A cold evening of April.

An unassuming Ryuzaki & Co. facility in Osaka.

A worker on his way to the lounge to refill his cup with coffee.

Another mundane night of work.

A blinking lightbulb.

A glitchy screen.

An explosion.

An entire underground level thrown intro a pandemonium of chaos and disorder.

Across the entire level, lights turned on and off like they had a mind of their own, doors that required digital keys to open were repeatedly closing and opening by themselves, computers had their systesm strained to the point the servers in the facility crashed at the same time.

And then, another explosion.

A security team spread thin, their work made harder by those trying to salvage anything from their research from amidst the chaos.

Among the ones scouring the level, a variant. A person who would not have been there in any other night.

A man ran after some of the security team's personnel in search of his companion.

From the corner of his eye, he sees the blur of a figure in white lonesomely walking down a corridor. His goal changes.

Someone in white was to be expected, this was a lab afterall. But only someone with a hand in the chaos would be able to calmy walk through it.

So he ran.

Down the same corridor, through the accessibles rooms at the other end of it, until-

"You're not the one I wanted to see it."

A large room, walls covered in screens that would be showing every nook and crany of the level if not by the unpredictable glitching.

At its center, a tall figure clad in a white tunic with a hood and long sleeves, all black clothing underneath it to hide every corner of its skin, a voice modified to sound raspy, echoeing in the empty space of the curved metal beak of its mask.

"Who are you?! Are you the one behind all of this?!"

"You're neither the first who'll hear my name, nor the first who'll hear my designation. I was hoping for a section director, not the dog of Treasure."

The three doors that lead to the room closed on their own.

"But you'll do, Blaze Inu."

"Treasure...?"

"You don't need to play dumb. I'm aware of the titles you've given the sections in the company. Finance is Treasure, HR is Face, security is Fortress, law is Scales, the CEO is Control, the list goes on. I was hoping for the director of Fortress to be the one finding me, but I'll work under the assumption you've informed Ichinose about my presence."

"Yeah, I've told Mav. You still think you got any shot at getting out of here in one piece?"

"I don't need to think about something I know is factual. The second bomb detonated further south from here, so I doubt Ichinose will get here in the next twenty minutes. Are you a gambling man, Blaze?"

"Hell no. But I'll take it you must be one to pull a stunt like this in the first place."

"A gamble is only that if something is uncalculated for. My actions here tonight are a gambit."

"You think you've won?"

"What do you think?"

Inu narrowed his eyes. The masked figure turned to face him and stared at him with its hollow eyes.

"S. You can call me that for the time being."

"Alright, S... What's your game here? If you know something like what we call each section, then you probably know we aren't the biggest fans of people in gear attacking our facilities."

"So I've assumed. Do you still cardfight, Blaze? I hope having to acquire an entire different deck for a different format for the second time hasn't killed it for you."

"Of course I still cardfight. You know what company you're attacking. Why? Do you want to solve all of this mess with cards instead of the stun guns from the security crew?"

"I want to kill time until Ichinose gets here. I'm not interested in anyone that isn't a director, and tossing you to the side would be too easy."

"Kill time? You think I can't stop you here and now?"

"Not in the slighest. I know for a fact you can't, old man. But I wouldn't bring it up if it wasn't worth your time. Will you listen to my wager, Blaze?"

"Sure, fire it."

"A cardfight. Should you win, I will surrender myself to the authorities out of my own free will."

"You think I'm stupid enough to fall for that? I haven't been a stupid kid for four decades, punk."

"I still have eyes in my face to tell me that. We both know that I'm outnumbered in this situation, and that you don't believe my escape means are as full proof as I know them to be. Under these current conditions, you know stalling me here is the best method of catching me available to you. I'm simply aligning the stars according to what you believe."

"And if you win?"

"I have no terms. I believe we both know you'd never fufill them. So, do you accept my wager, Blaze?"

Inu cracked his knuckles.

"Sure. I'll have you flat in the ground before Mav even gets to this side of the level."

The terms were laid down.

The table was ready.

The decks were set.

Inu looked at the entity standing across him, and its hollow eyes looked back.

"May the best gambler win, right, S?"

"I'm afraid the only gambler tonight is you, Blaze. Like I've told you before, this... Is my gambit."

Inu narrowed his eyes.

S raised their head ever so slightly.

"Stand up, Vanguard!"

"Scarlet Flame New Soldier, Buckish!"

"Jewelias Dracokid."

"Dark States? I see you couldn't even put in some effort in hiding how much of a pretentious wannabe bad guy you are."

"The dogs that bark the most bite the least. Care to take the first turn? You could use the advantage more than me."

"You head's gonna be light like a balloon if you keep filling it with all that hot air. Draw. I'll ditch Colgaflan and ride! Scarlet Flame Bow Soldier, Aguired! Colgaflan's skill. Soulblast Buckish and botdeck him to draw one. Over to you."

Inu
Hand: 6
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

S
Hand: 5
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

"Draw. Ride, Evil Eye Beast, Ominacrowg. Jewelias' skill, I draw one. Ominacrowg's skill. Soulblast, scout the top five cards of my deck for one Ominagruzio card."

S picked up the top five cards of their deck, but shuffled them back just as fast.

"Did you whiff? Not so much of a gambit anymore."

"Incorrect. I had no Ominagruzio in my main deck to begin with. As I failed to find a card, I soulcharge two."

"What? What was that card you soulcharged?"

"Cage of Furious Star, an order card. The other was a heal trigger. I call Exaggerate Dracokid. Since there is a grade 3 card in my soul, his skill soulcharges one. He attacks. (8000)"

"Boucen, guard. (13000)"

"Ominacrowg. (8000)"

"No guard."

"Drive check. (Servant Falcracia) No trigger."

"(Scarlet Flame Bow General, Ruguent) No trigger either."

"Turn end."

Inu
Hand: 5
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

S
Hand: 6
Damage: 0
OXX
OOO

"Draw. Aguired's skill! Since you got less than two rears, I ride up for free! Ride! Scarlet Flame Bow General, Dipaanel! Call, Bolt Blamer Dragon. Dipaanel attacks Exaggerate! (10000)"

"Lively Breath Dragon. (23000) If you want to draw off Bolt Blamer, you'll have to put more effort into it, Blaze."

"Tch, no shit. Drive check. (Great Flame Axe of Ambitious Flames, Colgaflan) Nothing. Bolt Blamer attacks the vanguard! On attack, since my vanguard's a Scarlet Flame, add 5k! (10000>>15000)"

"No guard. (Purple Jeweled Beast, Almethys) No trigger. Will you use Bolt Blamer's skill?"

"What do you think? Bolt Blamer's skill! Counterblast and retire himself to retire Exaggerate! Turn end!"

Inu
Hand: 6
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

S
Hand: 5
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

"Stand and draw. Ride, Gear Rhinos of Straightforward. I have nothing more to add. Attack. (10000)"

"Go for it."

"Drive check. (Rouse Wildmaster, Riley - Draw) Vanguard. (10000>>20000)"

"(Scarlet Flame Marshal Dragon, Gandeeva) Nothing."

"Turn end."

Inu
Hand: 5
Damage: 2
OXO
OOO

S
Hand: 7
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

Inu yawned.

"About time we got here. Your slow play's been boring me to tears."

"You should be thankful then. I am risking my own well being to give you favourable odds of catching me. If anything, you're the one who is playing too fast, Blaze."

"Didn't I told you?"

Inu cracked his knuckles.

"I'm beating you flat before Mav even gets here. Stand and draw! Scarlet flames of the marshal dragon, pierce the heavens with endless arrows! I ride my avatar, Scarlet Flame Marshal Dragon, Gandeeva!"

"Dipaanel's skill! The counterblast cost of Gandeeva's skill gets reduced by during this turn! Then, Colgaflan's skill! Soulblast Aguired and botdeck him to draw! Gandeeva's skill, cost free thanks to Dipaanel! Reveal the top five and shuffle them back, and since nothing got retired, I bind a card from drop and draw! I call Ruguent to the back and use his skill! Counterblast to retire, but with no targets, I bind another card from drop and draw! On top of that, play!"

Inu slammed a card into his order zone.

"Forbidoll Surrogate! I take two different grade 3s from the deck and call them! Scarlet Flame Bow General, Stirgna! Scarlet Flame War General, Bravaldin! Stirgna's skill! Soulblast my final card, bind Ruguent, and since you still don't have anything for me to retire, I bind another card from drop and draw! Gandeeva's skill! The front gets 2k for each face down card in my drop! (13000>>19000) (13000>>19000) (13000>19000) I call Boucen and go into battle! Boucen boosts, Bravaldin attacks! (19000>>27000) Bravaldin's skill! Bind one from hand face down to retire one, but with no targets, he gets 5k and I draw! Gandeeva powers up the front by another 2k too! (19000>>21000) (19000>>21000) (27000>>32000>>34000)"

"No guard. (Cage of Furious Star)"

"Gandeeva attacks! (21000) Boucen's skill! When Gandeeva attacks, if I got at least three face downs on the bind, he binds himself face down to countercharge! That's the fifth card in the bind, so Gandeeva gets a critical! (21000>>23000) (21000>23000/2) (21000>>23000) Scarlet Arrow Heavenly Rain!"

"Riley, Flinty Slasher. (35000)"

"Twin drive! (Scarlet Flame Bow General, Ruguent) (Twin Buckler Dragon) Nothing. Stirgna attacks! (21000)"

"No guard. (Servant Falcracia)"

"That's it."

Inu
Hand: 8
Damage: 2
Bind: 5
XXX
OOO

S
Hand: 5
Damage: 3
OXO
OOO

"I'll say, you've got me somewhat curious."

"Oh? What did I do to deserve the curiosity of Blaze Inu? One would think this entire evening was more than enough reason to be intrigued, rather than this fight."

"The only thing about that that's got me curious is how stupid you are to waste your life for this. If you're talented enough for this, or to gather people capable of doing this, then you must be incredibly bad in the head to waste it all here. My curiosity is your deck. The starter hinted at Drajeweled, but Ominacrowg appeared without Ominagruzio, and then you rode a card unattached too any deck. All your checks have either been triggers or generics that tell me nothing about your deck."

"I'll admit, that was a spetacular coincedence. Even I'm surprised. But you'll be able to quell your curiosity soon. This is my third turn, afterall."

"Show me what you got, S."

"Stand and draw. Gear Rhinos of Straightforward's skill. Instead of discarding to ride, I'll soulblast instead."

S raised the final card in their ride deck.

"Under the bleeding hollow sun, awaken in syzygy and let the three winters of subjugation commence, apocalyptic dragon king! Ride! Purgatory Dragon Deity, Favrneel!"

"So that's the game you're playing... 0s and 1s are useless for Favrneel, so soulblasting the 0 to charge bigger grades and the 1 for Gear Rhinos to skip on the discard... Keeps useless grades out, gets better grades in and let's you keep pieces in hand."

"Congratulations, you are capable of using your wits. Favrneel's first skill. Retire a rear-guard of your choosing."

"I've been playing for a long time, probably before you were even born. I'll retire Stirgnua."

"I don't doubt that. Favrneel's second skill. When your rear-guard, I send a card from hand to the soul to draw. I will send Squalid Freaks. On top of that, play."

S placed a card into their order zone.

"Forbidoll Surrogate. From my deck, I call two different grade 3 units. Purgatory Baron, Hrodis. Demonic Swordsman of Rivings, Eligos. Furthermore, I call Exaggerate Dracokid and soulcharge. The soulcharged card was a grade 3, so I take Forbidoll from drop and place it into the soul. And now that my vanguard is grade 3, Exaggerate's grade becomes 3 in the soul. Boosted by Exaggerate, Hrodis attacks. (13000>>21000)"

"Flare Veil. (23000)"

"Hrodis' skill. He moves into the soul, Bravaldin retires. Once again, Favrneel's skill activates. I move a second Squalid Freaks into the soul to draw a card. Favrneel attacks. (13000) Læraðr Surtalogi!"

"No guard!"

"Twin drive! (Squalid Freaks) (Lively Breath Dragon - Critical) Power to Eligos, critical to Favrneel! (13000>>23000) (13000>>13000/2)"

"Damage check! (Dragritter, Alfaqaar) (Burning Flail Dragon - Critical) All to Gandeeva! (23000)"

"At this moment, Favrneel's final skill activates! After his first battle, if the sum of the grades of the cards in my soul surpasses thirteen, I counterblast two to restand him! Drive minus one! Fimbulvetr Éskhatos! Eligos attacks. (23000) Eligos' skill. I move Exaggerate into the soul and countercharge."

"Ruguent! (28000)"

"Once again, Favrneel attacks! (13000/2) Dragon of the hollow sun, to you I vow: No gods or kings, only Man! Virtuøso Ragnarøk!"

"Like hell I'm gambling on you hitting a dud, I guard with Colgaflan! (28000) No pass!"

"Drive check. (Repelled Malice Dragon) No trigger. That is all. Turn end."

Inu
Hand: 5
Damage: 4
Bind: 5
OXO
OOO

S
Hand: 7
Damage: 3
XXO
OOO

"All of that nonsense about gods or kings, I'm putting an end to it! This is what happens when you mess with C4! Stand and draw! Scarlet flames of the marshal dragon, pierce the heavens with endless arrows once more! I persona ride my avatar! Scarlet Flame Marshal Dragon, Gandeeva! (13000>>23000)"

"You may only have one rear, but I'm taking what I can get! I play Best Harvest! Until the end of the turn, when your rear-guard's retired during my main phase, I draw one! Gandeeva's skill! Counterblast, reveal the top five, and since a grade 3's in there, retire Eligos! But, since I didn't retire two units with this effect, I bind a card from drop and draw! Then, Gandeeva and Best Harvest's skills! I draw and bind one more! Call! Bravaldin, Alfaqaar, Burnaia! (13000>>23000) (10000>>20000) Gandeeva's continuous skill! There's seven cards in the bind, so give the front row 14k! Gandeeva goes critical! (23000>>37000) (23000>>37000/2) (20000>>34000) Battle! Burnaia boosts, Alfaqaar attacks! (34000>>42000)"

"No guard. (Demonic Swordsman of Rivings, Eligos)"

"Burnaia's skill! After boosting, if any rear was retired this turn, he binds himself face down! Draw one! On top of that, Gandeeva gives another 2k! (37000>>39000) (37000>>39000) (34000>>36000) Gandeeva attacks! (39000/2) Alfaqaar's skill! Counterblast, bind him face down and scry five for a card to call! I call Bolt Blamer Dragon! (10000>>20000) That's another card in the bind, so Gandeeva enhances again! (39000>>41000) (39000>>41000/2) (20000>>38000) Scarlet Arrow Heavenly Rain!"

"Perfect guard. Repelled Malice Dragon."

"That won't save you! Twin drive! (Dragritter, Alfaqaar) (Burning Flail Dragon - Critical) All on Bravaldin! (41000>>51000/2) Bolt Blamer attacks! On attack, add 5k! (38000>>43000)"

"No guard. (Servant Falcracia)"

"After battle, counterblast one and retire himself to bind one face down and draw! Gandeeva! (51000>>53000) (41000>>43000) Bravaldin attacks! Bind one from hand face down to add 5k and draw! One last time, Gandeeva! (53000>>58000>>60000/2) This is as far as you'll go, S!"

"Though you are the least noteworthy of the four, you still have a respectable reputation that precedes you, so stand proud, Blaze Inu."

"What? Stop stalling, your gamble's gone nowhere!"

"It's like I told you before. This is not a gamble. This is my-!"

S raised one of the cards in their hand.

"Gambit! Over Guard! Terrifying Wicked Dragon King, Vamfrieze! (63000)"

"Wha-?! You drew into it?"

"Correction. I've held Vamfreize from the very start of the game. Though you are not the one I wished to meet in this room, your deck was not left out of my thoughts. Once a Kagero player, always a Kagero player. As powerful as Gandeeva may be, without a second Stirgna, you can't scale like before. Holding on to Vamfreize even after my mulligan was all I needed to stop your biggest attack with just one card."

"So you're smart, big whoop. Turn end."

Inu
Hand: 8
Damage: 4
XXO
OOO

S
Hand: 4
Damage: 5
OXO
OOO

"I wouldn't call myself smart, just cautious. It's something you ought to start being yourself, Blaze. It's been almost twenty minutes since we've crossed paths. Time to start wrapping things up."

"Waiting for Mav and the security team to get here is gonna cost any sliver of freedom you had left, you know that?"

"You should have taken my words seriously, Blaze Inu."

"Why's that?"

"Because doing so would have saved you from walking out of here as tonight's biggest loser."

Inu grit his teeth.

S let out a deep breath.

"Stand and draw. At the beginning of my ride phase, Hrodis' skill activates. I bind him and discard one card to activate Persona Ride. (13000>>23000) I draw one. Favrneel's first skill. Bravaldin retires, and as I didn't ride this turn, he gets 10k and a critical. (23000>>33000/2) Favrneel's second skill activates. I move Squalid Freaks to my soul and draw one card. I'll begin my main phase by playing this. Cage of Furious Star."

"I soulcharge one, then call Eligos from soul. Add 5k. (13000>>28000) Furthermore, call. Servant Falcracia, Almethys, Exaggerate Dracokid. (10000>>20000) Almethys' skill. I return Jewelias Dracokid from drop and Ominacrowg from soul to my ride deck to countercharge. Exaggerate's skill, soulcharge."

"Another Squalid Freaks..."

"Favrneel attacks. (33000/2) From soul, Squalid Freaks' skill activates. As I didn't ride this turn, I bind it to give my front row 5k. And I repeat that effect three more times. (28000>>48000) (33000>>53000) (20000>>40000) Læraðr Surtalogi!"

"Twin Buckler, perfect guard!"

"Twin drive! (Purgatory Baron, Hrodis) (Flinty Slasher - Critical) Critical to Falcracia, power to Favrneel! (53000>>63000/2) (40000>>40000/2)"

"What?!"

"Farvneel's third ability! Counterblast two to restand! Drive minus one! Fimbulvetr Éskhalos! Boosted by Exaggerate, Falcracia attacks. (40000>>48000) Falcracia's skill. I choose Cage of Furious Star from my drop zone and put it into the soul. For each of its grades, Falcracia gains 5k. (48000>>63000/2)"

"Burning Flail, Salmer, Flare Veil, Alfaqaar, Bolt Blamer and Ruguent! Guard! (68000)"

"Boosted by Almethys, Eligos attacks. (48000>>56000) Eligos' skill. Exaggerate is moved into the soul and I countercharge."

"No guard! (Best Harvest)"

"It's ironic. I stopped the attack that could have won you the game with an Overtrigger, and yet, you wouldn't be able to stop Falcracia's and Favrneel's second attack with it."

"So that's why you gave the power to your already big vanguard instead of Falcracia... Don't mess with me, punk!"

"It's over. Farvneel attacks! (63000/2) Dragon of the hollow sun, to you I vow: No gods or kings, only Man! Virtuøso Ragnarøk!"

Inu grit his teeth and looked down.

"No guard..."

"Drive check. (Cage of Furious Star) Hold your head high, Blaze Inu. You made it this far."

"Damage check... (Elementaria Sanctitude) (Crimson Scale Sword Maestro, Burnaia)"

The moment the sixth card fell onto Inu's damage zone, the three sealed doors of the room were open, and security guards rushed in from all sides, their stun guns aimed at S.

As the masked entity silently collected their cards, the chief of security calmy walked into the room.

Inu looked back and smirked.

"I told you waiting would cost you any chance you had of leaving. Good to see you in one piece, Maverick."

"You too, Inu."

Maverick looked away from his partner and at the hooded figure at the center of the room.

"You got a name I can call you by?"

"S will do fine."

Inu looked at the invader aswell.

"So, is this still part of your masterful gambit?"

"Care to answer for me, director of Fortress?"

"Huh? What're they talking about, Mav?"

"A gambit, huh... I should have figured. The explosions were controlled. They only went off in areas with no people in them, and only caused enough damage to wreck the room they happened in. Zero casualties. The doors weren't closing and opening randomly either. They were guiding everyone in circles, and considering they stopped moments ago, I'd say the goal was to keep us busy until I figured it out for myself."

"But why? They said they wanted you here in the first place, not me!"

"Well, if you don't mind another guess... It's exactly because I'm the one they wanted. You got direct access to my personal line. And... Because you're one of my closest friends. With the chance of you being in danger, I'd have no choice but to figure out what was happening as fast as possible. Isn't that right, S?"

S took a deep breath.

"You've got it all right, Ichinose Maverick. When you stopped running around like a lab rat and got your men to surround the doors, I knew you had figured it out."

"That's why you chose to hole yourself up in the surveillance room, to know when I realized just how much control you had over the entire situation. So, what's the end goal here, S? Did you come here for data? Revenge? To send a message?"

"To set things on motion, I suppose."

"Even if you escape's secured, you know I will still try to catch you, right?"

"It goes without saying."

(Media - FAKEit)

"Will you tell us your actual name?"

"Not yet. It's not the right time, this is not the right place, and you are not the right people."

"What's the when, where and who then?"

"October 31st. Shibuya. Mikazuchi Ryuzaki."

Maverick and Inu glanced at each other as S looked down.

"Blaze, what I said when we first cross paths still holds true. You neither the first who'll hear my name, nor the first who'll hear my designation. The latter's right is yours, Ichinose Maverick."

The masked entity raised its head.

"I am The S."

Metal cannisters began falling from the ceiling, releasing white smoke into the room the moment they hit the ground.

The guards pulled ths triggers on their stun guns, only to hit nothing.

Maverick and Inu silently watched as the invader faded into the smoke.

"The Schwartz."

A cold evening of April.

An unassuming Ryuzaki & Co. facility in Osaka.

A group of confused guards.

A special night.

Inu looked at Maverick.

"What now, Mav?"

Maverick sighed.

"We pray Payic doesn't kill us for calling them at this ungodly hour."

"You mean...?"

"Yeah. Patch me through Control."