Yu-gi-oh: Nightmare of the Virtual World.

[evilfusion]

Brave's eyes widened. "What the...?" he demanded, staring up at the newest monster. He looked at the other cards he had at his disposal a trickle of sweat forming on his brow. That had been utterly unexpected, and there really wasn't much he could do about it. If he lost, did that mean Zarkus would gain 8000 LP and be completely safe from losing again? Not quite, but his monster would gain 8000 ATK! He couldn't let that happen, and now he was regretting the retrieval of the Nordic Relic card...if he lost, his hand wouldn't be passed on, and he couldn't Set it this turn, so Harald wouldn't be able to use it...

He clenched his fist and lowered his head. "One card set. Turn...End." A holographic card appeared beside Dragan's remaining two.

The ground rumbled, even though Brave didn't acknowledge it, and Thor returned to the field. Despite not being able to deplete Zarkus' LP further, a bolt of lightning struck the field near the duelist.

LP: 8000
H: 4
M: Thor (ATK: 3500) Scar-Red Nova (ATK: 3000)
S/T: Viral Core (counters: 12200), 3 f/d

[Sunshine Jesse]

Zarkus let out a loud roar. In this state, he had lost any semblance of his remaining humanity. He pointed his hands toward Brave as they glowed a bright, red color, and two massive blasts of pure-red energy headed straight towards him, bypassing his monsters. It was up to Harald now to win, and he would have to take his next and possibly final move very carefully. This monster definitely had an Achilles Heel, and utilizing it was solely based on skill and luck. Zarkus ended his turn with that, not much else he could do considering his feral state and the fact that all of his other cards were gone.

Could Harald finally defeat Zarkus?

[evilfusion]

Brave took the attack with a yell, the blast enough to throw him backwards, conveniently at the feet of Dragan and Harald. He looked up apologetically at Harald. "Heh...I did all I could," he said, rubbing the back of his head almost sheepishly. "I'm leaving it up to you, then." Harald smiled slightly and took the cards Brave offered him, placing them upon his own duel disk.

With a look of firm confidence, he stepped onto the playing field, his cyan Rune glowing. "My chosen deckmaster will be Polar Star Angel Vanadis," he stated serenely.

[spoiler=Deckmaster effect]
You may send one "Polar Star" monster from your deck to the graveyard and select one monster you control. The selected monster's level is equal to the level of the monster you sent to the Graveyard by this effect. This effect may only be used once per turn. In addition, when Synchro Summoning a Polar God, any Tuner may be used.
[/spoiler]

Harald drew his starting hand, but did not draw the sixth card yet. With these cards, he would need to fashion a strategy to defeat Zarkus this turn. He knew what cards his teammates had left for him, and he had every intention of strategizing a victory. Zarkus had 8000 LP, but the lifepoints meant nothing, for his monster had an effect claiming defeat to the card's controller should it be defeated in battle. However, its ATK was equal to the combined total of their Lifepoints, giving it a present total of 16000 ATK that could attack a player directly while negating all their effects during the controller's turn. That meant Harald had this turn to win or he would lose.

Then came the problem of the Viral Core. It would protect him from damage, but now its protection was virtually unwanted, for reducing his own Lifepoints would weaken the Dark God.

"It's my turn!" he announced, at last drawing his card. Brave and Dragan watched as Harald smiled confidently, the smile his teammates knew from when he dueled Yusei and was picking his strategies apart with ease.

"First, I activate Dragan's Set Monster Reincarnation, so by discarding one card, I return Polar Star Spirit Svartalf from the Graveyard to my hand," he said, sliding one card into the Graveyard and extracting Brave's Tuner.

"I Tribute Scar-Red Nova to Normal Summon Svartalf, and when it's Normal Summoned, I return one Polar Star monster from the Graveyard to the hand," Harald continued smoothly, his eyes glinting. (Lvl 5, 1400/1600) "For this effect, I choose Polar Star Spirit Ljosalfr, and I use your monster's effect: for 500 Lifepoints, I Special Summon it!" (Lvl 4, 1400/1200)

LP: 7500

"Now I activate Scar-Red Nova's effect from the Graveyard, letting me Special Summon it and causing us both to lose 3000 lifepoints," Harald said. With a roar the Earthbound God returned to the field, draining both player's lifepoints. "This is not damage, so it is not negated by the Viral Core."

LP: 4500
Zarkus LP: 5000

Brave and Dragan exchanged looks, wondering precisely what Harald's ultimate goal was. He now controlled Thor, Scar-Red Nova, Svartalf, and Ljosalfr.

"I activate Vanadis' effect. By sending Polar Star Angel Valkyrie from my deck to my Graveyard, I change Svartalf's level to match Valkyrie's: Level two."

This only drew another curious look from the teammates, but Harald seemed completely at ease. Dragan was starting to grin, starting to realize where this was going.

"I pay another 500 Lifepoints, and Special Summon Polar Star General Tyr!" A sword-wielding warrior appeared, twirling its blade expertly. (Lvl 4, 2000/2000)

Now the other members of Team Ragnarok were definitely grinning as Harald continued, "I tune my level two Svartalf, level four Tyr, and level four Ljosalfr!"

The two spirits and the warrior rose into the air, joining together in an atom-shaped ring and rotating until they were blocked by light.

[b]North Star in heaven, the king that rules the sky. Right now, bundle the pantheon of the star boundary and show the authority!"[/b] As he chanted, the monsters had become a single orb of light which was steadily expanding and becoming brighter and larger. Already it was starting to dwarf the room. [b]Synchro Summon! Descend from the heavens to the Earth! The Supreme God! Polar God Sacred Emperor Odin![/b]

An enormous man rose up, dressed in elegant red robes and carrying a massive staff of some kind, its left eye covered by some kind of metallic patch. (Lvl 10, 4000/3500) Harald clicked a button on his disk, and a Spell card flipped up. "I activate Brave's Set card: Nordic Relic Draupnir. One Polar Star monster or Polar God gains 800 ATK," Harald said, pointing to Odin, whose ATK rose to 4800.

Now the stage was set. "Battle! Polar God King Thor, attack God of the Dark Oracle! Thunder Pile!"

The nordic god raised its hammer and slammed it into the large monster, only to be deflected and destroyed. Harald's grin widened. "Viral Core Mui negates the damage and accumulates counters. Since I failed to inflict battle damage, my opponent's lifepoints are halved!"

Zarkus LP: 2500

"Now, Scar-Red Nova, direct attack!"

Zarkus LP: 0
Harald LP: 4000

"Our combined lifepoints are 4000, so your Oracle God has only 4000 ATK," Harald noted, thrusting a finger forward. "Polar God Sacred Emperor Odin, strike down his Dark Oracle God with Heaven's Judgment!"

The towering old man raised its staff and lightning fired down from the tip of the staff striking Zarkus' god.

[Sunshine Jesse]

Zarkus looked up as Odin struck his God. the lightning completely obliterated Zarkus' monster, causing a large explosion. The entire area around him began to disintegrate, as Zarkus laid down on the ground, defeated, his body limp. He had no particular expression in his eye as red cracks formed around his body. Suddenly, the light of his eyes returned to him, as he snapped his fingers, a portal opening up around Team Ragnarok, protecting them from the destruction and allowing them to escape whenever they want. He tried to move, but was unable to, as every single card in his deck went blank.

Starting from the legs, his body began to disintegrate, all of his memories flowing through his head, his entire life flashing before his eyes. From the beginning, to the end, he was almost certain his death was near. He began to flow into the abyss, the entire cathedral vanishing as well. There was some sort of irony to it. The area vanishing along with Zarkus was the very first area he designed upon becoming an administrator. He slowly closed his eyes as he prepared himself to join with the artificial intelligences who have also faded over time.

"I'm sorry I failed you, Sigma."

In the real world, he flat-lined. The one thing keeping him alive, the Dark Oracle, had been destroyed for good. The last remnants of a time where magic ruled the earth had been completely annihilated.

Meanwhile, in the sky, all of the viral cores cracked, shattered, and completely vanished, all traces of them being deleted from the virtual world.

The story of Zarkus was over.

But all was not well.

[The Warden]

Carmine felt a chill, it was unnatural. She gazed up as the viral moons were shattered. 'Zarkus' she whispered, her voice was not her own. 'As it stands' she announced in Sigma's voice; 'the vrtual world has lost the greatest global admin to ever grace it's coding. As I, Sigma, stand indisposed and Zarkus dead, it now stands to Carmine to set things right. She will require your full co-operation in this circumstance as the virtual world is now in turmoil. The last of the viruses are gone, but a new threat still stands' she stated. Carmine/Sigma gazed at Desna. 'As of now, Trihsder has taken command of the outlying colonies and brainwashed it's citizen; they will soon march on City. We will need to prepare for this threat and put an end to all this bull crap. Sigma out' Sigma stated, releasing Carmine. She was silent for a moment. 'You heard the lady, get your butts in gear' she ordered.

[Sunshine Jesse]

"Zarkus and Jack are dead." Zero declared, in the room with Law and Chaos. The card in the middle of the room, surrounded by the Egyptian God Cards, was about 2/3rds of the way completed. "That duel gave us most of what we need, but with the both of them dead, we lost one of the major suppliers of duel energy. However, the coming battle will be more than enough to finally complete Project Solomon." Zero said, looking at the Egyptian God Cards in front of him. He touched Ra as it glowed a bright yellow color, but backed off. Zero looked up at Law and Chaos, merely smiling under his blank mask. "But even if the battle doesn't take place..." he said towards the two men.

"In one week, Project Solomon will be completed, and the virtual world will be reborn."

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Desna grinned. [color=#9ACD32]"Alright. We need to fetch someone, but to do that, we need to get through At-LAN+12 and find the Lost Colony of Mo-0. Trust me. It exists. The reason I was placed where I was was to make sure no one got there. A very powerful person is in Mo-0, someone with the abilities to help us. However, getting there will be tricky without the proper arrangements."[/color] Desna looked over at Kyza. [color=#9ACD32]"And if I'm not mistaken, that kid is the key to getting where we need to go."[/color]

Vicky looked up at Kyza. [color=#800080]"There is a reason you lost your memory. Itsu...she has been planning for all of this...sure, a few things went wrong, but the plan is so far intact. She has a way to save this world, and you are the key to unlocking it. I am simply the key to unlocking you."[/color]

[The Warden]

Carmine frowned a little. 'I dunno who this Itsu is, but she sounds like she has all of you sucking her d**k' she said harshly, but comptemplated the situation. 'If we go towards Mo-0, we'll need a sizeable group, but also a home defence. All admins and mods have currently suspended privelages, so I need someone to remain in order to defend so I can escort you with my admin power. Best thing is, I know just the person to defend City' she said, turning to Rhythm. 'May I see your deck?' she inquired, extending her hand.

[Kyza Kiryu]

At first Kyza doesn't truely comprehend the depths of what Desna and Vicky are saying. He's simply allowing himself to hold his love in his arms and enjoying their reunion, but soon he starts to realise what is being said. Him? The key? What key?

"...then, if I'm the key..." he looks to Vicky, his bronze eyes looking into hers with a determined resolve. He had changed since they last met. Perhaps it was the creation of Allery and the loss of his self-doubt, or maybe just remembering he had someone he cared for, but he felt a strong sense of confidence within him. Another of Itsu's little plannings? For him to loose the doubt in himself? It didn't truely matter, not if he could help to bring this world to some peace.

"Then it's time for the key to be unlocked itself, Vicky"

[evilfusion]

As the destruction of the Oracle brought similar results upon the area around them, the members of Team Ragnarok did not waste time celebrating the victory. A portal had appeared behind him, and although they seemed to be shielded from the devastation occurring, none of them felt an urge to take chances and hurried through. They emerged back in the City, essentially where they had been before Jack's arrival.

The three looked up at the sky, relieved to see that the viral moons had been eliminated in their absence. "Does that mean it's over?" Brave wondered.

"Unlikely," Harald said. "Jack mentioned there were three other Viral Cores, even if only one new one was played. Even if the activity with the Viral Cores is done, we're still in this world, and we were given cards to protect for a reason. Other factions must still be out there, making plans."

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Rhythm was rather nervous. [color=#00FFFF]"Umm...Miss Carmine...I don't think I can defend the entire City...but here you go..."[/color] She begrudgingly handed the Deck to Carmine.

Desna adds his own two cents. [color=#9ACD32]"Well, I was just thinking...we could barrel through the Colony with the [i]Vorpal Blade[/i]. It can carry V-Sec troops and all the supplies we would need, and it's way too big for Trihsder and his forces to be able to stop...easily..."[/color]

Teslarc sighed. [color=#FF0000]"However, if we are going to be going to Mo-0, be careful. Desna is not the only line of defense. Anyone who tries to approach the Lost Colony will find out the very reason it became lost: The L080 virus, a powerful virus that transforms the afflicted into a werewolf-like creature. It can only be transmitted via bite from someone else who is afflicted, but it can only be cured by Itsu. The infected are part of a collective consciousness whose only goal is to prevent anyone from entering by making trespassers part of them. The [i]Vorpal Blade[/i] might be able to break through, but it won't be easy."[/color]

[The Warden]

Carmine wasn't listening fully, she was quietly muttering to the Black Serenade. 'They tell me that they are enjoying your company, but hope you would put them to better use. Don't worry about that though, you will get better with further duels. But that isn't the important thing. This was the deck once used by Sigma, and as such it has some special processes within it, such as the realism function used by my deck, observe, I summon Black Serenade - Doom Guitarist' she stated, playing the card. A demon with a bone guitar appeared, it raised it's pinky and ring finger. Carmine nodded at him, to which he replied by waking Desna in the head with it's guitar. She removed the card and gave the deck back to Rhythm. 'They are your own guardian angels' she said. She then regarded Desna, who was on the ground. 'If you take the Vorpal Blade, I could utilize the Admin building as a control room, but, I won't be there to protect you from viral attacks. However, my darling Scraps could help with that' she said, whistling to the platform. The heavily mutated dog bounded off the platform and sat by her side.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Desna was sprawled on the ground, but he slowly got back up. [color=#9ACD32]"What?!? You're not coming with us?!?"[/color]
[color=#FF0000]"But can we?"[/color] A voice asked.
Trudge and Mina had pulled up in a V-Sec Light Runner and were now standing near Carmine.
[color=#FF0000]"I may not be an Admin anymore, but I am still the head of V-Sec, and I want to lead my best and brightest into this fight."[/color]
[color=#0000CD]"I want to go along as well, partially to support my husband, partially to look after Kyza."[/color]

[The Warden]

Carmine shrugged. 'As it stands, unless Sigma joins us herself, which I doubt, I'm the only admin left. So I have full access visual of the virtual world. Hell, if I wanted I could force Mo-0 to reveal itself or euthanize the colonies. But that's not the best action here, we need to organize V-Sec troops to march to war. I will join eventually, but right now I'm needed to maintain our world. As I said, Scraps is a gabage disposal for viruses, so your lycans will be easy meals. Don't worry Desna, I know you have feelings for me, but we must put those feelings aisde for the sake of our world' she said confidently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Desna blushed. He normally didn't care about anyone, but this woman was just as ruthless and monstrous as he was! Hell, she might even be MORE cutthroat! He was very lucky she was on their side. [color=#9ACD32]"Umm...uhh...I don't..."[/color]
[color=#FF2400]"Desna, knock it off."[/color] Teslarc told him. [color=#F2400]"You know the process of creating a Faceless One isn't perfect. You just had to find someone who cared about as much as you did."[/color]
Rhythm was rather confused. [color=#00FFFF]"So, am I staying here, or..."[/color]

[Kyza Kiryu]

Kyza tried his best to listen to the conversation, standing beside Vicky as they spoke, and of course, chuckling after Desna was smacked around the head with the guitar.

"Ok, so we're starting to formulate some sort of a game plan. Now are we handling this in one group or in two? Because in my point of view, it seems we have those preparing for a straight out, all guns blazing assault" eyeing Desna at that statement, he knew how nuts that guy could get, "and I, personally, think a more deceptive approach could be taken. Granted, we're limited in this world to a certain degree by the tech, but i'm sure that doesn't slow down Vicky's capabilities. Mina, me and Vicky could try something more stealthy... unless we're handling this as a group, of course"

[The Warden]

Carmine grinned, both could work. 'Both of your ideas could work, a good thief breaks in during the second the guard turns away. If we set a battleship to remote control, we can orchestrate a fake assault whilst we sneak into Mo-0. It would be relatively simple when you think about it. Just fly it around, guns blazing, the longer it remains in the air the more time we have to do our own thing' she explained. She caught that Desna blushed, but she didn't have a heart to tell him that she was just messing with him.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Desna sighed. [color=#9ACD32]"I guess now's a bad time to mention this, but the [i]Vorpal Blade[/i] does have Lightjet-launching capabilities. I could drive the [i]Blade[/i] into the Outlands and hold off the Lobos, with the help of V-Sec, while the girls and Kyza fly into Mo-0 proper. Once Itsu's pets are called off, the [i]Blade[/i], or what's left of it, can be used as a getaway vehicle for whatever forces Trihsder sends out after us."[/color]
Vicky looked at Kyza. [color=#800080]"Darling, you do seem to be forgetting one crucial detail. The reason I was captured so easily is because magic does not translate over very well into a virtual world. I am, in essence, powerless here."[/color]

[Kyza Kiryu]

"I hadn't forgotten, Vicky, but lest you forget, you are still a perfectly capable duelist reguardless of magics or not. Also, and I don't want to speak out of turn here,' glancing to Mina thoughtfully, "But I do still have this..."

Reaching underneath his coat, behind his back, he holds up Aki's Identity disk. Had been holding onto it since her infection by Vector-A, Vicky, along with a harddrive copy of Black Rose Dragon.

"Mina, you gave me administration priorities, yes? Ok, that's something. But as a Glo-mod Aki had access to some of the more powerful sectors of the Armoury. With your authorisation, and a touch of hacking, yes I did say that word, it's possible we could gain some subroutines and commands not usually accessed on the Grid"

He looks to Carmine at this point, "I understand that you, ma'am, have viral hounds and such at your disposal, but the enemy more then likely is aware of this. So, by accessing the other sub-routines, we may be able to give ourselves a surprise advantage. Furthermore, my Light cycle is equiped with the 'stealth' modification,' he holds up the shorter of the two light rods from his holster, "Is there any way this can be increased to be TOTAL stealth? If I'm taking Vicky with me, I'd rather be as undetected as possible"

And to finish up, he looked to Rhythm with a smile, "And I think you'll do fine, Rhythm. You held your own with me verses Aki, an infected Mod."

[The Warden]

Carmine folded her arms and sighed. 'I suspended all modships and adminships, Aki's identity is completely useless Kyza. I'm the only one with actual power in this world' she explained, before giving Scraps and idle pet. 'I'm sure they know the viruses were extracted from Victoria, but, the funny thing is that the spyware in it was disabled when it took over such a basic AI. It's simple viral weakness. To be hidden, it needs to become like what it was infecting, including degrading it's own intellect' she added.

[Kyza Kiryu]

Kyza re-stores Aki's disk with a soft nod, then frowns slightly, "Ah, I think you misunderstood. I don't mean ALL of us being stealthed. I just meant Vicky, Mina and myself. As you yourself said, the best thief will break in amongst a war, or words to those effect. I'm thinking that if the three of us take a differant approach, you and Desna, and even Patches and the others can take the enemy on directly. In fact, that may be one of the most effective tactics." He looks to the others, glancing around, "I'm no good with the finer points, but for a general overview of a plan I think it seems sound. Perhaps even 2 smaller groups taking the stealthier option. However, those would have to be exceptional duelists to be able to handle themselves should they be discovered. And also..." he looks thoughtful, "The Faceless Ones may have to be considered too... Teslarc, what do you think?"

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Teslarc shrugged. [color=#FF2400]"Whatever. I don't want to go there anyways, even though we have to."[/color]

Far, far away, a strange vortex hole opened up and a burst of green data in the form of a butterfly appeared in front of the red-haired teenager. She looked at the data and frowned. [color=#FF2400]"Aww...poor thing...you're all partially derezzed and turned into bits and bytes of data...let me fix you..."[/color] She slowly went up to the ethereal butterfly and gently stroked one of the wings, causing the data to shape into an arm, she repeated the process with the rest of the data, until it had formed the figure of a girl. She then took the form of the girl and gently kissed her on the forehead, causing what appeared to be flesh and hair to cover the data figure until Faze was now in the arms of the teenager...and also naked. Fortunately, like the redhead, her hair was covering most of her body. [color=#FF2400]"There! All better!"[/color] The girl smiled and giggled. Her voice was too childish to be her, but the sound was unmistakable, and her face looked like her is she was a 15-year-old. Could this girl be...?

[Merci]

Faze was confused. The last thing she remembered was. . . She didn't know. She had forgotten. But memories were coming back to her, from somewhere. She looked forward and saw a red-headed teenager. Who was she? For a second, Faze didn't know. Those memories hadn't come back to her yet. But then they did, and Faze remembered who that teenager was. For a second or two, she felt anger, but then more memories came to her, and her anger disappeared. She knew that girl. For a moment, she reached for her own head, not sure that it was there, but it was. Her entire body was there again. She looked back the girl. "You. . . You're. . ."

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

The girl smiled at Faze. [color=#FF2400]"Yes, I am. I saw your battle with Kyza, and I decided that you were too good of a duelist to keep derezzed, so I brought your data through a portal and rerezzed you. I hope you don't mind, especially since he is going to be coming here."[/color] The girl hugged Faze tightly, crying softly. [color=#FF2400]"I'm sorry...It's...It's just been...so long...since I had any company...You are my first sentient visitor in megacycles."[/color] She then looked at Faze's body and blushed. [color=#FF2400]"Are you comfortable the way you are, or would you like some clothes?"[/color]

[Merci]

"W-wait, what?" Faze asked, before realizing something. She blushed for a moment. She hadn't noticed that she wasn't wearing clothes. "Clothes-, oh, yes. Like yes, please. Clothes. Right." She said. "But anyway. . . what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be outside? There are square millions of people out there, while you're here. You even have enough power to, er, reressed, you say? I don't know much about technology, sorry to say. But I think I can guess how many years are in a megacycle. You've been here for a while. Why?"