Episode 57. - Thrilling Dance Of Breaker

"So, you see, the fact that you can play such a large deck makes draw power innately stronger than the recursion and survivalist tactics used by players like that one. It isn't really about being able to draw a lot without decking out and losing, it is moreso the idea that you can use three copies of one spell rather than two, and just keep them coming by drawing them--"

Ryoma was explaining some of the differences between the Japanese game and that played by the rest of the world, to some of the finalists in the tournament that had already been eliminated. The final match was going on currently. The favorite to win, a tall thin youth in a black trenchcoat. Shoulder length brown hair framed his calm, pale face, as he made each deliberate move.

"Yeah, our 'champ' uses that 'recursion' mechanic, even though his deck isn't that small. I think he does it for a different reason, though," one younger boy contributed. Ryoma raised an interested eyebrow.

"Oh? Well, I hope to face your 'champ', then. I'd like to see what he's come up with."

Jin now came over and tapped Ryoma. He had joined the entourage of the World Champion when Ryoma had left Romania and headed for Sweden. He clearly had connections, and enough money to tour the world. Ryoma was glad for the company, considering that none of the other officials with him could actually duel well enough for him to test and study things. Also, he found it relatively easy to get along with Andrei Vlad.

"They're ready for you. One of the finalists just gave up."

Ryoma looked up, again in slight surprise. At this level, most finalist duelists would not simply surrender. He wondered if the quiet duelist had simply accepted defeat against the brash large man that had been his opponent. It turned out that things were the complete opposite.

He moved to his seat opposite the trenchcoat duelist, noting the black gloves that covered his opponent's hands, hiding all but the pale skin of his face from view.

"Now, the bonus match, World Champion Ryoma Echizen will face tournament winner Sniper Randnum!"
The judge's announcement made Ryoma pause yet again, before practically blurting out...

"Your name is... Sniper?"

"Just... don't ask..." the duelist smirked, his Kaijudo expanding to seemingly scan for Ryoma's. This was something the champion was also slightly unused to, outside of Japan. He found that most people hid their Kaijudo rather than use it to duel, especially given the effect it could have against weaker duelists. Quiet, and fairly dark. Ryoma met it with his own shimmering stratospheric storm. Sniper smiled and nodded.

"You go first," Ryoma said, since the judges clearly did not seem to think it mattered who did so. Sniper drew his five cards, and placed an Apocalypse Vise into his mana zone, yet his energy did not react at all to the card, not even warming as so many others did. Ryoma nodded internally. At least the use of that card told him that he would not need to rush too much. His own first mana matched Sniper's in energy. Searing Wave. Again, there was no effect on the duel's mindscape.

"Ah. You're still running Wave, even with the changes..." Sniper noted, "Interesting. Holy Awe to mana. End turn."

Now, the light seemed to shimmer upon the horizon behind Sniper, illuminating the battle zone slightly. Ryoma smirked, drew his own card, and mirrored Sniper's play with the card he drew. Holy Awe.

"I have not really changed the deck since the changes I made directly after the Grand Tournament. Besides, Wave is good for mana when I don't need it, and it still works well enough for me. End turn."

"I haven't seen it much in the KC Leagues," Sniper noted simply, drawing his card, "Thrash Crawler to mana. Summon Aqua Hulcus. End turn."

The liquid ocean now formed part of the brightening horizon behind Sniper's form in the mindspace. He was not going to hold back, it seemed. His Kaijudo already was pressing back the other duelists, with only the totally oblivious, and two others who seemed at least as strong as Jin, staying close. The large man that Sniper had defeated, had retreated completely. Ryoma wondered what Sniper had done to him...

"Smash Horn Q, to mana. Cast Mystic Treasure Chest."
Sniper seemed contemplative as he watched the magical energy stream the darkness mana, Death Smoke, out over Ryoma's side. A dark cloud now formed on Ryoma's horizon, lit by sparks of lightning. Still, their energies seemed similar even now. Ryoma took no other action that turn either, passing it back to Sniper.

"Dark Reversal, to mana," Sniper announced, shifting the energy on his side also, the sky there remaining dark, not by cloud, but simply due to the fact that whatever illumination there was, came from below that horizon. Dawn. The pale duelist smirked again and summoned his second creature. Locomotiver.

The train robbed Ryoma of a Mana Nexus. Ryoma nodded in acceptance of this. So far, it was as he expected. Hulcus, Locomotiver, and by the general level of play he was used to, an Energy Stream or Crystal Memory or such would follow. Which meant it was time to make his own main move. The Locomotiver was already played. He drew his card. A new Mana Nexus.

"Mana Nexus to mana... cast Dimension Gate, to retrieve my Factory Shell..."
The gate shimmered in the clouds, and a shimmering ghost-like image of the Colony Beetle descended on Ryoma's form and faded into him. The Kaijudo spike from this action made Sniper flinch, but not much more. Ryoma smirked slightly. Impressive.
"End turn."

"Crimson Hammer to mana. Cast Ghost Touch."

The phantom now descended upon Ryoma in much the same way, but it was his Grave Worm that went to his graveyard pile, not the Factory Shell. Sniper blinked. Even if the Factory Shell had been the one discarded, Ryoma had been prepared. A level of build he expected from the World Champion, yes, but the method by which Ryoma did these things was foreign to him in more ways than one. He ended his turn, their Kaijudo not clashing, but almost seeming to blend at the point where they met.

Ryoma drew his Volcano Charger and placed it to mana, summoning the Factory Shell. An explosive spike of energy 'unearthed' the power of another Grave Worm, the image absorbed into the Champion's form. The duelists around that could sense or see watched in total fascination. For the most part, they had never truly seen a Survivor deck in action that did not, itself, use direct draw power.

"Crystal Memory, to mana," Sniper intoned, "Cast Crimson Hammer on your Factory Shell."

Even at its size, the beetle was still a fragile creature, and the power of the strike met its weak point, felling it easily. Ryoma nodded again, still acceptant. The tactical part of this would begin momentarily. The duelists he had been talking to would be able to see what he meant, and also gain a true understanding of why the creatures he played had the term 'Survivor'.

"Lost Soul, to mana," Ryoma said, sending the card he had just drawn there, "Summon Grave Worm Q, to revive my Factory Shell."

Even as the Beetle had unearthed the ethereal form of the Worm, now the Worm returned the favor. Ryoma ended his turn, his Kaijudo unmoving generally. He expected this to be a bit of a long haul. Sniper drew his card and sent another Holy Awe to his mana zone.

"I see. You can keep that up forever, whereas I will exhaust myself completely if I try to stop it. Let's gamble then... I summon Twin-Cannon Skyterror! Double break! Ikei!"

Ryoma nearly fell over in his chair from both the shock and surge of Kaijudo that accompanied this. Jin stood by, his own energy spiking at the moment of summon, both identifying with the card, and having a sudden shift in his previous expectation and wish for Ryoma to win. The first shield did not trigger. The second was a Faerie Life, which placed Ryoma's Holy Awe into his mana zone.

"A good place for it to be..."

"Aqua Hulcus, ikei!"

Another Faerie Life trigger sent a Blazosaur to Ryoma's mana zone. The energy in his sky seemed to increase with the heat change.

"Wow..." Sniper chuckled, "That's impressive. Locomotiver, ikei!"

"Shield Trigger. Terror Pit. For your Skyterror."

Jin mentally looked away as the darkness dimension appeared in the sky and seemed to suck in the mighty Wyvern as if into a black hole. Things had suddenly turned around quite a bit. Still, Sniper seemed calm, the light of his horizon steadily increasing over time. Now Ryoma had only one shield left, and the attacks had not had much effect on his hand of cards.

"An interesting choice of time to break," Ryoma noted.

Sniper laughed, "Triple Trigger. Your deck is hacked."

"Indeed," Ryoma laughed, sending a second Lost Soul to his mana zone. Now, his storm had achieved great power, and he channeled it in the way that nearly anyone who had faced him was quite familiar with...

"I summon Forbos, Sanctum Guardian!"
The move made Sniper close his eyes in a grimace as the power of Ryoma's avatar split the storm clouds in its mighty descent, its power blast showing the Grave Worm where to 'dig' to revive its twin, and at the same time bringing a Volcano Charger's energy to Ryoma. The power of the spell exploded beneath the Aqua Hulcus, evaporating it, and the heat spiraled up into Ryoma's stormclouds, increasing their intensity. The Grave Worm had one more task to complete before the turn ended.

"Attack Locomotiver with Grave Worm. Ikei."

Sniper tried to shake off the multiple effect burst from his opponent's side, but clearly, the only thing that stood up to one avatar, especially one like Ryoma's... was another avatar.

"I summon Phal Eega, Dawn Guardian!"
The horizon exploded with a flash of light for an instant, and the Dawn Guardian seemed to drop out of something close to warp speed in the sky above Sniper. Ryoma was the one to shake off the shock now, but even as he did so, he found the Ghost Touch returning, sucking away the Factory Shell.

"Ph-phal? You? He did not seem at all as if... I mean..."

The Dawn Guardian answered in thought shapes only. Sniper wielded the power of the dawn itself. There was none more fitting for a duelist such as this one. Ryoma caught himself now, realizing that he was breathing raggedly. He licked his dry lips and drew his card, blinking at it and placing it to mana. Searing Wave again.

"Death Smoke. And summon Grave Worm, to retrieve my Factory Shell yet again."

Sniper's mind shuddered under the pressure of having his avatar suddenly removed from his presence. He was back where he had started, with Ryoma's building energy growing quickly. He noted also, that the Grave Worm was also able to gain the power of Forbos, to bring a new spell from the Sanctum. Another Volcano Charger. Not many creatures in a deck like Sniper's could escape the spell easily. He would have to come up with something new altogether.

"Two Lost Soul already in mana," Phal pointed out. Sniper noted this, nodding, and cast Dark Reversal. The Twin-Cannon Skyterror's life force returned to him from the void, and he ended his turn. This would cut it close...

Ryoma drew his card and sent it to mana immediately, as usual. A Faerie Life. Now, he was going to make an even larger move. Sniper knew this, and braced himself before Ryoma even began.

"Summon Factory Shell, to bring a Smash Horn Q and a Mana Nexus..." he paused, as his mental form absorbed this power, then redirected it outwards again, summoning the Smash Horn.

"To bring a Blazosaur and a Holy Awe..."
Again, he waited for his new power to stabilize within himself, before yet again redirecting some of it. This time, summoning the Blazosaur.

"To bring a Blazosaur and a Mana Nexus."
Sniper could feel the pressure on himself increasing as the storm front grew and grew, encroaching on his dawn light. The power was almost overwhelming. Ryoma was not done yet. He had just enough mana now, to make it so. He summoned the new Blazosaur as well.

"To bring a Blazosaur and a Terror Pit..." he finished, exhaling at last, "End... turn..."

Sniper twitched, then shook his head in an effort to fight off the storm encroaching on his consciousness. He knew it was over. Still, there was another attack to be made.
"Summon Twin-Cannon Skyterror. Skyterror, ikei!"

The shield did not trigger. It did not matter. The storm had reached its peak, and only one thing could follow. The huge lightning flashes leaping from one side of it to the other, signified the ultimate force that was about to be unleashed. The duelists around all stood, frozen, just so many souls trapped beneath the dark clouds of the World Champion's power. Ryoma's eyes flashed with power, yellow-orange lines streaking across them. Something in him, something instinctive, was now directing the duel, and he would no longer treat it as cards alone any more than he had since that day in that store so long ago...

"Holy Awe to mana, and cast Mana Nexus to place that Holy Awe as my shield. Now I summon Blazosaur Q, to retrieve Faerie Life, and my Q-Tronic Gargantua..."

The crowd, who, aside from Jin, were unaware of the general use of this technique, now almost literally scattered, leaving the oblivious ones totally confused as to what was going on. This was, to them, the safest thing to do, as the Grave Worm now burrowed deep into the earth, and the ground began to shake and tremble, cracking. Lightning ripped great troughs in the earth even as the quake split it, and finally, in a great explosion, the power arrived. The Q-Tronic Gargantua.

The energy of Ryoma's storm made the entire mindworld seem to be shaking. The choice to evolve the Grave Worm had other consequences for Sniper as well. Forbos' assault power had risen to eight thousand...

"Forbos, attack the Twin-Cannon Skyterror! Ikei!"
The cannon battle in the sky now raged beneath the stormclouds. Jin watched, smirking to himself, as the Twin-Cannon put up a truly valiant fight, explosion after explosion blasting against Forbos' shield, but finally, the Sanctum Guardian's power overwhelmed it in plasma amplified bursts, and the Skyterror fell, defeated in the sky. Something few had ever seen. The earth shook now as the Gargantua reared itself up.

Ryoma struggled to control his now-enormous power, long enough to concentrate on exactly what he was doing. Instinct threatened to consume him, as his storm engulfed Sniper.

"You are trying hard not to hurt us..." Phal noted, "But your power is glorious, not savage! Do it! You have achieved it! You have the ultimate power! World Breaker!"

Technically, this was untrue, but with thirteen thousand power and seven other Survivors adding their power to the Gargantua, an opponent would need to have nine shields before it became a false statement.

"World Breaker..." Ryoma intoned, his voice seeming hollow and existential all at once, "Very well then. Q-Tronic Gargantua... World Break! ikei!"

The storm now blasted, raging against Sniper's shields, stripping them all away with lightning and superheated gas from fissures in the earth. Ryoma practically ignored the Ghost Touch that triggered from amongst them. Only a Holy Awe could have broken his storm at that point. Gargantua did not even move. It broke the shields simply by surging its power forward and upwards, letting the raging storm funnel it back at his opponent.

"Factory Shell! Todomeda!"
The final attack was declared, and the entire mindspace exploded.

Phal's thought was mirthful even as it faded away.
"So this is what a Megapocalypse feels like..."

Three minutes later, when the people in attendance started to wake up, Ryoma was the first of them. Unlike most of the others, he had not been knocked unconscious, merely trapped in a trance, as Jin and the other two nearby had been. His heart raced now, as he shook Sniper, hoping that nothing had happened to the youth. Sniper sat up, and calmly yawned.

"Ah, that was a nice nap."

Ryoma's body sagged with relief, but not too much. Around him people were literally littering the floor. Even those who had not been aware of the goings-on had been knocked out. He wondered what 'logical explanation' most of them were going to use for this particular event. It did not matter. Anyone who knew the true power that the game could unlock, would most likely know exactly what had happened.

"I should... never do that again... it's far too dangerous," he thought to himself now. In response, he felt the Twin-Cannon Skyterror growl into his mind.

"We're all fine. You hurt no one. You see it as dangerous when it is merely jarring."

Phal added to this, giving explanation of the feeling to Ryoma, in an attempt to reassure him.
"It is almost exactly the opposite of being jolted awake from a dream. One is jolted into a dream, from waking. Neither one is truly bad, is it?"

The words did not seem to calm the champion. The thought that his dueling had knocked out an entire room of people, even those with enough knowledge and power to shield themselves from such a phenomenon, made him very uncomfortable. Even more frighteningly, he felt as if the experience had increased his Kaijudo in a far more permanent manner.

"I suppose I am going to have to contact Yodaz now..."

Now, the duelists around were starting to move around Sniper, a development which caused him to grimace and try to figure out a way to keep them all at bay. Eventually he sighed and gave in to their questions and accolades. There was no easy way out of being recognized as a good duelist, other than convincing others of the opposite.

"Why were you talking to them about the sizes of their decks, before?" Jin asked now. The crowd was nearly all for Sniper, despite the fact that Ryoma had won. The champion momentarily wondered if they were afraid, or simply uninterested in the Survivor deck.

"Oh... er... in Japan, our decks must be exactly forty cards. No more, no less. I was explaining to them, how being able to use more shifts the powers of certain effects. Tell me something though... why did the other one give up against Sniper?"

"I believe that he said something about refusal to die... Sniper kept summoning Phal, and Dark Reversing it whenever it died, and recursing the Dark Reversal, and..."

Ryoma smirked and looked at the young man, who looked decidedly uncomfortable and out of place in the crowd surrounding him.
"I see."