Episode 76. - The Other Side Of The Coin

The room of duelists fell to a hush as North American Champion Rusty Kouizo stepped forward again. His Kaijudo had been growing steadily in intensity ever since the final rounds began, and now was enough to suppress even the buzzing chatter of the onlookers. This was Rusty in his element. His opponent, Siddhant Sutar, did not project his own Kaijudo yet, but those who knew him were aware that such a phenomenon was in no way an indication of a lack of power on Siddhant's part. The duel between the two began, with Siddhant being allowed to go first, again, due to Rusty's ability to actually defend himself.

Siddhant's first card to mana was Wind Axe, the Warrior Savage. Rusty began his own play by placing a Crystal Lancer into his mana zone and immediately manifesting an Aqua Guard in the shared mindspace. The Liquid Person seemed to shimmer, drawing the focus of the onlookers. Siddhant placed Nature mana, and summoned Gonta, the Warrior Savage.

Rusty charged mana, a card that few had ever seen played at the high points of their tournaments. Roar of the Earth. He ended his turn, with a smirk, and the words...
"Gonta causes me trouble."

As if in response, Siddhant placed Emeral into his mana zone and summoned another Gonta, causing Rusty to laugh at the situation. The first Warrior Savage did not make any move yet. Siddhant knew what he was doing.

Rusty drew his card, and placed one of his Aqua Hulcus into his mana zone, summoning another, and drawing a card. His turn ended, his creatures nowhere near those of Siddhant in power. Siddhant charged more Fire mana and smirked.

"I summon Gonta, the Warrior Savage. And cast Spiral Gate on your Aqua Guard."
The event caused even Rusty's powerful and normally nigh-unflappable psychic energy to crumple in oddly. Three Warrior Savages was something that nearly no duelist could easily deal with.

They moved in together, smashing his shields, and worse yet for the North American champion, neither of those triggered. One was a Quixotic Hero. The other, a second Roar of the Earth. Rusty placed that to mana after drawing his card, and summoned two Quixotic Heroes. Even with such a strong capacity to counterattack now present, he still faced three of the most powerful early creatures possible. It was practically over.

Siddhant did not summon. He placed the Wind Axe into his mana zone and sent his Gonta strike force in against Rusty. With a mighty unified battle cry, they charged, breaking the three shields. None of these triggered either...

Rusty's Kaijudo spiked, pushing Siddhant's back, strongly implying that somehow, the Liquid Beast was about to retake control of the duel. This mostly provoked a 'this I've got to see' reaction from the audience of duelists and avatars, but of course, Rusty did not hesitate at all to 'show'.

"Energy Stream to mana. Summon Aqua Guard--"
The first war whoop went up from his two Quixotic Hero. Siddhant's Gonta braced themselves. This was expected. Another Aqua Guard appeared now, causing another robust cheer from the Quixotic Heroes. This was a little less expected for Siddhant, but not really a problem. The Aqua Hulcus that joined them drove the Swine Snouts into a frenzy of power, and they charged at the Gonta, sending two of them flying and defeating them instantly.

Siddhant's situation was still set. It was merely a matter of waiting for a card that could remove the Guards, or building up enough forces that it would not matter. He summoned an Emeral, and ended his turn.

"We defend just as well as we attack," the Crystal Lancer noted to its adversary now. Rusty placed his third Swine Snout into his mana zone and summoned a Bronze-Arm Tribe. This creature's ability placed another Aqua Guard into his mana zone, but Rusty did not seem at all bothered about the loss of one possible defense. In fact, he cast Dimension Gate to get the last Guard from his deck, and summon it, ending his turn.

Siddhant's play revealed instantly that full defense had indeed been the right way to go. Wind Axe crashed into the battle zone, its power cleaving one of the Guards easily in two. Siddhant's Kaijudo swirled slightly, as he considered, before ending his turn without attack.

That was the single opening Rusty needed. The card he drew, was Torcon. Another Energy Stream went into his mana zone, and Torcon appeared in the battle zone, with only a moment of chanting before it evolved into the powerful Earth Ripper, Talon of Rage, returning nearly all of Rusty's mana cards to his hand. All but one. The Energy Stream he had just placed. And with the power of that Energy Stream, Rusty summoned the Aqua Guard that the Bronze-Arm had placed into his mana zone before...

Now, the "Liquid Beast" had increased its offensive capacity considerably. In fact, enough to finish the duel on this turn...

"Earth Ripper, double break--"
The Aqua Surfer that sprang out washed away one of the Quixotic Heroes, but stopping Rusty would still require another trigger card.

"Hulcus, ikei!" --no trigger-- "Bronze-Arm, ikei!" --again no trigger-- "Quixotic Hero, ikei!"
The final shield did not trigger either, causing an odd half-laughing whimper from Siddhant, and a good natured laugh from Rusty.

"Good game, man. Aqua Hulcus, todomeda."
The power of his Kaijudo swept through the whole room, causing another hush from the crowd even as they had begun their cheers. It only paused them for a short time, and those cheers soon came anyway. Rusty shook Siddhant's hand, and they parted, making room at the table for the next two duelists. Rusty exchanged a knowing smirk with Nicholas Burner as the latter walked past him. There was a chance of a rematch...

Blune Phantom was Burner's opponent now, and Burner would apparently be going first. He began with Wind Axe, the Warrior Savage, and Phantom met this energy charge with Skysword, the Savage Vizier. More heat swept through the room as more Fire mana joined Burner's mana zone, and Gonta, the Warrior Savage, appeared...

In an instant, Phantom's mana zone had gained a darkness card, and his Quixotic Hero had made its appearance. Burner's mana zone now gained an Aqua Hulcus, and he summoned an Emeral. Gonta disregarded the minor danger that Swine Snout could have posed, charging in against Phantom's shields. The broken shield was Holy Awe, but the duelist did not trigger it. The change in his psychic energy revealed it anyway, though.

"Hm... Awe?" Burner noted, as Phantom now placed the card into his mana, then, "Yep."

Phantom's Bronze-Arm Tribe had already appeared, adding a Miele, Vizier of Lightning, to his mana zone, and givine the Quixotic Hero reason to celebrate. The second part of that celebration involved charging at the opposing Warrior Savage and engaging Gonta in fierce combat, that left them both exhausted in the end from struggling against the strength of the other, until finally, they both collapsed into the dust and did not rise.

Burner placed an Aqua Surfer into his mana zone, and summoned a Hulcus. Emeral broke the second shield. Skysword, the Savage Vizier.

"Can I say yep too?" Phantom now smirked, drawing yet another Vizier of Lightning and placing it into his mana zone. Now, Skysword descended onto the field of battle, bringing with him a new shield, and more energy to the world. The shield, no one knew, but they knew what it most likely was not, since the mana card added was Holy Awe. The Bronze-Arm Tribe charged forward to engage Emeral in combat, with much the same result as the battle from before.

"What do you mean by that?" Burner wondered aloud, but all he got from Phantom was a 'heh', and the gesture that signified the end of his turn. Burner charged Nature mana, and summoned a Bronze-Arm Tribe and Poisonous Mushroom. The Aqua Hulcus went straight for the shield Skysword had brought. It did not trigger.

"Hm... Ballas, Vizier of Electrons, to mana. Summon Bronze-Arm Tribe, and Soulswap it for Skysword, the Savage Vizier."
Yet again, a new shield and new energy came to Phantom. This time, the mana card was darkness. Another of his Vile Centurions. The one before that had been another Soulswap. He summoned a Quixotic Hero now as well, and a Vizier of Lightning as well. Its rings stunned Burner's Bronze-Arm Tribe, and Skysword's blade quickly defeated it.

Burner had gone silent. His opponent had something seldom seen in Duel Masters up until now. Defense in the form of speed. He charged Water mana, and his Aqua Hulcus went into battle with Skysword, liquid blade at the ready. Neither creature survived the clash The Poisonous Mushroom broke the new shield.

"Swine Snout to mana," Phantom noted, "And evolve Skysword into Earth Ripper, Talon of Rage! Now summon Gajirabute, Vile Centurion!"

The creature had been one of the cards that the Talon of Rage had 'ripped up' out of the earth, to return to Phantom, and the Demon Command teleported in with a slash that utterly destroyed the shield that Burner's Emeral had set. The Quixotic Hero charged the Poisonous Mushroom, easily trampling it, and Earth Ripper crashed into Burner's shields.

"Shield Trigger, Aqua Surfer!"
As suddenly as the Talon of Rage had come, it was gone again, washed away by Burner's Liquid one. This did not stop Miele from shattering another shield, leaving Burner with just a single one now, to defend himself with.

"Scarlet Skyterror to mana. Summon Twin-Cannon Skyterror. Skyterror, attack Quixotic. Surfer, destroy Miele. Ikei!"
The Surfer's attack paled in comparison to the double cannon blast from the Armored Wyvern, but everyone knew why Burner had done quite what he had. Both those creatures were the ones that could evolve.

It did not matter. The other card that Phantom had picked up by the power of the Earth Ripper, was a Soulswap, and that Soulswap now sent the Bronze-Arm Tribe that he summoned, into the mana zone, causing another Vile Centurion to slash through Burner's final shield, leaving the one on field to sneer and nonchalantly stride forward...

"Todomeda."
The room again erupted into cheers. Burner shook Phantom's hand with a slight grumble about needing to make a few changes. His psychic power had never been in danger, but his deck had not seemed to put much of a dent in Phantom's odd defenses.

"Quite the potential adversary..." Forbos noted to the human side of Ryoma Echizen, "He can break through the Sanctum wall with those Centurions, and there seems to be little we can do about it. Not to mention that he seems to build a wall of his own..."

"I must admit that I'm finding this all very interesting..." came the thought from Juliet's avatar, as she announced the beginning of the last Quarterfinal match. Angga Rahadyan would face Harriet Torren for a chance at the Semifinal placing.

"So you are the lady with the Rock Beast deck that I've heard so much about," Angga smiled, as he deployed his shields. Harriet went first, charging a Tornado Flame to her mana zone, and smiled in return.

"The guardian user. And just what have you heard about me and my Rock Beasts, mm?"

Angga charged a Holy Awe to his mana zone and summoned La Ura Giga, Sky Guardian. Harriet sent a Mana Crisis to her mana zone, and ended her turn also.

"The dilemma with a deck like yours is when to destroy your Bombersaur. Crystal Memory to mana. End turn."

"Generally I aim to make that impossible as well. Bombersaur to mana. Summon Cragsaur."
The Rock Beast rumbled out and seemed to turn to face the Sky Guardian scout that had come to look at her volcano. Angga sent a second of the Sky Guardians to his mana zone this time, and summoned an Aqua Hulcus, drawing a new card and ending his turn, the carrier now looming in the ocean not far off.

"I have specific ways of handling those who attempt to bolster their defenses strongly. I will see now if it works on you as well. Kulus, Soushine Enforcer to mana. Cast Mana Crisis."
In a clear display of harnessing the forces of Nature, Harriet now launched a volcanic attack on Angga's mana, destroying one Light card from it. Her Cragsaur launched its own volcanic attack, breaking one of the shields on the deck of the distant carrier with a burst of pressure propelled magma from its body. There was no trigger. Her turn ended.

"Now this is going to be interesting... I never hypothesized that a Cragsaur will be the creature that pressures me. Holy Awe to mana. Summon Jil Warka, Time Guardian. End turn."
The aircraft joined the La Ura Giga in the air, but they both knew that it posed no direct threat to the Cragsaur.

"Oh yes. I am quite aware of exactly how to handle those with heavy defenses. To the best of my ability, anyway. Magmarex to mana. Cast Mana Crisis again."

Her previous turn repeated itself completely, with Angga losing another Light mana and another defense shield. This time, he could only place his Bluum Erkis into his mana zone, and end his turn.

Harriet's next play was a burst of Tornado Flame up around the Sky Guardian. It was destroyed before it could really react to the situation, and the Cragsaur broke another of Angga's shields without any interference from Jil Warka.

"Cragsaur knocks down three... problematic, but it stops here. Glena Vuele, the Hypnotic, to mana. Summon Dia Nork, Moonlight Guardian."

"Oh dear. And I was so hoping it would be a bit longer before you got one of those..." Harriet sighed, "Ah well. Nothing to do but press onward. I summon Kanesill, the Explorer, and end."

What Angga did next, few who knew him or had seen him duel, expected. The guardian deck was known for its powerful defense, but Angga now changed the focus completely...

"Glena Vuele, the Hypnotic, to mana, in order to evolve Dia Nork into--"
The light shone forth from the Moonlight Guardian, transforming it into another Glena Vuele. This powerful aircraft swiftly broke two of Harriet's shields, neither of which triggered. She bit her lip slightly as she drew her next card. The spike of energy that signaled the arrival of her avatar, and her subsequent placing of that Bombersaur into her battle zone, did not really mean much in terms of her progression toward victory.

"What are we waiting for?" Bombersaur urged her, "Cragsaurs are stronger than Time Guardians. Let's go!"

It took her a moment to understand what exactly that fact had to do with anything, but she smiled now as it became clear. Her general need to keep one Rock Beast in play at all times would not be endangered too much even if she did attack. With luck, Glena would attack her Bombersaur in retaliation as well...

That was, indeed, exactly how it played out. The Hypnotic one destroyed the Bombersaur after Jil Warka intercepted the Cragsaur's fourth lava blast, and in so doing, stopped Kanesill and the Bombersaur itself. Bombersaur's explosion left Angga with four mana, and Harriet in the same situation. She sighed, even as the Burst Shot triggered by the Aqua Hulcus' shield breaking attack obliterated that same Hulcus. Unfortunately, Angga had summoned...

"I definitely was not counting on Bluum to appear. Why couldn't you have summoned a Mist Rias or something?" she laughed. Angga laughed as well. Harriet merely charged mana, a Lightning Charger, and ended her turn.

Angga sent Energy Stream to his mana zone, and Bluum fired its electron disruptors. Harriet knew full well that she could not afford to risk either shield's power coming under Bluum's control, and so, Kanesill moved into the way, stopping the attack.

"Your Giant Rock Beast would be next. I suppose this would do. Glena, double break! Ikei!"
The shields indeed shattered with no trigger. Harriet scowled, wondering if her Kaijudo had given her away. She had indeed drawn Valkrowzer on the last turn, and had been counting on the remote chance of a Mana Nexus chain to turn the tide, if not save her. As it was, all she could do, was send her Flametropus to her mana zone, and do exactly as Angga Rahadyan had predicted.

"Cragsaur, evolve into Valkrowzer, Ultra Rock Beast. Now, for our last display, destroy the Flare Guardian Bluum Erkis!"

Valkrowzer rumbled forward, and Bluum dived into battle also, neither attempting to flee nor hesitating in the least. The electron cannon blasts scored time and again on Valkrowzer's igneous hide as Bluum banked and evaded the superheated energy breath, but finally, Bluum came too close, and Valkrowzer performed its ultimate attack, exploding its energy outward in an omnidirectional blast of superheated volcanic gas, which then ignited around the Flare Guardian, bringing it down in flames into the side of Harriet's volcano.

"Whew... what a close one..." Angga noted, drawing his card, "Glena Vuele, todomeda."

The final attack seemed to barely scratch Harriet's psychic barrier. After all, her Valkrowzer was still on the field, and, whether or not Angga actually had Petrova available to him, he had not summoned it, meaning that Glena would not have been able to stop the Ultra Rock Beast in any case.

"I suppose I was relying a bit too much on you having bad luck..." she admitted, "But I am glad that you didn't. You'll make a fine champion if that turns out to be your fate today."

She shook his hand, smiling. Angga bowed slightly, before they picked up their cards and parted. The tournament would not be going directly into the semifinal rounds quite yet. Gene had a few ideas to attend to first, as well as his usual promotion of the upcoming eleventh set. He had been finding it a little hard to find exactly what to say about the set, but nevertheless he made the effort, now talking to the audience 'at home' via the live feed.

"Which one will I be going up against, then?" Ryoma now asked Juliet. Having seen all his potential competition, he was, admittedly, a little excited, and slightly anxious as well. This was far more like Japan's game than he was used to seeing in the West, and his possible adversaries were powerful defense, relentless swiftly growing assault, and something between the two that most had, for the day, simply described as 'unique'.

Juliet checked the pairings system, then replied simply; "Rahadyan."

Ryoma nodded. At least he had a chance of having Forbos' power raised by Angga's Petrova. Unfortunately, Forbos reminded him just then, against Angga's own Guardians it would make very little difference.

"And even if I do beat him, both of the other two are..."
He laughed to himself now. He could feel the beginnings of his Kaijudo's reaction to the upcoming challenges, already stirring in his body and mind.

"A Lancer, a Valkyrie, a Survivor, and a Light Weapon..." Cyclolink noted with a calm swirling wavelength of amusement, "What a day this is turning out to be..."

Rusty strode up to the table now, acknowledged the champion with a nod, and inquired as to who his own opponent would be. After Juliet confirmed his guess that he would indeed be facing Blune Phantom, he wandered off again, his barely contained psychic energy trailing along behind him. The slight chill made Ryoma shudder.

"Just how powerful are we really becoming?" he wondered to himself now, in a mutter.

"Oh, something strange is definitely happening because of all this..." Juliet noted, smiling good-naturedly at the Grand Champion. He turned back to her with a look of surprise and confusion. Her voice had carried a mysterious undertone.

"What... makes you say that?"

She laughed, and her Kaijudo swirled around him almost playfully, then she spoke so softly that it gave the impression of a whispered secret...
"I don't know how to duel..."