Chapter 31

Hero Encouragement

Yu, also nicknamed "Morse", was still being moody and moping alone in his basement room, not going outside. Tom's maids gave him breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day by bringing it to him, but he barely ate any of it and just left some or everything.

Tom was worried. "Hey, Morse."

"Mmmf?" He responded, but he didn't look at him. He had a blanket over him.

"Morse, I know you're… upset, but you've been down here for a few days now," Tom said.

"Mmmf…" He responded.

"Sorry, Mr. Tom," Rossy spoke in her robot form. "I'm afraid that Master Yu can respond at very limited speech level."

"Well, he can't just stay here forever. He has to go outside someday," he stated.

"That may be, but according to my calculation, that is most likely 75.5% highly unlikely. He is clearly 99.99% upset since…his loss in a duel," Rossy said.

Tom sighed. "Yeah, but… everyone loses, sometimes."

"That's true, due to many factors including human error," she said straightforwardly.

"Umm, right," Tom responded as he had a sweat drop. "Anyway, if he stays like this… I don't know what will happen."

"I agree, but I currently do not have the solution and it may be hard until Master Yu resolves it for himself," Rossy said sadly.

Tom thought deeply. 'Poor Yu. That loss in his duel with Dark Knight must have affected him badly. Is there anything I can do for him?'

Tom walked around through his mansion, thinking of a way to make Yu back to his old self. He sat down in the living room and then decided to see what was going on the news today.

"This is Claire from Den-O News!" The popular news anchorwoman greeted with the sort of seldom, yet serious expression. "The threat in LINK VRAINS is still high! Despite the efforts of the Top Charisma Duelists, including Playmaker and Go Onizuka's, eliminating some numbers of Hanoi in the past week, there are still report of casualty caused by the notorious hacker group throughout LINK VRAINS."

"That's just horrible…" He thought aloud as it showed some Hanoi soldiers hurting other duelists and another scene showed Top Charisma Duelists (such as Count D. Dracule and Joker) destroying them.

"It is such a horrible state LINK VRAINS. If you ask me, I just wonder where the heck is Codebreaker?" Claire asked.

Tom tightened his hand into a fist. 'Somebody got to do something about this! …Wait….That's it! I got an idea that can work both problems, for my friend and LINK VRAINS!'

-Codes of Secrets-

"Damn it!" Gemma yelled angrily.

Looks like someone else is upset today.

"Why am I losing soldiers? Have I not train them enough? Just what's wrong with them!? Bloody hell!" She cursed.

Sir Lady stood by, looking stoic and calm. "Calm down, Gemma. Think more clearly at this."

"I am trying to, Sir Lady!" She yelled. "If Master Revolver finds out, I might get demoted or something. Even worse!"

"Having a little management problem with your platoon, Gemma?" They turned around to hear a voice when, suddenly, a man in white outfit and mask appeared.

He was as tall as Revolver but look bit more physically big. His hair was spiky with cyan color and a bit of darker blue shade for the upper layer of his spiky hair that was upward. His eyes were emerald green color, giving a bit of mysterious feel to his aura. His Hanoi outfit consisted of yellow and red lines through it.

"Kronos!" Gemma growled. "What do you want?"

"Just to see what you two lovely ladies are up to? Though it seems to me that you're throwing another round or rather day of a tantrum, Gemma, my old friend," Kronos said as he walked over to them. "Though, I expected much. You weren't good at managing your followers, anyway."

"Hey, you!" Gemma snapped as he grabbed the man by his neck collar.

"Gemma!" Sir Lady gasped.

"Do you want me to end you here, your lazy asshole!" She cursed.

Kronos nodded. "Temper, temper. I wouldn't dream to challenge you, whether or not I win or you win."

Gemma gave him a glaring look until she let him go and then walked away.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sir Lady asked strictly.

"I'm going out to loosen my stress," she replied before she logged out.

Sir Lady turned to Kronos. "You got a lot of nerve, Kronos. How dare you to judge so harshly on your comrade?"

"Comrade or not, you should know better than she hasn't taken care of her soldiers well," he disproved. "If you ask me, she is more or less bullying them, abusing them to the point of overworking."

Sir Lady didn't respond or argue against that.

"You're too obedient and close-minded, Sir Lady," Kronos said. "If you have something to say, just spill it out. No one here to judge you."

Kronos logged out just as he finished his statement. Sir Lady sighed. "Easy for you to say…"

-Codes of Secrets-

Hanoi soldiers continued their rampage and assault in LINK VRAINS. Claire and her cameraman were at the scene, safely filming it from the top of data skyscraper.

"This place is dangerous, Claire," said the cameraman. "We should not really be here. SOL Tech already sent out a warning to every VR users and more and more VR users are signing out."

"That's what makes getting a news juicier, my silly friend," she responded positively. "Besides, we're safe at distance from here."

They looked down where they noticed three Hanoi soldiers threatening a defenseless, young female user.

"Get away from me!" She cried.

The Hanoi soldiers chuckled evilly. "Don't worry. We're not going to hurt you!"

They walked closer and closer as the young lady tried to run away but tripped on her way.

Just then, somebody jumped in between her and the Hanoi. The Hanoi soldiers were surprised.

"Huh? Who the heck are you?" One of them questioned.

"Hey, is that…?" Claire looked. "Hey, point at him!"

The cameraman pointed at the scene, specifically on the mysterious VR user who appeared.

"No evil shall escape my sight!" The mysterious user stated as his identity was hidden in a smoke until it cleared away.

"For I…. Cyber Man is here!" He exclaimed.

"Hello folks, this is Claire from Den-O News and it appears that Cyber Man has returned to LINK VRAINS and he is about to fight against three Hanoi grunts!" Claire stated.

"Cyber Man?! Why the hell are you here!?" The Hanoi with the red mask said.

"I am here to stop you, vile villains!" He responded.

The Hanoi members looked at each other and then laughed a moment later.

"You! Ha! There's three of us and one of you!" The Hanoi soldier with the green mask laughed.

"Yeah! What can you do?" The one with the yellow mask joked.

"If you think you can stop us, let's see if you can, Cyber Dork!" The red-masked Hanoi declared as he and his fellow comrade activated their duel disk.

Cyber Man pulled out his duel disk, activating his too. "Get out, Miss! While you have the chance!"

The female VR user looked in surprise and nodded. She immediately logged out safely.

"Here we go, folks! The one and only, Cyber Man is going to duel three Hanoi Duelists at the same time!" Claire announced strongly.

"DUEL!"

Cyber Man Vs. Three Hanoi Grunts

Cyber Man (5h): 4000 LPs

Red KoH Grunt (5h): 4000 LPs

Green KoH Grunt (5h): 4000 LPs

Yellow KoH Grunt (5h): 4000 LPs

"Hey! Why did we have 'grunt' for a title?!" Yelled the green one.

Because you guys are in the lowest position as possible.

"Not cool, man!" The yellow one complained.

"Never mind that!" The red one snapped. "We got our business to take care of here."

"I shall go first!" Cyber Man began. "First, I normal summon Cipher HERO Speedstar!"

The speedster Cipher HERO appeared. "Then, I set two cards. Turn end."

Cyber Man (2h): 4000 LPs

"That's it? Ha! Pathetic!" The yellow one mocked. "I go next! I draw and play the Spell, Double Summon! This allows me to Normal Summon twice this turn! I summon two Ancient Gear Hunting Hounds!"

The mechanical dog beasts roared and glared at Cyber Man.

"I activate their effect since both were Normal Summoned! You take 1200 points of damage!" Hunting Hound tackled Cyber Man, pushing him hard but he stood firmly.

Cyber Man (2h): 2800

"Open the circuit!" A Link Square appeared in the front in-between the Hanoi grunts and Cyber Man.

"Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition is two Ancient Gear monsters," said the yellow KoH soldier. "I set my two Hunting Hounds to the Link Markers!"

The two mechanical dogs turned into dark green twisters, absorbing into the arrows.

"Link Summon! Rise! Link 2, Ancient Gear Turret Behemoth!"

Mechanical gears and pieces flew out of the Link Square. Those gears and pieces put themselves together, forming into a new mechanical beast. It had a giant gear on its right side, with glowing red eyes, sharp fangs for teeth, and another big gear around its neck, acting as its "mane". It resembled like a lion as it roared thunderously.

Ancient Gear Turret Behemoth-Link 2, EARTH, Machine/Link/Effect, 2000 ATK, Link Arrow: Bottom-Left, Bottom.

"I end my turn and activate Ancient Gear Turret Behemoth's effect!" He continued. "During the End Phase of my turn, you take 200 points of damage for each Ancient Gear monster in my Graveyard! I have two Ancient Gear Hunting Hounds in my Graveyard right now, so you take 400 damages!"

Turret Behemoth spanned its gear, causing a turret gun to appear from its back. It fired a canon at Cyber Man, which hit him barely. He crossed his arm to protect and cover himself.

Yellow KoH Grunt (4h): 4000 LPs

Cyber Man (2h): 2400 LPs

"Oh no! Cyber Man has lost almost half of his Life Points and it is still the second turn of the duel!" Claire cried exaggeratingly.

"My turn now! I draw!" The red KoH started. "I play the Spell Card, Polymerization!"

"Polymerization?!" Cyber Man gasped.

"I fuse my two monsters in my hand; Relinquished and Thousand-Eyes Idol!" The two said monsters appeared and turned into a swirl of blue and red energy.

"Magical Beast with the symbol of the ancient Pharaoh, fuse together with the wizard of thousand eyes and become one! Fusion Summon! Thousand-Eyes Restrict!" The horrifying Fusion with multiple eyes and one big opened mouth with razor-sharp teeth appeared, giving a horrible roar or shriek, making Cyber Man covering his ears. It was summoned next to Turret Behemoth's Link.

"Thousand-Eyes Restrict's effect prevents other monsters from changing its battle position or attack," said the Red KoH grunt. "But, not only that! I can target one monster my opponent controls to equip it to Thousand-Eyes and it gains ATK and DEF equals to that monster! I choose your one and only Cipher HERO Speedstar!"

Thousand-Eyes Restrict used its mouth like a vacuum, sucking anything it sees. Speedstar swallowed into the monster.

"No! Speedstar!" Cyber Man cried.

"With that, you have nothing to defend yourself! I declare Ancient Gear Turret Behemoth to direct attack you!" The Ancient Gear monster moved its wheel, readying its turret cannon to aim at Cyber Man. It then fired a cannon, hitting directly at him, making him blew away and landed on his back.

"Gaaah!" Cyber Man took a blow.

"Cyber Man!" Claire cried. "Folks, Cyber Man got hit! But, hold on a sec! Doesn't Thousand-Eyes Restrict prevent Turret Behemoth to attack? That's cheating!"

"Ancient Gear Turret Behemoth's effect prevents its attack from being affected by another card effect," the red KoH explained aloud as indirectly answered Claire's accusation.

"Ohhh…" She replied.

Cyber Man (2h): 600 LP

"With your monster equipped to Thousand-Eyes Restrict, my Fusion has 1600 ATK. It's just enough to win this duel!" The red KoH exclaimed.

"I guess it was just too easy," said the green KoH grunt.

They laughed hysterically at the injured duelist. However, Cyber Man got up safely.

"No…. It's that easy!" He stated.

They stopped laughing and looked at him.

Just then, the some of the Top 10 Charisma Duelists, Playmaker, Go, Aoi, and Rossy watched the broadcasting news, showing Cyber Man's duel.

"I won't lose…. I won't be defeated here! I have… someone I want to help …." Cyber Man said.

"I will just end you now!" The red KoH declared. "Thousand-Eyes Restrict, finish him off!"

Thousand-Eyes Restrict roared and fired a powerful energy blast out of its millennium eye. The energy blast hit Cyber Man, creating a big explosion that was heard by anyone within a 30-mile radius.

"Cyber Man!" Claire screamed.

Yu, who was just watching the news, gasped as he stood up from his couch bed.

As the smokes cleared, the three KoH grunts noticed something odd. Once the smokes went away, Cyber Man stood still with one new monster on the field.

"What the!? You still have an LP left!" The red KoH gasped.

"How is that even possible?!" The yellow KoH questioned.

"I activated my Trap Card, HERO Rescue!" He showed the Trap Card in his hand, which showed Elemental HERO Burstinatrix rescuing two children stuck in an apartment building on fire.

"When my opponent declares a direct attack that would give me 1000 or more points of damage, I negate that damage and Special Summon one HERO monster from my hand as well as add 1 card from my Deck," he explained. "And the HERO monster I summoned was Elemental HERO Burstinatrix!"

"Curse it!" The red KoH mumbled. "Fine! I end my turn!"

Red KoH Grunt (3h): 4000 LP

"You may have protected yourself, but we still have an advantage in number!" The green KoH grunt yelled. "My turn! Draw!"

"I normal summon Hieratic Dragon of Nuit!" Half humanoid half dragon-like monster appeared on his field with shiny gold armor. "Then, I play the Spell Card, Hieratic Seal of Supremacy!"

The card showed Hieratic Dragon forming in a glorying orange light in the background. "I Special Summon my second Hieratic Dragon of Nuit!"

"Open the circuit!" The Link Square appeared just above them in the sky. "Arrowheads confirmed! The summoning condition is two Dragon monsters! I set my two Hieratic Dragon of Nuit to the Link Markers!"

The two Dragon transformed into two yellow twisters, absorbing into the arrows. "Link Summon! Descend from the heaven! Link 2! Hieratic Seal of the Celestial Spheres!"

Several glowing orbs of Hieratic dragons appeared in the sky, floating above them.

"Are you taking all of this?" Claire asked as she looked amazed.

"Yeah…I am!" The cameraman replied as he was amazed, too.

"Then, I play the Spell Card, Link Position!" The card showed Topologic Bomber Dragon's top link arrow blinking with Borreload Dragon's top arrow. "If my Link Monster is pointed by another Link Monster, I can switch their position! I switch Ancient Gear Turret Behemoth with Hieratic Seal of the Celestial Spheres!"

The two Link Monsters switched their position as the name of the Spell Card said so. "Now, I activate my monster's effect!" He declared. "Once per turn, if it is in the Extra Monster Zone, I can Tribute 1 monster from my hand or field to return 1 face-up card on the field to the hand! I Tribute my Hieratic Dragon of Asar from my hand and then I return your Burstinatrix to your hand!"

Burstinatrix turned into the dust of light as it materialized into its card form in Cyber Man's hand.

"Battle! I declare Hieratic Seal of the Celestial Spheres to attack you directly! This time is the end!" The spheres shot light energy beam from the sky, like a laser beam.

"Not so fast! I activate my Trap Card, Negate Attack!" Cyber Man countered.

"Not that card!" The green KoH grunt gasped.

"Damn him!" The yellow KoH cursed.

"Your battle ended, villains," Cyber Man said. "Is your turn over?"

He looked at him seriously, which spook the grunt a bit.

"Hey! Don't be scared! He is just a single dude!" The red KoH stated.

"You should be feared, villain!" They looked at him. "You should be feared by the might of justice! It's time to end this all…. My turn….I draw!"

Cyber Man slowly looked at the card he drew. "Yes, the spirit of justice called to me!"

'Yu, I hope you're watching this now. I know what I'm doing now and where I am now is too dangerous to be, but this is for you, my friend, to show you that no matter the odd, you should never give up!'

"I play…. the Spell Card, Polymerization!" He raised his arm up, revealing the card as it gave a bit of shine.

"WHAT!?" The three KoH gasped.

"Cyber Man is going to Fusion Summon!" Claire exclaimed.

"I fuse two HERO monsters in my hand; Elemental HERO Avian and the HERO that returned to my hand due to your monster's effect, Elemental HERO Burstinatrix!" He declared as the two said heroes appeared. They both jumped high into the air as they became a fusion whirl of wind and fire.

"Hero of Wind and Hero of Fire join forces together and stand up to the great evil! Bring justice and peace to all! Fusion Summon! Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!"

The legendary Fusion HERO monster appeared in front of everyone, showing off its ferocious, heroic statue.

"Then, I play two more Spell; the Field Spell Skyscraper and the Equip Spell HERO Assault!" Suddenly, the whole ground shook up, making everyone wobble except for Cyber Man who stood firmly. Several skyscrapers rose up from the ground and the full moon illuminated the changed field.

The second Spell Card showed Elemental, Destiny, and Cipher HERO monsters assaulting and attacking at a giant shadowed Kaiju monster at a city.

"Battle!" He continued. "Flame Wingman attacks your monster, starting with Ancient Gear Turret Behemoth and the field Spell, Skyscraper gives him a 1000 ATK boost if the targeted monster has higher ATK than his! But not only that, with the Equip Spell HERO Assault, the equipped HERO monster can make multiple attacks this turn for every face-up monster on my opponent's side of the field plus it gains 500 ATK for every HERO monster in the Graveyard until the end of the Damage Step!"

"Say what!?" The KoH trio gasped horrifically.

"Go beyond! Skydive Torture!" Flame Wingman burst into flame as its ATK rose to 4100. It scorched first Ancient Gear Turret Behemoth.

"I almost forgot," Cyber Man said. "When Flame Wingman destroys a monster and sends it to the Graveyard, it inflicts damage equals to that destroyed monster's ATK to your Life Points."

Flame Wingman shot a fire at its dragon head on its left arm.

"Gaaaaah!" The yellow KoH grunt burned to a crisp before his Hanoi avatar deleted.

"Next is Hieratic Seal of the Celestial Spheres!" Flame Wingman flew higher into the sky, much higher than Celestial Spheres and then did a flaming skydive, piercing through the monster before it exploded, and its burning parts dropped over its owner.

"Waaaaaahh!" The green KoH gasped until he was gone, too.

"And finally, your Thousand-Eyes Restrict!" Flame Wingman fired its final attack at Thousand-Eyes Restrict, burning it and its owner along with it.

"Nnnnooooooooooooooo!" He cried loudly before his avatar completely disintegrated along with his monster.

Red, Green, and Yellow KoH Grunts: 0 LP

Cyber Man WINS!

"Now, that's how you cooked them up! Cyber Man won this duel!" Claire announced.

"Alright, way to go, Tom!" Yu cheered, looking peppy.

"Master Yu!" Rossy gasped. "You look well."

Cyber Man, though looked tired, was happy and smiling a little.

"There… That should do it," he said.

"Well, well, well…" He gasped and turned to his shoulder.

"I was going to have a nice, little, peaceful walk until I stumbled upon this." Gemma came out of the alley, presenting herself. "However, this gives me an opportunity to release my stress."

"You! You're one of the Hanoi admins!" Cyber Man stated.

"I heard about you, but I don't think we have met," she said. "The name is Gemma, the Fusion admin of the Knights of Hanoi!"

"Holy Kuriboh, folks! It appears that one of the Hanoi admins, Gemma, who Codebreaker dueled some months ago has returned and she is going to duel Cyber Man, just right after he had a short victory against three Hanoi grunts!" Claire stated.

"Let's take it up a notch by making this fight a Speed Duel!" She summoned several strange black twisters from the sky. "With that, we can now Speed Duel through VRAINS Den more freely!"

Gemma jumped up, causing her D-Board to appear materialistically. Cyber Man went after her on his D-Board.

"Oh no! Not her!" Yu exclaimed. "…. Though, I can't quite remember who she was."

I back-flipped myself.

"Master Yu, she is Gemma and she is from the Hanoi, who you defeated a few months ago!" Rossy stated.

"Oh yeah, now I remember! Isn't she the one who uses the Gem-Knight Deck?" Yu asked.

No, she uses the Dark Magician Deck, you silly goose!

Yours truly said it sarcastically.

"Really?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes.

'Crap!' Tom cursed in his head. 'It looks like this is just the beginning!'

New Cards Cheat Sheet

Ancient Gear Turret Behemoth-Link 2, EARTH, Machine/Link/Effect, 2000 ATK, Link Arrow: Bottom-Left, Bottom. Effect: 2 Ancient Gear Monsters. Once per turn, during either player's turn (Quick Effect): Negate the activation of Spell or Trap Card, but only if this card is pointing to Ancient Gear monster. During your End Phase, inflict 200x damage for each Ancient Gear monster in your GY.

HERO Rescue-Type: Normal Trap, Effect: If your opponent declares a direct attack that you would take more than 1000 damages, reduce that damage to zero; Special Summon one HERO monster from your hand and add 1 HERO card from your Deck.

Link Position-Type: Normal Spell, Effect: If a Link Monster you summoned is pointed by another Link Monster, switch their position until the end of this turn.

HERO Assault-Type: Equip Spell, Effect: Equip it only to HERO monster. The equipped monster gains 500x ATK for every HERO monster in your GY until the end of the Damage Step. It can attack multiple times for every monster on your opponent's side of the field. The equipped monster cannot attack the next turn. If the equipped monster is removed from the field, destroy this card.

Hey, folks! I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend if you live in the USA.

With season 2 of VRAINS started about a month ago, I am officially announcing that there will be a season 2 for this story and here is little bit of sneak-peek for season 2 OC that I will introduce in season 2 (only one for now):

1. Alyson-Age: 17, Gender: Female. Description: Long, curly blond hair woman with voluptuous body. She wears a fingerless black glove, shorts shorts jean and opened button brown jacket with two chest pocket and small red scarf, and pair of cowgirl boots. Backstory: Alyson is traveling around the glove for thrill of adventure and like Yu, she is seeking the Legendary Codes for her own unknown motive. Is she an ally or foe to Codebreaker?

2. Gladia-Description: Long, curly purple hair woman with glowing red and green eyes (both eyes are discolored). Wears a gladiator outfit with her left arm covering in long arm armor. Backstory: This is Alyson's VR appearance in New LINK VRAINS. She uses her left arm armor as a duel disk. Her Deck is Gladiator Beast Deck.

There will be more characters for season 2 to be revealed in the future chapters. Until next time, here is a preview for the next chapter!

Would the heart and resolve of hero pierce through the crystal hard defense? Gemma, the Hanoi's Fusion Admin, shows no mercy to even her opponent!

Gemma: You who is Codebreaker's ally shall feel my wrath!

Cyber Man: I do not know why you have such grudge over my friend, Codebreaker, but in the name of justice, I won't let you lay a finger on him!

Next time in Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS Codes of Secrets, Diamond of Tenacity and Hero Stand

Playmaker & Codebreaker: Into the VRAINS!