Episode 16. - Effect -- Identity Breaker

"Jared Sykes versus Ryoma Echizen!" the official announced. The first match of the quarterfinals. There would be no simultaneous duels this time. Gene Kirricort had seen to that. Coverage of the quarterfinal would occur live, one duel at a time. Those who were not there in person would miss the primary experience of these final duels, however. The Kaijudo that permeated the room with each play.

Jared stood up to move to the table. He was still nervous. The only Kaijudo usage he had managed for the day had been against Kyle Magnus. He had succeeded in his other duels with a combination of luck and skill. For now, he decided to concentrate on the smell of the food from the snack area, to calm his nerves. Right now, he could smell the frosting they were putting on the champion's victory cake. He allowed his mind to wander, to fill itself with strange thoughts of how he would need to win in order to get as much of that cake as possible. It was only in the midst of his daydream that the meaning of his current line of thinking struck a chord of realization in him.

"I'm scared... I'm not just nervous, I'm actually scared. I'm at a card game tournament at midday on a rainy day, and this is probably the most scared I've ever been in my life. What am I doing here? I didn't sign up for this!"
These were his thoughts now, and they raced on still further. Jared Sykes was not here to use his Kaijudo nor to have any used on him. He came to duel, meet some new people, and have some fun. Now, here he was with clammy hands and a racing heart, about to face a young Japanese duelist that seemed to be superior to him in every way.

"You first," came the voice that jolted him out of his thoughts. Ryoma Echizen had chosen to play second. Jared swallowed nervously, and again attempted to concentrate his senses on the smell of frosting. He charged mana. Light.

"La Ura Giga. End turn."
He announced this with trepidation in his voice. He had not watched any of Ryoma's duels. He did not know anything about what he was up against, or why his opponent had chosen to play second, but he was fairly sure it would be good to try to get some of his creatures out quickly to allow for easier evolution. He could feel Ryoma's Kaijudo already. It was not at all like Kyle's, nor any of the other duelists he had faced for the day. This one seemed like another extremely patient one.

Ryoma charged water mana, and ended his turn. Jared drew his card, and charged nature mana, then summoned another La Ura Giga. He was a little jolted, though not too much so, when this second act caused him to be drawn into the dual mindspace where the battle would take place. Much like before, he found himself standing with a ship on either side of him. They shimmered with a hopeful light. He ended his turn.

Ryoma charged nature mana, and again, ended his turn. Jared charged more light mana, and looked at his hand. Ryoma's Kaijudo was rising from the playing of mana alone. Jared had two more creatures, yet he could already feel the pressure Ryoma was exerting on his mind. Slightly panicked, he summoned two more La Ura Giga to ease the strain on himself. Now with four of the ships on his side, he felt eased. Almost confident. All he had to do now was get his Arc Bine, and things could possibly look up considerably.

Ryoma charged fire mana, and played a Mystic Treasure Chest. There was a strange howling sound in Jared's mind as the box opened, increasing Ryoma's mana pool and adding darkness to it. Still, however, Ryoma's Kaijudo had not surpassed his, and for this he was thankful. The four La Ura Giga still hovered around him, their defiant light protecting him from the odd ebb and flow of Kaijudo opposing him. The Japanese player was almost like the ocean. His Kaijudo only moved forward on his turn, and seemed to have no problems receding when the opponent pushed against it on their own turn. Ryoma ended his turn. Jared did not understand the significance of the play.

He drew his card and charged nature mana, then ended his turn. He would simply have to wait and hope. Ryoma was not pushing him yet. There was nothing too terrifying to face. His heart rate was slowing back to normal already. This might not be so bad. Ryoma's next move, however, did confuse him. Ryoma charged a Crimson Hammer to mana rather than casting it, and summoned a Smash Horn Q, then ended his turn.

Jared began to wonder what his opponent was up to, and if he was indeed up to anything at all. He charged more light mana, in the form of one of his Holy Awe cards, and ended his turn again. His deck had not given him anything else to work with. Ryoma exhaled a slow, deep breath, and summoned a Grave Worm Q. His psychic influence on the duel grew very slightly, but Jared still felt safe for the moment, with a horrible feeling of impending demise creeping up on him from the inside. Upon his own turn, he played a Dimension Gate, to retrieve from his deck, Arc Bine, the Astounding...

"Finally..." Ryoma sighed. Instantly, that single word changed Jared's facial expression to one of wide-eyed fear. His heart began to thump again. Powerfully, almost erratically. He could feel something very bad was about to happen. Ryoma charged light mana.

"Searing Wave."

Jared clutched his chest and staggered. His entire psychic defense was instantly gone. This heat was far more fleeting than that of Kyle Magnus, but it was also far more devastating. He struggled to breathe, as if something had suddenly sucked all the oxygen out of his lungs, focusing on the now useless evolution card in his hand to steady himself. Unfortunately for Jared, Ryoma's turn had not yet ended.

"Grave Worm. Ikei. Smash Horn. Ikei."
Jared clutched almost desperately at the two cards that now entered his hand, and his mind shook off the effects of Ryoma's action with a mental sigh of relief. More Guardians. Both could be summoned. Ryoma had hardly ended his turn before Jared swiftly snatched up his own card, charged nature mana, and summoned both Snork La, Shrine Guardian, and Reso Pacos, Clear Sky Guardian. Ryoma noted this without much change, but seemed at least interested. Thinking, no doubt, about what he would need to deal with such an occurrence. His hand was dwindling, but he was about to deal with that.

"I summon the Split-Head Hydroturtle Q. Grave Worm. Ikei."
Jared noted carefully that the water now surged around the Grave Worm as it attacked. Ryoma drew his card. Jared triggered a Faerie Life. Ryoma did not attack again. He knew better. His other survivors would need the power granted unto them by the Smash Horn. He ended his turn. Jared looked scared now. The card that the Faerie Life had placed into his mana zone had been one of his blockers. He had already used four blockers, and one more was on the field. Now yet another had been sent to mana. The chances of getting the one he wanted now was very slim. He would have to go straight for power.

"I cast Faerie Life--" he was happy about this until the card sent another of his more necessary creatures to mana. Kolon, the Oracle. Nevertheless, he continued...
"And evolve Reso Pacos into Arc Bine, the Astounding!"

This declaration flooded the astral field with light, but Ryoma was not bothered. He knew, regardless of how things looked, that his opponent had evolved the wrong creature. Barring some remarkably good effect, he had already won.

Jared, however, considered things to be looking up. His avatar was again present, as he had originally intended.
"Arc Bine, destroy the Grave Worm. Ikei!"

"Let me give you some advice," Ryoma said calmly as Jared ended his turn and he drew his card, "Do you know why people still attempt to play rushing decks in Japan?"

Jared of course, did not. He shook his head.

"It is because those who do so have learnt to deal with their fear in a different way. They know they are in danger, yet they press on, because every duel is nothing more than a ticking clock toward the end. The faster your opponent is, the faster the clock ticks... you have chosen a deck that does not affect the clock at all, if you do not attack. You can drag duels on into eternity if your creatures are not destroyed. My advice to you therefore, is to learn to hear the clock, before you end up trapped in unmoving time..."

Jared was totally confused. Ryoma's words seemed like nothing more than a cryptic jumble, not at all like any advice he had ever received, especially not about dueling. It had always been about cards before. Play less of this... play more of that... take that card out. No odd analogies about rush decks and clocks. On the other hand, he had also never been involved in a psychic battle using a card game. Today was full of new experiences.

"I sense that you do not understand," Ryoma said, completely ignoring the fact that the cameramen had already zoomed in on his face and were capturing every word on film, "What you feel when you duel is the effect of the clock. Duelists such as yourself suffer when the clock ticks faster. Duelists who play faster decks suffer when the opponent slows the clock down. There are more interactions, such as when two rushing decks face each other, but I often think that they enjoy that."
He laughed a bit now. It was obvious that Jared was still befuddled.

"I'll just show you. You will be affected by this play because it will speed up the clock. I evolve my Smash Horn Q into the Q-Tronic Gargantua! Gargantua, destroy Arc Bine! Ikei!"

Sure enough, Jared did indeed feel the effect. His world seemed to spin as his avatar creature was crushed by what he assumed to be Ryoma's avatar. Ryoma had made his point very clear. The clock was sped up now. It was a race to stop that charging behemoth of an Evolution. Jared also knew that there was only one card in his deck that could do it outright. The clock had sped up, and so had his heart. He was going to lose, he already knew that, but even now he watched his own reactions in a rather detached way, trying to learn from the effect that Ryoma was causing within him. Trying to learn from the fear that the great fire creature in front of him was inducing. He drew his card and summoned Kolon, the Oracle, and another Snork La.

"Snork La... attack the Hydroturtle. Ikei..."

Ryoma placed his Split-Head Hydroturtle into the graveyard, and reached for his deck, waiting for Jared to end his turn. Jared looked almost pleadingly at his own deck, then nodded to Ryoma. The head of dark red hair nodded also, in understanding, and Ryoma drew his card. He charged light mana.
"Forgive me, for making this so painful for you. I had no idea you were so inexperienced at this. I cast Death Smoke, and Spastic Missile."

Jared faltered again as both of his creatures were destroyed. He had not managed to slow the clock this time. Ryoma ended his turn, however. Jared was not sure if the Japanese youth was being merciful, or simply waiting securely in the knowledge that nothing in a light-creature deck could take out his evolution that easily. Even with seven mana, he could not do anything now. His La Ura were gone, so even if he did have Ladia Bale in his deck, he would not have a chance of summoning it immediately. He drew his card, and played it. Phal Eega, Dawn Guardian. Retrieving the Faerie Life, he cast it again, and it charged more nature mana for him. Whatever those last two shields were, he was going to count on them for all they were worth, and build up the mana to put them to use no matter what they were.

Ryoma smiled.
"I admire your tenacity, but in the end, you had evolved the wrong creature. There is nothing that can be done about that. I charge nature mana and summon Forbos, Sanctum Guardian Q. By its power, I bring from my deck, Divine Riptide! End turn."

Yodaz had been watching all the events unfolding so far, and the more he watched, the more this Japanese duelist confused him. He had faced Ryoma before, after all, and had experienced nothing like this. Attacking to win had been easy, but so far, Jared had not actually attacked Ryoma, merely tried to hold him off. That was an easy way to lose to the survivor duelist, he knew that, but something was still strange. Far different from his previous experiences with Ryoma Echizen. Now that Divine Riptide card seemed a bit more menacing than before, especially since he was fairly sure that at some point he had seen a Lost Soul card in there, not that it would matter, given the loss of mana on both sides.
"This is serious," he muttered to himself, "Something about these people is very odd."

Jared trembled now, drawing his card. He summoned another Phal Eega and fumbled with his graveyard, to retrieve the Dimension Gate card he had originally used, and cast that spell. He looked through his deck, the fear clawing at his senses and making him very unsure of any decision he would be making. His eyes settled on his other Arc Bine, and though something strongly begged him to take the risk and try to get his Hanusa instead, he grabbed the evolution card, and shuffled his deck.
"I end my turn."

Ryoma charged darkness mana. A Terror Pit. The situation had been well under control to begin with. Now, with the glaring advantage he had, it was time to cement it. Jared felt a strange, cold wind begin to blow around his mental form, and his two Dawn Guardians. Ryoma stood in the same wind, though for him it seemed to be blowing in the opposite direction, as his hair whipped up to demonstrate this. His arms were folded. He was smiling calmly.

"I cast Divine Riptide."

That wind now became a monsoon, whipping up the power that had supported the two duelists this whole time. Resetting everything to the beginning, aside from the presences there. Both duelists' entire manapool returned to their hands. Jared was trapped now. Just as Ryoma had said. Trapped in unmoving time.

"Q-Tronic Gargantua, break his remaining shields. Ikei!"

The first shield did trigger, but it was a Faerie Life. Jared almost mechanically completed its effect. Another Kolon, the Oracle, to his mana zone. How he wished those two cards had switched places. The final shield was his last evolution. His last Arc Bine. He stared at the card, bewildered as to what to feel.

"Forbos, Sanctum Guardian. Todomeda!"

It was only with this declaration that it became clear, that regardless of how much Ryoma identified with the evolution card on his side... if he had an avatar, Forbos was it. The ship swooped down, avoiding Jared's own two craft easily, and fired its mega particle cannon...

Gene Kirricort instantly made an urgent gesture to the cameramen to pan onto Ryoma again. He did not wish the viewing audience to get the full effect of the final attack on Jared, or on the less prepared spectators. The psychic emanation swept over the room, the brunt of it directed at Jared Sykes, who stood, completely unmoving, for quite a while. No one seemed willing to step forward to touch him, until Pikaye finally realized that he was not going to shake off the effect on his own, strode forward, and helped Jared to a chair. The Guardian duelist did not say anything. He had just been defeated by another Guardian card, and this time it had not been the casual result of a friendly game. Ryoma looked a bit worried now. With a sigh, he rounded the table and began to put Jared's cards back into his deck. When he was finished, he walked over to his fallen opponent and handed him the deck. Jared looked up at him with a strange blank stare that instantly gave Ryoma a twinge of regret. Jared's eyes seemed pleading... looking for some sort of answers. Ryoma did not feel qualified to give them, so instead of saying anything about Kaijudo, he simply gave his opponent the equivalent of all the advice Jared Sykes was used to receiving.

"It's good," he said, "You wouldn't have got this far if it wasn't. It's good. I've seen what's in it now. You got unlucky today. It might need a little tweaking to suit you as you learn, but it isn't the deck. You just need to learn more. Not every play is as simple as what is on the field. Not every move is as easy as calculating the numbers. Anyway, keep it. You got unlucky today. Try not to worry."

Jared nodded, sitting back in the chair. He felt exhausted. More importantly... he wanted cake. Thinking about dueling, or duels, was not on his agenda right now. The thought occurred to him that if he stayed nearby, he would be subjected to the psychic backlash from the other duels that were about to occur, so he quickly excused himself, picked up the chair, and retreated to the other side of the room, near the door. There, he sat, looking out the window, breathing slowly.

Now Shinji Nykahrii and Pikaye were eyeing Ryoma Echizen suspiciously. They seemed to be analyzing him. Had anyone asked, Yodaz would probably also have admitted to being a little impressed, and more than a little confused.

"It's a matter of identity, isn't it...?" he thought to himself, "That's what they all cling to. That's why they're like this. They all want to be unique somehow. Different..."

It brought back to his mind what Taimi had said on that day when he had first met Ryoma: "They want to be 'different'. They don't realize it makes them weaker..."

"But are they weaker? Or do they just lose?"

"They are weak because they see their flaws and do not wish to improve them!" came the purple one's vehement answer.

"Really?" Even Yodaz seemed skeptical of his own thoughts now, "So what is the flaw in the mono-light?"

"Why do you even call it that? It has nature cards in it. It is not a mono at all..."
The purple one seemed almost disgusted now at the 'other half' of Yodaz's line of thinking. The 'human' side of Yodaz kept asking questions that made no sense.
"Its flaw is that it is striving to be a mono-light! It is a light creature mono. What good is that?! The flaw in the deck is that it is a Guardian deck to begin with! There are not even any Natural Snare in there!"

"So that is the flaw he refuses to improve? His entire deck is the flaw? Why?"
Now Yodaz seemed intrigued by his own internal argument. What had so easily made sense for months now, was seeming less and less normal, in these final rounds of what was essentially a Kaijudo tournament. He had been exposed to different forms of Kaijudo all day. Each duelist had a different resonance to them. Not all, however. There had been some... that had been almost mirrors of his own. Those duelists, in fact, were the ones he had found to be even more creepy than Shu Lon. Unlike him, they were mostly empty. They knew how to play the cards, they knew how to handle their Kaijudo, but something about them still gave him a chill. He remembered very clearly the feeling of watching Jai Sinestar duel Maze Damarona.

"How can you ask such an obvious question? You, who have spent so long tweaking and perfecting this deck you now hold? If so many previous incarnations of the deck had flaws that needed to be fixed, surely in the process of fixing them you have learnt what is powerful and what is not!"

"Powerful..." Yodaz mused. He was unsure now. He was surely powerful enough to defeat anyone here, but he would always do it by holding their maximum power down at every opportunity. No one could ever clash with him at their full power because he would never allow them to reach it.

"And that is exactly how you do it!" came the answer from the purple shape in response to such thoughts, "You shut them down so they cannot move, and bide your time until you have more power than they do! It does not matter how much power they have if they cannot use--"

Something cut off the words. The purple shape fell silent as the writhing dark mass loomed in front of it. The odd, grating, raspy voice of the Phantasmal Horror Gigazald, now seeped into his mind.

"Yodaz... do you mind? You are thinking too loudly..."

Yodaz whirled, to stare, shocked, at Shu Lon. He had never been influenced by another's Kaijudo without purposely allowing so during a duel. Thinking swiftly as to the explanation, he realized that he must have dropped his mental shields whilst debating with his 'deck'. Shu now nodded at him and mouthed a 'Thank you' from across the room, before returning to his duel with his cousin. Yodaz looked around to make sure none of the others had 'heard' his internal argument. They did not seem interested, even if they had. Ryoma and Pikaye were discussing strategy of some kind. Shinji Nykahrii stretched and yawned, apparently either bored, or trying to avoid getting too tense.

He shook his head and attempted to focus again on the 'thoughts' of his deck, but the purple one was nowhere to be found now. Was the discussion over, or had it retreated upon seeing the Phantasmal Horror? Bad memories were always difficult things to overcome. He decided to get his mind off it and see if he could find some answers from outside himself rather than inside. He walked over to where Jared Sykes was watching the rain wash the world outside.

"Tell me something, will you? Why do you play Light? Why Guardians?"

Jared looked up at him, confused.
"What do you mean? If I didn't play Light, what would I play? I don't get it..."

Yodaz sighed. What a difficult person.
"There are four other more powerful civilizations in this game. Why did you choose the one with no removal, little draw power, little mana acceleration, and weak shield triggers?"

Jared folded his arms and gave Yodaz a stern look.
"Cause I like it."

Yodaz raised an eyebrow. The visible one.
"You like it better than winning tournaments? You like it better than being able to stand up to people like Echizen?"

Jared looked at Yodaz as if he were some sort of crackpot.
"Yeah... obviously. It's not like I don't know what 'works' in this game. You have it, don'tcha? I just don't have to like it. If you do, that's great for you, man. You're on your way to fame and glory and all that. Hey, what am I saying... you already have that. Me? I play Light cause... I just... play Light. Nothing more to it than that, you know?"

Yodaz's eyes narrowed and he frowned slightly. That made no sense.

"So if you don't mind, I wanna be alone for awhile. I need to think about some stuff. That La Ura thing was a giant screw up, but I also think he might have been right... now why did I evolve Reso Pacos instead of Snork La..."