Episode 59. - Ultimate Definition Of Failure

The World Champion's entourage for his tour seemed to be growing. Sniper had joined it, giving a reason about there being too much attention focused on him in Sweden, following their duel. Now the trio were in Ireland. Ryoma had developed a serious sinus headache, but had insisted on attending the scheduled event regardless. In his stead, 'Jin' would duel the winner, whilst Sniper shielded the champion from the brunt of any Kaijudo Clash that could occur.

With Ryoma came KC rules, and the diversity, as well as newness of the experience, had allowed one player in particular to surprise the others and cut cleanly through the competition at the tournament. Former Irish champion Christopher Murray, a slightly short young man with a deck of pure Water. This development had caused Jin some mirth, as he explained to Ryoma, he had 'never considered mono-Water to be dangerous'.

Sniper now offered Ryoma tea, from the flask of it that he normally carried with him everywhere. Ryoma considered declining, but the Irish weather was also affecting his sinuses, and he accepted that the steaming beverage might do him some good. He and Sniper had both been offered chairs to watch the bonus duel from. Ryoma would need to be close enough to see the cards without using his Kaijudo, as any attempt to do so intensified his discomfort.

As the mindspace formed, Phal moved in front of Forbos, gathering the light energy and generating a mild barrier.

"I hope I don't have bad luck this time," Christopher said, drawing his cards, "My last duel was awful. Drawing a hand full of four and five cost cards in a rush deck, and then not being able to summon anything until turn five, is a little ridiculous."

Jin went first, charging Darkness mana, a Terror Pit, and letting his opponent know quite clearly then, with a rise of Kaijudo, that he would be taking the duel seriously. Chris did not seem either intimidated or concerned by this prospect, raising his own mental defenses to equal that of Andrei 'Jin' Vlad. The waves glanced harmlessly off Phal's barrier, allowing Forbos to remain steady despite its inability to use its stabilizers. Ryoma nodded to Sniper appreciatively and sniffled, before the pair simultaneously sipped their tea.

Chris' first mana was, of course, Water, in the form of an Emeral, and his turn ended. Jin placed down the Twin-Cannon Skyterror he had just drawn, and cast Ghost Touch. The darkness swirled around Christopher, as he stood on the surface of his watery mental space. The effect slipped away, discarding one of Christopher's Aqua Hulcus.

"Wow... you're lucky, aren't you now..." Chris remarked, drawing his card and equaling Jin's mana-Kaijudo link by placing a Sopian into his mana zone now. Jin eyed the card with skepticism that was matched only by Christopher's seriousness. Yet there was no mistaking it. The particular frequency of Kaijudo that had accompanied the play meant that the Cyber Lord was definitely Christopher's avatar.

"That's an interesting choice of deck to come to a tournament with," Jin said now, charging an Aqua Hulcus to his mana zone, "What made you pick that one? Cast Ghost Touch again."

Again, the dank mist swirled around Chris, tugging at his mind, until it finally 'dislodged' the ability to call forth his Crystal Lancer.

"Ha... I guess it doesn't matter now," Chris noted as he discarded the card, "But what do you mean? This is my deck. And that discard was so unlucky for a 'random'. Well, unlucky from my end, anyway."

He drew his card and seemed to react oddly.
"You just discarded my Hulcus, right? I misplay so bad. Sopian to mana... summon Aqua Soldier... sometimes I lose games because of how bad I misplay."

"Really? Imagine that... losing games because you play badly..." Jin smirked, his voice slightly mocking, "And do you seriously mean to tell me that you only have one deck? How strange... why would one do that? The fun of the game is building decks and learning how to use new cards. In any case, here's something to remind you of your Hulcus. Terror Pit to mana, summon Aqua Hulcus."

His Kaijudo spiked and the creature formed in the battle zone. Christopher shrugged.
"The Hulcus was actually what I wanted discarded. I thought it was something else, though. Namely, this... Aqua Vehicle to mana. Summon Aqua Soldier and Aqua Guard. As for your question, I do that too, but this is still my deck. It has my favorite card. Aqua Soldier, ikei!"

The slender liquid one raced through the water, striking and shattering Jin's shield. It did not trigger. Jin sent a Sarius, Vizier of Suppression to his mana zone.

"I don't believe in playing with only one deck. It becomes uncomfortable when you lose with it, and then you have trouble trusting it after that. Summon Pyrofighter Magnus, to attack your Aqua Soldier."

The Dragonoid struck down the Soldier easily, and the creature evaporated back into Christopher's hand, prompting him to speak.

"I always trust my deck, win or lose. Of course, I can't win if I go first and miss summoning on the second turn... Aqua Surfer to mana, summon Aqua Soldier. Other Soldier, ikei."

The shield was yet another Ghost Touch, but Jin did not trigger it. Apparently he had other things in mind for the card.

"Even when you 'can't manage to summon until turn five, with rush'? You still trust the deck then too? Pyrofighter to destroy your Soldier again. End turn."

Another streak of red, another evaporated Water entity.
"What an odd aggro..." Christopher remarked, resummoning his Soldier.

"It's not aggro," Jin corrected. Now, the Soldier that had returned on the previous turn struck another shield, as Jin pointed out, "It's just a bit more flexible disruption deck than most tend to be."

The shield did not trigger. Jin drew his card, noted that what he had drawn was the same as what he had received when his shield broke, and smirked.

"Perfect. Crimson Hammer to mana, cast Crimson Hammer, and Ghost Touch. Haha!"

But what had really happened, due to his enthusiasm, was that Christopher had discarded his Crystal Paladin instead, the single card that had been in his hand. Chris frowned, apparently waiting for his opponent to choose the target of the Crimson Hammer. After all, there was still an Aqua Guard on the field that he could have chosen instead of one of the Soldiers, no matter how unlikely such a choice would have been.

"The untapped Soldier," Jin said impatiently.

"You do know, that by doing that, you fundamentally messed up the game, right?" Christopher noted now, picking up his Paladin again and then the Soldier. In the end, it was again the Paladin that was discarded. Jin summoned his Pyrofighter to rid himself of the other Soldier yet again.

"Seven mana already..." Chris noted, drawing his card, "Oh joy... Aqua Soldier to mana, summon Aqua Hulcus... draw... and resummon Aqua Soldier. End turn."

Jin's previous, slightly hasty play, had disrupted the Kaijudo waves in the room, forcing Sniper to increase the amount of concentration he was using to shield Ryoma with. Now, things were settling back to normal...

Jin drew his card and charged mana in the form of a Snake Attack. Sniper and Ryoma instantly seemed to be paying extra attention. They paid even more attention when he summoned. Forbos, Sanctum Guardian.

"That is an... eerie feeling... " Ryoma's avatar noted. Despite facing many opponents who used their own Survivor decks, he had nearly never been so close to another Forbos with this particular level of Kaijudo behind it. The shimmering 'mirror image' now became part of the battle zone, and Jin used its power to retrieve a Crimson Hammer, which descended upon Chris' Aqua Hulcus mercilessly, before Jin ended his turn.

Christopher's power was pure oceanic energy, and the rushing tide now seemed to bring his new summons with it. Yet another Aqua Soldier and an Aqua Vehicle. The liquid energy swirled again, and the Soldier that had survived the last turn rushed in for another strike. This time, a Locomotiver rushed forth. Christopher had no cards in his hand for the billowing toxic smoke to rob him of, yet he still responded to the event.

"That ruined the game for me."

Jin remained at eight mana cards now. He cast Brain Serum, the power causing the air around Forbos to shimmer, and drew two more cards, then summoned a new Sarius, and cast Crimson Hammer on the Aqua Vehicle. Forbos' attack took care of the Aqua Soldier that had sprung the Locomotiver. Jin ended his turn, his power resonating strongly.

"I feel sick..." Christopher remarked, drawing his card.

"It's just a game," Jin muttered. His swirling Kaijudo indicated that it was a bit more than that, but to most onlookers, his statement made perfect sense.

"Nope. I'm a lucksack, don't ya know..." Christopher said matter-of-factly, seeming to adjust his energy again to handle the increasing power that Jin was wielding against him. The waves around his feet rippled with the 'effort'.

Jin shrugged lightly, but Christopher continued, "Now the rush begins."

"Fine. Just go on..." Jin sighed, easing up a bit on his output. His mindspace now became slightly darkened, and one could see swirling dark clouds in the sky beyond the shimmering Sanctum Guardian. In the distance, there was a sound, low and indistinct. A rumble that could have been thunder, or a Skyterror's roar.

"Let's see, you just drew two cards..."

"Go on," Jin urged. Christopher was now perusing Jin's mana zone with intent, and motioned for a cursory glance at his opponent's graveyard as well. Ryoma smirked. Just like a Water duelist to start the heavy thinking at a time like this.

"Come on! Stop stalling and play!" Jin admonished, with a scoff, "Please... I thought you knew how to duel..."

The attitude of the duelist seemed to surprise both Sniper and Ryoma at this point. The impatience and gruffness was to be expected from one who would have called the Twin-Cannon Skyterror 'avatar', but this seemed a bit more than that. Jin's Kaijudo increased, pulsing with the irritation of needing to wait on his opponent to calculate their next play.

"This decides the game, so I need to think," Christopher replied coldly. He seemed to return to doing exactly that, his ocean turbulent now.

"Yeah, like it takes a lot of thinking when you've got two cards in your hand..." Jin muttered, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair.

"You don't know how, if you can't think. This is like chess where I have four pieces and you have six, but I'm the one with the queen... or like the trump card in poker..." Christopher now explained, his watery Kaijudo flowing out and around as he analyzed the situation.

"That's funny, cause I thought we were playing Duel Masters..." Jin said. Christopher shot a glare at him, but then returned to his contemplation. He knew there was a time limit on his turns, and distraction was not welcomed.

"Should I play it, is the question... if you got Vise within those cards I'd hit you if I could... no one should ever be that lucky and win because of it."

"Yes, you should play it. I have Vise, why do you ask?"
This was in no way actually true, Jin's card in hand was fire, but not the destruction spell. Chris made his move.

"Aqua Guard, evolve into Crystal Lancer! Break his last shield! Ikei!"

"Shield Trigger! Brain Serum!"
Jin drew another Forbos and an Energy Stream. A draw card to draw a new draw card.

"Damn. You have it now..." Christopher muttered, "End turn."

Jin drew his card, and charged more Fire mana. His Pyrofighter Magnus. His opponent's Kaijudo seemed to start to flay and twist as Jin pulsed his own forward to cast the Energy Stream. He drew twice more. A Locomotiver and a Phal Eega, Dawn Guardian.

"For me, this is a meaningful duel," Christopher explained to Jin, "To see if this deck of mine really has what it takes at this level."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. And I'm Santa Claus..." Jin muttered.

Chris laughed, his Kaijudo getting the better of Jin's in his moment of mirth.
"You don't enjoy the game much, do you? I wonder if I can win now..."

"I enjoy it when it's interesting," Jin growled, "Let me see..."

"This is interesting to me. You have six mana to beat me with and five cards in your hand. Two Terror Pits remaining and no bounce effect cards..."

"I guess the right cards didn't come this time..." Jin muttered, his Kaijudo now faltering in the face of the evolved creature. He really would have needed to draw a Terror Pit. With six mana, nothing else would stop something like a Lancer. Not in the sort of deck he played now. Not even his mighty Skyterror.

"I'm guessing," Christopher laughed, registering the dip in his opponent's power on his own perception, now, "For instance, I haven't drawn Corile at all."

"Time to go for shields then..." Jin muttered, though it was fundamentally pointless to do so from the perspective of being able to win the match through that course of action. He summoned the Pyrofighter Magnus, and the assault began. The Pyrofighter rushed first, in and out as nothing more than a red streak.

Next came the Aqua Hulcus' strike, almost as fast due to its watery environment. Then the Locomotiver, and finally Forbos' attack. None of the shields triggered. Jin frowned. After all that, he could almost have won the duel had he drawn his Twin-Cannon Skyterror.

"Now I see what the champion meant about forty-card decks working better... you get what you want. End turn..."

"Mine's forty six cards, actually," Christopher laughed, "It's my lucky number. Illusionary Merfolk to mana. Summon Aqua Guard... and another Aqua Guard--"

"Oh, come on!" Jin complained, as Christopher only really needed to declare the final attack with the Lancer to end the game. His opponent was using the summons to raise his base feedback for some reason, setting Jin up for the final strike.

"Cast Spiral Gate on your Sanctum Guardian," young Murray continued.

"Now you're just being ridiculous!" Jin complained, but his Kaijudo fell even further regardless. For whatever reason, Christopher was making sure his opponent would feel this defeat in its entirety. He even played the Aqua Soldier from the previous turn, yet again. The ocean became deep and calm again at last.

"Aqua Soldier. Todomeda."

"You little--!"
The Skyterror within Jin roared now. Christopher had not even bothered to finish him with the Lancer, but rather with the little Soldier that had been the thorn in his side for most of the duel. Yet, the energy did pierce Jin's mental barrier like paper, leaving no question in the minds of any, who had truly won that duel.

Jin had now fallen silent. He simply took up his cards and got up, walking away, saying nothing more to the victorious Christopher. This left it to Ryoma to congratulate the young man, before he was presented with his bonus prize.

Christopher accepted both this, and the interest of the many onlookers, quite graciously. He was not exactly unused to being in the spotlight in that way, so he played it up well, letting the crowd shower him with accolades.

"That was altogether different from how I expected it to go..." Ryoma remarked now. Sniper nodded, pouring himself more tea.

Later, on their way back to the hotel in the KirriCorp limousine, Jin was looking through his deck, seeming a bit despondent. For the first time, Sniper was paying serious attention to the size of that deck, which prompted an inquiry.

"Just how many cards are in your deck anyway?"

Jin answered without looking up, "About sixty."

"Wow," Ryoma noted, "I noticed that it was more than fifty, over time, but I was not expecting quite that many. No wonder it can do such surprising things."

"It can also be surprisingly ineffective," Jin complained.

"It did seem a bit out of sorts..." Sniper noted, "But it works for you, I suppose?"

"Finally, the motivation for a forty carded deck. This is exactly the feeling I was talking about. Feeling like your deck failed you. Feeling like not playing any more, even if it was a matter of luck. The disappointment and the rest... Disruption fails against Assault, and I'm left with the feeling of wanting to shift decks because this one has failed me..."

Sniper and Ryoma looked across at each other, simultaneously surprised by the way that Andrei Vlad had reacted to his defeat. Ryoma was the one to speak.

"Would tweaking it or reducing its numbers be what you mean?"

Jin shrugged.
"I guess that could work too, but I really am not one for using just one deck anyways. I prefer to be able to switch when one isn't working. But I guess I can try a bit more with this one. Maybe make it smaller so I can make sure to get the cards I want a bit easier.

"Sounds like a good idea," Sniper said, "Which cards are those, incidentally?"

It was a little difficult to discern exactly what Jin wanted his deck to do. Both the Dawn and Sanctum Guardians were within its ranks, sharing the upper areas with Twin-Cannon Skyterror and even the Bolmeteus Steel Dragon. Therefore, it was possible that either Sniper or Ryoma, or even both, could help with any modifications.

"You said it was not Aggro, but it does seem more like one than a Disruption," Ryoma noted, "Which direction do you plan tip it?"

Jin slowed his shuffling, taking each card, carefully looking at it, and then putting it on the bottom of the deck.
"Not that sure. I don't trust it that much anymore."