Episode 20. - Smoke, Mirrors, and Illusions

The ten minute break had finally ended. To some, it had felt like an eternity of waiting. For others, it had been just enough time to compose themselves. The officials had ended their whispering and were now making their preparations. The camera crews were now drifting back from the mini-interviews they had been conducting with spectators, toward the main event. The four semifinalists congregated at the officials' table, awaiting the announcement of the next match. Again, this was not something that Gene Kirricort would allow to happen simultaneously. The head judge therefore announced only one pair of names for the next match, and once he had, Pikaye and Yodaz fell into positions on the opposite sides of the table, but as spectators.

"This shouldn't be too hard," Blood remarked with a smirk. Ryoma raised an eyebrow in response, prompting Blood to qualify his statement; "No offense. I just don't think your deck can beat mine."

They deployed their shields. Ryoma did not respond directly to Blood's comment, but he did take careful note of what his opponent had said. He smirked slightly also.
"Please, you go first."

Blood laughed a bit now. He had not intended to bait his opponent with his words, but it seemed as though they had managed a rather 'beneficial' effect regardless of his intention in saying them. He drew his cards, and charged nature mana first of all. Ryoma found that he did not like the way this duelist seemed. A bit too smug. He charged water mana, and ended his turn.

Blood took his turn as an opportunity to charge more nature mana, but no more. He seemed quite relaxed and confident at this point. Ryoma did not project the same aura, but he was unruffled nevertheless. He charged nature mana of his own, and cast a Faerie Life spell, ending up charging fire mana through its effect. Blood looked a little surprised, but said nothing. Ryoma ended his turn, Blood drew his card, and charged water mana. Ryoma's expression changed when he realized what it was that Blood had placed into his mana zone. Corile. Blood's duel with Bernadette had 'hidden' most of his water cards, for those who were not paying attention to his mana zone during that duel.

"I summon Aqua Hulcus," Blood announced. He drew his card, and his Kaijudo began to pulse strongly. Almost in unison, Pikaye and Yodaz seemed to erect mental barriers to shield the spectators on their respective sides. Ryoma silently thanked them both. Now he could go all out. Blood ended his turn now.

Ryoma drew his card and charged water mana of his own again. His Kaijudo rose to meet Blood's even before he actually summoned his creature.
"Smash Horn Q. End turn."

Blood was a bit surprised now, both by the change in 'atmosphere' and Ryoma's choice of first summon. He drew his card and charged more water mana for himself.
"Bronze-Arm Tribe. To place my... Fighter Dual Fang, into my mana zone. End turn..."

His Kaijudo had not yet matched Ryoma's for some reason, despite having two creatures on the field to Ryoma's single one. However, it was Ryoma's turn. The Survivor duelist charged darkness mana now, and summoned a Split-Head Hydroturtle Q.
"Smash Horn, ikei."

The great beast reared up, its power augmented by its new ally, and as it charged to break the first shield of the duel, Ryoma also drew a card thanks to the shared effect. Blood picked up the shield, as it held no trigger. Now both his creatures were outmatched in terms of power. He had no way of powering either of them up. Ryoma ended his turn now. Blood fumbled with his cards a bit, apparently unsure of what he wished to do. Finally, he decided upon charging his Bazagazeal Dragon to mana, and casting his spell.
"Searing Wave."

The fiery surge swept over Ryoma, effortlessly removing both his creatures and making it safe for Blood to now continue with the second part of his plan, after placing his second shield into the grave.
"Aqua Hulcus, ikei--" there was no trigger, "--Bronze Arm, Ikei."
This shield did trigger. Faerie Life. Ryoma drew his card, and placed it into his mana zone. Searing Wave. Blood laughed, and ended his turn.

"Something amuses you?" Ryoma asked as he drew his card. This duelist was grating on his nerves a bit, but he was more interested in dealing with the deck. Speed was sometimes a problem for him, so he decided to cut off the surging power at its source, using the extra mana he had just been given. Placing the Divine Riptide which had just acted as his shield, into his mana zone, he now did just that.
"Lost Soul. End turn."

Blood's Kaijudo took a nose-dive as he discarded the three cards in his hand. He was silent again now, and his previous mirth concerning Ryoma's 'loss' of the Searing Wave seemed to have instantly abated. He drew his card, and seemed to lose a bit more of his bravado.
"Aqua Hulcus, ikei--" no trigger, "Bronze-Arm, ikei." Again, no trigger stopped him. This was it. He was going to overrun his opponent anyway. He breathed deeply, and his Kaijudo began to pulse again, almost defiantly. He ended his turn. Something about Ryoma's attitude bothered him. The duelist was completely unfazed at this point. Ryoma drew his card.

"Mystic Treasure Chest to mana, and I cast the other, to place Gallia Zohl, Iron Guardian Q, into my mana zone from my deck. Now I summon Forbos, Sanctum Guardian Q!"
Ryoma's Kaijudo practically blasted the area around Blood, as he searched his deck to retrieve another of his Searing Wave. Blood began to look a little more serious about this now. He would have to quickly come up with a way to save his creatures, since he was also lacking cards in his hand. Or, he could just finish the duel now. Ryoma ended his turn.

Blood drew his card, and exclaimed something unintelligible, but clearly of surprise. Whether it was a pleasant surprise or not, was hard to tell. He did not play mana, but he did smile. He would be able to save a creature from the Searing Wave and still make his attack.
"I evolve Aqua Hulcus into Crystal Paladin, heheh. Paladin, ikei!"

The liquid centaur charged, along with a great surge of Blood's Kaijudo. It was clear that Blood viewed this as a victory now. However, even the speed with which its sword-charge shattered the shield in Ryoma's mind did not seem to intimidate the Survivor duelist in the slightest.

"Shield Trigger, Terror Pit. Destroy the Bronze-Arm Tribe"
Ryoma seemed to announce this even before he had completely flipped the card over. The dark hole opened up beneath the beast folk, swallowing it up, and removing Blood's final attacker. Now, Blood made another sound of surprise, but made it clear that he did not view it as pleasant in any way.

"I had that one calculated for you," Ryoma smiled as Blood reluctantly ended. Ryoma now drew his card.

"What are you talking about? That was sheer luck. You can't calculate luck."
Blood seemed decidedly more concerned now, about the ability of this opponent. He still had the strongest creature, and needed only one more attack, but there was no way to know what new trick Ryoma would manage. This duel, as short as it was so far, was becoming too close for comfort.

"I've been viewing my deck repeatedly," Ryoma pointed out as he charged nature mana, "So I knew exactly what would happen. I summon Factory Shell Q..."
The giant Colony Beetle stomped slowly onto Ryoma's battlefield, and its power augmented the growth of Ryoma's Kaijudo. Blood was doubly wary now. That would not exactly stop his Hulcus, so he wondered what the Survivor duelist could possibly have in mind. Ryoma activated the effect of the Factory Shell, as well as the effect that Forbos now shared with it. He searched his deck, producing from it a Smash Horn Q and a Death Smoke. Blood began to see the point, and he certainly did not like it.

"Now I summon Smash Horn Q..."
This Survivor now gained the effects of both the Factory Shell and Forbos. Ryoma searched his deck yet again. Another Smash Horn and a Crimson Hammer now joined the cards in his hand.

"Forbos now, attack the Paladin. Ikei!"
The battle between the two was epic. The blasts of Forbos' particle cannons deflected harmlessly off the Crystal Paladin's shield, but only until the Paladin managed to slash into the Guardian. At that moment, Forbos landed its critical shot, and both were destroyed. Ryoma now finally ended his turn. Blood drew his card, and made yet another, similar, surprised sound, but did not take any action.

Ryoma had no reason to hold back now. He had long since disregarded Blood as an opponent, and was concentrating purely on outplaying the deck. He knew it would not be long before another Corile made its appearance, and he was determined to make sure that it would be too late, by then. He placed the Death Smoke into mana, since there was no longer any need for it, and summoned a Grave Worm Q.

"Now I return Forbos, Sanctum Guardian, to my hand, and search my deck for my Q-Tronic Gargantua..."

Blood found himself involuntarily trembling now. This was not how he had expected things to go at all. Ryoma's Kaijudo was immense now.
"Grave Worm, evolve into Q-Tronic Gargantua. Triple break his shields. Ikei!"

"Wha? You mean double break?" Blood exclaimed, "Oh.... Oh sh--" He caught himself now, remembering he was on live camera.

"I have three Survivors," Ryoma pointed out calmly, but Blood had already realized his mistake, and was muttering something to himself about triple breakers. He picked up his third and fourth shields, with no trigger from either of them. His fifth shield, however, was his saviour.

"Shield Trigger, Mana Nexus!"
Blood burst out laughing now. He had the finishing cards in his hand. Even now, he had escaped defeat by a hair's breadth, but he was totally sure he had won. He took the Natural Snare from his mana zone, and placed it into his shield zone now. His last line of defense was set, and he could go for the win next turn. Yet, Ryoma seemed still unfazed, in fact he seemed a little confused as to what exactly Blood was so happy about. He ended his turn.

Blood drew his card, confident now in the game winning ability of the Hulcus-Paladin combo in his hand, only to have his Kaijudo drop out from under him when he realized that he had forgotten one crucial point. Ryoma now realized exactly what his opponent had been thinking, and he laughed a bit himself. Blood was now short one mana...

"An interesting thing to forget..." Ryoma noted, smirking.

"No," Blood insisted, "I would've won earlier, but I made a mistake. Oh well..."
He sent his Rumbling Terahorn to the mana zone.
"Ah..." Ryoma said, as he felt Blood's Kaijudo begin the process of conceding to him. He had to admit to himself that he found some slight satisfaction in watching this previously overconfident duelist squirm a bit. He had not been able to muster much outright respect for Blood. His deck had been somehow reminiscent of Yodaz's, and this, along with Blood's attitude, had simply caused Ryoma to wish to have the duel over with as quickly as possible.

Blood summoned his Aqua Hulcus and drawing his card.
"Congrats... you won just because I made a mistake... end turn."

Ryoma drew his card, and re-summoned Forbos, Sanctum Guardian. He activated the Factory Shell's effect rather than Forbos', to retrieve a Skullsweeper Q from his deck.

"Just attack..." Blood grumbled. The blast of Kaijudo from Ryoma silenced him. This was his avatar, and he would not be denied the feeling of having Forbos present for the final attack. He also now summoned the Skullsweeper, just to make a point.

"Q-Tronic Gargantua... break his shield. Ikei!"
The flame clad Survivor surged across the mindscape, and blasted down the last of Blood's shields.

Blood answered his action through clenched teeth. "Shield Trigger. Natural Snare. Factory Shell."

"Smash Horn Q... Todomeda!"
The creature charged now, with all the force of Ryoma Echizen's psychic power behind it. Blood staggered, fell a little, then slowly rose to his feet.

"Good game. I guess. If I'd waited on that turn when I evolved the Hulcus... would have been so easy..."

Ryoma made a small 'hmph' sound, and picked up his cards. The officials declared him the winner. He was no longer concerned with Blood. It was obvious now, so they simply rotated. Blood and Ryoma shifted into the 'watching' positions, allowing Yodaz and Pikaye to move to the spots where they had just been standing.

"Wait, wait!" Gene Kirricort interrupted, "You cannot begin yet. We have to make certain preparations!"

Yodaz groaned. It was obvious that this was simply a ploy to build suspense. There was nothing to be done, however. It was a KirriCorp sponsored tournament. They would simply have to wait...

Two city blocks away, in the hobby shop, many of the duelists who had been defeated and not inclined to stay at the tournament location had gathered now. Some were building, some talking, others simply recovering from the strange effects that the Kaijudo of the stronger duelists had caused in them. Maze was there now, half dozing in a corner. Libra was there too, trying to dry off, and pondering what Ryoma had told her. Now she sat with her deck in front of her, looking through it. An older male duelist approached her now, and sat on the other side of the small table. She gave him a small hello as greeting.

"Yo. I'm working on fixing my deck for the next tournament. Wanna duel? You can go first."

She nodded, collecting her cards and shuffling her deck. "Oki."

Shields were deployed and cards drawn. At least this person would probably be interesting, though she was not sure if she could handle another defeat at this point. She charged water mana. He charged fire mana. Searing Wave. She instantly felt as if this had been a mistake. She drew her card and charged more water mana, ending her turn. He charged darkness mana now. She was even more sure that agreeing to this duel had been a mistake.

"Ghost Touch," he smirked. She discarded a third Miracle Quest. The first two had already been placed into her mana zone. It had not been a good starting hand. He laughed at her. She said nothing. He ended her turn, and she drew her card, charging more darkness mana.

"Aqua Jolter. End turn."
He drew his card and played Crystal Memory to mana, then summoned Phantom Fish, and ended turn.

"Feels like another Yodaz clone..." came the thought shapes from the blue one in her mind. She shrugged it off. Some of the cards were different.
"That doesn't matter if they have the same intent... the same core..."

She charged more darkness mana and summoned Vile Mulder, Wing of the Void. He charged more darkness mana also, and met it with a Death Smoke. Shtra's thoughts came as the equivalent of 'I told you so', but she again denied it, noting that Yodaz would not use Death Smoke. She charged more water mana. A Spiral Gate.
"Revolver Fish."

He drew his card and charged more water mana. There was no Kaijudo to warn her of the next play, though she noted that she should probably have expected it.
"Corile, on your Aqua Jolter."

She drew the card and resummoned it. He drew his card, placed an Aqua Hulcus into his mana zone, and played a Terror Pit on her Revolver Fish.

She drew her card, looked up at the television, which was currently still showing coverage of the tournament going on not far away. She caught a glimpse of Ryoma, and remembered his words...
"You can't rely so much on things to happen on their own. Nor can you make things happen. But you can help them along."
She placed the Emeral into her mana zone without summoning it. She would do nothing this turn.

"Heheh..." he muttered, his voice almost mocking, "Corile."

She picked up the Aqua Jolter, noting that he still had not attacked her, nor had he given himself any great advantage. The locking of her deck was uncomfortable, but she now asked herself, what was he really doing? She drew her Jolter and summoned it again. He drew his card, and did nothing. He seemed confused, and did not really want to attack her for some reason. She drew her card, and smiled.
"I summon Aqua Soldier."

He drew, and placed his Pyrofighter Magnus into mana. She gave him an odd look, and he realized this.
"What? I saw you duel that guy. I'm not going to go killing myself on your Shield Triggers." He laughed again. She sighed. He might not have Yodaz's deck, but he did have Corile, and the mentality that so often seemed to accompany it. She drew her card and summoned Junkatz, Rabid Doll, ending her turn.

"Now you're gonna get it," he laughed again, placing more water mana into his manapool, "I summon Bazagazeal Dragon, to attack your Aqua Jolter! Ikei!"

She winced at it, but he ended his turn: "Why are you so intent on destroying everything I have?" she asked him finally, as she drew her card and summoned another Aqua Soldier, ending her turn.

"In case you haven't noticed, that's the way to win. Haven't you seen the champion's deck?" He laughed at her now again as if she were a simpleton. She pouted. He drew his card and played a Burst Shot, wiping out his own Corile, and her field as well, then ended his turn.

"But... he would never do it like that. You don't understand. It isn't about removing everything your opponent throws at you..." She drew her card and summoned two Aqua Soldiers, then ended her turn.

"Don't be jealous," he laughed, "That's exactly how you do it. You don't have any removal cards, do you? That's why you don't see how important they are. Bazagazeal Dragon, destroy Aqua Soldier! Ikei!"

She picked it up as he ended his turn. He seemed totally confident now that he was in complete control, but she could not understand. He had wiped out his own Corile. Yodaz would never do that...

She charged more water mana, and resummoned the Aqua Soldier without attacking. She also wondered exactly how long he could keep this up. Yodaz doing it was one thing, but this one was not skilled enough yet. She ended her turn. He drew his card and summoned an Illusionary Merfolk, but since he had no Cyber Lords, the creature had no effect. He ended his turn.

"What on earth is he doing? Let me handle this one."
She drew her card, and summoned the Shtra. He laughed again, and thanked her, picking up a Crystal Memory. She could not quite understand that either. She retrieved a Critical Blade and cast it to destroy the Phantom Fish, "Aqua Soldier, breaking shield. Ikei. End turn."

There was no trigger. He laughed and drew his card. "You have no removal so it's over. I summon Twin-Cannon Skyterror. Merfolk, attack the Soldier. Ikei. End turn."

She charged more water mana. She resummoned the Soldier and added a Revolver Fish to her field.
"You can't just not attack at all. I don't understand where you got this idea... Shtra, break shield. Ikei."
It triggered as a Ghost Touch. She discarded her Snake Attack. He laughed again. Her finishing move was gone. The Aqua Soldier attacked the next shield. That one did not trigger. She ended her turn. He drew his card and charged darkness mana.
"Crystal Memory, and Searing Wave! Twin-Cannon, double break, ikei! End turn."

She picked up her two Soldiers and placed Shtra in the grave. He placed one shield there. She was still confused. He was trying to play disruptively, but getting the timing all wrong. Her shields did not trigger, which seemed to satisfy him. She drew her card, charged more water mana, and summoned Emeral and the two Soldiers. He growled a bit, drew his card, and charged darkness mana, then played Searing Wave again. The Twin-Cannon attacked and was blocked by the Revolver Fish. The Merfolk broke the shield Emeral had set as a decoy. He was two shields away from winning. He ended his turn.

She drew her card, placed the decoy Critical Blade into her mana zone, and summoned her Soldiers yet again, then did an unexpected thing: "Spiral Gate, on your Skyterror. End turn."

He laughed aloud at this one. "What a waste of time. Say good-bye to your Soldiers. Corile, and Terror Pit. Merfolk, ikei! End turn."

"You need to wait more..." she said to him, "If I didn't have any triggers to stop you before, wouldn't you figure there were some now? Dark Reversal, to bring back my Revolver Fish." Now she drew her card and charged darkness mana, "I summon Aqua Soldier, Aqua Soldier, and Revolver Fish. End turn."

"Nice try," he said, "Your Soldiers were a little annoying. Twin-Cannon Skyterror! Break shield. Ikei!"

She did not bother to block it. Her victory or defeat depended on this shield, but she was no longer afraid. There was too high a chance of that shield being what she needed now. It was not grasping at straws this time, but rather a calculated chance that it was...
"Shield Trigger. Spiral Gate..."

Her opponent's jaw dropped. "You're so lucky..."

"People who draw three Corile in one duel, and two Searing Waves back to back, without drawing extra cards should not call out other people on their 'luck'..." she said. He scoffed and got up.

"Guess I've got some deck fixing to do. Need some Natural Snare or something."

She sighed. Of course. That was, after all, the only 'logical' conclusion. Soon, Yodaz's deck would have copied itself again...