Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Yusaku and Kusanagi are tending to Café Nom, parked in its signature spot in the Den City Central Plaza. This late summer’s day is intensely warm, with a white-hot sun glaring down from a cloudless sky. Demand for warm coffee and hot dogs is low, and so Kusanagi is taking a break in the shadow of the truck while Yusaku is cleaning the serving disk inside the van. They reminisce about the end of their last battle, and the many things that have happened in the three months since. Jin has been recovering nicely and seems to have no memory of Bohman’s attack on him or his time as Lightning’s meat puppet—even his memory of the Lost Incident seem less vivid somehow, which Yusaku contemplates might have been Lightning’s doing.  Takeru returned to his hometown almost immediately following Bohman’s defeat, ordered to do so by his understandably worried grandparents. His Den City High exchange student program was terminated due to “unexplained, prolonged absences'' during the Ignis war, and both he and Yusaku were drafted for summer school, which Takeru had unfortunately no choice but to attend back home. Kusanagi asks how Yusaku’s own studies are going, to which he gets no meaningful reply.

A customer comes by and Yusaku prepares his order as Kusanagi watches the sprawling Plaza. An advert sign across the plaza flashed with the launch footage of SOL Technologies’ latest enterprise—an android workforce known as SOLtiS. Yusaku’s customer takes their order and leaves. Once gone, Kusanagi sighs and quotes the advertisement’s slogan, “the safest, most intelligent and versatile AI technology yet”. He asks if Yusaku believes that. Yusaku comments that SOL must be willing to do almost anything to maintain their status and reputation since they were forced to shut down the Link VRAINS. The platform was closed ‘for maintenance’ immediately following the events of the Neural Link and the Mirror World, and not a single announcement has been made since then regarding when it might be up and running again. Kusanagi says that it’s highly likely that the shutdown is permanent, which would mean no more access to the Network for ‘us regular humans’.

This statement seems to bother Yusaku, who soon excuses himself and asks to take the rest of the day off to study for his summer school finals. Kusanagi isn’t convinced by this, but lets it go and gives Yusaku the green to leave. He watches as Yusaku walks away, a saddened smile on his lips before he returns to work.

Yusaku walks a long while through the city, deep in thought. He knows that Kusanagi didn’t mean anything by it, but his comment reminded Yusaku of that which he simply cannot get over—the fact that Ai still has not returned. The empty Duel Disc, useless now that the Link VRAINS is down, tumbles around in Yusaku’s backpack. Yusaku thinks back on the end of the battle against Bohman, to him standing in the middle of the VRAINS central square as everyone whose digital essence had been stolen rematerialized around him. He remembers the happiness in Soulburner’s face, the tears in the eyes of both Zaizen siblings, the relief in his own heart at knowing that Kusanagi would have safely returned to his body in the real world. And he remembers taking one too many minutes to even realise what this victory had meant—that for everything that they had saved, there was so much that they had lost. By the time Yusaku realised that and looked down on his wrist, Ai had already slunk wordlessly into the Network, leaving nothing behind. No notes of goodbye, no digital trace or breadcrumbs for anyone to follow.

Three months later and Yusaku’s every attempt at looking for Ai has been fruitless. He finds himself thinking that if he only had access to the VRAINS he could search for him in person, but something deep inside him says that it wouldn't matter—that if Ai wanted to be found, Yusaku would have found him, with or without the VRAINS as a medium.

Yusaku stops, realising where he’s heading. He’s reached the Den City pier and is wandering southward along the water, leaving behind the densely populated beach areas and closing up on Stardust Road. He can already see the white concrete of the Kogami Mansion peeking through the trees at the top of the hill. Yusaku questions his own intentions. Why would he go there? Was he really so desperate to find Ai that he would ask Kogami Ryoken for him, knowing the hunt that would no doubt ensue the moment Ryoken found out that Ai wasn’t with Yusaku?

Against his better judgement, Yusaku still walks all the way up to the iron gates, hand hovering over the comlink panel beside the driveway. He knows that this isn’t a good idea. Neither Ryoken nor any of his Knights have been seen or heard from in months. He has no proof that Ryoke is even still in Den City. When Yusaku looks at the large mansion in front of him, it looks abandoned—every window is dark, no car is parked in the driveway.

In the end, Yusaku takes his hand off the comlink, turns around and walks back the way he came. Ai just needs time, he tells himself. The Ignis War took everything from him. If he wants to return, he should be allowed to do so on his own terms. He will come back when he’s ready.

It’s uncertain how much Yusaku actually believes those words.

Somewhere out at sea, a pompous luxury cruiser is hosting a SOL Technologies shareholder party, in celebration of the thus far successful launch of the SOLtiS program. Queen is pouring champagne to some high-up suits, and then a toast is raised to her in honour of SOL’s rise in stock value. Just as a shareholder starts to give a speech, Queen’s assistant takes Queen aside. The assistant whispers something to her, and the reaction is immediate. Queen nearly shatters the champagne glass in her hand with pressure alone, but then calms down and excuses herself to the shareholders. She and the assistant leave for Queen’s private suite, where Queen finds and puts on her Duel Disc. The assistant explains that the response team has already gathered, and asks if Queen needs anything else. Queen demands that the assistant make sure that word doesn’t spread about this to the Board of Directors or the shareholders. The assistant moves to do just that, but Queen stops them. She adds that she needs them to call in Zaizen Akira at once. Queen then lies down on the couch and proceeds to enter the VRAINS.

Back in Den City, Zaizen Akira and Aoi are having a fabulous but cosy dinner at a fancy restaurant, in celebration of Aoi’s seventeenth birthday. They talk about how Aoi seems happier, calmer, even despite all the things that happened three months ago. Aoi says that she will carry the weight of losing Aqua with her forever, but without having met Aqua or getting involved, Aoi may have never had the chance to rekindle her friendship with Miyu. Akira asks how Miyu is doing, and Aoi tells him that Miyu has been dismissed from the hospital and is doing the last of her recuperation at home. Aoi has already been invited to come there before summer’s end, and Akira can tell that Aoi is very excited to do so.

A suited woman with a shaved head approaches the siblings’ table. Akira believes her to be a waitress at first and asks if they can have dessert served soon, but then Akira notices the SOL Tech emblem on her jacket. The woman tells Akira that he has been summoned for an emergency meeting and will need to come with her immediately. Akira is not amused, stating that this day has been reserved for his sister and that his assistants will handle the meeting in his stead, as they are supposed to. The woman shakes her head and says that his presence has been demanded by Queen, then hands Akira a folder. Akira is still not amused, but takes the folder and looks at its contents regardless.

Aoi watches as her brother’s face falls, a mix of shock and abhorrence as he skims through the file. He looks up and opens his mouth, but Aoi interrupts him by saying that he should go if he needs to, that her birthday has been amazing and that they will talk more when he comes home later. Akira is saddened, but chooses to go with the assistant.

Akira is led to a car parked outside the restaurant. Well seated and on the way, the assistant hands Akira his Duel Disc and says that Queen has asked him to join her in the VRAINS at once. The assistant taps a nav code into her own Disc and sends it to Akira. Understanding the urgency, Akira leans back and enters the VRAINS already in the car.

Well inside the Network, it doesn’t take long for Akira to notice that this isn’t the VRAINS he’s used to, nor any virtual meeting room he’s ever been in. He is standing in a vast space of near complete darkness, on a solid black surface that reflects his image like a mirror. Thin strands of light spread from the floor onto his shoes—data strands, connecting him to whatever this place is and reading him. Lines of more intense light form a sphere-shaped grid not far in front of him, like a cage, but its walls seem to have been busted open in several places. Queen is there, as well as several teams of what looks like researchers, security managers and computer experts. There are also two people, standing off to the side, that Akira doesn’t recognize.

Akira walks up to Queen and demands to know why he was summoned, and what this place is. Queen looks up to the enormous, shattered sphere and says that this is the Deep VRAINS, but ignores Akira’s follow-up questions of what she means by that and why Akira was never told of its existence. When Akira realises that she won’t explain more, he instead asks what happened here. Queen, looking grim, says that this place was designed to hold the ‘origin’ of the AI technology that was used to create their SOLtiS, but against all odds and for unknown reasons, it has managed to escape. Akira demands to know what the ‘origin’ is or why it would be capable of an ‘escape’ like some conscious being. Queen’s silence allows him to put two and two together, and he starts to believe that SOL has somehow, in secret, managed to acquire Ai—the last of the Ignis. He doesn’t get the chance to confront Queen about it before she gathers everyone before her and lays out their mission clearly—track down the Origin, using any means necessary, and bring it back here alive. She threatens prosecution should anyone leak what they’ve heard to anyone else, then dismisses them all. Akira once again tries to talk to her, but is waved off. With an angry scowl, he logs out.

Left in the Deep VRAINS is Queen and the two unknown figures, who she now calls to her—a man in a sandy leather get-up with a long, silvery braid draped over one shoulder, and a woman in a black pants suit, a large hat shading her face. She removes it, revealing herself to be the same woman who fetched Zaizen Akira at the restaurant.  She questions Queen’s motivation to get Akira involved at all, since he is sure to betray her like he’s done so many times already. Queen simply says that Akira is easy enough to deal with, but there’s someone else who cannot be allowed to get involved, and Akira might be able to lead them straight to that person. Queen tasks the pair with trailing Zaizen Akira, and to take care of any ‘problems’ he decides to bring into the game.

In a short, final scene of the episode, we see Ai hiding away in a private corner of the Network. He has created a small safe haven for himself, perched on a steep cliff that sticks out of an endless, glowing fog. Lined up among luscious trees and bushes at the edge of the cliff are five graves, one for each of the fallen Ignis. Ai is standing before them, testing out his new human form and speaking to the grave stones. His tone is merry, he’s dancing and changing outfits like he’s putting on a fashion show. He asks their opinion, and when the expected silence falls, so does his mask of happiness. He turns to face the graves, the smile now gone from both his mouth and his eyes. He asks them somberly what he’s supposed to do. How can he go on without them? How can he live with what he’s seen?

Just then, a shadowed figure appears on the cliff behind him. Ai makes a surprised face but doesn’t turn around, then gives a simple, soft smile as he recognizes the familiar presence. He says that he didn’t expect to be found this quickly, then turns around to face the figure, still smiling, sadly but affectionately. The figure comes closer. Slowly, Ai’s smile fades again, his brows furrowing as he realises that this person isn’t who he thought that it was. His stance gets defensive, but he never gets a chance to defend himself before a vibrantly colourful yet pitch black darkness descends over him, fading the screen to black and ending the episode.

Chapter Text

It’s late in the evening on the same day. Aoi watches the sprawling city burst into nightlife from the living room window of her and her brother’s apartment. She turns around with a guarded smile at the sound of the front door opening and heads over to greet Akira. It is clear from the moment he steps inside that something is very wrong—Aoi can read it in his whole face, even though he’s doing his best to appear composed. Aoi wishes him welcome home and asks how the meeting was, but receives no answer. Akira deflates onto the living room ottoman and Aoi sits down on the couch in front of him. She asks again, more direct this time. What happened?

Akira knows that he couldn’t keep this from her even if he wanted to, which he doesn’t. He exhales, and explains how badly conflicted he’s feeling. How over the past year—ever since the Dark Ignis first appeared in the VRAINS—he feels like his every decision has been neutral at best, that he’s been riding the line between doing what’s right and serving a company whose morals he can no longer stand behind. That doing the right thing would mean losing his job, their income, maybe even their home. 

Aoi wants to console him, to tell him that he’s always managed to find a way to help regardless, but he realises that this isn’t what he wants to hear. She waits him out patiently. After a while, Akira simply looks up at his sister, looking more lost than Aoi has ever seen him. He asks what he should do, what she would do. She replies that she would need to know what’s going on first. And so Akira explains his theory that SOL has somehow gotten a hold of Ai and has been using him to develop the SOLtiS AI, but now he’s escaped and SOL is hunting him yet again. Aoi is shocked by this, imagining what could have gone down inside the closed-down VRAINS for this to have happened. Was the Ignis War not supposed to be over? Was it really not enough for the world that the Ignis were nearly extinct?

She has her answer. Aoi takes her brother’s hand reassuringly and tells him that since he feels this strongly that SOL is in the wrong, then there’s only one thing he can do—contact Playmaker. Akira exhales, the decision made, but says that they don’t know who Playmaker is outside of the Network. Contacting him without the use of the VRAINS would be near impossible, or they would have found him long ago.

At this, Aoi stands up, a thoughtful expression on her face. She walks back to the window she was gazing through earlier, then back at her brother. She has her suspicions of who it might be, she states.

The day after, at the crack of dawn. Yusaku is in bed in his apartment, tossing and turning in the clutches of a bad dream. In the dream he is in a warped and twisted landscape of barren trees and naked rock, all floating in what could only be described as a dark but still glowing data storm. There is a person he has never seen before, their features contorted by the dream. Between Yusaku and the stranger is a duelling field, empty of anything save for a terrifying, snake-like beast on Yusaku’s side. There are no life point counters, no ATK indicators, but Yusaku can still feel what’s going on. Whatever is happening, whoever he is fighting, he’s winning. His hand, or rather Playmaker’s hand, rises soundlessly to announce an overwhelming attack. Yusaku can’t stop it. Why does he feel like he should stop it?

The attack lands, the chime of defeat ringing at a deafening volume. Yusaku’s heart fills with dread as if he’s done something awful, but the dream ends before he can know for sure.

Yusaku wakes up in a cold sweat, the light of dawn peeking through the curtains onto his face. Roboppi is there and offers him a glass of water. It tells him that there’s still an hour left before he needs to be awake, but Yusaku has no interest in sleep anymore. Instead he gets up, takes the glass of water and heads tiredly for the bathroom. He places the glass on the dresser before closing the bathroom door. Roboppi looks at the glass, which is just as full as before, with a dejected expression before rolling off to make the bed.

Fast forward to mid-afternoon, and Yusaku is exiting the Den City High School building after finishing his summer classes for the day. He yawns, not for the first time today, walking with his bag thrown casually over one shoulder and staring blankly ahead. He’s deep in thought again, trying to make sense of the dream that woke him this morning—deep enough that he doesn’t notice Aoi waiting for him on the boulevard or the first time she calls his name. Aoi approaches him, finally knocking him out of his thoughts, and starts walking next to him. “You look lonely,” she says tenderly, “like you’ve lost someone”. Yusaku is surprised by this and tries not to show it. Aoi says that she just wants to make sure he’s okay, and that’s why she’s asking.

Yusaku isn’t in the mood for this right now, even if the one asking is Blue Maiden. He thanks her for her concern but also dismisses it, stating flatly that being alone isn’t something new to him and that he can handle it. Aoi stops in her tracks as Yusaku continues walking, even despite the prick of guilt he now feels at rejecting her sympathy. Behind him Aoi takes a quick look around to make sure that no one is within earshot, and then takes the risk: “Playmaker,” she says, and Yusaku stops dead.

He turns around, and Aoi sees what has been there all along—the same emerald eyes, once so cold and unreadable and now filled with all the bottomless emotions that the young man never allows himself to show. The sun behind Yusaku makes his light-blue highlights glow golden, just like they would in his avatar form. Of course it’s him , she finds herself thinking, both saddened by this revelation and happy to know that she was right.

Yusaku asks how she could know, his tone indicating that he’s not exactly surprised. Aoi explains that she’s had her suspicions ever since Yusaku found her on the school roof that time, but that she didn’t put too much thought into it since it was clear that Playmaker did not want to be identified. That, along with Yusaku’s suspicious absences from school made it easy enough to single him out. Yusaku sighs that it was only a matter of time, but also that it doesn’t matter now that the Ignis War is over and the VRAINS is no more. He tries to walk away again, but Aoi stops him. She decides to be forward and state her business, asking if Yusaku would agree to see her brother later that day.

Yusaku can hear the severity of the situation in her voice, his heart dropping a little. When Yusaku seemingly hesitates, Aoi tells him that they have information that he—that Playmaker—would want. Upon hearing this, Yusaku agrees to meet with Akira.

We’re once again out at sea, somewhere not too far from Den City. A yacht is bobbing on the calm, blue, glistening waters. On the lower deck, in the computer lab, Ryoken is sitting hunched over his keyboard, staring intently at the screens in front of him. On one of them is a constant flow of analytical data, on another a looped few seconds of footage from the Kogami Mansion front gate cameras. The feed shows Yusaku with his hand outstretched to the comlink terminal, never touching it, then as he turns and begins to walk away. On the third screen is a Network signal scan of Yusaku at the time of his visit. Red highlights and swirling lines around the bottom of the boy’s backpack indicate a disconnected and inactive Duel Disc. Ryoken is analysing the scans and the footage, finding no proof of what he’s looking for.

Spectre enters the room with a tray of biscuits and two cups of tea. He sets the tray down beside Ryoken, who thankfully takes a mug and blows on the hot steam. Spectre asks him how it’s going. Ryoken points to a larger, wall-mounted screen on the far wall, where an intricate intrusion algorithm is chipping away slowly at a firewall code that seems to mend faster than its breaking. He says that his every attempt at breaking into the closed-down VRAINS has failed. SOL seems to have improved their security immensely, and in a way that they simply shouldn’t have the technology to do. Spectre asks what way that would be. Ryoken replies that the firewall he’s been trying to get through appears to be based on the Ignis Algorithm, but it’s more advanced than anything SOL had previously managed to achieve using the Earth Ignis’ data. The only conclusion he’s been able to reach is that the Dark Ignis must have been involved in its making somehow, since he’s the last Ignis alive.

Ryoken turns to Spectre as he says this, as if to ‘confirm’ his statement. Spectre understands the unspoken question—has he felt anything to indicate that the Earth Ignis, and in turn the other Ignis, are still somehow alive? Spectre takes a sip of his tea and shakes his head. The last connection he ever felt to the Earth Ignis was in the moment of its death at SOL’s hands. Ryoken nods, his conclusion reaffirmed. He gestures to the data scans in front of him. The lack of activity from the idle Duel Disc strongly suggests that Fujiki Yusaku is not in possession of the Dark Ignis. If he is not, Ryoken states, then it cannot be ruled out that SOL has captured him.

Sensing that his help is not required at the moment, Spectre leaves Ryoken to his work. As Spectre exits the room, there is the tiniest, slightest hint of sadness in his eyes—a spark of emotion brought on by the mention of the Earth Ignis. It’s gone just as fast as it appeared, and Spectre closes the door behind him.

The sunset is bathing the docks of northern Den City in bright oranges and subtle pinks. Shadows stretch on for a mile as the last bits of light for the day slowly dip below the waterline. Kusanagi and Yusaku arrive in the Café Nom van, stopping just outside of the same empty warehouse that Yusaku once met Akira in after Lightning’s war declaration. Back then Ai had created a voice distortion algorithm for him, and Yusaku’s hoodie had been pulled up and around his face to hide it. Yusaku feels a bit odd as he steps out of the van with none of those things to shield his identity.

The pair enters the warehouse, where Akira and Aoi are waiting for them. The bright backlight of the sunset still shades Yusaku’s face as he walks in, but soon the warehouse ceiling lights illuminate him. Akira takes in the young man’s appearance, obviously recognising him as the person who found and saved his sister when she had seemingly collapsed on the high school roof. Akira admits with a smile that he should have known, then formally introduces himself, however needlessly, to both Yusaku and Kusanagi, thanking them for all of their sacrifices up until now. He then lowers his gaze and asks for forgiveness for dragging them into it all once more.

Kusanagi’s tone grows a little sharp as he asks what it is Akira plans to ‘drag them into’. Akira reads protectiveness in the man’s voice—protectiveness of Yusaku, perhaps, and of Yusaku’s freedom from SOL Tech’s problems. He can relate to those feelings. He turns to Yusaku in response and asks if Yusaku knows where the Dark Ignis is. Yusaku puts on a stone-cold expression and says that he has neither seen nor heard from Ai since the battle against Bohman. Akira exhales that it must then be as he’s feared. When asked by Kusanagi what he means by that, Akira reveals his suspicions—that SOL has somehow captured Ai and used him for their latest technological advancements, but now he has escaped and is being hunted once again.

Yusaku and Kusanagi are both deeply shocked by this. The shock is quickly overruled by confusion, though, as they realise that something isn’t adding up. If Ai managed to escape captivity, then why hasn’t he come to them for help? Aoi suggests that, perhaps, Ai doesn’t want to involve Yusaku anymore, so that Yusaku can move on with his life and live normally.

In an unexpected burst of emotion, Yusaku snaps that his life will never be normal again. His anger—more sad than resentful—makes it clear that he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. He shakes it off, apologises to Aoi and then turns back to Akira. He asks if there is a way that he can be allowed into the VRAINS, since there’s a chance that he can locate Ai from there. Akira reveals that he has procured a company key code for the VRAINS which would allow Yusaku to enter it despite it being locked down, but he would have to mask his account data somehow. Kusanagi smiles and says that it should be no problem.

Yusaku takes out his Duel Disc and inserts the SOL Tech key card. He is just about to thank Akira for it when numerous figures suddenly storm the warehouse. Their metallic bodies and orange-framed faceless heads makes it clear that they are SOLtiS androids. They overrun and overpower all four people in the warehouse before anyone has the chance to flee or defend themselves. Akira, Aoi and Kusanagi are all forced to their knees around Yusaku, whose arms are moved behind his back and held tight. It’s made painfully obvious that fighting the SOLtiS will not be possible. Their grips are iron solid, their strength immense. Akira tries to order the SOLtiS to let them go by using his CEO override password.

A man in a beige leather outfit walks in right then, his long silvery braid dangling from the top of his head like the tail of a predatory animal. He tells Akira that the override will have no effect on these specific androids, since they have been modified to obey only those chosen by Queen. Akira yells at the man to let them go, but the man simply laughs at him. He introduces himself as Jizen, then thanks Akira for making this job so much easier. Jizen walks up to Yusaku, looking him up and down—so this is the mighty Playmaker, he snickers, the pain in all of SOL Tech’s ass. He roughly grabs Yusaku by the chin, ignoring Kusanagi who roars at him to not touch him. Yusaku pulls away from the grip and demands to know what Jizen wants with him. Jizen backs off with a smug expression and states that Playmaker cannot be allowed to get involved, and so Jizen has been sent to disarm him.

Jizen gestures for the SOLtiS holding Yusaku to let him go and it does. Then, before Yusaku can even regain his footing, Jizen reveals the Duel Disc on his wrist and pushes a button on it. Immediately and to everyone’s great surprise, Yusaku’s Duel Disc activates on its own, engulfing Yusaku in bright blue data. Yusaku collapses in a heap on the floor as the Disc logs him in by force and sends his consciousness into the VRAINS.

Kusanagi calls out in terror, but Yusaku can’t hear him. Jizen, snickering menacingly, walks up to Yusaku and uses his foot to turn the limp boy onto his back. He then gestures at one of the SOLtiS, which immediately gets down on its hands and knees. Jizen sits down on its back, crosses his legs and tells the three captives to wait patiently while he incapacitates Playmaker once and for all. Then he leans back against a large crate and logs into the VRAINS, body relaxing. The remaining free SOltiS place themselves like guards around him, expressionless but no less intimidating.

Yusaku feels his now digitised essence rushes through the Network, connecting to the VRAINS and forming his avatar around him. It’s so very familiar at this point, almost like being wrapped in a skin-tight blanket or armour. Yellow and red strands of hair appear in his field of vision. His arms and legs shimmer into existence, clad in green and black.

Playmaker lands with practised ease on whatever surface he’s been ejected onto. The world around him is absolutely pitch black, but he is standing on something even if he can’t make it out. However, something about this place is not quite right. There's something in the air. Something is making it feel thick and heavy, almost like it's pressing down on him. It's hard to breathe. Not impossible, but uncomfortable.

Breathing in the VRAINS is computer simulated, a feature added to make people feel comfortable. It's not a necessity. Whatever this place is, Playmaker is sure that it's not the VRAINS that he's used to.

It’s not long before Jizen appears before him. The man gestures theatrically at the black space that surrounds them, asking if Playmaker recognizes it and saying that he had it designed specifically for this Duel so that he could make it as interesting as possible. Playmaker has no idea what he’s talking about, but then it’s like his eyes adjust to the darkness. Lines of blue rush past him, growing brighter and brighter until they form a grid both above and below the more or less transparent floor. Between him and Jizen a glowing dueling field flashes into existence, and suddenly Playmaker isn’t Playmaker anymore—he’s Fujiki Yusaku, six years old, locked up in a concrete box, starved and scared.

This is the duel arena from the Hanoi Project.

Jizen snickers as the memories flood his opponent’s face. He then formally challenges Playmaker, stating that if Playmaker wins then he can walk out of here. If Jizen wins, then Playmaker will be locked up in here for as long as SOL Technologies needs him to be, to make sure that he can’t interfere with their plans.

Playmaker's breathing is shallow, his heart racing with the returning memories. But with no way out and no other choice, he is forced to accept the duel.

Chapter Text

Kusanagi, Akira and Aoi are trying desperately to get free of the unmoving yet relentless SOLtiS that hold them. Jizen remains unconscious on the makeshift chair in front of them. Yusaku lies equally motionless on the floor in front of Kusanagi, his Duel Disc pulsing blue in a way that’s not normal for it to do. But something else is wrong, too—from what Kusanagi can tell, Yusaku’s breathing is off. It’s shallow, ragged and uneven. Kusanagi calls out to Yusaku, but it of course has no effect. Akira is trying again to order the SOLtiS to let them go, but this also fails.

The fear of what’s happening to Yusaku is getting to Kusanagi, who now turns on Akira. He asks angrily how the hell the program that Akira just gave them could log Yusaku in by force, what’s happening to him now, and lastly, when Akira can’t answer either question, he asks if Akira is trying to betray them. Aoi immediately defends her brother’s intentions, but Akira stops her. He ponders out loud the possibility that Jizen or another of Queen’s henchmen could have tampered with the key card, or even that they set a trap for him by even allowing him to get his hands on it in the first place. Akira swears on his life that he did not intend for this to happen. Kusanagi, despite his worry, feels that Akira is being sincere and decides to trust him. He asks how the hell they’re supposed to get out of this mess, which of course neither man knows.

It is then that Aoi, having twisted and turned inside the SOLtiS’ tight grip, manages to wring free. She uses her smaller size to dip between the legs of the SOLtiS holding her, then makes a dash for her backpack which she has left by a nearby crate. The SOLtiS starts moving and follows her fast, but Aoi dodges cleverly while simultaneously opening the backpack and retrieving her Duel Disc from inside. She just managed to press a couple of buttons on it before the SOLtiS tackles her to the floor and the Disc tumbles away from her. Aoi is quickly subdued and brought back to the same sitting position next to her brother, Akira crying out for her the whole time. Aoi ensures him that she’s okay, face set with determination and even a tiny smile. Akira is not convinced and tells her to not act rashly since they have no idea what these SOLtiS have been reprogrammed to do. He asks her what she expected to accomplish. Aoi’s smile fades from the lack of trust, but her determination does not. She looks beside her where her Duel Disc now lies discarded, out of reach but still intact. After a couple of moments, it flashes faintly in green.

We’ll see, she tells her brother, then turns to look out into the sunset outside the warehouse.

Back on the Knights of Hanoi’s yacht, the sun has just dipped below the waterline. Ryoken is standing on deck facing the disappearing last light of the day, breathing deeply on the salty sea breeze. Behind him the night is slowly approaching. Spectre is doing the same, having just come up from below deck. He hands Ryoken a data pad and says that they just received a message that Spectre believes that they will not want to ignore. Ryoken takes a moment to read the message, brows furrowing more and more the further he reads. Once done, he hands Spectre the data pad back and tells him to immediately turn the boat back home. Spectre acknowledges this and heads back inside. Ryoken now turns to face the oncoming darkness, the direction he knows Den City to be in. Before long the yacht has course corrected and is speeding towards the night, the sunset finally ending behind Ryoken.

Inside the Deep VRAINS, Jizen offers Playmaker the first turn. Knowing well that that would not be optimal, Playmaker stays silent. Jizen simply shrugs and starts the duel, drawing his hand and immediately Normal Summoning Lifebringer Irregular [LV2, Warrior, Light, ATK 500, DEF 1000]. But before Irregular can even reach the field, he chains the monster’s own effect, which sends it to the graveyard and lets him Special Summon one level four or lower Lifebringer monster from his hand with a different name. He uses this to summon Lifebringer Indefinite [LV4, Warrior, Light, ATK 1200, DEF 100]. Next he uses Indefinite ’s effect to halve its ATK [ATK 600], which allows him to Special Summon Irregular from the graveyard. Jizen, without pause, then activates a continuous spell card from his hand by paying 500 LP— Scavenger’s Calling . Its effect allows Jizen to Link summon Scavenger monsters using one less material than required by paying the same amount of LP as ATK on the Link material(s). He first pays 500 LP to use Irregular as material to summon Link 2 Scavenger The One [Warrior, Light, ATK 1600]. Right after, he pays another 600 LP to use Indefinite as material for Link 2 Scavenger The Other [Warrior, Dark, ATK 1600].

With these summons, Jizen has two Link 2 monsters on his field but only 2400 LP, which makes Playmaker certain that something worth that many life points is coming. Seeing Playmaker’s guarded look, Jizen gleefully declares that he’s far from done with his turn. He activates Scavenger The One ’s effect, which banishes all monsters in Jizen’s graveyard that were sent there this turn, in order to give life points equal to the combined ATK of those monsters...

... to his opponent.

Playmaker is confused as his life point counter rises to 5700, and then again when Jizen sets a card and ends his turn just like that. But barely has Playmaker’s hand moved to draw a card when Jizen calls out the automatic activation of Scavenger The Other ’s end-of-turn effect. It tributes Scavenger The One , sending it to the graveyard, in order to return all monsters that were banished this turn to the deck. This allows Jizen to deal damage equal to double their combined ATK to Playmaker, before gaining the same amount of LP himself. Playmaker can do nothing as the lifepoints he was just deviously given drain away. Jizen’s turn ends with Playmaker at 2300 LP and Jizen himself at a comfortable 4100.

It’s with frustration and a hint of desperation that Playmaker begins his turn, drawing the fifth card to his hand. It’s not the best of hands, but it’s nothing he can’t work with. He starts off by Normal Summoning Dotscaper , then immediately activates Cynet Redestruction , which banishes Dotscaper but allows Playmaker to Special Summon one monster with the same level from his deck. Playmaker summons Datacorn , whose effect activates when it is Special Summoned, allowing Playmaker to summon one 0 ATK 0 DEF Datacorn Token to his field. Dotscaper ’s effect activates when it is banished, returning it to the field. Playmaker uses Dotscaper and Datacorn to Link Summon Link 2 Pentestag to the extra monster zone, then activates Dotscaper ’s effect which returns it to the field once more. He Link summons again, using Pentestag and Dotscaper to summon Link 3 Transcode Talker . He activates Transcode ’s effect, which allows Playmaker to Special Summon Pentestag back to the zone below Transcode ’s link marker. Playmaker then lastly uses Pentestag and the Datacorn Token to summon Link 3 Encode Talker right below Transcode , co-linking them. This gives both monsters an extra 500 ATK, as well as protects them from being targeted by Jizen’s effects. Playmaker enters his Battle Phase.

Playmaker knows that he should feel safe behind this formation, but Jizen doesn’t appear to be the least bit intimidated. Neither does he seem to be affected by the strange air like Playmaker is. Breathing is uncomfortable, strenuous even. He forces himself to calm down, then announces his attack— Transcode Talker , now with 2800 ATK from its own effect, against Scavenger The Other ’s 1600 ATK.

The attack goes through, but before the damage is calculated Jizen activates his set card, the trap card Scavenger’s Retribution . It allows Jizen to discard his hand, which is empty, in order to have both duelists take any battle damage for the remainder of the turn. Taken aback but unable to stop Transcode ’s attack, Playmaker takes the same 1200 points of damage as Jizen. Scavenger the Other is destroyed, leaving Jizen’s field empty save for the continuous spell Scavenger’s Calling , but now Playmaker can’t attack with Encode . The 2800 points of battle damage would put Jizen at only 100 LP, but the same damage would lower Playmaker himself to way below zero. With no other choice, Playmaker ends his turn. Jizen is now at 2900 LP and Playmaker is at 1100 LP.

Jizen laughs scornfully, mocking Playmaker for only managing to hurt himself more. He gestures to the two powered-up Code Talkers and asks how someone as renowned and revered as Playmaker, the saviour of the Network, can be this weak despite the power he so obviously wields. Maybe it’s because he’s never faced an opponent this strong, Jizen taunts, or maybe it’s because all of Playmaker’s strength came from the Dark Ignis, and that he’s helpless now that he’s alone.

Playmaker’s heart staggers. Despite knowing better than to fall for simple mind tricks, the words cut deep—deeper than he expects them to. His brow furrows, but he doesn’t humour Jizen with a reply. The reaction still pleases Jizen, though, whose sinister smile grows a little wider.

Jizen draws and begins his turn by paying 500 LP to keep Scavenger’s Calling . Next he Normal Summons one Lifebringer Differential [LV4, Warrior, Light, ATK 200 DEF 1900]. Its effect allows Jizen to draw cards equal to the difference in Link Monsters that he and his opponent controls (max. 2), and then, if Jizen controls no Link Monsters, he can tribute Lifebringer Differential in order to Special Summon Life Tokens (LV1, Warrior, Light, ATK 500 DEF 500) up to the number of cards he drew. Jizen draws two cards and then tributes Differential in order to summon two Life Tokens . As expected, Jizen then uses Scavenger’s Calling’s effect. He pays 500 LP in order to use one Life Token as material for a new Link 2 Scavenger The One , and then again with the other token to summon Link 2 Scavenger The Other .

Playmaker braces for the same life-giving-and-taking effects as last time, but Jizen does no such thing. Instead he moves on to his Battle Phase and declares a battle between Scavenger The Other and Encode Talker —despite the 1200 difference in their ATK. Encode strikes back, The Other is destroyed and Jizen takes the damage outright, leaving him at only 200 LP. However, after damage calculation, he activates the Quick Spell Scavenged Heart from his hand. Its effect allows Jizen to regain double the amount of LP as he took damage that turn, in this case 2400, but he must equip Scavenged Heart to one of his opponent’s monsters, which then gains that same amount of ATK. The equipped monster cannot be targeted with card effects, tributed or used as material for any kind of summon, also it will be banished at the end of Playmaker’s next turn, dealing him damage equal to its current ATK, but if it goes to the Graveyard before then, Jizen takes that damage instead. Jizen reads this strange but powerful effect out, then declares that Scavenged Heart be equipped onto Transcode Talker . Transcode ’s ATK rises to a whopping 5200. Jizen then sets both of the cards he drew and ends his turn with 2600 LP, laughing even in the face of the now overpowered Transcode Talker.

In the warehouse, the situation has not changed for Kusanagi, Akira and Aoi. They can do nothing but bide their time, waiting for a duel then can’t follow to end one way or another. Kusanagi watches Yusaku’s chest movements carefully—these have not improved either. Yusaku’s breathing is still laboured, and to Kusanagi’s great fear, they seem to be getting slower. The SOLtiS aren’t moving or showing any sign of letting them go.

That is, until the lights in the warehouse suddenly go out all at once, leaving everyone with only the faint pulsing glow of Yusaku’s Duel Disc. The SOLtiS hum to life again, their eyes lighting up like flashlights, but they aren’t fast enough to stop what happens next—a shadow has entered the warehouse and is moving swiftly from one SOLtiS to the next with what appears to be a cape flapping around their legs. One by one the SOLtiS that are holding the hostages are electrocuted and collapse in heavy heaps of plastic and metal. The ones that are guarding Jizen boot up as well, but instead of trying to grab the captives or the invading stranger, they instead scoop up Jizen and evacuate the warehouse at incredible speed. Another mysterious rescuer jumps at the escaping SOLtiS and attempts to electrocute them, but only manages to strike down one. The remaining SOLtiS escape with Jizen into the now dark evening outside and disappear from sight.

Akira, Aoi and Kusanagi regain their composure and get back on their feet. Akira thanks the strange shadow for the help but remains cautious, demanding to know who they are. Aoi stops him and says that it’s okay, that it’s a friend. Just then the lights in the warehouse come on again, revealing that the stranger is Dojun Kengo, and that he incapacitated the SOLtiS using his robotic right arm. Bessho Ema soon enters the warehouse as well, twirling the electric wrench that she used to stop the SOLtiS outside. Aoi thanks Ema and Kengo for arriving so quickly, making Akira realise that it was this that Aoi was aiming to do when she tried to escape earlier. He apologises for disparaging her earlier and once again thanks Ema and Kengo for their help. Kengo only says that he will never be far away from a place where AI are threatening humans.

At this point, Kusanagi cuts in, saying that they can all thank each other later, but right now there are far more important problems. He’s kneeling on the floor over Yusaku, checking his pulse and his ragged breathing. Ema asks what happened here and Aoi only says that Yusaku was forcefully logged into the VRAINS and has been getting worse and worse by the minute. Kusanagi explains that he might be able to hack into the Duel Disc from his van and log Yusaku back out by force, and asks for help in getting Yusaku there. Kengo says that he’s got it and lifts the thin young man into his arms, carrying him as Kusanagi leads them all from the warehouse to the Café Nagi van.

Once in the van, Kengo gently puts Yusaku on the floor as everyone gathers around him. Kusanagi finds a chord and plugs it into Yusaku’s Duel Disc, booting up his computers. As he sits down and starts to work on breaking through the log-in program, Ema asks Aoi and Akira what they were doing out in an abandoned warehouse and why they were being held captive by SOLtiS. Akira hesitates and looks to Kusanagi as if to ask permission, but Kusanagi only side-eyes him and then returns to his work. Akira sighs and decides to divulge—he explains that he decided to contact Playmaker since he believes that SOL has been using the Dark Ignis to create the SOLtiS AI, and now he’s escaped and is being hunted. But someone at SOL must have found him out and sent a hitman to stop Playmaker from getting involved. Ema connects the dots and asks if that means that the young man before them is Playmaker, which Aoi confirms. Kengo then asks what is happening to him, which Akira says that they don’t know, only that he’s never seen the VRAINS do this to anyone before.

Moved by the reveal of Playmaker’s true identity, Ema asks Kusanagi if there’s room for her at the computers as well. She says that she will help him as best she can, and that her treasure hunter hacking software may be able to get them past the VRAINS security barriers faster. Kusanagi welcomes any help he can get, only stating that they need to hurry. Ema sits down next to him and gets to work as well, as Kengo, Akira and Aoi watch over Yusaku.

The battle in the Deep VRAINS is progressing slowly as Jizen continues to haul taunts at Playmaker. He points out that it looks like Playmaker is having a panic attack and asks with what appears to be genuine confusion why that is. Did Playmaker’s strength really only ever come from the Dark Ignis? Has he lost all his guts and is trembling in the face of Jizen’s duel?

All of this takes Playmaker aback, but not for the reason that Jizen believes. Playmaker realises that Jizen is not causing his breathing issues, nor does he seem aware of what is. This helps knock Playmaker out of the mental loop he was trapped in, and he focuses on just inhaling and exhaling, no matter the unwavering pressure over his chest. He looks to the field, and the two set cards on Jizen’s side. It’s clear that Jizen would never have activated Scavenged Heart and offered that incredible ATK boost to Playmaker if he didn’t have a way of countering it. He also doesn’t seem too worried about Scavenged Heart being destroyed, so Playmaker assumes that whatever the second set card is, it’s for defending his strategy. Playmaker looks at the three cards in his hand. None of them can fight the duel he needs them to alone. If he is to turn this around, he needs to draw something good.

As he forces virtual oxygen into his lungs, Playmaker finds himself wishing that Ai was there with him. In a situation like this, the Ignis’ chatty quips and comments, even his unfounded worries, always had a way of making Playmaker figure things out or, at the very least, encourage him to. Playmaker remembers that Ai might be in serious danger and that it doesn’t matter if he wants him involved or not—Playmaker will be there to save him. So he imagines Ai praying, somewhere out there in the Network, for this next draw to be a good one.

He draws, and it is indeed good enough. With guarded relief Playmaker Normal Summons the Level 5 Linkslayer by tributing Encode Talker . He then activates Linkslayer ’s effect, which allows Playmaker to discard up to two cards in order to destroy the same amount of cards in his opponent’s Spell/Trap Zone. Playmaker discards Sea Archiver from his hand. He is then faced with the decision of which one of Jizen’s set cards to target.

The choice seems to amuse Jizen, he laughs and says that depending on his choice, Playmaker will ensure that this turn is his last one. Playmaker chooses the rightmost card, to the explosive glee of Jizen. Jizen chains the leftmost card, the continuous trap Shield of Scavengers , which makes it so that Jizen will take no battle damage from battles involving Scavenger Monsters. The rightmost card still goes to the graveyard, but Jizen seems unbothered. Certain that there’s now nothing Playmaker can do to end the duel before Scavenged Heart drains his life points at the end of the turn, Jizen laughs in his opponent’s face—but Playmaker is unaffected. With a serious and determined expression he continues the turn by using Linkslayer as material for summoning Link 1 Link Spider. Then, since Link Spider was summoned to a zone that Transcode Talker points to, he’s allowed to Special Summon the previously discarded Sea Archiver from the Graveyard. Next he uses Sea Archiver and Link Spider to summon Link 2 Code Talker , which he then equips with the equip card Cyberse Annihilation .

The now slightly nervous Jizen is mightily surprised when Playmaker enters the Battle Phase and declares battle between Transcode Talker and Scavenger The One . He reminds Playmaker that he won’t take any battle damage, meaning that all of Transcodes 5200 ATK are useless. However, before the battle goes through, Playmaker activates the quick spell Cynet Inequivalence . It allows Playmaker to target one Link Monster on either field with the same Link Rating as each other and exchange them by banishing from his Graveyard one or more Link Monsters with the same total number of Link Markers as the two targeted Monsters. Playmaker banishes Link 3 Encode Talker and Link 1 Link Spider from his Graveyard in order to exchange Scavenger The One with his Code Talker , which causes replay of the battle to occur.

Jizen understands at once what this entails and angrily admits defeat, but manages to finish the duel with one last taunt. He states that SOL will do anything to maintain their position as the spearhead of technological advancement, and neither Playmaker nor anyone else will be allowed to stand in their way.

Playmaker, drawing increasingly heavier breaths, simply replies that he won’t ask for SOL’s permission to protect the ones he cares about. He then announces the final battle and has Transcode Talker attack Code Talker on Jizen’s field. Cyberse Annihilation raises Code Talker ’s ATK to match Transcode ’s at 5200. Both are destroyed in the ensuing clash, and both Scavenged Heart and Cyberse Annihilation go to the graveyard along with them. The damage from both equip cards amount to 6200, which immediately depletes Jizen’s life points.

As the duel officially ends, Playmaker begins to feel himself logging out. The sensation feels equal parts relieving and painful, as the pressure over his chest intensifies. Seconds feel like minutes as Playmaker’s colours are ripped off of Yusaku’s now unrendered body and his heart starts to hurt. Unable to breathe, move or think, Yusaku loses consciousness long before the Deep VRAINS releases him back into the real world.