Shadow Breaker's Personal Observation:

How...the f***...did this happen!?! One day things seem to be going well for a change...and then a few days later: Skye is the hospital because of what the Knights of Hanoi did to her! 

I'd seen the symptoms of what she is going through before: a hack program that the Knights of Hanoi had somehow created that can not only hack the infected victims avatar in the Link Vrains, but also the host itself that is connected to said avatar.

The causes can be caused in a number of ways, some incredibly undetectable at first glance unleash you know what to look for (which is easier said than done), but the most common form the virus appears to take shape in is cards that the victim mysterious gets and uses...and unfortunately, Skye got the virus from a damn card!

More specifically, this card, "Dark Angel":

And how do I know this, you might be asking? And if you're not then why not? Well that one's easy to answer...I watched the whole duel between Skye and Playmaker, the duel in which she used this card!

And now Skye's in the hospital, and isn't waking up...all because of those damn Knights of Hanoi!

Yet, as much as I wanted to blame Playmaker for his part in this, I knew I couldn't. Skye, or should I say Blue Angel, was the one who called him out and challenged him, and for the most part at least Yusaku and his little group did as "my contact" had asked. 

Still...I would still need to have words with him when the moment presents itself.

Currently I was in the Link Vrains, waiting in the shadows for Playmaker to arrive so that I could have a little "chat" with him. Yes, I said I don't blame him, but I also said moments ago that I needed to have words with him. 

Fortunately, I would not have to wait long. I, or I should say "my contact" Jack Shadow, had sent a message to Playmaker that "his employer" wanted to speak to him in the Link Vrains in regards to what happened to Blue Angel.

It was fortunate that I had as well, as Emma had informed me that Akira had hired her to lure Playmaker into a trap to try and get him to reverse the hack program...even though the idiot clearly has the wrong person in this case...and Skye herself has been moved from the hospital to the Zaizen home in an attempt to get Blue Angel to awaken...how I don't know...

I know because I had been at the hospital minutes before the transfer took place. Strangely, so was Yusaku, who apparently found Skye passed out, and although I did encounter him at the hospital whilst I was visiting Skye, neither of us had said a word to each other in the whole encounter.

I think Akira only tolerated me being there because I was one of the only people who made Skye smile. Yet when visiting hours were over, I doubt he even spared me a glance when I left.

Playmaker soon made his appearance known, and I appeared from the shadows as I went straight to business, my face, or at least what was being shown, completely cold and calculating with one of the most serious looks I've had for a while.

"So, you are the one they call 'Playmaker' I presume...I was expecting someone taller..." Playmaker turned and saw me, and he looked at me with a equally cold and calculating glance. "And you must be this...'Shadow Breaker' that your employer spoke of. You're a difficult person to find."

I simply shrugged a bit before responding. "If I wanted to be known or make myself more known to the public, I would be prancing around for attention like your little charisma duelist friend, 'The Gore', seeking approval I neither want nor care for...Granted, he at least inspires the kids, so I can't completely complain..." 

It seems that patience is something Playmaker needs a little work on, because he quickly returned us to the business at hand. "Enough. Why did you tell me to come here?" he practically demanded, and I glared at him before jumping down from where I was standing and landing in front of him.

"Before you start making anymore demands out of me, Playmaker, you'd do well to remember that specific instructions were put in place regarding Blue Angel! And the ONLY reason that I'm not letting you be lead into a trap by SOL Tech right now, is because I know you were challenged directly and the Knights of Hanoi put her in the condition she's in!"

I then pointed at his duel disk and his AI friend before continuing on, each word laced with increasing frustration and annoyance...a critical mistake on my part I feel as I look back at it now... 

"And I do not for one moment care if you have a duty of care regarding that annoying little pest of an AI you have stuck in your duel disk. But at least I'm less likely to harm it than SOL Tech or the Knights...so shut up, and listen boy!"

Whether or not my words actually did the trick or not I neither knew nor cared at the time. All that matter to me was getting to the bottom of what happened to Skye, helping her before things get even more worse, and enacting revenge on the ones that did this to her!

Still, at least he was silent now as he listened to what I had to say, even doing one better and muting his AI companion and allowing me a moment to compose myself.

"Now, seeing as how talking is going to get us nowhere at this moment in time, I propose a way to deal with this...problem and our frustrations: We duel, and each puts up the answers the other one seeks as a form of compensation for whoever wins, then regardless we work together to help Blue Angel...Sound fair?"

Playmaker thought about it for a bit, before un-muting AI before responding with "What do you want to know then if you win?" I briefly allowed myself to smirk, but it was so small at the time that it went by unnoticed.

"If I win, you explain to me everything that occurred between you and Blue Angel, and what actually happened to her. You win, I'll answer whatever you want." I replied, but before he could answer, I held up my hand to tell him to 'hold on a minute' before continuing. 

"But, just in case you get any bright ideas, or in case SOL Tech is anywhere nearby with whatever trap they have in store for you: the duel will be done under Master Duel rules, not a Speed Duel. Fair?"

Playmaker thought on that, but nods simply. "Let's get this over with then, Shadow Breaker!" he said, and I could already hearing Ai complaining about this. We both activated our duel disks and drew our starting hands...and I subtly uploaded a scramble program to prevent anyone from outside the Vrains to see this duel.

""DUEL!""

Jack Shadow 4000 vs. Playmaker 4000

End of pov.

"You take the first turn, Playmaker...It matters not to me...!" was all Shadow Breaker said as their duel began, to which Playmaker simply nodded as he maintain his serious look as he began his first turn. 

TURN 1: Playmaker 4000

"I'll start things off by summoning "Cyberse Wizard" in attack mode (1800/800/4)!" Soon said monster appeared, standing ready for battle, then another card appeared in Playmaker's back row seconds later. "I place a card face-down and end my turn." He glanced at his hand briefly. 

He hadn't been able to do what he had wanted to do this turn, but there was always next turn hopefully. Shadow Breaker simply scoffed a little before drawing a card. "My turn, I draw!"

TURN 2: Shadow Breaker 4000

In terms of starting hands, it wasn't the best start for Shadow Breaker, but it wasn't a bad one either. He could at least work with this and do something Playmaker didn't. "Since you have monsters out on your field but I don't: I can special summon this monster from my hand to the field with its original points halved. Appear, "Vice Dragon"!"

Soon, the dragon more commonly used by Jack Atlas in 5D's during his timeline appeared onto Shadow Breaker's field in defense mode, before its strength was sadly cut down to size due to manner in which "he" was summoned (2000/2400/5 - 1000/1200/5).

"Next up, I'll summon my "Sniffer Dragon" in attack mode (800/400/2)!" Soon said dragon appeared next to "Vice Dragon" before "Sniffer Dragons" effect triggered upon being summoned. 

"Whenever I normal or special summon a "Sniffer Dragon": I get to add another one from my deck to my hand once a turn..." he explained as he added a second copy from his deck to his hand, before his duel disk auto-shuffled his deck...and then...

"Appear, now, my circuit!" As soon as Shadow Breaker said those words, the circuit that appears for all link summons appeared in front of him as well, though Playmaker remained neutral and unreadable as this occurred.

"The summoning conditions for this monster is 1 Level 4 or below Dragon-type monster...so I'll set my Level 2 "Sniffer Dragon" into the Link Arrows! Circuit combine!" And on command: "Sniffer Dragon" transformed into energy before floating into the Center Left Link Arrow. "LINK SUMMON!!! Appear, Link-1, "STRIKER DRAGON" (1000/←)!!!" 

"Eh, doesn't look so tough!" Ai stated, a little too calmly and relaxed, to which Playmaker responded with "Then you're an idiot if you think that. Appearances can be deceptive." "How right you are, Playmaker..." Shadow Breaker confirmed as his newly summoned Link monster began to glow with a purple aura.

"Due to "Striker Dragons" effect: if "he" was link summoned, I can add 1 "Boot Sector Launch" field spell card from my deck to my hand..." he began to explain as said card appeared out of his deck, which he then took, briefly showed to Playmaker, then added the field spell to his hand. He then showed another card in his hand seconds later.

"...also, because I link summoned, I can now special summon my "Linkbelt Wall Dragon" from my hand in defense mode as well by placing 2 counters onto "him" (0/2100/6)!" as soon as he said that, another much larger dragon that looked like it was made from the bullets of a machine gun appeared behind Shadow Breaker, with 2 of the 4 orbs in its claws glowing upon appearing [Counters: 0 - Counters: 2].

"As long as I control "Linkbelt Wall Dragon": neither of us can link summon any Link monsters whose Link Ratings exceed the number of counters that "he" possesses..." he explained, which connected with Playmaker and Ai rather quickly.

"In other words: we can't summon a monster that's higher than Link-2 unless that thing gains another counter." Playmaker accessed out loud. Shadow Breaker mentally chuckled a bit. 'That's if "he" has 2 counters by that point...' 

"I play the field spell card, "Boot Sector Launch", from my hand!" soon the field spell appeared on the field, before its owner immediately put it to use. "Due to this cards effect: once per turn, I can special summon up to 2 monsters with "Rokket" in their name from my hand in defense mode, as long as those monsters don't have the same name..." he explained, before showing 1 monster in his hand and playing it immediately.

"So, with that in mind, appear now my "Anesthrokket Dragon" in defense mode (0/2200/1)!" soon the needle-looking bullet dragon appeared on Jack's field in defense mode, letting out a small roar as he did so.

"He's got 4 Dragons on his field now!?" Ai complain, admittedly slightly panicking a bit, though less so on the strength of the monsters themselves, to which Playmaker narrowed his eyes a little. "He's got something else in mind with those dragons..." he murmured quietly, though Jack just continued his turn as if the two opposing him hadn't even said a word.

"Also, as long as "Boot Sector Launch" is out on my field: "Rokket" monsters gain 300 ATK and DEF points!" he continued, before pointing towards his recently summoned "Anesthrokket Dragon". "Meaning that, since "Anesthrokket Dragon" is a "Rokket" monster, my "Anesthrokket Dragons" points get a little power charge (0/2200 - 300/2500)!"

He then outstretched his hand into the air briefly and commanded as another circuit appeared "Appear once again my circuit!" Once it had appeared, he looked from the circuit to his field of dragons as he continued to explain the conditions for the summon.

"The summoning conditions now are 2 Dragon-type monsters, including a "Rokket" monster...so I set my "Anesthrokket Dragon", and my Link-1 "Striker Dragon"! Go, Circuit Combine!" Soon both of the mentioned dragons leaped into the air, transforming themselves into energy before colliding into the center left and bottom center link arrows!

"LINK SUMMON!!! Blast away, Link-2..."QUADBORREL DRAGON" (1000/←↓)!!!"

Upon my newly summoned dragon appearing on my field, the two orbs that "Linkbelt Wall Dragon" was holding that were glowing soon lost the glow they once had. "What happened to the lights on those orbs?" Ai asked as they observed this, something which Shadow Breaker was quick to respond to.

"Whenever a Link monster is link summoned whilst "Linkbelt Wall Dragon" is present on the field: 2 of "his" counters are removed from "him", or all of them if "he" has less than 2 counters...So, you know what that means, correct?"

As he asked this, the counters were shown to have been removed as the last of the glowing orbs went out [Counters: 2 - Counters: 0]. Playmaker simply nodded at first to the question before responding to the question. "It means that neither of us can link summon now..."

"At least you have more brains than your AI friend there..." Shadow Breaker said bluntly, before a card appeared in his back row as he continued. "I'll place a card face-down...then I'll use the effect of my "Quadborrel Dragon": by discarding 1 of my cards in my hand, 1 face-up on the field gets targeted and blasted off the field." 

As soon as he said those words, he tossed the card that wasn't the recently added "Sniffer Dragon" from his hand to the grave to the graveyard, and "Quadborrel Dragon" lined up one of "his" double-barrel gun arms at Playmaker's "Cyberse Wizard".

"So I'll toss out "Background Dragon" to blast away your "Cyberse Wizard" with "DOUBLE-BARREL BLAST!!!"" Soon "Quadborrel Dragon" blasted 2 clean shots directly at "Cyberse Wizard", blasting "him" into nothing within seconds, leaving Playmaker without a monster to defend him!

"Now, "Quadborrel Dragon", attack him directly with "DOUBLE-BORREL BARRAGE!!!"" Shadow Breaker commanded, and this time "Quadborrel Dragon" launch a barrage of bullets from both of his double-barrel guns directly in the direction of Playmaker, hitting him in seconds.

[Playmaker 4000 - 3000]

Playmaker stumbled a bit from the attack, but was otherwise un-phased by it, not that it bothered Shadow Breaker much. "With that my turn's over. Your move, Playmaker..." 

TURN 3: Playmaker 3000

"I draw!" he said as he began his turn, only for Shadow Breaker to cut him off as he holds his hand up briefly. "Hold! The third effect of "Linkbelt Wall Dragon" activates during the Standby Phase of the turn!" 

"Seriously!?! That thing has ANOTHER effect!?!" Ai began to complain, holding his head in a manner that would suggest he's lost his mind, something that Playmaker did not copy as he merely listened whilst Shadow Breaker explained the effect.

"It's not as bad as you may think: during each of our Standby Phases, I can place a counter onto my "Linkbelt Wall Dragon"." And as soon as he said that, one of the 4 orbs began to glow [Counters: 0 - Counters: 1].

"At least we can link summon now..." Ai dead panned, though there wasn't as much enthusiasm in his voice, and with good reason. "Perhaps. But we can only link summon Link-1 monsters, and only 1 time before that monsters counter goes with the summon." Playmaker said as he continued to stare at the one glowing orb of "Linkbelt Wall Dragon".

"Well, at least since that "Quadborrel" thing isn't that strong, we can easily take it out without a Link monster." Ai said, attempting to find a potential positive to this troublesome lock-down combo that "Linkbelt" and Shadow Breaker had created for them...but of course, that wasn't the case at all...

"That won't work either..." Shadow Breaker said, having overheard their conversation...which, to be fair, wasn't that hard considering that Ai was way too loud for his own good. 

"Oh yeah!? And why not Shadow freak!?" Ai shouted out, to which Shadow Breaker explained...though Playmaker noticed for the briefest of moments that Shadow Breaker's hands and body language seemed to twitch at Ai calling him 'Shadow freak'...almost like the AI had struck a nerve with their foe, or brought up something that clearly affected Shadow Breaker.

"Because as long as "Linkbelt Wall Dragon" is out: only Link monsters are allowed to attack..." Jack explained, causing Ai to drop down on his back in comedic anime fashion. "How many effects does that thing have!?!" he complained, but Playmaker simply ignore Ai's increasingly annoying tantrum.

He proceeded to look in his hand for any clues as to what to do, for any way that he could either delay his opponent, or for a way to get around "Linkbelt Wall Dragon". Unfortunately, his options were limited. He had the means to stop "Quadborrel Dragon", yes, and set himself up for a link summon or for defense, but nothing to deal with "Linkbelt" for now.

'Still...it's better than nothing.' he thought to himself, soon beginning his move. "I summon my "Link Streamer" to the field in attack mode first (1600/1800/4)." he began, and soon some strange looking monster that looked like a couple of solar panels attached to an object I can't even describe in wing-like formation appeared in the air above them.

[Seriously, if you can describe this, by all means tell me or correct me because I've no clue how to describe it better].

"Next, since you have a monster in the Extra Monster Zone: I can special summon "Backlinker" from my hand to the field (1600/0/3)!" 

As soon as he said that, what looked like a dinosaur made up from a computer program appeared on his field to the far left of Playmaker, before letting out a less-than intimidating roar, before "Link Streamer" began to glow and open up its chest area.

"Due to "Link Streamers" effect: whenever I normal or special summon a Cyberse monster; once a turn I get to bring out a "Data Token" to my field to join my Cyberse monsters." Upon the chest piece opening up before deploying the "Data Token" onto Playmaker's field in defence mode (0/0/1). 

"Then, with "Backlinker's" effect: by tributing "it", all monsters in the Extra Monster Zone are shuffled into the deck, at the cost that I can't special summon monsters from the extra deck this turn. So say 'goodbye' to you "Quadborrel Dragon"."

With that, both "Backlinker" and "Quadborrel Dragon" briefly began to glow before both vanished off of the field: "Quadborrel" back into Jack's Extra Deck, and "Backlinker" to the graveyard. "I end my turn with that." Playmaker declared as he ended his turn.

TURN 4: Shadow Breaker 4000

Shadow Breaker simply stared at Playmaker with an expressionless look, before drawing his next card without a word and looking at the card. Eventually he spook after looking at his drawn card for a few seconds.

"With the arrival of my Standby Phase: "Linkbelt Wall Dragon" gains another counter..." was all he said as the second of the 4 orbs began to glow once again [Counters: 1 - Counters: 2]. But then, he simply placed a card into his back row.

"I'll end with a face-down. Nothing more." This move confused Playmaker, as he knew that Shadow Breaker had his second "Sniffer Dragon" in his hand, yet had decided not to use it, even for defense. 

'He can't simply be putting it down to luck with his "Linkbelt Wall Dragon"...he's up to something...' Playmaker thought to himself as he tried to ponder the actions, or lack-there-of, of his opponent. And it was no use trying to read his facial for any clues, as the mask and his otherwise neutral look gave nothing away.

"I said I ended my turn. Are you going to make a move or not?" Shadow Breaker said, breaking Playmaker from his thoughts. "My turn." he finally said as he drew his card.

TURN 5: Playmaker 3000

"With your turn beginning: my "Linkbelt Wall Dragon" gains another counter." Shadow Breaker simply said as the third of the 4 orbs began to glow as well [Counters: 2 - Counters: 3]. This was what Playmaker needed.

"I'll start off my turn by summoning "Stack Reviver" in attack mode (100/600/2)." the monster soon appeared on the field, but Jack knew that "it" wouldn't be around for long, and his theory was proven true moments later. But before that occurred: "Link Streamers" effect triggered once again as another "Data Token" appeared on the field (0/0/1).

"Appear! The circuit that leads to the future!" As Playmaker chant those words: a circuit of his own finally appeared above him. "The summoning conditions for this monster is at least 2 or more Cyberse monsters! So I'll set my "Link Streamer" and "Stack Reviver", as well as 1 of the "Data Tokens", into the Link Arrows! Circuit combine!"

As soon as he said that: "Link Streamer", "Stack Reviver" and the "Data Token" transformed into energy, before charging and colliding towards the Link Markers, before the circuit opened up and released the monster inside of the circuit. 

"Link Summon! Appear, Link-3, "Encode Talker" (2300/↑↓↘)!!!"

Shadow Breaker recognised the newly summoned monster, and with good reason: this "Code Talker" monster was the monster that helped Playmaker defeat Blue Angel whilst she was being attacked by the virus from the "Dark Angel" card she had.

"So...that's "Encode Talker"..." was all he said as he observed the monster. "But because we've link summoned, that "Linkbelt Wall Dragon" loses 2 of "its" counters, doesn't it?" Ai asked in confusion, as the aforementioned dragon lost 2 of "his" counters [Counters: 3 - Counters: 1]. Playmaker merely nodded.

"True. But that's not a problem right now. However, that's not the only effect that's triggered right now." As soon as Playmaker said that, the spectral form of "Stack Reviver" briefly appeared before a portal appeared on the ground just behind "Encode Talker".

"When "Stack Reviver" is used for a link summon: I can summon another Level 4 or below Cyberse monster in my graveyard that was used in the summon in defense mode. So come on back "Link Streamer" (1600/1800/4)!"

Soon "Link Streamer" made "its" return to Playmakers field just behind "Encode Talker" in defense mode, and soon Playmaker went into battle!

"Battle! "Encode Talker", attack his "Linkbelt Wall Dragon"! "FINAL ENCODE!"" With that command issued: "Encode Talker" jumped into the air as a sword appear from within "his" shield, before he swung it up in the air and slashed it down across "Linkbelt Wall Dragon's" body as "he" descended downwards, causing the dragon to howl in pain before exploding seconds later!

"Turn end." Playmaker declared as the smoke began to clear from Shadow Breakers field...only to reveal said person standing with his arms crossed across his chest, completely not phased at all at losing his only monster, or that Playmaker had the advantage in terms of field and monsters.

"Not bad, Playmaker...but now, it's time for me to get serious!"

Author's Note: Originally I wanted to make this one big chapter, but I figured I'd make it a multi-part chapter just to make it more interesting. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and that will enjoy Part 2 when that comes around. Anyway, I hope you all have an amazing day!