Episode 49. - Apparent Tactical Advantages

The quarterfinal match-ups of the Duel Masters North American Championships were now poised to continue. Rusty Kouizo would now face Amera-Lynn Tyler. This would be an almost textbook match up, with the power and speed of Water and Nature facing the consuming and destructive forces of Fire and Darkness. This also meant that Yodaz facing Shu Lon would be the final quarterfinal match.

Now, Yodaz and Shu faced each other across the table where Rusty and 'Black Fire' had just deployed their shields. The factors had indicated that Amera would go first, and she began by charging mana in the form of one of her Tornado Flame. Rusty's was a Fighter Dual Fang. The Kaijudo quickly began to swirl...

Rusty's reaction to the void Kaijudo of his opponent, even as she charged the Skullsweeper Q she had drawn, was confusing to her. His own Kaijudo was rather primal, even with the water aspect of it. His Water side was still quite wild, and it stood in stark contrast to her own energy. Something about it made her heart start to race. Moreso when he charged water mana and sent his first creature out. Quixotic Hero, Swine Snout.

"This one... is going to be the one attacking us. We haven't had to be the defending force in awhile. Let us hope we remember how."

She charged a Rumble Gate and summoned a Horrid Worm. This would get tricky very quickly if Rusty kept summoning, so she would have to try to slow that process as much as she could. He sent an Aqua Surfer to mana and summoned a Hulcus. He was not about to let her slow him down, either.

Amera found her heart beating even faster as she drew her card and sent it straight to mana. Another Skullsweeper Q. No help against the army of warriors that was about to charge at her. She summoned her Shadow Moon, and ended her turn. The darkness crept toward the forest, but did not quite reach it...

"Swine Snout to mana, summon Bronze-Arm Tribe--" the effect surged the forest energy forward. A Dimension Gate went to his mana zone, "--and summon Swine Snout. End turn."

"You... plan to just break through with raw power?" she asked, seemingly incredulous. Rusty nodded and laughed.

"Of course. Can you handle that, miss? If not, this is going to be a very short duel. I've already got four creatures out and five mana. I hope you can do something immediately."
He ended his statement with a grin. Amera ignored her racing heart, and drew her card. A Chaotic Skyterror. She could not afford to summon it. She would need to go with her main plan.

"Skullsweeper Q to mana. Rumble Gate! Horrid Worm, Shadow Moon, attack those 'Heroes'. Ikei!"
The Swine Snout pair were taken by surprise during the tremors beneath their feet, and the Darkness creatures brought swift death to them both. Rusty lost an Energy Stream card from his hand also. Amera could already feel it. She had still been outmatched in speed and power. Something big was coming.

"Good choices, given that you had no chance of stopping me altogether. Aqua Hulcus, to mana. Bronze-Arm Tribe, evolve into Fighter Dual Fang!"

Amera could barely choke back the gasp that the flood of Kaijudo triggered in her. Another Aqua Hulcus and Crystal Lancer were added to Rusty's mana zone as cards, and to his mindspace as a roaring river. Dual Fang charged forward to strike down the Shadow Moon, and the Hulcus shattered a shield, rather than sacrificing itself against the Horrid Worm. She did not know why, but she was thankful, and even more glad she had decided to charge mana on the turn before.

"He's exhausted his resources, and only has one remaining Hulcus. One Energy Stream is also gone. Try to hold the line..."

She nodded, and sent the fourth Survivor card, a Blazosaur Q, directly to mana as she drew it, summoning the creature that had been holding the broken shield. Dark Titan Maginn.
"End turn."

Rusty blinked a bit, then smirked. He drew his card and summoned it. Torcon.
"Dual Fang, break her shields. Ikei."

"Shield Trigger. Tornado Flame. Goodbye, Aqua Hulcus."

This would be the best she could do, in terms of 'holding the line', for the moment. Rusty's Kaijudo pressed against hers, but got no reaction. For a moment, he seemed impressed. Across the table, Shu's eyes locked with Yodaz's. Shu smirked.

"She's not that impressive..." Corile flickered to Gigazald. The Phantasmal Horror did not respond directly in words. It was more of a rasping laugh, before seemingly turning its attention back to the duel. Amera now drew her card, but played no mana this time.

"Marrow Ooze, the Twister, and Chaotic Skyterror. Horrid Worm, break shield."
The shield did not trigger, and Amera breathed relief. She had almost desperately needed this to go exactly this way.

"Maginn... fight Dual Fang... ikei..."
Her words seemed almost sad. Even with the power afforded him by the Chaotic Skyterror's presence, Maginn could only hope to equal the devastating blows dealt by Dual Fang's mighty arms. Soon, they both fell, but Maginn's effect went further, taking not one, but two Dual Fang with him. The other had been the broken shield, sent to Rusty's hand. Now, they were safe from an evolving Torcon, and, possibly, from any more Dual Fang at all.

Rusty drew his card and summoned it immediately. An Aqua Guard. He took no other action. Amera's next draw was a Sword of Malevolent Death. Not the best time to have it, she noted, but it was nice to know it was there, just in case. She summoned a Horrid Worm, and attacked another shield with the Skyterror. It did not trigger.

"Horrid Worm, ikei."
The worm saved her also, though Rusty responded knowing the outcome. The Crystal Lancer he discarded would have been good to place on the Aqua Guard, but with no Lancer, there was no use in keeping the Guard either. The Liquid one leapt into action, blocking the Horrid Worm from actually reaching the shield zone, and they both died in the attempt.

"To have such faith in one's speed and resources. I like this one..." Valdios laughed, nearby.

Sure enough, Rusty's guess had been right. The card he drew, and instantly played, was an Energy Stream. His psionic energy refreshed itself, pressing against Amera's again, and for the first time, its effect could be seen. He cast a Dimension Gate following this, and instantly summoned the new Aqua Guard it brought him.

"It can't be..." she thought, drawing her card, "Not another Lancer already... that would just be insane..."

She summoned another Dark Titan now, the card she had drawn... and hesitated.
"It cannot possibly be another Lancer... that would make... three?"

Something about her opponent made her unsure, but she decided to go with tactical ratios this time, and not her 'instinct'. This was a strange battlefield that she was now on, very much unlike what she was used to. Some part of her was enjoying it, but another part seemed quite disturbed by the rushing natural force that Rusty wielded.
"Chaotic Skyterror, ikei."

"Shield Trigger, Aqua Surfer."

She winced, as her Horrid Worm was whisked away, for three reasons. The first, was that she now instantly regretted the attack. The second, was that he no longer needed to block it, and the third, was that if she had been doubly wrong, it would be impossible to discard the possible...

"Crystal Lancer!"
The Aqua Surfer was the one to evolve, not the Guard. It did not attack her shields, either. Instead, the rush of energy went straight for her Chaotic Skyterror, and the slash brought the dark wyvern down. Without it, even her second Maginn stood no chance of stopping Rusty's powerful avatar.

"How the tables turn," Rusty laughed, as he watched her draw her card. She nodded in agreement, and spent a good deal of time looking at the cards in her hand. She had to decide. By choosing to evolve the Surfer instead of the Guard, Rusty had, in fact, stopped her retaliatory plans cold. She now held a Shadow Moon to go with her returned Horrid Worm, and Sword of Malevolent Death.

"This is... hard..." she finally said, sounding, for the first time that any of them had heard, like a normal, slightly outmatched duelist. Gone was the military commanding undertone. Now, she was just plain old Amera-Lynn, a duelist from the suburbs.

"I'll... have to go for discard, I guess..." she admitted, placing the Sword Of Malevolent Death in her mana zone rather than playing it. She summoned her Shadow Moon and Horrid Worm now, rather than arming Maginn and sending this one on a suicide attack that would probably only be blocked by the Guard.

"Maginn, break shield. Ikei!"

"Shield Trigger. Aqua Surfer. Return your Marrow Ooze."
Everything seemed to flip over, in Amera's Kaijudo, all at once. Rusty had discarded... his fourth Crystal Lancer.

"Attacking isn't safe... not attacking isn't safer..." she said now, her voice carrying more than a hint of wonder at the power of the young man she faced. The Surfer was now one more attacker as well as having removed her only blocker. She was helpless, save the possibility of both her final shields being Tornado Flame.

"Summon Torcon... hmmm..."
Rusty's eyes quickly ran over her manazone. For some reason, Amera found herself blushing as he checked it. Her heart still beat fast, even knowing that this was the final move of the duel.
"Lancer, double break! Ikei! Aqua Surfer, todomeda!"

He declared this without even waiting to see what the shields would be. There was no need. Unless they were both Flames, he knew that she would not bother to trigger either one. Neither was a trigger anyway.

Amera slumped back in her chair, panting as if thoroughly exhausted.

"A little too much for you?" Rusty smiled.

"A little... yes..." she admitted, slowly rising from her seat. Her legs wobbled slightly, but she steadied herself before anyone needed to catch her. She gathered up her cards quickly, and excused herself towards the washrooms.

"What was that all about?" Burner wondered aloud. Yodaz shrugged and moved past him to sit. Shu slid into his chair also, still shuffling his deck slightly. Unknown to nearly everyone else, this would be a long-awaited rematch...

They had not waited for the announcement of the result of the factors. Yodaz had gone first. Shu had not objected. Spiral Gate to the champion's mana, and a Critical Blade to Shu's. Yodaz followed it up with a Terror Pit. Shu mirrored this, but was the first to summon. Propeller Mutant.

"Don't you find it a bit strange?" Shu now asked plainly as he watched Yodaz send a Volcano Charger to mana, and summon an Aqua Hulcus.

"What exactly are you talking about?"
Shu sent a Ghost Touch to his mana zone, and summoned a Horrid Worm, ending his turn. He watched and waited, as Yodaz supplemented his own mana in the form of a Lost Soul, and then drew his own card, before continuing.

"Everyone here is dueling as if they are only now learning. Have we been all closed off in our little worlds for so long, hiding from you, that we could never see each other...? Gigazoul, to mana, summon Gigastand."

Yodaz's response was to send another Spiral Gate to his mana zone and summon Corile, on the Horrid Worm. Shu smiled, nodded, and drew his card. Yodaz's Kaijudo had surged forward with his Corile summon, and now Shu was going to drive it back.
"Bloody Squito to mana. Gigastand, evolve into Phantasmal Horror, Gigazald!"

Yodaz winced, even though their energies were only evenly matched, at that. Corile hissed at Gigazald irritatedly. Gigazald laughed, and calmly yawned, seemingly sucking some of the strength right out of Yodaz. A Scheming Hands card went to the champion's discard pile. The Propeller Mutant swept over, taking an Apocalypse Vise as well. Shu's turn ended.

Corile floated calmly, noting the need for action. Immediate action. The other duelists clustered around. They seemed to be in little danger from the Kaijudo display, even with both Corile and Gigazald in the battle zone. The two 'titans' did not let their psionic energy flare unnecessarily. Each directed it all at the other.

"Apocalypse Vise to mana. Summon Thrash Crawler, to retrieve my Spiral Gate, which I cast on your Gigazald."
Corile seemed satisfied, but there was no large energy reaction. Tactically, this was still problematic. His hand was empty, and he only had five mana now. Topdecking at this point was not a good thing.

"Aqua Hulcus, destroy Propeller Mutant. Ikei! Corile, break his shield!"
The shield shattered without trigger. Shu smiled. Corile hissed. There was no way to tell what new horror he had just given his opponent, but Shu would have a harder time stopping a stream of attacks than other duelists that attempted to hold him down. He ended his turn.

"I'll show you my new trick now, then... Locomotiver to mana, summon Gigastand... and cast Slime Veil!"

"What the--?"
Yodaz could only watch as a dark ooze seemed to materialize over Corile and the Hulcus. Their eyes lost focus, and they started to shamble forward towards Shu's shield zone. Quickly, he drew his card, hoping for something to stop Gigazald from returning. He was in luck. It would not stop the Gigastand, but it was still a weapon.

"Scheming Hands!"
Shu revealed his hand, and Yodaz's triumphant breath caught in his throat. There, staring at him, was not one, but two, copies, of the Phantasmal Horror card.

"Why is it that whenever I really need to be rid of you, there's an extra incarnation around?"

"Lucky, I guess..."

One of the Gigazald was chosen, and went to the grave. Unable to stop his creatures from making their assault, Yodaz simply directed them. Corile broke one shield, the Hulcus another. The second one triggered a Terror Pit to consume the Thrash Crawler. Now, the effect of the Slime Veil wore off, leaving a dazed Corile and Hulcus trying to make sense of what had just happened. Shu wasted no time...

"I summon Propeller Mutant, Horrid Worm, and cast another Slime Veil! Gigastand, attack Corile. Ikei!"
The Cyber Lord was spared the full effect of the dark slime this time around, being destroyed instead by the Chimera bearing down upon it. The Hulcus began to flow slowly forward again, its mind beyond Yodaz's control.

"Mind control now, Gigazald? Then again, you always did do things like that, didn't you...?"
Yodaz summoned his Locomotiver, to send the second Phantasmal Horror to the grave, but it did not truly make the situation better. The Hulcus broke the shield anyway, restoring power to Shu, and now the darkness duelist was free to move again.

"Death Smoke, on your Locomotiver... Gigastand, attack the Hulcus. End turn."

Yodaz drew his card, and, finding it to be one that he could not yet play, placed it to mana and ended his turn. Nature mana appearing at last in the form of a Rumbling Terahorn. Shu tried not to smile, and failed. Yodaz, oddly, smiled too.

"I summon Propeller Mutant, and Shadow Moon, Cursed Shade. Gigastand, break shield. Ikei!"
Yodaz's energy did not even flicker, causing Shu to wonder just what the shield could have been, that he would not care about losing it now. This did not deter the Horrid Worm's attack, so he got to see just what the card was when it was discarded. A Lost Soul. No help directly. Shu's hand was already empty. The second shield, broken by the worm, went to Yodaz's hand without trigger also.

"It's still a bit too clunky... Your tempo held..." Yodaz now admitted, smirking. He drew his card and sent his Bazagazeal Dragon to mana, then summoned an Aqua Hulcus, and instantly followed this with the Locomotiver he drew. Shu had only one remaining shield. There was still a chance of this, depending on what came off the top of his opponent's deck, and what was in his own shield zone.

"Proclamation of Death!" Shu declared, casting the spell at the moment he drew it. It was almost symbolic, for with that card, it was almost certain that Shu had ended Yodaz's chances of retaining his title. The Aqua Hulcus took the hit, and Gigastand rumbled forward to break the first of the three remaining shields.

It did not trigger. Neither did the one the Shadow Moon broke, nor the Horrid Worm... Yodaz did not bother to discard, even, because he was also not going to bother to trigger it even if it were something that could. The duel was over. Shu did not drive the point home, he merely retracted his Kaijudo slowly before saying softly...
"Propeller Mutant... todomeda."

"Never did like that deck of yours, Shu..." Yodaz said, getting up and bowing slightly. Shu seemed a bit surprised at the gesture, but bowed also. He said nothing directly in response. There was nothing to be said.

Yodaz now picked up his cards and shuffled his deck back together. The calm with which he seemed to be taking the whole event left quite a few of the onlookers confused as to what exactly was going on. Even those who had known about, or been at, the World Championship, were not quite clear on what Yodaz's words had meant.

There was a flash of Kaijudo now, and for that moment, each duelist could see not only the reality around them, but the mindspace where their avatars all 'stood'. Corile floated calmly past Shtra, even as Yodaz walked by Libra. Shtra's confused and incredulous thoughts were echoed by Libra's equally incredulous words...

"He... beat you..."

Corile smirked at Shtra, as Yodaz patted Libra on the shoulder in passing, seeming almost to be laughing. He flicked his head slightly, causing the dark hair to fall into place over his eye as the telltale blue lines seemed to glow within it again.

"He's done it before..." was all the champion said.

Libra looked confused, as Yodaz walked off towards the snack trays on the table in the back of the room.

"The semifinals will begin in a few minutes! The first of the two duels will be Nicholas Burner facing Siddhant Sutar, followed, of course, by Rusty Kouizo's duel against Shu Lon!" the judge now announced to the room.

Gene Kirricort now flicked open his cellular phone and made a call.
"... yes, good afternoon, Samantha, put me through to Jasper, please... In a meeting? What kind of meeting? ... I see. Well, when do you expect him to be finished? ... hm... I'll call back then... thank you..."