Episode 52. - The Trigger Of Infinite Ruin

One of the largest advantages that both players had, going into the final, was the fact that the swift nature of both decks had, for the most part, hidden the contents of each from the other. Only the judges knew for certain the reason for the decision that was made, to let Burner go first.

Anyone speculating would probably have been correct about it. Rusty was the one with blockers. In the end, that was all it was. He had the choices regarding whether or not he could stop his opponent from breaking shields, and so, Burner would be the one given maximum chance to do that shield breaking, for the sake of fairness.

Upon drawing his fifth card, Nicholas Burner actually laughed. The reason was not clear. He could have been laughing at how well things had gone, or laughing at the utter uselessness of his bad luck hand. He charged mana in the form of a Twin-Cannon Skyterror, and ended his turn, the heat of the zone quickly engulfing all around.

Rusty drew his sixth card, and sent an Aqua Surfer to mana, immediately summoning an Aqua Guard. The judges had been right. Now, Burner would need to react differently somewhat. Unlike many other decks whose blockers were nothing more than stall tactics, Rusty had the choice of evolving his into his mighty avatar, or using them to stop a particularly vicious onslaught for long enough to do some other tricky move.

"Bazagazeal Dragon to mana," Burner said, "End turn."

Now, those around could assume that Burner's initial laugh had not been one of mirth, but rather an expression of his amusement at some form of irony. His second turn was over and nothing had been summoned.

"Tricky," Rusty smirked, "Definitely my second choice for Champion, if it were up to me."

Burner laughed, "Thanks. You're my second choice for Champion too."

They both laughed harder at this, as Rusty charged Nature mana and summoned a Torcon. Gene felt himself trying to understand what exactly was 'tricky' about not summoning in a duel that seemed as if it was going to be a race in shield breaking. His experience was not yet enough to grasp it, but suddenly, as if in a flash, the answer hit him. Both of Burner's smaller Humans that he had seen, had odd conditions on their attacking. One could be blocked indefinitely without the loss of Rusty's Aqua Guard. The other would be unable to stop attacking and could easily fall to Swine Snout.

Burner sent an Aqua Surfer to mana, and cast a spell instead. Energy Stream. Energy bubbled up in his battle zone as if an oasis had suddenly formed in a desert, and he drew his two cards. He was going to take full advantage of being chosen to go first, as well as the fact that Rusty could not discard cards from his hand.

"Crystal Lancer to mana. Cast Energy Stream."

Just behind him, Gene could hear the quiet commentary from one of the television crew.
"And here we have the two finalists for the North American Championship showcasing the true tactical and strategic nature of Duel Masters. Two decks, both known for their speed and aggressive attacking, are doing almost exactly the opposite of what is expected of them, in a carefully calculated attempt to gain advantage over the other."

Rusty pondered his situation for awhile. It seemed a waste to end his turn without an attack when it was almost clearly safe, but Burner's Shield Trigger possibilities were not something he could totally ignore.

"Go for it. Better now than the next turn. If any creature appears, he will not need a trigger to destroy our forces."

"Torcon, ikei!"
Burner's shield shattered, as the Beast Folk wielded its mystic power against the defenses. There was no reacting trigger. Rusty exhaled. Gene felt his head start to hurt. The tension that had been 'missing' in the duels before, was back. Now, faced with another aggressive opponent, each of the two potential champions had slowed down and started to think.

Burner's turn seemed to involve quite a bit of contemplation as well, at least, after he dropped the seemingly unnecessary Light creature into the mana zone. Finally, he made his move, tapping his mana carefully. Firstly, the Twin-Cannon and the Aqua Surfer, in order to finally summon the Mini-Titan Gett, and then the two remaining mana, to call forth Choya, the Unheeding.

"End turn."

Rusty drew his card. A Crystal Lancer. The spark of Kaijudo quickly revealed to Burner what it was, but the unguarded moment also made it clear to Rusty that Valdios was, in fact, almost there as well.

"Don't think that just because you arrive first that you can win. Often the last to arrive to a battle is also the last to leave."
Those around could barely make out what the Lancer was 'saying' to Valdios. So clear and direct was Rusty's Kaijudo at this point, that it was almost as if he was speaking only to his adversary.

"I intend to end this before you can even arrive," Valdios declared confidently. Rusty scoffed lightly, and decided to make that impossible. He sent a Fighter Dual Fang to mana and summoned an Aqua Guard.

Burner scowled momentarily, his plans having been somewhat thwarted, but he had now reached the point where not following them through would be of no benefit. He sent a Pyrofighter Magnus to his mana zone.

"Mini Titan Gett, evolve into Armored Blaster Valdios! Double break, ikei!"

A joyous laugh from the Mini Titan filled their minds as its great wish came true, and red light encased it in some of the Fire Civilization's most formidable battle armor. Another laugh came as the weapons opened fire, prompting the Aqua Guard to explode its liquid form outwards into a huge gel-like net. It was not enough to stop the firepower, but it was enough to slow the rounds to the point where the power in the shields would hold.

The second human made no attack, even though neither it nor the Aqua Guard would have actually had to battle if it tried. It was quite possibly for exactly that reason that Choya did not make any attack. Burner's turn ended. Valdios was there. Nothing could easily stop him. Rusty's creature was a Torcon and not even the occasionally mighty Swine Snout, who would at least have had a chance of doing it through skillful play.

Rusty drew such a creature now, and summoned it, sending his Aqua Surfer to mana at the same time. Burner smirked as Rusty ended his turn.

"Two Surfers out of your reach already? You're actually depending totally on evolving in order to stop me, then, are you? But..." he charged an Energy Stream to his mana zone now, "Can you stop two of them? Choya, evolve into Armored Blaster Valdios!"

"Oooh, Nicholas Burner has now put Rusty Kouizo in a tight spot," the commentator remarked now, in a moment of exposition that could only be considered 'overstating the obvious'.

"Valdios, double break his shields! Ikei!"

Rusty knew he would have to let the first through if he wanted any chance at all of stopping the second. He would hold out on the second attack, if there was one, and not a Surfer to wave the second Valdios away.

His luck was more than enough. His voice took on a strange echoing property, almost as if he said the same thing, twice, yet at almost the same time, causing many of the spectators to shake their heads, wondering if they had in fact actually heard what they thought they had. It would probably have been impossible.

"Shield Trigger, Aqua Surfer."
Not once, but twice. The double wave effect washed both Valdios away, as Burner's jaw dropped in shock and disbelief. Rusty's only remaining Surfers, had been exactly where he would have needed them to be. Now, the field of creatures that stood against him had risen to five, one of which, a blocker. A blocker that could become Rusty's avatar at any moment.

"Good game," Rusty laughed. Burner muttered something under his breath, and ended his turn, his mind quickly seeking the possibility of there still being a way out of this.

"Torcon to mana, and now Torcon on field evolves into Fighter Dual Fang!"
Mystic power swirled now, engulfing the Beast Folk in the shining green light of the forest's unity. That power dispersed back into the forest somewhat also, causing it to spread further. Rusty's next Torcon and Quixotic Hero went to the mana zone.

"The Surfers just accelerated the process. Dual Fang would have destroyed you anyway. This just is not your day."

"Aqua Surfer, ikei!"
The Surfer rode in on a wave to begin the process of 'claiming victory'. All around watched as things suddenly went somewhat wrong for Rusty. The shield triggered instantly, and a hail of suppression fire from all directions pinned down Rusty's forces, destroying the two Aqua Surfer and the Aqua Guard.

The event triggered the same expression of shock and disbelief in Rusty, as the double Surfer trigger had, in Burner, and even though the great Dual Fang and the Quixotic Hero were still free to charge forward, Burner's Kaijudo struck a mighty blow back against Rusty's.

Rusty now sat, slightly stunned. He knew something that could stop him. That could turn this entire situation around a little bit too fast for him to deal with in the way that he wanted... Nicholas Burner's deck held Aqua Surfers too.

Rusty paused, thinking. Thinking hard. Burner sat back in his chair, looking slightly smug with himself at this point. Even if he did lose now, he certainly had not been assured to lose. Even with the very light defense levels of his own deck, he could still stand against Rusty's charge. The Burst Shot had already fired. A Surfer in the next shield could make all the difference.

"What will you do?" Valdios grinned, "You have no more Surfers of your own. If your next strike hits one of mine, there's a good chance you've actually lost, isn't there? What if I also have two?"

Rusty steeled himself, considering the situation more and more. The best way to hold control of the duel now, was to single break and hope. Less chance of Surfer, and if it did appear, it would be Dual Fang it would stop. Dual Fang, at least, could instantly attack upon its return. No matter what happened, that was the move he would have to make.

The 'turn signal' dinged in the background, a warning that Rusty would need to make his move very soon. He did not hesitate further. It was all or nothing now. The chance of that single shield being the Surfer were chances he was willing to take, especially since that Surfer alone would not guarantee Burner a victory. Burner had no blockers of his own, and even if he did, the process of fully summoning a Valdios would enrage and increase the power of the Quixotic Hero to the point where Valdios would not even be able to destroy it.

"As crazy as he is, you have to love that impulsive pig-rider for that..." the Crystal Lancer admitted now.

"Swine Snout, ikei!"
The deciding shield of the North American Championship duel shattered, triggerless. Dual Fang did not waste an instant in making a thundering charge for the other two. The final shield was the Aqua Surfer that would have come close to saving Burner. Now, there were no more shields to stop Dual Fang. The Surfer waved the great Beast Folk champion away, making it clear that Rusty had, indeed, won, and that Burner had no blockers at all. For at that point, even an Aqua Guard could have given him the slightest chance, had he returned the Quixotic Hero instead.

Burner drew his card, and sent his Dava Torey to mana.
"I summon Mini Titan Gett, and evolve it into Armored Blaster Valdios!"

His Kaijudo flared powerfully in this instant, only to die away a moment later as he placed his remaining cards on the top of his deck...
"Good game. I concede to you... Champion."

The room erupted into loud cheering, quite an unexpected occurrence even for the end of a large championship. Those who could feel the latent psionic resonance knew that the cheers were for Rusty, Burner, and actually, even for themselves somewhat for even being there. There was a bond between these people who could channel their strategy into power, and make a game of cards into something so much more, sometimes.

Gene stepped forward, to clap both duelists on the shoulder, and exclaim, "Well done! Well done indeed!" in a tone of voice that surprised even himself. Yodaz smirked, his faint interest now dying away. Corile was already calculating if there would need to be any special changes made to deal with the influx of decks similar to Rusty's that would probably appear now that the championship was his.

Arielle seemed happiest of all, though it was not quite clear why. Maze seemed to be of similar exuberance, leaving Siddhant and Gaurav to wonder if it were merely their general happy natures, or their closeness to understanding of the forest and Nature itself.

"Eeyep! Definitely switching to Barkwhip!" Maze laughed now, also slapping Rusty on the back in congratulations, "Good show, m' man, good show!"

Rusty grinned, as people now crowded around to congratulate both him and Burner even more, nearly knocking over some of the television crew's equipment as they did so.

On the other side of the world, Ryoma had been watching the live feed, streamed straight to the computer, and now fell unceremoniously back onto the bed. He did not need to be there to imagine what the final moments of that duel must have felt like to the spectators. Floating backwards through his recent memories now, he realized that he had not had the opportunity to face Kaijudo like that in a while.

"One of the easiest things to forget, at our level... is that not everyone else is at this level with us..." Forbos observed quietly, before returning to its natural harmonious hum.

Ryoma nodded, thinking of the duels and the decks that had made the final eight, wondering just how many different decks were out there, how many effective variants of each would now spring up amidst the ranks of the younger or less experienced duelists.

"But it doesn't always happen that way, does it...?" he muttered to himself now. He would soon be playing an exhibition match in Hong Kong, against an opponent he greatly respected. One whose deck, for some reason, he had never seen duplicated to the level where one would even consider it to be a variant. That person would be adding the power of the new ninth set to that deck. Ryoma wondered to himself what would change.

"Nykahrii... I hope our duel is as great as what I just saw..."

The prize ceremony was now beginning. According to the League rules, there would be no third place match. Siddhant and Shu Lon would both receive equal prizes, and in the event that both Rusty and consequently Burner were for some reason stripped of the title, there would be a mini-tournament which the two would automatically be placed in the top eight of.

Both Shu and Siddhant seemed quite happy with their prizes, though neither could seem to give anyone any clear idea of what they planned to do with the money. Burner had quite a bit to say about that, but Gene laughingly cut him off about halfway through his list of possibilities. Burner laughed at this as well, and finally, Rusty came forward to accept the Champion's title, trophy, and the prize money.

The crowd demanded a short speech, which Rusty attempted to opt out of, but eventually he gave in, and said a few words of the generally encouraging kind. Gene then began the promotion of the ninth set in earnest, revealing the travel itinerary of both himself and the new champion, for the next three months.

Yodaz laughed at the look on Rusty's face as that list went on and on, and Rusty's disbelief seemed to grow and grow.

"Gone and got yourself into a bit more than you expected, hm?" Corile chided now.

"Ah well... it can't be that bad... right?"

Corile did not answer this, merely ending the 'conversation' with what seemed like a smug smirk, leaving the Lancer to make its own guesses about the amount of actual work involved in being Duel Masters' North American Champion for the next year.

In Tom Rogers' hotel room, his cell phone kicked in, the ring tone filling the room in the few seconds before he identified the caller and answered. Jasper Ikale.

"The 'Liquid Beast' won. Is that going to be a problem?" came the voice over the phone.

"No, not at all. It is as I predicted. No problem. It did not really matter which of them actually won. I'm sure Kirricort will be able to understand the error he's made regardless."

Jasper's voice seemed to become cautious as he continued.
"I've just met with Gene's new right hand. She doesn't seem as if she is going to cause any trouble for you directly, but she will be along on the trip, and most likely with you at all the tournaments. From what I've heard, she has the ability as well, even though she does not duel. If she opposes you, and I am sure she will, it may become a problem."

"Blonde woman, about five foot eight, green suit, silver earrings?" Tom asked calmly.

"Y-yes!" Jasper exclaimed, "But... how did you...?"

"She won't be a problem," Tom said, "If necessary, I'll restrict my... persuasive techniques to mostly dueling and during duels. She'll be unable to do anything at that point really. Still, I don't expect her interference, if any, to be anything more than a mild annoyance."

Jasper's voice now carried obvious relief. Tom began to wonder just what exactly Jasper's stake in all this really was. Though he also opposed the errata himself, Jasper seemed to be taking the entire thing a bit... personally.
"I'm glad to hear it. Obviously I'll be in touch."

"Obviously..." Tom said, before the phone on the other end clicked off. He looked at his own phone, shrugged, and closed it. Jasper did not seem stable really, but that was none of his business. He was a duelist, and he was going to do that. Well.

Jasper sat in his office, breathing easily for the first time in months. He opened his drawer and took out a deck of cards, shuffling them, then scowled as he remembered Suzanne's parting words...

"You don't understand what we are trying to tell you. You did not fail, Jasper. Stop seeing it that way. But if you continue with this plan, you will be making the mistake you never originally made. We are not saying that you somehow ruined the game before. So why are you so intent on being the trigger that ruins it now?"

His face darkened further.
"Nothing is ruined. Nothing is wrong! This game must go back to the way it was intended to be! Why can't they see that they are just running from what makes things difficult for them? You cannot keep running from your problems and expect someone to whisk them away with an errata! What's next? Terror Pit? Bolmeteus? I will not let this slippery slope occur... this game will be perfect... down to the very last card."

He drew the first card from the deck, and glared at it for a moment, then shoved the whole deck angrily into the drawer and slammed it shut, catching the card in the top and bending it beyond repair. The fold made only the top of the card, its cost and name, visible...

Laguna, Lightning Enforcer.