Episode 25. - The Tangled Web We Weave

His long blond hair flew out behind him as he ran. He could not accept that. His best friend could not have lost that way. He had seen some fairly small duelists with some fairly large skills before, but this made no sense. Turning the corner, he finally spotted them some ways ahead. He was not the type to yell, so instead, he ran, weaving through the few pedestrians on the sidewalk until he could place his hand on the boy's shoulder.

The young man turned, his little sister also looking up at the golden haired one that had stopped them. He did not seem to understand what this was all about.
"One more game. This isn't right. There's no way my friend would have been beaten without you cheating. Not like that. It can't happen."

The boy sighed, adjusting his glasses.
"Your friend accepted his defeat just fine. What's your problem? I don't see what the big deal is."

Jack Skyler balled his fingers into a fist. He had no intention of striking the boy, but he desperately wanted this duel. He could not believe what he had seen, and he was not about to believe that it could happen in that way.
"Just one more game."

The boy looked down at his little sister.
"Do we have time for one more duel, Arielle?"

The girl nodded. Her brother then nodded to Jack also. One more. They walked back the two blocks to where the Saturday tournament had been held. The store owner noted their return. Gene Kirricort's attention instantly perked up. This was part of what he had been advised to look out for. The entire reason he was in this city was to observe this very duelist, and having another chance to do so would seriously help him. He had not seen power like that since Kyle Magnus' appearance at the championships, and he had known about Kyle before.

"Are you ready?" asked the dark-haired one in the glasses.

"Yeah," Jack replied, "But this time, I want you to sit over there, so I know there's no cheating..."

The boy sighed, and crossed the room to where Jack had indicated. He would humor young Skyler. After all, the outcome of this duel was not up to him. From his pocket, he produced the deck, and handed it to his sister.

"There you go, Arielle. Have fun. But don't overdo it, okay? Mum will be really mad at us if you get another aura, and I know you don't want bad dreams tonight, right?"

Her lips barely seemed to move as she answered her older brother.
"I'll be fine. This one is no stronger than the last one. He just seems to think you are helping me. How can you think that, anyway? The feeling does not come from my brother. He is no better at this than you are..."

"I'm not buying it..." Jack said, his eyes narrowed, "There's no way you can do that. You're too young. So this time, we're going to have a real duel. I'm going to prove it. You couldn't be that good, you only started playing this game a week ago, in the kiddy section."

The nine year old shrugged, shuffling her cards. She did so a bit clumsily. She was still not used to handling the cards, but she did have a natural aptitude for dueling. Gene Kirricort knew why, or at least he had his suspicions. The little girl supposedly had a psychic gift, and it was coming out through her Kaijudo. What he could not understand was how it would have granted her dueling skill as well.

She deployed her shields onto the blue linen of the table. She had stopped bothering with the playmat awhile ago. Jack deployed his shields also.
"You go first, little lady. I don't mind."

Arielle Dumas sighed. The bigger kids were always doing that to themselves. Giving her advantages that she really did not need, and usually ending up to make themselves look bad in the process. She charged water mana first, and ended her turn. Gene moved in now, to watch more carefully. His business sense had been doing its best to turn Kaijudo into profit without too much negative attention, and so far, he had come up with nothing. The champion was in currently in Japan, and Yodaz, though on 'tour', had not allowed Gene to capitalize on his itinerary. So now, the TCG sponsor had turned to other avenues.

Jack Skyler began by charging fire mana. He of course, ended his turn also, and Arielle drew her card, charging nature mana.

"I cast Faerie Life, and place a Poisonous Mushroom into my mana zone. You have four turns left to stop me..."

Jack scoffed. The little girl was not going to intimidate him the way she had done with his friend. He drew his card, charged light mana, and ended his turn. Gene watched carefully. He had been able to pick up on slight changes in Kaijudo since the grand tournament, an ability developed by practically everyone that had attended. Arielle's Kaijudo was clear and strong. Jack's was also, but the difference was that Arielle seemed to be aware of her opponent, whereas Jack was far less so.

She drew her card, and charged more nature mana.
"Bronze-Arm Tribe. To place my Thorny Mandra into my mana zone. This will be a fun duel. You have three turns left."

Her confidence seemed to annoy Jack a bit, but he did not show it outwardly. He simply drew his card and charged darkness mana. A Terror Pit. Leaving Gene to wonder exactly what it was that Jack's deck actually did.
"Senatine Jade Tree. End turn."

Jack watched carefully now, eyeing Arielle's brother as he felt the Kaijudo rise in the young girl. She charged more nature mana.
"I evolve my Bronze-Arm Tribe into Fighter Dual Fang, and place my Mighty Shouter and Aqua Hulcus into my mana zone..." her voice was soft and confident as the Kaijudo link finally formed between them, leaving no doubt as to her power as the Bronze-Arm's body transformed into that of the great Dual Fang, "You have two turns left. End turn."

Jack smirked. Her rush tactics were not going to work on him the way they had worked on his friend. He was much more prepared for dealing with an aggressive deck build, especially one that relied on a water-nature combination. He charged more darkness mana. A Lost Soul.
"I summon Magris, Vizier of Magnetism, and draw my card. End turn."

Arielle drew her card, and sighed. It was all up to her opponent now. She did not play any more mana this turn. She had quite enough. Instead, she simply summoned her creature.
"Tangle Fist, the Weaver."

The burst of psychic energy nearly floored both Gene and Jack. Arielle's brother called out to her from where he was sitting.
"Hey, take it easy, Elle... Remember... no nightmares tonight."

She blushed sheepishly at her brother's reproach, and apologized with a nod, but she was still smiling. Her avatar was in the battle zone now, standing next to the powerful Fighter Dual Fang.
"You have one turn left. I end my turn," she announced with a happy flourish.

Jack was now totally confused. She had enough mana now, and no real hand of cards to speak of. That creature was useless. Trust a little girl to be so happy just to play their avatar, without any serious consideration as to what it was for. It did not seem to make too much sense to play such a card in an aggressive deck such as hers, but he was not one to complain. He was about to deal with her in the most effective way possible. He drew his card, and charged water mana. A Corile.
"I summon Corile, on your Fighter Dual Fang!" he declared with a smirk.

Arielle's expression instantly darkened. She had been angered, and now, in his mind, Jack could feel a cold wind begin to blow across the landscape. Only her avatar remained on her field now. She placed the Bronze-Arm card on the top of her deck, and the Dual Fang on top of that.

"I guess that ends your little rush tactic, missy. I knew you couldn't be as good as all that," Jack said.

Arielle's Kaijudo pulsed even stronger now, but then suddenly seemed to become calm, as she drew the Dual Fang again, and placed it into her mana zone.
"I do not know why you would think that the my deck would rush at you. I have not broken any of your shields yet, have I? Oh, I see. My countdown must have confused you. I am sorry. Now I will show you what I was actually counting down to. I cast Divine Riptide!"

Jack instantly grabbed his head as the energy flooded back into him. He had nowhere near the control level that Arielle did, at this point, and the spell's effect was exceedingly disorienting to him. His eyes blurred watching her solemn young face as the Tangle Fist watched time roll backwards, leaving only itself and Jack's trio of creatures in the area. All was dark again, but the Kaijudo still shimmered there, as if behind a powerful dam. That dam would soon be loosed, however.
"Now, Tangle Fist, weave the strands of time again! Bring back my world!"

Gene, like the others, had been pulled into the world the two had created in their minds for this duel, and he watched in confusion as the Tangle Fist did just that. As it did so, Arielle fulfilled her end in reality, returning her Thorny Mandra, Mighty Shouter, and Aqua Hulcus to her mana zone.

"I... hate that card..." Jack finally choked out, as his mind seemed to regain some semblance of balance. He drew his own card, and charged darkness mana. When he ended his turn without his attack, Arielle smiled. Her psychic power had overwhelmed him easily. She would take advantage of his lapse in composure now, and totally sweep her way into control. She drew her card, and sent her Mighty Shouter to her mana zone.

"I summon Bronze-Arm Tribe, and place a Forbidding Totem into my mana zone. Now I summon a Poisonous Mushroom, and place my other Mighty Shouter into mana as well. End turn."

That single turn had been enough. Her avatar was safe now. Jack shook his head to clear it, and to relieve the pounding pain in it, as he drew his card.
"Amazing..."

"Yes, I am, aren't I?" she laughed, twirling. Jack charged light mana, and ended his turn.

Arielle drew her card, her psychic energy invading Jack's mind like a virus now. She charged water mana.
"Bronze-Arm, evolve again, into Fighter Dual Fang! And with my new mana, I summon another Bronze-Arm!"

This time, the roar made Jack's blood feel like it was frozen in his veins. He was helpless against the building tide of forces on his opponent's side. She ended her turn, and he breathed a sigh of relief. She had put an Aqua Knight, an Aqua Hulcus, and two more Shtra into her mana zone all in that turn. He drew his card, and charged fire mana. The same Apocalypse Vise that he had first put there.
"S-senatine Jade Tree... End turn."

"I don't need my brother's help, see?" she said coldly, drawing her next card, "You thought you could beat me because you saw my deck do what you thought it was for. Now, before you start getting your world back... Divine Riptide!"

Jack staggered, forcing himself not to scream with the feeling of the crushing energy invading his consciousness and threatening to strip it away altogether. His breathing was ragged now as they picked up their cards.

"Now I tap my Tangle Fist, and return my Thorny Mandra, Forbidding Totem and Aqua Hulcus to my mana zone. Poisonous Mushroom, break his shield. Ikei!" --Jack allowed this, possibly because he could not compose himself in time to declare his block, and there was no trigger-- "Bronze-Arm, ikei!"

"Intercept... Jade Tree..." he managed to say. Arielle watched as the tree spun, its luminescence allowing it to entrap and obliterate the Bronze-Arm Tribe.

"Now, Dual Fang, destroy the tree! Ikei!"
The powerful weapons of the great Beast Folk hero felled the floating tree easily, leaving no opposition. She ended her turn.

Jack drew his card, his mind still reeling. Into his mana zone, he placed the same Terror Pit that he had the first time, leaving him with a painful feeling of deja vu.
"If this were a regular duel, and you weren't using that card, I am pretty sure I could win..."

"This is a regular duel," she countered, folding her arms as she awaited his move.

"I mean if you weren't using Riptide. Jade Tree, annihilate that Tangle Fist! Ikei!"
Finally, Jack's attack removed the threat of young Arielle's avatar. He ended his turn.

"Ah, well, I'm using it!" she said matter-of-factly, "And you beat up my poor Tangle Fist, so now I'm going to make you unhappy too."
She drew her card, and charged water mana, then summoned Shtra, draining away the single mana card that Jack had , as well as retrieving the same Shtra she had just put into her own mana zone.
"Dual Fang, chop down that other tree too! Ikei!"

She ended her turn with Jack trapped. He held his head, trying to keep his last meal down. He was not sure how much more exposure to the girl's psychic energy he could handle. He drew his card, knowing already what would happen. It was as if time had stopped for him. He placed the same Terror Pit into his mana zone yet again, breathing hard, and ended his turn. He regarded her disdainfully as she drew her card.
"Lost Soul would make you nearly unstoppable... why don't you use it? I'd be totally at your mercy..."

Arielle looked at him oddly. Despite her skill she was still young, and not really aware of what he was talking about, but she did not need to be. She charged more nature mana, and summoned another Shtra, picking up the same Mighty Shouter, and ending her turn.

Jack nearly choked as he sent the same Terror Pit to mana for the fifth time. Now, his mind was filled with thoughts of her deck, not his own. The number of other ways she could hurt him, corner him, or defeat him. He ended his turn. Arielle's presence seemed now like a dark web in his mind, one he could not seem to be rid of. She drew her card, and put the Mighty Shouter into her mana zone yet again.

"I summon Poisonous Mushroom, and add a Mighty Shouter to mana, so I can summon this one!" she smiled, her psychic waves battering Jack at every second, "End turn."

"Does she have to be so cheerful about it?" Gene wondered to himself. He identified quite a bit with ambitious young men like Jack Skyler, and he could see how this would be a painful experience in more ways than one.

Jack clutched his chest, drawing his next card. He placed the Corile into his mana zone, and ended his turn. He finally had two mana again. Arielle drew her card, and charged water mana, summoning two Aqua Hulcus, and drawing the cards that went with their appearance. Jack felt like he was drowning now...

"Mushrooms! Ikei! Break his shields!" --the attacks triggered no defenses from Jack's side, and the Mushrooms' strange energy robbed him of two more of his defense shields-- "Dual Fang, double break! Ikei!" --oddly, neither of these would save him either, but Jack knew that the situation was the same no matter what happened now. Her advantage would always be too much for him at this point-- "Shtra, do what my Tangle Fist cannot! To-do-me-daa!"

She announced her final assault with the happiness that few older duelists could still muster. The purity of her joy was the final 'nail in the coffin' for Jack Skyler. His mind folded in on him, in that moment, an effect that even Gene could feel the shockwaves of. He stood there, blankly, as if in a trance. His friends' attempts to snap him out of it were to no avail.

"Hey, come on..." Arielle said, tugging on his arm, "My mother always says you shouldn't be a sore loser. How about you buy me some ice cream to eat and we all make friends, huh?"

"Ice cream. Yes, Ms. Arielle. What flavor would you like?" Jack intoned rather emptily.

"That's more like it!" she smiled, taking him by the arm, "Come on, Alex! We're gonna get ice cream!"

Gene Kirricort watched carefully as she led him off. She did not seem to be aware of it, but he was sure that somehow, Jack Skyler was now under Arielle Dumas' control. The possibility of such a thing being true made even the sly young businessman shudder, wondering how many times Yodaz might have done the same to him.

This thought, of course, spawned an entirely new devious idea in Gene Kirricort's head. If Kaijudo developed such abilities in regular people, what happened when it was applied to people like Arielle who had already demonstrated latent psychic ability?

"Why can't I come up with a way to make money off this..." he sighed, putting his jacket on and calling his two bodyguards. He stepped out of the building, to where his car was waiting, and slid into the back seat. This would be something he would have to figure out how to exploit with or without his father's approval. The old man had good enough business sense, true, but he was always thinking a bit too small.

"Yodaz never told me that Kaijudo could possibly be a weapon. Trust him to try to keep the truth from me. He's just like my father. Always thinking too small. But weapons that unreliable are not worth anything. If I could control people's minds, what would I do with that ability...?"

He was now absently rifling through cards, thinking, until he finally came across a card he knew all too well. Corile...

"Of course... you don't control people's minds through the brute force of your own... you make them think that what you want, is also what they want. That way, everyone is 'happy' and there is no resistance..."
His smile became a far larger grin now. He would need a pawn, however. Yodaz had chosen to remain on the side of the 'truth' rather than to continue as he was doing. So he would need a puppet, something Yodaz had never been, much to his dismay.

"Someone who I can turn into a champion... someone powerful and unforgettable, but easily controlled..."

Instantly, his mind suggested young Arielle Dumas herself, but Gene also instinctively knew that someone with a talent like that, and such a clearly defined dueling style and avatar, would see right through any persuasive talk he could come up with. The silver tongue of Kirricort would do him no good there. He would need to find a different candidate for that part, but now he had a fairly good idea of his selection criteria.

"Now, where does a man go about finding a psychic ten year old?" he wondered aloud.

"What was that, sir?" his driver asked, wondering if that was supposed to be some sort of hint at an alternate destination.

"Hm? Nothing, Barnes. Keep driving back to the hotel. Just thinking aloud, that's all. Just thinking aloud..."

The car was now five blocks away from where Arielle Dumas was enjoying a double scoop of strawberry-vanilla swirl ice cream, and wondering why her new acquaintance was so reluctant to speak unless spoken to.

"Let him go... we shouldn't hold onto him like this..." came the young voice in her mind. She was already used to responding to her avatar, but she did not understand what exactly her alternate thoughts meant this time. Slowly, she simply concentrated on untangling the web that had ensnared Jack Skyler's mind, letting him gradually begin to become aware of himself again. Arielle found herself intrigued by the fact that he seemed to give her anything she wanted, however, and at least got him to give her a ride home on his back, to save her the walk.

Jack came to his senses completely, two blocks later, after narrowly avoiding being hit by a car...