AN: Hello dear readers. I am finally updating this chapter. It is a wonder really, considering I am still in grief over my dad's passing, but I was almost done with it before it happened so, I decided to finish it. That and writing does make me happy somewhat. I hope I did a good enough job. Have fun reading.

Crissy's p.o.v.

I was rushing through Link Vrains with the fastest speed manageable. After Playmaker's duel with Blue Angel, everything was chaotic. It made sense somewhat considering how Akira Zaizen, the security chief, was Blue Angel's brother. He of course wanted to make sure she was safe. For that reason, Link Vrains was suddenly crowded with security bots. As Asteria Witch I was riding a duel board and dodged them easily. That and my A.I. in my duel disk, Hoshi were very helpful in guiding me on the correct way out of danger. I may also have put a tracker on Yusaku's duel disk, just in case. Therefore, It was easy to find him and Ai kneeling beside the unconscious Blue Angel in a forest. I instantly jumped off my board and hit somewhere behind a tree. For safety methods, I was under my security camouflage. I could therefore hear the conversation happening between them.

"I will eat Hanoi's program out of her" Ai declared, transforming into what I could only describe as a giant head of a monster.

If I remember correctly, Ai had taken that form before, the first time he was seen in Link Vrains. He had eaten one of the Knights of Hanoi's avatars to prevent him from blowing up. Sometimes I wonder which side he was on.

"You might want to stand back. I think I am about to puke data chumps" Ai replied and hissed annoyed. "What a nasty flavor"

"This is bad. She won't wake up" Playmaker uttered fearfully. My eyes narrowed worriedly as well. What was going on here? If Ai had disposed of the program, why wouldn't she wake up? It made no sense. Sounds of the security bots could be heard in the background now, which gave us a clear image of danger.

"I love to stare at sleeping beauty forever, but we got to jet. There is nothing we can do for her" Ai said which almost sounded concerned.

But then again, I was sure he was more concerned for himself getting caught than Playmaker helping Blue Angel.

"Maybe not from here," Playmaker concluded.

That statement would mean that Playmaker was prepared to log out any second. That wouldn't do. If Yusaku knew I was logged inside Link Vrains, it would not take him long to realize I was Asteria Witch. With fast steps, I send Kolter a message in stalling Playmaker for 10 seconds. All so I could return to the real world before him. That shouldn't be too hard since Kolter had done this thing before. Then I logged out myself.

I exhaled as I rose from wherever I had been sitting inside the empty classroom. My feet hit the floor in a quick rush. I wanted to reach the door before Yusaku and Ai returned. All to make him believe that I had been keeping watch while waiting for his return. My duel disk had already uploaded the latest feed of Playmaker's duel against Blue Angel. Just in case he or I would be asking questions. I was pretty quick in thinking on my feet. I had barely reached the door when Yusaku woke up inside the classroom. He groans in pain, but then again, Speed dueling takes a lot out of him. To show support I ran over to him and grabbed his arm for safety.

"Crissy..."

He sent me one of his rare smiles. He dapped my head reassuringly. "Thank you for taking care of me. " I was sending him a beaming smile in return. Soon I was holding up my notebook with a sentence written.

"Is Skye alright?" Just for safety, I was holding up the duel feed from Link Vrains. To explain to him that I had watched his duel.

"I do not know. Her avatar won't wake up" Yusaku mused worriedly. "Do you have any clues where she would log in from?" I shook my head in confusion. I had no clue. After all, none of us had been prepared for the knight of Hanoi's latest tricks.

"Hmm, I have 3 reasons for why I can find Skye's location" Yusaku mused. His hand intertwined with mine before he began running off tugging me along with him.

"1. I know she is at school" Yusaku continued as we ran up the stairs. "2. To keep her identity a secret she would log in from somewhere secluded, and 3. The roof has been off-limits for repairs. Until yesterday that is."

My eyes widened in surprise. Then in gratefulness. My heart was skipping a beat. Yusaku was so sweet when he was observant like that.

We entered the rooftop seconds later. Our mission was to find Skye's location. Hopefully, she was all right, but considering the effect that Hanoi cards had on her, I would say it was doubtful.

"Come on Skye. She has to be around here somewhere" Yusaku mused.

It filled my heart with how much care Yusaku had for people. Even though he was considered robotic and dull by others, they couldn't see his charm. The sound of something buzzing could be heard and we followed the trail. There, at the railing hidden by one of the roof towers, was Skye sitting, unmovable. Yusaku of course called the paramedics, he was the only one who could talk, and we were soon at the hospital's waiting room. We were waiting for news on Skye's condition.

"Ah, Skye!" Akira shouted the moment he entered the hospital.

I assumed the nurses had called him, considering he was Skye's brother. The check-up treatment was just finished, and a doctor and two nurses were transporting Skye by a hospital bed. I guess they were going to bring her to her room for the time being.

"Oh, God. Skye! What happened to you?" Akira questioned and rushed over to the trio. One of the nurses was holding him back.

"You need to calm down sir. We are doing everything we can for her," the nurse reassured. Akira did not like this one bit.

"But my sister needs me."

"I can assure you she is in good hands," the nurse said.

Akira let out a big sigh and let the nurse leave with her colleagues to take care of Skye. Now that everything with Skye was settled, for now, Akira turned his attention towards Yusaku and me.

"You are the young man who... wait Catherine Aidos, what are you doing here?"

Akira was looking at me with disbelief. Like he couldn't believe I was here. I let out a little sigh. Being called my real name was a little off-putting. That and Akira were having that demanding presence around him, just like my sister. It made sense somewhat since they both were working together at Sol Tech. Still, I didn't like it and therefore soon were hiding behind Yusaku, just as usual.

"Is it so wrong that Crissy is here? She is friends with Skye" Yusaku defended for me. "Besides, she was the one asking me to call the paramedics."

"Ah yes, Kristina did mention you had issues with talking to people" Akira mused slowly. "I assume you two found my sister?"

"Yeah. Skye has been like that ever since we found her. And on the whole ride over with the ambulance," Yusaku told him.

"How could this have happened to her?" Akira questioned and hissed. "No. How could I have let this happen?"

He looked so sad and hurt right now, I couldn't help it and decided to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He seemed to appreciate it. Somewhat.

"Thank you. I appreciate that it was you who found her Catherine."

I send him a little reassuring smile. Yusaku's hand soon intertwined with mine, before giving Akira a quick respectful bow.

"Let's go home," he said.

In some way, it meant, that now that Akira was here taking care of his sister, there was no need for them to be here. I agreed. Especially, since I had a feeling Yusaku wanted to do some hacking at the hospital servers.

"Hey, hold on a second. I didn't get a chance to thank you Mister eh..."

"...Yusaku. I'll be seeing you" Yusaku introduced himself dismissively.

I blinked in surprise at Yusaku's cold demeanor. Sure, Yusaku could be seen as cold, but it was like there was another hidden reason for why he didn't want to be in Akira's presence. What was going on here?

Normal p.o.v.

Time skip.

Akira was staring through the window to Skye's room. It was a one-man room with a lot of equipment, but luckily Skye wasn't hooked up to any of it. Seen from the window it almost looked like Skye was sleeping. Two doctors approached him. It was a male and a female. Both seemed capable of anything.

"How is Skye, doctor?" Akira asked.

"The good news is there is nothing physically wrong with her" the male doctor spoke.

"And the bad news?" Akira asked.

"We ran every test that we could think of. But even with our best equipment, we don't know why she is not waking up, or if she ever will awake. I don't want to get your hopes up Mr. Zaizen but..." The doctor let out a deep sigh. "If we only knew what caused this, do you?" Akira shook his head.

"I don't" Akira's thoughts went to the duel between Blue Angel and Playmaker.

He could not recall anything unusual with it, nor the Link Vrains system itself. Blue Angel had suddenly begun to change and after the duel... Akira didn't want to think about it. Instead, his thoughts lingered on her opponent. On Playmaker. He had seemed so calm and collected throughout the duel. It was like he knew what was going on and if that was the case, he was the one to blame for his sister's condition.

"But he must..." Akira mused to himself.

In the background, was a sneaky little merc listening to every word. Emma, the freelancer, smirked knowingly. That information could be worthwhile especially if it were given to the right people.

Yusaku's p.o.v.

Yusaku, and indirectly Crissy, was back at his run-down apartment. However, currently, Yusaku and Ai were the only ones present inside the room. Crissy had decided to take a shower in his not-that-big bathroom, and how could he deny her that, even though the water took forever to heat? Right now, Yusaku was sitting on a chair while having the event of the incident running through his head. He could still not believe that the knights of Hanoi had done this to Blue Angel.

"This is a new low, even for the Hanoi" Yusaku huffed.

"I thought I ate whatever bug that was bugging around, but I guess I needed a bigger bite" Ai mused.

He was of course locked inside that security cage Yusaku had placed him in. However, that didn't mean Ai couldn't share his insights with him.

"So, what is the cure?" Yusaku went thoughtful.

"Beats me, but without one, she will be hibernating forever" Ai replied.

Normal p.o.v.

Akira was back at the company and was forced to have a meeting with the three executives, whose avatars looked like chess pieces.

"Zaizen, you have some explaining to do" Bishop hissed at him.

"Why did you not tell us that Blue Angel is your very own sister?!" Rook demanded to know. All of which made Akira sigh deeply inside. He knew this would be coming.

"How did you know?" he asked them.

"That isn't the issue," Knight cut him off. "What is the issue is that the sister of our very own chief of security happens to play a Hanoi card in her duel against Playmaker." That had the other executives on high alert.

"Do you expect us to believe that this is mere coincidence? That you knew nothing about this?" Bishop sneered back at him.

"How can we trust you with Sol Technology's security when you can't even secure your own sister? All your failures these past weeks are suddenly clear now," Rook continued. He sounded furious.

"If Blue Angel has been colluding with the Knights of Hanoi, it is more than plausible that you have been working with the Hanoi too, Zaizen!" Knight replied in a firm tone. It was clear where this conversation was going.

"You have drawn the wrong conclusion" Zaizen tried to reassure.

"Do you have a better one?" Bishop questioned.

"Yes! Playmaker" Zaizen said and clenched his fists. "He must have learned my sister's true identity, just like you did. So, Playmaker is trying to frame me because I am getting close to uncovering his."

"It is awfully convenient that your sister is fast asleep and unable to disprove your claims," Bishop mused in a cold tone. "Very well then. Find evidence to substantiate yours or we will have to reconsider your position in our company."

"The clock is ticking Zaizen. You best hurry," Knight said in a cold tone.

"I shall bring the proof you need," Zaizen replied and bowed respectfully.

Time skip.

It was late in the evening when Akira met Emma in the park underneath the giant bridge. It was the most secluded location he could think of. Not that Emma minded much. She was known for doing all sorts of dirty jobs as long as she got paid.

"Well, well Akira. We have to stop meeting like this, or someone might think we are up to something" Emma replied with a smirk.

She had just gotten off her motorcycle and taken off her helmet. Not that Akira cared much there.

"I have another assignment for you" was his only reply.

"Love to, but aren't you in trouble with your bosses for, you know, keeping some secrets about a certain little sister" Emma mused with a smile.

"How did you know that?" Akira questioned.

"Who do you think tipped them off?" Emma said rather playfully. "But before you get too upset, you always knew I was freelance. That kind of info has a hefty price tag and a girl got to make a living."

"I don't need your loyalty" Akira dismissed rather quickly. "What I need is to use your tracking skills to bring Playmaker to me."

"Interesting. You must really be in a scrape to ask for my help. Why do you want Playmaker so badly?" Emma asked. She was indeed curious.

"Because as much as I hate to say it, Playmaker is the only one who can save Skye. Her doctors are completely helpless as they are useless" Akira snorted.

"Careful. Don't let them hear you say that" Emma teased with a smile.

"Playmaker is the disease, but he is also the cure. Since he is the one who put my sister to sleep, he must know how to wake her up" Akira concluded.

"Makes sense" Emma agreed.

"And this is where you come in. I am asking you to save my sister. Finding Playmaker is one thing but capturing him is another" Akira continued. "Only the best tracker can pull that off. That is why I want you. Will you do this for me?"

"Well, Akira it seems flattery will get you everywhere, and the right price of course," Emma said and chuckled. Now that the bargain was made it was only a matter of time until they had captured Playmaker.

Around the same time with the Knights of Hanoi.

At the Hanoi server, Varis was present along with someone else. A doctor it seems since he was wearing a lab coat. The way they interacted showed that they were familiar with each other and might even know each other in real life.

"Excellently executed Varis" the man congratulated him.

"If Playmaker wishes to save Blue Angel, he has no choice but to face us. Along with the Ignis," Varis replied stoically.

"Hey, don't forget about me" a voice then suddenly added. Footsteps could be heard and soon Mary Marie was standing beside them with an annoyed look.

"Don't you dare take all the credit, Varis. Without my meddling Sol-tech would have been onto you by now" she huffed annoyed.

"And we do appreciate the help" the man dismissed rather quickly. "But we must destroy the Ignis. They are a threat to humankind".

"But can you?" Varis asked. He sounded worried.

"When the time comes, I will do what needs to be done" the man reassured.

"I understand. I know very well that it won't be easy to do, but doing what is right never is" Varis said. That had the man smile before he left the server, leaving Varis alone with Mary Marie.

"Why are you here?" Varis demanded to know. "You ruined my meeting with my father..." Only for Mary Marie to snort.

"For your information, I have news for you. Akira Zaizen is having trouble with Sol tech executives. After I innocently loaded a virus into their system, they might replace him" Mary Marie replied.

"Hmm, that could be useful for us. A man who is desperately trying to save his beloved sister is prone to do something desperate in return" Varis mused with a smirk. "But that is not the reason you are standing here before me. I know you well enough to know you hate my presence. What do you want?"

"Fine. You got me." She chuckled darkly. "I might have been running through your personal files in my free time and stumbled upon this." She handed him a file.

"The ignis. What is so special about it?" Varis dismissed.

"There were 7 test subjects in that incident. So why are there only 6 ignis in the files? Care to explain that, Varis?" Mary Marie asked. She was only left with silence.

"It is hers, isn't it? Her Ignis that are missing. Why is that?" Mary Marie concluded.

"Because it was not there when I attacked the Cyberse world 5 years ago" Varis sneered in a cold tone. "It is the only one my father could not gain sufficient data on."

"Are you saying we have a rogue Ignis somewhere?" Mary Marie uttered stunned.

"Perhaps. Or it could be that her Ignis never got created in the first place" Varis mused with a huff.

"Wait, you are saying she went through all of that suffering for nothing?" Mary Marie sneered angrily. Varis was sending her a glare.

"It is an issue for another day. For now, we have to focus on the Ignis we have before us. Have I made myself clear?" he ordered.

Crissy's p.o.v.

Time skip.

I let out a bored yawn as I watched Yusaku and Kolter going at it on the computers. Luckily, this time I had brought my school tablet with me, but still. Hours went by. It could be a bit boring surfing the net while waiting for them to finish. It was itchy for me not to be there to help them. I mean I was a great hacker myself, but I had to keep up the appearance of a newbie hacker, or else Yusaku would catch on that I was Asteria Witch. Sure, I could hack from my tablet, but it did not have the same security that Kolter had on his computer system. That reminded me I had to ask him about installing the same software on my tablet. I mean he did it for my duel disk so I can't see why it should be difficult on my school tablet.

"Bingo, the hospital does have a good firewall, but I finally found Skye's charge" Kolter then uttered and waved me over to him and Yusaku.

"You two sure love violating people's privacy" Ai commented from the duel disk. "First, you tinkle my brain with your sausage fingers. Now you are hacking hers."

"So, that means you don't want to know what I found" Kolter replied.

"I didn't say that" Ai quickly uttered. For an AI with self-awareness, Ai sure was bad at holding a conversation.

"Then it is settled. Did you learn anything, Kolter?" Yusaku asked.

"No, she barely has any brain activity. It is almost none at all" Kolter replied. "It is like her entire mind had shut down."

That made me thoughtful. The events from Blue Angel's duel were running through my head. It almost sounded like...

"Shut down? Ah, glitch! I know what happened. She has a virus!" Ai concluded.

"A virus?" Yusaku asked. It had indeed been what I had been thinking earlier. As unlikely as it was.

"Yeah. A computer virus! Your human brain is your CPU so if it gets affected by a virus, your whole body shuts down like a PC in sleep mode" Ai explained.

"But humans can't get computer viruses" Yusaku muttered confused.

"Oh, I didn't know you had a medical degree Dr. Yusaku," Ai said to shut him up. While they were arguing I quickly wrote down a question in my notebook.

"So, the knights of Hanoi's card were affected by a virus?" I asked.

"Exactly!" Ai uttered the moment he read my post. "Blue Angel activated it when she played that Hanoi card. I knew something was off. I had to reboot my taste buds to get rid of that flavor. Ew!"

"But how do we get rid of the virus?" Yusaku mused thoughtfully.

"With an anti-virus?" I asked.

"Yeah, but since the knights of Hanoi created the virus, they will be the ones having the cure. Not that they will be handing it to us willingly."

I nodded thoughtfully at that. The events with Blue Angel had not been a coincidence. This had been a laid-out plan for them the minute Blue Angel challenged Playmaker to a duel. That was for sure. They wanted Playmaker and Ai no matter what dirty scheme they would pull. They were the lowest of the low. Which in terms meant that they were setting Playmaker up for a trap. My tablet suddenly let out a tiny sound to alert me to a notification. I didn't think it was important, so had just opened it up to dismiss the message when... My eyes widened in horror, and I quickly clicked on Kolter's keyboard with quick steps. The live feed from Link Vrains was soon on the screen, surprising everyone here.

"Hey Playmaker! What you did to me was so shady. You thought you had put me to sleep, but I am wide awake! I demand a rematch and you are so giving me one!" The picture and voice of Blue Angel were on the live feed, which did not make any sense.

"Skye is still asleep. There is no way that is the real Blue Angel" Kolter said.

"Yeah, you don't need my processing power to know that this is a trap" Ai mused. "And only the dumbest dummy would be stupid enough to walk into it."

Which of course had Yusaku react because he was carrying a heart of gold. He began walking over to the secret room to log in.

"See, told yer" Ai uttered annoyed. Oh, how I wished I could smack Ai in his eyeball right now. He just told me indirectly that Yusaku was stupid.

"Come on Yusaku. Even you know that this is too dangerous" Kolter used to reason with.

I didn't say anything. I understood Ai and Kolter's concern, but this was something Yusaku had to do to save Blue Angel.

"Perhaps but there are 3 reasons I must go," Yusaku said determined. "1. This is our lead to cure Blue Angel. 2. I wish to learn who would go through so much trouble and effort to deceive me and 3. Just because it is a trap doesn't mean I will fall for it."

"Look, I don't care if you want to risk your life, but don't risk mine!" Ai argued.

"Yeah, I am with Ai. Whoever that is it is going to be real bad news man" Kolter said.

"Then let's hope that you are wrong" Yusaku replied and disappeared inside the secret room. The sound and light of Yusaku activating his duel disk and logging in could be heard before everything went silent.

"Ah, why do I try?" Kolter said and let out a deep sigh. "He never listens to me." Then he was sending me a reassuring smile.

"Are you ready Crissy? If anyone can prevent Yusaku from going into a trap it will be Asteria Witch" he said.

To show his support he pointed at the Office chair Yusaku had been using earlier. I nodded eagerly as I placed my tablet on the table in the background and instead grabbed my duel disk.

"It is time to link into the Vrains."

Normal p.o.v.

Playmaker landed gracefully at the top of a building in Link Vrains. It was the same building that the imposter Blue Angel was standing at. His intentions were clear. He was going to ask her why they were dressed up as Blue Angel and maybe even gain some answers. In the background, the two reporter avatars, the frog and pigeon were running the camera on the whole event. They were known for not getting any headliners at work and were therefore eagerly trying to get footage by any means necessary. No matter the dangers. Not that Yusaku alias Playmaker cared. All he was going for was curing Blue Angel and slamming some of the Knights of Hanoi down along with it.

"You came Playmaker" the imposter Blue Angel greeted.

Playmaker sent her a cold glare. He was not getting the Knights of Hanoi vibe of her.

"She may not be the real Blue Angel, but she is not Hanoi either" Ai concluded as the AI ran some scans. Playmaker snorted inside. Ai needed to speed up his processing speed since he already knew that.

"So, who are you?" Playmaker asked which of course confused the reporters.

"Huh? That is Blue Angel, right?" the frog asked his partner.

"That is a pretty good disguise but not good enough to fool me" Yusaku continued.

"Wow, what gave it away? I thought I nailed these pigtails. It took forever" the imposter claimed with a smirk. "No matter. I didn't come to do impressions. Here is a little gift for showing up."

The imposter girl tossed him a rose. Playmaker moved out of the way, but it was already too late. The moment the rose touched the floor, it began glowing trapping Playmaker inside a force field. He suddenly couldn't move. The force field widened and the buildings around the rooftop began moving away. They got wrapped into something entirely different, causing a hidden church to appear. Every avatar in that radius was forced to get deleted. Including the pigeon and the frog. Without them, the live video feed got disconnected.

"Ahr, come on!" Kolter uttered from inside the hotdog truck. He was clicking desperately on the keyboard to find any sort of feed he could watch. "Man, you got to be kidding me. Now neither Yusaku nor Crissy can log out." His eyes flickered to Crissy who was immovable in the chair beside him.

"If Crissy is still logged in, it might mean she is in there to save him" Kolter concluded and tapped on the keyboard. "Maybe Sol tech is having better luck."

As luck so happened, Kolter did find a feed through their backup cameras and watched the scene from here. It was not a good thing.

Playmaker let out a surprised gasp as something suddenly began wrapping around his body. His head and shoulders were the only part of him that wasn't tied up. The force field let up, leaving Playmaker tied up in these glowing bindings. It caused him to be captivated with barely any movements besides his head.

"It wasn't just the flower. This whole area is one big trap" Ai uttered from somewhere beneath the bindings. By that logic, at least his duel disk was not ruined.

"Maybe I am no actress, but I am a pretty good tracker. I caught you when no one else could," the imposter Blue Angel claimed.

She flicked with her right arm, and Playmaker could feel the whole building shrink in size. Playmaker were forced underneath the building in extremely quick movements. When he was able to see again, he found himself inside the church. In front of him was a floating bed and in it was the real Blue Angel, though she looked like she was sleeping.

"It is Blue Angel. The real one" Ai uttered shocked.

Playmaker let out a painful groan. The binding he was in, had transformed from glowing light particles to a hard bone structure that surely could squeeze the life out of him any second. It was like he was part of a very ugly statue. Its binding was very uncomfortable, to say the least.

"Don't take it personally. This is all part of the job" the Blue Angel imposter claimed. They had of course also appeared inside the church. It made sense since she was the one who had caught him.

"So, then you are working for someone" Playmaker concluded.

"Yeah, and I am pretty good at what I do. The name is Ghost Girl. I love to talk more, but you seem all tied up at the moment."

In just that moment the imposter had shredded their disguise, showing an avatar girl in a black and pink spandex uniform. Though, unlike Playmaker's disguise, her pants were replaced with black shorts and boots. Her face was covered by a mask, and she had pink/white hair. Playmaker sends her a cold glare. He had heard about Ghost Girl on the dark net. She was this notorious merc who would do anything for money. If you were her target, you might not come out alive. Playmaker could understand that after seeing her skills in action.

"Who would hire you to catch me?" he asked because that would be the only reason why he would be here and alive at the same time.

"Why don't you ask him, yourself?" the girl quirked out.

She had just said that when the chief of security, Akira Zaizen appeared. Playmaker was sending him a cold glare as well. Inside he was cursing himself, because of course was it Akira Zaizen. Who else would have this kind of money to hire Ghost Girl and have it in for him? This was not good. It was not good at all.

Asteria witch p.o.v.

This was crazy. Everything was chaotic and all because of one flower tossed at Yusaku's feet. It was insane. Avatars were being deleted left and right. I on the other hand did not. It was hard to explain really. I had a protection code on me, but still. The way I hacked the scenario so that I did not get deleted was more luck than skill. Not that it mattered really, considering the circumstances. It had been a smart move to put on a tracker at Yusaku's duel disk. Just in case he needed me. It was for that reason I knew he was inside the church that had appeared, and I of course entered. It didn't surprise me that the culprit turned out to be Ghost Girl, because who else had the skills to capture Yusaku? What did surprise me was that Akira Zaizen had hired Ghost Girl to capture Playmaker for him. From the conversation I heard from my hiding place, Akira blamed Playmaker for his sister's condition.

"Playmaker, my name is Zaizen" Akira introduced himself as.

"Who you are is irrelevant to me. What do you want?" Playmaker huffed back.

"I simply thought you would desire to know my name. The name of the person who is going to end you. You really thought you could hurt my sister and walk free?" Akira hissed.

That had me roll my eyes at him. Why was everyone blaming Playmaker when he in reality had tried to save Blue Angel?

"I didn't hurt her" Playmaker responded.

"Nice one. He sure looks convinced" Ai joked.

"You were the one who put her to sleep in your duel. So, you must know how to wake her. Tell me how Playmaker and tell me now" Akira demanded.

"It wasn't me Zaizen, it was the knights of Hanoi" Playmaker tried to reason with.

"Stop lying! My sister would never work with the Knights of Hanoi, and I mean Never!" Akira dismissed in an angry fury.

"And you are right. I never said that Blue Angel was working with them. I believe tricked would be a more appropriate word for this particular situation," Playmaker replied. It was the truth, but Akira didn't buy it.

"I did not come here to play word games with you Playmaker! If you won't tell me voluntarily, I will force you!" Akira hissed angrily and suddenly he was holding a digital binding with a chain in his hands.

It was surely connected to the bone structure that was holding my Yusaku in place. Especially, since it began squeezing him tight. Playmaker could of course not contain a groan as pain was radiating in his body. It had me shivering slightly. It reminded me of a long-forgotten past where similar pain and suffering had been present. It was for that reason that I did not intervene. Not at first since I kind of froze up. Some memories were better hidden away and forgotten.

"Now tell me!" Akira demanded to know. "Give me the anti-virus!"

"How many times do we have to say it is not us?!" Ai tried to negotiate.

"You too? Stop covering up for your master!" Akira sneered back at Ai.

"How dare you?!" Ai hissed and sent Akira an angry look. "He is not my master!"

That was ironically the line that had me return to reality. Because no matter the pain I had endured in the past, Yusaku alias Playmaker was enduring real pain right now. I couldn't let this happen!

"They are speaking the truth!" I said in a loud voice, which of course got Akira and Ghost Girl's attention.

"Who's there?" Akira asked and momentarily was holding in with the torture inflicted on Playmaker.

That I was grateful for. Without any plan whatsoever, I appeared before them almost magically. Though I was sure Ghost Girl had realized I had just removed my security camouflage. I was standing beside Playmaker to his right side as I was nonchalant staring at the two others.

"Oh, I remember you. You are that Witchling from before," Ghost Girl said.

"You know this girl?" Akira asked.

"Yes, she was present at the duel with Playmaker and Blue Angel too. Though she was hiding underneath this security camouflage it is almost a cliché. Talk about basic" Ghost Girl commented with a knowing smirk.

"My name is Asteria Witch!" I hissed back.

Mostly because I did not want to be referred to as a girl all the time. However, at the same time I was diverting their attention, so I could hack the trap Playmaker and Ai were currently in. Not something overly flashy or anything. Just me causally hitting the trap while trying to hack into the trap's infrastructure. Pretty basic, but then again, I was dealing with Ghost Girl, the notorious hacker and merc. I had to tread carefully here.

"Yeah, well whatever," Ghost girl dismissed me. "Now get along kid. This is a grown-up's business. Don't tempt me to delete you permanently."

"Wait if she is associated with Playmaker, she might be the penetrator that hurt my sister!" Akira suddenly proclaimed.

It had me lift my eyebrows in confusion. Where in the world did, he come to that conclusion? Not even Ghost Girl had made that assumption. Though that might be that she was with me when Blue Angel got infected with the virus. She would have noticed it. Then again it was heard that desperate people seem to lack common sense. In some cases, at least.

"There is no talking to this guy" Ai mused. I wondered if this was his way of warning me that something bad was going to happen, but then again Ai was unpredictable.

"Ah, Akira isn't that a bit too far? She is just a newbie hacker who has a crush..."

But then Ghost Girl suddenly stopped talking and went thoughtful. That should have raised a red flag for me, but I was so close to getting Playmaker free from the trap, that I ignored it. The thought of rescuing and protecting Playmaker had been my goal ever since he rescued me back in the past. Now I wanted to return the favor.

"Hold on, how did she get here in the first place? Every new login function has been shut down and every current avatar in a radius of a kilometer would have been deleted" Ghost Girl mused. "Of course, she could have logged in from far away, but I doubt it, considering her connection to Playmaker. The other logical reason would be..."

"She hacked herself in here to save Playmaker! She is doing it right now!" Akira said which had me stop up and smile innocently. So much for them not finding out.

"Get rid of her! Delete her!" Akira ordered and made Ghost Girl charge at me.

Now that everything had been revealed, it made no sense to hide it any longer, and I tried with all my might to free Playmaker from the trap. I knew deep down that I was too late. That Ghost Girl would be able to delete me before then, but I hoped I could manage to free Playmaker just enough so he could get free himself. Sure, I did have my security code up and running, but this was Ghost Girl. She would find a way around it somehow. I was sure of it.

"Asteria Witch, watch out!" Playmaker shouted.

Ghost Girl was less than a meter from me. I let out a scared little scream and closed my eyes. I didn't want to see myself get deleted.

The sound of roaring thunder could suddenly be heard, and a bright light appeared in front of me. It was so bright that it was visible even though I had closed my eyes. It did cause me to open them again though. Just to see what was happening. And there he was. Less than a meter away from me. He looked the same as he had done in Ai's memories. Dressed in a white jumpsuit with red and green colors, red boots, and that long white trench coat, made him look badass for sure. Added with his dark crimson hair with red highlights and you got something. Something scary. The mask on his face with those yellow eyes did not help with that fear at all. With the attitude alone it was no wonder Varis was the leader of the knights of Hanoi. Seeing him in Ai's memories had been scary enough. Now meeting him in person, or as an avatar in Link Vrains was a completely different experience and I instantly hid behind Playmaker who was still caught in the trap.

"It is him!" Ai uttered shocked as Varis rose from the floor in all his glory.

"Varis!" Playmaker shouted instantly.

Ghost girl who had previously been tossed to the floor by Varis's dramatic entrance, had also uttered his name before getting to her feet as well. Everyone was on edge.

"You two can leave now because you don't want me to force you to leave," Varis then told us all.

Though he was glaring at Ghost Girl and Akira when he said it, I assumed that he was talking to them and not me or Playmaker.

"I don't think so Varis!" Akira sneered back at him.

"I see," Varis replied in an uncaring tone. "Then perhaps I need to give you a demonstration of my power."

I let out a surprised gasp when suddenly this giant data storm appeared from out of nowhere. It blew off the roof of the church and soon surrounded Varis in its power. I wished myself lucky that I in that moment had grabbed onto that bone structure Playmaker was caught in or I might have been blown away by the sheer wind pressure. Ghost Girl and Akira were further away, but they were both staring in shock at the display of power. Especially, when Varis sends the data storm flying. It did not hit us present here as the storm continued to roam around in the distance outside the church, but it was clear Varis could if he wanted to.

"Are you kidding me? He can summon a data storm at will," Ghost Girl uttered. That was the exact words I would have spoken if it wasn't for the sheer surprise of it all.

"I can destroy Link Vrains and everything in it, including you," Varis mused in a cold tone. "But I only came here for one reason. No, make that two." He chuckled again and suddenly turned towards me and Playmaker.

"I know you are there Asteria Witch" he spoke and added. "And don't try to flee. Unlike my men, I will find you sooner or later. You have my word."

I huffed as I tried to act all confident. It didn't matter if it worked, I just had to have something to cling onto so the leader of the Hanoi didn't see me as this scared girl I truly was.

"Ah, I see. Then why prolong the inevitable," I stated and shrugged casually. "Why is the leader of the Hanoi gracing us with his presence?" I was sure everyone wanted to know that. Varis chuckled again.

"I came here to acquire Playmaker's Ignis from him" he replied stoically. "That said since I am allowed to finally meet you in person, Asteria Witch, I will put it aside for just a moment in favor of handing you this invitation."

"Invitation?" I quirked out.

Alarm bells were already ringing inside my head. This could not be anything good. Nothing ever was from the Knights of Hanoi.

"Yes, invitation," Varis repeated. "I want you to join the knights of Hanoi."

An: and that was that. Not my intended ending but the cliffhanger here was too good to pass up. Lol. Not sure what I will update next if I ever will. Did enter the rare event pairing in Yugioh mini bang at A03 a day before my father was considered dying so, yeah let's just say I haven't started yet. I should, but who knows if I succeed? Just please don't ask for several updates. Kinda trying to find my bearings in life again. Hopefully, I will come back to you someday. Thank you so much for your understanding.