Episode 5. - Dark Power, Eternal Thrill

Yodaz stepped into the warehouse behind Pai Lon. It was dismally lit, but seemed clean enough. Across the large floor space, there were lots of tables laid out. Probably for small tournaments held here. The tables were all lined up under the fluorescent lights that crisscrossed the roof. As he was taking in his surroundings, the young duelist spoke.

"Wait here. I'll see if my brother and cousin are interested in seeing what you can do at all..."

Yodaz scowled. He certainly had not come all the way here to possibly get the brush off, but then again, if these duelists were at all serious about their Kaijudo, as he had heard, there would be no problem getting their attention. He closed his eyes and let his mind drift off. They would feel his presence in a minute. The moment he opened his mind to try to sense them, however, he found himself flooded with an unmistakable darkness. Powerful Kaijudo of Darkness duelists. Together, the three were more than a match for his own, but as he staggered and tried to regain control, he wondered to himself if it was just because he was not dueling them yet...

"Come!" came the call from the far end of the room. It was not Pai Lon's voice, though. The duelist that called to him sounded older and more gruff. He walked toward the voice, through the shaft of light that came from the one skylight window high above. Either they were going for the intimidating atmosphere, or something about this lack of lighting suited them. Finally, he could make out the shapes of three young men sitting around a table in the corner, their half-finished box of pizza still open, and the smell of pepperoni still hanging over the area in a delicious pallor.

"Want any?" the tallest duelist asked him, gesturing toward the box. Yodaz was about to decline, when something told him that this was also part of their 'test'. He nodded, and took the slice out of the box that the youth held out toward him. He bit into it, letting the silence wrap around his mind. Darkness duelists were often quiet. He didn't know why. Then again, they also often lost a lot, and probably didn't have too much to brag about. He was halfway through the slice when the tall duelist spoke again.

"So what can we do for you, Mr.--" The pause here was for the effect, prompting their guest to fill in the necessary information.

"Yodaz."

"Ah? I thought I'd recognized you!" Pai Lon exclaimed, "No wonder..."

Yodaz was instantly wary. Something had changed in the room when he had made his identity known. The jovial swirling shadows suddenly seemed to all be focused directly on him. He decided to relax and accept this. They obviously had some rather efficient skill with their own Kaijudo. There was no point in trying to convince himself that he wasn't amongst equals. But equal Kaijudo was not equal skill. That was usually easily seen.

"I assume you've come here to duel us," the taller duelist sighed gently as he watched Yodaz finish the last of the slice. He offered the box again, but Yodaz declined this time, accepting, instead, the napkin that he wiped his hands with. Yodaz found it strange. The third duelist had not spoken yet at all. The short one in the denim cap seemed to be looking through his own deck, totally engrossed in whatever it was he was seeing there.

"So the question I pose to you then, Yodaz, is why..."

Yodaz was taken by surprise, by this one.
"What do you mean, why? Because I duel. That's what I do."

"I'm sure you don't duel street duelists. We haven't put in any appearances at any serious tournaments in at least two months now, and our students do not generally discuss us outside of this place. So why do you wish to duel any of us at all?"
The tall one tilted his head slightly, and his eyes seemed to gleam with a silver flash of light as he stood up.

Yodaz was not in the mood for indulging this facade. "There are things I have heard about. Things about what you can do. I came to see these things for myself."

"All right, I understand. I am Ieri. This is Shu. You have already met Pai. Which of us would you like to face first?"

Yodaz nonchalantly pulled his deck out of his pocket. He was about to say it did not matter, when Pai Lon stepped forward.

"I will be the first. He has already seen my deck, so I am slightly disadvantaged. I will duel first so that you two can see his. Then perhaps it will be as interesting as Mr. Yodaz hopes it will be."

Yodaz nodded. A crafty lot, they were. He had not been involved in too many of these chain duels other than at special exhibition tournaments, but it seemed to him that these three did so often. He would have to be careful. If their Kaijudo was indeed stronger than his, he could actually be in some danger. He cautiously watched his opponent take out his cards, to make sure that it was indeed the same deck he had seen before. Unfortunately for Yodaz, for some reason, Pai Lon did not seem to want to play with the replica. Even though every card was supposedly the same, he took his own personal deck out of his jacket.

Pai Lon closed his eyes and breathed deeply as he crossed over the large area to one of the tables that was under one of the luminous fluorescent tubes. The artificial illumination threw hardly enough light for them to see their cards, but neither one would be needing to read the effects of the other's cards at this level. Yodaz placed his own deck on the table now also. He was determined not to have any problems with this one. Pai Lon began by charging a Stinger Worm to mana. Yodaz placed a Lost Soul into his mana zone. He felt something shift in the room when they realized he had played the Darkness mana, and he smirked. They possibly thought he played Darkness himself, if they weren't too familiar with his deck from some other source.

Pai Lon grinned oddly, and charged more of his obvious Darkness mana, then summoned a Bloody Squito. Yodaz charged water mana, and decided to get this over with. He summoned an Emeral, and activated its effect, then ended his turn, leaving Pai Lon to merely continue as normal, charging more mana. He made no action on that turn. Yodaz smiled. Even the tiniest hiccup in an opponent's rhythm often meant he had already won before they even seriously began. He drew his card, charged nature mana, and scowled slightly. He had to end his turn on this note also. He could feel the Kaijudo building, but the true battle had not started yet. Pai Lon drew his card, and charged more mana.

"I summon Shadow Moon, Cursed Shade..."
Yodaz chuckled slightly as the world around them seemed to instantly fade into an even deeper blackness. The darkness seemed to twist, swirl and swim around them, before the Shadow Moon took form before him. The Squito seemed to take pleasure in the company. Yodaz nodded slowly to himself. It was the same deck, but in the hands of its owner, it seemed to have a totally different dimension to it. He played more darkness mana of his own and summoned only a Hunter Fish to block. That would be enough to hold Pai Lon off, for now. He would save his other abilities for when the worms began to appear.

Pai Lon did not seem at all impressed, though he was wary. He could not seem to understand why the champion would be underestimating him in such a way. He charged more mana and summoned a Horrid Worm. Yodaz smiled. This was the beginning. Pai Lon ended his turn. Yodaz drew his card, and charged more dark mana.

"I summon Illusionary Merfolk."
In his trademark technique, the champion drew his three cards.

"A Water deck?" Pai Lon asked aloud, as the Merfolk floated in his mind, the aquatic perception quite clear at this point, "I would not have expected that from the champion at all..."
He drew his card, but did not play mana. He simply said:
"I cast Death Smoke to destroy your Hunter Fish. Horrid Worm, ikei."

Yodaz discarded his Twin-Cannon Skyterror from his hand, and picked up the shield. Pai Lon ended his turn. The rise in his Kaijudo had not affected Yodaz at all, and the young Darkness duelist was beginning to realize that his opponent might be more than a match for him. Yodaz drew his card and charged Fire mana. He would begin handling the situation right now.

"I cast Terror Pit, on your Horrid Worm."
Yodaz's Kaijudo rose sharply now, but Pai Lon seemed unaffected. The duelist seemed immune to the Kaijudo effects that accompanied Darkness cards. Perhaps all the duels with the others had taught him to expect such tactics. Yodaz simply ended his turn. Pai Lon drew his card.

"I summon Shadow Moon, Cursed Shade."
Now it was Yodaz's turn to be dizzied. The wave of energy that flooded his mind was intense. The dual power of Shadow Moons, with Pai Lon's own determined Kaijudo behind it. It seemed that he would not be able to focus solely on taking down the worms. He would have to move that one now, since even by presence it was beginning to make his head hurt. Pai Lon ended his turn here, and Yodaz drew his card.

"I cast Natural Snare to remove your Shadow Moon--" his shoulders seemed to drop in relief as the influence of the second ghost left his perception, "--and end my turn."

Pai Lon scowled slightly, but said nothing. He drew his card and played it. Death Smoke. Emeral vanished into the darkness. Much like Yodaz, Pai Lon now ended his turn. No need to do otherwise. Yodaz drew his card and summoned another Emeral, shaking his head slightly to return his perception to where it had been a turn ago before the Emeral was lost. That only lasted a few seconds...

"I cast Terror Pit. To destroy your second Emeral. End turn."
Now, for the first time since he had learned to control his own Kaijudo, Yodaz found himself ever so slightly flustered. Not quite panicked yet, but flustered nonetheless. He too, cast Terror Pit, to destroy the Shadow Moon. Pai Lon shrugged as the ghost was swallowed by the darkness. He was much more used to this than Yodaz was. Yodaz was used to dark decks... but not to massive levels of Kaijudo backing them up. The champ ended his turn. Pai Lon calmly charged mana and did no more.

"He is weak. Too slow. Strike now."

Yodaz nodded. Pai Lon felt the change, but seemed uninterested. Yodaz played a Dark Reversal, to retrieve one of his lost Emeral, and resummoned it, activating its effect. Two traps now. It would be harder to get through. He was slowly but surely gaining control of the duel.

"Aren't you tired of watching them die yet?" Pai Lon sighed, drawing his card.

Yodaz scoffed. Continually destroying Emeral was no way to get ahead. The Darkness deck would not have many ways of gaining advantage now. Pai Lon charged mana.

"I summon... Vampire Silphy."
Yodaz was not even sure what happened next. His mind became a dark abyss. Blinking up through what felt like water, he wondered if he was drowning in the dark. It was only a split second before the event that he realized he was seeing this from the eyes of the Emeral. When Silphy arrived, she seemed to suck all the life energy from him. He felt his lungs close up and his mind shut down. Only when his hand reached out to push the Emeral card into his graveyard pile, did he find himself free from the vivid imagery, and as he gasped for breath, he quickly ran through the situation in his mind.

"It's just one creature... one little Emeral... why-- why did I feel all that?" He shakily reached out for his next card, and even before he touched it, he felt the vengeful purple spirit practically hiss its annoyance at Pai Lon. He charged Fire mana, then summoned the avenger.

"Corile. On your Bloody Squito."

Now it was Pai Lon's turn. As Yodaz's Kaijudo soared, the younger duelist found himself a bit lacking in coordination as he fumbled to return the card to the top of his deck. Almost like being locked in stasis. He would be unable to do anything at all to Yodaz on the next turn. He drew the Squito and resummoned it. Yodaz smiled. The duel was his. He charged more fire mana.

"I summon Illusionary Merfolk."
Each card he drew made Pai Lon gasp for air more and more. Yodaz knew that the drowning feeling that his opponent felt was Corile's doing... and he liked it. Insolent duelists should not think themselves above their betters. He ended his turn. Pai Lon drew his card. The other two duelists seemed worried about Pai Lon's progress, but they did not intervene. Pai Lon summoned another Bloody Squito.

Yodaz drew another card, and felt the same vengeful spirit as before. Good.
"Corile, on your Bloody Squito."

Pai Lon's movements, though not clumsy this time, were slow and awkward as he placed the blocker on top of his deck. Stasis again. Another ineffectual turn created by the purple menace that now glared angrily at him from the other side of the battle zone. The two Corile 'swam' around far more actively than normal, apparently furious with Pai Lon's previous nonchalance. Pai Lon did all he could on his next turn. Resummon the Squito.

Yodaz drew his card, and mimicked himself. Sending another fire mana to his mana pool, the exact card he had sent the last time, he now summoned, again, his Illusionary Merfolk. Pai Lon clutched his throat and gasped for air as Yodaz drew his cards. This time, however, it did not end there. He also summoned his Rumbling Terahorn, and retrieved a third Merfolk from his deck. If he had to drown this one in Kaijudo to silence him, so be it. Pai Lon drew his card, and his eyes shimmered darkly. Vengeance was something he knew as well.

"I cast Death Smoke on your Illusionary Merfolk."

Yodaz was unfazed. Rather annoyed, however, as Pai Lon ended his turn. He drew his card and smiled. Perhaps this would work out, to stop the defiant dark "Dragon".
"I summon Illusionary Merfolk..." --Pai Lon seemed to be almost totally asphyxiated now, but Yodaz would have no mercy for the upstart-- "And Corile, for your Bloody Squito."

"Urk!" came the coughing gasp. Ieri almost sprung to aid Pai, but Shu seemed to hold him back. Pai Lon slowly, painstakingly, completed the effect of the Cyber Lord on his Squito for the third time. The three angry Corile on the other side of the field seemed to make everything move in slow motion for the young duelist. Yodaz ended his turn.

Pai Lon drew the Squito and summoned it once more.

"Such a fool," Yodaz growled as he drew his card, though at that point his speech pattern sounded more like Corile's than his own, "What ever made you think you could stop them? They'll all come for you as soon as you threaten too many of us. I summon my final Corile! Bloody Squito!"

This time, Shu did not stop Ieri from bounding forward to support Pai as he staggered. Yodaz did not give him time to recover, however, summoning a Rumbling Terahorn to retrieve his other Twin-Cannon Skyterror. Pai Lon very slowly completed Corile's effect, rather pointlessly, since all he could do now was to draw the same card and resummon it.

"You would think that by now, you would simply have surrendered," Yodaz scoffed, "I summon Twin-Cannon Skyterror, and play Natural Snare now, to finally remove your Bloody Squito altogether. Rumbling Terahorn, ikei!"

Pai Lon's trembling, sweat-dampened hand picked up his shield, as Yodaz continued the onslaught.
"Twin-Cannon Skyterror, ikei!" --this time, Pai Lon blocked with his remaining Squito-- "Corile, ikei!"

"Sh-shield t-trigger. Terror Pit... destroy your Co--"

The look in Yodaz's eyes quickly discouraged that thought.

"Umm... your... Merfolk. Yes... your Merfolk."

Yodaz nodded, as if Pai Lon had made some intelligent decision, then continued with his attack.
"Corile, ikei!" --no resistance-- "Corile, ikei!" --still nothing, as the third purple shape floated toward Pai and took down the last of his protective barrier-- "Corile... Todomeda!"

The last purple entity floated toward Pai Lon in his mind, and the four of them swirled around him. He shuddered for a moment, then from his mouth burst a blood-chilling shriek of pain and fright. He collapsed into the arms of the taller duelist Ieri, who gently lowered him to the floor, before looking up at Yodaz with a furious glare. Yodaz was totally in the zone now. He grinned almost sadistically.

"You're next."

"You will wait until I am sure Pai is all right," Ieri scowled. Helping the younger duelist to trembling feet, Ieri guided Pai to the table where they had been eating and slid him into the chair. Pai finally seemed to regain his ability to speak now, though he still stuttered slightly.

"It's... so c-cold. What did he d-do to me? I feel so cold inside..."

"It'll be all right, Pai. I'll deal with him now. He'll regret ever walking in here," Ieri vowed. He stood up straight now and reached into his own jacket pocket. As he did so, Pai Lon grabbed him by the sleeve.

"No, Ieri... don't do it, please. Stop now while you still can. He's too much for you. Let Shu do it. Only Shu can handle this one."

Ieri shrugged off Pai Lon's pleading hand. Could the duelist truly have spooked his younger brother that badly? This, he could not allow. It was personal now. He patted Pai Lon's head of spiky dark hair, ruffling it slightly.
"Don't you worry about that, little brother. I'm fairly sure I can 'handle this one'. I've seen his deck now, and he hasn't seen mine. You were at the disadvantage, remember? I'm just sorry that we let you go first."

"Ieri, please. I'm telling you, it isn't that. There's something different about him. Something cold and wrong inside of him. Don't duel, or it will get you..."

"Just relax, Pai," Ieri said, as he began to walk toward Yodaz, shuffling his deck, "I won't be taken by surprise, I promise you that. This will teach him not to trifle with Dragons."

Shu Lon seemed to drift over to Ieri's side as the tall duelist shuffled his deck and eyed Yodaz suspiciously. He tiptoed as Ieri bent slightly down, and he whispered something to Ieri. Ieri nodded, casting another quick derogatory glance at the victorious Yodaz, whose Kaijudo was still flooding the room even now. Yodaz had not bothered to let it diminish again. He was quite ready to go directly into the next duel. Ieri would actually have been at a slight disadvantage, on that note, were it not for his close connection to his brother. As it was, his Kaijudo was also quite high, and he was ready, as far as he was concerned, for dealing with the champion.

"They will not be allowed to do as such again..."
The floating purple shape in Yodaz's mind now took up its usual spot, leaning slightly over his shoulder as its thoughts streamed into his, mingling. Yodaz nodded. The first had been easy. It was only natural to assume that the next two would be harder, but they would not stop him. Drowning Pai Lon had been easy, as he had anticipated, though the effect the duelist had managed to have on him was unmistakable.

"What was that, before?" Yodaz wondered now. The response came in thought shapes rather than words, but Yodaz could interpret it easily enough. Helplessness. He had not been in any danger of losing the duel, but he could do nothing to save the Emeral even if he had wanted to.

Yodaz's expression darkened. No one had the right to make him feel like that. He had built the strongest deck there was, and spent hours, sometimes days at a time, perfecting it. Yet the annoyingly simple deck had held him at bay until the Coriles had come.

"Like all others, it fell before you. Do not worry. They will all fall before perfection. We cannot be beaten."
With that, the shape vanished, leaving Yodaz more confident than ever. He eyed the duelist before him. Another 'Darkness Dragon'. Another simple mono deck. Another easy victory for Corile. This was going to be fun.

Ieri was the first to deploy his shields. Since Pai Lon had been defeated, he would be going first in this duel. He did the obvious thing, and charged darkness mana. Yodaz charged nature mana of his own, and ended his turn. Ieri charged more darkness.

"I summon Junkatz, Rabid Doll."

Yodaz merely blinked, smiled, and accepted what seemed to be his inevitable victory. He charged fire mana for himself, and looked up at Ieri with disdain.
"I don't know what makes you think you can succeed where Pai Lon failed... but I assure you, you are very mistaken."

"Mistaken? I believe you were the one who made the mistakes here today. Following him here, and dueling him in the way you did. You will suffer for this one, mark my words, 'champion' Yodaz. This is not going to end at all in the way you expect it to."

"Cyber Lords are said to know everything," Yodaz replied, "So let the battle begin. I cast... Crimson Hammer..."

As Ieri's mind watched the flaming tool descend upon his Rabid Doll, he growled angrily. The darkness would consume this duelist before him. He would make sure of that...