Episode 8. - Begin Tournament! Duel!

The woman brushed her honey-blonde hair out of her face, and began to shuffle her deck. Her opponent was a wiry, shrewd looking young man that almost looked young enough to be her son. Bernadette Collins' age, however, was not belied by her appearance nor her attitude. Not many thirty-something mothers were at the tournament, far less competing in it. On the other hand, not many women were like Bernadette.

"Well, star, let's see how you do, hm? I'm warning you, though, my two boys are over there watching, and I'm not going to let their trip out here with their mama be in vain, so you better come good, or don't come at all..."

The young man scoffed at her with a derisive smirk. What exactly did this lady think she was doing anyways? Just because her sons weren't old enough to play yet did not mean she should be the one here. He wondered exactly what type of tournaments her area would have to hold, for someone like her to be chosen for the grand Tournament.

The Duel Masters Constructed Grand Tournament. Duelists from all over the world normally were here. This year, they had changed the entry system slightly. Now, it was not the act of distinguishing yourself in your country or area that got you invited to this tournament. It was records of your dueling finesse, special invitations, and finally, the secret undercurrent that so few of those present knew about. Kaijudo.

"Such an interesting turnout this year, don't you think, Yodaz?" came the voice.

Yodaz turned to see the son of the usual tournament sponsor, a tall young man with a perpetual mischievous grin. He shrugged lightly, and returned to his scanning of the room. It had been nearly a month since his encounter with Shu Lon, and he still had no recollection of the event, other than the occasional nightmare that would have him sitting up in his bed like a shot, damp with his own cold sweat, with only the image of a writhing chimera burned into his mind...

Today, that was the furthest thing from the champ's mind. He was upset with this upstart sponsor, requiring him to duel in the tournament regardless of his champ status. He had been assured that even if he was eliminated early, he would still be in the champion match, but there was some complex ranking system that would decide if he should remain champ, and not the outcome of the duel. Somehow, that did not sit well with the dark haired duelist, but if he wanted to keep his title officially at all, he would have to subject himself to it.

"In fact, I think I have done a remarkable job of assembling nearly every duelist with reports of active Kaijudo, in the world..." the young man whispered to Yodaz. Yodaz spun, and glared at him, suddenly realizing what this was all about. It was true. He had been detecting spikes of Kaijudo in nearly every duelist here. Suddenly, he had a very ominous feeling, and the intense urge to grab the man by the collar and wipe that smug grin off his face. His voice betrayed none of this, however. He remained as calm as always...

"Why would you do such a thing? Don't you think it's a little foolhardy to do that? You don't even know what effect large amounts of Kaijudo in one place can have."

"Ooh, it has a special effect? Do tell."

Yodaz glowered at him now, wondering how many ways a person could be an idiot and not have some sort of karmic judgement visited upon them for it.
"That's my point. You don't even know if there is one, and for that matter, neither do I. You could be setting us all up for a massive mental breakdown, or worse."

"Hm, perhaps, but think what it will do for sales, especially if the effect is good rather than bad..."

Yodaz sighed. He should have known it would be about the money. Shaking his head disdainfully, he returned to watching the nearby duel. Bernadette's opponent, Riley Cohen, was just about to charge his first mana card.

"I place Ultra Mantis, Scourge of Fate, in my mana zone, and end my turn."

Bernadette drew her sixth card, and grinned at her opponent. She charged fire mana, and ended her turn. Yodaz moved a bit closer. Their Kaijudo was beginning to manifest already, and they had not even summoned a creature yet. He might have to dampen the effect of their output, if the possibility of a Kaijudo chain reaction existed.

Riley charged his own fire mana, and ended his turn. Bernadette charged nature mana, and summoned an Essence Elf. Her Kaijudo spike made a buzzing sound in Yodaz's head. Very seldom, had he been exposed to Kaijudo as pure as hers, and definitely never in the situation where the other duelist had not been up against him. Bernadette ended her turn, leaving Riley to draw his card and summon a Bronze-Arm Tribe, which had the effect of bolstering his mana zone further with a Rothus, the Traveler. He ended his turn, and Bernadette drew her card.

"Ah, the power of an Essence Elf. Never ceases to surprise," she smiled, charging darkness mana, "Through my Essence Elf's effect, I cast Death Smoke on your Bronze-Arm Tribe!"

Bernadette's enthusiasm further heightened the effect of her own Kaijudo, accelerating it, and momentarily projecting the event into the minds of any nearby duelist that was not already in their own 'zone', including Yodaz. The Tree Folk added its power to the magic, and the Bronze-Arm Tribe was swallowed up. She proceeded to let the Essence Elf break a shield. Riley actually did look surprised. Yodaz sighed. The young man had made the primary error. Underestimating his opponent.

Riley's eyes narrowed in annoyance and slight frustration. He charged fire mana, attempting to hide the fact that it was his 'attuned' card that he had put there. Yodaz noticed the twist in Kaijudo, and glanced down at the card, but Bernadette did not have time to realize that, since Riley summoned a Rothus, the Traveler, and put serious effort into making sure that Bernadette could see the effect in her mind. He was a bit thrown off when she laughed out loud, and drew her card, after placing her Essence Elf in the grave.

"Now that, was a gutsy move. I'll send my own Rothus to my mana zone, and summon my Ruthless Skyterror."

"What's going on?" came the voice from behind him. Yodaz recognized the voice without turning. Libra. He answered her without bothering to turn in her direction, also.

"Nature, Fire, Darkness. Both sides. The lady seems to be winning so far, but it's too early to tell."

Coming up beside him, Libra nodded, and focused her attention on the duel also. Bernadette had just ended her turn. Their Kaijudo seemed to have settled into an odd stalemate. Riley drew his card, then placed his Rumble Gate into his mana zone. It was no help to him. He ended his turn. Bernadette smiled again, drew her own card, and placed a Brutal Charge in her mana zone. No help to her either. This continued for yet another turn, this time with Riley's Fighter Dual Fang. This upset him quite obviously, however. If he still had the Bronze-Arm, he would have been able to grab an advantage.

"Come on. One of us has gotta do somethin', or I'll lose all my pep," Bernadette laughingly encouraged him, as she drew her own card and ended her turn, this time without using it in any way. Riley charged more fire mana, and summoned a Trench Scarab.

"Now that's more like it. I was waiting for him since I saw that Ultra Mantis..."

"She's really... cheerful, isn't she..." Libra remarked to Yodaz. Yodaz wasn't particularly interested anymore. Neither deck looked at all threatening or even mildly dangerous to him. He simply uttered a 'hmf' and wandered off in search of a hot dog, leaving Libra to watch the outcome.

Bernadette drew her card and summoned Rothus, the Traveler, making sure to return Riley's earlier favor, with a mental fireworks display of her own that ended with both Rothus and the Trench Scarab in the grave. Libra was surprised. She would have thought that Bernadette would have let the Skyterror take the hit, but something about the dueling matron was quite clearly confident about her choice, so it seemed best to just keep watching.

Riley's smile widened as she ended her turn.
"Now you'll pay for before..."

He didn't even bother to draw, per se. He simply flipped the top card of his deck into his mana zone. A Faerie Life. His Kaijudo surge could be felt by everyone in the room.

"Now I tap all my mana! Come forth, my Bazagazeal Dragon!"
What would normally have been nothing more than a noisy exclamation regarding a simple summon took on so much more of a meaning. In their minds, the huge dragon roared to life, out of the mouth of a volcano. Riley's mental imaging was very detailed, and his attachment to this particular card extremely clear. It floated before Bernadette and her own winged one, superheated gas hissing out from its nostrils, before it began to inhale...

"Bazagazeal, destroy the Ruthless Skyterror!"

Bernadette shrieked in shock as the gigantic fireblast scorched even her powerful Skyterror to ashes. She stood there trembling for a few moments after that. She had never seen Bazagazeal in play, furthermore up close and personal in her mind. It was, indeed, an intimidating dragon. She gasped in relief when the dragon's other effect came into play, and it dived into the volcano from whence it came, waiting to be summoned on the next turn. She reached out to draw her card, nearly fumbling it, and ended up helplessly sending it to her mana zone. Not even the Mana Crisis would stop him this time.

"Bad move," Libra noted to herself, "She should have played that..."

Riley drew his card, and, since he did not have to charge any mana due to Bernadette's decision, simply tapped all of it again.

"Again, Bazagazeal! Break her shields this time! Ikei!"

Bernadette picked up her shields as Riley picked up his dragon. She carefully considered her options, then sent the Doboulgyser that she had just obtained from Riley's attack, to the mana zone, and summoned the other card that had once been her shield. Bronze-Arm Tribe. Another of her Nature cards went to her mana zone, and she summoned another just like it. Essence Elf. She then ended her turn, helpless against the onslaught that was sure to come yet again.

"You're helpless now, aren't you?" Riley said, "I'm sorry your sons have to see you lose like this, but you knew the risk, right? Come at you with all I've got, you said, so here we go..."
He charged more fire mana, and summoned a Bronze-Arm Tribe, then, yet again...
"Bazagazeal, come forth! Ikei! Double break!"

Riley's Kaijudo was clearer now than ever before. Any duelist willing to be receptive to the image got it in all its glory. The spectacular eruption of the volcano gave birth to the mighty creature yet again. That which could be argued as the most powerful of all dragons, based on its abilities alone. It seemed to contemplate scorching either of the small Nature creatures in its path into oblivion, but since Riley had already given his command, it set about the task of blasting Bernadette's shields. One of those shields was a Lost Soul. The other was a trigger. Locomotiver.

Riley smirked as Bernadette cursed herself for letting the creature trigger. If she had thought to simply pick it up and summon it instead, he might have lost his great dragon. He ended his turn, his Kaijudo swirling around him in an almost smug manner. Libra pouted. Something about him, she found distasteful. She hoped that she was not up against him anytime soon. She did nothave a lot of ways to stop that dragon of his, if any.

Bernadette was all smiles again as soon as she drew her card. Riley's own grin instantly disappeared.
"Looks like your luck's out, kid. My train came in after all."
She charged the Lost Soul as darkness mana, thankful that she would not have to play that, just to get rid of Bazagazeal, and summoned another Locomotiver.

"No!" Riley snarled, as he felt his Kaijudo almost sucked away by the darkness creature's effect. It disappeared from around him so fast it almost seemed to leave him in a state of shock, and even Libra gasped at the speed at which Bernadette's rushed to fill the void, coiling around the boy just like vines. This woman did indeed identify strongly with the Essence Elf. She had turned the duel around on him instantly, and she did not stop there.

"Now I summon Meteosaur. Say good-bye, Bronze-Arm."

Riley's Kaijudo dropped away completely now. He was almost like a small child against the onslaught of the older woman.

"I'll end there. Come on. Now what will you do?"

Riley seemed to have already been defeated, but he drew his card, and the tiniest flicker of hope still seemed to be there. He summoned the Trench Scarab he had drawn, and ended his turn. Libra tilted her head. What could he possibly be hoping to draw or have in his shield zone that could stop her? Her mind flashed back through all the cards that could be totally helpful in his shield zone at this point. Hoping for more than one trigger was a bit much, and it was quite likely that she would still outrun him even if he did have that, so what could he be--

"Burst Shot," came the answer from the playful blue shape.

Libra's eyes shot open with the realization. She glanced over Bernadette's field. It would work. How could she forget the card that so often stopped her own deck in its tracks? Could he be that lucky now, however...?

Bernadette looked at Riley now, and her Kaijudo dropped by nearly half. No longer did it coil around him, threatening to crush his own. She looked rather sad, in fact.

"Hey now, hon. Don't go getting all bummed out about this. You played a good game, and you shouldn't worry so much. Just don't underestimate someone based on what you think they should be, anymore, okay?"
She seemed genuinely concerned, but Riley gave her a disgusted glare.

"Would you mind terribly just shutting up? Firstly, I haven't lost yet. Secondly, I'm not your kid, you don't have to talk me into feeling better about myself. For all you know, I have you right where I want you. You've only got one shield left..."

Bernadette looked down at her cards, and nodded.
"Yeah... but... I don't see how that helps you. You've only got the Trench Scarab."

Riley just gave her a strange smile.

"There are ways. You've also only got four creatures. Enough to break my shields, if you wanna risk that. Of course, they're all weak, so depending on what those shields are, you might not be left with anything when you're done cracking them all. I think you should give it a shot, though. After all, I might just draw the Searing Wave instead."

Bernadette put her hand to her chin and looked a little worried. Her Kaijudo energy began to rise again gradually. She looked across at her two sons, who, though they were both too young to understand exactly what was going on, were watching their mother intently. Very intently. Bernadette smiled, and wiped away the tears that welled up in her eyes.

"I can't believe this," she berated herself, "Getting all misty eyed over a duel, just because those two young pups of mine are watching their mother do her best. I'm not about to let them down, young man. You've been underestimating me since this duel began, and I don't understand why at all..."

"For someone who can control the mind thing, you don't seem to get this game very well, lady. You weren't even trying to beat me when you started the duel. I could feel that. All you wanted was to get your creature out. A pretty wimpy one at that. I mean, who chooses that silly little thing to represent them? Your little Death Smoke trick was nice and all, but a Crimson Hammer woulda done that too."

Bernadette twitched a bit. Libra tried to see her eyes, to see if she was upset or angry. She did seem to be an emotional woman, far moreso than anyone Libra had ever met. She was almost sure she saw a teardrop fall from Bernadette's cheek as the fiery Kaijudo peaked. Libra found herself involuntarily backing off, with a strong instinctive urge to take cover. Riley was in for it...

"So you think that just because you identify with that giant scorcher, you're better than me? You think I'm gonna let you stand there in front of my two children and call me and my Elf pathetic?" She was practically growling now. Libra bumped into Yodaz as he returned with his soda and hot dog, nearly causing him to spill it on himself. He glared at her. She began to apologize profusely, but was distracted by the explosive energy surge generated by Bernadette.

"What's going on?" Yodaz asked Libra now. Libra was about to answer when the sound of Bernadette's foot stamping on the hardwood floor jolted her back to paying attention only to the duelists. Yodaz did not need Libra's explanation anymore, however. Bernadette's irate vocalization of her feelings more than got the point across.

"You're going to be so sorry that you ever underestimated me. I don't know if it's because I'm a woman, or because you think I'm too old for this game, or whatever, but I don't care right now. You're gonna learn why you shouldn't trifle with people, and especially not mock them in front of company. You like volcanoes so much, I'll show you volcanoes!"

"I don't know what she's talking about..." Yodaz remarked, "But it's going to be interesting, whatever it is."

Bernadette drew her card, smiled, wiped her eyes, and calmly placed her Ruthless Skyterror in her mana zone.

"Yeah. This is it. You won't forget this one. I'll show you what a little magic can do. I can make bigger volcanoes than you... Essence Elf, receive the effect of Magma Gazer!"
Hot Kaijudo flooded the room. Now, nearly everyone's attention was focused directly on the two duelists. Even duelists who had been in the midst of their own duels at the time, were now facing in that direction, watching... waiting.

Riley looked a little worried now. She had the potential to punch through, but all he would need was one shield trigger to stop her. Unfortunately for him, Bernadette was not finished. The Kaijudo that Riley was now barely resisting, was about to triple in strength.

"And since Magma Gazer only costs two, thanks to my Elf..." she grinned even more now, "I can evolve Meteosaur into Doboulgyser, Giant Rock Beast!"

The erupting power of not one, but two volcanoes, swamped Riley's senses, but there was no way out of the imagery now. He had started this match of Kaijudo, and he would have to finish it. He felt himself surrounded by lava as the attacks began, his figurative shielding the only thing between him and a extreme psychosomatic burn.

"Essence Elf, ikei! Double Break!"

The Tree Folk's normal butterfly-like appearance became even more beautiful as the embers danced around it, not burning it, but adding to its power, multiplying it to the point where Riley shielded his eyes instinctively. Then came the rumbling, stomping sound...

"Doboulgyser, ikei! Double Break!"

To Riley, it no longer mattered. He could not stop her now, even if the card did trigger. Even if he survived this turn, he already felt too overwhelmed to continue dueling. He staggered backward from the perceived heat, but Bernadette had purposely arranged it such that he would not be 'burnt'. She seemed to turn compassionate again now, softly declaring her final attack.

"Locomotiver. Todomeda."

For some reason, however, this did not seem to spare Riley from the agonizing pain of his defeat. He clutched his head and fell to the floor, writhing. Spectators leapt forward to subdue him, and finally, he calmed down, and sat, staring blankly at the table leg. Bernadette came around the table to try to help him, but he shrieked and scooted away from her, across the floor. She looked at him penitently, then shook her head and walked over to where her two children were watching. Neither of them seemed bothered. Neither showed any signs of fear.

Yodaz was intrigued by this phenomenon. After all, even the adults around that were only there to watch, were panicking. Yet the two boys seemed totally calm.
"I wonder why they're not scared..."

Libra answered his question.
"It's their mother. Even if they felt the energy, that's the Kaijudo of their own mother. They're not going to fear that which is devoted to protecting them..."

Yodaz bit into his hot dog and nodded. It made sense. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the young sponsor, who was now grinning gleefully in front of some television reporters.

"Anything for sales, huh...? You little..."

Deep in Yodaz's mind, a purple shape swirled...