01x20 - A Piece of the Puzzle

[bunniefuu]

[Ai]
Previously on
"Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS"...

There was an incident
known among inner circles

as the "Lost Incident."

Six children
went missing

because a secret
organization took them.

And one of the six children
was Playmaker.

It's true that I was taken.

I found myself alone
in an empty room,

except for one thing.

A single piece of VR tech.

I was forced to duel and win.

Because if I didn't...
I was punished for my failure.

I never knew when this
was going to end,

and then, one day,
it just... did.

[Zaizen]
You were rescued,
but the culprit was never found.

In fact, the whole
Lost Incident was covered up.

[Ghost Girl]
Your true identity's
still a mystery.

I learned that the Lost Incident
went by another name--

The Hanoi Project.

Within the database,
I found the name

of the mastermind behind
the Hanoi Project.

The name?

[both gasp]

Mastermind?

Who is it?

♪♪

♪♪

You know who started
the Lost Incident?

Tell me who it is!

I should have kept
my big mouth shut.

I never should have
said anything.

Just look at you.

I can see it
in your eyes.

You're thirsting
for revenge.

That's exactly what
I did not want.

I know you can't forget
about the Lost Incident,

but you don't have to let
those memories haunt you.

You can bring them
to an end.

Aww, geez.

You know those people
who offer you a cookie

and then call you a glutton
for taking it?

This guy!

I agree, Ai.

Ya do!?
Of course ya do!

Does that mean we're
BFFs again? Ooh!

If that's how you feel,
then you leave me no choice.

As if you ever had
a choice.

Perhaps you're right,
Playmaker.

Perhaps you're right.

But remember, you did!

It's my turn!
I draw!

You will not survive
this turn!

In fact, you will not
survive this attack!

Go, Tindangle Acute Cerberus!

[energy crackling and whirring]

[booming]

Well, this battle was
a long time coming,

but a short time ending.

All your life points are gone!

[Ai screaming]
That's it!

We're toast,
and I mean the icky,

burnt kind of toast
that tastes like charcoal!

[Playmaker]
Stop panicking.
Why?

You plannin'
on taking over?

I activate my spell,
Cynet Backdoor!

By banishing one Cyberse monster
from my field,

I can add another Cyberse
from my deck to my hand

as long as it has
fewer attack points.

What's more, the Cyberse monster
I banish returns

straight to my field
on my very next turn

and it can then attack you
directly, Zaizen.

I banish Firewall Dragon!

And then I'll add
this Draconnet to my hand.

You're just spinning
in circles!

None of those moves will
stop his mutt's attack!

That's where
you're wrong.

By getting rid
of Firewall Dragon,

Doppler Phase Coating
also goes to the graveyard

and activates its effect,

and automatically ends
the battle.

So this duel isn't over.

What?

He's safe! Heh!
I was never worried.

Grr!

[Ai]
Remember when you said

we wouldn't survive
this turn?

I sure do!

Well, this turn
is not over yet!

After the battle,
my Tindangle Acute Cerberus

activates its special ability
to summon one Tindangle Token.

♪♪

By summoning another monster
next to Acute Cerberus's Link,

it gains 500 attack points.

[Ai chuckling]

He pumped up his monster
for nothin'.

He forgot
that our Firewall Dragon

can attack him directly
with or without his monster!

I forgot nothing.

When I said I'd win,
it wasn't a boast.

It was a promise.

I activate Euler's Circuit!

♪♪

Are we supposed to fetch
that digital disc?

What's Akira up to?

It may look like it's just
randomly speeding around,

but it's following
a pattern.

One designed
to destroy.

♪♪

This spell,
what's it do?

[Zaizen's AI]
Excellent query.

When Mr. Zaizen has
at least three

Tindangle monsters
on his field,

the opponent is not allowed
to attack.

What!?
[Zaizen's AI]
In addition,

once during his Standby Phase,

Mr. Zaizen may move
one Tindangle monster

next to any
of Acute Cerberus's Links,

even if the Link is
on the opponent's side
of the field.

We don't want those
Tindangle's danglin'
anywhere near our space!

Grr!

Ooh, nice!
Akira with the backup strats.

By moving his monster
to Playmaker's side,

Akira can easily summon
another monster next turn

to fill up the Links
and activate Gergonne's End.

And that equals an a*t*matic
"the end" for Playmaker.

I don't know how Playmaker's
gonna get out of this,

but he's surprised me before.

But his surprises
have to run out someday.

[Ai sighing]
Oh, well.

Guess I better go
pack up my programs.

[Kolter]
No!

It can't end like this!

Well, that's over.

I'm no fan of Zaizen,

but at least I'll be rid
of that Playmaker!

[laughing]

Wait!
That's not all!

I'm sure the board
wouldn't want it to leak

that they're hiding info
about the Lost Incident

in their databank.

So, if I secure the data
from Zaizen,

they'll offer me the world
to keep my mouth shut!

Maybe I'm a fan of yours
after all!

I can't deny the fact
that you have me cornered,

but you made one mistake.

Oh, really, now?
What mistake?

You can't attack me,
and you only have one turn left.

That's right.
That's your mistake, Zaizen.

Ohh!

You left me
with one last turn!

And?

And I can transform
one turn

into infinite possibilities!

I draw!

Due to the effect
of my spell Cynet Backdoor,

the monster I banished
last turn returns to my field.

Rise, Firewall Dragon!

[roaring]

Next, I shall summon
Draconnet!

And when I summon
this monster,

its special ability activates

and allows me to summon
another monster

from my hand or deck
in defense mode

as long as its Level
is 2 or lower!

Fitting those conditions
absolutely perfectly

is my Bitron!

And I shall use it
to Link Summon!

Go!

I set Bitron
in the Link Arrow!

I Link Summon!

Link 1... Link Spider!

Hmph!
Since you can't attack,

summoning a monster
is futile.

You'd be right if this
was all I did.

But I activate Link Spider's
special ability,

allowing me to summon
a monster from my hand

next to its Link!

Now take to the field,
Digitron!

And with it,
I can Link Summon again!

Ha!

What's this?
Another Link Summon?

The summoning conditions
require two Cyberse monsters,

so I set Digitron
and Draconnet

in the Link Arrows.

I Link Summon!

Link 2,
Recovery Sorcerer!

And for a third time,

I'm going
to Link Summon again!

You can Link Summon
a hundred times
if you want to!

No matter how many
monsters you have,

they can't attack
as long as I have
Euler's Circuit in play!

Duh! Like we didn't
know that?

But I like how you said it
with conviction,

with all that power
in your voice, ooh!

Create the circuit!

The summoning conditions

require one
Cyberse Link Monster,

so I set Link Spider
in the Link Arrow!

I Link Summon!

Link 1 Secure Gardna!

And then I can summon it
to a specific place

on the field...
right there!

Whoa whoa whoa!

That's next
to Acute Cerberus's Link!

That's the one place
you don't summon it to!

If you fill up all its Links,
that means his trap's

gonna go...
[guitar string pops]

and the damage...
[tin can rattling]

and our life points
are gonna go...
[descending whistle, thud]

[Zaizen]
Or allow me to translate!

It means you activated
my Gergonne's End!

Since you filled up

all of Tindangle Acute
Cerberus's Links,

I can deal you damage
equal to its attack points

by destroying
Gergonne's End

and the three monsters
it's linked to!

So I destroy
my two Tindangle Tokens,

Secure Gardna
and Gergonne's End,

to deal you 3000 points
of damage!

Which is much more
than you have left!

Go! Finish him!

It's really over!

Playmaker lost.

You dueled well,

but you never
stood a chance.

[Playmaker]
Is that so?

[both gasp]

Ta-dah!
And not a scratch on me!

But... how?!

My Gergonne's End
should have finished you!

It should have,
but obviously it didn't!

For you see, my Secure
Gardna's special ability

shields me from
the effects of your trap

for the duration
of this turn, Zaizen,

which means I did not
take any damage.

So you caused
my trap to misfire!

[laughing]
You took the "L" on this one!

We sure outsmarted him
with this move,

didn't we, Playmaker?

Or come to think of it,

we outsmarted you
all duel long!

But it's all love, baby!
We're aweso--

Why do you continue
to say "we?"

I don't happen to recall
you helping in the least, Ai.

[screaming]
So mean.

If you're done, I'd like
to get back to this duel.

Oh, I'm done.

Since you lost
two Tindangle monsters,

your Acute Cerberus loses

But what's more important
is that since you have

fewer than three Tindangles,

Euler's Circuit's effect
deactivates,

allowing me to attack
once again.

Playmaker, you don't
think I'm helpful?

Well, here's helpful!

If you attack him directly
with Firewall Dragon,

you'll get the win
and give him the brush off!

Grr!

Well, I have
a different move in mind!

I activate Recovery Sorcerer's
special ability

to bring back
my Cyberse Link Monster

that was destroyed
this turn!

Return, Secure Gardna!

[Ai]
B-- But why, Playmaker?

You coulda won
without doing that!

You're being difficult
on purpose!

I always have a purpose,

but being difficult
is not one of them.

Um, okay.

I activate
Firewall's ability!

For every monster
that's co-linked to this card,

Firewall Dragon can return
a monster on the field

or in the graveyard
back to our hands.

Since two monsters are
co-linked to Firewall Dragon,

Zaizen, I send Tindangle Hound
and Tindangle Angel

from your graveyard
back to your hand.

While Tindangle Hound
and Tindangle Angel

were in your graveyard,
your Acute Cerebus

gained 1,500 attack points
from each of them.

But now that they're back
in your hand,

Cerebus's attack points
drop to zero!

Oh!

Attack!

Firewall Dragon, destroy
Tindangle Acute Cerberus!

Tempest Terahurtz!!

[Playmaker]
Firewall Dragon, destroy
Tindangle Acute Cerberus!

Tempest Terahurtz!

Ohh!
Unh!

Akira!

Are you okay?

I'll be fine.

Well, well, well!
Impressive, Playmaker.

I guess no one can stop you

when you put your mind
to it.

Whether it's
for your own good or not.

I'm taking the data.

Ohh.

Ai, can you access it?

Who you think
you're talkin' to?

If there's data to eat,
call me a turkey!

Get it?
Gobble gobble?

Just go!

Okay!
I thought that was good.

[Ai roaring]

[Ai burps]

Whew!
I am stuffed!

Couldn't eat another byte!

But whatever you're lookin' for
is in my jelly belly now.

Playmaker, wait!

You could've att*cked
with Firewall Dragon

much earlier
in the duel to win.

So why didn't you?

To extend my torment?

If I att*cked earlier,

I couldn't revive
your Tindangle Angel

and Tindangle Hound.

Akira!

They protected each other,
like you two do.

Cards like that don't deserve
to rest in the graveyard,

among the cold
and the dark.

And neither do you.

But I promise you will
if you ever decide

to interfere with me again.

Let's hope
that day never comes...

for your sake.

[Ai]
You could've just said
you were stylin' on him.

[Ghost Girl]
Well, that was fun.

But this girl's gotta run.

See ya round the network!
[giggling]

Despite my best, I just
couldn't get through to him.

You're wrong.
I don't think
that's true, Akira.

Huh?

Don't sell yourself short.

You want him to change,

but he has to want
to change, too.

He thought
he was all alone,

but now he knows
that there are others

looking out for him too,

like how you
look out for me.

Right, Akira?

That's right.

[groaning]
Zaizen failed like a failure!

What will I do now!?

When SOL Tech's board learns

that Playmaker stole
their data under my watch,

oh, there's no chance I can
keep this private office.

I'll be lucky to share
a cubicle with the lowlies!

I must keep this quiet!

No one will hear
about this!

No one!
Super secret, super quiet!

He's awfully loud
for being quiet.

Like, yeah, right?

Guess he can't hear himself
with all that screaming.

[Emma]
Playmaker's not the only one

who got a copy of the data.

I wonder if I can start
a bidding w*r?

[chuckling]

[exhales wearily]

[Kolter]
You look like
you could use

a serious vacay.
Huh?

I retrieved the data.

That's my man!

And he couldn't
have done it without me!

Yeah, you weren't
so awful.

Backhanded compliment?
I'll take it! Woo-hoo!

All right, then, Kolter.

Dive in and hack
the data out of Ai.

I'm on it.

Huh?!

How would you like it
if I hacked into you, meatbag?

I wouldn't...
but I like hacking you.

Empathy of a mollusk!

[Kolter]
Now let's see what was
worth all the trouble.

Hey, Kolter,
check it out!

Dr. Kogami, Director
of the Hanoi Project.

Looks like we hit
the jackpot, Yusaku.

So this is the individual
who made me suffer.

[Ai]
I'll pull up
the related files!

It says here...
that Dr. Kogami was

a top research scientist
working for SOL Technologies.

No wonder SOL Tech wanted
to keep this hush hush.

What else
does his file say?

If Kogami's the director,
he must've had

an entire staff
working for him.

There's not
a single data drop

of anyone else being
involved or assisting him.

In fact, says here,
the Hanoi Project

was his secret pet project,
so he worked alone.

Alone? For a project
of this magnitude?

Sounds fishy to me.

Fishy or not, that's
not really important.

What's important is
that it happened,

it was allowed to happen,

and no one knew about it
until someone found out

what he was doing
and alerted the company.

Yeah, you'd think
they would've known.

I mean,
the electricity bills alone

woulda been off the charts!

Does it say
what the purpose

of the secret
project was?

Nope, it doesn't,
not at all.

That's all
the info that's here.

There has to be
more, Kolter.

I'm tellin' ya man,
that's everything--

Ahh!
Whoa, what is this?

Huh? Huh!
No way!

What? What? What?!

It says Dr. Kogami
retired seven years ago.

As in "retired retired",
if you get my drift.

[Varis]
This is where
we will institute

the next phase
of our plan.

Very good.

This seed will blossom
into a new beginning.

A world without
Link VRAINS--

No, a world rid
of the entire digital network!

And not even the shackles
of the great beyond

will prevent me from being
able to achieve this dream.

[theme music playing]