Yugioh/ML Chapter 10

Back to School

"Breaking news! Today in Link Vrains, a mysterious phenomenon is causing users to become what many are calling the Deleted, where they are rendered unconscious and unable to log out. Sol Technologies assures its customers that a solution is imminent."

As the news feed played on the TV, Marinette paced around the living room, fidgeting. She wanted to help these people, but had no idea where these attacks were coming from, or how to fix it. It helped increase her feelings of helplessness.

"How long will it take to search that data?" Marinette asked Fu, trying to take her mind off of things.

"Unfortunately, there's quite a lump of data here. Even including the fact that now I know to look for Kwami, the best I can give you is a few days, at most." Fu could see the unease in Marinette's heart, and decided to try his best to help. "Here's some friendly advice, before you burn a hole through my floor. If you can't do anything here, try to find some other way you can help."

As Fu had hoped, that caused a spark in Marinette. "Now that you mention it, there was one other lead I was hoping to pursue. If Luka and Juleka are siblings, then I bet I can learn something from her. She should be returning to school next Monday." She walked up to Fu, then hugged him. "Thank you, Master."

"Anytime."

…

In hindsight, Marinette probably should have realized that getting to Juleka would be harder than she thought. With the news that she was Reflekta, as well as her recent visit to the hospital, Juleka was swarmed by fans and plenty of new "longtime friends" as soon as she entered school grounds.

Luckily, Marinette had prepared for that eventuality. She knew Juleka was likely to have joined the school duel club, so she joined beforehand so that no-one would suspect that she was just doing it to get to Juleka. Once Juleka made it to the club's room, the club's president, a tall jock named Kim bravely stood against the crowd.

"Sorry, folks, but this room is members only. If you want to enter, you'll have to sign up and audition." With that, he decisively closed the door, granting the club members some much needed peace.

"Thanks, Kim." Juleka said, dropping her backpack on the ground next to the others. "As if the press weren't bad enough." In the real world, Juleka had long black hair and wore a black turtleneck dress over purple leggings.

"No worries! I gotta ask, though. Why did you join our club, anyway? It's mainly for first-time duelists, like Marinette. I don't think we could teach you anything you don't already know."

"Well, the reason I became Reflekta in the first place was to have a way of expressing myself, without fear of embarrassment. But after a while, it started to feel like a band-aid, a temporary measure. So, I'd hoped that joining you guys would help me break out of my bubble in real life, not just in Link Vrains."

"Ah. Well, we'll try and make this as welcoming a place as we can, right guys?" The rest of the duel club cheered on, and Juleka felt like she could breathe easy.

While the senior club members went to train the rest of the recruits, Marinette decided it was time to initiate her plan. She walked up to Juleka, wearing a mask of nervousness. "Hey, Juleka."

"Hi. Marinette, right?"

Marinette nodded. "I don't suppose you could do me the honor of teaching me how to duel? I already know the basics, but I need some help with strategy. Plus, it'd be an honor to learn from Reflekta herself."

After some deliberation, Juleka nodded. "Yeah, I can give you some pointers. First, do you have a deck?"

Marinette took out her fake deck and handed it to Juleka. After looking through, Juleka had to stifle a groan.

"Oh, boy. We have a lot of work to do. First of all, these fusion monsters don't go in the main deck, they go in the extra deck. Though, I'd recommend taking them out since you don't have their fusion materials, anyway. Second, this deck seems so...unfocused. May I ask what was your process for adding these cards?"

Marinette shrugged. "They looked cool."

"I can appreciate style, but if you want to win, you'll need to build your deck with a clear focus, a basic goal for the deck to win."

"Ah, that makes sense. I brought my other cards with me, in case I needed to fix my deck."

"Sounds good."

Marinette pulled other cards from her backpack, careful not to reveal her duel disk, where Tikki was hiding. "So, which ones should I put in?"

"Well, that depends on you. A duelist's deck should be an expression of their true self, a way of saying 'Hey, this is who I am'. To help with that, why don't I lend you one of my old decks and you can find out who you are?"

For some time, Marinette and Juleka had some practice duels, sitting on the ground using regular cards so it would be easier to fix if the former made a mistake. Meanwhile, Marinette was careful to walk a delicate balance in her act. If she seemed too good at the game, Juleka might wonder how she knew all of this. But if she was too immature, that could also betray her falsehood. After some time, Marinette felt as though Juleka was comfortable enough for the next step of the plan.

"Earlier, you said that a duelist's deck represents who they are. If I could ask, what does your deck represent about you?"

"You mean my Gouki deck? Well, I've had some time to think about that. I guess they represented a mask I wore, where I became a different person. But at the same time, they also represent my passion for this game, my love for fighting."
"What about Ladybug? I heard that you dueled her. What would you say her cards represent?"

Juleka leaned back to look at the ceiling. "I'm honestly not sure. If I had to say, it feels like she's wearing a mask, too, and not just with her costume. She puts on a brave act, standing up against Hanoi, but I think there's someone vulnerable underneath."

Marinette tried her best not to let that get to her and continued her plan. "That fight looked pretty scary, from the archived footage I watched. Especially at the end. Your parents must be worried sick." Marinette herself felt sick saying that, because she knew how Juleka would respond.

"My parents died a while ago. House fire. It's just been my brother and me for a while now."

"Oh. I'm so sorry." For once in the conversation, Marinette spoke the truth.

"It's fine. He takes care of us, even if he worries about me too much. Sometimes it feels like he treats me like I'm made of glass!"

Marinette realized she had to be delicate from now on, as this was clearly a touchy subject. It was time to play a sore spot of her own. "I wouldn't know. I don't have a big brother. The only person I have is Master Fu, one of my dad's friends."

"You lost your parents, too?"

"Yeah. Car crash." Marinette hated that lie, but she knew not to speak out in public. She didn't need another trip to the counselor's office. "It hurts, missing them. Master Fu tries his best, but it's obvious he was never ready to have kids, or raise one as his own. We're living off his retirement money, since he used to work as a mechanical engineer."

"My brother works at this big office up in downtown, for Sol Technologies." Juleka giggled a little. "Luka doesn't like letting anyone know his true feelings, but to tell you the truth?" She leaned in a little closer. "He's been tearing his hair out over the fact Ladybug's escaped him. Twice."

The two both laughed, while inwardly, Marinette had gotten what she wanted. Now she knew that Luka worked here in Den City, so it would provide a rare opportunity later.

At that point, a news feed about the Deleted had started to play on someone's phone. While it was stopped by an angry Kim, who berated them for violating the club's rules against phones, the mood was still sobered across the room.

"Tell me the truth." Marinette asked. "Is Sol Technologies really going to solve this?"

Juleka sighed. "I don't know. Luka puts up a brave face to the cameras, but they're struggling." She looked around, making sure that no-one was listening. "They did figure out a pattern, though. It turns out all the victims have some things in common; they have great dueling skills, they can hack, and they use those older duel disks, the physical ones that you have to actually put the card in to use."

It didn't take Marinette long to connect the dots. "You mean…"

"Yep. Whoever's doing this is going after Ladybug, so it's probably the Knights of Hanoi. But Ladybug is the only one strong enough to fight back, so they can't do anything about it! I wish I could help, but Luka's forbidden me from returning to Link Vrains for now. He even found where I hid my terminal."

In Marinette's backpack, Tikki had been overhearing the entire conversation, and decided to hatch a plan of her own. One that was risky, but if it panned out, would help out everyone.