Episode 7. - Dark Miasma, Devourer of Memory

Yodaz looked at the cards in his hand in dismay. He had forgotten just how possible it was, for him to draw nearly nothing that he could summon quickly. It never mattered normally. He would only need until turn five to get started. Then, no matter what his opponent did, they would be disadvantaged. Once they broke a few of his shields, he would be ready to take them down yet again. He began by charging fire mana. His Twin-Cannon Skyterror.

Shu drew his card, and squinched his face a bit. Going second was helpful, but he really did not have any quick summon cards either. Little did he know exactly how much that would throw Yodaz's game off also. He charged darkness mana, as all the dragons had, and ended his turn.

"Is what Ieri said true?" Shu asked softly, "Do you really need your Corile card that much?"

Yodaz gave no answer. He simply drew his card, and placed Corile in his mana zone, then defiantly stared down the smaller, stockier duelist. Shu reached up and took off his cap, apparently unconcerned about the 'hat-hair' effect it had so clearly given his dark head. He charged more darkness mana, and ended his turn.

Yodaz was not perturbed yet. He could wait it out. Unlike Ieri, Shu did not rush to summon. In fact, Shu did not seem to be in a rush to do anything. All he would have to do is begin the Merfolk cycle, and this one would fall before him quickly. He drew his card and charged more fire mana, ending his turn at that.

Now Shu, like Ieri, forfeited his Shadow Moon to the mana zone. Yodaz noted this. Probably used either great power, or creatures that could not survive battle. Considering this, when his turn came around, he placed his Crimson Hammer in the mana zone. He had no expectation of needing it this time. He was wrong.

"Why do you play this game, Yodaz?" Shu asked, as he charged mana, "Surely it cannot be that much fun, to simply crush everyone with your high advantage cards, hm? Locomotiver."

Yodaz discarded his Terror Pit, and frowned. His only Darkness card. That could be a little problematic if he needed another Terror Pit played later. Shu nodded to Yodaz now, ending his turn. Yodaz did not feel like answering until the duel was more securely in hand. Having someone throw off his concentration before he even knew what their deck really did, was not a good tactic as far as the champ was concerned. He drew his card, but found himself still lacking a small creature to summon. That was not totally impossible. He still did not have that many of them in total. He could outlast most people. Shu had not attacked yet, however. Yodaz charged nature mana, and ended his turn.

Shu blinked at him unreservedly, "Don't you have anything in there you can summon? Or are you trying to avoid death spells? What an odd tactic."

He charged a card to mana. Yodaz tried to make out what it was. That was a strange feeling to him. He knew every card in Duel Masters. The only reason that he would not be able to instantly recognize it is if he had passed it over as being totally useless. He did not scrutinize the card for long, however. Shu was still playing.

"Can you explain it to me? I'd really like to understand. Shadow Moon. End turn."

Yodaz was still silent. Locomotiver again on the field, powered up. This one did not seem to have the same menacing look to it, as Ieri's, in his mind. So the deck was not focused on them. He was quickly beginning to understand which cards a person's Kaijudo was most attuned to, since those creatures would be the most animated, in his visions. Still, Shu had not attacked. He decided to get rid of the advantage that was building on the other side as soon as possible. Shu did not know that he still had a Corile in hand. Using it on either of the current cards would be fairly useless, however, and he was unwilling to risk another Shadow Moon appearing. After his experience with Pai Lon, he certainly did not feel like enduring that sort of thing again.

"You look upset. Don't worry. Your Corile might still show up. Then it will be more interesting, yes?" Shu said. He did not seem to be mocking Yodaz in any way. Yodaz could feel his opponent's genuine 'sympathy', but for some reason it sickened him.

"I can assure you that Corile will still show..." he said, "But those two won't be around to see it. I sacrifice one shield. Searing Wave!"

Shu gasped as the heat flooded his mind, scorching his creatures into oblivion. When Yodaz looked into his eyes now, the duelist that had been so calm up to now seemed angry. Really angry. His Kaijudo whipped darkly around him, and his breathing was ragged.

"Too much for you?" Yodaz asked, tilting his head a bit and smiling ever so slightly.

"You fool. What kind of amateur mistake was that? You don't just cast Searing Wave to get rid of creatures like that. I haven't even broken a shield yet!"

Yodaz was totally surprised now. Not only was Shu apparently not mad about losing his creatures, he was lecturing Yodaz himself on dueling tactics? How totally arrogant could you get?
"I don't think you're in a position to be telling me about my mistakes, since you are back where you started."

Shu sighed, drawing his card, "So are you. Except that you have one less shield. Never mind... Locomotiver."

Yodaz's psychic defenses dipped as Shu pointed out the card. He reluctantly put his Corile in the graveyard.

"That doesn't look good for you... End turn. I hope you can do something more from here. I think you may be a little disadvantaged now."

Yodaz drew his card, and played Crimson Hammer on the Locomotiver.
"You can't break through my defenses. Eventually my power will simply outstrip yours and leave you in the dust. You hit my darkness card with your first discard, that's all."

"Really? I would think that the Corile discard was more important. I don't understand why you keep killing the creatures. I summon Gigazoul."

Yodaz looked down at the card. Odd. A Chimera? It was a cost three creature with three thousand power, but it was still odd to see one. It would be more difficult to remove than the Locomotivers, however, especially with a dwindling hand, and no darkness mana. He drew his card, and stared at his hand in dismay. The Mana Nexus was not something he wanted to play right now, and he did not want to put the Dark Reversal to mana, but he could not afford to summon the Illusionary Merfolk without getting its effect either. He decided to play it safe and let his opponent break at least one of his shields with the Gigazoul. He would get something useful. He had enough mana now for any shield to be useful. Just the way he liked it.
"I end turn."

Shu's expression darkened evilly now. He began to laugh. A rumbling, frightening laugh from deep in his chest. Yodaz felt the Kaijudo around him increase dramatically, nearly crushing. He had no creatures on the field either. Another Locomotiver? It could not be that. Whatever it was, this was Shu's main card. He braced himself, but nothing could prepare him for the onslaught of darkness that accompanied his opponent's words.

"Gigazoul, evolve into the Phantasmal Horror!"

Yodaz's eyes widened and he clutched his chest as he remembered what the odd card in Shu's mana zone was. It was another one of those! The Phantasmal Horror Gigazald! The gigantic writhing Chimera loomed over him. He was the only one now. No creatures even to share the fear that radiated from the spectral terror. Shu tapped the card, but it was not to attack. It was to swirl Yodaz's Illusionary Merfolk out of his hand. Now, he was completely without it. Even if he drew Corile, it would need to be right now, and his Merfolk attack had indeed been slowed. Now, the pain of probability was lying upon him. The chances of his next card being a possible removal card were not quite good enough...

Shu's grin was unnerving, even to Yodaz. Or perhaps it was the writhing mass of chimera that accompanied that grin. Yodaz drew his card and sighed. He put his Dark Reversal into his mana zone at last, but had to settle for summoning his Meteosaur, and ending his turn.

"I think your luck has run out," Shu smiled, charging his mana, "You did not draw Corile, I take it. I cast Death Smoke on your Meteosaur, and summon Junkatz, Rabid Doll. Now my Phantasmal Horror, devour his last card."

Yodaz trembled. He was being countered at every turn. Worst of all, he had played the Meteosaur in order to make sure it was not uselessly discarded, and in turn had lost the ability to destroy the Rabid Doll. His shields still remained untouched, just as he had done to so many of his own opponents, leaving them, and now himself, starved for options. He discarded the Mana Nexus, and breathed deeply to compose himself. Shu ended his turn. Yodaz drew his card. Doboulgyser, Giant Rock Beast. His eyes blurred with a warped pain. This was how his opponents felt. When he robbed them of their evolution possibilities. There was no more Meteosaur. Nothing to evolve into Doboulgyser. He played no other Rock Beasts.
"I end turn."

"What?" Shu wondered, "What are you doing? Play it to mana."

"Why? You can't risk attacking me, if I don't. I might end up with something dangerous."

Shu laughed, "I like you, you've got attitude. Anyways, sorry. I thought you might want to use it. I cast Dark Reversal, to resurrect my Locomotiver, and summon it, to discard that card."

He watched as Yodaz gritted his teeth against the overwhelming psychic energy, and placed the Doboulgyser on top of his graveyard pile.

"Ah, now I understand. Yes, I suppose keeping it might have been better," Shu's expression changed now, shifting back to his menacing darkness as he attuned himself with his avatar creature, "Phantasmal Horror, ikei!"

Yodaz lifted the shield, and immediately discarded it as Shu tapped Junkatz to allow Gigazald to devour that card from Yodaz's hand as well. Twin-Cannon Skyterror. The card could have saved him, had he been able to keep it. Yodaz felt his Kaijudo dwindling. Again, he would have to hope for Corile, or removal. Something to stop this. Suddenly, he felt Shu probing his mind... almost as if the darkness duelist could see into his memories, since some of them suddenly flashed to the surface.

"It doesn't feel so good when it is you in the grip of death, does it? No one likes to lose, but you and I, we're the same. Our style borders on evil. We consume everything, all chances and all hope. There's only one difference..."

"Urgh..." Yodaz grunted, trying to keep Shu from prying into his memories of past duels. Images of Maze, and the Coriles that had choked her deck into submission, flooded his mind.
"And just what is this difference between us?"

"I respect those whose hope I destroy, and believe they could survive if they played better. You seem to think that their decks themselves are substandard. You take their hope away altogether with your card, because unlike mine, it does not even matter if they destroy your Corile, does it? That does not stop you either."

Yodaz growled, clenching his fist tightly. That hand would normally be holding his cards. His options. His means of crushing his opponent's will. However, today he had none, and it was his will that was in danger of being crushed. He could feel it, there was no point in denying that. Shu's power was intense, and he was relying on the top of his deck to--

"You do not even give them that option, Yodaz. Against you, they cannot even rely on the top of their deck, since they already know what it is."

"Shut up and play!" Yodaz snarled, before he felt something in his mind seem to crack. He needed Corile and he needed Corile now.
"This is why you always choose the best cards. So that even when you're relying on the top of your deck, and you have no creatures, you can know that you're going to get the best cards. You don't have to try to recover after someone destroys your strategy. Nothing can stop you. All I need is a Corile, then a Merfolk, and you're going to be quite unhappy..."

Shu gave him another sympathetic smile.
"Perhaps. But what if I have another Death Smoke? There is also the eventuality of you needing to break my shields. You do not seem to be at any strong advantage here. It is your turn now, though, I believe..."

Yodaz drew his card, and shuddered in a mixture of frustration and helplessness. Aqua Hulcus. He summoned it, and drew his card.

"Now you're just being silly," Shu chastised, "If you are topdecking already, why activate the Hulcus' effect?"

"I hate myself..." Yodaz grumbled under his breath. He then shook his head to clear it. That wasn't right. That hadn't been what he had meant to say, "I hate my luck today."

"That wasn't a matter of luck. You drew the card when you should not have. You cannot afford to make mistakes like that in duels."

Yodaz seethed with rage. The darkness duelist was talking down to him. Again, lecturing him on his dueling ability.
"It's no mistake. It could have been something I could summon. It could be that it was useless, but the card under it will save me. You don't know anything about me or my deck, so don't presume to judge my ability!"

"All right, all right..." Shu said placidly, "I hope it wasn't a card you needed, but judging from your waning energy, I have the feeling it unfortunately was." He drew his card, and summoned another Shadow Moon, then tapped the Phantasmal Horror to devour the card. He watched as Yodaz almost mechanically dropped it onto the graveyard pile. Natural Snare.

Yodaz felt the dark, silent eyes on him. He looked up to meet them.
"What!? That doesn't mean anything!"

Shu nodded, "Of course. I know. Your reasoning was right... my reasoning was right... it just didn't go your way. Maybe you will draw a Terror Pit next, hm?"

Yodaz trembled with rage and fear. He hated being mocked. His Kaijudo didn't feel like it was any match for Shu's, though, and his deck wasn't providing the removal cards he needed.

"Junkatz, ikei," --Yodaz picked up his shield, and again, promptly discarded it, as Shu tapped his Locomotiver to activate Gigazald's effect. He was relying on his top card again. Shu ended his turn. Yodaz reached out slowly for his card, hoping it was what he needed, thinking, just for a moment, how horrible it would be if it had just been Coriled there, and it had not been something he could use.

"Come on. Give me something to kill those things..."
He drew the card, and instantly cast it. Searing Wave. Sacrificing his second-to-last shield to stop the onslaught. It was not what he had hoped for, but it would at least hold off the continual tapping discard. Now all he had to do was deal with the creature that survived the Searing Wave due to the Shadow Moon's protection.
"Aqua Hulcus, attack Junkatz, ikei."

Both creatures were placed into their owner's graveyards, and Yodaz ended his turn. His power flared up to defend him now.

"I knew you could do it..." came the voice from the purple shape. It was faded, floating beside him. Possibly because two of them were already out of his reach, and he had no cards in his hand to fight back with.

"I haven't 'done it' yet." Yodaz responded, "Where are you, anyway!"

The response came in the usual thought shapes. Without the Merfolk, not even Corile could always be where it needed to be. It assured Yodaz that he would be fine. That there would be another way to survive, very soon. Natural Snare, Terror Pit, Twin-Cannon Skyterror, there were plenty of ways to get out of this.

Shu looked at the cards in his hand, and at his tapped Phantasmal Horror on the field, his only remaining creature.
"Hm. Well, the only way to lower the chances of losing my Horror uselessly would be... Dark Reversal, to revive and allow me to summon my Shadow Moon."

Yodaz glared. Now, even the Twin-Cannon would be lost in battle. More importantly, Shu did not attack, robbing him of the chance of doing it regardless. He still had not touched a single of his opponent's shields. His mind was spinning. The top card of his deck, again. Natural Snare? Terror Pit? Corile? Would any of them be enough, outright? He drew his card, and both his heart and Kaijudo sank. He placed the Crimson Hammer to mana. A card that, in so many other situations, would have been perfect, was no use now. He ended his turn, feeling his surroundings darken and his eyes beginning to droop. He felt oddly sleepy. Pai and Ieri were walking over toward the table now. He wondered for a moment if they were about to triple swarm him with their Kaijudo, but the two other dragons did not seem to think Shu needed their help.

"I believe you have lost now, Yodaz. Would you like to surrender?" Shu offered.

"Stop pitying me. I don't need you to mock my deck. I can still stop you, whether you believe that or not."

Shu calmly put his cap back on, and summoned a Bloody Squito.
"There. Now you cannot stop me. Phantasmal Horror, ikei!"

"Ha! Shield Trigger! Terror Pit! Now I can destroy your--"

"Shadow Moon!" Shu smiled, agreeing, putting his creature in the graveyard, "Your luck is better than Ieri's, it seems. Aren't you still stuck, though?"

Yodaz's lip trembled. Obviously he could not have destroyed the Phantasmal Horror, or the Shadow Moon would have finished him. Now he would have to draw Terror Pit, Corile, or Natural Snare again, and unless another removal card directly followed that Corile, he would still be in a lot of danger. The top of his deck, yet again. The importance of the top card of one's deck was becoming abundantly clear to the one who so often robbed others of the chance of getting it. He drew his card, and for a moment, felt doomed, but then a renewed surge of Kaijudo pushed back against Shu's.

"I cast Dark Reversal, to bring back Corile, and summon it to remove your Phantasmal Horror!"

Shu smiled genuinely at this.
"Excellent. This will be interesting. Though of course you have robbed me of two cards. I hope you draw something that will stop the completion of this cycle."

The Corile had finally entered the battle zone. Yodaz felt better. Relieved. Almost protected. His Kaijudo no longer felt as if it were in horrible danger of being swallowed up by Shu's. Now just a few more removal cards, and he would be ready to turn the tide again. A Merfolk or Hulcus and a Hunter Fish would do it. Or at least something to kill the Gigazoul when it was resummoned so he could hold out. He looked almost longingly at that top card of his deck, and hoped that there was nothing in his opponent's shield zone that he would need to worry about. He still had not broken any shields yet.

Shu drew his card. They both knew what it was anyway. Gigazoul. He summoned it, and passed the turn to Yodaz. Yodaz drew his card, and his shoulders slumped. His Kaijudo faltered. He listlessly placed it into the battle zone. Bronze-Arm Tribe. Taking the top card from his deck, he placed it into his mana zone.

"NO! Corile! One card away! I almost had you!"

"No, you most likely did not," Shu said, drawing his card "Another Corile does not help you except to stall me. Gigazoul, again, evolve into Phantasmal Horror!"

Yodaz shrieked in frustration, barely restraining himself from banging his hand onto the table.

"Your Gigazoul could not have attacked me anyway! I could have Coriled your Squito instead, and made sure that I could use my next removal card on your Gigazoul! You would have been finished."

Shu smiled at him.
"Again, a sound strategy. Again, an incorrect one."

"I-incorrect?"

Shu turned the last card in his hand, the one he had been holding onto all this time, to show it to Yodaz. Yodaz eyes widened in shock. Another Phantasmal Horror. Now the kind eyes of the dragon turned mysterious and dark as his creature loomed over both Yodaz and Corile.

"Phantasmal Horror!" came the chilling cry, "TODOMEDA!"

Yodaz watched, frozen, as the mass of writhing chimera mouths descended upon him and his Corile...

He awoke a few hours later in a dumpster near the restaurant where he had met Pai Lon.

"Wh-where am I? How did I get here? I left the restaurant to follow that guy and then... then... I... don't remember."

Across the street, three young men in black jackets watched him climb out of the trash, nodded to each other, and walked away...