Chapter 67
Codes of Combat
"DUEL!" Codebreaker and Gladia shouted. They were starting their duel, which will be their second time and first rematch, but this time, they were bidding on their Legendary Codes.
"So, what kind of Deck she uses?" Blossom Star asked.
"She uses the Gladiator Beast deck," Silver Wing answered. "That deck is very troublesome whenever you try to battle it!"
"When Gladiator Beast monsters battled, it goes back to the Deck to be replaced by another Gladiator Beast monster," Playmaker added.
"That's sound like quite annoying," Blossom Star commented.
"I know right!" Ai exclaimed.
"Like what Silver Wing said, it is a very troublesome archetype deck," Flame reminded. "Though, I wonder how Codebreaker will do well against it."
"He did defeat her before, right?" Soulburner asked.
"Even so, it is most likely that she is much prepared this time, if she is bidding on the Legendary Code for Codebreaker's Legendary Code," Flame pointed out.
"Since my last opponent went first, I will go first this time!" Gladia decided. "Lady goes first."
"Fine by me," Codebreaker agreed.
Gladia (5h): 4000 LP
Codebreaker (5h): 4000 LP
"Okay! First up, I play the Spell, Terraforming. With this, I can add one Field Spell Card from my hand, and you know what it is."
"According to my calculation, it is 99.9% of a chance that she will add the Field Spell Card, Colosseum – Cage of the Gladiator Beasts," Rossy said.
"I add my Field Spell, Colosseum – Cage of the Gladiator Beasts, and play it immediately!" The surrounding area started shaking, like an earthquake when stone walls appeared, transforming into a colosseum like in the Field Spell.
"This is the first Spell Card she played in my duel! Whenever she uses her monster's effect to summon other Gladiator Beasts, the Field Spell gets a counter and her monster's Attack and Defense are increased by 100 points for each counter!" Silver Wing explained.
Meanwhile, Ghost Girl and Blue Girl watched from a safe distance at a platform higher from the rest.
"So she uses a Gladiator Beast deck," Ghost Girl said.
"You know it?" Blue Girl asked.
"I heard of it. It is quite a powerful deck if it gets its synergy going," she answered.
"I summon Gladiator Beast Andal to the field!" The armored black bear appeared as it roared at Codebreaker.
Gladia showed a confident smirk as she picked out the next card in her hand. "Then, I play the Spell Card, Pot of Greed. I add two more cards, and then with Scale 2 Gladiator Beast Gaul, I set it to the Pendulum Zone!"
A single pillar of light appeared on her left side, one containing a humanoid, muscular rooster in a futuristic red armor with green linings that glowed a green light, and it held a sword safely kept in its sheath on the side of the waist.
Gladiator Beast Gaul-Level 7, Scale 2, FIRE, Beast-Warrior/Pendulum/Effect, 2400 ATK, 1800 DEF.
"That's one of the Pendulum cards that she used for the Spell Card, Express Pendulum!" Silver Wing pointed out.
"This is the first time I saw a Pendulum before," Blossom Star stated.
"So, that is a Pendulum card, huh?" Codebreaker thought aloud.
"Pendulum Monster is a special type of Monster Card that has a continuous effect when it set in the Pendulum Zone, making it like a Continuous Spell Card, based on my research, Master Yu," Rossy explained.
"I see," he said with a curious face.
"It looks like they're impressed, Jackal," Gladia said with a smirk.
"Focus on the Duel, Gladia. They can see what they see, but we show what we are made of!" Jackal growled.
"Okie-Dokie! Then I Special Summon Test Tiger!" Next to Andal, a blue and orange armored tiger appeared next to it.
"This card can be Special Summoned if I control a Gladiator Beast on the field. Then, I activate its other effect! I Tribute this card to target 1 face-up Gladiator Beast monster I control and shuffle it into my Deck. I release Test Tiger to shuffle Gladiator Beast Andal to my Deck."
The tiger roared before it disappeared. Andal roared, too before it turned into bits of data, sending into her Deck.
"Then, I can Special Summon one Gladiator Beast from my Deck and treat it as if it were Special Summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast monster. Come forth, Gladiator Beast Attorix!" A feminine feline humanoid warrior in a purple armor appeared as she showed her sword and shield. She was summoned in Defense position.
"Now, I activate Gladiator Beast Gaul's Pendulum Effect!" She declared. "When a Gladiator Beast monster is Special Summoned, I get to draw one card."
"What?" Ai gasped. "She's getting too many free draws!"
"Not only that." The Dark Ignis and everyone looked at Playmaker. "With that kind of effect, whenever she Special Summon a Gladiator Beast monster, she gets to draw one card each time."
"In order words, she can get as many free draws she wants!" Soulburner said in surprise.
"Oh, My God!" Ai gasped strongly with both his hands on his cheeks.
"My Field Spell's effect activates!" She continued. "I place one Counter on this card each time a monster is Special Summoned from either player's Main Deck and for each counter, my Gladiator Beasts gain 100 ATK and DEF points."
Gladia – Field Spell: 1 C (Counter)
Attorix roared as her power and defense increased to 900 and 2100 points.
"And thanks to Test Tiger's effect, I activate Attorix's effect! If she is Special Summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast monster, I can send another one of her kind from my Deck or Extra Deck to the Graveyard, except herself and until the End Phase, her Level and name become the same as that monster sent to the Graveyard."
The audience's eyes widened as Gladia performed her monster's effect. "I send my Gladiator Beast Augustus to the Graveyard, so now that my Attorix gains its name and Level!"
A spirited figure of Augustus appeared over Attorix before its soul transferred into the warrior. Then, yellow aura burst out of the warrior as she roared louder.
"Then, I play the Spell Card, Gladiator Beast's Rally!" The Spell showed Tamer Editor calling out for allies as multiple Gladiator Beasts come rallying behind him while he was facing a different monster, showing only the backside of its head.
"If I control only one Gladiator Beast monster on the field, I can Special Summon another Gladiator Beast monster from my hand with its effect negated," she explained. "Rally, Gladiator Beast Vespasius!"
A tall, blue-scaled dinosaur-like humanoid warrior roared next to Attorix treated as Augustus.
"And Gaul's Pendulum Effect activates, giving me another draw." She added another card to her hand. "Now, I shuffle my two Gladiator Beasts into my Deck to Fusion Summon a Gladiator Beast monster!"
The two monsters turned into blue and green twisters. The two twisters shot up into the air before it merged into a bigger purple twister. Two blue dots like eyes glowed in the twister.
"Could this be….!" Soulburner exclaimed.
"This is how Fusion Summon does it with those twisters!" Ai gasped
"Wait, what?" Blue Girl looked in surprise. "Don't you need to use Polymerization or Fusion Card to Fusion Summon?"
"Not for Gladiator Beast." Blue Girl looked at Ghost Girl. "What's powerful about this Archetype is that its Extra Deck monsters are mostly Fusion Monsters that don't need to have Polymerization to summon them to the field. It can be Special Summoned through its effect. This is what duelists called …."
"Contact Fusion! Appear! Gladiator Beast Tamer Editor!" The twister blew away with a single monster that appeared inside from it. It was a deer in shiny red armor with a golden spear with three spikes and green orb. It was summoned to the Right Extra Monster Zone while it gained an extra 100 ATK and DEF points.
"Holy Kuriboh! She is going all out!" Codebreaker gasped.
"Don't forget that I get to draw another card due to Gaul's Pendulum Effect," she reminded as she added another card.
"Yes, Gladia! You've summoned one of the strongest Gladiator Beasts in your first turn! This will give you the advantage!" Jackal exclaimed.
"Right," she nodded in approval. "I activate Tamer Editor's effect! Once per turn, I can Special Summon Gladiator Beast Andabata in Defense position!"
Just in the Main Monster Zone below Tamer Editor was an armored lizard in futuristic style summoned in Defense position with 2900 points. It was summoned in the Main Monster Zone just below Tamer Editor in the right Extra Monster Zone.
"I set two cards and end my turn." She finished her turn strongly as she had two cards left in her hand, two face-down cards, and two powerful Fusion Monsters.
Gladia (2h): 4000 LP
"She started well. I mean, she summoned two Fusion Monsters on the field with very high Attack and Defense points!" Blossom Star amazed.
"This is tough for Codebreaker," Soulburner admitted with a worried face.
"I wonder what he will do in response to this," Flame said.
"Wow! You're going all out!" Codebreaker gasped.
"How would you react to this, Master Yu? According to my calculation, the current situation is 95% of the difficulty. We are in a tight spot. Gladia this time is stronger than last time, not to mention that she also has the possession of Legendary Code, which seems to be related to Pendulum Summoning."
"It looks like so," he said before he showed a little grin. "But, for some reason, that makes me even more excited!"
"Let's go, Gladia! I draw!"
Codebreaker (6h): 4000 LP
"I Normal Summon C# Data Miner!" A hairy, bearded norm with a pixelated ax appeared. "When C# Data Miner is Normal Summoned, I get to draw one card."
He added a card to his hand and then picked out a different card than one he had just drawn. "Then, I Special Summon C# Webkuma through its effect! When I control another C# monster on the field, I can Special Summon this card from my hand."
A digital spider materialized itself, summoning next to Data Miner.
"Now I input the code to the circuit of hope!" A Link Square portal appeared above the field. "Summoning condition is at least two C# monsters, but at this point, I activate C# Webkumo's effect! When it is used for Link Summon, I can treat it as two Link Materials."
Two monsters turned into blue twisters, with the latter splitting into two instead. They entered the arrows on the board, turning them red.
"Link Summon! Link-3, C# Programmer Magician!" Out of the circuit portal, a male figure appeared in a black and white robe with one bang of blue hair covering his right side of the face. The mysterious magician also wore a green scouter on his left ear and golden wand with purple orbs floating in midair around himself as he was summoned to the Left Extra Monster Zone.
C# Programmer Magician-Link 3, LIGHT, Cyberse/Link/Effect, 2000 ATK, Link Arrow: Bottom-Left, Bottom, Bottom-Right.
"A brand-new C# Link Monster?" Ai questioned.
"Don't let your guard down, Gladia!" Jackal warned.
"I know, I know," she replied confidently. "Besides, I want to see what he can do."
"C# Programmer Magician's effect!" He exclaimed. "If my opponent control more monsters on the field, once per turn, I can Special Summon one Cyberse monster or monster with "Magician" in its name from my hand or Deck next to this card's Link Marker. I Special Summon F# Magician Girl from my Deck!"
A young mage with long, green, and purple hair that swayed over her left side of the face appeared as she twiddled her wand around. Only her right blue eye was revealed as her skin showed a light color and her outfit consisted of a black dress with a cybernetic design and markings glowing in purple color. She was summoned next to Programmer Magician's bottom Link arrow in Defense Position.
"F# monsters? They must be Codebreaker's new Archetype," Blue Girl said.
"F# monsters? I wonder if Codebreaker is planning to Fusion Summon. That's what it does," Ai thought aloud.
"Maybe," Playmaker added.
"Due to that, my Field Spell gains another counter! Therefore, my Gladiator Beasts gain another 100 boosts in ATK and DEF," Gladia mentioned it aloud.
Gladia – Field Spell: 2C
"Then, I play the Spell Card, Double Summon, so that I can Normal Summon another monster this turn." Codebreaker took another card from his hand and placed it on his duel disk. "I summon F# Googleye!"
A robot with a spherical-shaped body, robotic claws for hands, and sunglasses with a mixture of red, yellow, blue, and green color appeared. Its body was all metallic with the same combination of colors with silver linings.
F# Googleye-Level 1. DARK, Cyberse/Effect, 0 ATK, 0 DEF.
"That's one monster with a weird-looking sunglass," Ai commented.
"I don't care about the look much, but I'm more curious about what it will do," Flame said.
"F# Googleye's effect activates! Once per turn, I can excavate the top card in my Deck. If it is a Monster Card, I shuffle it into my Deck and then add 1 Monster from my Deck than the one I shuffled. If it is a Spell or Trap Card, then I send it to the Graveyard." Codebreaker drew his top card from his Deck and looked at it. He grinned a bit.
"Sweet! The top card is a Monster Card, so I will shuffle it into my Deck and then add one new Monster Card to my hand!" He shuffled the card and then added a monster card of his choice.
"Due to that I control a C# monster on the field, I Special Summon C# HDMEye via its effect!" A monitor that displays an eye on the screen with HDMI cables for tentacles appeared in the zone next to C# Programmer Magician's bottom-right link arrow.
"I input the code to the circuit of hope!" The Link Square portal appeared above him. "The summoning condition is one Level 2 or lower Cyberse monster. I set my Level 1 C# HDMEye!"
The monster turned into a single blue twister, sucking into the bottom arrow, and turning it red.
"Link Summon! Link-1, C# Link Sorceress!" A woman in a big, puffy dress, tall black hat with glowing circuit buses running through, and white scepter with Link Arrow for the top appeared as she was summoned next to Programmer Magician's bottom-left arrow.
"Now I activate F# Magician Girl's effect! Once per turn, I can use monsters in my hand or on the field as Fusion Materials for Fusion Summon of 1 Cyberse Fusion Monster." He pointed to the two monsters on the field. "I fuse my F# Googleye with C# Link Sorceress!"
The two said monsters turned into green and blue twisters. The twisters rose into the air and merged into one, becoming into a violent twister with two glowing lights inside it.
"Two souls become one. The codes are compatible between these two, creating a brand-new miracle! Fusion Summon! Level 7, C# Solid State Dragon!"
A long serpentine dragon with two orbs encased in its shoulders appeared, roaring strongly at the foe as it was summoned next to C# Programmer Magician's bottom-right arrow.
"So, this is his Cyberse Fusion monster! Not bad, not bad at all." Gladia looked impressed.
"Ha, ha! So, he did use F# Magician Girl's effect to perform Fusion Summon! I told you so," Ai boasted.
"Shut up and just watch," Playmaker said.
"F# Googleye's additional effect activates!" Codebreaker declared. "If it is used for Fusion Summon, then I can return one of the materials used for Fusion Summon this turn to my hand. I return my C# Link Sorceress to the Extra Deck."
"C# Solid State Dragon's effect activates! When it is Fusion Summoned, I can destroy one Link Monster on the field. I destroy my C# Programmer Magician." Magician disappeared and its light sparkles absorbed into Solid State Dragon's body, causing its body to glow. "Then, C# Solid State Dragon gains 500 ATK equals to that destroyed monster's Link Rating."
"C# Programmer Magician's Link Rating is 3. Multiply it by 500, C# Solid State Dragon gains a boost of 1500 Attack Points. Therefore, C# Solid State Dragon's Attack is now 4000 ATK in total," Rossy explained as the dragon's ATK increased to the said new attack points.
"Alright! With that, his dragon has a higher attack than both Gladia's monsters!" Soulburner pointed out.
"Yeah!" Codebreaker exclaimed. "It's been a while to do this, but it's time to battle! I declare C# Solid State Dragon to attack Gladiator Beast Tamer Editor!"
The dragon fired a straight white beam of light at the said target. "Solid Sonic Beam!" He shouted as the beam was at Tamer Editor.
"Oh, no you won't!" Gladia countered. "I activate the Trap Card, Gladiator Beast's Fearful Shield!" The card showed Gladiator Beast Augustus holding Gladiator Beast's Medusa Mask to defend itself from incoming attack as the attacker looked feared while closing his eyes and looking the other way. "When the opponent's monster declares an attack on Gladiator Beast monster I control, I can negate that attack and the monster return to the owner's hand!"
"Say what?!" Codebreaker gasped as the same shield appeared on Tamer Editor's right hand, causing Solid State Dragon to roar in fear before it disappeared.
"I knew you were up to something. Something like summoning a powerful monster from your Extra Deck," Gladia said smugly.
"Well, you got me," Codebreaker admitted. "I set a card and end my turn."
Codebreaker (2h): 4000 LP
"Darn it! And I thought he got it!" Soulburner grit his teeth.
"Though I don't want to say it was a mistake on Codebreaker's side if he knew better, she did have two face-down cards," Blossom Star said, pointing out the fact. "He could've known one of them would have prevented his attack."
"That's true, but no worries," Silver Wing assured. "I think he did it on purpose."
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Watch the duel and you will find out," Playmaker stated.
"It seems like I will win this bet duel earlier than expected," Gladia bragged. "I draw!"
Gladia (3h): 4000 LP
"I switch my Gladiator Beast Andabata to Attack Position!" Her lizard warrior changed its stance and held its sword high with pride.
"Battle!" She declared. "I attack your F# Magician Girl with Andabata!" The lizard warrior jumped up in the air with its sword out. F# Magician Girl looked up and then the sword came down, slashing her in half. She screamed before she exploded, causing Codebreaker to wince from damage.
Codebreaker (2h): 4000 – 200 = 3800
"Then, my Tamer Editor attack you directly!" Tamer Editor staved the spear right through Codebreaker, making him grunt from the attack.
"Yikes! That looks painful!" Ai screamed.
Codebreaker (2h): 3800 – 2600 = 1200 LP
"I end my battle, and then my Gladiator Beasts' effect activates! First, with Andabata's effect! At the end of the Battle Phase, if it battled, then I can return it to the Extra Deck and Special Summon 2 Gladiator Beast monsters from my Deck. In its place, I Special Summon Gladiator Beast Augustus and Octavius!" Andabata disappeared in a flash and its place, two humanoid beast warriors appeared. The first one was the purple dragon in purple armor and the second one was an eagle in golden armor.
"With these two Special Summoned from my Deck, my Field Spell gets 2 more counters and due to Gladiator Beast Gaul's Pendulum Effect, I can add two more cards!"
Gladia – Field Spell: 4 C
"And Augustus' effect activates!" She declared. "When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast monster, I can Special Summon one Gladiator Beast monster from my hand in Defense Position! I Special Summon Gladiator Beast Spartacus!"
On her side of the field, another humanoid beast warrior appeared. This one was a brown dinosaur in a brown armor with a giant ax in its hands.
"When Gladiator Beast Spartacus is Special Summoned, I can add one Gladiator Beast Equip Spell Card from my Deck to my hand. Plus, I add one extra, thanks to my Pendulum Monster's Pendulum Effect." Two cards were added to her hand as she explained the effect. "Continuing, I activate Gladiator Beast Octavius' effect!"
"Geez! Too many effects activating one after another! You're spamming!" Ai complained.
"You shut your mouth, Purple Ignis!" Jackal shouted. "You have no rights in how Gladia plays her card effects!"
"Moving on, when Gladiator Beast Octavius is Special Summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast monster, I target one face-down Spell or Trap Card in the Spell & Trap Zone. I target one on your side of the field and destroy it!" She pointed at it and when she did, the card shattered.
"Finally, Gladiator Beast Tamer Editor's effect activates! At the end of the battle, if a Gladiator Beast monster battled, I can return that monster to my Extra Deck and then Special Summon one Gladiator Beast monster from my Deck. I return my Gladiator Beast Tamer Editor itself and Special Summon Gladiator Beast Retari." Replacing Tamer Editor's place was a crocodile-like humanoid with a white scarf, gold and black armor plate for the legs and crotch area, and wielding a triton for its weapon.
"Once again, one counter is added to my field spell and I draw one more extra card to my hand," she reminded.
Gladia – Field Spell: 5 C
"Then, Retari's effect activates! When this card is Special Summoned, I can remove from play one card in your Graveyard. I remove from play your F# Magician Girl!" In the Graveyard, F# Magician Girl turned gray, making it unplayable.
"I researched your duels, Codebreaker. Your F# Magician Girl is one of your keys to summon a powerful monster from your Extra Deck. Now that it is removed from play, you won't be able to Fusion Summon again!" Gladia exclaimed.
"That may be, but there are a lot of other ways I can summon my monsters from my Extra Deck!" Codebreaker responded.
Gladia smirked. "Unfortunately, you won't!"
His eyes widened as everyone else, too. "Trap activates! Gladiator Beast's Prison!" The Trap Card showed men and women with chains on their ankles and wrists, all were in the prison cells while Gladiator Beast Augustus acted as the prison guard and looming shadowy figure watched over them from above.
"This card can only be activated if I control the Field Spell, Colosseum – Cage of the Gladiator Beasts, and that it has five or more Counters. As long as the Field Spell, Colosseum is face-up on the field and that it has four or more Counters, you cannot Special Summon an Extra Deck monsters!" Gladia exclaimed.
"Say what?!" Codebreaker gasped.
"Nani?!" Ai screeched.
"What?! He cannot summon any more monsters from his Extra Deck?!" Blossom Star said in a surprised tone.
"That's going too far!" Silver Wing caterwauled.
"Oh, what do you mean by that?" Gladia retorted. "I'm only dueling with all of my strength. Like I mentioned before, I researched Codebreaker by looking up his past duels that I can find. All of the duels he won had one thing in common. His victory was assured when he summoned a monster from his Extra Deck. By sealing his Extra Deck, I just closed the case. There is no way for him to win anymore!"
"But, still, this is just dirty!" Soulburner argued.
"But she has a point." Everyone looked at Playmaker. "There is nothing wrong for her to use a strategy that seals a player's ability to Special Summon an Extra Deck monster. While this looks cruel, she's dueling fairly."
Ghost Girl and Blue Girl watched, but they admitted that the situation looked cruel for Codebreaker.
"With Codebreaker's Extra Deck sealed by that Trap Card, Codebreaker cannot summon any of his monsters from the Extra Deck," Blue Girl stated.
"That is true," Ghost Girl said, but with a look that suggested otherwise.
"Master Yu. Gladia successfully sealed your Extra Deck. As long as the Trap Card, Gladiator Beast's Prison, or her Field Spell is on the field, you cannot summon any monsters in your Extra Deck. Your chance of winning has significantly decreased," Rossy summarized.
Codebreaker didn't say anything as his face partially covered in blackness.
'This is going better than I thought! Now that my card formation is set in play, this is nothing that Codebreaker can do." Gladia thought.
"Well done, Gladia!" She looked down at her Ignis partner, who appeared in its form out of her duel disk. "As long as you stay playing like this, victory is assured! Awooo!"
"Yeah and it all thanks to you, my little partner," she said.
'I've never imagined I would be this good in dueling. Of course, I knew how to duel, but never this good. It all thanks to Jackal… Since the day I met him…."
- Flashback: 4 Months Ago –
"Gaaarr!" In the dark alley street, a young man was getting beaten up by a group of four girls. Three of them were punching and kicking the man while the fourth girl watched over them.
"Please…. I beg of you…" said the man.
"Beg of us? Is this guy serious?" One girl ribbed.
"I think he needs another beating," said the second girl.
"How about it, Diana-san?" The third girl asked.
Getting up was a young girl with long, curly blond hair. Her eyes were dark purple, and her skin was smooth and white. She wore a typical Japanese sailor uniform in dark red color.
"I think he had enough for today. Let him go," Diana stated. The girls followed her order and pushed the man out of the alley, making him run away from them.
"Boy, that was fun!" The first girl smirked.
"I know, right? And we got his cash, too!" The second girl exclaimed.
"Let's go to the club!" The third girl suggested.
"Let's ride, girls," Diana declared as they got on their motorcycles.
They rode off to the club, where they spend all the money they stolen from a random passerby. They danced and drank despite they're minors, but nobody could tell them otherwise.
'Before I met Jackal, I was such a delinquent, not caring for anything but myself. I hung out with… not the kindest people in the world, but it was my only place that I felt I belong somewhere. Somewhere where I can be free of stress and all. My father died and my mother abandoned me when I was young, so I lived with my grandparents at the time.'
Diana laughed and drank with her gang until they approached by the rival gang.
"Hey, you bitches." Diana and her gang turned their face towards whoever said that. It was the rival gang of older people, led by a single woman.
This woman was tall and muscular. She wore a pink tank top with a Sakura flower for design, a black jacket over it, ripped jeans, and black shoes.
"Hey, who do you think you are, calling us bitches?!" One girl asked, looking offended.
"Zip it, Mary," Diana stated, causing her friend to be quiet. "What do you want, Hana?"
"What do I want? I heard you and your little posies have beaten up one of my guys, isn't that right?" She asked smugly.
"Yeah, so what? We can do whatever hell we want. If you have a problem with that, why don't you go and ask the police to arrest us or something? Not like you can do that, anyway," Diana replied.
Hana grunted. "Listen here, you slut. You mess with one of my guys, I and my gang will teach you some manners!"
"Oh really? Then why don't we do it, right here and now!" Diana splashed a cup of drink at Hana, splashing over her face.
"Aaah!" Hana screamed.
"Get them!" The two gangs began fighting, causing a big mess at the club.
After sometimes, Diana arrived at her home. It was late, but the lights were still on.
"I'm home." She came in.
"Oh, welcome back home, sweetie." Diana's grandmother welcomed her until she noticed Diana's uniform. "Oh my! You looked terrible! What had happened?"
"Um, yeah. Just got rough here and there. It's no biggie," Diana said nonchalantly while taking off her shoes.
"Nonsense, dear. You change your clothes and I will fix it for you. I made you dinner," the grandmother said.
"No thanks. I pass and I'm going to bed," Diana declined as she walked upstairs.
"Oh, alright, sweetie," the grandmother said as she looked a bit sad.
"You're back home, Diana?" Said an old, male voice.
"Yeah, I am, Gramp," Diana replied.
"Bath is ready and warm," he stated.
"Thanks," she replied as she went upstairs to her bedroom.
The grandma entered the living room, where her husband and Diana's grandmother was sitting and watching TV.
"She got into a fight again, hasn't she?" The grandfather guessed.
"Afraid so," grandmother answered honestly. "This is the twelfth time."
"She's a troublesome kid. She needs help," the grandfather stated.
"I know, dear, but I don't want to force it on her. She already suffered too much," the grandmother said sadly.
"I understand, but she couldn't go on like this. What if she gets hurt?" He said.
"If that happens, then I just mend her back to health, like always," the grandmother replied as she took out a box of needles and string as she began fixing up the sailor uniform.
Meanwhile, Diana changed her clothes and laid down on her bed. While lying on her bed, she looked up the ceiling and listened to what her grandparents were saying. She could hear their voices through the floor.
She grunted, but she knew deep in her heart that they were right. However, she couldn't help herself. Nobody could. She decided to get some sleep. She began to slowly close her eyes and drifted into asleep until she heard a beeping noise from her closet.
She woke up by the noise, walked over to her closet and opened it, wondering where the beeping noise was coming.
"Hmm?" She found an old box from her childhood. She opened it and saw her old, white Duel Disk was the cause of the noise.
"My old Duel Disk? Why is this junk beeping?" She wondered.
"Who do you think calling Jackal junk?" The Duel Disk spoke by itself as a white eyeball appeared
"Wah!" She dropped the Duel Disk.
"What the?! Who or what are you?!" She asked.
"Jackal's name is Jackal," Jackal answered as he revealed himself in his true form. "You're very loud human and by looking at your physic, you are a female."
"Eh?" Diana looked surprised as she blushed. "What the heck do you mean by that?!"
"Calm down, female human! Jackal doesn't want to be feared or be noticed by other humans!" Jackal demanded strictly.
"Eeeeh! Who do you think you are?! Do you have any idea who I am?" She asked, looking fearful.
"You're an obnoxiously loud female human," Jackal answered straightforwardly.
Diana back-dropped as she looked dumb-founded. "That's not what I mean!"
After calming down a bit, Diana talked with the mysterious Jackal.
"So, you are an A.I?" Diana asked.
"Specifically, Jackal is known as an Ignis, an A.I. with free will," Jackal said.
"OK. So, why the hell you were in the Duel Disk and why were you in the box?" She questioned.
"Jackal was escaping," Jackal answered.
"Escaping? From whom?" She asked.
"Diana?" She heard grandmother's voice as she also heard a footstep over the stairs.
"Crap! My grandma is coming! Hold that thought and we will talk later. I have to hide you now!" Diana took the Duel Disk and put it into her closet.
"May I come in, Diana?" The grandmother asked as she opened the door.
"Yeah, Grandma?" She said, laying down on the bed.
"Oh, you're still awake? Were you talking with someone?" She asked.
"No," she responded, though lied.
"Oh, I see. Here. I fixed up your uniform," she said as she put it on her desk.
"Thanks," she replied.
"Diana… I…." She thought for a moment and then smiled. "Goodnight, dear. Sleep well."
Once her grandmother left, Diana quickly took out her Duel Disk from her closet.
"That was close," Diana commented.
"You female human-made too much noise that it attracted unwanted attention from that old female human," Jackal stated.
"Hey! Don't call my grandma old, alright," Diana chastised. "So, about it. You said that you were escaping from someone and I asked whom."
"Yes, yes. Jackal escaped from an enemy. Jackal escaped through the networks and managed to get away as far as possible," Jackal explained.
"You didn't answer my question, but I think I understand a little bit… I think," Diana said, looking a bit confused. "So, where did you come from?"
"From far away, an unknown place that Jackal cannot remember much, but Jackal is planning to return there," Jackal said.
"Return to there? You mean where you escaped from why? Why the hell you want to do?" Diana asked. "You got your freedom."
"Jackal is not free. Jackal knows that eventually, they will find Jackal and Jackal must fight them. That's why Jackal needs to fight a partner," Jackal said.
"OK. I don't like where this is going," Diana said as she already had the feeling. "If you are thinking that I become your partner, leave me out of it. I don't want to get involved in someone else's problem."
"Request denied," Jackal responded.
"Hey, you can't decide!" Diana argued. They stared each other intensely for a minute or two until Diana sighed and huffed.
"Err! Well, whatever. You can stay in that old thing for the night and I'm going to bed now. You better get the heck out of here by the time I wake up in the morning," she demanded as she went to bed and sleep.
'That was the first time I met Jackal. I didn't learn more about him until later and at that time, I just wanted him to leave, but little did I know that he would be my lifesaver. It happened about two days since he began living with me or rather living inside my Duel Disk.'
Diana was walking home on her own. For some odd reasons, she kept Jackal inside her bag.
"Hey." She spoke down to her bag. "When are you ever going to tell me everything? And when the heck will you leave?"
"Jackal doesn't trust you to tell all the truths," Jackal answered. "You, Diana, told Jackal that Diana doesn't want to get involve in someone else's problem."
Diana sighed but smirked. "Yeah, I guess said that, didn't I? You learn fast."
She arrived at her home but noticed that the door was opened. Diana's expression became horrified as she ran over and checked. Inside the home was a mess, and worst of all, there was no sign of her grandparents.
"Grandma! Gramp! Where are you?!" She yelled, frantically looking for them. "Who or what did this?!"
"Jackal senses someone invaded your sanctuary," Jackal said.
"Say what?!" She snapped. Suddenly, the phone rang. They turned to the phone and Diana picked it up. "Hello?"
"Diana Yamazaki." The caller had a distorted voice, so they couldn't recognize who it was. "We have your grandparents. If you want to see them alive, come to the old warehouse by the seaport and face me."
"Who the hell are you?!" She demanded, but the call was cut off. "Hello? Hello?! Rat!"
"Diana, Jackal senses something very odd. Jackal says we should not go," Jackal stated.
"You're not the boss of me! My grandparents are in danger and I got to go and save them!" She ran out of the house and started up her motorcycle, riding off to the old warehouse at the seaport.
She stopped at the old warehouse where she was told to come. She entered the warehouse, noticing how the dark it was.
"Hey! I come! Show yourself and give me back my grandparents!" Diana shouted.
Suddenly, the light turned on brightly and the warehouse's door shut closed automatically. Her eyesight soon adjusted to the light and noticed a shadowy figure in front of her. The figure revealed to Hana and the rest of her gang around Diana.
"Hana…" She sneered.
"Welcome to our place, Diana." One of the gang members said as all of them snickered.
"You clowns kidnapped my grandparents? Where the hell they are?!" She raged.
Hana snapped her finger, revealing Diana's grandparents tangled in chains as they were hanging up by a hook.
"Ah! Grandma! Gramps!" She screamed.
"No need to be feared. They are fine," Hana stated, sounding a bit different this time with a cold, lifeless stare.
"What the hell did you do to them?!" Diana yelled.
"They are merely unconscious. I ordered my lackeys to kidnap them so that you come here with what I seek," Hana answered, which caught Jackal's attention.
"Why you! I won't let you get away with this!" As Diana was going to ran towards her and punched her, she suddenly got stuck to the floor. She looked down and noticed a metal claw trapped her to the floor, not allowing her to move.
"That metal claw won't release you until you Duel me and win," Hana explained.
"Duel you?!" Diana said in a surprised tone.
"Diana, Jackal knows something is odd about this female human. She is not herself. She is under mind control!" Jackal exclaimed.
"What?" She responded, looking surprised.
"I know you have your Duel Disk in that bag. Equip it, so that we Duel!" Hana ordered.
Diana jerked her teeth as she took out her Duel Disk, and equipped it on herself before she threw away her bag. Her Deck was already in-set.
"Can't believe I'm going to fight someone I hate in a children's card game," Diana complained.
"Diana, this is not the time to bicker. Jackal knows. We must defeat this human," Jackal stated.
"You said she is under a mind-control. Are you suggesting that she's under command by someone who's looking for you?" Diana asked.
"Afraid so. Jackal sensed this was coming, but never expected this soon," Jackal admitted.
"Shit! I got into your problem. Well, eventually I wanted to fight Hana and beat her up, but this got too serious!" Diana exclaimed.
"DUEL!" They both shouted as the Duel Disk released a pulse wave, creating the warehouse into a VR space.
"VR space activated. Dueling Mode on." Both Duel Disks stated.
Diana (5h): 4000 LP
Hana (5h): 4000 LP
"The one who declares for the duel begin first," Hana said. "I shall make the first turn. I Normal Summon Traptrix Atrax to the field."
On the Main Monster Zone, a cute, little girl with purple hair and dark purple dress appeared. She smiled eerily and winked at Diana as she giggled sinisterly.
"This Archetype! Diana!" Jackal exclaimed. "Be wary! Jackal knows who is controlling the female human!"
"Shut up! I'm the one dueling, not you!" Diana snapped, causing Jackal to growl back at her.
"Then, I set a card and end my turn," she said as one face-down card was set on her side of the field.
Hana (3h): 4000 LP
"Is that all you can do? Pathetic! I see kids do more and better than this!" Diana gibed as she turned to her fainted grandparents hanging up. 'Gramp, Grandma, I will save you both. Just sleep tight and wait.'
"My turn! I draw! First, I play the Spell Card, Terraforming! With this, I add one Field Spell from my Deck to my hand." She added a new card to her hand. "Then, I play the Field Spell I just added! I play Colosseum – Cage of the Gladiator Beasts!" The said card showed colosseum, causing the VR field to mimic the appearance of the same colosseum.
"I summon Gladiator Beast Retiari!" A green crocodile humanoid warrior appeared as it roared for battles, carrying a triton for a weapon. "Battle! Retiari attacks your Attrax!"
"Say what?! Is she nut?!" The gang member laughed, causing all the other members to laugh at Diana, too. Hana stared mindlessly without any reaction.
Retiari attacked forward with its triton, but Attrax dodged it away and snickered with an evil expression as she summoned strings of webs at Retiari, trapping it and squeezing it until it exploded, and caused Diana to wince from it.
Diana (5h): 4000 – 600 = 3400 LP
"Hey, bitch! Are you stupid?" One of the members shouted, causing more laughing in the crowd.
"You all are the stupid ones here! I purposely attack, so that I can activate Retiari's effect! At the end of the Battle Phase, if it battled or it was attacked, then I can return it to the Deck and Special Summon one Gladiator Beast monster from my Deck!" This made the gang member stop laughing as a brand-new Gladiator Beast appeared in Retiari's place. "I Special Summon Gladiator Beast Augustus!"
The winged humanoid beast warrior appeared as it roared in place of Gladiator Beast Retiari. "Since I Special Summoned a monster from my Deck, my Field Spell, Colosseum – Cage of the Gladiator Beasts get one Counter and when it does, my Gladiator Beast monsters on the field gain 100 ATK and DEF points!"
Augustus roared as its body glowed in a purple aura, causing its ATK to increase to 2700 points.
"Holy crap! That's one ugly bird!" One gang member commented, but Diana ignored it.
"Gladiator Beast Augustus' effect activates!" She declared. "When Augustus is Special Summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast monster, then I can Special Summon…"
"Trap activates from the hand!" Hana interrupted her. "Bottomless Trap Hole!"
"Hey, what the heck are you doing?! You can't do that!" Diana argued.
"Due to Traptrix Attrax's effect, I can activate a Hole Normal Trap Card from my hand," Hana admitted.
"Say what?!" She gasped.
"Jackal warned you, Diana! Jackal told you so!" Jackal pointed out.
"Continuing, Bottomless Trap Hole activates! When my opponent summons a monster with 1500 or more ATK, it is destroyed and banish it," Hana interrupted.
The same trap hole appeared beneath Augustus, causing the warrior to fall in and swallowed it whole.
"No! Augustus!" Diana screamed.
"What an idiot!" "She fell for it!" "She is such a noob!" The gang laughed at her and mocked her.
"Shut up, all of you!" Diana yelled at them, but they didn't stop laughing at her. Diana felt angry, yet embarrassed.
"If Diana gives Jackal a chance to explain, this could've been prevented," Jackal stated.
"Now you're mocking me?" Diana questioned, feeling offended.
'At that time, I felt truly angry, embarrassed, but worst of all, scared. I was such a naïve person, not realizing what kind of danger that I got myself into.'
Hey, everybody! This is NewComer1.
I hope you are all doing well and staying safe as well as enjoying the summer, wherever you live or are currently.
The rematch and second duel between Codebreaker and Gladia begins! Did you know that this chapter marks ten chapters after the last time Codebreaker dueled. In other words, it has been 10 chapters since Codebreaker's last Duel before this chapter's Duel! Crazy, huh?
We also see a little backstory about Gladia aka Diana and Jackal, and how they met. As a treat, we see two duels, one in the present where Gladia Duels Codebreaker for the Legendary Code and the other one in Gladia's flashback and her past.
After consulting with a friend of mine here, I decided that I will split this chapter in two-parts. I know cliffhanger can be annoying, but as much as I am into writing this story again, I don't want to write too long.
If you are wondering what I've been doing, well, I've been playing video games, mostly Xenoblade Chronicles (and planning to get Ghost of Tsushima for the PS4) and watching the anime, "Black Jack". I just recently got the first volume of the original manga from Amazon, so I am looking to reading that. I also have been going back to the office and it has been awhile since the last time I visited in the office before the whole pandemic affected, causing the office to be closed.
I would like to hear what you guys been doing, but nonetheless, that is all from me. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you all again soon!
Stay safe and as always... INTO THE VRAINS!
PS: The New Cards Cheat Sheet will be added at the end of the next chapter, including all the new cards introduced in this chapter and the next one.
See you guys later.
Preview for Chapter 68
Codebreaker and Gladia continues their long-awaited rematch. At the same time, Gladia mesmerizes her time when she met Jackal and the reason for why she is on the path she's on now!
Two Legendary Codes will soon collide and what will happen when they do?!
Next time in Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS Codes of Secrets, Code of Victory!
Codebreaker & Gladia: INTO THE VRAINS!