Chapter 26
Shocking Revelations
"Uuuugh…" Tom moaned as he looked tired.
Tom and Yu were decoding the data they got from the SOL Tech's data vault (though it was given) all day and night alone.
"You look sleepy," Yu said straightforwardly as he didn't look tired at all.
"Easy for you to say, a guy who sleeps during classes most of the times," joked Tom.
"Joke aside, maybe you can take a short rest, Tom," Yu suggested.
Tom yawned. "Yeah, I guess I could do that, but the data…"
"Don't worry about it," he replied. "Take a break."
Tom didn't reply as he was too tired to do so. He laid on the couch and closed his eyes, and second a later, he went into snoozing mode.
"I will help in place of Tom, Master Yu," said Rossy.
"Thanks, Rossy," Yu agreed.
Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS Codes of Secrets-
Few Hours Prior…
Somewhere in Link VRAINS, there was a special private server located and connected to the main server of the Den, the main hub of the Link VRAINS network. That was the server for the strongest 10 Duelists in the Link VRAINS; Charisma Castle or CC0001 for the server's hostname.
It was a huge castle. It was clear white and made up of diamonds. Some diamonds even floated in midair as each of them flickered in multiple colors, such as red, blue, green, orange, purple, and so many more. Surrounding the castle was a tall fort that protected the castle and there was no gate door to allow anyone to enter. The castle was built on a secluded island that wasn't too far from Den City as the city users could see the castle from the shores. It was the most beautiful sight to see, especially during the night. Only the strongest and few Charisma Duelists could access the castle due to special security access.
Due to only a few privileges, usually the population of logged users was few, but this time, it was different.
One of the invited and privileged users logged in. "Wow! Can't believe I'm actually here," Blossom Star awed.
Blossom Star, alias Sakura Aoba, had won her duel against the former Top #10, Doctor Gear. Due to that, she gained a special permission code to access the castle anytime she wanted. This was her first time logging in to Charisma Castle.
Inside the entrance chamber, the floor was made of transparent, smooth crystal, but to make it more welcoming, a long red carpet was laid down on the floor that led up to the stairs, which separated into two fork ways. There were also two hallways, one on each side and some doors.
"This place is just more beautiful than I thought! More so on the inside!" Blossom Star amazed.
"It sure is!" said a voice.
She got spook by the voice when it was revealed by a different avatar user. This user was a male. He looked like sixteen years old, at least in her age group. His hair was silver and slid back as his eyes were the same color. His outfit consisted of dark grey pants and top with a skinny black hoodie that covers his whole top from the bottom of his neck to the fingers of his hands.
"Um, hello," Blossom Star greeted nervously. "Mmmph…my name is…."
"Blossom Star, right?" He asked.
"Um, yes! That's correct, um," she replied.
"Hey, don't be nervous. You're one of us now and congratulations, too!" The mysterious avatar beamed. "The name's Silver Wing…well, that is my username of course."
Blossom Star giggled. "Well, nice to meet you, Silver Wing. I was invited by SOL Tech for something important."
"Same here," Silver Eye remarked. "Most likely, everyone will come soon. They must be waiting at the dining hall. Come on. I'll show you around!"
Silver Eye gave Blossom Star a short tour of the castle, showing her at least the most important rooms and places in the castle. They confronted a tall door, but the door opened by itself, allowing them in.
"Here is the dining hall!" he exclaimed.
When they went inside, Blossom Star noticed a long table of golds with many dishes on the table. They looked so good and smell so good, making her think they're real foods, but not quite sure if they were.
"Oh! By the way!" Silver Eye remembered. "These dishes happened to be real, actually. So, you can eat here anytime and as much as you want."
"Really?!" She gasped. "But, how is that possible? I thought foods cannot be materialized in Link VRAINS."
"Hmf, hmf, hmf, hmf!" They heard a laugh just down the table. They saw the source of the laugh. An older man, who looked around mid-twenty to thirty sat on one of the chairs. He resembled a jester clown due to his choice of clothing; typical jester hat with dual colors (yellow and pink), twisted, purple shoes with bells attached to it, and big, baggy pair of pants. He also had a white makeup with red dots on his cheek and wore red sunglasses.
Why do I have a feeling this guy is based on another character from that anime about pirates? If only I can remember that anime's name!
"The foods are real as ones in the real life. A special compliment from SOL Tech themselves! Well, well, well! Silver Eye, you're already acquainted with the new tenth? Are you trying to impress her, to be your girlfriend?" The man remarked as he laughed.
Blossom Star felt embarrassed as she blushed.
"Hey! That's not what it looks like, Mr. #2!" Silver Eye hissed.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Take a joke, kid," he replied before he looked at Blossom Star specifically. "Blossom Star, welcome to the Charisma Castle! You're most likely heard of me but allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Joker!"
"Um, nice to meet you," she replied nervously. 'I expected that I would meet the other Top 9 duelists but being with them here in the same room feels a bit…intimidating.'
"Over to the other side is my compadre, Count D. Dracule, Top #3!" He introduced her to another man who sat on the other side of the table from Joker.
This man wore a long, open black coat with upper sleeves that point upward as the inside was a red color. His hair was black with two silver bangs mixed with his hair. He wore a white cloth that barely shows his chest and pair of black pants, and steampunk-style black boots with spikes at each side, and crucifix for the design on the front sides.
The count moved his yellow, monster-like eyes at the newcomer, scaring her a bit when she noticed.
"Do not fear the Count, Blossom Star." She then looked at another person who sat near her. The person who spoke was a young lady in white and gold armor, making her looked like a knight. Her hair was short and caramel color and bright, blue eyes.
"I'm Jaune Arc, the 7th Top Charisma Duelist," she introduced.
"Mmmf, mmf, mmf! Of course, we shouldn't forget the bottom-half!" Joker teased.
Jaune Arc shot an eye at him. "You insolent clown! How many times do I have to tell you that we're just as strong as you Top 3!"
Joker just laughed in response. "Strong? As for us three in the Tops? I think otherwise."
"I can prove it to you anytime, Joker!" Jaune Arc got up from her seat as Joker responded by getting up from his seat.
"Oh, silly Jaune Arc." A calm female voice stopped and prevented them from fighting. "Even if you try now, I can already see your future and that…you will lose very easily."
Sitting next to Joker was a woman in dark blue clothing and hood that covered her hair and most of her head, except only revealing her bright purple eyes and tanned face. The design of her clothes had stars and galaxies. She also wore a small golden necklace, which oddly looked like Millennium necklace.
"Mmf, mmf, mmf! Miss Number 4 is right," Joker remarked. "It would be pointless for you to duel me now…or EVER!"
Joker laughed as his laugh echoed the dinner hall. Jaune Arc felt angry, so angry that she wanted to prove them wrong.
"Relax, Jaune Arc. This is no time to fight," said another female voice.
"Oh!" Blossom Star noticed the person's voice. The voice belonged another girl who looked a bit older or younger. She couldn't tell, but her look was something she can recognize. She wore a blue and white dress with icy-like edges, matching well with her smooth, white skin. Her white hair swirled like a tornado, and snowflake-shaped earpieces twinkled. Her eyes were whitest blue color, making her look like she is a ghost.
'Top #4, Miss Arcana and Top# 5 Princess Ice. Along with Jaune Arc and Top #8, they are the strongest female Charisma Duelists in the entire Link VRAINS!' Blossom Star thought excitedly.
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen!" Everyone looked away at another door. Another user had just entered. This one was a male figure in what appeared to be a dark-colored cybernetic soldier outfit. On his left eye was a red goggle that reminded me of the scanner from DBZ. His hair was a green color, and he looked around 17 to 18 years old.
The male figure looked at Blossom Star and widened his eyes a little, showing his interest in her.
"Ah, what a beautiful newcomer!" He exclaimed. "Welcome to Charisma Castle, dear. I'm Captain Rex, as you probably already guess."
He approached over her and took his hand and gave a slight kiss. She felt a bit creep out, so she moved her hand as quickly as possible.
"And the most nuisance one arrived," Joker said in a disappointed tone.
"Sorry I am late everyone. You know how busy I am in real life," Capt. Rex said as he sat down in his chair.
Blossom Star, as she was the new Top #10, sat on the chair at the short end of the table. There were only two seats empty.
"It seems that these are the only ones who came tonight," Count Dracule stated.
"Good evening, everyone!" They all turned to the direction of the voice when suddenly, Kigen appeared.
"So, you're the one who invited us?" Miss Arcana questioned.
"That's correct, Miss Arcana," Kigen replied. "But, I can see that not all of you are present."
"Sorry, pal, but Top #8 and #1 are off doing something else. Not sure about #8, but don't care. The honcho, Mr. #1 is always busy," said Joker.
"I understand," Kigen nodded. "Very well. We'll begin the meeting."
"So, why are we all here?" Silver Eye asked. "It's sort of rare to have all…well, almost all of the Top Charisma Duelists to be in one place."
"All questions will be answered, Mr. Silver Eye," Kigen said. "Allow me to properly introduce myself first. My name is Wirisu Kigen, a manager of the SOL Tech's R&D department."
"SOL Tech?" Jaune Arc repeated. "Why would the SOL Tech invite us?"
"Just as I predicted it," Miss Fortunate said earnestly.
"Not to rush or anything, but I'm kind of a busy guy, so let just get to the point already," Capt. Rex declared rudely.
"Excellent point!" Kigen agreed. "I like a person who wants to gostraight to the point. You see, to explain briefly, my superiors at SOL Tech invite you Top Charisma Duelist for your needs."
"Our needs? In other words, you SOL Tech guys need our help?" Silver Eye asked.
"That's correct," Kigen replied as just then, a giant holographic screen appeared behind him as he stood on the side next to it. "As you all know, there is the rise of a mysterious incident that the social media's buzzing about, which we dub it as 'Another Incident'. It's been occurring recently, and we believe that the Knights of Hanoi are behind this. For that, my superiors decided to assemble all of you currently present to set aside your competitive natures and join forces."
"Mmf, mmf, mmf, mmmmf!" Joker chuckled. "In other words, you want us to work together? What's next? Our team should be called 'The Avengers' or 'Justice League'?"
"Hey, Joker! This is not funny!" Jaune Arc scolded. "This is a serious matter!"
"Indeed it is…" Everyone went silent when suddenly, a giant holographic cheese piece appeared.
"Ah, King-sama, you've just arrived at a perfectly appropriate time, sir!" Kigen greeted as he bowed down.
"The King…" Blossom Star whispered under her mouth.
"I'm very proud that most of you could make it here tonight…" King spoke in a strict elderly male voice. "Just as Kigen here said to you all, we assembled you all to do a collaboration to fight the very threats that danger Link VRAINS and the real world."
"Well, well, well! If the big man himself is present in front of us, there's no way we can deny such request from a humble, honorable figure like yourself, King," Joker said.
"It's a …an honor to meet you, Joker," King said strictly. "And, also an honor to meet rest of you as well."
"If I may speak, sir." Miss Arcana spoke up. "What's the purpose of this collaboration?"
"Kigen," King stated.
"Yes, sir," he responded. "Continuing from what I said and to answer your question, Miss Arcana, you're all the public faces of Link VRAINS. Many people in and out of Link VRAINS look up to all of you. By uniting all ten of you together, it would help the morale for other VRAINS users, duelists and non-duelists alike, and pose a powerful threat to the Hanoi, telling them to beware of your combined strength."
"I see," she responded as she nodded. "However, my card states that there is more to that."
He chuckled back. "You're very sharp, Miss Fortunate. Yes, there are more reasons why we assembled you all. Recently, couple unauthorized users infiltrated SOL Tech's databank, and although, we won't give full detail about the infiltration itself, we identified the intruders to be…"
Suddenly, the smaller screen appeared in front of each Charisma Duelist automatically, showing them the intruders' identities.
"Playmaker, Blue Angel, Cyber Man, and Codebreaker!" Kigen announced.
All the Top Charisma Duelists looked surprised, especially one of their members or rather former members were among the identified intruders.
"What!? Blue Angel invaded SOL Tech!? How could that be?" Blossom Star shouted.
Everyone looked at her silently, making her feel very embarrassed.
"Um, sorry…" She apologized as she quickly sat back down.
"As you were saying…" Ice Princess spoke.
"Yes, I can understand all of you are most likely surprised right now, but what you see is not modified or anything. What you see is a real image captured by our security team. It seems that Blue Angel, one of your former members in your rank, was in collaboration with one of the other intruders, Cyber Man, a recent upcoming Charisma Duelist who's been gaining a quite of followers recently, but as for Playmaker and Codebreaker, they invaded for their own purpose. There were two other intruders, but we cannot give details about them as they're not too important for you all to deal with."
"I see. So, you want us to deal with these four then?" Count Dracule questioned.
"Exactly," King replied. "Not only just to fight the Hanoi, but if any of you encounter one of these intruders, arrest them and bring them to us. If any of you do, you would be awarded very handsomely."
King logged out quickly.
"Well, that pretty much covers the meeting. Thank you all for taking your time and coming here," Kigen said. "And of course, we'll be counting on you all."
Just then, Kigen logged out right after his last word.
"Well, I guess taking my time coming here wasn't a waste of a night," Count D. Dracule said and then he logged out.
'Award for capturing these four duelists, huh? Well, what a lucky time for me!' Capt. Rex pondered sneakily as he smirked.
"Well, ladies. I'll see you all later." Capt. Rex stated as he logged out, too.
Ice Princess got up from her seat and walked away, logging herself out.
"Mmf, mmf, mmf! Well, this is going to very interesting now," Joker smiled. "How exciting!"
He logged out as quickly as the others did, only leaving Silver Eye, Jaune Arc, and Blossom Star.
"I can't believe it! Blue Angel…and Codebreaker? Invaded SOL Tech? How could this have happened?" Blossom Star said as she laid her face down on the table, disappointed and sad.
"Are you feeling alright, Blossom Star?" She looked up to Jaune Arc.
"Yeah, but I just still couldn't believe all of this and here I thought this would be a welcoming party for me or something," she said.
"I understand how you feel," Silver Eye spoke. "The first time I came here I thought it was a welcoming party for me, too, but it was just something else. However, to be honest with you, I feel excited! Now I can see if what people say about Playmaker and Codebreaker are strong and all."
Blossom Star thought otherwise. 'This whole thing doesn't feel right. I only just want to be famous Charisma Duelist, not a fighter.'
"Cheer up, Blossom Star! As fellow Charisma Duelist, this is our duty, so we must fight," Jaune Arc said determinedly. "However, if you feel afraid, it is fine to back away if you want to. I won't judge if you do. Just give it a thought before you decide."
Blossom Star smiled lightly. "Thank you, Miss Arc."
She gave a friendly grin. "Please. Just call me Jaune."
-Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS Codes of Secrets-
"Yusaku!" Shoichi shook him to wake him up.
"What's wrong, Kusanagi-san?" Yusaku asked as he woke up.
"Eeh…I was just having a good dream," Ai complained.
"Never mind that," he stated. "I finally decoded the data!"
"You mean found out the data about the Hanoi Project?!" Yusaku jumped out of the temporary bed with just a blanket.
"Ho! That didn't take long despite how the big the data was. I'm quite impressed," Ai said.
"Tee hee! What can I say? I don't just cook hot dogs, you know," Kusanagi said proudly.
"So, what did you found out, Kusanagi-san?" Yusaku asked.
"Well, I can't believe it to say this, but I found out the founder and co-founder of the Hanoi Project!" He exclaimed. "The founder's name is Dr. Kogami, and according to the data, he worked on the Hanoi Project with his employees, but the report says he is confirmed dead and all of his employees are unknown for status."
"Then, it's a dead end," Ai said, disappointed.
"Not quite," Kusanagi said. "There is also a co-founder."
"Who's the co-founder?" Yusaku questioned.
He pressed few keys, making the screen to show a picture of a man with dark green hair and spiked-up bangs. He also had sideburns that pointed upward.
"Dr. Yoshinobu Akira, Yu Akira's father…"
"NANI!" Ai gasped. "He's Codebreaker's dad!"
"It can't be! Yu Akira's father is a co-founder of the Hanoi Project!?" Yusaku was very surprised.
"Yeah," Kusanagi responded. "I can't believe my eyes, either, but I decoded all the data, and this is what I got. There's no denying that this is fake. It's all true."
"That means that lazy bone is our enemy!" Ai claimed. "He may have been playing dumb with us all this time, but secretly, he is really a Hanoi spy!"
"Shut up, Ai!" Ai squinted to small size by Yusaku's strict, serious voice. "Don't jump to conclusion! We still don't know that."
"Right," Kusanagi nodded in agreement. "The only way to find out is to get information from him."
"Right," Yusaku agreed. "We may need to keep an eye on him and possibly spy on him."
"Yeah…" Kusanagi looked disappointed.
"Is something wrong, Kusanagi-san?" Yusaku asked with a concern in his voice.
"Oh! Sorry if I look glum. Just that…I feel a bit disappointed that someone who's willing to be your friend for the first time ever may be related to our enemy," he explained.
"…He wasn't even my friend in the first place," he responded.
"That's cold," Ai remarked.
Meanwhile, Yu was still working on decoding the data he got.
"Hmm, what's this?" He pressed some keys, causing the screen to show some codes that looked like a word puzzle.
"It looks like a word puzzle," he said. "Maybe it's a security mechanism of some kind. Rossy!"
"Yes, Master Yu," his robot companion responded.
"Download this part of the code and decipher it," he declared.
"Yes, Master! Right away." A single USB wire came out of her side and then she plugged the wire into the port, making some beeping noise until she finished. "Download completed. Deciphering words now. Calculating time…The calculation of time is unknown. It may take a while. Running the decipher program in background mode."
"Hopefully, it would unlock something that would lead to the Legendary Codes or something about it!" Yu hoped, but then remembered the words that Dark Knight said to him, causing him to look depressed. "Although…I wonder if…."
"Is something wrong, Master Yu?" Rossy asked.
"Ah, nothing! I'm fine," he replied hesitantly.
I am just one the roll!
Hey, guys. This is NewComer1 with another update to my VRAINS story! I just don't know why, but with the first season ending this month or maybe next month, the final master duel has started, and news about the season 2 for the show, revealing new characters just got me on hype that I want to work on this story even more so than my other stories that I want to write.
Anyhow, what do you guys think of the latest episode? For all of you who haven't watch it yet, I would highly recommend it. A lot of things revealed such as Ai's origin (which the title for the episode is called "Origin of Ignis", of course), but I think most of us just wanted to know Revolver's real identity than that, right.
I think the episode was just great and even though the duel just only begun during the last tenth of the episode, I think we're going on a wild ride from here, my friends! The final duel is here, and this chapter marks the start of the final story arc for my VRAINS Codes of Secrets. I will show you a lot of things in this arc, so I hope you will enjoy the ride with me.
Speaking of new stuff, in this chapter, I want to make some mentions. The character, Silver Eye is created by Crow38 and Miss Arcana is made by johannvanguard! Congratulations to you both, but there will be another OC who is made by other user, so the last winner will be announced when that character appears in the future chapter.
With all that said, I hope to see you all again soon and enjoy this preview for the next chapter!
Many obstacles will come in Yu and his friends' way in life. A new student arrives and declares a challenge to Yu for...the heart of his friend, Emoti-chan?!
New student: So, we finally meet Yu Akira, or should I refer to you as your VR avatar, Codebreaker?
Yu: Do I know you somewhere? You look kind of familiar...
New student: Of course, everyone knows me. I am famous, after all. I will say it once, so you can remember it forever in your memories. My name is Kyo Judo, a movie actor and Top Charisma Duelist!
Emoti-chan: I don't care who or what he is, Morse, but just beat him already in the duel!
Yu: Um, OK, Emoti-chan. This is gonna be fun!
Tom (moaning): Just what is going on...?
Next time in Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS Codes of Secrets, the Heart of Duelist!
Codebreaker & Playmaker: INTO THE VRAINS!