15"I'm a 16-year-old High School student. What could you need from me?"
"You know of Playmaker right?"
"Yeah, who doesn't?"
"I need you to duel him and beat him"
"Why would a company like SOL Technologies need Playmaker to be defeated?"
"Playmaker has something that belongs to us its called Ignis."
"Why is this Ignis important?"
"You sure like questions don't you?"
"I like to know why I'm doing something."
"To answer your question without Ignis Link VRAINS will be doomed."
"So you want me to go and duel Playmaker to retrieve Ignis. There's only one problem with that. He only comes out to duel Knights of Hanoi members."
"I'm perfectly aware of that."
"Even if I do happen to say yes Playmaker won't come out just to duel me for no reason. He looks like a type of person that would only do things that are necessary."
"What do you say about my offer?"
"I will have to decline for now."
"I see. If you change your mind, please call me at this number." He handed me a card from his pocket
"Thank you for your time." He then left
He said his name is Akira Zaizen is he the brother of Aoi? I don't know much about Aoi she seems to keep to herself like me often. Whenever I'm around her there's something that's familiar about her, but what?
It doesn't matter anyways I can't lose focus now when I'm so close now to see him healthy again. It had been a long day, so I went to room to go to sleep
I hate this class. Why am even taking this class again? Oh yeah because I picked random classes for my schedule last year I regret that right now.
"You may think that computers can understand everything. But they only understand binary, 0s, and 1s. SO what's binary?"
Something that's lucky that doesn't have to sit through this boring class.
"The French mathematician Edouard Lucas invented a binary game called the Tower of Hanoi."
Who cares
I wasn't the only one bored right now everyone seemed like they wanted to be somewhere else can't blame them for that.
Shima Naoki or idiot either name would be correct was watching something on a device most likely a live broadcast from Link VRAINS. He sat by Fujiki Yusaku. Yusaku is one of the top students in our grade. One thing that I don't understand about him is how he never pays attention in class and still keeps up his grades maybe I need to take notes from him.
"Hey hey! Did you see what Playmaker did?" Seemed Naoki was talking with Yusaku. I pity you so much Yusaku for dealing with him.
"No."
"And you call yourself a duelist?"
Not seeing a duel doesn't mean your not a duelist idiot. What am I talking about calling him an idiot would be offensive to idiots.
"I was there! Super inspired!"
Because you're a Playmaker fanboy
"Playmaker is so cool!"
And you're not
"Huh? Where's your Duel Disk?" Naoki asked him
Yusaku usually has a Duel Disk that is the same model as mine except mine is Orange wonder why he didn't bring it.
"I left it at home. it's house-sitting."
That's a lie last I checked mine didn't have that. Why would Yusaku need to lie?
"Duel Disks have house-sitting functions?"
No, they don't. If you believe that then you're even more stupid, then I thought.
"I keep watching live footage of Link VRAINS so that I won't miss Playmaker when he shows up- That's Hanoi!"
"What is it? I was just explaining Hanoi-" The teacher said
"Hanoi! It's a Knight of Hanoi!" Naoki said showing his tablet, and there was a Knight of Hanoi.
"Right?" He looked at Yusaku, but he was gone
Everyone looked shocked, so they didn't see what I saw. When Naoki revealed that a Knight of Hanoi appeared in Link VRAINS Yusaku left, but why?
I turned my tablet to the live footage of Link VRAINS to see the Knight of Hanoi on a D-Board something was weird though the other two members of the Knights were riding on Cracking Dragon so why wasn't this one? Something is up here, but what?
"Where did Yusaku go?" Naoki said
I continued to watch the footage, and the Knight continued to nothing besides riding on the data wind. Then I realized something this wasn't a Knight of Hanoi it is a trap set up by Akira Zaizen to lure out Playmaker, but whose pretending to be the knight? It had to be someone that wanted to get back at Playmaker.
Playmaker showed up in Link VRAINS there was one thing I noticed about him his Duel Disk was just like Yusaku's, and he had the same eye color, and the hair was pretty much the same except for the color change. It then clicked Fujiki Yusaku was Playmaker.
The reason why he lied about his Duel Disk. Him leaving class it all made sense now. For someone trying to hide their real life identity Yusaku you should change up your avatar more.
The Knight of Hanoi revealed himself to be Go Onizuka which makes sense because Go always has gotten a little but hurt when someone stole the spotlight from him. A cage appeared around Link VRAINS trapping Playmaker in Link VRAINS most likely Akira's doing.
Go then proceed to challenge Playmaker to a Speed Duel. GO summoned his Gouki monsters on his first turn. Playmaker then took his turn and summoned Cyberse Wizard and Link Slayer and took off 2000 of his life points. He took the damage on purpose to entertain his audience.
Go responded by Link Summoning his ace Gouki The Great Ogre using its effect to decrease the attack of Cyberse Wizard and Link Slayer. Then GO increased its attack by the effect of his Gouki monsters which would deplete Playmaker's life points, but Yusaku's virtual identity used a trap to lower Gouki The Great Ogre's attack which put his life points at 100.
Playmaker then started his comeback since his life points were below 1000 Playmaker used his skill Storm Access. Playmaker used a combo involving three Link monsters Honey Bot, Link Bumper and his ace Decode Talker and an equip spell Cyberse Annihilation to defeat GO.
"Takeda!" I flinch a little I had been focused on the duel that I hadn't seen Naoki come over to me
"What?" I say after settling myself
"You watched Playmaker's duel against GO Onizuka too?"
"Yeah, why does that matter to you?"
"I thought you were some Ruger fanboy you had me worried there."
You're calling me a fanboy…
"Anyways I'll see you after school at Duel Club," Naoki said before leaving
Finally, he leaves me alone.
I grab my things and exit the classroom I'm supposed to have Duel Club right now, but I don't feel like dealing with Naoki right now. Besides I'm going to visit Dad in the hospital. I have information that probably not a lot of people know. The question is what do I do with the information? I could tell SOL Technologies, but I'm not sure about that…
I was so lost in thoughts again that I failed to see the person in front of me, so I bumped into them. It turns out the person I bumped into was Aoi. This was the first time I've had a long look at here, and she's cute, but there's something familiar about her. I hadn't noticed that one of my cards in my Duel Disk came out. Seeing that I probably looked like an idiot staring at her, I help her up.
"Sorry about that Zaizen," I say while helping her up
"It's OK," Aoi said. She looked at my Duel Disk, and her eyes widen
"Takeda, do you duel in Link VRAINS?" Aoi asked she seemed a little hopeful for some reason.
Why would she ask me about that? Does she think I'm Ruger?
"Nope, I hardly ever duel at all."
"Oh." She was disappointed
"Whose, your favorite duelist in Link VRAINS?" I asked Aoi
At my comment, she seemed to have a tiny blush
"Ruger." She said like she had to force it out
"He's your favorite? That's cool! Mine would probably be Blue Angel." I say. I didn't notice how she flinched a little bit
"That's nice." She was back to her monotone self
"I have to go I'll see you around Zaizen!" I say while taking off running "Oh! Tell the President I won't be a Duel Club for me please!" I didn't wait for her answer and ran towards the nearest bus stop.
(With Aoi)
Aoi noticed a card on the ground. It must be his when we bumped into each other it must come out of his deck. She picked it up and was surprised at what card it was.
"You are Ruger Hiroshi Takeda." She said looking at Scrap Giant's Card
(With Hiroshi)
"How are you doing dad?" I asked
"I'm stuck in this hospital how do you think I'm doing." He had a playful smile on his face
"Sorry about that. Do you need me to do anything for you?"
"Just get me out of this hospital. I have to be stuck in this bed all day it sucks!"
"I know. Dad, I think you're gonna get out of here soon."
"How do you know?" Dad asked
"I have a gut feeling."
"We won't have money to pay for everything." He said
"We will I've been getting money to help you out, dad."
"Hiroshi I don't want you to worry about me every second. You're a teenager go out there and live your life!"
Can't you see that you're the only reason that I care about life anymore?
"I will dad." I force a smile
"So have a girlfriend yet?" he asked
"Just like I said last time no."
"I know you're bad at socializing but jeez Hiroshi."
"For your information, I'm not bad at socializing!"
"How many friends do you have again?"
That's cruel!
"Did you have any friends when you were my age?" I asked
"Two Their names were Kiba and Kaori."
He mentioned Kaori when he adopted me.
"We were the best of friends growing up. We all did everything together."
Wonder what happened to them.
"How are your grades?" Dad asked to change the subject
"All A's"
"Good."
"Dad I got to go I'll be back soon."
"You better Promise!" He said with a grin
"Fine, I promise," I say before leaving
When I exit the room, I take my phone out of my pocket along with a card and dial the number on the card.
(With Akira)
"Playmaker is more formidable foe than I first excepted," Akira said
He hadn't thought that Playmaker would be able to beat the best duelist in Link VRAINS. He had no idea what to do now.
"I could try Hiroshi Takeda again, but why would he change his mind in such a short time. Maybe Ema will find information on him soon. I need something soon though." He arrived at his home that he lived at with his sister.
"Welcome back brother. How was work?" Aoi asked
"Exhausting," Akira replied sharply
Akira's phone started ringing
"Zaizen here."
"I'll duel him." The voice on the other end said suddenly Akira knew who it was immediately.
"What made you change your mind all of the sudden Ruger?" Akira said respecting that he would not want his real life persona revealed.
Little did they both know that the other person in the room with Akira knew who Ruger was.
"I thought of something you could do for me."
"What would that be?"
"My father is in the hospital with an illness I want SOL Technologies to pay for everything to get him healthy."
"If SOL Technologies doesn't?"
"Then we don't have a deal."
"SOL Technologies will do it then Ruger."
"Good."
"One last thing Ruger. You better win."
"I will." The phone was then hung up
"You're getting Hiroshi to duel Playmaker," Aoi stated
"You know who he is? Akira asked surprised
"We bumped into each other, and this card came out of his Duel Disk." Aoi showed her brother Scrap Giant's card
"What are you going to do with his secret Aoi?" Akira asked her
"I don't know."
(With Yusaku)
"Yusaku I'm going to go to the bathroom can you cover the next few customers? The hot dogs are already on the grill." Kusanagi said
"OK, I will," Yusaku said to him
It was slow right now for business, so hopefully, this would be easy.
"Can I have a hot dog and a fry please?" Yusaku looked to see one of his classmates he believed his name was Hiroshi Takeda.
"Sure coming right up," Yusaku said to Hiroshi
Yusaku prepared the hot dog and fries that his classmate ordered when he was done Hiroshi handed him the money.
"Here's your food. Please enjoy." He said bored
"Thank you." Hiroshi then left
Yusaku noticed something that was in the money it was a note Yusaku read the note, and he was shocked.
I know who you are. If you don't show up when I challenge you your secret will get out
- Ruger
"What happened Yusaku?" Kusanagi said
"My identity has been revealed to someone," Yusaku said to him
"How?"
"It must have been when I left my class early. Hiroshi must have seen me leave when the fake Knight of Hanoi showed up."
"So it's someone you know."
"His name is Hiroshi Takeda. He goes to school with me."
"If he knows who you are he might tell SOL Technologies if you don't duel him," Kusanagi said
"Why wouldn't he say if he's working for them though," Yusaku questioned
"Maybe he gains something from beating you."
"But what?"
Before they could question it further, they heard cheering coming outside
"Ruger I'm your favorite fan!" A lady said
Ruger was riding on the data wind on an orange D-Board that had fire designs on the sides.
"Maybe he's going to challenge someone?" A fan said
"Yusaku where's your Duel Disk?" Kusanagi asked
"I left it at the house. AI was annoying me." Yusaku said
"Go get it. It looks like you're about to need it." Yusaku nodded and then went to retrieve the Duel Disk with the AI trapped in it.
(With Ruger)
I hide my fear as I'm surfing in mid-air. It doesn't help that I know if you fall and hit the ground you're going to die in the real world. I see pigeon videoing, so I smirk at the camera and hop off the D-Board onto a building."
"Everybody I hear there's some new hotshot in town that calls himself what was it… OH! It was Losemaker! No Noisemaker! That's not it either, oh I know! I challenge you, Playmaker!"
"Ruger has challenged Playmaker! Now the question is will he show?" The MC said to the audience
He will if he doesn't want his secret revealed
"First we got GO Onizuka Vs, Playmaker, now Ruger Vs Playmaker today is great!" A young boy said
"Playmaker only comes out to duel Knight of Hanoi members though, so why would he accept Ruger's challenge?" The mom of the kid said
"If Playmaker doesn't show up that means he's just a coward that's afraid of Ruger!" A teenager said to his friend
(With The Knights of Hanoi)
Revolver watched with interest since Ruger challenged Playmaker that means that he and Playmaker weren't working together. Two portals appeared behind the leader of the Knights of Hanoi
First was a female who had on a long pink coat that went down to her thigh. She had blond hair with brown eyes
Next was a male who just like the female had a coat that went down to his thighs except his coat was red. He had brown hair with blue eyes.
"You called for us Revolver?" The female asked
"Yes, I did Azzurra." Revolver said to the now named Azzurra
"What can we do for you Revolver." The Male Said
"Daxter I want you and Azzurra to go observe this duel up close."
"Yes, Revolver." They both said before leaving
(With Takeru)
"What do you know about Ruger?' Takeru asked the doctor while keeping his eyes on said duelist
"A charisma duelist that likes to crush his opponents swiftly."
"Do you know what archetype his deck is?" Takeru said
"Nope I'm not much of a Dueling fan, but my son loves him though."
"What about Playmaker?"
"Playmaker is called the hero of Link VRAINS for defeating a Knight of Hanoi."
"Why would Ruger want to challenge Playmaker if he is a hero then?"
"Probably, because when Playmaker showed up on the scene, he was the only person people would talk about."
"Thank you for answering my questions." Takeru thanked him
Why do you seem so familiar Ruger?
(Back With Ruger)
Hurry up and show yourself Yusaku. I was getting bored of waiting for him maybe I had been wrong about him being Playmaker.
A portal opened in the sky and out came Playmaker who landed on the same building below me
Guess I was right after all Yusaku
"You finally show yourself, Playmaker! What made you decide to accept my challenge?"
"You know perfectly well why I'm here." He stated coolly
"I know! I just love solving a good mystery even though it wasn't that complicated. I was mainly trying to get on your nerves, but it seems like you didn't even show a hint of emotion and for future references when you seek to hide a secret identity in Link VRAINS don't make your avatar look like you in the real world!"
"I know right! I can't believe people are so stupid that they haven't realized it yet they look like the same!" An eye in Yusaku/Playmaker's Duel Disk said
"I guess you're the Ignis I'm here to find," I say to the eye
"So you're working for SOL Technologies then." Playmaker said
"That's information a hacker should not know," I smirked at him
"How did you even figure out who I am?" Playmaker asked
"When Idiot mentioned that a Knight of Hanoi had shown up in Link VRAINS you were nowhere to be found. Plus there's the thing where you look pretty much the same in both the real world and in here. If your worried about people figuring out who you are from our conversation I made Frog over there mute the sound when you showed up." I said pointing to building beside us to see Pigeon and Frog preparing for the duel to start
"So Yusaku you ready for our duel to start?"
"Whenever you are."
"Good then let us start!" I gave a thumbs up to Frog for him to turn the sound back on.
"Ride the wind Playmaker!" The Ignis said to him while the data wind showed up I hopped on my D-Board when it came by
"Will Ruger be able to stop Playmaker's hot streak or will he crash and burn? Let us find out right now!" The MC said
Playmaker and I rode on the data wind next to each other before I overtook him
"Speed Duel!" We both say
"Since I'm the hero and you're the villain ill take the first move. Here I go! I summon from my hand Scrap Toy Solider!"
Scrap Toy Solider was a small toy that looked worn out from being used too often by its owner. With a missing helmet and some parts in the chest showing gears inside.
Scrap Toy Solider/ Level 1, Light, Machine/Effect, 0 Attack, 0 Defense
(With Takeru)
"Hiroshi you are doing this for my sake aren't you," Takeru said
(With Azzurra and Daxter)
"Why does he use that deck? There's only one in existence, and that belongs to Takeru." Azzurra said
"I don't know why, but I have a feeling that the person down there is not Takeru," Daxter said
"If it's not him then who could Ruger be?" She asked
"You're the one who knew him best." He replied sharply
"If it came down to it would we be able to hurt him?" Azzurra said
"I'll do anything to get revenge against SOL for taking him from us even if it meant hurting Takeru," Daxter said
(Back at the Duel)
"He starts out with a monster that doesn't have any attack or defense points this might be easier than I excepted." The Ignis stated
"Attack and Defense isn't everything. I set 2 cards and pass it to you."
Ruger 4000 *1
"My turn! I set one card. As I control no monsters, I can Special Summon LinkSlayer."
Link Slayer/ Level 5, Earth, Cyberse/Effect, 2000 Attack, Defense 600
"I then summon Cyberse Wizard."
Cyberse Wizard/ Level 4, Light, Cyberse/Effect, 1800 Attack, 800 Defense
"Battle Linkslayer will attack your Scrap Toy Solider! Meteor Slash!" LinkSlayer had blue blades coming out of its arms to attack my monster
"Like I would let you do that so easily. I activate the effect of Scrap Toy Solider! Once per turn, I can negate the attack of a monster that has a higher Level than this card. Toy Multiply!"
A bunch of other Scrap Toy Solider appeared forming a shield in front of the original.
"He had that prepared all along." The Ignis said to Playmaker
"He's known as one of the best duelists in Link VRAINS, so I suspected as much. Most likely the next attack won't land either." Playmaker replied back
"Then why attack if you know it won't work?"
"The sooner I get rid of the trap the better." He retorted back
"Hmm, good luck with that," I said to him
"Battle Cyberse Wizard attacks Scrap Toy Solider. Illusion Spike!"
Cyberse Wizard raised his staff, and a shining blue light came out of it
"You should sometimes gamble because your prediction was right. I activate a continues trap! Scrap Sendoff! Once per turn, I can send one Scrap or Scrappter monster from my hand to my Graveyard to negate an attack. I send Scrap Parasite to my Graveyard."
"So you can negate an attack once per turn with that." Playmaker stated
"I'm done yet though! I activate the effect of Scrap Parasite! When this card is sent from my hand to the graveyard, I can target one monster on your field, and its attack drops to Zero. I choose Linkslayer!"
A small while parasite climbed on Linkslayer before vanishing
Linkslayer 2000-0
"I then activate another continues trap! Scrap Reproduction! At the end phase of every turn if a Scrap or Scrappter monster was sent to the Graveyard due to an effect I can add that card right back to my hand."
"There's only been one monster sent to Graveyard on your side, so you're going to add Scrap Parasite back to your hand."
"Correct!"
"To think that he had that this whole time. You played right into his combo." Ignis said to Playmaker's
"I need to focus AI." He said back
So AI is his name. Talk about a bland name
"I'm not even done yet!" I said
"You got to be kidding!" AI said
"Your turn is done I presume due to there being no Main Phase 2?" He nods "Good then because first off I add Scrap Parasite back to my hand due to Scrap Reproduction. I then will activate the effect of Scrap Toy Solider. On a turn where he used his effect during the End Phase, I can Special Summon another Scrap Toy Solider from my deck."
Scrap Toy Solider/ Level 1, Light, Machine/Effect, 0 Attack, 0 Defense
Playmaker 4000 *3
"My turn. Playmaker, you have been a disappointment." I say to him
"What do you mean?" He questions
"I thought you would be good enough for me to have me bring out my ace, but it seems like I was wrong. I tribute the two Scrap Toy Soldiers. Come Forth and end this Scrappter War Hero!"
Scrappter War Hero was a gruff looking man with a long brown trench coat and a big hammer hoisted on his back. His face his missing revealing the face of a robot
Scrappter War Hero/ Level 7, Dark, Machine/Effect, 2400 Attack, 700 Defense
"He's going to deal us MAJOR damage!" AI panicked
"I activate Scrappter War Hero's effect! By discarding one card in my hand to the Graveyard, he can attack another time as long as it attacks a monster. I'm going to let you guess what's going to the Graveyard." I smirk at him behind me
"He's going to send Scrap Parasite back to the Graveyard for its effect! WERE GOING TO LOSE!" AI panicked even more
"Bingo."
The same small parasite from earlier crawled up Cyberse Wizard backs and bit him
Cyberse Wizard 1800-0
"I activate a trap. Cyberse Protest. Until the end of my next turn, only Cyberse monsters can declare an attack." Playmaker said
"I end my turn. Scrap Reproduction lets me add Scrap Parasite back to my hand."
Ruger 4000 *1
"WERE SAVED!" I thought I saw tears flowing out of Yusaku's Duel Disk for a second
"I should have known that you wouldn't have been beaten that easily. Continue to make me have to climb to a new level Playmaker!"
OC cards that debut this chapter
Scrap Toy Solider/ Level 1, Light, Machine/Effect, 0 Attack, 0 Defense
Once per turn when this card is a target for an attack by a monster that has a higher level you can negate that attack. On the End Phase of the turn that this effect was activated you can Special Summon another Scrap Toy Solider from your deck
Scrap Sendoff (Continues Trap)
Once per turn, you can send a Scrap or Scrappter monster from your hand to the Graveyard to negate opponents attack
Scrap Reproduction (Continues Trap)
During the End Phase of every turn, you can add one monster from your Graveyard that was sent there due to an effect back to your hand
Scrappter War Hero/ Level 7, Dark, Machine/Effect, 2400 Attack, 700 Defense
Once per turn, you can send one card in your hand to the Graveyard to allow this card to attack twice as long as this card attacks another monster.
Cyberse Protest (Trap)
When this is activated only Cyberse monsters can declare an attack until the end of your next turn