Episode 15. - Saving The Best For Last

"Can he do that?" one official asked the other. His counterpart looked confused, then bewildered, then just seemed to give up on the question altogether with a noncommittal shrug.

They were referring to the young Asian with the shoulder length dark hair in front of them. He had presented his gold invitation, and given a reasonable excuse why he was late, but regardless of his status, he was still late, and by all normal standards that would have excluded him from the competition. However, his excuse was also very valid. He personally had no control over airline schedules, and he had flown a long way to be here.

"Get Mr. Kirricort here. Only he can make this decision. It's fundamentally their tournament. So it should be up to him, not us."

Pikaye was patient. Even after the delay in his flight, and the considerable trouble he had reaching the event, he was still calm and patient. He adjusted his glasses, and stood there waiting. The two men that had accompanied him were less patient, however, and they whispered to each other in Japanese about red tape and a lack of consideration for others. Pikaye, however, remained silent. He knew they would not turn him down. Not after all he had been through to get there. His credentials were enough to get him into this tournament even at this stage. Now, the young Gene Kirricort was hurrying across the room to greet him.

"Pikaye. I am sorry about the inconvenience," Kirricort apologized. The young man knew that his father would never allow him to forget it if the tournament they sponsored did not feature the Japanese champion. Worse yet would be if he were not allowed to play due to something that was no direct fault of his own.

"It is understandable," Pikaye replied in professional English, "After all, we are late, and rules are rules. However--"

Gene Kirricort was ready to make as big a show of kowtowing to the young man as was necessary to rapidly smooth this over.
"Yes, yes, of course. Please, feel free to begin immediately. There are hardly any duelists left to face, however, and that means that you will most likely be thrown straight into the final eight."

Pikaye nodded. Such an outcome suited him just fine. There was not much question as to whether or not he had the skill to make it there anyway, and he would not need the 'warm up' most other duelists did. When the official typed his name into the computer, and gave him his identification card, many of the players that were still around looked up from whatever they were doing to see who this person was. Who could be important enough to be allowed such a late entry?

"The Japanese champion..." Yodaz noted, looking up from his duel, "He made it, late though he is... Interesting. "

By this time, there were only a few duelists left, and nearly all of them were dueling. One other youth noticed the new blip on the big map board of the room, and groaned aloud.
"Not another one! Come on, we need to get on with this! I'm tired of waiting around for the finals."

With that, he summoned his final card, finished his current opponent, and without even so much as a break, strode over to where Pikaye was looking around the room. He cricked his neck to loosen his body up, and ran a hand through his short dark hair. Hair so jet black it seemed to shimmer dark blue under the fluorescent lights that were currently augmenting the natural lighting of the room, due to the cloudy conditions outside. The duelist's jacket had a strange logo emblazoned on the back, and another similar emblem on the upper part of the left sleeve. He appeared quite confident, and his dark eyes glinted with a strange menacing mischief as he issued his challenge.

"You. Let's get this over with. Kettou da!"

"And you are?" Pikaye asked calmly. He was obviously going to accept the challenge, however. He was already getting his deck out of his pocket. The case that carried it was quite simple in one way, yet obviously well made in another. It seemed to be electronic somehow, responding to Pikaye's thumb on a small pad to open it.

"Just call me 'Blood'. I'm kinda in a hurry to get the finals started, and here you are with no losses. So if I wanna speed things up any, I need to start adding to your loss count, don't I?"

Pikaye seemed amused by his prospective opponent. Blood was either very brash and cocky, or simply an extremely direct sort of person. Pikaye assumed the latter, and was therefore not at all offended, but instead smiled slightly.
"Very well. Then I go first."

Blood shrugged. It did not matter to him as long as they got it over with quickly. He deployed his shields onto the white cloth that covered the nearest table, and Pikaye did the same. The Japanese champion's fingers moved deftly, quickly drawing his five cards, and without more than a cursory glance at them, charging light mana with equal quickness. Yodaz approached them now, having eliminated his opponent, and looked at the card in mana zone.

"Mist Rias? Again? What is it with you Easterners and the Light civ?"

Pikaye did not look up, but he also did not seem averse to having some slight conversation while the duel was going on.
"I am fond of Initiates, for one thing. They have the spirit of battle within them. Besides, I have heard of you and your deck, and I have come prepared for you... champion Yodaz."

"Prepared... for me?" Yodaz remarked almost skeptically. He watched as Blood charged nature mana and ended his turn. Deep beneath the calm surface, Yodaz could feel that Blood himself pulsed with potent psychic energy, but there was no outward reflection of that as yet.

"Yes," Pikaye replied as he charged water mana now, "I like to build counter decks. To analyze opponents and figure out how to defeat them. You are a good subject for this. This deck I have is built to handle you. End turn, Mr. Blood."

Yodaz almost laughed. He noted, of course, that the card Pikaye had charged to mana was an Illusionary Merfolk, but the thought of someone attempting to counterdeck him was ridiculous to him.
"I can't be countered. If I could, it would represent a weakness, which I would have removed from my deck a long time ago. I don't have any weaknesses you can exploit, so if you came here expecting to do that, you're in for a rude awakening."

Blood wasn't paying much attention to either of them. He simply charged water mana and ended his turn. Yet he already seemed to be sizing Pikaye up. He was intently looking at Pikaye's mana zone. Brooding, as if lost in thought regarding what deck would possibly use both the Guardian and the Gel Fish that the Japanese champion had placed there.

Pikaye adjusted his glasses again. The humidity was making them slightly uncomfortable. He charged another Merfolk to his mana zone, and cast Energy Stream, to draw two more cards. Yodaz was instantly alerted to the first flicker of Kaijudo in this potential opponent. Pikaye spoke calmly, when he spoke again.
"You dislike battle, and swift attacks. You attempt to hold your advantage by delaying any actual action on your part by as much as possible, and you also lack enough powerful creatures to do anything substantial other than the strategy I just mentioned. I will not let you escape from the battle. This deck will not be denied its conflict."

Blood had already drawn his card, and charged more nature mana. With the three he had, he summoned a Bronze-Arm Tribe, and its effect gave him a net gain of one more water mana card. Apparently satisfied, he ended his turn. Pikaye drew his card, looked at his current situation, and after a few moments of consideration, charged more light mana.

"You're joking, right?" Yodaz said, "Trying to throw me off guard? There isn't a way for you to survive long enough to 'force' me to battle anything. Don't you think I've faced light civilization decks before? Not even the best of them can keep enough creatures on the field to stop me. I've seen the Hong Kong champion's idea of a deck. I actually think he believes he can beat me too. You may be good, but you can't do what you think, and you certainly can't do as you like."

Pikaye summoned an Aqua Hulcus, drawing a card, and ended his turn.
"Every deck has a weakness. You can reduce them, make your deck better, but by the nature of this game, there is no deck that has none. That is why diversity is interesting. Everyone plays, everyone loses. One can only become good with one's own deck. To use one deck consistently is just as much of a tournament weakness as any tactical choice you can make."

Pikaye's Kaijudo flared now in response to the pulse given off by Blood when his turn began. Blood had charged fire mana now. A Twin-Cannon Skyterror. His mana zone seemed to be complete, in terms of the Civilizations he actually used. He played another Bronze-Arm Tribe, and it charged more water mana for him. Corile. Pikaye laughed.
"That's one Corile less to worry about."

Yodaz made a strange face. The event reminded him quite clearly of the reason he had removed his own from the deck. Any card that interfered with the effectiveness of his Corile was removed for the sake of the deck and its continued success. It had been so ever since the long past failure of his Vampire Silphy. That had been the last time he had used the card himself. Playing it seemed to have saved him until he had realized that with a Merfolk alone to assist the Corile, rather than a Silphy to destroy it, he might have won that duel. A vague memory...

Blood scoffed, and cast his own Energy Stream spell, to gain two more cards. His Kaijudo spiked now, as he had noted that Pikaye had no fire mana of his own, and therefore no easy way of wiping out the Bronze-Arms. Yodaz had noted it also, and sighed.
"If what you say is true, then you're going to lose before you ever face me. If you accept weaknesses in a deck, it just means you're going to lose. You're just another Libra, I guess. You don't want to believe there's a superior deck because you just don't want to admit that you aren't really achieving anything with what you're using."

Pikaye drew his card and charged water mana.
"I summon Miele, Vizier of Lightning, to tap your Bronze-Arm Tribe. Aqua Hulcus... ikei. Destroy the Bronze-Arm now..."

Now, the Kaijudo clash began. Yodaz instantly fell silent, and Pikaye no longer seemed to notice his western rival. All three of them were now concentrating on the rings of light Miele had used to entrap the Bronze-Arm Tribe. Unable to escape, the Beast Folk had no choice but to try to hold off the liquid sword of Pikaye's Aqua Hulcus, an ultimately futile act. Blood placed the Bronze-Arm Tribe in the grave as Pikaye declared the end of his turn. Blood did not seem affected, however. His attention was focused on some plan he was hatching, and there was no time to worry about losing the small creature. He drew his card, and charged water mana.

"I summon Rumbling Terahorn, to acquire my Bazagazeal Dragon. And for my second summon, a Madrillon Fish."

Pikaye seemed to suddenly realize that the situation was possibly about to get out of control. Blood's Kaijudo was suddenly powerfully raging with the forces of water, fire and nature. With each breath, it seemed to surge against his own. Blood was already two mana ahead, and unlike most decks, he was fully prepared to use the mana granted to him by his Bronze-Arm Tribes.
"I charge water mana, and summon Aeris, Flight Elemental. End turn."

The power of the Angel Command flooded Pikaye's 'side' of the mindspace, shielding him from most of the effects of most of Blood's thrashing psychic force. Blood seemed unaffected. He simply drew his card.
"Corile. On Aeris. Terahorn, ikei--" no trigger, "End turn."

Pikaye's mental defence wavered momentarily. Not because of any particular tactical foresight regarding what was likely to follow, but merely because of the massive instant drain of 'presence' on his side of the astral field. He simply drew and resummoned Aeris, knowing that Blood's action had changed little. Blood drew his card and charged even more nature mana.

"You know what happens now, right? I'm glad it didn't take long. Bazagazeal Dragon, come forth and attack. Double Break! Ikei!"

Pikaye felt his head pounding as it always did in these duels. This was a creature he had certainly not been expecting to face. Especially not with an army of smaller creatures already accompanying it. There had been hardly any time to prepare any defenses, or even to counteract the incoming swarm. The explosive power that Blood now directed at him would be stopped by one of his shields, he was sure of it, but he had no way of knowing how much damage would be done.

Yodaz was displeased. It was obvious that this could not possibly be a good hand on the part of the Japanese champion, yet Blood was ruthless, and would give no quarter. There would be no time for Pikaye to recover, unless one of those two shields was a Holy Awe. This would not show him the true power of Pikaye's deck or Kaijudo in any way.

Pikaye picked up his two cards. No trigger. Those who had been watching gasped as the power of Blood's 'speed' became apparent.
"Corile, ikei."

Blood seemed menacing now. This entire time, he had been so focused on his own dueling that he had not even been aware of who his opponent really was, or what title Pikaye held. He did not care. He was in the zone. Totally focused on the game.

"Incredible..." Pikaye thought to himself, picking up his fourth broken shield, "His Kaijudo is so pure. Is this what I am lacking with this deck? I've never felt it quite this clearly..."

"Bronze-Arm, ikei!"
Even the young Beast Folk, when backed by the raw power Blood was giving off, seemed formidable. Pikaye's last shield broke, but with no trigger. It was already over. Even the Japanese champion himself was shocked.

"Rumbling Terahorn! Todomeda!"
The Horned Beast charged at Pikaye in his mind, and shattered his mental defenses with the impact. It took Pikaye a few moments to shake off the effect, and he took a deep breath to steady himself.

"Wow... that was fast, even for me," Blood laughed, shaking Pikaye's hand.

"Yes. This deck is not that good against acceleration decks. It is more of an anti-stall," Pikaye admitted good-naturedly.

Yodaz sighed. How all these odd people became high ranked players was beyond him. He'd have more challenge playing against amateurs sometimes. At least with them their moves could be so bad he would not know what to expect.

"So you two gonna play next or what? I want the finals to start!" Blood encouraged. Yodaz shrugged.

"No need. The second to last other match is about to begin right now. After this, is the home stretch."
This was the announcement of Gene Kirricort. Obviously both the duelists in the duel he was referring to had already lost once, and this would decide who was left to face Pikaye or any other single-loss duelist. Yodaz looked up at the room mapping screen, as did Blood and Pikaye.

It was easy to recognize the trio of clustered pink dots that represented them. One of the others was in the far corner. They almost simultaneously turned their gaze that way. Shinji Nykahrii. Pikaye smiled.

"So, he made it through after all. That's interesting. He may cause me trouble if I face him before someone like Blood here takes him down. Or will that be your target, Yodaz?"

Yodaz scoffed again.
"It's not like I get to choose who I'll be dueling. If I did, I assure you there is someone else I'd rather deal with first..."
The bitterness in his voice was apparent, and Pikaye followed his gaze to the location of the next pink blip on the screen. Shu Lon. He was sitting now, calmly dueling with his cousin, the small dark Kaijudo match barely registering on the perceptions of the other duelists. Yodaz could not imagine why he would possibly want to duel with his cousin at a time like this, but as he often noted, darkness duelists were a strange lot.

The next dot seemed to be at the snack counter. Yodaz blinked for a moment, trying to figure out who it was. There were a lot of people there, and no one he recognized as a high ranked duelist was among them. Finally, it became clear to him, but his realization caused him to widen his eyes in disbelief.

"How did she manage to make it through this whole thing without two losses?"

Blood leaned his head to try to see who Yodaz was talking about. Pikaye was, of course, totally clueless about the person in question.

"Who are you referring to?" he asked, his English speech as professional sounding as ever.

"The woman there with the two little boys. Apparently she lasted through the whole thing without any water cards in her deck. I expected her to be long gone by now."

Blood eyed the area, then seemed to recognize who Yodaz meant. Bernadette was attempting to get her younger son to decide on only two flavors of ice cream, since it would be impossible for him to handle the triple scoop his older brother was insisting on. Her attention was focused completely on her two children now. Dueling seemed to be far from her mind, but Blood had seen her duel more than once whilst waiting for challenges, and now gave his input regarding her ability.
"Oh, her. She's no pushover. Might even be trouble if she gets a good hand. I hope she gets you as first match. That'll be funny."

"You expect me to lose to someone like her?" Yodaz scoffed, "Get serious."
His voice sounded different now. The infrequent blue shimmering lines momentarily glowed in the pupil of his half hidden eye. The others did not notice. They were too busy looking around for the others. The two at the table about to duel were obvious. Apparently they were having some sort of dispute with one of the officials regarding the fact that neither had officially challenged the other, and something about the rules of who would therefore go first.

The other dot revealed itself to be Jared Sykes. Another large surprise to Yodaz.
"All right, this is just ridiculous now. Three Light Civilization duelists in the final eight? What kind of tournament is this, anyway? How am I supposed to do any real dueling? I think that one is even a mono..."

He sighed now, obviously quite disappointed in the 'quality' of competition he would be facing. Pikaye gave him a quizzical look, seemed to be considering something, then finally spoke.

"You mean... you do not often see Light Civilization decks at tournaments?"

Yodaz's voice was cold again.
"Of course not. Light is the weakest Civilization there is. Why would any serious player bring Light to a tournament?"

"I see... your game is very different here, than it is in Japan and Hong Kong. Light is not looked down upon, but often seen as a great addition to a deck."

Blood shrugged. It had nothing to do with him. Light was not something he played, but he did not really care. Sometimes Light was easy to defeat, sometimes not. Unlike Yodaz, he seemed to be of the impression that it depended on the player.

Yodaz sighed. No real competition in the whole lot. He knew exactly who the last one was. The one that had eliminated the ever-annoying Libra. Ryoma Echizen. The two that were about to begin their match did not even seem particularly strong in their Kaijudo, so neither of them would be a threat either.
"This is probably going to be my most disappointing tournament ever..."

"If that is so, then you are both hereby disqualified for stalling!" came the declaration from the official at the table. Yodaz looked around in surprise. Surely they could not have been disqualified simply because they refused to challenge each other. That was what coin flips were for.

"Now what?" was his query to Gene Kirricort, who was again approaching them from that general area.

"They have been turning down challenges made by others under the pretenses of being about to duel each other. They have been doing so this whole time with the intent of making it into the final eight together, and now their plan has, fortunately for us all, ended up backfiring on them. We wouldn't want such low-class duelists in the final eight anyway, would we?"

Yodaz was about to drop a remark concerning that, but thought better of it.

"So we're ready now?" Blood asked, his eyes narrowing with slight impatience and a clear wish to get on with this before he lost his rhythm. Those same eyes seemed to sparkle with silent elation when Gene Kirricort finally gave his affirmative nod, and the officials in charge of the match ups began the data analysis that would determine the quarter final matches.

"This is it then. May the best of us win."

Yodaz's voice was cold, and slightly mocking, "I wish you all... the best of luck..."