Episode 34. - Taking Off The Training Wheels

Gene Kirricort stepped into the building, to find Yodaz sitting in one of the plush chairs in the waiting area, shuffling his deck. Gene's ability to sense Kaijudo had been heightened through consistent, deliberate exposure to it, and now, he could easily sense that Yodaz was angry. Not only was he angry, but it was the cold, determined anger that he had come to somewhat fear from the champion.

Yodaz noted Gene's arrival, and stood up, intercepting him as he tried to enter the room without being noticed.
"We need to talk," Yodaz said coldly. Gene attempted to brush him off...

"Can this wait, Yodaz? I'm supposed to be watching a duel with a very promising new prospect, and I don't have time for--"
He was cut off by the psychic vicegrip that seemed to clamp down around his mind. Yodaz normally would not be anywhere near as forceful with his Kaijudo against one who had none, but today, he meant business.

"A-all right. Please, come with me. We can talk whilst I watch the duel."

Yodaz nodded, his eyes narrowed, slightly suspicious of the fact that Gene Kirricort would specifically take time out of his schedule to watch a single duel. They proceeded up to the room where Jayce Dukane and Cloud Sylver were already waiting at their dueling table. They were an odd looking pair. Cloud was a brown haired young man no taller than Yodaz himself, wearing a dragon overshirt and cargo pants, whereas Jayce was over six feet tall, his hair jet black and his clothes much more subdued. He noted Yodaz's presence almost suspiciously, even though there were at least three other people besides Yodaz, accompanying Gene into the room.

"What is he doing here?" Jayce asked Gene as the group of spectators sat in the chairs provided.

"Oh, do you know him?" Gene countered, his voice conveying great interest. Jayce realized then that he had said too much, and turned back to his opponent. Shields were deployed, and cards drawn. Yodaz glanced around the room, noting that the start of the duel had prompted certain equipment, such as video cameras and some strange mini-satellite dishes that he did not recognize, to activate. Even more suspicious.

Jayce placed a Solar Ray into his mana zone as the first action of the duel, and ended his turn. Cloud added a Terror Pit to his own mana, and did the same. Yodaz noted the first two mana cards, though he knew that they no longer were a clear indication of the opponent's deck type, especially since they were spells. He wondered briefly if it had become a tactic to play one's spells to mana first, to throw off the opponent. It was not a strategy he felt the need to employ.

Jayce drew his card and placed an Aqua Guard into his mana zone, painting a clearer picture of his deck's contents than before. He then summoned a Hunter Fish. Yodaz decided to say what he had to say to Gene now before the duel actually became too interesting.
"We need to talk about some cards and how they are affecting the professional circuit of this game..."

Gene practically rolled his eyes, but, as Yodaz was watching the duel whilst he spoke, he did not notice. Yodaz simply continued without waiting for Gene's objections.
"The balances of our game destroyed the chances of most decks to perform at the mid game level. There are two cards that are making this a crucially difficult deck to build, and for their effects to remain as they currently are is unacceptable..."

Cloud drew his card, and placed the Crystal Memory into his mana zone. This made Yodaz take a bit more notice, but only because of his previous thought. It also instantly gave him the feeling that Cloud's deck was going to be enough like his own to make his point to Gene for him, provided that Jayce was attempting a mid game strategy. He waited, and surely enough, Jayce Dukane charged more light mana and summoned a creature.

"Aqua Soldier. End turn."

The summon almost distracted Yodaz from his point. He had not seen one of those in a long time now. He had just managed to forget all about her presence and have his thoughts focused again on what Gene needed to understand. Now, in his mind, the Soldier stood, it's skinny liquid frame awaiting further orders. Instead of bothering him, however, the thought simply strengthened his resolve. It was quite likely that Jayce's deck was indeed a mid game assault type build, and that would probably make his point for him.

"Fine," Gene finally muttered, interrupting his train of thought, "So what are these cards you speak of, and what do you want me to do about it?"

Cloud drew his card and charged fire mana, the energy of the card instantly alerting the other two Kaijudo users to its position in his deck. The rumbling voice of Cloud's avatar seemed to alert the duelist of something, but the other two were not privy to what exactly that was. The Bolmeteus Steel Dragon then went silent again.

Gene's curiosity finally got the better of him, and he allowed himself to ask Yodaz for the favor he had so long been wishing for.
"Can you let me see this duel, Yodaz? I know what you all are capable of to some extent. Can you do that for me too? I can feel it, but I cannot see it..."

Yodaz looked skeptical yet again. Lately he had become uncomfortable with the idea of Gene getting anything he wanted at all. He did, however, think about another useful way to take advantage of Gene's wish, and so, decided to do a little manipulation of his own.
"Of course, Gene. In fact, I'll let you see the whole duel from Jayce's point of view..."

Their mutual suspicion heightened now, but it would not be enough to outright deter either from their course of action. By now Cloud had cast his Energy Stream spell, drew his two new cards, and ended his turn. Jayce drew his card, that act alone sending a tingle of energy through Gene, amplified by Yodaz's effort, and now, Gene could see. Jayce charged mana. Kizar Basiku, the Outrageous, and summoned another Hunter Fish.
"Aqua Soldier, ikei!"

Gene's heart almost leapt with joy for some reason when he could finally actually see the Soldier streak towards Cloud's defenses and shatter one. The light cubes that triggered were not meant to hurt the liquid one, however, they merely swirled around it and allowed Cloud to retrieve the Apocalypse Vise from his deck. Instantly, Yodaz knew how this would turn out. The only way one would get Vise at that point was for fire mana, or if you had a definite means of stalling...

Cloud seemed to be smiling as Jayce ended his turn. He charged light mana now, and summoned a Locomotiver. Gene got to feel this one. The howling approach of the train, the feeling of the smoke dragging away the image in the mind of Jayce Dukane. Another Kisar Basiku. He probably would not have needed it anyway, but the loss of his card would weaken his capacity to build. Jayce drew his card and merely charged mana.
"Aqua Soldier. Ikei."

The second assault was uneventful for the blue one. No trigger. Jayce ended his turn. In Yodaz's mind, Corile noted the appearance of the Locomotiver yet again. Cloud drew his card, and sent his Lost Soul to mana.
"Oh, come now..."

"I summon Corile, on your Aqua Soldier."
The single action caused such a myriad flood of Kaijudo and emotion in Yodaz, that Gene's mouth dropped slightly open with the shock of it. A mix of nostalgia, despair, something akin to guilt, and determination, from Yodaz himself... a few mental images of doing that exact same thing to Libra on his own fifth turn, over and over. From Cloud, a feeling of triumph. From Jayce, not despair, but rather, the choking feeling that Corile always brought. A feeling that Yodaz passed on to Gene quite clearly, causing the young tycoon to gasp for breath.

"That card is the first of the two. That effect controls field, hand, and grants its user not only a creature, but one that is synergistic with the most powerful card drawing effect the game has," Yodaz explained to Gene now, as Jayce drew and resummoned his Soldier.

Cloud drew his card, charging light mana this time.
"I summon another Corile, again, on your Aqua Soldier."

Gene took the brunt of the asphyxiating effect this time, causing him to cough at the feeling of the constriction in his lungs. Cloud merely ended his turn. His advantage was almost sealed. Jayce drew his Soldier and summoned it yet again, sighing.

"That card has the ability to nullify everything that does not have its effect upon coming into play. It can hold them off until--"

Yodaz did not need to finish his sentence, since Cloud had, by then, drawn his card and charged his Crimson Hammer to his mana zone.
"Apocalypse Vise. Destroy them all..."

Jayce did his best to protect his mind from the effect, but the two Hunter Fish vanished, the Soldier barely escaping by, as usual, evaporating and returning to Jayce. Jayce drew his card, and resummoned the same Aqua Soldier yet again.

"Through Corile's power, his growth is stunted and his mid-game destroyed. He had no ability to do any damage between the fifth turn and now. By now, it is too late, I assure you," Yodaz told Gene, who was still trying to recover from the Apocalypse Vise's effect on his own mind. Cloud drew his card now and charged Searing Wave to his mana zone, summoning a Bloody Squito and a Phal Eega, which in turn retrieved his energy stream.

"The... other card... what is it?" Gene asked, "You said there were two..."

"You are lucky you did not have to feel the effect of that one. Searing Wave. It is a necessary card, however its penalty does not do what it was meant to. The card destroys the mid-game. After that, it is unlikely that one cares if a shield had to be sacrificed for the greater good. The mid-game deck has been stunted beyond the ability to recover."

"That can't be true. For one thing, you play both those cards, and secondly, one can always recover. That is why this game was designed this way. There are no cards that need to be changed."

"Really? Yet we change so many when the Japanese players learn that they are too strong to allow any other cards a chance to compete? Isn't that what this is really about? Not if the card is fair against itself, but if it is fair against most other cards..."

Jayce had just charged his Holy Awe to his mana zone. He was already weakened too much to put up much fight with his Kaijudo, but his Aqua Soldier was still apparently 'happy' when its leader appeared a moment later.
"I summon Iere, Vizier of Bullets!"

The light energy did not flood as it normally did. Iere was not that kind of creature. Yet, as an avatar, it was inspiring, both to Jayce and to his Aqua Soldier. There was still a chance. Even under this circumstance, there was still a small chance to pull through. Jayce gritted his teeth and decided to go for it.
"Aqua Soldier, ikei!"

"Shield Trigger. Crystal Memory."

Jayce merely ended his turn. Cloud drew his card, scoffed slightly, and placed a Brain Serum into his mana zone.
"I summon... Bolmeteus Steel Dragon!"

The power of the robo-dragon avatar totally swamped that of Jayce Dukane, and he hardly noticed when the Dawn Guardian evaporated his Soldier. Shaking it off, he picked up the card as Cloud ended his turn.

"The late game is always too late, now..." Yodaz noted almost mournfully, as Jayce drew his card and charged his Solar Ray, summoning the Vizier of Magnetism instead of the Soldier. Cloud smirked again. His opponent was likely to be looking for another Kisar Basiku. That would be why he had not attacked. His hesitation would be his undoing. Cloud drew his card, and charged even more of his precious mana. An Aqua Hulcus.

"I cast Energy Stream, and summon a Bloody Squito, as well as another Corile, for your Vizier of Bullets! Bolmeteus, obliterate his defenses! Ikei!"
The amount of Jayce's psychic energy dragged away by Corile's effect was in no way helped by the utter annihilation of his shields by Cloud's avatar.

Jayce drew his card, and summoned the two creatures that had suffered under Corile's constriction so far, for this duel. Iere and the Aqua Soldier now returned to the battle zone, but neither seemed at all inspired to continue fighting. Jayce will to battle had been drained away, and Yodaz was helping Gene to experience every gut-wrenching moment of the feeling. Jayce ended his turn, and Cloud drew his card.

"Hmph. Searing Wave."
Yodaz took special care to ensure that Gene could feel the effect of this. Soldier, Magris and Iere all scorched away by the card. Cloud flicked his shield, a Locomotiver, into his graveyard. He did not seem concerned at the loss, since he calmly played an Energy Stream a moment later, drawing two more cards.

"H-he can't get through? There's no way? Are you sure? What about the speed attackers?" Gene asked, his voice almost cracking. He was trembling now, though obviously not from the cold, since the Searing Wave had left him feeling anything but cold. The perspiration on his brow was sufficient evidence of that.

"Bolmeteus... ikei..."
The robo-dragon's assault brought an end to two more of Jayce's shields, neither being allowed to even go to his hand. Cloud ended his turn. Yodaz gave Gene a simple look, pitying him.

"What do you think, Mr. Kirricort--" he placed an icy stress on the 'Mr.' aspect of the name, "Can people generally 'get through' when they have nothing to do it with? Speed attackers are only part of one civilization."

"Well then why doesn't he just play some?" Gene countered quickly, aware that Yodaz was exerting serious psionic pressure on him now. Jayce drew his card.

"Sarius, Vizier of Suppression, and Aqua Soldier... end turn."

"It's no use now... he has too much mana..." Yodaz noted as Cloud drew his next card. Cloud actually bothered to charge mana this time, which caused Yodaz to wince. At this point, him wanting more mana was definitely a sign of trouble to come.

"Dark Reversal, to bring back my Locomotiver, which I then summon--" the train swept along toward Jayce again, and this time, took his Vizier of Lightning, Miele, with it. It did not matter much now, since no matter what Jayce's last shield was, it would be as nothing in the patch of Bolmeteus. Still, Cloud saw fit to strip away what was left of Jayce's 'pride' with a simple spell.
"Searing Wave."

Gene could not bear it any more. He was not sure how he did it, but he broke the mental link with Yodaz. Jayce was far less affected, at least visibly. His Kaijudo cracked under the devastation that accompanied the words that followed, issuing forth from the mouth of his opponent...
"Bolmeteus. Final defense. Ikei! Phal Eega! Todomeda!"

Gene Kirricort was already halfway out of the room when Cloud's Kaijudo swept over Jayce...

Yodaz emerged from the room into the hallway a few moments later, to find Gene propping himself up against the wall, catching his breath. He wiped his brow with a handkerchief from his suit pocket, then seemed to close his eyes and try to steady himself. Yodaz went down the hall and returned a few moments later with water from the cooler, for him to drink.

"You okay? I didn't realize it would hit you that bad," the champ apologized.

"There's something I don't understand..." Gene said, after he had drained the container of water, now looking pointedly at Yodaz, he continued, "You use both those cards, quite often. You're the champ. Why would you want them changed? Wouldn't that weaken you? Perhaps you would lose your title?"

Yodaz laughed. He could feel something inside himself change as he felt the resonance of Gene Kirricort's mind. He knew that in the end, after what had just happened, Gene was going to do what he wanted done.
"I don't think that I will suddenly start losing because of a few changes to some of my cards. If I needed them to be as they are, to win, then I'm not much of a champ, am I? I can handle my opponents without them being quite as 'unfair' as they are, thank you."

"But..."

"I have studied for quite some time with someone who took the chance to show me exactly what would happen to me, and to my opponents, if these cards were adjusted. I have no fear."

Gene finally could not take it anymore and let his legs give out, sliding to sit on the floor in the hallway, breathing in shallow gasps.
"So you already have a proposition as to how to change them? How do I know that you are not just trying to secure your position? I can't just say 'we're changing the cards because the champ thinks we should', you know..."

Yodaz sighed. "We're not changing the cards for normal play. Let the amateurs do what they want. Simply change them for your own tournaments and let them follow suit if they are willing to. You can at least handle that."

Gene looked suspicious again. "... and just what evidence do you expect me to give, to the general playing public, that these cards are so wrong that they need to be adjusted?"

Yodaz glared at him, triggering a short instant replay of the choking feeling of Corile, mixed with the overwhelming terror that Searing Wave brought. Gene squirmed uncomfortably, but Yodaz was not planning to grant him any 'mercy'.

"All right! All right... it's just those two? Nothing else? Why not? What about that Lost Soul card you hate? Or the Terror Pit that the Pikaye fellow spoke of. Why only those two?" Gene asked, holding his head, trying to keep his breakfast down amidst the waves of nausea.

"I told you. They are the ones that destroy the mid-game. I don't want them reduced to ineffectiveness. I want them to stop doing that particular thing while still allowing their user to reach the late game easily. Now... contact me when you've made your decision. I have someone I need to find."

Yodaz walked away now. His half hidden eye seemed to have its glowing lines again, but this time, he smiled at the feeling. Within himself, his Corile had already 'lost' some of its power. The feeling was freeing. He felt the way he had felt before Libra, before Shu, and before Pikaye. Deviously intrigued by what his next match could bring him... by what he could learn, and by the idea of putting another upstart or idiot in their place. The difference in him now, was his definition of both 'upstart' and 'idiot'.

Gene got to his feet just as Jayce and Cloud exited the room. Jayce nodded politely to him. Cloud shook his hand, speaking of how good it was to meet him and be allowed to participate in his experiment. Gene knew that his scanners and sensitive biometric equipment had all been useless from the time Yodaz had said anything about cards changing. The pure one on one Kaijudo that he had been wishing to have measured, if possible, would have become a medley of psychic waves that would possibly even include his own. Yet, both duelists had put their all into it, and would not be able to repeat the duels on a satisfactory level for his research team.

However, Gene had felt it all himself. On a level he had never been able to feel it on before. This was the world created by the minds of duelists, a place where those without the skill should not tread, whether by mind or science.

"I wish... I actually had as much control over these things as I make myself appear to..." he sighed. He was not authorized to stop the Research and Development department now, regardless of the fact that he had suggested the project. It was too late. It was already in the budget. He would need to find a way to either get it over with quickly, or to throw a wrench in the gears, at least long enough for him to find out more information, firsthand, from Yodaz, regarding what exactly KirriCorp was getting itself into. On the one hand, Yodaz wanted the cards changed, and on the other, those cards seemed to spark the most powerful psychic reactions. Problem...