once this whole ordeal's over, you and the others will understand why I chose the path I'm on right now."

I doubt that, Ai, Slipstream thought in his mind. A part of him knew that something else was going on behind the scenes. Something or someone that would have made Ai choose the path he was on right now. Hopefully, Slipstream and the others would discern the truth in time, or else it'd cost them all later on. "It looks like I can't convince you to stand down peacefully, huh? If that's the case, then prepare yourself, Ai! I'm not holding anything back! My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I summon Speedroid Horse Stilts from my hand to my field." A green and beige horse with golden lines that had red orbs attached to it appeared on Slipstream's field. It only had two legs, which consisted of blue and silver bamboo sticks. As for its tail, it consisted of a blue bamboo shoot.

Speedroid Horse Stilts ATK: 1100 DEF: 1100 LV: 4

"When Horse Stilts is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'Speedroid' monster from my hand to my field. I Special Summon Speedroid Fuki-Modoshi Piper from my hand to my field!" Slipstream stated, as a little, cyan-haired kid with green eyes and a red hat that had a feather attached to it appeared on Slipstream's field. Wrapped around its neck was a light-green scarf that had feathers at the end of it. In its hands, it carried a slingshot.

Speedroid Fuki-Modoshi Piper ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

"When Fuki-Modoshi Piper is Normal or Special Summoned, I can excavate cards from the top of my deck equal to the number of other Wind monsters I control and add one of those cards to my hand. However, any other excavated cards are put in the bottom of my deck in any order."

"But you only have Horse Stilts on your field, which pretty much guarantees you a free draw." Ai mused.

"No shit, Sherlock." Slipstream replied, as he drew the top card of his deck. "I tune the Level 4 Speedroid Fuki-Modoshi Piper to the Level 4 Horse Stilts!" A bolt of green lightning struck Slipstream as the world greyed out and his two monsters disappeared into particles. Two rings, one green and one beige appeared before turning blue and merging. Eight blue rings stacked in a tower appeared, a screen displaying "4 4" in front of them. The screen changed to "8" as light surged through the rings.

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

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

"Kitedrake's effect! When it's Synchro Summoned, I can activate one of two effects." Slipstream added. "I choose to activate the second effect, which lets me negate the effects of all face-up cards you control!"

"Aw, glitch! With my cards negated, that means you can now attack!" Ai realized.

"Go, Trichroic Mirror!" The panels on Kitedrake's back lit up with blue, red, and green light that spread out to Ai's cards. Ai watched in shock as his monster cried out in pain while the other two cards greyed out. "I activate the Spell card, Hi-Speed Re-Level. By banishing a 'Speedroid' monster from my Graveyard, I can target a 'Speedroid' monster I control and change its level to the banished monster's level until the End Phase. What's more, the targeted 'Speedroid' monster gains attack equal to the banished monster's level times 500. I banish Fuki-Modoshi Piper from my Graveyard and target Kitedrake. That means Kitedrake's level becomes four, and it gains 2000 attack points!" An orange aura surrounded Kitedrake as it let out a roar, which not only increased its strength, but also changed its level temporarily.

Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake LV: 8 – 4 = 4

Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake ATK: 3000 + (500 X 4) = 5000

"I now activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Limiter Removal! This card doubles the attack points of all Machine monsters on my field until the End Phase!" Slipstream announced.

"Aw, glitch! Your monster's power level is gonna be over 9000!" Ai cried out, as Kitedrake was surrounded in a light-blue aura that doubled its strength.

Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake ATK: 5000 X 2 = 10000

"Battle!" Slipstream thrusted out his right hand. "Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake attacks-!"

"Wait a second, Slipstream! Can I ask you one serious question before you finish me off?"

Slipstream rolled his eyes. "Fine, but make it quick. I'm on a clock here."

"Do you mind if I call you Slipscream? Or better yet, Simpstream, given how you have a crush on a special lady as of lately?" Ai cheekily asked.

An awkward silence filled the air as Slipstream grit his teeth in pure irritation, several tick marks having appeared on his forehead. He made a mental note to make sure that Brea never learned about those ridiculous nicknames, or else she'd tease him until the end of time. "You know what? Even thought I'm not a bad person, I'm gonna enjoy this way more than I should right now. Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake attacks Fire Phoenix AtIgnister!"

"You know, Slipstream, another thing that makes you and Windy similar to one another is your temper. For just like how Windy's temper got the best of him, you'll suffer the same fate!" Ai thrusted out his right hand. "I activate the effect of Achichi from my Graveyard. When a Cyberse monster I control battles-."

"Sorry, Ai, but I'm not gonna let you pull off that strategy of yours." Slipstream interjected. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Called By The Grave! This card lets me target one monster in your Graveyard and banish it. By doing so, I can not only negate its effects, but also negate the activated effects and effects of that card with the same original name until the end of my next turn."

Ai gasped in shock after hearing this information. "Aw, glitch! You were able to counter my strategy!"

"I target Achichi in your Graveyard!" The declared card in Ai's Graveyard turned into particles, having been banished as a result. Once that was done, Slipstream rubbed his forehead for a few seconds before speaking. "Want to know something, Ai? The last guy who mistakenly got my name wrong in such a ridiculous manner paid a very bad price for it, so congratulations, Ai clone. Your name just made it on that list. Hi-Speedroid Kitedrake attacks Fire Phoenix AtIgnister! Sonic Tornado!" Kitedrake's panels glowed with light as it roared and charged towards Fire Phoenix, which destroyed him upon impact. The explosion sent Ai flying off his duel board, who screamed as his life points dropped all the way to zero.

Ai: 4000 – 7700 = 0

"Great job, Slipstream. Your ingenuity will be a great asset for the battles to come." Slipstream's Ai clone praised Slipstream. "Though I do recommend you continue working hard to keep that temper of yours in check, as you never know what opponents are out there in this world." After saying that, the Ai clone turned into purple data that dissipated completely.

Slipstream sighed, having gotten the job done. Still, he was quite pissed that Ai made fun of his avatar name with those ridiculous nicknames just now. A lot of people made fun of Slipstream's avatar name, and every single one ended up regretting it as a result. There were, however, instances were people got his name wrong unintentionally, which led Slipstream to let those people off the hook because they never met him before. But again, for the people who made fun of Slipstream's avatar name on purpose, they ended up paying a bad price for it later on.

"You okay, Arashi?" Roxy asked through the comms.

"I'm fine, Roxy. I'm just angry that the Ai clone made fun of my name just now." Slipstream seethed back.

"I get that. But still, just like that Ai clone advised, you should continue working on making sure that temper of yours is in check. If anything, you're doing a great job so far, and it'd be bad if you stopped doing so."

Slipstream rolled his eyes. "I am obviously aware of that, Roxy. But moving that aside, I'm starting to understand how that banana-haired teenager felt when his name was made fun of all those years ago."

"Banana-haired teenager?" Roxy repeated over the comms.

"Yeah. According to what my grandfather told me, my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather knew a guy whose name was made of several times." Slipstream explained. "With some examples including Nogo, Slowgo and Pogo. He was even mistakingly called a Fusion follower, or simply Fusion by some people because of how his real name sounds close to the Japanese word for Fusion. The poor guy developed a short temper because of his name being mispronounced like that as a result."

"If anything, this guy you're talking about is similar to you and Windy. Are you by any chance-?"

"No, Roxy! I am not his descendent or something like that!" The tick marks from before appeared on Slipstream's head. "Besides, that guy existed in an entirely different place, timeline and dimension, so there's no way I could be related to him in any way WHATSOEVER! Do you understand me?!"

"Alright, alright. Chill, Arashi. I understand perfectly. I didn't mean to aggravate you there." Roxy said, having tried to muffle a few chuckles, which worked to no avail.

"That's okay, Roxy. I know you didn't mean to get me upset." Slipstream responded. "Do me a favor and not let her know that my avatar name got made fun of several times. Otherwise, she'd never let me hear the end of it."

"Your secret's safe with me, Arashi. You have my word." Roxy couldn't help but let out a quite chuckle if Brea found out that Slipstream's name was made fun of, which would be quite humorous to watch.

Slipstream let out a sigh of relief, glad that Roxy was willing to keep this a secret. For he didn't deserve to have his avatar name be made fun of at all. "Thank's, Roxy. I appreciate it very much. Anyhow, let's get this mission dealt with." He sped away in order to not only continue searching for Ai, but to also rendezvous with the others, the conversation having ended.

Elsewhere, at another area in the network…

Revolver looked at the cards that were currently on the duel field, wanting to get a full understanding of what was happening at the moment.

Ai: 4000 LP

Revolver: 4000 LP

Right now, Ai had a total of three cards on his field. Specifically, his monster being Fire Phoenix AtIgnister, the Field Spell card Ignister AiLand and the Continuous-Spell card, AiAi Wall. As long as AiAi Wall was on Ai's field, Revolver couldn't declare attacks, nor target or destroy it with card effects. In addition, if Revolver Link Summoned, Ai can place a counter on AiAi wall once per turn, thus further delaying the duel further. However, during the End Phase, Ai would have to remove a counter. Long story short, Ai was banking on Revolver Link Summoning so he can buy more time for him and Roboppy to succeed in finding Akira's location.

With Ignister AiLand, Ai would be able to Special Summon monsters from his hand to his field as long as he had no monsters in his Main Monster Zones. As for Fire Phoenix, he had a wide variety of effects. First, Ai can inflict damage equal to his attack points when he attacks a monster in exchange for the opponent not taking any damage. Second, if Fire Phoenix is destroyed by a card effect, Ai can simply destroy a card on Revolver's field in response. Lastly, Ai would be able to bring Fire Phoenix back to his field the turn it was destroyed.

Fire Phoenix AtIgnister ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️

AiAi Wall C: 3

"Based on how you're analyzing the duel field, it looks like you don't want to take any risks whatsoever, Revolver. Especially after everything you and the Knights of Hanoi went through recently." Ai cheekily taunted.

"And I had a feeling that you'd show your face one way or another, Dark Ignis." Revolver replied back. "I originally planned on leaving you alone so you can live in grief for the rest of your days, but since you've returned, I intend to eliminate you one way or another."

"Really? You actually wanted to leave me alone in my suffering for the rest of my life? I'm honestly surprised you made such a decision, Revolver, especially since Dr. Kogami formed the Knights of Hanoi to kill the Ignis."

Revolver frowned upon hearing Ai's statement. This was true, as Dr. Kogami originally formed the Knights of Hanoi to destroy both the Ignis and any other threats that existed in the network. However, Revolver was not his father, as evident by the selfless actions he and the other Knights of Hanoi did to protect people during tough times. "While you're correct, Ignis, you should know that I'm not my father. However, unlike him, I am humane. This fact, along with recent events, was what led me to decide to spare your life. Well, at least until you returned, anyway."

Ai simply chuckled after hearing Revolver's response. "Is that so? I didn't expect someone such as yourself to show compassion, Revolver. Though given your recommitment to destroy the Ignis, I can't help but wonder if the words you said back then were fake in the end. Specifically, how you said that you never expected an Ignis to stand up for you, as well as the fact that an Ignis thanked you for stopping Lightning. What's more, you even acknowledged both my own existence and Herald's existence back then after the duel ended."

"That is true, Dark Ignis, but the past is in the past. Now, we're in the present." Revolver spoke back.

"But I'm not done yet, Revolver. You and the Knights of Hanoi knew about Playmaker's real identity in the real world, yet you never went after him. While I'm grateful that you didn't do so, what I want to know is why you left us alone in the real world."

"It was because I wanted to settle things in the network. Nothing more. Nothing less." Revolver smirked. "And besides, the Hanoi did get a side benefit in leaving you guys alone in the real world. Had we simply done so, we wouldn't have been able to find the other Ignis."

"I suppose that makes sense there." Ai agreed. "Now allow me to ask you another question: If you were faced with another situation similar to what Lightning did to his Origin, what would you do? You know, with the blackmail and all."

"What about you, Dark Ignis? If such a situation occurred for you, would you make the tough choice and kill an innocent being to save thousands? Would you sink that low?" Revolver angrily questioned back, disgusted that Ai would consider killing a hostage just to win a duel.

Ai, in response, simply shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe, maybe not. Though you should note that times are changing, and you shouldn't deny the possibility that someone else would use hostages just to survive. After all, not everyone in the network is honorable."

"Given how you have the potential of hurting innocent people, I will eliminate you to ensure such a thing doesn't happen! Prepare yourself, Dark Ignis! My turn! I draw!" Revolver drew the top card of his deck. "Since you control a Link monster, I can Special Summon Gateway Dragon from my hand to my field." A six-sided golden gate surfaced onto his field, out of which emerged a three-armed golden dragon that appeared on Revolver's field.

Gateway Dragon ATK: 1600 DEF: 1400 LV: 4

"Gateway Dragon's effect! Once per turn, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Dragon monster from my hand to my field. Come on out, Shelrokket Dragon!" Revolver said, as agold and black metal dragon with green lines running over it, green holographic wings, and a green tube on its head appeared on Revolver's field.

Shelrokket Dragon ATK: 1100 DEF: 2000 LV: 2

"Manifest, my circuit!" A Link Portal appeared above Revolver's field. "The summoning conditions are one Level 4 or lower Dark Dragon monster! I'll set Shelrokket Dragon into the Link Markers!" Shelrokket Dragon went into the left arrowhead, turning it red.

"Link Summon! Rise! Link 1! Striker Dragon!" A blue metal dragon with light-green lines running over it, large green holographic wings, and clawed legs flew onto Revolver's field in the Extra Monster Zone. The curved pieces of metal on the dragon's head and shoulders coincidentally resembled the ones from revolvers.

Striker Dragon ATK: 1000 LINK-1 ⬅️️

"When Striker Dragon is Link Summoned, I can add the Field Spell card Boot Sector Launch from my deck to my hand." Revolver explained, as a card popped out of his deck, which he added to his hand.

"Since you Link Summoned, Revolver, that means AiAi Wall gains one counter once per turn." Ai reminded Revolver, as a fiery orb went into AiAi Wall seconds later.

AiAi Wall C: 3 + 1 = 4

"It'll be worth it, Dark Ignis, especially given what I have in mind for you." Revolver responded. "I activate the Continuous-Spell card, Supply Squad. Once per turn, when a monster I control is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can draw one card from the top of my deck. I also activate the Equip Spell card, Borrel Regenerator. This card lets me target one 'Rokket' monster in my Graveyard and equip it with this card. By doing so, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard to my field, but it's banished when it leaves my field. I target Shelrokket Dragon in my Graveyard, equip it with Borrel Generator, and Special Summon it to my field!" At Revolver's command, Shelrokket Dragon reappeared on his field.

Shelrokket Dragon ATK: 1100 DEF: 2000 LV: 2

"Next, I activate the Field Spell card, Boot Sector Launch. With this card, all 'Rokket' monsters on my field gain 300 attack and defense points!" Shelrokket Dragon was surrounded in a green aura that increased its strength.

Shelrokket Dragon ATK: 1100 300 = 1400 DEF: 2000 300 = 2300

"From there, I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Squib Draw. By targeting a 'Rokket' monster on my field and destroying it, I get to draw two cards. I destroy Shelrokket Dragon!" Revolver decided, as Shelrokket Dragon turned into particles. Once that was done, Revolver drew the top two cards of his deck. "In addition, Borrel Regenerator's second effect activates! As it was sent to the Graveyard because the equipped monster was destroyed, I can draw a card from the top of my deck." He drew the third card from the top of his deck seconds later. "And because a monster was destroyed by a card effect, Supply Squad's effect lets me draw an additional card from the top of my deck." Revolver then drew the fourth card from the top of his deck.

"I now activate Boot Sector Launch's second effect. Once per turn, I can Special Summon up to two 'Rokket' monsters from my hand in defense position. Come on out, Magnarokket Dragon and Rokket Tracer!" Two monsters then appeared on Revolver's field in defense position.

The first was a blue and red metal dragon with green holographic wings and a small cannon on its head.

The second was a red dragon with a long tail and four green, holographic wings. Green lines ran all over its body, and attached to its arms were shoulder pads in the form of a rocket. In addition, it had a missile on its head.

Magnarokket Dragon ATK: 1800 DEF: 1200 LV: 4

Rokket Tracer ATK: 1600 DEF: 1000 LV: 4

Magnarokket Dragon ATK: 1800 300 = 2100 DEF: 1200 300 = 1500

Rokket Tracer ATK: 1600 300 = 1900 DEF: 1000 300 = 1300

"Manifest, for a second time! My circuit!" Revolver declared, as a second Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are three or more effect monsters. I'll set the Link 1 Striker Dragon, Gateway Dragon, Magnarokket Dragon and Rokket Tracer into the Link Markers!" Striker Dragon went into the top arrowhead, Gateway Dragon went into the left arrowhead, Magnarokket Dragon went into the bottom-left arrowhead and Rokket Tracer went into the bottom arrowhead, turning all four of them red.

"My gale that slices open the closed world! Link Summon! Appear! Link 4! Borrelsword Dragon!" A large red and silver mechanical dragon appeared on Revolver's field in the right Extra Monster Zone and roared at Go. It had two large green spikes extending downwards from its neck, as well as green spikes on its knees. Attached to the sides of its head were two sharp blades. Borrelsword Dragon also had a gun barrel in its chest, ready to be used.

Borrelsword Dragon ATK: 3000 LINK-4 ↙️⬅️⬆️⬇️️️️️

"I summon Autorokket Dragon from my hand to my field." Revolver continued, as an armored orange metal dragon with green holographic wings and a rocket on its head appeared on Revolver's field.

Autorokket Dragon ATK: 1600 DEF: 1000 LV: 3

Autorokket Dragon ATK: 1600 300 = 1900 DEF: 1000 300 = 1300

"I'll then activate Borrelsword Dragon's effect! Once per turn, I can target one attack position monster on the field and change it to defense position. By doing this, Borrelsword Dragon gets to attack twice this turn. I target Autorokket Dragon!" Borrelsword Dragon roared loudly, causing Autorokket Dragon to change to defense position. "Autorokket Dragon's effect now activates! If it's targeted by a Link monster's effect, I can destroy this card and send one Spell or Trap card from your field to your Graveyard. I'll send AiAi Wall from your field to your Graveyard!"

"Aw, glitch! You figured out how to get past AiAi Wall's protection effects!" Ai exclaimed.

"While AiAi Wall can't be targeted or destroyed by card effects as long as there's a counter on it, there are many other methods that can remove it from the field." Revolver pointed out, as Autorokket Dragon's entire body transformed into a bullet that went into the gun barrel in Borrelsword Dragon's chest. The gun barrel rotated as Borrelsword Dragon opened its mouth. "Blast Destruction!" Borrelsword Dragon fired a fountain of yellow energy at AiAi Wall, which made it glitch before it turned into particles.

"In addition, I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Bayonet Punisher. This lets me apply a number of effects in sequence depending on the card types of 'Borrel' monsters that are on my field and in my Graveyard. And since I control a monster with 3000 or more attack points, you cannot activate cards or effects in response to this card."

"Oh, that's not good at all…" Ai muttered.

"As there's a 'Borrel' Link monster on my field, that means I can banish three cards that are in your Graveyard, Dark Ignis." Revolver stated, as a screen popped up, which allowed him to see the cards that were in Ai's Graveyard. "I banish Achichi AtIgnister, Doyon AtIgnister and Linguriboh from your Graveyard." The three declared cards were instantly banished from Ai's Graveyard, much to his horror.

"Now let's battle!" Revolver thrusted out his right hand. "Borrelsword Dragon attacks Fire Phoenix AtIgnister!" Borrelsword Dragon charged forward, the two blades on the sides of Borrelsword Dragon's head snapped upwards that formed into a single massive blade, which it brought down onFire Phoenix. In response to the attack, Fire Phoenix blocked the attack with his wings. "At this point, I activate Borrelsword Dragon's second effect! Once per turn, when it declares an attack, it gains attack points equal to half of your monster's attack points. What's more, your monster's attack points are halved!" Borrelsword Dragon roared loudly as its strength increased, which made Fire Phoenix wince in pain upon hearing it as his strength decreased.

Borrelsword Dragon ATK: 3000 + (2300 / 2) = 4150

Fire Phoenix AtIgnister ATK: 2300 / 2 = 1150

"Electric Borrelsword Slash!" Borrelsword Dragon broke through the lock and brought down the massive blade down onto Fire Phoenix, having bisected it down the middle in the process. An explosion soon occurred that made Ai nearly lose his balance as his life points dropped.

Ai: 4000 – 3000 = 1000 LP

"Don't forget that Borrelsword Dragon can attack an additional time thanks to its effect, Dark Ignis!" Revolver reminded Ai. "The battle continues! Borrelsword Dragon attacks you directly! Electric Borrelsword Slash!" The two blades on the sides of Borrelsword Dragon's head snapped upwards that formed into a single massive blade, which it brought down onAi before sending him flying off his duel board in a massive explosion, his life points having dropped to zero upon impact.

Ai: 1000 – 4150 = 0

"Well, Revolver. If I'm being honest, you have the potential to change your destiny and be freed from your father's will." Ai stated. "Unlike some others who let their family ties dictate their futures, of course." After saying that, the Ai clone turned into purple data that dissipated completely.

"At least that's over with…" Revolver muttered. While he did defeat an Ai clone, the battle wouldn't be truly won until the real Ai and Roboppy were defeated for good.

"Revolver," a voice spoke up, which led Revolver to look around as he noticed Playmaker, Soulburner and Slipstream head over to him.

"So the three of you finished your duels against the Ai clones." Revolver stated, having figured out that Playmaker was the one who called out the former's name. "What about Raguel?"

"He's still dueling against his Ai clone." Slipstream answered Revolver's question.

"That makes sense, especially after Raguel's recent actions and the toll it put both on him and the 'Cyreath' deck." Soulburner commented.

"Nevertheless, we should find the real Ai as soon as possible. We can't let him and Roboppy get to Zaizen." Playmaker stated, which led the others to nod in agreement.

"On that, Playmaker, I agree." Revolver acknowledged, as the four duelists sped their respective duel boards in order to complete their common mission. After Raguel was finished dueling against his Ai clone, then he'd join the others in the search.

Meanwhile, at another area in the network…

Raguel looked at each of the cards that was on Ai's field, wanting to know what he was battling against and anticipate what the Ai clone planned next for his moves.

Ai: 4000 LP

Raguel: 4000 LP

Right now, Ai had a total of three cards on his field. Specifically, his monster being Fire Phoenix AtIgnister, the Field Spell card Ignister AiLand and the Continuous-Spell card, AiAi Wall. As long as AiAi Wall was on Ai's field, Raguel couldn't declare attacks, nor target or destroy it with card effects. In addition, if Raguel Link Summoned, Ai can place a counter on AiAi wall once per turn, thus further delaying the duel further. However, during the End Phase, Ai would have to remove a counter. Long story short, Ai was banking on Raguel Link Summoning so he can buy more time for him and Roboppy to succeed in finding Akira's location.

With Ignister AiLand, Ai would be able to Special Summon monsters from his hand to his field as long as he had no monsters in his Main Monster Zones. As for Fire Phoenix, he had a wide variety of effects. First, Ai can inflict damage equal to his attack points when he attacks a monster in exchange for the opponent not taking any damage. Second, if Fire Phoenix is destroyed by a card effect, Ai can simply destroy a card on Raguel's field in response. Lastly, Ai would be able to bring Fire Phoenix back to his field the turn it was destroyed.

Fire Phoenix AtIgnister ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️️️️

AiAi Wall C: 3

"I must say, Raguel. I'm pleased you're paying thorough attention to my cards rather than take risks." Ai praised Raguel. "Though the more time you waste dueling me, the more time my real self has in finding Zaizen."

"I'm aware of that, Ai. Given how my deck isn't at full strength, I'll need to be very careful if I'm to defeat you." Raguel acknowledged. "My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the Spell card, Glorious Cyreaths. When I control no monsters in my Main Monster Zones, I can Special Summon one 'Cyreath' monster from my hand, deck, or Graveyard and draw the top card of my deck." A card popped out of Raguel's deck. "I Special Summon Cyreath Damselfly from my deck to my field." A large, black-skinned creature that had dots all over its body appeared on Raguel's field. It had a total of four wings, along with a long tail that had a spike at the end of it. Attached to its body was armored plating that had a lightning bolt on it.

Cyreath Damselfly ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

Seconds later, Raguel drew the top card of his deck.

"Appear, the circuit showing the highest mountain!" A Link Portal appeared above Raguel. "The summoning conditions are one 'Cyreath' monster. I'll set Cyreath Damselfly into the Link Markers!" Damselfly went into the bottom arrowhead, turning it red.

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

Cyreath Scorpius ATK: 1000 LINK-1 ️

"Hang on, Raguel. Once per turn, when you Link Summon a Link monster, I can place an additional counter on AiAi Wall." Ai told Raguel, as a fiery orb went into AiAi Wall seconds later.

AiAi Wall C: 3 1 = 4

"Perhaps, but when Damselfly is used to Link Summon of a Link monster, I can add one 'Cyreath' card from my deck to my hand." Raguel informed Ai. "I'll add Cyreath Doppelganger from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Raguel's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"Next, I activate Scorpius' effect. Once per turn, when I control no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'Cyreath' monster from my Graveyard to a zone this card points to. Return, Damselfly!" At Raguel's command, Damselfly reappeared on his field.

Cyreath Damselfly ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"I activate the effect of Cyreath Doppelganger from my hand." Raguel continued. "Since I control a 'Cyreath' monster, I can Special Summon it from my hand to my field." A pale, shadowy man materialized itself on Raguel's field.

Cyreath Doppelganger ATK: 500 DEF: 500 LV: 4

"Appear, for a second time! The circuit showing the highest mountain!" A second Link Portal appeared above Raguel. "The summoning conditions are three 'Cyreath' monsters. I'll set the Link 1 Cyreath Scorpius, Damselfly and Doppelganger into the Link Markers!" Scorpius went into the bottom-left arrowhead, Damselfly went into the bottom arrowhead and Doppelganger went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning all three of them red.

"From the depths of Tartarus, emerge and claim the souls of those who oppose you!" Raguel chanted. "Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Cyreath Hades, Lord of the Underworld!" A grotesque, demonic large man wearing a blazing helm on his head and cloth around his waist, with chains wrapped around his body and spikes on his back appeared on Raguel's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. He carried two clawed chain blades, with each blade emitting a purple glow.

Cyreath Hades, Lord of the Underworld ATK: 3000 LINK-3 ↙️⬇️↘️️️️

"Even if you bring out a powerful monster, you won't be able to attack as long as AiAi Wall has a counter." Ai reminded Raguel, which made him grit his teeth.

Ai's right. As much as I want to inflict damage, I don't have the cards in my hand to do so, nor can I attack thanks to AiAi Wall's effect, Raguel thought in his mind. Based on this information, along with how his deck wasn't at full power, that meant Raguel would have to deplete Ai's resources first and stall for time until he had the cards needed to win the duel. "I activate Hades' first effect. Once per turn, I can target one face-up monster you control and place that monster to a Main Monster Zone Hades points to and take control of it! However, it cannot attack the turn I activate this effect! Therefore, I target and take control of Fire Phoenix AtIgnister!"

"Well, that's unexpected…" Ai muttered. With Hades' first effect, that meant Ai would lose his monster!

"Soul Removal!" Hades swung his clawed chain blades around and around, before lashing them out at Fire Phoenix, ripping his soul out of his body before vanishing from Ai's field and reappearing in one of the two Main Monster Zones Hades pointed to on Raguel's field.

"Next, I activate the effect of Doppelganger from my Graveyard. By banishing a 'Cyreath' monster from my Graveyard with a different name, I can Special Summon it from my Graveyard back to my field." Raguel added. "I banish Damselfly, and Special Summon Doppelganger back to my field!" At Raguel's command, Doppelganger reappeared on his field.

Cyreath Doppelganger ATK: 500 DEF: 500 LV: 4

"I then tribute Fire Phoenix and Doppelganger to Set a monster on my field in face-down defense position!" After Fire Phoenix and Doppelganger turned into particles, a Set monster appeared on Raguel's field in face-down defense position.

That's strange. Raguel could have used both monsters to Link Summon a stronger one, yet he chose to Tribute Summon a Set monster instead, Ai observed in his mind. There are three reasons Raguel would likely choose this method. One: Raguel incorporated Flip Summoning in his deck recently, and wants to see how effective it can be against opponents. A wise idea, especially since there's other dangerous threats coming down the road. Two: Given how Raguel's deck isn't at full power and some of his monsters are recovering, Raguel may have no choice but to resort to other strategies to win the duel. Three: Since Raguel hasn't dueled in a while, he's treading carefully in order to not get caught off guard. Overall, those are some valid reasons why Raguel's chosen the options he chose so far in this duel. After all, unpredictable moves can certainly change who has control of the duel.

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

"And since it's the End Phase, I must remove one counter from AiAi Wall." Ai commented, as a fiery orb went out of AiAi Wall before dissipating.

AiAi Wall C: 4 – 1 = 3

Ai put a hand to his chin seconds later. "You know, Raguel. There's something I'm wondering about."

"And what would that be?" Raguel questioned.

"It's about what you said earlier. You know, regarding your intent to take responsibility for your sins now and forever." Ai recapped. "I do wonder how you plan on doing such a thing. I mean, once this is all over, the Hanoi are going to confess their crimes to the authorities and make things right. How are you going to take responsibility for everything you've done moving forward?"

"I…" Raguel thought this over before carefully answering Ai's question. "I've already been sentenced a long time ago for what I've done, Ai. My punishment for my actions is to not only watch over the network and protect it for the rest of my life, but to remember the pain and sadness they caused as well. That's how I plan on taking responsibility for my sins forever, Ai, and I wonder whether what you're doing right now is one sick way of taking responsibility for the Ignis' future."

"While it may seem sick, Raguel, I can tell you that I'm taking responsibility for the future in ways neither you nor the others can comprehend yet." Not just the Ignis' future, but humanity's future as well, went unsaid. While Ai wanted to say those words, he had to be careful, lest Jericho hear something the latter didn't want to hear before taking action. "Let's resume the duel, shall we? My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck.

"Not so fast, Ai! I activate the Trap card, Cyreath Tunnelling!" Raguel interrupted, as he gestured to one of the two face-down cards on his field. The card showed Cyreaths Medusa, Asclepius, Circe and Jason riding on an eel-like dragon, the creature having proceeded to tunnel its way down to the depths of Domain Tartarus. "When I control a 'Cyreath' Link monster, this card lets me target one Set 'Cyreath' monster I control and change it to face-up attack position. I target the face-down defense position Cyreath Manticore and change it to face-up attack position!" The face-down card on Raguel's field flipped up, where a grey-skinned lion with a black mane, large draconic wings and the tail of a scorpion appeared on Raguel's field.

Cyreath Manticore ATK: 2000 DEF: 2700 LV: 7

"What's more, if I control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster, I can Special Summon one 'Cyreath' monster in either face-up attack position or face-down defense position from my deck or Graveyard." A card popped out of Raguel's deck. "I Special Summon Cyreath Moray from my deck to my field in face-down defense position!" A Set card appeared on Raguel's field in face-down defense position.

"Manticore's Flip effect also activates! When it's Flip Summoned, I can banish a card you control, and this doesn't target." Raguel added. "I banish AiAi Wall!"

"What?!" Ai exclaimed, as Manticore's scorpion tail sped forward towards AiAi Wall, turning it into particles seconds later. With AiAi Wall gone, Raguel could now attack and deal battle damage. But the reverse was also true for Ai, as now he could attack and deal battle damage to Raguel as well. "As clever as that move was just now, Raguel, it's not going to stop me one bit! I activate Ignister AiLand's effect! As I have no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, I can Special Summon Pikari from my hand to my field once again!" At Ai's command, Pikari reappeared on his field.

Pikari AtIgnister ATK: 1200 DEF: 600 LV: 4

"And like before, when Pikari is Normal or Special Summoned, I can add a copy of Ignister AiLand from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Ai's deck, which he took and added to his hand. "I now activate the Spell card, Ai Contact. Once per turn, when a copy of 'Ignister AiLand' is in my Field Spell card zone, I can reveal a copy of it in my hand and place it on the bottom of my deck. By doing so, I can draw the top three cards of my deck." After Ai took a card from his hand and put it at the bottom of his deck, he drew the top three cards of his deck.

Great. Ai has three new cards in his hand for him to use, Raguel cursed in his mind. This wasn't going to be good for him at all.

"I activate the Spell card, Ai Choose You!" Ai continued, as he played a card from his hand. The card showed Ai throwing a spherical device forward, where it opened before releasing a stream of energy that formed into Doyon AtIgnister. "This card lets me target one 'AtIgnister' monster from my deck or Graveyard and Special Summon it to my field." A card popped out of Ai's deck. "I Special Summon Kachikachi AtIgnister from my deck to my field!" A white blob with two arms and a tail appeared on Ai's field. A small brace was on each of its arms, as well as a small coil attached to its tail. It also had orange marks on its body, with the AtIgnister symbol on top of its body.

Kachikachi AtIgnister ATK: 1000 DEF: 700 LV: 3

"I activate the effect of Kosokoso AtIgnister from my hand. When I control no monsters, or I control an 'AtIgnister' monster on my field, I can Special Summon Kosokoso AtIgnister from my hand to my field!" A black blob with two arms and tentacles that had dark-blue tips sprouting from its head appeared on Ai's field. It had red marks resembling teeth on its body, with the AtIgnister symbol on its forehead.

Kosokoso AtIgnister ATK: 1500 DEF: 0 LV: 4

"Appear, the circuit that guides the dark!" Ai declared, as a Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are three Cyberse monsters, one of which must be a Dark attribute Cyberse monster. I set Pikari AtIgnister, Kachikachi AtIgnister and Kosokoso AtIgnister into the Link Markers!" Pikari went into the bottom-left arrowhead, Kachikachi went into the bottom arrowhead and Kosokoso went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning all three of them red seconds later.

"The dark night that scatters throughout the world! Unleash a monster forged from the darkest depths of the shadows! Come forth and become the power that strikes fear into all! Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Dark Templar AtIgnister!" A purple-colored humanoid with wings on his back and spikes on his shoulders appeared on Ai's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. A total of four blue orbs were on his body, with two being on his shoulder pads and the other two being on his knees. In his right hand, he carried a greatsword with a violet blade.

Dark Templar AtIgnister ATK: 2300 LINK-3️️️

"I Set one card face-down." Ai thrusted out his right hand. "Battle! Dark Templar AtIgnister attacks Cyreath Hades, Lord of the Underworld!"

"You're up to something, aren't you?" Raguel figured out.

"Indeed I am, Raguel." Ai confirmed. "I activate Dark Templar's newest effect, courtesy of Kosokoso! When the monster that used it as material battles, I can place an 'AtIgnister' counter on your monster!" A silhouette of Kosokoso appeared as the tentacles on its head were launched like a weapon over to where Hades was, which touched his chest before dissipating. As a result, a transparent, blood mark appeared on Hades' chest seconds later.

Cyreath Hades, Lord of the Underworld AIC: 0 + 1 = 1

"While that monster has an 'AtIgnister' counter, its attack and defense points drop down to zero, and its effects are negated!" Hades groaned in pain as his strength was suddenly depleted.

Cyreath Hades, Lord of the Underworld ATK: 3000 – 3000 = 0

"Continue with your attack, Dark Templar! Vengeful Punishment!" Ai shouted, as Dark Templar charged forward and brought down the great broadsword onto Hades, who screamed in pain upon being destroyed by battle. The explosion that resulted from the clash immediately began to head straight towards Raguel seconds later!

"I activate the Trap card, Cyreath Schism!" Raguel responded. "When this card is activated-."

"Sorry, Raguel, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Ai responded. "I activate another of Dark Templar's newest effects, courtesy of Kachikachi! During either player's turn, when you activate a card effect, it's instantly negated and banished." A silhouette of Kachikachi appeared before firing a burst of energy from its arms at Schism, which turned it into particles.

"Damn it…" Raguel cursed, as the coming explosion made him nearly lose his balance before his life points dropped.

Raguel: 4000 – 2300 = 1700 LP

"What's more, Dark Templar is unaffected by your card effects until the End Phase." A white aura surrounded Dark Templar, having protected him from any potential threats for the time being. "And because Dark Templar destroyed a monster by battle, that means I can Special Summon one 'AtIgnister' monster from my Graveyard to my field to a Main Monster Zone Dark Templar points to. Return to me, Fire Phoenix!" At Ai's command, Fire Phoenix reappeared on his field in one of the two Main Monster Zones Dark Templar pointed to.

Fire Phoenix AtIgnister ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️️️️

"I end my turn, which means Kachikachi's effect ends." Ai concluded, as the white aura surrounding Dark Templar dissipated. If Raguel decides to do anything sneaky, Kachikachi's effect will not only negate the effect and banish it, but also protect Dark Templar from his card effects for the rest of the turn, Ai thought in his mind. And if he does decide to attack, Kosokoso's effect will weaken whatever monster Dark Templar battles against. Finally, my face-down card will make sure he loses the duel in the event he manages to get through my defenses.

"Damn, Ai. The brutality you've shown just now in countering my moves without mercy reminds me of my dark self." Raguel admitted. "Honestly, I never saw you as someone that's brutal."

"You'd be surprised at someone after you find out who they truly are, Raguel. For when someone's back is up against the wall and the facts are out in the open, their true self is finally revealed." Ai responded. "Even though you're a good person with a kind heart, your recent actions have shown how ruthless you can become in achieving your goals. In embracing this ruthlessness, you became no better than Azrael and your entire family."

Raguel frowned after hearing Ai's response. This was unfortunately true, as by succumbing to the Cursed Boundary Layer's influence and despair, Raguel eventually became a rancorous version of himself. One that was hellbent on acquiring the Root of All Knowledge and finishing what his family started at all costs. "You're right, Ai. What I've done can't be undone, especially given how so many people suffered due to my actions."

"Yup. You've made a lot of people suffer recently because of your actions. A notable example being the 'Cyreath' monsters Herald made for your deck. In exchange for power, you damaged them in the process." Ai chuckled. "Herald would be truly angry with you for doing such a thing. For what you've done resulted in the creation of 'Cyreath' monsters such as Pandora, Alastor and Teferi to break through the enemies' defenses mercilessly."

"How do you know that?!" Raguel demanded, stunned that Ai knew this information. Then again, it was likely that he saw the brutal duel between Raguel and Playmaker, which enabled him to learn this information in the first place.

"I've seen your duel against Playmaker, Raguel, and how those three monsters were used to secure your victory. I also saw the duels you and your data clones took part in against Playmaker and the others." Ai thoroughly answered. "What I'm curious about is why you and your data clones didn't use Pandora and Teferi following your victory against Playmaker, Raguel. I mean, I did see you and one data clone use Alastor in a few duels."

Raguel sighed. "Pandora, Alastor and Teferi were created with the sole purpose of helping me get revenge against everyone that tore me apart from the inside out. While I knew Alastor wouldn't betray me because of how he and I are similar to one another, I had suspicions about Pandora and Teferi the moment I created them. I gave the duo multiple chances to prove themselves, and though they did succeed at some things, they failed in the end. Thus, I executed Pandora and Teferi for their failures." Or at the very least, I killed Teferi, while Pandora chose to kill herself upon seeing that my plans were doomed to fail, went unsaid.

Ai whistled, genuinely surprised to hear such a thing from Raguel of all people. He expected to hear such an answer from Playmaker, given how he spent ten years in getting revenge on the Hanoi. But hearing that admission from Raguel was the last thing Ai expected to hear today. At least so far, anyway. "Wow. That's crazy to hear, Raguel. I guess it makes you similar to Dr. Kogami and Watchman in the end, as the former made the Ignis but chose to try and delete them after the effort he put in to make each one. As for Watchman, he discarded everyone like pawns when they were no longer of use." I do wonder how Raguel will react once he sees that Pandora and Teferi are not only alive, but have also sided with Jericho as well, Ai thought in his mind.

"As much as I appreciate your advice and the good intentions behind it, Ai, you're still stalling for time so the real you can get to Akira." Raguel pointed out. "Let's just resume the duel, shall we? I'm done talking to a clone of you for one day. My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. Thanks to Kachikachi, Kosokoso and Fire Phoenix's effects, as well as the face-down card on Ai's field, I need to be careful on which cards I activate, as it could cost me the duel if I make one wrong move, Raguel thought in his mind. Suddenly, an idea popped up in his mind. One that, if he played it right, would enable him to win the duel. But first, Raguel had to do something else to force Ai's hand. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Cyreath Providence. When this card is activated-."

"Not smart, Raguel! I activate Kachikachi's effect!" Ai interjected. "During either player's turn, when you activate a card effect, it's instantly negated and banished." A silhouette of Kachikachi appeared before firing a burst of energy from its arms at Providence, which turned it into particles.

"What's more, Dark Templar is unaffected by your card effects until the End Phase." A white aura surrounded Dark Templar, having protected him from any potential threats for the time being. "Cyreath Providence is a very powerful card in your deck, Raguel, especially given how you're allowed to Link Summon a 'Cyreath' Link monster by shuffling 'Cyreath' monsters from your Graveyard back to your deck at no cost. But with it gone, your chances of defeating me-."

"I can't believe you actually fell for that." Raguel interrupted, a small smirk evident on his face.

Ai raised an eyebrow in response to that comment. "I beg your damn pardon?"

"I knew the only way to divert your attention from my other cards would be to try using a card that you already saw as a massive threat, which in this case was Cyreath Providence. Thus forcing you to use Kachikachi's effect to stop it, and now that you did, it means I'm free to use my other effects. Ones that will contribute towards your undoing."

"Oh, boy…" Ai muttered, a little worried on what Raguel would do next.

"I Flip Summon Cyreath Moray to my field!" Raguel said, as the face-down card on Raguel's field flipped up, where an eel-like dragon with blue skin that had swirly red markings all over its body, as well as cyan outlines appeared on Raguel's field. It had a large mouth with thin, sharp teeth despite having a crooked jaw. It also had two sets of horns on its head. The first set was curved and split, which was located around its jaw joints. The second set were straight horns, which were located on its forehead.

Cyreath Moray ATK: 1400 DEF: 2600 LV: 5

"When Moray is Flip Summoned, I can destroy Spell and Trap cards on your field to your Graveyard up to the number of 'Cyreath' monsters I currently control. Since I control two 'Cyreath' monsters, that means I can destroy up to two Spell and/or Trap cards to your Graveyard. I destroy your face-down card and Ignister AiLand to your Graveyard!" Moray fired blasts of ice from its mouth, which hit the declared cards and froze them upon impact before they both turned into particles.

"Then for each Spell and Trap card destroyed by this effect, you take 500 points of damage." Raguel added. "As two cards were destroyed, that means you take 1000 points of damage!" Ice suddenly whirled around Ai that made him stagger as his life points dropped.

Ai: 4000 – (500 X 2) = 3000 LP

"Aw, glitch! This isn't good!" Ai exclaimed, realizing what Raguel's true end goal was. "Since Ignister AiLand is gone, that means all monsters I control are destroyed. This… This was your true plan, wasn't it?"

Raguel smirked. "It was, Ai. Kachikachi's effect only protects your monster from my card effects for the rest of this turn, but it doesn't say anything about protecting it from your card effects. So say goodbye to your monsters for good!" Within seconds, Dark Templar and Fire Phoenix turned into particles, much to Ai's shock.

"Now that… was very clever of you, Raguel…" Ai frowned, having reluctantly accepted Raguel's clever play just now. If Raguel re-acquired the 'Cyreath' deck's full power and merged it with Flip Summoning, then perhaps he would become stronger than ever. "However, you're one step behind. When Fire Phoenix is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the Graveyard, I can destroy one monster you control. So say farewell to Manticore!" A fiery silhouette of Fire Phoenix appeared before charging forward head on to Manticore, destroying it in the process.

"Then it's a good thing I have a backup plan. I activate the Spell card, Cyreath Reborn." Raguel responded. "This card lets me Special Summon one 'Cyreath' monster from my Graveyard back to my field. Return to me, Hades!" At Raguel's command, Hades reappeared on his field, only in the Main Monster Zone.

Cyreath Hades, Lord of the Underworld ATK: 3000 LINK-3 ↙️⬇️↘️️️️

Raguel thrusted out his right hand. "Let's battle! Cyreath Moray attacks you directly!" Moray fired a breath of icy energy that made Ai stagger as his life points dropped.

Ai: 3000 – 1400 = 1600 LP

"The battle continues! Cyreath Hades, Lord of the Underworld attacks you directly!" Raguel declared. "Soul Materialization!" Raising his clawed chain blades in the air, Hades summoned several souls out of them. At Hades' command, the souls flew towards Ai and distracted him before Hades jumped forward, where he slashed the latter using his clawed chain blades. As a result, a massive explosion occurred that made Ai fall off his duel board, his life points having dropped to zero in the process.

Ai: 1600 – 3000 = 0

"Very well played, Raguel. Despite your deck being weakened, you still managed to achieve victory." Raguel's Ai clone remarked. "If you reconcile with the 'Cyreath' monsters and regain their trust, as well as combine its current strategies with the ones you've shown me just now, then you'll get your full strength back in no time. Otherwise, I recommend that you turn back now, lest you become a hindrance to Playmaker and the others in the battles to come." The Ai clone then turned into purple data that dissipated completely after saying those words.

Raguel sighed, relieved that he managed to defeat the Ai clone in the duel. However, it took longer due to the 'Cyreath' deck still recovering from his accursed actions all those weeks ago. With this information in mind, if Raguel wanted to regain his full strength, he needed to reconcile with the 'Cyreath' monsters and regain their trust. While this was easier said than done, the group therapy sessions were certainly helping because Raguel was able to at least talk things out with the 'Cyreath' monsters under Leshawna's guidance. For Herald would have wanted Raguel and the 'Cyreath' monsters to not only bury the hatchet between them, but also work together with one another as well.

"Hey, I heard your conversation with the Ai clone, Yuhiro. You doing okay?" Roxy asked Raguel through the comms.

"No. I'm not okay, Roxy. But I have to be." Raguel admitted the truth. While he was still recovering from the ordeal all those weeks ago, he still had a duty to protect the network as atonement for murdering so many people several weeks ago. That meant Raguel wouldn't be allowed to tag out from the fight as per Ai's warning. For if Raguel did so, it would mean betraying the vow he made recently to make things right.

"Just because you did a few things similar to what Dr. Kogami and Watchman did doesn't define who you are, Yuhiro. Only you get to decide what type of person you are in this world, and by learning from your mistakes, you get to grow as an individual. If it helps, all the good you've done outweighs the bad, and you'll make an even bigger impact on this world by showing how atonement can change one's life for the better."

Raguel grimly frowned as he listened to Roxy's words. While they were true, it didn't fully help with the discomfort that was in his chest right now, especially given what the Ai clone said to him during the duel. "Thanks, mom. I appreciate the words of wisdom."

KABOOM!

A large explosion echoed across the whole area, which got Raguel's attention upon hearing it.

"What was that?" Roxy inquired through the comms.

"Someone else is dueling. I'll go investigate it right away." Raguel said, as he increased the speed of his duel board to find out what was going on. If he was lucky, then he would not only be able to find the real Ai, but also challenge him to a duel and put an end to this battle as well.

Elsewhere, at another area in the network…

"Well, things just went from bad to worse. Go's been defeated by Ai just now!" Kusanagi reported through the comms, much to the shock of Akira, Aerith, Arin and Blue Maiden.

"The good news, however, is that Playmaker and the others defeated their Ai clones." Roxy added through the comms.

"Is Raguel okay?" Aerith quickly questioned. Despite her anger at Raguel, she still wanted to make sure he was unharmed.

"Don't worry, Aerith. Raguel defeated his Ai clone in battle. Though compared to Playmaker, Soulburner, Slipstream and Revolver, Raguel took longer to defeat his Ai clone. It makes sense, especially after what Raguel and the 'Cyreath' deck went through recently." Roxy answered Aerith's question.

That comment led Akira, Aerith, Arin and Blue Maiden to frown as they all gathered their thoughts in order. This made sense, as thanks to Raguel's actions, he damaged his own deck and the loyalty the 'Cyreath' monsters had towards him. Due to this, Raguel needed to incorporate new ways on how to use the 'Cyreath' deck while monsters such as Atalanta, Hercules/Alpha Mode, Alastor and many others were recovering from their wounds. After Raguel analyzed the 'Cyreath' deck and the many cards he made a while back, he decided to further incorporate Flip Summoning in the deck, as it managed to catch Lord Kazuma off guard a few times in the duel between him and his data clone. It was thanks to Flip Summoning that Raguel was able to catch the Ai clone off guard, as combined with the usual strategies of the 'Cyreath' deck, he was able to persevere and win the duel. But if Raguel fully reconciled with the 'Cyreath' monsters and regained their trust, he would be able to reacquire the full power of the 'Cyreath' deck.

"Even with Go's newest cards, Ai managed to defeat him like it was nothing." Blue Maiden commented.

"But in Go's defense, he did put up quite a fight, Blue Maiden. I guess it shows why he used to be the top Charisma duelist." Arin pointed out.

"Playmaker. Revolver. Soulburner. Slipstream. Raguel. Return back to base, immediately! Ai and Roboppy are closing in, and we can't let that happen!" Akira stated through the comms.

"Roger!" Playmaker, Revolver, Soulburner and Slipstream said before signing off.

"I'll be right there, Zaizen, as I'm investigating something that just happened nearby." Raguel stated. "If I'm lucky, I'll be able to find the real Ai and put an end to this battle for good." He then signed off seconds later.

"Demeter. Electrolyzer. Percival. Zero. Have you found any of Ai's other clones yet?" Akira inquired.

"We're still searching, Zaizen, but there's no sign of them." Demeter answered, before the feed suddenly cut off. Not just for her, but for Electrolyzer, Percival and Zero as well.

"Oh no!" Akira and the others gasped upon seeing this. Demeter. Electrolyzer. Percival. Zero. Please be careful, Akira thought in his mind, hopeful that no one else will fall in battle today. For the more allies you had left standing, the more likely you would ultimately win the battle.

Meanwhile, at another area in the network…

Demeter quickly sped through the area on her duel board, intent on making sure none passed the sector she was assigned to earlier. After she answered Akira's question, the feed unexpectedly was cut off on her end, which meant that Ai was very likely trying to cut off communications between her and the others. I need to be vigilant, as I can't afford to let my guard down and risk Ai slipping past me, Demeter thought in her mind.

WHOOSH!

Demeter swerved on her duel board in order to evade the sudden attack, which consisted of a data blast that was fired out of nowhere. Another data blast was fired out of nowhere, which made Demeter swerve her duel board to evade it. This led multiple data blasts to come out of nowhere as Demeter was forced to increase the speed of her duel board so she can evade them. Unfortunately, two data blasts hit Demeter, which made her wince as the 'AtIgnister' symbol appear on her back before dissipating.

"Tag! You're it!" a voice cried out, as an Ai clone appeared out of nowhere before riding parallel with Demeter. "Ah, Demeter. I've been waiting quite the while to officially meet you in person. If memory serves, you were the one who tested Raguel's resolve all those months ago under Watchman's command, right?"

"I was." Demeter simply confirmed. "And what did you do to me just now?"

"I data tagged you, Demeter. Or in terms you understand, I just forced you in a duel." Ai smirked, looking forward to what he was going to say next. "Oh, and in case you were up to anything funny, you should know that the tag I put on you won't let you log out of the network until you defeat me in a duel."

"Seriously?!" Demeter gasped, shocked by how Ai was able to catch her off guard like that. It wasn't just that, as now she was forced to duel against this Ai clone, which in turn would allow the real Ai to head straight towards Akira. But then again, Ai was an Ignis, so it was expected that he'd have some tricks on hand to keep the others distracted long enough for the real him to go after Akira.

"Now before we begin the duel, I do have a few questions to ask." Ai said. "Being Watchman's minion, he benched you and Percival during the Tower of Hanoi situation. If that wasn't bad, he prevented you from helping Playmaker and the others against SOL Technologies' bounty hunters. Why did you obey his commands in the first place? Couldn't the both of you worked out a compromise?"

"A compromise wouldn't have worked, Ai. Unfortunately, I didn't have much say in the matter at the time, as Watchman would have made sure that I regretted it if I spoke back against him." Demeter responded. Especially since he was responsible for granting me asylum all those years ago, as well as the threat of throwing me back to the authorities if I didn't obey his commands, went unsaid.

Ai chuckled. "But you eventually disobeyed Watchman's orders by going after Lightning and Windy with Percival, Demeter. At least you tried something compared to doing nothing. Though I do wonder whether you had any qualms about your husband, Dr. Kiyoshi Kogami, and what he did, Demeter."

"Listen to me, Ai. I am so sorry for everything you went through because of my husband's actions. You have every right to be angry, but please give all of us a chance to make things right. If you give us the time, I promise you that we'll find another way to sort this mess out."

"Can you keep that promise, though?" Ai challenged Demeter's response. "Need I remind you that the Hanoi were formed to destroy the Ignis and protect humanity from any threat in the network? Can you seriously convince them to stop their operations and their own purpose just for the sake of some requested time?"

"Ai, please listen to me! The Knights of Hanoi changed over the past months! They-!" Demeter began speaking, wanting to advocate for the Knights of Hanoi and how they changed for the better.

"Will always be self-righteous, Demeter. While I agree with you that the Hanoi changed, their purpose remains the same: To destroy the Ignis and protect humanity from any threat in the network." Ai interrupted. "There's no changing that fact, Demeter, especially given their many crimes and how you're connected to their leader."

Demeter frowned, having realized that she can't convince a clone of Ai to stand down and hear her out. If she were speaking to the real Ai, then perhaps she'd have a chance, but talking to a clone was not helping right now. What would be helpful right now was to stop this Ai clone and rendezvous with the others to keep Akira safe. "Then it looks like I have no choice but to defeat you in this duel." She activated her duel disk.

"You can try, but you'll suffer the same fate your comrades went through very soon." Ai activated his duel disk, ready to begin the Speed duel against Demeter.

"Let's Speed Duel!" Ai and Demeter said in unison.

Ai: 4000 LP

Demeter: 4000 LP

"I'll be going first." Ai said, as he briefly looked at the cards in his hand before making a decision. "I activate the Field Spell card, Ignister AiLand. When I control no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'AtIgnister' monster from my hand to my field. As such, I Special Summon Achichi AtIgnister from my hand to my field." A red blob with arms that had glove-like hands, along with grey spikes jutting out of its head appeared on Ai's field.

Achichi AtIgnister ATK: 800 DEF: 800 LV: 2

"Appear, the circuit that guides the dark!" A Link Portal appeared above Ai. "The summoning conditions are one Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster. I set Achichi AtIgnister into the Link Markers!" Achichi went into the bottom-left arrowhead, turning it red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Linguriboh!" A small, black machine monster with narrowed eyes appeared on Ai's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. He had a tail with a Link Arrow that pointed downwards to the bottom-left attached to the end.

Linguriboh ATK: 300 LINK-1 ↙️

"Guri Guri Gu…" Linguriboh said.

"Next, I activate Ignister AiLand's effect once again!" Ai continued. "Since I have no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'AtIgnister' monster from my hand to my field. Come to me, Doyon AtIgnister!" A purple, plump blob with two arms and a tail appeared on Ai's field.

Doyon AtIgnister ATK: 400 DEF: 1600 LV: 4

"When Doyon's Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one 'AtIgnister' monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I'll add Achichi AtIgnister from my Graveyard to my hand." A card popped out of Ai's Graveyard, which he took and added to his hand.

"Once again, I summon Achichi AtIgnister from my hand to my field." Ai stated, as Achichi reappeared on his field.

Achichi AtIgnister ATK: 800 DEF: 800 LV: 2

"When Achichi's Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one Level 4 or lower 'AtIgnister' monster from my deck to my hand. I'll add Pikari AtIgnister from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Ai's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"Appear, for a second time! The circuit that guides the dark!" Ai shouted, as a second Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two or more Cyberse monsters, including a Fire monster. I'll set the Link 1 Linguriboh, Doyon AtIgnister and Achichi AtIgnister into the Link Markers!" Linguriboh went into the left arrowhead, Doyon went into the bottom arrowhead and Achichi went into the right arrowhead, turning all three of them red.

"Soul sleeping within the infernal rivers! Emerge anew with high spirits and scorch everything across your path! Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Fire Phoenix AtIgnister!" A mechanical, red phoenix that had light-blue lines all over his body appeared on Ai's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Flames not only emitted from his wings, but also on the backs of his legs as well. He had a total of five tails, each of which having not only light-blue lines, but a purple gem at the ends of them. His chest comprised of a violet core, which had the 'AtIgnister' symbol on it.

Fire Phoenix AtIgnister ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ️️️⬅️⬇️➡️

"From there, I activate the Continuous-Spell card, AiAi Wall." Ai continued, as rings formed around both him and Demeter. Strangely, the rings all resembled him holding hands and linking together into a chain. "Here's how this card works. When this card is activated, I can target one Fire Link monster I control and place counters on it. I target Fire Phoenix, which means AiAi Wall gains three counters!" Soon, three, fiery orbs went into the rings.

AiAi Wall C: 0 + 3 = 3

"While there's a counter on AiAi Wall, you can't target it with card effects, nor can you destroy it with card effects. What's more, neither of us can declare an attack."

"I see. So you plan on prolonging this duel out indefinitely to buy the time needed for the real you and your comrade to hunt down Zaizen." Demeter deduced.

"Exactly." Ai confirmed. "With that, I end my turn."

"My turn! I draw!" Demeter said, as she drew the top card of her deck. "I activate the Spell card, Sacred Sword of Seven Stars. By banishing a Level 7 monster from my hand or face-up on my field, I can draw the top two cards of my deck. I'll banish Dark Simorgh from my hand, and draw!" After a card from Demeter's hand turned into particles, she drew the top two cards of her deck.

"I summon Wind Effigy from my hand to my field.' A tornado with multi-colored feathers at the top appeared on Demeter's field.

Wind Effigy ATK: 1800 DEF: 200 LV: 4

"Next, I activate the Spell card, Double Summon." Demeter continued. "This card lets me perform an additional Normal Summon this turn."

"Bringing out the big guns, huh? Let me remind you that you can't attack while AiAi Wall has a counter." Ai told Demeter.

"In normal circumstances, you're correct. However, I'm not planning on attacking you yet." Demeter replied. "While Wind Effigy is on my field, it can be tributed as two tributes for the Tribute Summon of a Wind Normal monster. Thus, I tribute Wind Effigy to Tribute Summon Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry from my hand to my field!" After Wind Effigy turned into particles, a large, bipedal, golden-colored bird with four wings that had bronze-tipped feathers at the ends, as well as a claw on each end of the wings appeared on Demeter's field. On the top of her head was a red crown, along with a total of ten orange feathers surrounding her neck. Wrapped around her neck was a large necklace that not only had small beaks on the sides, but a green gem at the center as well. Attached to her back was a golden, wing-like halo.

Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry ATK: 2900 DEF: 2000 LV: 8

Ai looked up Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry's effects on his duel disk, where he raised an eyebrow at what he saw just now. "Wait a minute. That monster is an effect monster, which means you couldn't have used Wind Effigy's effect to bring it out with one less tribute. How were you able to bring it out in the first place?"

Demeter smirked back in response. "It's because Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry is treated as a Normal monster while it's in my hand. As a result, I was able to use Wind Effigy's effect to bring it out with one less tribute."

"I see. As clever as that was, neither of us can declare an attack while AiAi Wall has a counter." Ai reminded Demeter.

"Who says I need to attack first to get the advantage?" Demeter questioned back. "I activate Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry's effect! When she's Tribute Summoned, I can return up to two cards on your field back to your hand, and the best part is that it doesn't target!"

"What?!" Ai gasped. That meant Demeter would be able to bypass AiAi Wall's effects and attack with her monsters!"

"I return AiAi Wall and Fire Phoenix back to your hand and Extra Deck! Ancestral Reversion!" Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry flapped her wings in front of her, which released a massive windstorm that sucked up AiAi Wall and Fire Phoenix before turning them both into particles. Whereas AiAi Wall went back to Ai's hand, Fire Phoenix returned back to his Extra Deck.

"Next, I activate the Equip Spell card, Different Dimension Reincarnation." Demeter added. "By discarding a card from my hand, I can target one monster in my banished zone and Special Summon it to my field after equipping it with this card. I'll send Icarus Attack from my hand to my Graveyard. Return to me, Dark Simorgh!" A large, black-feathered bird with a silver crown on its head and a silver halo behind it appeared on Demeter's field. The large bird a small tail, with silver strands extending out of its back. On the back of Dark Simorgh's wings were small pieces of jewelry.

Dark Simorgh ATK: 2700 DEF: 1000 LV: 7

"Aw, glitch! I'm screwed…" Ai muttered, knowing how this duel was going to end very soon.

"Battle!" Demeter thrusted out her right hand. "Dark Simorgh attacks you directly! Dark Storm Cracker!" Dark Simorgh flapped his wings forward, which released black and grey wind streaks that not only hit Ai, but made him wince as his life points dropped upon impact.

Ai: 4000 – 2700 = 1300 LP

"This duel ends now!" Demeter shouted. "The battle continues! Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry attacks you directly! Ancestral Windstorm!" Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry flapped her wings forward, which released golden wisps of wind that hit Ai before sending him flying off his duel board. His life points also dropped to zero as well.

Ai: 1300 – 2700 = 0

"If I'm being honest, Demeter, I hold no animosity towards you." Demeter's Ai clone admitted. "Given how Revolver lost his comrades, he'll need you more than ever now that he's alone again, especially since Lightning was ultimately the one who hurt you guys from the very beginning." With that, the Ai clone turned into purple data that dissipated completely.

After seeing the Ai clone disappear before her eyes, Demeter quickly turned around and changed course, intent on returning back to the prism in order to keep Akira safe.

Elsewhere, at another area in the network…

Electrolyzer quickly sped through the area on his duel board, intent on making sure none passed the sector he was assigned to earlier. Earlier, the feed unexpectedly was cut off on his end, which made Electrolyzer assume that Ai was responsible for such a deed. Thus, he was keeping a close watch to find Ai and defeat him in order to restore communications throughout the group. Where are you, Dark Ignis. I know you're here somewhere, Electrolyzer thought in his mind.

WHOOSH!

Multiple blasts of data material appeared out of nowhere as Electrolyzer was forced to speed up his duel board to evade each one. In response to this, Electrolyzer called on PSY Frame-gears Alpha and Delta before armoring himself up with the former while the latter attached to his back, where he fired blasts of energy back to destroy the data blasts. He also attached PSY-Framegear Epsilon to his duel board in order to increase his speed, all thee PSY-Framegears enabling him to both evade and counter the attacks. But despite Electrolyzer's best efforts to make a counterattack and find out where Ai was, two data blasts hit his body, which made him wince as the 'AtIgnister' symbol appear on his back before dissipating.

"Tag! You're it!" a voice cried out, as an Ai clone appeared out of nowhere before riding parallel with Electrolyzer. "Ah, your Highness. It's been a long while since I last encountered you. I believed the last time I saw you, it was during your time as a bounty hunter, right? I do wonder why someone who is of noble lineage such as yourself agreed to work with SOL Technologies in the first place. For Blood Shepherd, he wanted the money. For Drachen, he was a spy for the Hanoi at the time. As for Go, he wanted a rematch against Playmaker, and Kenmochi and Yoroizaka became bounty hunters to keep him in check. Yet I want to know what yours were at the time."

That comment made Electrolyzer think for a minute upon hearing it. He became a bounty hunter to get the money needed so he can obtain more resources and eventually free Central Japan from Balius' tyranny at the time. Yet Electrolyzer couldn't help but think that there was another reason why he signed up to work specifically for SOL Technologies in the first place. One reason that would not only affect Electrolyzer over time upon realizing what was truly going on, but also truly change him for the better as a result as well. He made a mental note to get Greg's assistance on the matter once this was over. "What exactly did you do to me just now, Dark Ignis?"

"I'm glad you asked, your Highness. Think of the data tag I put on you like a duel anchor. That means you can't go anywhere until you defeat me in a duel, and don't bother trying to log out, as the data tag won't prevent you from doing so."

"Well, that's just great…" Electrolyzer muttered. Thanks to this Ai clone's actions, Electrolyzer had no choice but to take him on in a duel, which would buy more time the real Ai needed to head straight towards Akira. This made sense, as Ai had a mission to complete, and wanted to do it as quickly as possible while getting rid of any enemies that were in his way.

"Regarding my question earlier, there's no point in me asking, as we all have our own personal reasons for doing things." Ai commented. "There is something else I'm curious about, though. Like with Numera and Abysstainer, you were affected by Project: Apotheosis, right? If so, then do you still have your powers?"

Electrolyzer frowned after hearing Ai's question, glad that the latter didn't use Numera and Abysstainer's real-world identities. In a way, it showed that Ai still had honor despite his recent actions. "Of course I still have my powers, Dark Ignis. They're no longer a curse, nor are they a reminder of what I've been through. If anything, they're a gift to protect others!"

"That's great to hear, Electrolyzer. You'll need them to protect your people from what's to come." Ai warned Electrolyzer, which made the latter grit his teeth back in response.

"What exactly do you mean by that, Dark Ignis? Are you referring to what you're doing right now, along with your long-term plans after that?" Electrolyzer was obviously right to be mad here, as based on what Ai said, it seemed that the latter was making a threat against Central Japan itself.

However, Ai merely shook his head upon seeing Electrolyzer's anger, which made the former raise an eyebrow back in response. "Maybe. Maybe not. But then again, it's good to prepare for battle. After all, a wise king never seeks out war, but must always be ready for it."

"I don't know what you plan on doing with SOL Technologies, Dark Ignis, but there's no way I'll let you hurt the people of Central Japan!" Electrolyzer declared, as he activated his duel disk, ready to begin.

"Alright, then. Let's see if you're prepared for the war to come!" Ai replied, as he also activated his duel disk, ready to throw down as well.

"Speed Duel!" Ai and Electrolyzer shouted in unison.

Ai: 4000 LP

Electrolyzer: 4000 LP

"I'll be going first." Ai said, as he briefly looked at the cards in his hand before making a decision. "I activate the Field Spell card, Ignister AiLand. When I control no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'AtIgnister' monster from my hand to my field. As such, I Special Summon Achichi AtIgnister from my hand to my field." A red blob with arms that had glove-like hands, along with grey spikes jutting out of its head appeared on Ai's field.

Achichi AtIgnister ATK: 800 DEF: 800 LV: 2

"Appear, the circuit that guides the dark!" A Link Portal appeared above Ai. "The summoning conditions are one Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster. I set Achichi AtIgnister into the Link Markers!" Achichi went into the bottom-left arrowhead, turning it red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Linguriboh!" A small, black machine monster with narrowed eyes appeared on Ai's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. He had a tail with a Link Arrow that pointed downwards to the bottom-left attached to the end.

Linguriboh ATK: 300 LINK-1 ↙️️

"Guri Guri Gu…" Linguriboh said.

"Next, I activate Ignister AiLand's effect once again!" Ai continued. "Since I have no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'AtIgnister' monster from my hand to my field. Come to me, Doyon AtIgnister!" A purple, plump blob with two arms and a tail appeared on Ai's field.

Doyon AtIgnister ATK: 400 DEF: 1600 LV: 4

"When Doyon's Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one 'AtIgnister' monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I'll add Achichi AtIgnister from my Graveyard to my hand." A card popped out of Ai's Graveyard, which he took and added to his hand.

"Once again, I summon Achichi AtIgnister from my hand to my field." Ai stated, as Achichi reappeared on his field.

Achichi AtIgnister ATK: 800 DEF: 800 LV: 2

"When Achichi's Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one Level 4 or lower 'AtIgnister' monster from my deck to my hand. I'll add Pikari AtIgnister from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Ai's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"Appear, for a second time! The circuit that guides the dark!" Ai shouted, as a second Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two or more Cyberse monsters, including a Fire monster. I'll set the Link 1 Linguriboh, Doyon AtIgnister and Achichi AtIgnister into the Link Markers!" Linguriboh went into the left arrowhead, Doyon went into the bottom arrowhead and Achichi went into the right arrowhead, turning all three of them red.

"Soul sleeping within the infernal rivers! Emerge anew with high spirits and scorch everything across your path! Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Fire Phoenix AtIgnister!" A mechanical, red phoenix that had light-blue lines all over his body appeared on Ai's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Flames not only emitted from his wings, but also on the backs of his legs as well. He had a total of five tails, each of which having not only light-blue lines, but a purple gem at the ends of them. His chest comprised of a violet core, which had the 'AtIgnister' symbol on it.

Fire Phoenix AtIgnister ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️

"From there, I activate the Continuous-Spell card, AiAi Wall." Ai continued, as rings formed around both him and Electrolyzer. Strangely, the rings all resembled him holding hands and linking together into a chain. "When this card is activated-."

"Not so fast! I activate the effect of PSY-Framegear Delta from my hand!" Electrolyzer interrupted. "Since you activated a Spell card, I can Special Summon this card and one copy of 'PSY-Frame Driver' from my hand, deck, or Graveyard. By doing so, I can negate and destroy your Spell card. Now come! PSY-Framegear Delta from my hand and PSY-Frame Driver from my deck!" Two monsters then immediately appeared on Electrolyzer's field.

The first monster was a pair of metallic gloves on his hands, which were attached to a tall, golden mechanical monster with a mask on it.

The second was Driver, who returned from Electrolyzer's Graveyard.

PSY-Framegear Delta ATK: 1200 DEF: 0 LV: 2

PSY-Frame Driver ATK: 2500 DEF: 0 LV: 6

AiAi Wall then dissipated into particles, much to Ai's disappointment.

"It looks like I'm the only one who broke your little combo, haven't I?" Electrolyzer taunted.

"H-H-How did you know about AiAi Wall's effects?" Ai questioned.

Electrolyzer narrowed his eyes. "Since you're just a clone of the Dark Ignis, it's only logical for you to use a delay tactic, which was how I was able to deduce your plan and put a stop to it."

"Very clever, your Highness. I'll give you that." Ai frowned. "I have no choice but to end my turn."

"Since you ended your turn, the monsters that were Special Summoned by Delta's effect are banished." Electrolyzer stated, as Delta and PSY-Frame Driver turned into particles.

"My turn! I draw!" Electrolyzer drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the Spell card, Celestial Observatory. By placing a Level 6 monster from my hand or field on the bottom of my deck, I can draw the top two cards of my deck. I'll place PSY-Frame Multi Threader from my hand to the bottom of my deck, and draw!" After Electrolyzer took a card from his hand and put it at the bottom of his deck, he drew the top two cards of his deck.

"Next, I activate the Spell card, Dimension Fusion." Electrolyzer continued. "By paying 2000 life points, the both of us are allowed to Special Summon as many banished monsters as possible from our respective banished zones to our fields."

"But I don't have any banished monsters, which means only you get the benefit of your card…" Ai pouted, disappointed that he couldn't bring any monsters from his banished zone to his field.

"Exactly. Now return to me, Delta and Driver!" A red aura surrounded Electrolyzer as he grit his teeth, which made him lose life points.

Electrolyzer: 4000 – 2000 = 2000 LP

Soon, two portals appeared, where Delta and Driver reappeared on Electrolyzer's field.

PSY-Framegear Delta ATK: 1200 DEF: 0 LV: 2

PSY-Frame Driver ATK: 2500 DEF: 0 LV: 6

"I tune the Level 2 PSY-Framegear Delta to the Level 6 PSY-Frame Driver!" Electrolyzer declared, as a bolt of green lightning struck him and the world greyed out before his two monsters disappeared into particles. Two rings, which were colored green, appeared before turning blue and merging. Eight blue rings stacked in a tower appeared, a screen displaying "2 6" in front of them. The screen then changed to "8" as light surged through the rings.

"The electric warrior shall unleash the full might of his armor and strike down all who dare seize power over others! Synchro Summon! Appear, Level 8! PSY-Framelord Omega!" A male, humanoid monster similar to that of Zeta appeared on Electrolyzer's field in the right Extra Monster Zone While Omega wore similar armor parts Zeta wore, he also wore a pair of metallic gloves on his hands, which were attached to a tall, golden mechanical monster with a mask on it. In addition, he was riding on Epsilon while gripping on Gamma like a handlebar, turning them into a vehicle similar to that of a scooter.

PSY-Framelord Omega ATK: 2800 DEF: 2200 LV: 8

"Now I activate the Equip Spell card, Psychic Sword, and equip it onto Omega!" Electrolyzer continued, as a sword with a light-green blade and a grey hilt that had orbs inside the three circles on each side, as well as red lines, appeared before Omega grabbed it with his right hand. "If my life points are less than yours, that means my equipped Psychic monster will gain attack points equal to the difference max two thousand."

"So that's why you used Dimension Fusion in the first place!" Ai realized. "You sought to power up your monster this entire time!"

"Correct, Dark Ignis. As the difference in our life points is 2000, that means Omega gains 2000 attack points!" A light-green aura surrounded Omega as his strength increased.

PSY-Framelord Omega ATK: 2800 + 2000 = 4800

"I summon Wattsychic Fighter from my hand to my field." Electrolyzer stated, as a gray-skinned man with electrical hair who wore a green jacket and black pants appeared on his field.

Wattsychic Fighter ATK: 1500 DEF: 500 LV: 4

"When Wattsychic Fights Normal or Special Summoned, I can target a card in your Graveyard and place it either on the top or bottom of your deck."

"Aw, glitch! That's not good to hear!" Ai exclaimed, as his Graveyard popped up, allowing Electrolyzer to look at the cards there before making a decision.

"Given how you plan on using Achichi's effect to destroy my monster and bring back Fire Phoenix on your next turn, I think I'll place Achichi at the bottom of your deck." Electrolyzer decided, as a card from Ai's Graveyard returned back to the bottom of his deck.

Time to put an end to this, Electrolyzer thought in his mind, knowing what he had to do if he was to end this duel. "I now activate my Skill: PSY-Frame Suit Up!" The yellow lines on Electrolyzer's coat cackled with electricity briefly before dissipating. "I can Special Summon one 'PSY-Frame' Tuner monster from my hand, deck, Graveyard, or banished zone to my field, ignoring its summoning conditions." A card popped out from his deck, which he immediately grabbed. "From my deck, I Special Summon PSY-Framegear Epsilon to my field." Soon, a golden, mechanical monster with a mask, as well as sharp protrusions on its sides appeared on Electrolyzer's field. Extending out from its small body were two, long golden-curved rods. The first one was longer than the other, and had one spike on each side. The second was split in half, with each half having two spikes and ending in a silver bolt.

PSY-Framegear Epsilon ATK: 1500 DEF: 0 LV: 2

"Also, if there's a Psychic Synchro monster on my field, it gains attack and defense points equal to the Special Summoned monster's attack and defense points. Therefore, Omega gains 1500 attack and defense points!" Electrolyzer added, as Omega was surrounded in a green aura that enhanced his strength.

PSY-Framelord Omega ATK: 4800 + 1500 = 6300 DEF: 2200 + 1500 = 3700

"Battle!" Electrolyzer thrusted out his right hand. "PSY-Frame Omega attacks Fire Phoenix AtIgnister! Electro Current Slam!" Omega sped forward as electricity surrounded him before ramming completely into Fire Phoenix, the former using the light as a distraction to slash the latter with Psychic Blade in his hands. The explosion that occurred upon impact sent Ai flying off his duel board, his life points having dropped to zero in the process.

Ai: 4000 – 4000 = 0

"You've done well, your Highness. You'll be a powerful ally to Playmaker and the others once this is all over." Electrolyzer's Ai clone remarked, as he turned into purple data that dissipated completely.

After seeing the Ai clone disappear before his eyes, Electrolyzer quickly turned around and changed course, intent on returning back to the prism in order to keep Akira safe.

Meanwhile, at another area in the network…

Percival quickly sped through the area on his duel board, intent on making sure none passed the sector he was assigned to earlier. Earlier, the feed unexpectedly was cut off on his end, which made Percival realize that Ai was certainly responsible for what happened. If anything, he was doing it to eliminate the other duelists one by one before help arrived for them. Or at the very least, utilize Ai clones to do the job while the real Ai snuck by to go after Akira. I must be careful, as I can't afford to let my guard down, Percival thought in his mind.

WHOOSH!

A data blast flew out of nowhere as Percival was forced to swerve his duel board to dodge the attack. Seconds later, numerous data blasts were fired out of nowhere, which led Percival to summon two copies of Phantom Knights' Spear in each of his hands to deflect them. He also increased the speed of his duel board to evade the blasts of data material that he couldn't block with the weapons in his hands. Unfortunately, the distraction of multiple data blasts prevented Percival from paying attention to one blast of data material that hit his body, which made him wince as the 'AtIgnister' symbol appear on his back before dissipating.

"Tag! You're it!" a voice cried out, as an Ai clone appeared out of nowhere before riding parallel with Percival. "Ah, Percival. I almost didn't recognize you there, as it's been a long while since we interacted with one another."

"Yes. It certainly has, Ai." Percival agreed. "You locked me in a duel, am I correct?"

"I certainly did, Percival. Oh, and in case you were up to anything funny, you should know that the tag I put on you won't let you log out of the network until you defeat me in a duel."

"Oh no!" Percival gasped after hearing this information, as he had no choice but to duel against the Ai clone that was riding parallel to him. In other words, the longer it took for Percival to defeat the Ai clone in a duel, the more time the real Ai would have in attacking Akira head on. However, Percival also needed to be careful of his recklessness, as it led to his undoing in the duel against Lightning. But now that he understood what his recklessness would cause, he knew how to keep it check in order to think strategically and eventually emerge as the victor in the coming duel.

"I must say, Percival, I'm disappointed with you and your inability to help us in our time of need. All because you chose to serve a hypocrite Watchman and follow his orders like a puppet on strings." Ai scolded Percival.

"Ai, you need to understand. Watchman promised to create a cure for Jin if I did what he asked, and if I disobeyed his orders, he'd make sure I never see him again." Percival said.

Ai frowned, having understood what Percival meant by that comment, the former having saw it firsthand when Playmaker dueled against Kusanagi back in Mirror LINK VRAINS. It wasn't just that, as Lightning used Jin, along with Specter and Percival's consciousness data, as hostages to make Revolver stop his attack. "But despite this truth, you did go with Demeter to try and stop Windy and Lightning. If memory serves, you would have succeeded in stopping Lightning for good had he not used Jin against you as a hostage, right?"

Percival frowned. "So you're already aware of what happened…" Given how Ai is Playmaker's Ignis, as well as how Kusanagi worked with Playmaker, this made sense. After all, whatever Playmaker and Ai learned, they would eventually pass it onto Kusanagi following the end of the mission.

"It gets me thinking on the topic of weak links, you know? How the people who are connected with you in many ways can be used by the enemy when you least expect it." Ai mused, a small smirk appearing on his face. "Such as, in your case, Jin. As well as your other cousin."

"Are you threatening to hurt my cousins?!" Percival exclaimed, shocked at seeing how low Ai can go in his mission to get Akira's half of the Code Key.

"I'm not threatening your cousins at all, Percival. If anything, I'm merely pointing out an unfortunate truth: There will be people out there who will hold hostages to ensure they get what they want. Lightning and Azrael are two great examples of who would do such a thing, Percival." Ai activated his duel disk. "I want to see whether you can protect your cousins from threats such as myself." As well as what's to come down the road, went unsaid.

Percival also activated his duel disk. "Then the time for talking is over. Prepare yourself, Ai! For I will show you how much stronger I've become since you last saw me!"

"It's time to Speed Duel!" Ai and Percival shouted in unison.

Ai: 4000 LP

Percival: 4000 LP

"I'll be going first." Ai said, as he briefly looked at the cards in his hand before making a decision. "I activate the Field Spell card, Ignister AiLand. When I control no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'AtIgnister' monster from my hand to my field. As such, I Special Summon Achichi AtIgnister from my hand to my field." A red blob with arms that had glove-like hands, along with grey spikes jutting out of its head appeared on Ai's field.

Achichi AtIgnister ATK: 800 DEF: 800 LV: 2

"Appear, the circuit that guides the dark!" A Link Portal appeared above Ai. "The summoning conditions are one Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster. I set Achichi AtIgnister into the Link Markers!" Achichi went into the bottom-left arrowhead, turning it red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Linguriboh!" A small, black machine monster with narrowed eyes appeared on Ai's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. He had a tail with a Link Arrow that pointed downwards to the bottom-left attached to the end.

Linguriboh ATK: 300 LINK-1 ↙️️

"Guri Guri Gu…" Linguriboh said.

"Next, I activate Ignister AiLand's effect once again!" Ai continued. "Since I have no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'AtIgnister' monster from my hand to my field. Come to me, Doyon AtIgnister!" A purple, plump blob with two arms and a tail appeared on Ai's field.

Doyon AtIgnister ATK: 400 DEF: 1600 LV: 4

"When Doyon's Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one 'AtIgnister' monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I'll add Achichi AtIgnister from my Graveyard to my hand." A card popped out of Ai's Graveyard, which he took and added to his hand.

"Once again, I summon Achichi AtIgnister from my hand to my field." Ai stated, as Achichi reappeared on his field.

Achichi AtIgnister ATK: 800 DEF: 800 LV: 2

"When Achichi's Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one Level 4 or lower 'AtIgnister' monster from my deck to my hand. I'll add Pikari AtIgnister from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Ai's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"Appear, for a second time! The circuit that guides the dark!" Ai shouted, as a second Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are two or more Cyberse monsters, including a Fire monster. I'll set the Link 1 Linguriboh, Doyon AtIgnister and Achichi AtIgnister into the Link Markers!" Linguriboh went into the left arrowhead, Doyon went into the bottom arrowhead and Achichi went into the right arrowhead, turning all three of them red.

"Soul sleeping within the infernal rivers! Emerge anew with high spirits and scorch everything across your path! Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Fire Phoenix AtIgnister!" A mechanical, red phoenix that had light-blue lines all over his body appeared on Ai's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Flames not only emitted from his wings, but also on the backs of his legs as well. He had a total of five tails, each of which having not only light-blue lines, but a purple gem at the ends of them. His chest comprised of a violet core, which had the 'AtIgnister' symbol on it.

Fire Phoenix AtIgnister ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ⬅️⬇️➡️

"From there, I activate the Continuous-Spell card, AiAi Wall." Ai continued, as rings formed around both him and Percival. Strangely, the rings all resembled him holding hands and linking together into a chain. "Here's how this card works. When this card is activated, I can target one Fire Link monster I control and place counters on it. I target Fire Phoenix, which means AiAi Wall gains three counters!" Soon, three, fiery orbs went into the rings.

AiAi Wall C: 0 + 3 = 3

"While there's a counter on AiAi Wall, you can't target it with card effects, nor can you destroy it with card effects. What's more, neither of us can declare an attack."

"You're using a delaying tactic then, Ai? Given how you're a clone, it makes sense." Percival acknowledged. "Still, it won't stop me from taking control of the duel."

"We'll see in due time, won't we?" Ai replied back. "I end my turn. And while I'm glad to see your confidence, Percival, let me recommend that you don't make any moves that would prevent you from making a comeback. For if you wish to defeat me, you'll need every card you can get."

"My turn! I draw!" Percival drew the top card of his deck. "I activate the Spell card, Trap Booster. By discarding a card from my hand, I can activate a Trap card from my hand this turn. I'll send Cards of Compensation from my hand to my Graveyard." He took a card from his hand and sent it to his Graveyard.

"Cards of Compensation's effect now activates! As it was sent from my hand to the Graveyard, I can draw the top two cards of my deck." Percival continued, as he drew the top two cards of his deck. "I activate the Trap card, Down Burst from my hand. Now all Spell and Trap cards on your field are instantly Set."

"What?!" Ai exclaimed out of surprise, as AiAi Wall and Ignister AiLand were Set seconds later.

Percival smirked upon seeing the panic that appeared on Ai's face. "With AiAi Wall gone, I can now go ahead with my turn. I summon The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak from my hand to my field." An eerie blue ghost wearing a dark-purple cloak appeared on Percival's field. On top of the cloak was a red cloth with drapes on either side. Behind the ghost was a metal, curved bar with four large nails in between, as well as six, small purple flames. While it didn't look like Ancient Cloak had hands, it was evident that the ghost was carrying two small sceptres.

The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak ATK: 800 DEF: 1000 LV: 3

"I activate the effect of The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots from my hand!" Percival continued. "Since there is a 'The Phantom Knights' monster on my field, I can Special Summon this card from my hand!" Soon, an eerie blue ghost wearing brown rags from the top down, with a skeleton necklace appeared on Percival's field, its hands chained behind it's back. The ghost wore brown boots with grey pants, along with ragged brown elements around its waist.

The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots ATK: 200 DEF: 1200 LV: 3

"I overlay the Level 3 The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak with the Level 3 The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots!" Percival raised his left hand high into the air before he shot out a bolt of dark energy, which caused a galaxy portal to appear behind him. "With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!" Ancient Cloak and Silent Boots turned into eerie-blue streams as they entered the portal, where a pillar of light erupted from the center.

"Souls of knights who fell on the battlefield! Revive here and now, and become the light that breaks the darkness!" Percival chanted. "Xyz Summon! Arise, Rank 3! The Phantom Knights of Break Sword!" A headless, armoured knight riding an armoured, metallic horse with blue eyes appeared on Percival's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. The knight carried a massive sword in its right hand, and blue eerie-blue flames emitted from where its head should have been, as well as from its shoulders and arms.

The Phantom Knights of Break Sword ATK: 2000 DEF: 1000 RNK: 3 OU: 2

"I activate Break Sword's effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit, I can target one card on both sides of the field and destroy them!" An Overlay Unit went into Break Sword's sword.

The Phantom Knights of Break Sword OU: 2 – 1 = 1

"I target Break Sword and your Set AiAi Wall! Eerie Charge!" Percival decided, as Break Sword charged forward and slashed the declared face-down card, which caused an explosion that enveloped them both. "Break Sword's second effect activates! When he's destroyed, I can Special Summon two 'The Phantom Knights' monsters from my Graveyard to my field, as well as increase their levels by one! Come, Ancient Cloak and Stained Greaves!" At Percival's command, Ancient Cloak and Silent Boots reappeared on his field.

The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak ATK: 800 DEF: 1000 LV: 3

The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots ATK: 200 DEF: 1200 LV: 3

The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak LV: 3 1 = 4

The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots LV: 3 1 = 4

"I overlay the Level 4 The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak with the Level 4 The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots!" Percival raised his left hand high into the air before he shot out a bolt of dark energy, which caused a galaxy portal to appear behind him. "With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!" Ancient Cloak and Silent Boots turned into eerie-blue streams as they entered the portal, where a pillar of light erupted from the center.

"Cloaked in shadows and relentless in his objective! Emerge and fight those who dare to oppose you!" Percival chanted. "Xyz Summon! Arise! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" A purple dragon with a long neck that had a spiked mandible on it, and a long tail with two spikes on both sides appeared on Percival's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Metallic armor was on Dark Rebellion's arms, wings, and legs. There were also two big purple orbs attached to the beginning of the dragon's wings, as well as smaller purple orbs on the dragon's wings. Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon had yellow eyes, and metal spikes that were attached to his mandible and went outward from his head.

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000 RNK: 4 OU: 2

"Hey, your ace monster came out to play." Ai observed. "But even if you use Dark Rebellion's effect to halve my monster's attack points, you still won't be able to defeat me." And with Achichi's effect in my Graveyard, it'll ensure my victory on my next turn, Ai thought in his mind.

"Then let's test that, shall we?" Percival responded. "I activate Dark Rebellion's effect. By detaching two Overlay Units, I can not only halve the attack points of a monster you control, but also increase Dark Rebellion's attack points by that same amount!" The two Overlay units orbiting around Dark Rebellion went into the big purple orbs attached to the beginning of his wings.

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon OU: 2 – 2 = 0

"Treason Discharge!" Dark Rebellion's wings unfolded before he fired out purple lightning out from them at Fire Phoenix, who groaned in pain as his strength decreased seconds later. Dark Rebellion then roared, his strength having increased in response.

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon ATK: 2500 + (2300 / 2) = 3650

Fire Phoenix AtIgnister ATK: 2300 / 2 = 1150

"From there, I activate the effect of Silent Boots from my Graveyard." Percival added. "By banishing it from my Graveyard, I can add one 'Phantom Knights' Spell or Trap card from my deck to my hand. I'll banish Silent Boots and add The Phantom Knights Rank-Up Magic Launch from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Percival's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

Rank-Up Magic? I have a bad feeling about this, Ai thought in his mind, knowing that things were about to get heated from here on out.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up Magic Launch! This card lets me target one Dark Xyz monster I control with no Xyz Material and Special Summon one Dark Xyz monster whose rank is one higher than the targeted Xyz monster by using it as Xyz Material. I targetDark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" A bolt of dark lightning shot upwards, which caused the galaxy portal to reappear as a result. Dark Rebellion turned into orange energy that went into the portal, where a pillar of light soon erupted from its center.

"From the depths of purgatory! Dedicate your song of rebellion to the persevering souls! Appear and echo forevermore!" Percival chanted. "Rank-Up Xyz Evolution! Appear, Rank 5!Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon!" A purple dragon with a long neck that had a spiked mandible on it, and a long tail with numerous, bone-like spikes all over it, along with two glass spikes on both sides appeared on Percival's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Bone-like armor was also on Dark Requiem's head, chest and legs, as well as two, curved blades on his wrists that protruded inwards. There were also two big violet orbs attached to the beginning of the dragon's wings, smaller violet orbs on the dragon's wings and bone-like pieces at the end of each one. Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon had yellow eyes, and metal spikes that were attached to his mandible and went outward from his head. In addition, attached to his mandible was a very long tusk.

Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon ATK: 3000 DEF: 2500 OU: 1

"The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up Magic Launch has a second effect! Since its effect was used on the targeted Dark Xyz monster, I can attach this card to it as an Overlay Unit!" A dark orb of light emerged out of Percival's Graveyard, which went over to Dark Requiem before orbiting around him.

Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon OU: 1 1 = 2

"Well, now that's quite impressive…" Ai admitted, pleased to see how much stronger Percival had become so far. If Percival continued to grow like this, he'll be able to keep the people Ai cares about safe.

"I now activate Dark Requiem's effect." Percival said. "By detaching one Overlay Unit, I can not only target a monster you control and change its attack points to zero, I can also negate its effects! What's more, Dark Requiem gains attack points equal to the targeted monster's original attack points!"

"What?!" Ai gasped in shock as one of the Overlay Units went into Dark Requiem's chest.

Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon OU: 2 – 1 = 1

"I target Fire Phoenix on your field! Requiem Retribution!" The orbs on Dark Requiem's wings drained into black holes before he fired streams of darkness at Fire Phoenix, who groaned in pain upon being restrained as his strength was completely depleted. Dark Requiem, on the other hand, roared as his strength increased.

Fire Phoenix ATK: 1150 – 1150 = 0

Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon ATK: 3000 + 2300 = 5300

"Battle!" Percival declared. "Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon attacks Fire Phoenix AtIgnister!"

"As clever and surprising as your moves were, I'm afraid your strength will end up amounting to nothing." Ai commented. "I activate Achichi's effect from my Graveyard. When a Cyberse monster I control battles, I can-."

"I don't think so! I activate Dark Requiem's second effect!" Percival interjected. "When you activate a monster effect, I can detach an Overlay Unit to not only negate the activation, but destroy it as well!"

"Aw, glitch!" Ai's mouth dropped upon hearing this information as Dark Requiem's remaining Overlay Unit went into his chest, which caused streams of darkness to fire out of the orbs on his wings that went over to the former's Graveyard and blacken it temporarily before dissipating.

Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon OU: 1 – 1 = 0

"Then Dark Requiem's second effect lets me Special Summon one Xyz monster from my Graveyard. Return to me, Dark Rebellion!" At Percival's command, Dark Rebellion reappeared on his field.

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000 RNK: 4 OU: 0

"End this duel, Dark Requiem!" Percival shouted. "Dark Destruction!" Dark Requiem ascended into the sky and spread its wings, stained glass membranes materializing between the wing fingers. He then flew down and sped towards Fire Phoenix with his glowing tusks as he pierced through the latter completely. Upon impact, a massive explosion occurred, which sent Ai flying off his duel disk as his life points dropped to zero.

Ai: 4000 – 5300 = 0

"Great job, Percival. You've certainly become stronger since Playmaker dueled against you all those months ago." Percival's Ai clone praised Percival for a job well done. "Take good care of your cousins. With what's coming, you'll need to be strong." With that, the Ai clone turned into purple data that dissipated completely.

After seeing the Ai clone disappear before his eyes, Percival quickly turned around and changed course, intent on returning back to the prism in order to keep Akira safe.

Elsewhere, at another area in the network…

Zero looked around the area as he sped on his duel board, intent on making sure none passed the sector he was assigned to earlier. Communications between the group were cut off unexpectedly, which made Zero immediately figure out that Ai was the one who did this. Or in this case, the real Ai was responsible while his clones were distracting the others so he can find Akira. This was something Zero wouldn't allow, as he promised to protect Akira as one of the many ways of atoning for his mistakes. Rest assured, Akira. I got this under control, Zero thought in his mind. Whatever Ai's planning to do with SOL Technologies, I won't let that happen by keeping you safe. This, I promise you!

WHOOSH!

Multiple data blasts fired out of nowhere as Zero was forced to swerve his duel board to dodge all of them. A long sword appeared in Zero's hands as he slashed the data blasts that appeared seconds later, having also sped up his duel board to evade a few of them as well. A few duel anchors appeared out of nowhere, which Zero grabbed with his hands before breaking each one apart seconds later. The distraction of the duel anchors, however, left Zero wide open as a data blast hit his body, which made him wince as the 'AtIgnister' symbol appear on his back before dissipating.

"Tag! You're it!" a voice cried out, as an Ai clone appeared out of nowhere before riding parallel with Zero. "Ah, Zero. It's a pleasure to officially be meeting you in person, as I heard quite a bit about you from Raguel. Well, the bad stuff, anyway."

"Be on alert, Zero. I have acquired new duel data from Ai's other duels and have downloaded it onto your duel disk." Pandor told Zero.

"Well, well, well. It appears you have that AI in your duel disk as well, just like Go did when my real self defeated him." Ai smirked. "If you think having an AI will help defeat me, you're sorely mistaken."

"I didn't need this AI to assist the others in stopping Raguel, Ai. You would be wise not to underestimate me." Zero commented.

Ai narrowed his eyes upon sensing familiar energy that radiated from Zero's deck. Impossible! Does Zero have a deck of Cyberse monsters just like Playmaker and the others, Ai shockingly wondered in his mind. If this was the case, then Ai had to tread carefully, as Zero was the only duelist he didn't fully know about. In addition, Jericho was also riled up upon seeing Zero's picture, which made Ai deduce that there was some history between the two. It was therefore wise for Ai to be careful, lest he slip up and make a mistake that would be detrimental for the real Ai down the road. "I'm surprised you're willing to defend the same company that not only kicked you out, but also caused harm to so many people as well. If anything, I'm doing Den City justice and the people a huge favor by taking over the company for good."

"And what do you plan on doing with SOL Technologies, Ai?" Zero questioned. "If anything, you'll probably do far worse things than what the higherups did a long time ago with the company."

"You don't know that, old man. After everything SOL Technologies did to the other Ignis, the company deserves to suffer even more than it already has right now. I mean, events such as the Tower of Hanoi, the Turf War and the joint attacks on the network and in the real world have so far put it in a bad light." Ai responded back. "Speaking of those events, where were you when they occurred? If you were around, you could have stopped them from occurring. Hell, you could have even stopped that Shadow from murdering so many people recently."

Zero frowned after hearing those words. He couldn't help but agree with what Ai said. If Zero was here, he could have very likely stopped those events from happening, or at least mitigated the damage they caused. However, Zero was occupied with a more pressing matter at the time, which was to help Kairi and the Autos stop Urizen for good. Between all out war and stopping a few battles, the former too priority. "While you make valid points, Ai, you don't know that for sure."

"What Zero is saying is true, Ai. There will always be casualties in life, as you can't prevent them from happening." Pandor added in support to Zero's comment.

"Fine. Fine. I suppose the both of you make valid points." Ai conceded, having reluctantly agreed with Zero and Pandor's points. "What I don't understand is why you're joining forces with the Knights of Hanoi to stop me, Zero. I mean, they are criminals who strove to destroy the Ignis."

"Just because I'm working with the Hanoi doesn't mean I share their goals in destroying the Ignis. For I plan to save you not only from the path you're on right now, but also from those who wish you harm." Zero said, which made Ai widen his eyes in surprise, as he didn't expect to hear this today. As for Pandor, she too raised an eyebrow, curious on what Zero meant by that comment.

"Save me? I highly doubt you could, as there's no turning back on the path I chose now." Ai sadly sighed. "Nonetheless, I do appreciate you offering to save me from what's going on. However, you haven't considered whether I myself wanted help. After all, it's only logical to help someone who needs help."

"I suppose you make a point on that topic, Ai." Zero frowned. As much as he didn't want to agree with Ai's counterpoint, it was unfortunately true. You can only help someone who wants help in the first place. You can't force it onto them. "Still, my only ask is that you trust me, as there are darker forces out there than the Hanoi. Ones that wish to bring harm not only just to the Ignis, but for all of humanity as well. If you agree to come with me, I'll make sure you and your ally are safe under my care. You have my word."

This is interesting. Whereas the Knights of Hanoi want to destroy Ai, just like with Playmaker and the others, it seems that Zero genuinely cares for Ai's wellbeing, and wants to provide him sanctuary, Pandor observed in her mind. While Revolver created me to eliminate the Ignis and protect humanity from threats in the network, I sense that there's more going on than meets the eye here. By observing all of these conversations, perhaps I'll be able to figure things out and determine if there's truly a chance for AIs and humans to live side by side without conflict.

"Do you really think I'll accept your offer just because of the promise you made just now, Zero?" Ai questioned, suspicious of what Zero's true intentions were despite his promise being genuine. "I was foolish back then to heed the word of liars that only gave empty promises. Never again will I fall for such a ploy! Not after how Watchman's selfish intentions made everyone suffer!" He then activated his duel disk, ready to throw down.

"You left me no choice, Ai. I'll defeat you, find the real you in the network and ensure my mission is complete!" Zero responded, as he also activated his duel disk for the duel to come.

"It's time to Speed Duel!" Ai and Zero shouted in unison.

Ai: 4000 LP

Zero: 4000 LP

"Given the energy I sense from your deck, I'll be going first because I can't afford to take any risks whatsoever." Ai said. "My turn! I activate the effect of Kosokoso AtIgnister from my hand. When I control no monsters, or I control an 'AtIgnister monster on my field, I can Special Summon Kosokoso AtIgnister from my hand to my field." A black blob with two arms and tentacles that had dark-blue tips sprouting from its head appeared on Ai's field in one of the two Main Monster Zones Dark Templar pointed to. It had red marks resembling teeth on its body, with the AtIgnister symbol on its forehead.

Kosokoso AtIgnister ATK: 1500 DEF: 0 LV: 4

"Appear, the circuit that guides the dark!" A Link Portal appeared above Ai. "The summoning conditions are one non-Link 'AtIgnister' monster. I'll set Kosokoso AtIgnister into the Link Markers!" Kosokoso went into the left arrowhead, turning it red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 1! Dark Infant AtIgnister!" A small, mechanical dark-purple humanoid with violet lines all over its body appeared on Ai's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Its mechanical arms consisted of a large circle in the middle that were connected to its forearms, which also had a violet circle around them. The circles for its forearms, along with its waist, had violet orbs inside them. Attached to the top of its head was a helmet covering the top of its forehead, with two silver circles that had spikes jutting out from the back. In the middle of the spikes was a violet circle that had a similar colored orb in the middle.

Dark Infant AtIgnister ATK: 500 LINK-1 ⬅️️

"When Dark Infant's Link Summoned, I can add a copy of Ignister AiLand from my deck to my hand." Ai said, as a card popped out of his deck, which he took and added to his hand. "I activate the Field Spell card, Ignister AiLand and immediately activate its effect! When I control no monsters in the Main Monster Zone, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower 'AtIgnister' monster from my hand to my field. I Special Summon Doyon AtIgnister from my hand to my field." A purple, plump blob with two arms and a tail appeared on Ai's field.

Doyon AtIgnister ATK: 400 DEF: 1600 LV: 4

"When Doyon's Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one 'AtIgnister' monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I'll add Kosokoso AtIgnister from my Graveyard to my hand." A card popped out of Ai's Graveyard, which he took and added to his hand. "I activate the effect of Kachikachi AtIgnister from my hand. When I control no monsters, or I control an 'AtIgnister monster on my field, I can Special Summon Kachikachi AtIgnister from my hand to my field." A white blob with two arms and a tail appeared on Ai's field. A small brace was on each of its arms, as well as a small coil attached to its tail. It also had orange marks on its body, with the AtIgnister symbol on top of its body.

Kachikachi AtIgnister ATK: 1000 DEF: 700 LV: 3

"Appear, for a second time! The circuit that guides the dark!" Ai said, as a second Link Portal appeared above him. "The summoning conditions are three Cyberse monsters, one of which must be a Dark attribute Cyberse monster. I set the Link 1 Dark Infant AtIgnister, Doyon AtIgnister and Kachikachi AtIgnister into the Link Markers!" Dark Infant went into the bottom-left arrowhead, Doyon went into the bottom arrowhead and Kachikachi went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning all three of them red seconds later.

"The dark night that scatters throughout the world! Unleash a monster forged from the darkest depths of the shadows! Come forth and become the power that strikes fear into all! Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Dark Templar AtIgnister!" A purple-colored humanoid with wings on his back and spikes on his shoulders appeared on Ai's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. A total of four blue orbs were on his body, with two being on his shoulder pads and the other two being on his knees. In his right hand, he carried a greatsword with a violet blade.

Dark Templar AtIgnister ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ↙️⬇️↘️️️️

"And since I have no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, that means I can use AtIgnister AiLand's effect once again." Ai stated.

"So your Field Spell's effect can be used more than once per turn then..." Zero noted, having narrowed his eyes. That means Ai can spam his field with new monsters as long as he has no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, Zero thought in his mind. But the moment his Main Monster Zones are filled up, he won't be able to use that effect anymore. If anything, Ai plans on swarming his field with strong monsters right from the start so he can withstand whatever strategies I plan on using once my turn comes around.

"That's correct, Zero." Ai confirmed. "I Special Summon Kosokoso AtIgnister from my hand to my field!" At Ai's command, Kosokoso reappeared on his field.

Kosokoso AtIgnister ATK: 1500 DEF: 0 LV: 4

"I activate Dark Templar's first effect! When a monster is Special Summoned to a Main Monster Zone he points to, I can Special Summon as many Level 4 or lower 'AtIgnister' monsters from my Graveyard to the other remaining Main Monster Zones he's pointing to as well. However, their effects are negated in exchange. Return to me, Doyon AtIgnister!" At Ai's command, Doyon reappeared on Ai's field in the remaining Main Monster Zone Dark Templar pointed to.

Doyon AtIgnister ATK: 400 DEF: 1600 LV: 4

"I overlay the Level 4 Kosokoso AtIgnister with the Level 4 Doyon AtIgnister!" Ai declared, as a galaxy portal appeared behind him and Kosokoso AtIgnister and Doyon AtIgnister turned into streams of black and purple energy before entering inside it. Seconds later, a pillar of light erupted from the center, as if to show what was to come.

"Supernatural light that shatters the earth! Manifest from eternal lamentation and awaken with a roar of glory! Xyz Summon! Appear! Rank 4! Light Dragon AtIgnister!" A gold and yellow dragon with an elongated body and four split wings that cackled with electricity appeared on Ai's field in one of the three Main Monster Zones Dark Templar pointed to. On his entire body were orange spikes, along with a white mane on his head resembling that of horns.

Light Dragon AtIgnister ATK: 2300 DEF: 1500 RNK: 4 OU: 2

"I Set one card face-down and end my turn." Ai smirked. "Alright, Zero. You're up."

"My turn! I draw!" Zero said, as he drew the top card of his deck. Strange. Ai decided to leave a monster in his Main Monster Zone instead of keeping them open so he can use Ignister AiLand's effect, Zero thought in his mind. While it's obvious why Ai did such a thing, I still need to be cautious, lest I lose control of the duel. "I activate the Field Spell card, Garden of Providence. When this card is activated, I can Special Summon one Light Cyberse monster from my deck or Graveyard to my field. In addition, all Light Cyberse monsters I control gain 300 attack and defense points. Now come from my deck, Cycliptron!" A serpent-like creature who had two golden leaves for wings and a large, orange orb in the middle of its body appeared on Zero's field. Its head had two blue eyes, and light-brown skin covering it.

Cycliptron ATK: 100 DEF: 1500 LV: 4

Cycliptron ATK: 100 + 300 = 400 DEF: 1500 + 300 = 1800

"The energy emitting from your deck… I didn't expect you to wield Cyberse monsters like Playmaker and the others did…" Ai muttered. "Yet I can't help but wonder how you were able to get them in the first place, as well as how you managed to get their allegiance at the same time."

"That is a story for another time." Zero calmly responded. "What you need to know right now is Cycliptron's effect. When Cycliptron is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target a monster you control and prevent it from attacking until the end of your next turn."

"What?!" Ai gasped, shocked by what he heard. This meant he couldn't attack with either Dark Templar or Light Dragon until the end of his next turn!

"I target Dark Templar AtIgnister!" Cycliptron fired golden rings of energy from its mouth that ensnared Dark Templar, having restricted his movements temporarily. "Next, I activate the Spell card, Growth of Providence. This card lets me Special Summon one Light Cyberse monster from my deck to my field." A card popped out of Zero's deck, which he took before playing it."Come to me, Femtron!" A green-colored thin plant with a branch as its tail, along with a pair of bladed wings appeared on Zero's field. Its eyes were integrated together as a visor, which dimly glowed. On its head were four green spikes that jutted backwards, each one having a green gem at the end of them. A green gem was also on top of its head as well.

Femtron ATK: 1400 DEF: 100 LV: 4

Femtron ATK: 1400 + 300 = 1700 DEF: 100 + 300 = 400

"I activate the effect of Viscom Nanotron from my hand." Zero said. "When you control a monster that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, I can Special Summon it from my hand to my field." A green bipedal, plant-like dragon with a long neck and two long leaves for wings appeared on Zero's field. It had a long appendage on each side of its body that had small spikes and ended with a hooked claw. It also had a long tail that ended with five branches, the middle three in the form of a trident, while the outer two ended in hooks. Its mouth had several teeth, which almost resembled that of a flytrap's mouth.

Viscom Nanotron ATK: 1800 DEF: 100 LV: 6

Viscom Nanotron ATK: 1800 + 300 = 2100 DEF: 100 + 300 = 400

"Appear, the circuit of providence!" A Link Portal appeared above Zero. "The summoning conditions are two or more Light Cyberse monsters. I'll set Cycliptron, Femtron and Viscom Nanotron into the Link Markers!" Cycliptron went into the bottom-left arrowhead, Femtron went into the top arrowhead and Viscom Nanotron went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning all three of them red.

"Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Mothinear Lepidopteron!" A large moth whose body was covered in green and yellow pieces of hair, and had four large wings, two being long while the other two were short, appeared on Zero's field in the right Extra Monster Zone. Her wings were patterned with black, orange, yellow and blue colors, and also possessed prominent eye patterns on them. She had blue eyes that were large and slanted, with two mandibles on the sides of her head. Her abdomen was shaped like a wasp's, which included a large, retractable stinger. Finally, she had three pairs of insectoid legs, which consisted of a double-jointed front and middle pair, along with a triple-joined pair of hind legs.

Mothinear Lepidopteron ATK: 2500 LINK-3 ↙️⬇️↘️️️️

Mothinear Lepidopteron ATK: 2500 + 300 = 2800

"The effects of Cycliptron, Femtron, Viscom Nanotron and Mothinear Lepidopteron activate in sequence." Zero began speaking. "First, when Cycliptron is used as Link Material for the Link Summon of a Light Cyberse Link monster, I can target a monster you control and return it back to your hand."

"That's not good to hear…" Ai muttered in shock. As much as he wanted to use Kachikachi's effect, a part of him wanted to wait because he knew that Zero would activate a more dangerous effect down the road. Once Zero did that, then Ai would be able to both negate it and protect Dark Templar from the former's effects for the turn. Well, unless Zero chose to target Dark Templar, of course.

"I target Light Dragon AtIgnister on your field and return it back to your Extra Deck!" Light Dragon turned into particles that returned back to Ai's Extra Deck. "Second, when Femtron was used to Link Summon a Light Cyberse Link monster, I can shuffle this card into my deck and add one card from my deck to my hand. I shuffle Femtron and add Provident Reversal from my deck to my hand." A card popped out of Zero's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"Third, when Viscom Nanotron is used as Link Material for the Link Summon of a Light Cyberse Link monster, I can target a Light Cyberse monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it to my field. However, it's banished once it leaves my field." Zero stated. "Come back to me, Cycliptron." At Zero's command, Cycliptron reappeared on his field in defense position.

Cycliptron ATK: 100 DEF: 1500 LV: 4

Cycliptron ATK: 100 + 300 = 400 DEF: 1500 + 300 = 1800

"Fourth, when Mothinear Lepidopteron is Link Summoned, I can target one Light Cyberse monster in my deck or Graveyard and Special Summon it to my field in a Main Monster Zone she points to. What's more, I gain life points equal to the Special Summoned monster's attack points. I targetViscom Nanotron in my Graveyard, and Special Summon it back to my field. In addition, since it has1800 attack points, that means I gain 1800 life points. Return to me, Viscom Nanotron." At Zero's command, Viscom Nanotron reappeared on Zero's field in one of the three Main Monster Zones Mothinear Lepidopteron pointed to. Soon after, a light-green aura surrounded Zero that increased his life points.

Viscom Nanotron ATK: 1800 DEF: 100 LV: 6

Viscom Nanotron ATK: 1800 + 300 = 2100 DEF: 100 + 300 = 400

Zero: 4000 + 1800 = 5800 LP

"Lastly, I activate Garden of Providence's effect. As I Link Summoned a Light Cyberse Link monster, I can Special Summon a Light Cyberse monster from my deck or Graveyard to my field and gain life points equal to its attack points." Zero added, as a card popped out of his deck. "Come to me from my deck, Seedcoltron Brusselun!" A serpentine, plant-like dragon with two, large green leaves for wings that had yellow lines on them, as well as a long tail appeared on Zero's field. At the middle of its body was a brown bulb, along with a violet-colored flower that was at the end of its neck. It also had golden spikes on its head, as well as antennae on the sides of its head. Around its body were a total of seven, golden rings that briefly glowed before dimming down.

Seedcoltron Brusselun ATK: 2400 DEF: 1600 LV: 7

Seedcoltron Brusselun ATK: 2400 + 300 = 2700 DEF: 1600 + 300 = 1900

Zero: 5800 + 2400 = 8200 LP

"When Seedcoltron Brusselun is Normal or Special Summoned, I can send the top card of my deck for each Light Cyberse monster I control. Then for each Light Cyberse monster that was sent to the Graveyard by this effect, you send the same number of cards from the top of your deck to your Graveyard."

"I see. So by sending cards from the top of my deck to my Graveyard, you intend on depleting me of resources." Ai figured out.

"That's correct." Zero confirmed. "Since I control a total of four Light Cyberse monsters, I send the top four cards of my deck to my Graveyard." He took the top four cards of his deck and looked at them for a minute before turning his attention back to the duel. "The cards I sent to the Graveyard were Quantum Providence, Zeptron, Provident Restoration and Yoctron. Since two Light Cyberse monsters were sent to the Graveyard, you must now send the top two cards of your deck to your Graveyard."

Ai chuckled as he took the top two cards of his deck and looked at each one before sending them to his Graveyard. "I activate the effect of Ai's Hymn from my Graveyard. By banishing it from my Graveyard, I gain 200 life points for every 'AtIgnister' monster in my Graveyard. I currently have Doyon, Kachikachi and Dark Infant in my Graveyard, which means I gain 600 life points!" Music notes of different colors that were on a string surrounded Ai as he gained life points.

Ai: 4000 + (200 X 3) = 4600 LP

"Given how you have so many monsters on your field, you plan on Link Summoning again, right? Sorry, Zero, but I'm afraid I can't let that happen." Ai said.

"What do you mean?" Zero raised an eyebrow, wanting to know what Ai meant just now.

"Why tell you when I can show you instead!" Ai gestured to his field. "Continuous-Trap, activate! AiQ! Now as long as this card is on the field, each of us can only Link Summon once per turn. However, during my Standby Phase, I have to tribute one Link monster, or else this card is destroyed."

"I see. A card that limits how many times a player Link summons, huh? Very clever." Zero acknowledged. "But if you think that'll stop me, you're sorely mistaken. I activate Mothinear Lepidopteron's effect. Once per turn, I can-."

"Not so fast! I activate Dark Templar's effect, courtesy of Kachikachi!" Ai interrupted. "During either player's turn, when you activate a card effect, it's instantly negated and banished." A silhouette of Kachikachi appeared before firing a burst of energy from its arms at Mothinear Lepidopteron, which turned her into particles.

"What's more, Dark Templar is unaffected by your card effects until the End Phase." A white aura surrounded Dark Templar, having protected him from any potential threats for the time being.

Damn it! I needed Mothinear Lepidopteron's effect to get rid of AiQ and Ignister AiLand, Zero cursed in his mind. But since Ai was able to negate her effects, I wasn't able to do so, nor am I allowed to activate her final effect. And with AiQ still on Ai's field, I can't Link Summon for the rest of this turn. Thus, with the cards currently in my hand, there isn't much I can do moving forward other than battle and prepare for what's to come. Even if Ai survives this turn, the battle damage I inflict will add up to his eventual defeat once my next turn comes around. "I Set two cards face-down. Battle! Seedcoltron Brusselun attacks Dark Templar AtIgnister!" Seedcoltron Brusselun gathered yellow energy in its mouth before firing it at Dark Templar, who braced himself by using the greatsword in his hands to withstand the attack. A small explosion occurred, which made Ai slightly stagger as his life points dropped.

Ai: 4600 – 400 = 4200 LP

But when the smoke cleared, Zero gasped upon seeing Dark Templar unscathed. "How's your monster still on your field?"

"It's because of TAi Strike's second effect, which I used from my Graveyard." Ai answered. "If an 'AtIgnister' monster would be destroyed by battle, I can banish it from my Graveyard instead."

"TAi Strike was the other card that you sent from your deck to your Graveyard, wasn't it?" Zero immediately figured out.

"Thanks to your monster, it certainly was." Ai smirked. "It looks like your efforts to finish me off this turn failed."

Zero frowned. "But only for now. I end my turn, which means the effects of Kachikachi end." The white aura surrounding Dark Templar dissipated.

"You know, Zero, there's something I'm curious about. Something that I hope you can clarify for me." Ai stated. "Multiple times, Watchman talked about the Crisis to come. Care to explain what that's about? While I'm not here to chat for too long, I am open to hearing your side of the story. After all, by learning new perspectives, common ground can be found, compromises can possibly be made and more things will be discovered."

"If you must know, Ai, the Crisis is a prophecy that foreshadows the return of a malevolent force that must be stopped once and for all. One that lives within the dark net itself." Zero explained. And given how you're aware about Project: VIII and Project: Apotheosis, I'm sure you're aware of Urizen himself, Zero thought in his mind.

"A prophecy foretelling events to come? That's intriguing to hear." Ai chuckled. "I guess it could explain why you were away for so long and unable to help us when we needed it. Whoever you were fighting against at the time, it must have taken priority over helping us, as perhaps we could have worked something out had you came to our aid sooner than later."

"No one can be in multiple places at once, Ai." Pandor spoke up on Zero's behalf. "It's not only impossible to do such a thing, but also know about what's happening somewhere else as well."

"You've lost people just like me, haven't you, Ai?" Zero discerned, which made Ai gasp. "One example being the loss of the other Ignis during the Ignis war. You're suffering the same way Raguel did after he lost important people in his life."

"Of course I am, Zero. I'm the last Ignis left as a result of the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS!" Ai lamented. "You could say the losses I've suffered are the reason why I'm on the path I chose lately, and if you think you can convince me to stop, it's too late. I've made my choice and I must see it through to the end!" Or at the very least, my suffering isn't the only reason why I made this choice, anyway, went unsaid.

Zero narrowed his eyes after hearing Ai's response. While it looked like Ai was doing all of this just for revenge, Zero couldn't help but feel that the former was doing it for another reason. Something that only Ai was aware of, and no one else. Something that can result in catastrophic consequences for everyone involved if they didn't find out the truth behind Ai's actions and the real reason why he chose the path he was on right now.

"Even though you lost your loved ones, Ai, it doesn't give you any right to inflict your pain-." Pandor began speaking, only for Ai to fiercely glare at her back in response, which made the former stop talking as a result.

"Oh, will you shut up and not preach for one damn second, AI? I'm still talking with Zero here." Ai angrily told Pandor, before turning back to Zero as he regained his composure. "You know, I recently heard rumors about a company called Albinor Inc. returning to the spotlight after the Hell it went through following the Project: VIII disaster. Were you aware of such a thing while you were fighting a war in the network?"

"I wasn't aware of that until now…" Zero admitted, having no idea of Albinor Inc. returning after all of this time. Nor was Zero aware about Albinor Inc. suffering from multiple losses following Urizen's banishment to the dark side of the network. It appeared that SOL Technologies wasn't the only company that suffered following Urizen's first defeat and the shutdown of Project: VIII all those years ago.

"Now that's a shame. If you knew, then perhaps you could have done something to make sure that those in Albinor Inc. would have been fairly compensated for its losses." Ai chuckled. "Maybe if SOL Technologies and Albinor Inc. never existed, then all of these problems would have never happened. The Lost Incident, Project: Apotheosis and Project: VIII would have never been born, and everyone who was hurt wouldn't have had to suffer in the first place."

"That's not a certainty, Ai. Another company would have probably done the same thing if SOL Technologies and Albinor Inc. didn't exist." Zero countered, which made Ai frown back in response.

"I guess so, but then again, those two companies did cause this entire mess the moment Project: VIII was green lit." Ai pointed out. "Like I said earlier, I'm doing justice and the people a huge favor by punishing SOL Technologies for its actions. What's more, since Albinor Inc. played a role in this mess, I'll make sure it receives its just desserts as well! My turn! I draw!" He drew the top card of his deck. "AiQ's effect normally requires me to tribute a Link monster to keep it on my field. But I won't, which means it's destroyed." AiQ then turned into particles afterwards.

On the plus side, I'm allowed to Link Summon more than once per turn again, Zero thought in his mind, relived that he didn't have to deal with it any longer.

"I activate Ignister AiLand's effect once again. Since I have no monsters in the Main Monster Zones, I can-."

"Not so fast! Counter-Trap, activate! Provident Reversal!" Zero interjected. "When you activate a card effect, I can not only negate that effect, but also banish it as well. In addition, all copies of that same card are banished from your hand, deck, and Graveyard. What's more, for the rest of this turn, Light Cyberse monsters I control are unaffected by your card effects."

"OH NO!" Ai exclaimed, as the copy of Ignister AiLand on his field, as well as the remaining two copies on his field, instantly turned into particles. Even though Ai was able to bait out Provident Reversal, it came at a steep cost, as all copies of Ignister AiLand were banished. What's more, Zero's monsters were unaffected by Ai's card effects for the rest of this turn, which meant the only way to get rid of them was by battle. But since Dark Templar couldn't attack until the end of Ai's turn, he needed to find another monster to attack Zero's monsters.

Zero smirked upon seeing the shock on Ai's face. "Ignister AiLand is a strong card, especially given how you can use its effect more than once per turn, Ai. But now that it's gone, you can no longer swarm your field with your 'AtIgnister' monsters."

Ai grit his teeth in frustration upon hearing Zero's comment. "That… was a very clever move, Zero. But if you think you've stopped my moves just because my Field Spell card's gone, you're mistaken. I activate the Spell card, Ai's Pendulum!" The card showed Ai at the center of a theatre stage as two cards were at the ends of the blade on his duel disk, which made the word 'PENDULUM' appear in the middle. In addition, there were two pillars of blue light on Ai's left and right sides, with one card in each of them. What's more, in the middle of the two pillars of light was the 'AtIgnister' symbol, which acted as the Pendulum. "When this card is activated, I can take two 'AtIgnister' Pendulum monsters from my deck or Graveyard and place them in the Pendulum zones."

"You would use Pendulum Summoning in a Speed Duel?" Zero inquired suspiciously. While Pendulum Summoning was a tactic that can catch anyone off guard, it was still rare to see it because of the reduced Spell and Trap cad zones in a Speed duel. This meant Ai would only be able to activate one Spell or Trap card as a result of such a move. But something told Zero that there was more to Ai's move than meets the eye.

"Of course, Zero. After all, unexpected moves can help someone retake control of the duel." Ai responded, as he took two cards from his deck. "I place White Liger AtIgnister and Black Djinn AtIgnister in the Pendulum Scale." Soon, two pillars of light appeared on Ai's left and right sides.

In the pillar of light on his right was a white-furred liger with creamy-pearl eyes. Metal braces resembling a lion's paws were attached on his legs and feet, each of them having orange, glowing lines. Armor pieces resembling the 'AtIgnister' symbol were also on his body, which had large cannons that had a lion face attached to the sides. Lastly, he wore a helmet resembling a lion's mouth, which had the 'AtIgnister' symbol in the middle.

In the pillar of light on his left was a bipedal, black-colored djinn with dark-blue eyes and black hair that was tied in a bushy ponytail. He wore pieces of spiked, dark-blue armor on his body that had jet-black, glowing lines on them. There were also golden rings on pieces of the armor, each of which resembled the 'AtIgnister' symbol. Lastly, he carried two golden rings that had blades sheathed deep within them.

White Liger AtIgnister PS: 0

Black Djinn AtIgnister PS: 9

"You see, White Liger and Black Djinn share a common first Pendulum effect with one another. Once per turn, when I have no monsters in my Main Monster Zones, I can Pendulum Summon 'AtIgnister' monsters that are in my Graveyard to my field."

"I see. So you're Pendulum Summoning monsters from your Graveyard to compensate for losing Ignister AiLand…" Zero figured out.

"You're correct once again, Zero. Though there's no need to prove it anymore than you already have." Ai commented. "Swing, Pendulum of the Ignis! Open the path to deliverance! With the Set Pendulum scale, I can Pendulum Summon monsters whose levels are from one to eight at the same time! Pendulum Summon! Return to me from my Graveyard, Kosokoso AtIgnister and Doyon AtIgnister!" A rainbow colored portal opened between the two pillars on Ai's field, where two lights shot out of it. Emerging from the lights were Kosokoso and Doyon AtIgnister, both of which were in the Main Monster Zones Dark Templar pointed to.

Kosokoso AtIgnister ATK: 1500 DEF: 0 LV: 4

Doyon AtIgnister ATK: 400 DEF: 1600 LV: 4

"When Doyon's Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one 'AtIgnister' monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I'll add Dark Infant back to my hand, but since it's a Link monster, it goes right back to my Extra Deck instead." A card popped out of Ai's Graveyard, which he took and added back to his Extra Deck. "I also activate the effect of Kachikachi AtIgnister from my hand. When I control no monsters, or I control an 'AtIgnister monster on my field, I can Special Summon Kachikachi AtIgnister from my hand to my field." Kachikachi reappeared on Ai's field seconds later.

Kachikachi AtIgnister ATK: 1000 DEF: 700 LV: 3

"Now let's get this party started! I activate my Skill: Ignister Party!" Ai added, as his cape glowed with a rainbow color. "Once per duel, I can draw cards up to the number of 'AtIgnister' monsters I currently control. As there's currently four, that means I can draw the top four cards of my deck." He drew the top four cards of his deck. "Then I can apply additional effects depending on the number of attributes of 'AtIgnister' monsters I control."

"Given how you only have Light and Dark 'AtIgnister' monsters on your field, you'l be able to activate two additional effects." Zero observed. He did not like where this was going, as the additional effects Ai can now activate through his Skill could be anything.

"Get ready, Zero! Because the reveals are going to be good for me and bad for you!" Kachikachi glowed with a yellow light. "First, since I control a Light attribute 'AtIgnister' monster, I can prevent you from Special Summoning monsters from your Extra Deck until the end of your next turn."

"What?!" Zero gasped as a black aura surrounded his Extra Deck, which prevented him from accessing it. That's not good! I won't be able to bring out my monsters from my Extra Deck on my next turn, Zero realized in his mind.

"Second, as I control a Dark attribute 'AtIgnister' monster, I can return one 'AtIgnister' monster back to my hand to take control of one monster you control in exchange for negating its effects. I return Kosokoso back to my hand and take control of Seedcoltron Brusselun!" Kosokoso was surrounded in a purple light before it turned into particles, which went back to Ai's hand. A silhouette of Doyon soon charged forward and covered Seedcoltron Brusselun in a purple aura, which made it groan before it went to Ai's field.

Since this was done through Ai's Skill and not by a card effect, he was able to bypass Provident Reversal's effect completely, Zero cursed in his mind.

"Now that my Skill's done, I activate Black Djinn's second Pendulum effect!" Ai added. "Once per turn, I can return one 'AtIgnister' monster I control back to my hand to decrease the attack points of all monsters you control by that monster's original attack points! I return Dark Templar back to my Extra Deck, which means all monsters you control lose 2300 attack points! Hyperspace Malady!" Dark Templar turned into particles that went into the golden rings in Black Djinn's hands, where the latter threw them into the air as swords fired out of them towards the monsters on Zero's field. However, they were surrounded in yellow auras that protected them from Black Djinn's Pendulum effect.

"What was the point in that move? You know that my Light Cyberse monsters are unaffected by my card effects, Ai." Zero pointed out, before he suddenly put two and two together. "Unless-!"

Ai smirked. "Yup. Now that Dark Templar left the field, he's freed from Cycliptron's effects. And given how I currently have three monsters on my field, I bet you can deduce what's going to happen next, right?"

"I may not know what your overall plan is, but there's no way I'll let you profit from it!" Zero thrusted out his right hand. "Continuous-Trap, activate! Provident Dominion!" The card showed a lush, green paradise filled with many trees and rivers, as well as a massive rock formation overlooking the area. In the area was Floettetron playing with Goledule Cryotron, Rontron, Cycliptron, Yoctron and Viacom Nanotron, all of them having an enjoyable time. On the massive rock formation was Chimerator Gradientron, who kept an eye on everyone to make sure that everything was safe. "While this card is on my field, all Light Cyberse monsters I control can't be targeted by card effects, nor can they be destroyed by battle or card effects. I also activate Dominion's second effect. Once per turn, during either player's turn, I can send one Light Cyberse monster I control to my Graveyard to Special Summon a Light Cyberse monster from my deck or Graveyard to my field."

"Preparing for what's to come, huh?" Ai asked.

"Obviously." Zero simply replied back, as a card popped out of his deck. "I'll send Cycliptron to my Graveyard, and Special Summon Attrashoot Hydron from my deck to my field!" After Cycliptron turned into particles, a large, green-colored, bipedal, plant-like dragon with blue eyes and a long neck appeared on Zero's field. It had spiked green and yellow leaves for wings, along with emerald armor on its body. On each of its sides were two long, draconic serpents that had a long neck and an orange spike on their heads. Its main head had golden spikes adorned on its leaf-like horns, each of which had a violet gem on them. At the center of its chest was a violet orb that briefly glowed before dimming down. Around its necks was a golden ring that also glowed before dimming down. Lastly, it had a total of five, grassy tails.

Attrashoot Hydron ATK: 2500 DEF: 0 LV: 8

Attrashoot Hydron ATK: 2500 + 300 = 2800 DEF: 0 + 300 = 300

"Since Cycliptron left the field, it's banished. But moving that aside, I activate Attrashoot Hydron's effect." Zero thrusted out his right hand. "When it's Normal or Special Summoned, I can shuffle up to five Light Cyberse monsters from my Graveyard and/or banished zone back into my deck and/or Extra Deck, and for each Light Cyberse monster shuffled back into my deck by this effect, you take 400 points of damage."

"Seriously?!" Ai exclaimed, shocked that Zero was able to find a way on how he was able to return banished monsters back to his deck and Extra Deck.

"I shuffle Zeptron and Yoctron from my Graveyard, as well as Cycliptron and Mothinear Lepidopteron from my banished zone back to my deck and Extra Deck. That means you take 1600 points of damage!" Zero said, as two cards popped out of his Graveyard while two cards appeared beside him. After he took those cards and shuffled them back to his deck and Extra Deck, the golden rings surrounding Attrashoot Hydron's heads glowed with bright energy before being fired at Ai, who winced as his life points dropped upon impact.

Ai: 4200 – (400 X 4) = 2600 LP

"Then Attrashoot Hydron gains 400 attack points for each Light Cyberse monster that was shuffled into my deck and/or my Extra Deck by this effect. As four Light Cyberse monsters were shuffled back into my deck and/or Extra Deck, that means Attrashoot Hydron gains 1600 attack points." Attrashoot Hydron let out a roar as its strength increased.

Attrashoot Hydron ATK: 2800 + (400 X 4) = 4400

"You not only increased your monster's strength, but also dealt damage to me at the same time. Pretty clever." Ai acknowledged. "But it still won't be enough to defeat me, especially now that everything is set for me to defeat you this turn."

"The cards in a duel speak louder than words, Ai. So why don't you show me how you plan to defeat me this turn." Zero stated.

"As you wish. Appear, the circuit that guides the dark!" A Link Portal appeared above Ai. "The summoning conditions are three Cyberse monsters, one of which must be a Dark attribute Cyberse monster. I set Kachikachi AtIgnister, Doyon AtIgnister and Seedcoltron Brusselun into the Link Markers!" Kachikachi went into the bottom-left arrowhead, Doyon went into the bottom arrowhead and Seedcoltron Brusselun went into the bottom-right arrowhead, turning all three of them red seconds later.

"The dark night that scatters throughout the world! Unleash a monster forged from the darkest depths of the shadows! Come forth and become the power that strikes fear into all!" Ai chanted. "Link Summon! Appear! Link 3! Dark Templar AtIgnister!" Dark Templar reappeared on Ai's field in the right Extra Monster Zone.

Dark Templar AtIgnister ATK: 2300 LINK-3 ↙️⬇️↘️️️️

"I activate the Spell card, Ai Choose You. This card lets me target one 'AtIgnister' monster from my deck or Graveyard and Special Summon it to my field." A card popped out of Ai's deck. "I Special Summon Bururu AtIgnister from my deck to my field." A green blob with arms that had white fingers appeared on Ai's field in one of the two Main Monster Zones Dark Templar pointed to. On it sides were pointy, rabbit-like ears that had white tips at the ends.

Bururu AtIgnister ATK: 600 DEF: 1000 LV: 3

"Dark Templar's first effect also activates! When a monster is Special Summoned to a Main Monster Zone he points to, I can Special Summon as many Level 4 or lower 'AtIgnister' monsters from my Graveyard to the other remaining Main Monster Zones he's pointing to as well. However, their effects are negated in exchange." Ai continued. "Return to me, Doyon AtIgnister!" At Ai's command, Doyon reappeared on Ai's field in the remaining Main Monster Zone Dark Templar pointed to.

Doyon AtIgnister ATK: 400 DEF: 1600 LV: 4

"I tune the Level 3 Bururu AtIgnister with the Level 4 Doyon AtIgnister!" A bolt of lightning struck Ai as the world greyed out around him and his two monsters disintegrated into particles. Two rings, one green and one purple, appeared before turning blue and merging. Seven rings, stacked in a tower, appeared, a screen displaying "3 4" in front of them. The screen changed to "7" as light surged through the rings.

"Gale that soars across the blue sky! Mix with the cosmic eon and gallop on the path that leads to the heavens with your majestic wings!" Ai chanted. "Synchro Summon! Appear! Level 7! Wind Pegasus AtIgnister!" A light-green skinned pegasus that wore silver armor on his body appeared on Ai's field in one of the two Main Monster Zones Dark Templar pointed to. At the front of his armor were two pink orbs, both of which were attached to the lower end of his long neck. He had light-green wings that were composed of pure energy, as well as a flowing, light-green mane attached to the back of his long neck. Light-green energy was also attached to each of his hooves, which flowed with energy.

Wind Pegasus AtIgnister ATK: 2300 DEF: 1500 LV: 7

"I activate Bururu AtIgnister's effect from my Graveyard! When it's sent to the Graveyard as Synchro material for the Synchro Summon of a Cyberse Synchro monster, I can target one other monster that was also used for the Synchro Summon and Special Summon it back to my field. Return to me once more, Doyon AtIgnister!" At Ai's command, Doyon reappeared on his field once more.

Doyon AtIgnister ATK: 400 DEF: 1600 LV: 4

"I now activate the effect of Kosokoso AtIgnister from my hand. Just like before, when I control no monsters, or I control an 'AtIgnister' monster, I can Special Summon Kosokoso AtIgnister from my hand to my field." At Ai's command, Kosokoso reappeared on his field.

Kosokoso AtIgnister ATK: 1500 DEF: 0 LV: 4

"I overlay the Level 4 Kosokoso AtIgnister with the Level 4 Doyon AtIgnister!" Ai declared, as a galaxy portal appeared behind him and Kosokoso AtIgnister and Doyon AtIgnister turned into streams of black and purple energy before entering inside it. Seconds later, a pillar of light erupted from the center, as if to show what was to come.

"Supernatural light that shatters the earth! Manifest from eternal lamentation and awaken with a roar of glory! Xyz Summon! Appear! Rank 4! Light Dragon AtIgnister!" Light Dragon reappeared on Ai's field in the remaining Main Monster Zone Dark Templar pointed to.

Light Dragon AtIgnister ATK: 2300 DEF: 1500 RNK: 4 OU: 2

"I now activate Wind Pegasus' effect." Ai said. "Once per turn, I can target Spell and Trap cards you control up to the number of AtIgnister monsters on my field and destroy them! I'll destroy Garden of Providence and Provident Dominion! Pegasi Gale!" Wind Pegasus beat up a whirlwind with his wings, which destroyed Garden of Providence and Provident Dominion. As a result, Attrashoot Hydron and Viscom Nanotron groaned as their strength returned to normal.

Attrashoot Hydron ATK: 4400 - 300 = 4100 DEF: 300 - 300 = 0

Viscom Nanotron ATK: 2100 - 300 = 1800 DEF: 400 - 300 = 100

"Last but not least, I activate White Liger's second Pendulum effect. Once per turn, I can target one 'AtIgnister' monster I control, and have it gain attack points equal to the combined original attack points of all other 'AtIgnister' monsters I control until the End Phase."

"What?!" Zero exclaimed, his eyes having widened out of horror upon hearing this information. This meant one of Ai's monsters would receive a massive boost of power, thus leading to his victory if Zero wasn't careful.

"I target Dark Templar on my field, and since the original attack points of Wind Pegasus and Light Dragon are 2300, that means Dark Templar gains a total of 4600 attack points!" Ai announced. "Roar of Unity!" White Liger let out a howl as Dark Templar was surrounded in a white aura, which increased his strength temporarily.

Dark Templar AtIgnister ATK: 2300 + 2300 + 2300 = 6900

"I Set one card face-down." Ai thrusted out his right hand. "Let's battle! Light Dragon AtIgnister attacks Attrashoot Hydron! At this point, I activate Light Dragon's newest effect, courtesy of Kosokoso! When the monster that used it as material battles, I can place an 'AtIgnister' counter on your monster!" A silhouette of Kosokoso appeared as the tentacles on its head were launched like a weapon over to where Attrashoot Hydron was, which touched its chest before dissipating. As a result, a transparent, blood mark appeared on Attrashoot Hydron's chest seconds later.

Attrashoot Hydron AIC: 0 + 1 = 1

"While that monster has an 'AtIgnister' counter, its attack and defense points drop down to zero, and its effects are negated!" Attrashoot Hydron groaned in pain as its strength was suddenly depleted.

Attrashoot Hydron ATK: 4100 – 4100 = 0

"Blast that monster away, Light Dragon!" Ai shouted. "Electrica Judicium!" Electricity surrounded his body before blasting it at Attrashoot Hydron, which destroyed it upon impact and made Zero wince from the explosion as his life points dropped.

Zero: 8200 – 2300 = 5900 LP

"The battle continues! Wind Pegasus AtIgnister attacks Viscom Nanotron! Pegasi Divebomb!" Wind Pegasus charged forward at Viscom Nanotron, wind surrounding the former's body. He swooped downwards and hit Viscom Nanotron before flying upwards, which destroyed it upon impact and pushed Zero back a few feet as his life points dropped.

Zero: 5900 – 500 = 5400 LP

"It's been a fun duel, Zero, but all good things must come to an end." Ai remarked. "The battle continues one more time! Dark Templar AtIgnister attacks you directly!" Dark Templar charged forward at Zero, intent on finishing him off.

"I activate the effect of Provident Restoration in my Graveyard." Zero responded. "By banishing this card from my Graveyard, I can-."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Zero." Ai interrupted. "I activate Dark Templar's newest effect, courtesy of Kachikachi! During either player's turn, when you activate a card effect, it's instantly negated and banished." A silhouette of Kachikachi appeared before firing a burst of energy from its arms at Restoration, which turned it into particles. "What's more, Dark Templar is unaffected by your card effects until the End Phase." A white aura surrounded Dark Templar, having protected him from any potential threats for the time being.

"Then I activate the effect of Quantum Providence from my Graveyard!" The card showed a digital, grid-like double cone that was slowly emerging from an area of the network to a lush area underneath it. Emerging out of the digital, grid-like double cone was Femtron, Attron, Zeptron and Yoctron, the quartet having reached its destination. "By banishing it from my Graveyard, I can shuffle two cards from my Graveyard back into my deck before drawing the top two cards of my deck. I shuffle Garden of Providence and Provident Dominion, and draw!" Zero took two cards from his Graveyard before shuffling them back into his deck, where he drew the top two cards of his deck.

Yes! Just what I need right now, Zero thought in his mind. And with the cards he drew just now, they'll help him on his next turn! "I activate the effect of Peacock Picotron from my hand! When you declare an attack, I can Special Summon this card from my hand to my field in defense position and change the attack target to it!" A green, plant-like creature resembling a peacock with winged blades and a long tail that looked like a tree branch with five twigs at the ends appeared on Zero's field in defense position. Its eyes were integrated together as a visor, which dimly glowed. On its head were five long leaves, each of which had a dark-blue gem and two glowing green lines on them. It also had a dark-blue gem on its head and in the middle of its chest.

Peacock Picotron ATK: 1600 DEF: 100 LV: 5

"Then Peacock Picotron gains defense points equal to your monster's attack points!" Zero added. "Since Dark Templar has 6900 attack points, that means Peacock Picotron gains 6900 defense points!" Peacock Picotron was surrounded in a green aura that increased its defense points.

Peacock Picotron DEF: 100 + 6900 = 7000

"Crap…" Ai muttered. That meant he not only couldn't defeat Zero this turn, but he was also about to lose some more life points in the process.

"Don't forget that thanks to Peacock Picotron's effect, you now must attack it instead with your monster. In other words, I'll be safe this turn."

Damn it! Thanks to Peacock Picotron's effect, I have no choice but to attack it, Ai angrily thought in his mind. On the plus side, I won't be losing that many life points from the attack. "A battle replay occurs. Dark Templar AtIgnister attacks Peacock Picotron!" Dark Templar charged forward and brought down the greatsword onto Peacock Picotron, intent on eliminating it. However, the gems on Peacock Picotron's body glowed as it formed a barrier, which bounced Dark Templar's attack back and made him retreat back to Ai's field. As for Ai, he grit his teeth as his life points dropped once again.

Ai: 2600 – 100 = 2500 LP

"I have no choice but to end my turn, which means the effects of White Liger and Kachikachi end, and Dark Templar's attack points return to normal." Ai concluded, as a red aura surrounded Dark Templar, which reverted his strength to normal.

Dark Templar AtIgnister ATK: 6900 – 2300 - 2300 = 2300

"My turn! I draw!" Zero said, as he drew the top card of his deck.

"Hold on a second, Zero. Allow me to put the pressure on you, especially since this is your last chance at winning this duel." Ai interjected. "Continuous-Trap, activate! Ai Shadow! This card lets me target one 'AtIgnister' monster I control and increase its attack points by 800. I target Dark Templar!" A purple aura surrounded Dark Templar as his strength increased.

Dark Templar AtIgnister ATK: 2300 + 800 = 3100

"Ai Shadow has an additional effect. Any monsters you bring out must attack the targeted 'AtIgnister' monster first. Long story short, if you plan on defeating me, you gotta get past Dark Templar first."

"Then I'll gladly accept that challenge." Zero smirked. "I activate the Spell card, Particle Acceleration. When this is card is activated while I control a Light Cyberse monster, I can-."

"Too slow! I activate Dark Templar's effect, courtesy of Kachikachi once again!" Ai interrupted, knowing what Zero was planning. "During either player's turn, when you activate a card effect, it's instantly negated and banished." A silhouette of Kachikachi appeared before firing a burst of energy from its arms at Particle Acceleration, which turned it into particles. "What's more, Dark Templar is unaffected by your card effects until the End Phase." A white aura surrounded Dark Templar, having protected him from any potential threats for the time being.

"I can't believe you took the bait like that." Zero remarked.

"What exactly do you-?" Ai gasped. "The card you played was a bluff, wasn't it?"

"Yes it was, Ai. For someone who has instinct, you want to make sure your cards are protected in the best way possible. While this is good, instinct can sometimes force you to act faster than expected, which can provide someone the chance to catch you off guard. In addition, you're nothing more than a clone, so what I did just now wouldn't have worked if I was dueling against the original you."

"And even if I negated a card you needed to help you win the duel, you would have had a backup plan in the event I waited for the right timing to catch you off guard." Ai finished. "While that was clever of you, Zero, do note that Dark Templar's unaffected by your card effects thanks to Kachikachi's effect."

"That is still true, Ai, and I'll be honest with you: Even though this is your clone, it's been a long while since I was pushed as a duelist." Zero admitted. This was true, as he recalled many people who were able to push his skills as a duelist. "As a reward for your efforts, I will show you more of my strength. Starting with this! I activate the effect of Decatron from my hand. If I control a Light Cyberse monster, I can Special Summon it from my hand to my field. Come forth, Decatron!" A small, green-colored plant with a tail that resembled many twigs intertwined with one another, as well as a pair of small blades on its sides appeared on Zero's field. A leaf that had one green gem sprouted from the top of its head. There was also a green gem at the center of its small body as well.

Decatron ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1

"Then I activate Decatron's effect. By shuffling a Light Cyberse monster from my Graveyard or banished zone back to my deck, I can add a Ritual Spell card from my deck to my hand. However, if I returned either a Light Cyberse Link monster or a Level 7 or higher Light Cyberse monster by this effect, I can also add a Light Cyberse Ritual monster from my deck to my hand as well."

Ai's eyes widened out of surprise upon hearing this information. "Aw, glitch! That's not good to hear!"

"I'll shuffle the Level 8 Attrashoot Hydron back to my deck, and since its level was 7 or higher, I can also add a Light Cyberse Ritual monster from my deck to my hand." Zero said. "I'll add the Ritual Spell card, Provident Ascension and the Ritual monster, Basiliskor Tevatron from my deck to my hand!" Two cards popped out of Zero's deck, which he took and added to his hand.

"I now activate the Ritual Spell card, Provident Ascension!" The card showed a grassy field with two ancient lit lanterns and a silver statue of the Yggdrasil tree in the middle. Engraved on the ground was a golden emblem with a massive, orange gem at the center. Standing on the engraved symbol near the silver statue was Floettetron, who raised her hands as green flames emitted out of the lanterns, having begun a ritual in the process. "This card lets me tribute Light Cyberse monsters from my hand or field whose total levels equal or exceed the Level of the Light Cyberse Ritual monster I'm Ritual Summoning from my hand. However, if my opponent controls a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, I can also use Light Cyberse monsters in my Graveyard by shuffling them back into my deck."

"So that's why you allowed me to destroy your monsters earlier!" Ai realized. "This was your backup plan in the event you lost them!"

"No matter how many times my monsters fall in battle, they will return again and again, just like nature itself." Zero responded. "I'll tribute the Level 1 Decatron on my field and shuffle the Level 7 Seedcoltron Brusselun from my Graveyard back into my deck!" A light-green magical circle with eight flames appeared behind Decatron and a silhouette of Seedcoltron Brusselun, where both monsters disintegrated into light before entering into the center of the circle, which emitted a pillar of bright light.

"Great serpent dwelling within the chambers of the deep forest! Heed the warrior's cry and emerge out of hiding to eliminate those they deem their enemy! Ritual Summon! Arise! Level 8! Basiliskor Tevatron!" A long, plant-like dragon with a very long tail composed of vines appeared on Zero's field. While it didn't have any feet, it had two limbs with four-clawed hands. There were also sharp crystals attached on the back of its overall body, which glowed before dimming down. Its wings composed of golden feathers and leaves that were encased within crystals, having solidified it in the process. Finally, a metal plate was attached to the top of its head, as well as two horns on the back of its sides that protruded inwards.

Basiliskor Tevatron ATK: 2800 DEF: 2500 LV: 8

"When Basiliskor Tevatron is Ritual Summoned, I can negate the effects of all cards on your field until the End Phase." Zero continued, knowing that things were now officially going back in his favor.

"What?!" Ai exclaimed. Not only was Zero free to attack any of Ai's monsters, it also meant that Dark Templar would lose the attack boost granted to him from Ai Shadow!

"Go, Basiliskor Tevatron! Petrification Glare!" Basiliskor Tevatron's eyes opened wide before releasing a beam of energy from them at Ai's field, which hit Light Dragon, Wind Pegasus, Ai Shadow, Dark Templar, White Liger and Black Djinn. But whereas Dark Templar remained unaffected, Light Dragon, Wind Pegasus, Ai Shadow, White Liger and Black Djinn were surrounded in light-green auras that drained their strength temporarily.

Dark Templar AtIgnister ATK: 3100 – 800 = 2300

"Now let's end this! Battle!" Zero declared. "Basiliskor Tevatron attacks Dark Templar AtIgnister! Recalibration Blast!" Basiliskor Tevatron gathered light-green energy in its mouth before firing it at Dark Templar, who turned into particles upon impact. The explosion also made Ai slightly wince as his life points dropped.

Ai: 2500 – 500 = 2000 LP

"That was a good move, Zero. But since you have no other monsters on your field to attack with, you have no choice but to end your turn." Ai told Zero. "For once my next turn comes around, it's pretty much over for you."

"On the contrary, Ai, this duel's over for you now that Basiliskor Tevatron destroyed your monster." Zero responded. "I activate Basiliskor Tevatron's second effect! Once per turn, when it destroys a monster by battle, I can destroy all other monsters you control, and for each monster destroyed by this effect, you take 1000 points of damage! What's more, Basiliskor Tevatron can attack a second time this turn!"

"Aw, glitch! I didn't see this coming!" Ai admitted, shocked by how he was outmaneuvered by Zero's cards despite having the advantage earlier.

"Since you currently have two monsters on your field, Ai, that means you take 2000 points! End this duel, Basiliskor Tevatron! Crystalline Veil!" Yellow energy from Basiliskor Tevatron's wings shined with bright light before it fired them out at Light Dragon and Wind Pegasus, which caused multiple explosions that turned the both of them into particles. The same explosions made Ai stumble so much that he fell off his duel board, his life points having dropped to zero in the process.

Ai: 2000 – (1000 X 2) = 0

"Wow, Zero. With the strength you have, it's no wonder you were able to easily defeat one of Raguel's data clones. You really are something, that's for sure." Zero's Ai clone stated. "For your sake, you better be a good ally to Playmaker and the others, lest you suffer Watchman's fate." The Ai clone turned into purple data that dissipated completely after delivering the warning to Zero.

Rest assured, Ai. Once this is over, I'll provide you and your ally sanctuary, Zero vowed in his mind, as he turned around to return back to the prism. No matter what, I'll make sure Jericho and Urizen don't get their hands on the both of you. This, I promise!

"Forgive me for interrupting your thoughts, Zero, but I need to inquire about something from you." Pandor spoke up, which snapped Zero out of his thoughts as he turned to her. "Earlier, when I first entered into your duel disk, you could have reprogrammed me to do your bidding. Yet the only thing you've done was prevent me from accessing your deck and the data inside it. You allowed me to listen in on the conversation so I can learn about what's going on. Why?"

"To show you that my offer of assistance was genuine and selfless, as well as fully emphasize how much of a threat the Crisis is if it isn't stopped in time." Zero simply answered. "Let me ask you a question in return, Pandor. The Knights of Hanoi created you to destroy the Ignis and protect mankind from threats in the network, yes?"

"That is the purpose of my creation, yes. For by doing so, I would help protect mankind and keep it safe, thus fulfilling Revolver's directive."

Zero frowned. "Directive? Is that why you believe in the thoughts you have right now, Pandor? For an AI with free will, you could be so much more."

"What is that supposed to mean, Zero?" Pandor inquired, now curious on what Zero said just now.

"It means you haven't found your own reason on why you wish to protect mankind. Revolver simply gave it to you as a part of your directive." Zero explained, which made Pandor put a hand to her chin as she thought this over.

"And what is your reason for fighting to protect humanity, then? From the conversation you had with Ai, you didn't return until now because you were fighting a war against someone in the dark net. What reason made you come back?"

"Simple. The war is coming here, and I want to make sure this planet is prepared for it. By doing so, I can help protect humans and ensure it continues to prosper through collaboration with one another than at the commands of a forceful power." Not just that, but to make amends for my failures and assist in preventing history from repeating itself. Not after what SOL Technologies and Albinor Inc.'s actions together caused, Zero thought in his mind.

"Ah. So that's what the explosion was earlier," a voice interjected out of nowhere, which made Zero turn around upon seeing Raguel catch up to him. Not just that, but end the conversation between him and Pandor as well. "I assumed you were dueling against the real Ai and managed to defeat him."

"I'm afraid not, Raguel. It was just an Ai clone. One that gave me quite the challenge." Zero acknowledged, as Raguel followed after him, the duo intent on returning to the prism so they can assist the others in protecting Akira.

Raguel frowned. "You and me both. I had trouble against an Ai clone myself, especially since my deck's been damaged."

"Damaged, huh?" Zero narrowed his eyes as he thought things over. Based on this information, it seemed that Raguel had to resort to a different strategy to defeat his Ai clone, and as a result, had trouble against him. As such, both Raguel and the 'Cyreath' deck needed to reconcile with one another if they were to fight together again as allies.

"Something on your mind, Zero?" Raguel asked, which snapped Zero out of his thoughts.

"It's nothing, Raguel. Nothing." Zero answered, as the duo continued to head over to the prism, the conversation now over.

Several minutes later, in the pyramid structure…

Ai and Roboppy landed their duel boards inside the center of the pyramid structure before hopping off of them and onto the ground, having reached their target as they looked around the area. As per Ai's analysis, Akira, Blue Maiden and Aerith were supposed to be here. Yet for some reason, they weren't. Was the trio planning a surprise attack or something? If so, then it'd be a futile attempt, especially given how Ai would detect it from a mile away.

"Uh, master, area you sure we're in the right place?" Roboppy asked Ai.

"Yes I am, Roboppy. But I kind of expected this." Ai responded.

Roboppy turned his head to Ai after hearing that comment. "Do you think they got scared and logged out?"

"Maybe, but I really don't believe that's the case. There are more places to hide out in the network than there are out in the real world." Before Ai could continue speaking, a notification popped out of his duel disk, which made him press a button in order to see what was going on.

"Hey, best buddies! I got some good news to share!" Jericho greeted Ai and Roboppy through a digital hologram of his image, which startled the duo and made them tense up.

"We're not best buddies, Jericho. What do you want?" Ai inquired.

Jericho pouted upon seeing the scowl on Ai's face. "Is that a way to speak with your comrade, Ai? The reason I called was because I managed to track Zaizen and the others in the real world."

"The real world?" Roboppy repeated.

"Yes! I found Zaizen's location in the real world, and apparently, he logged into the network from there." Jericho explained. "He certainly taken precautions after what happened to the higherups, don't you think, guys?"

"If what you're saying is true, Jericho, then…" Ai began speaking, before he gasped. His eyes glowed for a second before dimming down. "Interesting. I didn't expect Zaizen to take to the skies like that."

"I also have some information to share with you. Here!" Ai and Roboppy's duel disks beeped as a notification appeared in them, which showed the following:

YVOT100419

"This is the plane number for Zaizen's plane. I also acquired some spare Soltis units and an extra jet for the both of you to use so you can track them down." Jericho stated.

"Hooray! Now we can hunt down Zaizen in the real world!" Roboppy cheered.

"Why are you doing this for us, Jericho? If anything, you're only helping us out for a selfish reason." Ai firmly pointed out, knowing far better than to trust the enemy, especially when they had gifts to assist in a goal.

Jericho frowned as he crossed his arms. "Hey, do you want to find Zaizen or not? He and his allies are getting away as we speak. I also believe Playmaker and his buddies are also coming to stop you from escaping. So if I were you, I'd get scrambling before the both of you lose the element of surprise." The digital hologram of Jericho disappeared seconds later.

"We better get moving, master. I sense them coming." Roboppy urged caution to Ai.

"Indeed, Roboppy. It looks like we have no choice here." Ai reluctantly agreed, as he and Roboppy quickly logged out of the network temporarily. Upon doing so, Playmaker, Revolver, Soulburner and Slipstream shot into the central area of the pyramid structure.

"What gives? No one's here." Soulburner noticed, as he, Playmaker, Revolver and Slipstream jumped off their duel boards before landing on the ground.

"It's empty. Did they vanish into thin air or something?" Slipstream inquired. But before anyone else could talk, three more people zoomed in on their duel boards, having jumped down to join the trio.

"It's Demeter, Percival and Electrolyzer." Playmaker noted, as he saw the newcomers.

"Are you alright, Demeter?" Revolver asked.

"I'm fine, Revolver. Thank you for asking." Demeter responded. "The other Knights of Hanoi, though..."

Revolver frowned, knowing what Demeter was about to say. "They will be avenged once the Dark Ignis and his ally are disposed of for good."

"Ai's clones managed to get the jump on us, but we were able to get rid of them." Percival said assuredly to Playmaker, who nodded back in confirmation. He knew how strong of a duelist Percival was, especially given how the latter was able to nearly defeat Lightning in a duel several weeks ago.

"The threat isn't over, though. It's likely that Ai and his ally retreated, which means we need to find their whereabouts if we're to put a stop to their plans." Electrolyzer pointed out.

"Hey, guys! Sorry we're late!" Raguel called out, as the group turned to see him and Zero appear before they jumped off of their duel boards and land on the ground. "It's just us now, isn't it?"

"It looks like it is, Raguel." Zero confirmed.

"Sorry to interrupt, guys, but what happened to Zaizen, Blue Maiden and Aerith?" Soulburner spoke up, which got Revolver's attention.

"Zaizen, Blue Maiden and Aerith were never here to begin with, Soulburner." Revolver answered Soulburner's question, which surprised the others.

"What are you talking about, Revolver? They were here the moment Ai launched his attack." Slipstream commented, before something crossed his mind. "Unless-!"

"They were transmitting from a different location by using digital holograms, Slipstream. A security measure to make sure no one could attack them in the network."

Raguel crossed his arms, knowing what Revolver was talking about. "Earlier tonight, Zaizen went with Blue Maiden and Aerith to a secret location, Slipstream. I watched them head out before we gathered here for the battle."

"After what happened to Queen and Pawn, it makes sense what Zaizen did. He'd want to make sure Ai wouldn't be able to get to him." Electrolyzer said, recalling what Akira said to him about Queen and Pawn being attacked by Ai and Roboppy. Though I do wonder how Akira planned on keeping him safe, especially given how Ai was able to attack Queen and Pawn despite being on a ship out in the sea, Electrolyzer thought in his mind.

"But where are the real Zaizen, Blue Maiden and Aerith?" Zero questioned, wanting to get the answer. He promised to help Akira back then, and he'd make sure that oath was fulfilled.

Revolver turned to Zero and everyone else before answering that question. "An airplane 12,000 metres above Den City."

"You mean an airplane." Playmaker figured out, before he shared a glance with Soulburner, Slipstream and Raguel. All four of them had uncertain looks evident on their faces.

"Zaizen spoke with Revolver and I a while back in creating a plan to protect him in the real world." Demeter stated. "There are no Soltis units on the plane, and Revolver also created a special algorithm to cut Zaizen off of all other networks so Ai can't digitally infiltrate the aircraft."

"And in the event the Dark Ignis manages to do so, let's just say he'll get a very nasty surprise for pulling off such a cowardly attempt." Revolver finished. "Long story short, there's no place that's more secure than 12,000 metres above Den City. Demeter and I made sure of that."

"Therefore, the only way for Ai to get to Zaizen, Blue Maiden and Aerith is to board the airplane itself." Raguel commented.

"Very clever, Revolver." Electrolyzer commented, having acknowledged Revolver's thorough insight.

"But if Ai was able to infiltrate a Soltis several days ago, there are still things he can do to try and find Zaizen." Percival told everyone present, which got their attention as they all frowned, knowing that he made a point.

"Even if that were the case, Percival, it'd take the Dark Ignis too much time to find Zaizen's location. Like I said, I made sure of that." Revolver responded.

"Well, I'm not taking any chances, Revolver." Zero interrupted, as coordinates containing the plane number, network location and flight path suddenly appeared on his duel disk before logging out of the server, much to everyone's surprise.

"Impossible…" Demeter muttered.

"How did he get the codes like that?!" Revolver questioned, shocked that Zero was able to obtain the codes that quickly without any trouble whatsoever.

"Zero must have figured out that something worse is going on behind the scenes of Ai's attack, which was why he acted so quickly just now." Raguel realized. And if it was truly the case, then this battle was about to get harder not just for Raguel, but for everyone else as well.

Elsewhere, in the real world…

A small two-person plane broke the cloud cover beneath the aircraft. In the front seat, Ai smirked. Right ahead was Akira's plane, which was being escorted by three fighter jets to ensure that the trip was as secure as possible. "We found you, Zaizen."

"Yeah! Let's go kick some asses!" Roboppy exclaimed. "Do you think I'll get a chance to use the other cool moves you taught me, master? Like the Galick Gun or Masenko?"

Ai rolled his eyes. "We can't use that move or any other Ki-based attacks because it'd risk destroying the plane and the fighter jets, Roboppy. But if we're careful, then we could use the other moves I taught you. I heard there's one you really liked, right?"

"Yeah! Rock, Scissors 'N' Paper!" Roboppy made the three gestures with his hands, ready to use them against any security that was on Akira's plane.

If Ai and Roboppy were quick, then they'd be able to defeat Akira, Blue Maiden and Aerith before getting Akira's half of the Code Key. This way, he would be pleased that the duo upheld their end of the bargain.

This way, humanity would eventually be safe from the threat he and his father posed against them.

This way, what Ai saw in the simulations would never come to pass.

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. A third split screen appears next, showing Go Onizuka having fun with the kids at the Den City Orphanage with Kenmochi and Yoroizaka, while Brion issues directions as he collaborates with the people in Central Japan so they can work together in rebuilding their home.

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

Ai:

Kachikachi AtIgnister (LV: 3/Cyberse/Light/ATK: 1000/DEF: 700)

Effect: If you control no monsters, or you control an 'AtIgnister' monster: You can Special Summon this card from your hand to your field. You can only use this effect of 'Kachikachi AtIgnister' once per turn. An 'AtIgnister' Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz or Link monster that uses this card as material gains the following effect:

When your opponent activates a card effect (Quick Effect): You can negate the effect, and if you do, banish it, and if you do that, you can have this card become unaffected by your opponent's card effects for the rest of this turn. You can only use this effect of 'Kachikachi AtIgnister' once per turn.

Kosokoso AtIgnister (LV: 4/Cyberse/Dark/ATK: 1500/DEF: 0)

Effect: If you control no monsters, or you control an 'AtIgnister' monster: You can Special Summon this card from your hand to your field. You can only use this effect of 'Kosokoso AtIgnister' once per turn. An 'AtIgnister' Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz or Link monster that uses this card as material gains the following effect:

If this card battles a monster your opponent controls (Quick Effect): You can place one 'AtIgnister' counter on that monster. While a monster your opponent controls has an 'AtIgnister' counter on it, its ATK and DEF is reduced to 0, also, its effects are negated. You can only use this effect of 'Kosokoso AtIgnister' once per turn.

White Liger AtIgnister (LV: 7/Cyberse/Light/Pendulum/ATK: 2300/DEF: 2300/ Scale: 0)

Pendulum Effect: If you have no monsters in your Main Monster Zones and you would perform a Pendulum Summon: You can Pendulum Summon 'AtIgnister' monsters from your GY whose original levels are between your set Pendulum scales. You can target 1 'AtIgnister' monster you control; until the End Phase, it gains ATK equal to the combined original ATK of all other 'AtIgnister' monsters you control. You can only use each effect of 'White Liger AtIgnister' once per turn.

Effect: You can target 1 'AtIgnister' monster you control; it is unaffected by your opponent's card effects for the rest of this turn. If an 'AtIgnister' monster you control would leave the field by battle or card effect, you can send this card to your GY instead. You can only use each effect of 'White Liger AtIgnister' once per turn.

Black Djinn AtIgnister (LV: 7/Cyberse/Dark/Pendulum/ATK: 2300/DEF: 2300/ Scale: 9)

Pendulum Effect: If you have no monsters in your Main Monster Zones and you would perform a Pendulum Summon: You can Pendulum Summon 'AtIgnister' monsters from your GY whose original levels are between your set Pendulum scales. You can target 1 'AtIgnister' monster you control; return it to your hand, and if you do, all monsters your opponent controls lose ATK equal to the original ATK of the monster returned to your hand by this effect until the End Phase. You can only use each effect of 'Black Djinn AtIgnister' once per turn.

Effect: You can target 1 'AtIgnister' monster you control; this turn, the targeted monster's number of attacks are up to the number of 'AtIgnister' monsters you control with different names other than the monster targeted by this effect. If an 'AtIgnister' monster you control would leave the field by battle or card effect, you can send this card to your GY instead. You can only use each effect of 'Black Djinn AtIgnister' once per turn.

Ai Choose You (Normal Spell card)

Effect: When this card is activated: You can Special Summon 1 'AtIgnister' monster from your deck or GY to your field. If this card is in your GY, except the turn it was sent there: You can banish this card from your GY; add 1 'AtIgnister' monster from your deck or GY to your hand. You can only use each effect of 'Ai Choose You' once per turn.

Ai's Pendulum (Normal Spell card)

Effect: When this card is activated: You can take 2 'AtIgnister' Pendulum monsters from your deck or Graveyard; place them in your Pendulum Zones. If this card is in your GY, except the turn it was sent there: You can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon up to two 'AtIgnister' monster from your GY to your field, but negate their effects, also, they can't attack until the End Phase. You can only use each effect of 'Ai's Pendulum' once per turn.

Raguel:

Cyreath Moray (LV: 5/Cyberse/Earth/ATK: 1400/DEF: 2600)

Effect: FLIP: You can destroy Spell and/or Trap cards your opponent controls to their GY up to the number of 'Cyreath' monsters on your field, and if you do, inflict 500 damage to your opponent for each card sent to the GY by this effect. You can only use this effect of 'Cyreath Moray' once per turn.

If you control a 'Cyreath' monster with a different name: You can Special Summon this card from your hand to your field. During your Main Phase: You can target 1 card your opponent controls; negate its effects until the End Phase. If the targeted card was face-down: Your opponent cannot activate that card until the End Phase. You can only use each effect of 'Cyreath Moray' once per turn.

Cyreath Tunnelling (Normal Trap card)

Effect: If you control a 'Cyreath' Link monster: You can target 1 Set 'Cyreath' monster you control; change it to face-up attack position. Then, if you control a Link 3 or higher 'Cyreath' monster: You can Special Summon 1 'Cyreath' monster from your deck or GY in either face-up attack position or face-down defense position. If this card is in your GY, except the turn it was sent there: You can banish this card from your GY and target 1 'Cyreath' monster you control; this turn, it can attack your opponent directly. You can only use each effect of 'Cyreath Tunnelling' once per turn.

Zero:

Decatron (LV: 1/Cyberse/Light/ATK: 0/DEF: 0)

Effect: If you control a Light Cyberse monster: You can Special Summon this card from your hand to your field. You can shuffle 1 Light Cyberse monster from your GY or banished zone back into your deck; add 1 'Provident Ascension' from your deck to your hand. Then, if you shuffled a Light Cyberse Link monster or a Level 7 or higher Light Cyberse monster by this effect, you can add 1 Light Cyberse Ritual monster from your deck to your hand. You can only use each effect of 'Decatron' once per turn.

Peacock Picotron (LV: 5/Cyberse/Light/ATK: 1600/DEF: 100)

Effect: When your opponent declares an attack with a monster they control: You can Special Summon this card from your hand to your field in defense position, and if you do, you can have this card gain DEF equal to that monster's ATK, and if you do that, change the attack target to it. This turn, your opponent's monsters must attack this card, if able. If this card is used for the Link Summon of a LIGHT Cyberse Link monster: You can add 1 Spell or Trap card from your deck to your hand. You can only use each effect of 'Peacock Picotron' once per turn.

Seedcoltron Brusselun (LV: 7/Cyberse/Light/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1600)

Effect: When this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can send one card from the top of your deck for each LIGHT Cyberse monster you control, and if you do, your opponent sends cards from the top of their deck to their GY up to the number of LIGHT Cyberse monsters sent to your GY by this effect. If this card is used for the Link Summon of a LIGHT Cyberse Link monster: You can target one LIGHT Cyberse monster in your GY, except this card; gain LP equal to its ATK or DEF (whichever is higher). You can only use each effect of 'Seedcoltron Brusseln' once per turn.

Attrashoot Hydron (LV: 8/Cyberse/Light/ATK: 2500/DEF: 0)

Effect: When this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can shuffle up to 5 Light Cyberse monsters from your GY or banished zone back to your deck and/or Extra Deck, and if you do, your opponent takes 400 damage for each Light Cyberse monster shuffled back into your deck and/or Extra Deck by this effect, and if you do that, you can have this card gain 400 ATK for each Light Cyberse monster shuffled back into your deck and/or Extra Deck by this effect. If this card is used for the Link Summon of a LIGHT Cyberse Link monster: You can activate 1 Spell or Trap card directly from your deck. You can only use each effect of 'Attrashoot Hydron' once per turn.

Basiliskor Tevatron (LV: 8/Cyberse/Ritual/Light/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2500)

Effect: You can Ritual Summon this card using 'Provident Ascension'. If this card is Ritual Summoned: You can negate the effects of all cards your opponent controls until the End Phase. If this card destroys a monster by battle: You can destroy all other monsters your opponent controls, and if you do, your opponent takes 1000 damage for each monster destroyed by this card effect, and if you do that, this card can make a second attack during each Battle Phase this turn. You can only use each effect of 'Basiliskor Tevatron' once per turn. While you control this card: Your opponent must pay 500 life points to activate card effects.

Provident Ascension (Ritual Spell card)

Effect: This card can be used to Ritual Summon any Light Cyberse Ritual monster. You must also tribute Light Cyberse monsters from your hand or field whose total Levels equal or exceed the Level of the Ritual Monster you Ritual Summon. Ifyour opponent controls a monster that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck: You can also use Light Cyberse monsters in your GY by shuffling them into your deck. If this card is in your GY, except the turn it was sent there: You can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon up to 2 non-Link Light Cyberse monsters from your GY to your field. You can only use this effect of 'Provident Ascension' once per turn.

Quantum Providence (Normal Trap card)

Effect: If a Light Cyberse monster you control leaves the field by battle or card effect: You can send cards your opponent controls to their GY up to the number of Light Cyberse monsters on your field. If this card is in your GY, except the turn it was sent there: You can banish this card, and if you do, draw 2 cards, then take 2 cards from your GY and place them at the bottom of your deck in any order. You can only use each effect of 'Quantum Providence' once per turn.

Provident Dominion (Continuous-Trap card)

Effect: While this card is on your field: Light Cyberse monsters you control cannot be targeted by card effects, also, they can't be destroyed by battle or card effects. During either player's turn (Quick Effect): You can send 1 Light Cyberse monster you control to your GY; Special Summon 1 Light Cyberse monster from your deck or GY to your field. If this card is in your GY, except the turn it was sent there: You can banish this card from your GY and target 1 Light Cyberse monster you control; this turn, it is unaffected by your opponent's card effects. You can only use each effect of 'Provident Dominion' once per turn.

QOTC

Which duel did you like best seeing Ai in? What's your favorite Ai moment so far in the story?

Chapter Preview

Next time on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Obscured Truth. Chapter 109: War on SOL: Part Six. Ai and Roboppy have defied expectations once again as the duo succeed in breaching the plane high in the sky. With little choice left, Aerith proceeds to make one last stand against Ai's plans as she faces off against Roboppy to protect Aoi and Akira while Ai battles against Pandor, who is Revolver's last line of defense. As the duels reach a close, Jericho makes his own move to ensure that things remain according to plan…

Author's Notes

Just like with last year's anniversary chapter, a lot has happened here. I want to thank you all for waiting for this chapter to be released, as it was one where quality was important. I also hope you enjoyed the chapter overall, as the heroes managed to get some victories under their belts. As such, a small recap is needed here:

Like with the previous chapter, not much is going on here aside from the nine duels because of anime events also happening at the same time. The first three duels I'll talk about are the Ai clones vs Playmaker, Soulburner and Revolver. In the anime, it didn't show any of them at all aside from the first turn and the final attack, which was a great disservice to each of them. So it was only fitting for the duels to be shown, even if they were short.

The next duel I'll talk about is the Ai clone vs Slipstream duel, where the latter easily manages to defeat the former for a simple reason: Slipstream's deck doesn't have that many Link monsters. And besides, the 'Speedroid' deck, unlike the other heroes' decks, focuses primarily on Synchro Summoning. As a result, Slipstream was able to get past the Ai clone's formation and defeat him. I will say something else though: Since some of you love to make fun of Slipstream's name so much, I figured it'd be funny for Ai to do so himself, which angered the former obviously. Thus revealing another similarity between Slipstream and Windy in the process, where they both sometimes have short tempers. Following the duel, Slipstream basically tells Roxy about a banana-haired teenager (who we all know) his great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather knew whose name was made fun of by many people. For those of you who are thinking whether Slipstream's the descendent of this banana-haired teenager, rest assured when I say he is not. And did Slipstream end up breaking the fourth wall during his rant? I'll just confirm that he did, but unintentionally. After the rant, Slipstream demands Roxy to never tell Brea that his avatar name was made fun of multiple times, or else she'll join in on making fun of his avatar name. This is something he does not want at all.

The next duel I'll talk about is the Ai clone vs Raguel. Unlike the other duelists, who managed to defeat their Ai clones quickly, Raguel actually had a tougher time because his deck was crippled following the events from several chapters ago. This is in part due to Raguel reconciling with the 'Cyreath' monsters, as they need to recuperate their strength. As a result, Raguel ends up utilizing a new technique for the 'Cyreath' deck, which is Flip Summoning. The last time Raguel used Flip Summoning was when he, or his data clone in this case, dueled against Lord Kazuma, which caught the latter off guard a few times. Will Raguel use Flip Summoning in the future along with the other strategies of the 'Cyreath' deck? The answer is yes.

In response to Raguel's Flip summoning, Ai also uses two new 'AtIgnister' monsters, which are Kachikachi and Kosokoso AtIgnister to fight back. For those of you who are wondering, their appearances are partially based off of Progleo and Malf. During the duel, Ai not only scolds Raguel for his past actions, but also for hurting the 'Cyreath' deck as well. He even adds that Herald would not be happy with what Raguel has done, especially since the latter created corrupted 'Cyreath' monsters such as Pandora, Teferi and Alastor. Raguel's response to this? He reveals that the reason he created them in the first place was to get revenge on everyone that tore him apart from the inside out. With some examples including Watchman, Azrael and Lightning. Raguel also adds that, while he planned on killing Pandora and Teferi due to his suspicions on the duo, he gave them multiple chances to clear his doubts away. But sadly, due to their failures, Raguel executed the duo. It just goes to show how flawed Raguel is right now, especially since he no longer has the right to judge anyone's actions due to his crimes. Here, Raguel's acknowledging his flawed humanity, along with the admission of being weak and angry. After the conversation, Raguel manages to defeat Ai by baiting him into negating one of his strongest cards before proceeding to break the latter's formation apart through Ignister AiLand's second effect upon being destroyed. So even though Ai was able to protect his field from Raguel's effects, he didn't expect the latter to take advantage of Ignister AiLand's second effect, which led to the former being defeated seconds later.

The next three duels I'll talk about are the Ai clones vs Demeter, Percival and Electrolyzer. Given how the three of them been through Hell for quite a while, it was only fair for the trio to win a duel at least once so far in the story. In Demeter's case, she was able to outmaneuver her Ai clone's strategies by returning the cards on his field back to his hand and Extra Deck before obtaining victory. For Percival, he not only weakened his Ai clone's field by Setting AiAi Wall with Down Burst instead of destroying it, but also used a combination of Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon's effect and Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon's effect to weaken Fire Phoenix AtIgnister before eventually defeating the Ai clone. As for Electrolyzer, of all the nine duelists, he was the only one who broke through Ai's first turn by using PSY-Framegear Delta's effect to immediately negate and destroy AiAi Wall before winning the duel with an enhanced PSY-Framelord Omega.

The last duel I'll talk about is the Ai clone vs Zero, where the former scolds the latter for not being there to help with the many battles that occurred in the network. Some examples including the Tower of Hanoi events, the Turf War, the joint attacks in the network and in the real world, the war in Mirror LINK VRAINS and the Cursed Boundary Layer's appearance. Do note that Ai only heard negative things about Zero, so it's only natural for him to be quite irked upon meeting the latter face to face for the first time. Ai even expresses surprise that Zero would protect the same company that threw him out several years ago, and upon being questioned by it, responds that he can't risk it falling it into worse hands. Ai also asks Zero about what the Crisis is, which leads him to answer that question a few seconds later. Upon learning this information, while Ai's intrigued to hear more, he still points out that had Zero arrived to assist the others during battles going on in the network, something could have been worked out. Following this, Ai says that all the problems so far wouldn't have occurred if SOL Technologies and Albinor Inc. never existed, with Zero responding that another company would have seized the opportunity if that was the case. All in all, Zero certainly regrets not coming back to help sooner, as his appearance would have helped in either reducing casualties or putting a stop to battles quicker so more people can be saved.

I will be honest about this duel: Ai definitely put up a good fight against Zero, as he managed to not only use multiple summoning methods in response to Zero's strategies, but also make a comeback as well. Speaking of summoning methods, Ai utilizes Pendulum Summoning in the duel by using White Liger AtIgnister and Black Djinn AtIgnister, which enables him to Pendulum Summon his 'AtIgnister' monsters from his Graveyard while he has no monsters in the Main Monster Zones. It was his response to losing Ignister AiLand thanks to Zero immediately disposing of that card in the duel. For those of you who are wondering, White Liger's appearance is based off of a combination of Rasterliger and Cyreath Hercules/Alpha Mode while Black Djinn's appearance is based off of a combination between Malf in his final form and Cychaic Janus/Omega mode. We even get to see Ai's Skill, which is called Ignister Party. Once per duel, Ai can not only draw cards depending on the number of 'AtIgnister' monsters he controls, but also activate a series of effects based off of the attributes he has on his field. For this duel, the additional effects Ai used were due to him having a Light and Dark 'AtIgnister' monster on his field. So the maximum additional effects Ai can use from Ignister Party would be five since there's only three monsters in the Main Monster Zones and two Extra Monster Zones on the field.

Zero responded to Ai's moves by bringing out the heavier hitters from his main deck, which consist of Seedcoltron Brusselun and Attrashoot Hydron, as well as Ritual Summoning in the Ritual Monster Basiliskor Tevatron. In addition, just like how Raguel did in his duel against Ai, Zero even plays on Ai's wisdom by making him negate the effect of a card that would have affected his field. Despite the challenge the Ai clone posed against Zero, he overcame the obstacles and beat the former in the duel. So far, we've seen Zero use Fusion and Ritual Summoning alongside Link Summoning. Which summoning method do you want to see Zero use next? Synchro? Xyz? Or Pendulum? Let me know your thoughts.

Now some of you might be wondering why Zero didn't reprogram the Pandor that was in his duel disk the moment Revolver transferred him a copy of her back in Chapter 106. If anything, all Zero did was protect his deck and the data that was inside it. Why? It was to show that Zero's offer of assistance was genuine and selfless, as well as fully emphasize how much of a threat the Crisis is if it isn't stopped in time. Unlike Watchman, who used everyone like puppets for his selfish intentions, Zero really wants to help, and is willing to provide the heroes with resources for the battles to come. But for the time being, Zero wants to keep the secrets of his deck and data secret, as he doesn't want it to risk falling into the wrong hands.

Following the duels, the nine remaining duelists gather in the prism, where Revolver reveals where Akira, Blue Maiden and Aerith truly are. Not much going on in this scene, as it's an anime scene. What I will highlight, however, is Zero immediately taking the plane number, network location and flight path from Revolver's possession before logging out of the network to head there. Why? It's because Zero isn't taking any chances, especially after realizing that something else was going on behind the scenes of Ai's attack.

And finally is the last anime scene, with Ai and Roboppy having found not only Akira's plane, but a small group of fighter jets in the real world before going after them. So expect some aerial combat next chapter.

With everything having been recapped, I want to thank you all for reading Chapter 108 of Obscured Truth. As always, please let me know your thoughts about the chapters below in your reviews. Also, constructive criticism is appreciated, as your tips and advice helps make the story better. In addition, don't forget to favorite and follow the story. That way, you will get a notification once the next chapter is released.

What did you like the most about this chapter? The nine duels? The duel dialogue between Ai and his enemies? Or is there something else?

That's all for now, folks. I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving, everyone! See you all next time!