Episode 3. - Taste of Victory Savored

"What are you talking about? I beat you twice. Don't try to say now that you weren't being serious!" The duelist's eyes flashed with annoyance as the wind swept his dark-red hair over his forehead. He was following Yodaz through the mall, after the tournament he had just won, by defeating Yodaz himself.

"That is exactly what I'm saying. You have no idea who I really am or what I'm capable of, so just drop it. I came here to scout the meta, not to terrorize duelists with sub-par decks. I'm sure you're a good duelist, you just haven't perfected your deck yet."

Ryoma Echizen could not believe the arrogance of this person. He had beaten them in a tournament, and their reaction had confused him. He felt patronized, when they shook his hand. He had congratulated them on their effort, and the duelist had laughed. Now, it was quite clear that they thought they had let him win. Normally, he would ignore such folly, but something about this particular duelist irked him too much for him to just let it slide.

"You need to learn not to dismiss people. There is nothing 'sub-par' about my deck. All decks win and lose. And I won against you today. You seem to be claiming to have let me win."

Yodaz sighed. "I did let you win. So be happy with your victory and go back to your little card shop. I don't need the money or the booster cards. You do, if you're going to improve that deck of yours."

Ryoma was irritated now, and grabbed Yodaz by the shirt sleeve. "I'll go back, but you're going back with me. I won't just let you insult my deck. All decks may need a little tweaking now and then, but I somehow don't think that's what you mean."

Yodaz was about to shrug his hand off, then reconsidered. This one had energy. Perhaps even a little actual Kaijudo. Maybe even a lot, that they had not tapped into. He decided he had enough time to at least test that.

"All right. Let's go. I will give you a glimpse of what I can actually do. Don't complain if you can't handle the facts."

The duelists that were still there were surprised when Ryoma and the unknown duelist returned. Yodaz had not identified himself to them at all, but most of them had stayed out of his way. Even without knowledge of his standing, his presence still intimidated many. The two crossed the room to the same table where they had dueled before. Almost like clockwork, the others stopped their own casual duels and congregated around them.

"Rematch?" laughed the store owner.

"Something like that," Yodaz smirked. Ryoma scowled at the utter 'confidence' with which Yodaz spoke. He would be going first. He drew his card and charged water mana.

"Good luck," the champion smiled, drawing his card and charging water mana of his own. Ryoma felt something strange now, like a humming noise in the back of his mind. He ignored it as he drew his card and charged Darkness mana. Yodaz slowed his own breathing, extending his influence a bit more, and charged fire mana, before closing his eyes momentarily, and practically dragging Ryoma into 'the Zone'.

The duelist's vision blurred. This was an unknown, yet oddly familiar experience. The dreamlike feeling. He charged nature mana, and summoned Promephius Q. The first Survivor. The creature took form in his mind, but he did not resist the sensation. Somehow, it felt comforting. Yodaz drew his card and charged his own nature mana.

"Aqua Hulcus." He drew his card, and waved his hand, to let Ryoma play. The duelist drew his card, and charged more Darkness mana, then cast Faerie Life, to charge even more nature mana.

"Well, that's unfortunate," Yodaz noted, "I was hoping I would get the edge." He charged more water mana, and summoned a Phantom Fish. "Hmmm... decisions, decisions... I end my turn."

Ryoma drew his card, and charged water mana, ending his turn. Yodaz drew his own card and charged fire mana. He then smirked a bit. Time to take this up a notch or two. See if the other could handle real Kaijudo.

"Corile. For your Promephius."

Ryoma felt the strange increase in Yodaz's energy, but could not define what it was. It did not really affect him. The Corile, though annoying, was not currently posing a threat, as far as he was concerned. Yodaz ended his turn, and Ryoma took over, sending the Promephius Q that he drew to his mana zone and summoning a Smash Horn Q, and ending his turn.

"Oh, wow," Yodaz laughed, "That was scary." He drew his card. Ryoma narrowed his eyes, wondering if Yodaz was trying to taunt or intimidate him. Yodaz merely charged more fire mana, and ended his turn. Ryoma decided to move cautiously also, drawing his card and sending another Promephius Q to mana, and ending his turn.

"Aren't they gonna do anything?" one of the younger duelists in the background asked. Yodaz calmly looked over at the youth, and they instantly went quiet. Yodaz then drew his card and charged more Darkness mana.

"You don't seem to be ready to fight yet. Let me see if I can inspire you. I summon Twin-Cannon Skyterror. Double break. Ikei." --Ryoma felt a hazy wave of heat flood his body, but it was only mildly disorienting. He triggered the Dimension Gate that appeared, and retrieved his Forbos, Sanctum Guardian Q.

"Corile, ikei... Aqua Hulcus, ikei." Neither shield triggered to hurt or stop Yodaz, so the dark-haired duelist ended his turn.

"You see, I analyzed the weakness in your deck. You can't hold off attacks well, and there is nothing too dangerous that can occur from attacking you. Most duelists, are much easier to play with when you don't attack them, but you are no threat in that form. So it is easiest to simply obliterate you. I didn't bother to attack you last time. So you won. It was nicely done, but I was merely ignoring your weakness..."

Ryoma scowled at this, "You're not going to make me believe it was as simple as that."

"Believe what you wish," Yodaz chuckled, "I had two Hunter Fish also. You don't attack quickly enough that I would need to stop you, though. This game is mine. No matter what you do. Even if you do kill my creatures. Mine."

The word echoed in Ryoma's mind, rebounding and cascading through his psyche. That one Corile had thrown off his whole rhythm. In that instant, he felt the hatred of the card that swelled in so many that Yodaz battled. There was nothing he could do now. He charged Fire mana.

"I cast Crimson Hammer, to destroy your Corile!"

Yodaz looked slightly annoyed at this. What an upstart. It was almost disrespectful somehow. The duel was over, but he still considered Ryoma's efforts wasteful. So many cards still in his hand, too. He should fix that.

"I cast Lost Soul. Aqua Hulcus, ikei..." --there was no further resistance-- "Twin-Cannon Skyterror, todomeda."

A melodic, chilling laugh came from one of the duelists in the background as Yodaz ended the duel.

"Now that, kids, is dueling. That's why I don't play you losers anymore. You don't have class, like the champ here," she said, stepping forward. She wore dark sunglasses and relatively provocative clothing. It suited her, considering she was built in such a way that most males would falter instantly were she to even wink at them. Yodaz turned instantly, but not because of her extreme sex appeal. He had noticed something else. Kaijudo. She also seemed to know who he was, even though she had not revealed his identity before.

"Oh, shut up, Taimi. You and your cheap deck just get lucky!" one of the other younger duelists yelled at her from over by the card display case.

"Shut up, twit!" she retorted, "That's why you lose so often around here. You oughta learn to keep all that hot air to fill up the empty space in your head, and maybe you'd be able to build a proper deck!"

Yodaz was even more intrigued now, but her form of Kaijudo seemed similar to his. There would be no point in dueling her, and no real point in goading Ryoma into trying either. There appeared to be no need for that, though. The boy she had been taunting strode forward now, waving his deck in her face.

"Yeah, well I bet I could take you down easily with the deck I have now. You just chicken out of any challenge people make."

She scoffed at him and tossed her hair, "I'm not going to waste my time on you petty worthless bums. You--"

Yodaz had placed his hand on her shoulder. He smiled slightly at her when she turned to him. "Go ahead. Waste your time a little today. For me."

Taimi smiled similarly. To entertain both herself and Yodaz, she would humour the boy today. She turned back to him.

"All right then. Let's see what you've got. This should be fun, even if its going to make you look ridiculous. I accept your challenge."

Yodaz took up his position at the side of the table where the two were going to face off, and nodded to Taimi when her Kaijudo tentatively rose, almost as if questioning the champ as to whether or not he wanted to see what happened when she went all out. When he did nod, she smirked evilly, and deployed her shields. Her opponent would be going first.

He charged fire mana first, and ended his turn. She drew her card, and charged her own water mana. The boy followed it up with nature mana, and a Faerie Life to give himself more nature mana. Yodaz sighed. He could already practically tell the outcome of this, if Taimi was anything like him at all. Her Kaijudo interested him, though. She used it without bothering to control it much. Her deck was probably wilder than his own...

Taimi drew her card, smiled even more, and the battle began. She charged more Nature mana, summoned her Emeral, and allowed Yodaz a front-row seat, in her mind. She activated its shield-swapping ability, setting a Terror Pit trap for the younger duelist, and retrieving a Rothus, the Traveler, from her shield zone. Yodaz 'looked' at the card disapprovingly. Rothus was no longer viable as an option, in his mind, for decks. Too hard to control. Taimi, however, seemed to be an unbridled darkness, that for a moment affected even him. He could feel the sense of deadly power radiating from her. The will to destroy her opponent utterly, going beyond even breaking their will to duel with their current deck, to breaking their will to duel at all...

The other duelist was already beginning to be slightly disturbed, and there was not even anything in the battle zone yet that threatened him. He could feel Taimi's dark intent engulfing his mind, and his need to get away began to claw at him. He charged more fire mana.

"I cast Phantom Dragon's Flame, to destroy your Emeral. And end my turn."

Taimi was not worried at all, as she drew her card, and finally charged darkness mana. As she did so, her opponent, and Yodaz, were swamped with her Kaijudo. The boy's mouth dropped open slightly, and his eyes glazed over. Yodaz smirked, slightly impressed. The other duelist had no Kaijudo yet, true, but to have that effect on him with only a mana card was quite interesting, in his opinion. She did not even bother to play anything else that turn, merely smiled at him. With the others in the room either watching the strange reaction in her opponent, or gawking lewdly at her body, there was no one to understand the true nature of what she and the champ were doing.

"Hey, man, snap out of it! It's your turn!" one of the other onlookers said, poking the boy. He shook his head, and drew his card, charging a Phantom Dragon's Flame to mana, and summoning his Smash Horn Q and a Rikabu's Screwdriver.

"What is it with these kids and survivors?" Yodaz wondered. He had forgotten that, linked as they currently were, Taimi would 'hear' his thought. This, she did, and she responded also.

"They want to be 'different'. They don't realize it makes them weaker..."

She charged fire mana of her own, and summoned the Rothus, allowing it to destroy itself, along with the Rikabu's Screwdriver. The boy seemed to recover a bit, but Yodaz sighed at even this. She was dangling him like a puppet. Part of her 'charm', no doubt. He watched as the boy made what he considered to be another fatal error, summoning another Smash Horn, and then, with the first...

"Smash Horn Q, ikei!"

Taimi calmly retrieved the Energy Stream that had been her shield. Yodaz mulled it over in his mind. It could be useful. Not as useful as an Illusionary Merfolk, of course, but not bad. She seemed to have potential. She charged nature mana, and smiled.

"All right, dear, time to stop your annoying efforts at defeating me. I summon--" before she even could, Yodaz knew. He almost involuntarily grinned. He could enjoy this feeling even vicariously-- "Corile."

His Kaijudo mixed with hers for a brief moment, adding even more mind-crippling power to the play. The boy swayed dizzily, nearly dropping the cards in his hand, before playing out Corile's effect on his Smash Horn. Like Yodaz, she did not attack him now either. He drew the card, and repeated his last effort, summoning it, and attacking her with the one that was still there. Taimi shrugged as the Searing Wave joined the cards in her hand. She charged water mana, and summoned an Aqua Hulcus, then ended her turn. She could kill him when she was ready.

Yodaz watched the swirling shapes in her mind, as her opponent summoned yet another Rikabu's Screwdriver, and attacked her yet again, with the Smash Horn.

"Shield Trigger. Spiral Gate. Kindly remove that smelly beast from my presence. The untapped one."

He frowned, picking up the second Smash Horn Q, and ending his turn. She charged more darkness mana. Terror Pit. Yodaz could feel the dark shockwave spread out over the room. In fact, the entire store seemed to darken for a moment. She really did not bother to control her Kaijudo at all. She would have to learn, if she was going to truly master it. For now, however, he merely watched as she laughingly cast Tornado Flame on the other Smash Horn, watching, quite amused, in her mind, as the flames engulfed the Horned Beast. Her opponent didn't seem to have a clear vision of what was happening to him, but his sweating palms and rapid breathing showed clearly that Taimi was, indeed, having her desired effect. Choking his efforts. She ended her turn.

"How long are you going to toy with him?" Yodaz asked her, in thought-shapes. The answer he got was a rather squiggly shape that only made him think that she was enjoying herself so thoroughly that she would be perfectly willing to wait for a particular card. He folded his arms again and resigned himself to simply watching. Whatever this card was, it had better be impressive. After all, she had already played Corile...

Her opponent, hands trembling now, played a Faerie Life, followed by the return of his Smash Horn to the battle zone.

"Rikabu's Screwdriver, ikei!"

"He's got to be joking..." came the voice from the swirling purple mass in Yodaz's mind. Yodaz nodded. Taimi was not privy to that exchange. When Corile 'spoke', it was to Yodaz alone. Taimi picked up her Pyrofighter Magnus, and mentally showed Yodaz what she had got, smirking with mischievous intent. Yodaz was unimpressed. She paid no attention to that, charging fire mana and summoning Corile again, to send the Smash Horn away, and Pyrofighter Magnus now, to destroy the Screwdriver. Her opponent was back where he began. Yodaz shrugged a little. It was interesting enough. Not the best, but certainly interesting.

Her opponent played his Smash Horn one more time, the futility of the action not yet sinking in, to him. Taimi drew her card, and began to laugh. A blood chilling laugh that echoed through the room. Yodaz himself was slightly offset by the gigantic surge in Kaijudo that now flooded the area. She charged her mana card first. Death Cruzer, the Annihilator. That alone caused her opponent to stagger backward.

"What's the matter, baby? Can't handle the darkness? Well, you'd better run, because it's about to get a lot worse. I summon Daidalos, General of Fury! And just for good measure, I also play Mana Nexus. That's right. To put my Terror Pit in my shield zone. Now despair, kid, because this is going to hurt your poor lil' head." She burst into dark laughter again.

Yodaz shook his head slightly. She was sexy, creepy and, in a way, just downright evil, all at the same time. The pleasure she seemed to get from just wielding the Darkness against the boy...

He drew his card, and summoned his Crow Winger. Then attacked the trap shield with the Smash Horn, causing the Terror Pit to swallow up the Crow Winger, and Taimi's power to rise even more. He ended his turn, thinking that it was possible to still hold on. Taimi was sure that the situation was under control, however. She drew her card, and charged more fire mana. Turning to Yodaz.

"I guess this could be thought of as homage to the champ... hehe. I summon Twin-Cannon Skyterror! Skyterror, ikei!" --the shields shattered with nothing to stop her-- "Corile, ikei!" --a Torcon appeared from amidst the shield defenses. For a moment, Yodaz thought he felt a flicker of Kaijudo from the boy. Even if it was there, Taimi quickly extinguished it-- "Aqua Hulcus, ikei!" --this time, a Mana Nexus. This time, Yodaz was sure he felt slight Kaijudo, as the player did what most do, and used one Mana Nexus to generate another as his shield.

"Fine..." Taimi said, before her face was framed by another diabolical grin, "My General hasn't eaten yet anyway. Daidalos, ikei! Devour Smash Horn, and you can have the Aqua Hulcus too, sweetie." She laughed again. Yodaz found it less funny, due to being able to see the event in his mind. The Demon Command grabbed both its ally and its enemy, and in four bites, they were both gone.

"Now, Corile, continue with the attack. Ikei." --the Mana Nexus was triggered, to generate a Natural Snare as his last line of defense. The boy stood shakily, but still believing that there was some slight chance of survival at this point. He drew his card, and summoned his Pyrofighter Magnus, to attack her Corile. Taimi did not seem to care. She was quite safe. When Torcon attacked, it sealed her victim's fate.

"Shield Trigger... Terror Pit... Magnus, begone into the Darkness..."

Whatever little Kaijudo the boy had seemed to display, now disappeared, almost seeming to have been absorbed into the unfathomable darkness of Taimi herself. She drew her card, charged more water mana, and chuckled again.

"Now feel the pain of your worthlessness, boy! Twin-Cannon Skyterror, ikei!" --the Natural Snare captured the Corile, much to Yodaz's disgust. The other shield offered no protection.

Taimi looked at the unfortunate boy, whose entire body seemed to be shaking like a leaf. Yodaz himself winced slightly as her Kaijudo became nigh-immeasurable. She was going to enjoy this way too much. He could not quite be sure, but he thought, for a moment, that she let them all see what she saw in her mind. Daidalos turned on the Twin-Cannon Skyterror, viciously ripping it apart and devouring it. Then, stained red as Taimi's ruby lipstick, it turned toward her opponent. Taimi licked her lips sensuously before declaring the end.

"Now, my demonic comrade... TODOME DA!"

In the opponent's mind, the great dark creature leapt at him, jaws agape and ready to devour him.

"NOOOO!" he shrieked, the fear in his voice causing those around him to freeze in shock. Then, he seemed to faint. He lay shivering on the ground, muttering incoherently about not letting Taimi hurt him anymore. Yodaz looked first upon the boy, scornfully, then at Taimi, a mixture of grudging respect and disgust in his eyes. He then shook his head slightly and began to walk off.

"What's the matter, champ? You don't like the taste of weak duelist?" she called after him, smirking, posed slightly with one hand on her hip.

"I destroy imperfect decks, not people," he answered softly. He knew she could hear.

"Most people are no better than their decks, Yodaz, dear," she smiled, "But suit yourself. I suppose it is an acquired taste, isn't it, Daidalos, honey?" She nuzzled the card slightly now. It had been the only one left in her battle zone.

"Not a taste I think I would ever get used to..." he replied, stepping out the door.

Taimi turned back to the crowd, her smile showing perfect teeth that made her look quite scary, even her pointy canines taking on a much more sinister meaning than before. She licked her ruby lips again.

"All right... who's next..."