Episode 43. - Things Entrenched In The Mind

"Amera-Lynn Tyler vs. Siddhant Sutar!" came the announcement. The finals of the tournament at this particular megastore. The dark haired woman sighed. This was precisely why she hated to have to give her full real name to anyone. Pronouncing it always seemed to be such a bother. Explaining to people that she was not 'Amy' was moreso.

"It's better than the last time when they figured it was Amelia..." came the dark voice. She shuddered. She could not imagine being an 'Amelia'. It just boggled the mind.

Her opponent's name had not exactly been pronounced correctly either. Siddhant was your typical late-teenager. Dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a perceptive look about him. He was also quite the duelist, as his progress through the tournament had indicated, but his opponent was definitely not expected to be a walkover for him.

As they both now completed the drawing of their cards, Amera caught a glimpse of a slight frown on Siddhant's face as he drew the last of his own. She would be going first. Her Sword of Malevolent Death was the first addition to her mana zone. She let her Kaijudo waves simmer now, becoming comfortable, in her seat, and trying to feel out her opponent. To her surprise... there was nothing to feel, apparently.

"What's going on?" the dark voice asked now, seemingly confused by the situation. It had been quite some time since she had been in a tournament final and her opponent wield no Kaijudo against her. Instantly, her military mind defaulted to the belief, that this was a trap.

Siddhant charged Darkness mana. A Corpse Charger. He ended his turn, with the faintest hum of Kaijudo around him now. Amera relaxed. He simply was probably one of those people whose Kaijudo grew as they played. At the edge of her auditory perception, she could make out a conversation between two duelists that had been defeated before, by her current opponent.

"I think she can take him. His defenses aren't quite up there with what I'm used to."

"Yeah, but you still lost..." came the response from the girl that the young man was talking to, "He's got it down to a science, you can't just figure you'll get through..."

Amera had already assumed that her opponent's deck was another late-game type. They were still, by far, the dominant means of progressing through tournament play, even with the latest shocking declaration that the KirriCorp rule alterations would be enforced for the North American Championship.

"Then again..." she thought to herself, "There's nothing fundamentally wrong with playing decks like that anymore, is there? The rest of us just have to get better now, and get used to actually having a chance most of the time..."

Now, she charged Darkness mana herself. Gamil, Knight of Hatred.
"I summon Blazosaur Q. End turn."

Siddhant looked a bit confused for a moment. The deck had Gamil, yet the first creature summoned was a survivor. He simply charged fire mana. An Invincible Cataclysm. This, in turn, caused Amera to open her eyes.
"Impossible... has this league truly made it possible to play cards like that effectively? I really need to duel more..."

She drew her card, and sighed. A hiccup in her rhythm. Third turn and nothing to summon. She charged the Rumble Gate she had drawn, to mana, and began the inevitable assault.
"Blazosaur, break shield. Ikei."

"Shield Trigger. Crystal Memory."

Amera's own Kaijudo visualized the activation of the strange liquid crystal teleporter. She knew what that meant. The Blazosaur would be lost, surely, on the next turn. Even if they had not had the Volcano Charger or Crimson Hammer before, they had it now.

"Aqua Hulcus to mana. Cast Crimson Hammer," Siddhant declared calmly. There was no real visualization, something that unnerved Amera a bit. She placed the card in the grave, and drew her next one when her opponent indicated the end of his turn.

"We're ahead. Nothing to do but keep the assault up. All forces... prepare to charge!"

"Dark Titan Maginn to mana. Summon Shadow Moon... end turn."
This was Amera's best hope at the time. The Shadow Moon was one of the most generally effective cards in her deck. Harder to dispose of than most, yet something one usually needed to get rid of. Having it out first made it an easy target, and yet would stop her from making any plans regarding it until she knew it would survive. She had learnt well, long ago, how to handle this sort of troop movement.

Her opponent drew his card, and charged more fire mana. A Crimson Hammer. The Blazosaur had been quite 'doomed' to begin with, it now seemed.

"Locomotiver."
There was no Kaijudo effect, but nevertheless, she lost a Rumble Gate. Immediately, Amera could feel that such a loss was going to pose a problem, but she could not quite put her finger on the reason.

"I summon Marrow Ooze, the Twister, and Bloody Squito. Shadow Moon, break shield. Ikei."
She moved with relative caution, but there was no actual chance of it. There would be triggers. There were always triggers. It was simply a matter of how and when they were hit. A minefield that needed to be navigated.

"I truly need to come up with a way to do this without increasing their power so much... or perhaps become faster..."

"It is fine as it is. Times are changing, and we cannot always win. We got this far, this one will be defeated also. I can feel it."
The General of Destruction's thoughts did not comfort her as they normally did. She ended her turn, as the shield had not triggered after all. Now, the hard part would begin, and she was currently trying to figure out how to best use the talents of her two blockers. Whatever came next, it was almost sure to be dangerous.

"Corpse Charger to mana. Cast Energy Stream," Siddhant said now. Amera looked suspicious, her entire plan shifting. Even moreso when Siddhant ended his turn there, without attacking. Her own hiccup had been offset, apparently, by his own. For some reason, this prompted her to speak to her opponent, or, moreso, to herself.

"You defend a fortress against my siege... troops... supplies... such an interesting flow, don't you think? I rather enjoy trying to break your defenses, looking, hoping for the weak point in your wall of traps and weapons... just as you look for weaknesses in my assault force."

Siddhant nodded, acknowledging her words as she drew her card and summoned the Horrid Worm now, without charging any mana. The assault continued.
"Shadow Moon, break shield. Ikei."

The third shattering also occurred without a trigger. She was absolutely sure that it was going to become difficult from here on, and contemplated launching an attack with the Marrow Ooze. By now, the next movement from the enemy lines was sure to take out one of her soldiers. It was merely a question of how. She decided to wait. The Shadow Moon was vulnerable, as long as its dark power was affecting the entire area. The Locomotiver could use that very power to destroy it.

"Aqua Surfer to mana," Siddhant declared, causing Amera to smirk to herself. She had made the correct decision, more or less. That card could have made it possible to get past a single blocker. She preferred to give enemies such as Siddhant no quarter, and that included making it unwise to summon.
"-- and cast Terror Pit, on your Horrid Worm."

The imagery in her own mind was dark, but none seemed to come from Siddhant. The Horrid Worm vanished into the abyss, and Siddhant ended his turn. She drew her card.

"Sorry..." came her avatar's words. It would have been preferable, in fact exceedingly preferable, to draw something, anything, that she could actually summon at this point. Yet Amera smiled.

"You big lug. I'll bet you've made us lose now," she laughed mentally. Trox's grin of jagged teeth showed his mirth at her impression. She placed the General of Destruction into her mana zone, and commanded another attack by her Shadow Moon.

The fourth shield also did not trigger. Amera sat there for a good few seconds, quietly contemplating. Of course, to those outside of her mindspace, who could not see the 'discussion' amongst the troops, it looked like she had simply ended her turn and not declared such. To the point where Siddhant finally prompted her...
"End...?"

"Marrow Ooze, kamikaze shield break. Ikei."
Siddhant Sutar's final shield shattered with no trigger. The wall was broken. One more critical strike, and the forces of Amera-Lynn Tyler would overrun the enemy 'barracks'. He would certainly have to stop her now.

"This is the interesting part..." she smiled, "This is the part where I summon... and you kill, over and over, until either I can't summon, or you can't kill... you're holding the last line... how long can you do it?"

"Forever," Siddhant responded calmly. His resolve impressed her. She raised her Kaijudo a bit and wondered just what he meant by that declaration. Now, he sent his Lost Soul card to his mana zone, and charged all his energy simultaneously.

"Apocalypse Vise!" he declared. There was a short pause before he actually declared, "On your Shadow Moon."

The darkness had protected the Squito. This was no help to Amera, but it made Siddhant shift uneasily. He did not much like the feeling of using an entire Apocalypse Vise on just one creature. His feeling did not improve when Amera proceeded to draw her card and smile at him.

"Here's another. Ball is in your court again. Summon... Shadow Moon."

Siddhant drew his card, and charged mana. A Eureka Charger. Now, he cast another copy of that spell as well, drawing again, and followed this with something Amera was not expecting at all.
"Corile, on your Shadow Moon."

She was almost about to place the card on top of her deck in defeat when she remembered. It had been very long since she had seen the card in use. Even when she had, the situation had almost always been just like this one, but she would have one more creature available to simply make the final attack regardless. Somehow, the idea that when there was only one soldier present, that Corile meant death, was etched in her mind. Now, she smiled a little, even knowing that she had too little mana to make use of even the smallest creature in her deck alongside the Moon.

"And now, back to me, except that you have only delayed me. How many of those Vises will I have to plough through, I wonder... At this point, you can only hold me off."

"I can do more than hold you off," Siddhant corrected, smiling. Amera smirked. Confidence was something she greatly admired in opponents. Arrogance, not so much, but this did not seem at all to be that.

She drew her card, and puffed exasperatedly. She had actually drawn the smallest card in her deck. Which was not directly any help since she was still too low on mana to summon it. A Blazosaur. She decided to hold onto the card. As things stood, Siddhant absolutely had to move the Shadow Moon, as far as she saw it. If a Horrid Worm or Explosive Soldier now were to join the Blazosaur in her hand, he would possibly be hard pressed to stop them both.
"I summon Shadow Moon. End turn."

Siddhant augmented his mana zone with a card that he could no longer afford to summon. His Bolmeteus Steel Dragon. Amera smiled to herself again. Under this heavy assault, the enemy's larger troops would have no time to mobilize. Tactically, she was still in the clear. Very likely to lose her Shadow Moon now, but in the clear.

"I summon Aqua Surfer. To return your Shadow Moon. And a Thrash Crawler, to retrieve one of my Aqua Surfers from mana."

Now, the crowd buzzed. The longer he held her off, the more powerful he would become. The more his chances of victory would improve. That meant that he would need to keep it up, perfectly, for the entire performance.

Amera drew her card. It would not matter what it was. Since the enemy tactic seemed to be merely another delay rather than a destructive one, she would go for the next possibility. Keeping things at least predictable from the enemy camp.

"Skullsweeper Q to mana. Summon Shadow Moon and Blazosaur."

"I guess the Blazosaur was exactly where we needed it to be after all. Good fortune today. Actually, given the situation, so was the Skullsweeper..."

Amera ended her turn. Siddhant was still fairly on top of the situation, though. He proved this by casting a Volcano Charger on the Blazosaur. Despite its composition, even the Rock Beast was not quite durable enough to survive the blast. The Aqua Surfer sent the Shadow Moon away, and left Amera feeling a little empty. It was such an interesting duel that it seemed a shame for it to lack Kaijudo on the opposing side. She drew her card, and again, found herself one mana short of a nice trick. The Explosive Soldier would need to wait one turn to join the Shadow Moon in the battle zone.

"Summon Shadow Moon."

Siddhant looked at his hand, and seemed to assess the situation. She really was going to just keep coming until something in his defenses broke. He decided to take a chance. He had not, as yet, seen a single destructive card. The Shadow Moon would not be able to deal the finishing blow without one.

"Eureka Charger to mana. Cast Energy Stream..." he took the two cards off the top of his deck, and appeared contemplative, before continuing, "Cast Lost Soul."

"This is it," came a voice from the crowd, "Looks like it's getting close, but I think he's got her..."

Amera frowned, and drew her card. Sadly, it was a Fire card. She had been hoping for one of her Demon Commands. Just one of them would have forced Siddhant into a very difficult situation. As it was, she would have to settle for the looming threat of her...
"Chaotic Skyterror. End turn."

"It's over," came the voice from the crowd again. Siddhant charged a second Bolmeteus Dragon to mana, and summoned a Gray Balloon, Shadow of Greed, then proceeded to tap eight of his mana cards. The feeling was very unnerving to Amera. She knew exactly what was coming, but normally this summon was accompanied by such a flare in Kaijudo from her opponents that she would have to use nearly all of her own just to avoid the urge to give up right then and there. Today, it was just a card. Just a summon. Just a plain old unaccessorized Bazagazeal Dragon. Were it not for the blocker that had just been summoned alongside it, it would not even have been enough...

"Bazagazeal, ikei. Destroy the Bloody Squito."

The creature was obliterated, and Amera laughed to herself. It was at times like this that she thoroughly understood why people would not want to play decks like hers. The things that could keep one from victory, were very strange. Even if she were to draw one of her new Tornado Flame on the very next turn, it would not be enough to get through. Her own Ghost was protecting that of her opponent.

Siddhant did not know for certain that Amera had no means of getting through his defenses. Which was why when she finally did draw her new card and summon it, that he seemed to take great notice. The Princess of War now loomed on her side. The Bazagazeal Dragon could still manage to just about defeat her, but it would cost him eight mana to do it. His defenses were beginning to run just a little thin, and she just seemed to keep on coming.

"Now I understand what you meant," Amera remarked, "There truly is no better defender of your fortress than that mighty dragon. You really can stop me forever..."

Siddhant now, for the first time, felt her void Kaijudo press in on his mind. She wanted him to see what she saw. The image of the volcanic island fortress that she was attempting to siege, and the heat rising from the volcano where she knew the Bazagazeal waited, waited to be given enough power to temporarily take flight, long enough to obliterate some unfortunate member of her forces.

Sadly, he did not get much of the image. He now made his 'final move'. Bazagazeal took flight once more, but this time, things did not go as Amera expected. He looked carefully at her mana zone, his eyes seeming to fixate on the first card she had placed into it. The Sword of Malevolent Death. Watching him, and following his gaze, she suddenly understood why. No matter what Bazagazeal destroyed, all she would need was a Sword. Then his blockers would be obliterated even if they stopped her, and there would be only one counterattack force capable of actually stopping what was left.

"Is he actually going to have to--"

"Bazagazeal, double break. Ikei!"

"Ha! Victory!" Trox declared. This was met by a cheer from the troops. They had been fighting for quite awhile now. The enemy was going to try to mount an offensive, as their last hope. The blocker forces could not stop the Moon, the Skyterror and the Princess of War. Gregoria would, naturally, deliver the final blow. All that was needed was for one of the defense shields of her own camp, to trigger a Tornado Flame, and stop just one of her opponent's smaller soldiers from breaching their defense lines.

Amera smiled. So far, for that whole duel... there had been no sign of any Tornado Flames...

The first two shields shattered. Gamil, and a Shadow Moon. It was becoming quite epic, and the excitement gave her quite the rush. This would be a fantastic ending. Even moreso if the Flame was in the final shield. She resolved that, if it were so, she would find a way to show the finale of this glorious campaign to he who had made such a duel possible.

"Locomotiver, ikei!"
This shield was a Blazosaur Q. The end was near, but now, her troops buzz lost some of its anticipation, and gained a little actual worry. Cutting it close was exhilarating, but losing was not quite so.

"Corile, ikei!"
Now, a Skullsweeper Q. The worried buzz now turned to a solemn dread. Trox stood stoically in the mindspace, beside his commander. Gregoria, her Shadow Moon attendant, and the Skyterror flapped overhead, awaiting the command to throw itself against the Thrash Crawler if indeed the final shield saved them.

"Aqua Surfer, ikei!"
The shield shattered. A mournful wail went up from the forces of the DarkFlame Legion. A Sword of Malevolent Death. Wherever in the supply lines the Tornado Flames were... none were here.

"Aqua Surfer, todomeda."
Amera nodded in acceptance of her defeat. Her Kaijudo receded, and her mind began to immediately assess the damages.

"No changes are required," Trox reassured her, "Everyone did well. If anything, it was I that failed you. Also, had that Skyterror been either Gamil or Maginn, this could all have been very different."

She nodded, seeming satisfied. She wanted to be at her absolute best when the time came. She had received a special invitation to the North American Championship from the champ himself, and though she had no expectation of being able to take the title from him this time, she intended to thoroughly enjoy that event...