Link V.R.A.I.N.S(Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence Network System), a massive virtual universe created for the betterment of humanity. It is here where people from around the world gather to participate in the world's most popular game, Duel Monsters. A personal haven for duelists, everyone has become thankful that such a massive, difficult, but extraordinary creation was made. But unbeknownst to all, in a hidden world within Link V.R.A.I.N.S known as "The Cyberse," events were taking place which would reshape the future. 

"Now, Cracking Dragons, destroy the Cyberse!" A man and woman dressed in white spoke as 3 ginormous black and green metal dragons were destroying the hidden virtual world. 

"4 of the Ignis are ensnared, Revolver! Only 2 more and we'll have succeeded in laying waste to this world!" The woman spoke as, away in the distance, 2 small humanoid creatures known as "Ignis" floated in front of a red data circle which was holding the other 4 Ignis that had been captured. The two free Ignis, one black and purple with yellow eyes, and the other dark and lime green with red eyes, tried using their powers to free their companions, but to no avail. 

"Hurry up and get out of here, before the Knights of Hanoi capture the two of you as well!" One of the trapped Ignis shouted. 

"No way that'll happen, ain't no one can catch me!" The black and purple Ignis stated with confidence as one of the so-called "Knights of Hanoi's," Cracking Dragons was currently flying over to either capture or destroy the two remaining Ignis.

"Don't have time to argue or save you guys! Come on, we gotta go, go, go, go before that big dragon eats us!" The green Ignis said as it pulled on the black and purple one. The two broke through a protective barrier which concealed the Cyberse and began to make their escape. 

"Don't let those two escape!" The male Knight of Hanoi said as one of their Cracking Dragons went after the two Ignis, breaking through the barrier as well and quickly catching up to them. 

"Oh snap, it's gaining!" The black and purple Ignis panicked as the dragon caught up and clamped its massive metal jaws onto the Ignis. The two were crushed and broken up into pieces, with nothing but a single eye from both of them surviving and rifting away into cyber space.

"We must find those pieces of those Ignis if we want to capture and destroy them all! I don't care how long it takes, we'll search through all of Link V.R.A.I.N.S if we have to, in order to find them!" The female Knight of Hanoi said as their forces began to spread throughout the virtual universe, in hopes of finding and destroying the beings known as the Ignis....

-5 Years Later-

"Hey..... Wake up..... it's time to leave this place...." A boy's voice spoke throughout a dream as the person having it suddenly woke up. 

"And hear I thought you were going to continue sleeping even after school had ended." The person's friend said in a joking manner as he sat next to him in the empty class. He wore the traditional school uniform, a black jacket, white undershirt, black pants, brown shoes, and a blue tie, and his hair was short and black which small green highlights, with green eyes to match.

"Sorry, Sukio, everything's just gotten so exhausting lately. I couldn't help but fall asleep, I needed to rest." Yusaku Fujiki, the boy who was dreaming spoke. He wore the same school uniform, and he shared the green eyes trait as well. But Yusaku's hair was medium length, blue and magenta, and was spiked in some places. 

"Can't blame ya. I've been wiped the last few days too. Come on, we should get going before a teacher kicks us out. See if Colter's got anymore data for us to analyze." Sukio said as Yusaku agreed and the two left their school, heading through the bright and busy, Den City. The two ventured through the streets, watching the news on giant billboard screens at the same time. 

"Our top story, Link V.R.A.I.N.S continues to suffer from increasing attacks from the group known as "The Knights of Hanoi." Recently, they attacked 4 high profile duelists, erasing their codes and leaving their real selves in a coma. Doctors hope to awaken the 4 duelists while they treat them. But in other related news, it would seem some duelists are stepping up to face this terrorizing group of hackers. The mysterious duelists known as "Playmaker" and "Gale Rider" have recently come onto the scene, challenging and defeating several members of the Knights of Hanoi...." The newswoman said as an image of the two she was talking about popped up on the screen. The avatar for the duelist known as Playmaker, wore a black and green body suit with a yellow stripe going down it, and his hair was medium length, spiky, and yellow, red, and magenta in colour. As for the player known as Gale Rider, he was dressed in a futuristic looking green jacket, with a similar body suit to Playmakers, only his was black and white, and his hair was short, and was dark green with black highlights.

"Seems Playmaker and Gale Rider are really making a name for themselves going after the Hanoi. I'm sure that'll get them into a heap of trouble though." Sukio said as Yusaku agreed and the two came to a city square where their friend, Colter, was working in his hot dog truck. 

"Wherever these two are, i'm sure it's not the last we've seen of them. And, in our final top story, we have two duels tonight which no one around the world will want to miss. Dueling idols, Blue Angel and Warrior Witch clash tonight to see which of the two truly is the world's most popular duelist, and, with what might be one of the most shocking but highly anticipated duels in history, the world dueling championship will reach its thrilling conclusion tonight. Current world champion, Go Onizuka, looks to defend his title tonight against the amazing up-and-coming rookie duelist on the circuit, StormBreaker! StormBreaker already shocked the world after easily toppling the runner up from last years tournament in the semi-finals, and he's set his eyes on defeating Go next. Tonight, two crowns will be won. You won't want to miss either duel." The news woman said as her transmission came to an end.

"Hey, Colter, you ever heard of any of those duelists?" Yusaku asked as Colter just looked at him like he was stupid.

"You seriously don't know any of them? Guess I really shouldn't be surprised, neither of you are really up on the celebrity duelist info. Speaking of, you two ever heard of a "Data Storm?"" Colter asked but Sukio and Yusaku shook their heads as Colter gave them some food. 

"Can't say we have." Sukio replied. 

"They say these crazy tornadoes of data used to blow through Link V.R.A.I.N.S, and thrill seekers would ride those winds and battle on them in things called "Speed Duels." But no one I know's ever seen a data storm. But you know what's even crazier? Some people believe a hot dog is a sandwich! Some people, right?" Colter jokingly said but Sukio and Yusaku didn't looked thrilled. 

"Anymore info on the Hanoi uncovered lately?" Sukio asked but Colter just shook his head. 

"Unfortunately, no. They've been pretty quiet today, no sighting of any of them so far. And if you're about to ask if I've figured out anything about their leader, you're out of luck once again." Colter explained as Yusaku let out a heavy sigh.

"However, while I may not have info on the Hanoi, I do have some possible news about SolTECH. Word from the dark web is saying they've upped their cyber security, that they're apparently looking for something." Colter told them as the two finally looked interested. 

"Like for what?" Sukio asked. 

"An artificial intelligence program." Colter replied. 

"But why would you need to hunt for a program? That must be one advanced A.I." Yusaku said as Sukio and Colter agreed. 

"But if SolTECH wants it, then you know who else would want it, right?" Colter said. 

"The Knights of Hanoi. And that gives me an idea. Colter, fire up the system." Sukio said as he and Yusaku went into the back of Colter's hot dog truck. Colter closed up for the day and hit a button in his truck. All the glass cases which held his food suddenly lit up to reveal holographic computer gear, the wall mounted cases becoming screens too. "If they want it so badly, then surely it'll benefit us if we can get our hands on it first."

"And if we do get it first, then we can lure the Knights of Hanoi right to us." Yusaku said as he, Sukio, and Colter began typing away, pulling up specific data and entering complex coding. 

"Seriously? You guys actually think you can catch this A.I when not even the Hanoi or SolTECH couldn't?" Colter questioned. 

"Yes, because they're all doing it wrong. Instead of chasing it, you have to guide it. By hacking and shutting down specific circuit ways in the city and Link V.R.A.I.N.S' grid, I can force it to go where I want it to go. Play things right, and it leaves the A.I with just a single escape route. Right into here." Yusaku explained as he and Sukio held up their duel disks which were strapped to their arms, Yusaku's left and Sukio's right. But as they continued to hack the grids, a problem occurred in their plan. The A.I program appeared on their screens as it gave off an abnormal frequency, but it soon split into two frequencies.

"Wait, 2 of them!? I thought you said there was just 1, Colter?" Sukio asked as they all began to shut down even more grids and try to force the 2 programs back together. 

"I thought so too, the A.I's must've been on top of one another, so it just looked like there was 1 of them. Don't worry, we can fix this." Colter said as he inputted a virus which shut down a section of grids all at once. The A.I that had branched off was forced to take a route that took it back to where the other one way. Slowly but surely, they were forcing these programs to come right to them. 

-3 Hours Later-

As Sukio, Yusaku, and Colter continued in their efforts to capture the fleeing A.I, other events were beginning to take place. Within another city square, people gathered to watch two of the most incredible duels they were ever going to witness. 

"Alright, you Vrainiacs, tonight we've got a quadruple dose of celebrity duelin' goin' on for you all! Not only to the two most popular duelists in the world, Blue Angel, and Warrior Witch, duke it out for true popularity supremacy, but we crown the world's next top duelist as reigning champ, Go Onizuka takes on the rookie sensation taking the world by storm, and how convenient, it's StormBreaker!" An announcer spoke as the crowd around him went wild. The square was lit up by all the jumbo screens on display, each showing one of the two duels that were about to commence. 

Blue Angel was dressed in a short white t-shirt with a blue neck tie. Underneath, she wore a pink and blue dress, with similar knee high socks and shoes. Her hair also matched and was tied into two ponytails. She also had two wings with hearts on them. 

Her opponent, Warrior Witch, wore cybernetic looking clothing, orange and silver in colour from neck to toe, along with an orange witches robe and a futuristic black and orange witches hat.

As for where the other duel was going on, Go Onizuka, the current champ, wore a greenish-gray jacket, with a gold animal necklace around his neck. He also wears dark pants, a gold belt, and gold boots, and wears a gold hat atop his head. 

And as for his opponent, StormBreaker, he wore a dark red sleeveless armor chest plate, black pants with a red stripe down the side, dark silver boots, sleeveless red gloves, and he has medium length black hair and green eyes. 

"Will Go and Blue Angel keep their hold on their crowns!? Or will Warrior Witch and StormBreaker snatch them from their clutches!? We'll find out real soon, so sit back and enjoy the duels off the century!" The announcer screamed into his mic as the crowd roared with excitement as the two duels began. 

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Link V.R.A.I.N.S, the two A.I were fleeing together down the escape route Sukio and the others were making for them. But they're window of opportunity was closing soon. Not only was SolTECH doing a scan of the sector they were in, meaning they'd be caught if they were discovered, but two Knights of Hanoi had just appeared on the screen, as they'd broken through SolTECH's safety firewalls which would normally keep them out of Link V.R.A.I.N.S.

"Gotta step it up, you guys. SolTECH's issued a scan, probably in search for the A.I we're after, and now, to make things worse, a couple of Hanoi have popped up looking for them too. How's that backdoor pathway coming along, Yusaku?" Colter asked as Yusaku clicked the Enter key on his keyboard and a specific grid lit up on their screen. 

"Just finished it. Now those 2 A.I will have no choice but to follow it straight here, unless they want to be caught by SolTECH or the Hanoi. Sukio, let's go." Yusaku said as he left the truck, with Sukio following close behind. The two went to the centre of the square they were in and held up their duel disks. As their disks are always connected to Link V.R.A.I.N.S, this meant that, even in the real world, those A.I would still be able to enter them. And soon enough, their duel disks began to spark up, and they flashed with a bright light before stopping. Then, from both of their duel disks, their screens each displayed a cybernetic eyeball, one purple and yellow in Yusaku's, and the other red and green in Sukio's. 

"What? Where the heck are we?" Yusaku's A.I asked, looking around very confused. 

"Beats me, but it looks like we've been caught by some.... I don't know-know-know, weirdly dressed children. Oh no-no-no, this cannot be good." Sukio's eyeball said. 

"We're the ones who just saved you both from the Hanoi and SolTECH. You A.I had better be worth the trouble because we've got work to do. And don't even think about trying to leave or hack our duel disks, we installed enough firewalls and advanced coding that you won't be breaking out." Sukio explained as he and Yusaku went back into Colter's truck and into two pod he had installed in the back of it.

"Wait, are you taking us back into Link V.R.A.I.N.S!? No-no-no-no-no, please don't take us there, we only just got out, and now we're going back in!? Some saviors you two are!" Sukio's A.I complained but Sukio just ignored it for now. Instead, he and Yusaku both inserted their duel decks into their disks and activated their pods. 

"It's time to Link into the V.R.A.I.N.S!" The two shouted as their minds were transported into Link V.R.A.I.N.S, taking the forms of their avatars, Playmaker and Gale Rider.

Elsewhere, the duels between Blue  Angel and Warrior Witch, along with Go and StormBreaker, were still continuing. 

"Now it's time I take things seriously, Go! I Sync-!" StormBreaker attempted to shout as a nearby building was suddenly blown apart. He and Go turned to see one of the two Hanoi members arrive, riding one of their Cracking Dragons. Their duel was halted as this became a serious threat.

"It's time you face my mightiest monster, Blue Angel! I now fu-" Warrior Witch tried to say as the other Knight of Hanoi attacked, interrupting their duel and attacking the two girls. The crowds in the real world watching their duels watched in suspense before the transmissions cut out, leaving everyone in darkness about what was going on.

"Hey, Hanoi, get lost! Hackers like you ain't welcome here, if you don't want a butt kickin', i'd suggest you scram!" Go demanded as the Hanoi's Cracking Dragon fired an energy beam at him. Go jumped out of the way and ran for cover, StormBreaker doing the same until one of them came up with a solution to their problem.

"We will not leave until we acquire what we've come for, a pair of advanced A.I. And we will destroy all in our path, even people, if it means getting our hands on them." Both Hanoi members said from where they stood as two new people arrived on the scene. With Blue Angel and Warrior Witch, Playmaker jumped onto the scene. He revealed he now held one of the A.I, and issued a duel to the Hanoi, with the A.I being placed on the betting table. 

"Hold it, Hanoi! Your business is with me!" Gale Rider shouted as he landed on the scene. 

"And who the hell are you, huh? Why should I waste my time against a nobody like you?" The Hanoi said as his Cracking Dragon roared in Gale Rider's face. 

"Because this nobody has what you're looking for! Take a look for yourself!" Gale Rider replied, holding up his duel disk to reveal the A.I inside of it. 

"Ah! Let me out of here-here-here! I don't wanna die!" Gale Rider's A.I screamed in terror as StormBreaker and Go approached Gale Rider. 

"Both of you, get out of here! You're not equipped to take on the Hanoi, so leave this guy to me!" Gale Rider told them but neither backed away. 

"Absolutely not. This guy ruined our duel, and we're gonna make him pay." StormBreaker said as Go agreed. 

"You two were never my targets to begin with. It's that A.I that this person has! He's the reason i'm here, so get lost!" The knight of Hanoi spoke as his cracking dragon went to attack again. 

"No, stop! If you want this A.I so badly, then we'll duel for it!" Gale Rider told him.

"WHA-WHA-WHAT? YOU'RE GOING TO BET-BET-BET-BET ON ME!? I'VE DECIDED, I DON'T LIKE YOU. AND BESIDES, YOUR DECK COULD USE SOME WORK TOO, THERE'S NO CHANCE YOU CAN DEFEAT HIS DRAGON!" The A.I said as the hanoi dropped down and his cracking dragon vanished. "Oh great, he's agreeing to duel! Maybe I, the great-great-great and mighty, Windy, can tip things into our favor!"

The A.I, now known as Windy, began to glow within Gale Rider's duel disk and, moments after, a literal wind of data began to blow throughout Link V.R.A.I.N.S. 

"Wind? Wait, is this a data storm!?" Gale Rider questioned as, from where the wind was being created, two large hoverboards appeared, and each came to Gale Rider and the Hanoi. 

"Yep-yep-yep! I have the ability to create the storms! Now get on this thing so we can duel this guy! Get ready to speed duel, Gale Rider!" Windy said as Gale Rider hopped onto his board, as did the Hanoi, and the two began to ride along the winds, almost like they were surfing. 

"Quickly, before we start, explain a speed duel to me. I've never done one before." Gale Rider asked. 

"Speed Duels are simple to understand. Unlike a Master Duel, the standard way of dueling, Speed-Speed-Speed duels have a much more limited field. Instead of 5 monster zones, you only have 3, the same for spells and traps, but you also keep the 2 Extra-Monster zones on the field. See-see-see? Simple." Windy explained as Gale Rider and the Hanoi activated their duel disks. 

"Yeah, it's easy to understand, but we'll see how much it affects my deck when we start." Gale Rider said as the two opponents drew their cards. 

"Let's Duel!" The two spoke as their Life Points meters went up to 4000. 

"I'll start." The Hanoi said as he examined the 5 cards in his hand. "What a perfect hand for me. To start things off, I summon my Hack Worm!(400ATK)" The Hanoi said as his cybernetic worm monster appeared before him, flying along the winds with the 2 duelists. "I'm allowed to special summon this monster when you don't have any monsters on your side of the field. And lucky me, I have a second Hack Worm in my hand!" The Hanoi told Gale Rider as he summoned the same monster onto his field. 

"2 special summoned monsters, both with only 400 attack points in attack mode? I highly doubt they're going to be used for attacking purposes." Gale Rider said as the Hanoi chuckled. 

"You're pretty keen, kid! I now tribute my two Hack Worms to summon my mightiest monster!" The Hanoi said as his worms turned to data, coming together to form his new, more powerful monster. "I summon, Cracking Dragon!" The Hanoi spoke as his giant black and green metal dragon appeared on the field in attack mode. 

"He already has a monster with 3000 attack points on his field, and it's just the first turn. That's as strong a start as you can get. I'm gonna have to play smart if I wanna beat that thing." Gale Rider said to himself. 

"Since I went first, I can't attack, so i'll end my turn. Your move, Gale Rider." The Hanoi said as Gale Rider drew the next card in his hand and examined his options. In his hand he held "Foolish Burial", "Dust of Life", "Monster Hunter Lance," "Flying Wyvern-Rathalos," "Pitfall Trap," and "Hunting Party!"

"I see many-many-many options with this hand, Gale Rider. It I might say, I know the combo that'll increase our win rate by 80-" Windy tried to say but Gale Rider interrupted him. 

"Don't tell me how to use my deck. Now, first i'll activate Foolish Burial! This spell card lets me take a monster in my deck and put it in my Graveyard. I choose Monster Hunter-Long Sword. Next, I activate the spell, Dust of Life! This card lets me return up to 2 Monster Hunter creatures from my graveyard and summon them on my field!" Gale Rider explained as his Monster Hunter-Long Sword card was summoned in attack mode. 

"Now, I activate Hunting Party! from my hand! This card allows me to summon any Monster Hunter card from my hand, so long as there is already at least 1 Monster Hunter creature on my field. So come out, Monster Hunter-Lance!" Gale Rider said as he brought forth another creature. This time, he summoned his monster in defense mode.

"Two monster special summoned in the same turn? Looks like you're doing the same thing I did." The Hanoi said as Gale Rider gave a nod. 

"That's correct, but I'm not summoning a tougher monster just yet! I enter the battle phase, and I activate my Long Sword's effect! I can halve its attack, and for the rest of this turn, it can attack you directly!" Gale Rider explained. 

"Not so fast! I activate my dragon's effect. Once per turn, I can choose one of your normal or special summoned monsters and make it lose attack points equal to its level times 200! So your Long Sword loses 600 attack points, dropping it to 1200! And, you take damage equal to the attack points lost, so you lose 600 life points!" The Hanoi said as Gale Rider lost 600 life points, dropping his life points to 3400. Gale rider then activated his monsters effect, now dropping his Long Sword's attack points to 600. 

"That's fine because you're still taking damage!" Gale Rider said as his monster attacked the Hanoi with its sword, dropping his life points down from 4000 to 3400. "I end my battle phase, but i'm far from done! First, I place this card face down on my field(Pitfall Trap), and next, I tribute my two monsters to summon Flying Wyvern-Rathalos in attack mode!"

"Smart move, summoning weaker monsters so i'd use up my dragons effect, dealing damage to me, and then summoning your stronger monster. You're better than I thought you'd be." The Hanoi complimented Gale Rider. 

"Gee, thanks. I now activate my monsters effect! I can add one "Flying Wyvern-Rathian from my deck to my hand." Gale Rider said as he retrieved his monster from his deck. 

"My Rathian's effect now activates, allowing me to summon it in defense mode so long as I have a Flying Wyvern-Rathalos on my field, which I do." Gale Rider said as he summoned his new monster in defense mode. "I end my turn. Your move."

"About time. Since this is a speed duel, i'm allowed to activate my skill!" The Hanoi said as Gale Rider became confused. 

"Wait, a skill?" He questioned. 

"Oh that's right, I forgot to tell you about skills. You see, in a speed duel, duelists each have one skill which they can use once per duel. Some skills let you draw cards, others regain life points, and so on. There's about as many skills as there are stars in the sky, and I know 'em all!" Windy explained as Gale Rider just gave him a look which pretty much said 'You couldn't have told me this before?"

"My skill 'Double Draw' allows me to draw 2 cards instead of 1. Now, I activate the spell DDoS attack! This card allows me to send the two other copies of this card in my deck to the Graveyard, and then I can deal damage to you equal to the level of a monster on my field times 100 for each copy of DDoS attack in my graveyard. Cracking Dragon is a level 8 monster, double that for the 2 DDoS attacks in my graveyard, and that means you take 1600 points of damage!" The Hanoi explained as Gale Rider's life points now dropped to 1800. "Next, i'll place 1 card face down, and then equip my dragon with the spell, Air Cracking Storm! This card allows my monster to attack again if it destroys a monster on your field! And, my monster can now inflict piercing damage to you!"

"No, that means he can deal damage even if my monsters are in defense mode!" Gale Rider said as they entered the battle phase. 

"Cracking Dragon, attack his Rathian!" The Hanoi said as his dragon unleashed a beam which destroyed Gale Rider's monster, dealing 500 damage thanks to the piercing effect, and lowering Gale Rider's life points down to 1300. "And thanks to my equip spell, I can attack one more time! Now, destroy his Rathalos!" The Hanoi ordered as his Cracking Dragon blew apart Gale Rider's monster with another beam, dealing yet another 500 points of damage, dropping his life points to 800. "That ends my turn."

'This isn't good. He managed to destroy both of my monsters and deal 2600 damage to me all in one turn. I'm down to 800 life points, I can't make any mistakes now. But I have no cards in my hand. Which means, this next draw will decide if I win or lose this duel.' Gale Rider thought but something caught his attention first. Up ahead, in the flow of data wind, was a huge tornado made of data. 

"Oh yeah, it's the source of this data storm!" Windy said as, on the screen on Gale Rider's duel disk, it read "Skill available."

"I can use my skill now?" Gale Rider questioned. 

"Oh yeah, and it's a good one! You can use a skill called "Storm Access" and it lets you enter a data storm when you're down to 1000 or less life points and retrieve a new extra deck monster! Pretty cool-cool-cool-cool-cool, right!?" Windy explained as Gale Rider flew for the tornado. Just be careful and don't fall off your board, or else you'll lose the monster you would've pulled and you can't use your skill for the rest of the duel.

"Thanks for the tip. This data storm, it seems like it's the only way we can win now. Hang on, Windy, we're going in!" Gale Rider said as he flew right into the heart of the tornado. 

"He's crazy if he thinks he'll be able to survive that storm. Looks like I win!" The Hanoi cheered as he watched to see Gale Rider fail. 

Meanwhile, inside the storm, Gale Rider was barely hanging onto his board, kneeling down on top keep a better grip on it.

"Gale Rider, you must reach into the wind itself and retrieve your new monster! That is where these new, more powerful monsters dwell! The stronger the winds, the stronger the monster!" Windy explained as Gale Rider thrusted his arm into the whirling winds of the tornado. The winds wanted to push him away, but he held strong and could feel something forming in his hand; the card which held his new monster. 

"Storm Access!" Gale Rider roared as he finally retrieved his new monster. The data tornado then dissipated, and Gale Rider was revealed to have survived the extreme storm. He then placed his new monster into his Extra deck, and returned to continue his duel against the Hanoi. 

"You survived!? How!?" The Hanoi questioned as Gale Rider chuckled a bit. 

"I'll do anything to stop the Hanoi, even if it means plunging head first into a tornado! And thanks to that, I now have what I need to beat you! So get ready, because this duel is about to enter its final phase!" Gale Rider declared as he drew his next, and potentially final card. Hopefully, it's what he needed.