Episode 29. - Black-Petaled-Forget-Me-Not

Yodaz was walking toward the downtown hobby center now, his heart laden with regret for the events of the last few days. She was gone. The strange blue haired girl had finally given up. The words she had left him with that morning before departing for the train station, were still weighing on his mind. He had not expected her to give up...

"It's impossible. Nothing can break that deck. Nothing that attacks can break it, anyway. You can disrupt any assault in Duel Masters. It is not possible, so my quest is over..."

Yodaz had been shocked, both at her sudden 'realization', and the fact that for once, his Corile part had chosen to say nothing to Shtra. He had only just begun to understand the strange sibling rivalry he had developed with Libra, and now she was leaving. Just giving up, like that. She had not turned back. Not explained why. Simply smiled at him sadly and left.

Now he opened the door and stepped into the room. At least four flickers of Kaijudo. Only one of which was currently involved in a duel. For some reason, this was the moment that Corile chose, to finally make its speech regarding what had transpired that morning when he had knocked on the door of her room and she had opened it with bags in hand...

"Why does Shtra persist in trying to dethrone me? Why is it so important that I be toppled from my reign? We are not invincible, though I would like to be. We have been defeated before, and could be defeated again, I assume."

Yodaz did not respond. He knew what Libra would have said to that. What Shtra would have said to that. The only thing that beats Corile is Corile. He sat unhappily at one of the free tables, deciding to take a few stray challengers to pass the time, and perhaps help get his mind off it.
"Even now... I don't know how good she is, do I?" he sighed, "It doesn't really feel like she puts up much of a fight, so why do I..."

The Kaijudo spike of a final attack being delivered jolted his consciousness out of its introversion. He settled back again, shuffling his deck, but now his attention was on the direction it had come from, and he could hear the conversation of two duelists nearby.

"Did you see that? Never had a chance, man. I've never seen anything like that. The deck is so weird, but it's gone undefeated for the whole day..."

That alone raised Yodaz's interest. Two undefeated decks going up against each other was sure to result in an interesting match, as well as the end of the streak for at least one of them. He decided to get a closer look at this deck. Rising from his seat, he moved over to where the young man sat. The air of confidence he exuded was rather amazing, and would have intimidated many others. Yodaz, however, was rather hard to impress. Before he could even engage the lanky, dark haired one in conversation, another girl, the strongest other source of Kaijudo in the room, strode up, and plopped herself down in the seat opposite him.

"All right, let's cut to the chase, mister. You're on my turf beating all 'my' people, and I don't even know who you are. What's your name?"

He looked up at her, a slightly amused look in his dark eyes, and smiled. "Yours first."

"Luni Matthia!" she announced proudly, tossing her head, bouncing her short blonde curls. Her hazel eyes locked with his again, her expression stern, "Now you."

"My name is Vlad Gheorghe," he smiled, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Luni. Now, what is this about being on your turf? You are the 'reigning champion' around here?"

She placed her deck on the table, into the place where it would normally be whilst dueling. She was making it clear that this was a challenge, even though she had not spoken the words.
"You could say that. I'm not undefeated here though, so if I allow you to remain 'undefeated', it will affect my ranking, won't it? So let's get this over with. I at least want to make sure that the person taking my spot is actually better than me."

Her smirk was slightly condescending. She was already too sure of herself. Vlad flashed his usual smile and arched his eyebrows momentarily. "All right then. Let's go... you first."

The shields were deployed quickly. Yodaz instantly became wary of the two as they drew their cards. Their Kaijudo began to clash even before anything could happen. So much so that he could already feel what Civilizations they were going to use, without seeing a single card in the deck of either one. It was as if Luni had something to prove, and she was already pushing against Vlad in order to intimidate him. It did not seem to be working.

Luni began the duel by confirming Yodaz's feelings about her deck. She charged water mana and ended her turn. Vlad breathed deeply as the air became moist, and negated the new humidity with his own fire mana. Luni scoffed, and put her Terror Pit into her mana zone, darkening the space. Vlad countered with light mana, returning the balance, but did not stop there.

"I summon Sarius, Vizier of Suppression. End turn."

Luni eyed the card suspiciously. She was waiting for it to appear in her mind. This, it soon did. Yodaz was aware of it also. Luni drew and played darkness mana again, summoning a Gray Balloon, Shadow of Greed, to face the Initiate... and ended her turn. Yodaz blinked at them a bit. Both had started with a creature that he could not Crimson Hammer. On the other hand, they were both blockers. Not much threat unless they evolved.

Vlad drew his card, charged more fire mana, a second Bolmeteus Steel Dragon, and summoned a Senatine Jade Tree, before ending his turn. Another strong creature. Another blocker. The tree shimmered near the initiate, and now, again, Vlad had the stronger creature. Luni drew her card, and sent her Death Smoke to her mana zone after a few moments of contemplation.
"I summon Gigastand. And end my turn. You're about to face one of the most dangerous things you've ever seen."

"Oh. Really?" Vlad laughed, drawing his third card for the duel. He charged more mana. Light, this time, brightening his side of the world still more. "I summon Ruthless Skyterror. End turn."

Luni was taken aback for a moment. Her body gave an involuntary shudder at the sound of the Skyterror's roar. The strong wingbeats implied the dominance of the aerial weapon. She had nothing to match that. She drew her card and charged darkness mana, but did nothing more. Already, she was beginning to feel a bit nervous.

Vlad's next turn involved mana, and another Ruthless Skyterror joining his forces. Now there were dual wingbeats. Vlad's 'aerial defense force' was growing in size, and Luni had nothing to stop it. Now, she would have to find a way.

"Summon Marinomancer. I draw... Marinomancer..." This, she tossed into her graveyard, "Gigastand, and Death Smoke. End turn."

Vlad laughed at the situation, and drew his card.
"It looks like you're on the wrong side of the big wall, dear. Sarius to mana, and summon Gran Gure, Space Guardian! Ruthless Skyterror, attack Marinomancer! Ikei!"

The Cyber Lord let out a squeak as the Skyterror descended upon it. Gran Gure slowly floated into view as the Ruthless one cornered, and quickly finished off, the Marinomancer. Vlad's turn ended.

"What am I going to do?" Luni thought to herself now as she drew her card, "I don't have anything to break through that... people don't play decks like this anymore... what is he, crazy?"
She charged the Gigastand to mana and cast the Death Smoke. Vlad watched as his Gran Gure was infested by the dank black mist, its stabilizers cut out, and it slowly fell from the sky. Luni ended her turn. The wall was still there.

Yodaz was now also feeling the effects of Vlad's Kaijudo, and the strange effect it was having on Corile. The Cyber Lord seemed almost... afraid. He could feel Corile calculating. Looking for ways to deal with Vlad's 'air force' without having too much problems, but there was no aggression to stop. Vlad had not yet put a single creature on his field with the ability to attack shields. Yodaz watched as the duelist drew another card, summoned a Sarius, and ended his turn.

"You think you're going to get an advantage here, but you're wrong," Luni said.. but it sounded far more as though she were trying to convince herself than him. Her Kaijudo now turned sinister and odd. A howling warped sound coming from her side as she summoned yet another Gigastand and ended her turn. Vlad began to feel as if the walls were closing in on him.

He slid the card off the top of his deck, and breathed for a moment to steady himself.
"Here is my advantage. Cleansing your field of those threats you've put there. Holy Awe."

The light filled their minds, causing a reactive shriek from Luni which she quickly stifled. Her psi-waves were now instantly full of hatred for this new arrival. He was practically humiliating her, even though she was not playing that badly. This one had simply built up an air defense that was unrivaled by anything she had ever seen. It was about to get a lot worse also.

"Jade Tree. Destroy the Gray Balloon. Skyterrors, tear those Gigastands apart!" Vlad commanded.
His creatures did just that, swooping in for the kill. Nothing could be done to save the balloon, but the Gigastands were another matter. Even as they were destroyed, and their bodies fell to mush, rather than being absorbed into the ground, instead, Vlad watched as a strange darkness infused one, and it flowed back toward Luni. She stretched out her hand and let the dark ooze flow into it, smirking. She then grimaced for a moment as she was forced to discard her Amber Piercer. The second Gigastand went through a completely different process. Instead of simply flowing back into her hand, this one floated up into the air as an expanding bubble of solid black, and then, from within, the light began to crack the surface, as that surface began to take a strange form. Electricity coursed along the shell, until finally, the ooze dripped off, returning to Luni, leaving her with her avatar floating there instead. She was laughing. The dual beam lance was glowing. Dava Torey, Seeker of Clouds, was born.

The electricity, and the spikes of dark Kaijudo that emanated from her, were so strong, that it was all that Vlad could do to keep from holding his head in pain. Yodaz fought the urge to retch. Something was so very strange and so very wrong about what Luni had just managed to do. It was her turn now...

"You may beat me, perhaps, but you will never forget me... I will not let you forget!" her mind screeched at Vlad. She placed one of the Gigastand into mana and summoned a Gigazoul, then the second Gigastand. She ended her turn.

"Your... Seeker... doesn't matter..." Vlad managed to blurt out, his mind and perceptions quickly becoming distorted by the warped psychotic psionisis that seemed to make up Luni Matthia. He summoned Magris, Vizier of Magnetism, drew his card, and ended his turn, quite aware that only now, after seven rounds of play, and clashes in the skies, did he have a creature that could actually carry out an assault.

"I don't like the look of this duel..." he thought towards his avatar, which had not yet appeared. He was unfortunately not given any reassurance by said avatar, but he also knew that he was not in bad shape yet. There would definitely be time to make her movements difficult if he could only get his army together before she got hers.

Luni did little. She was too lost in her own shrouded mind at this point. Her turn consisted of a Gray Balloon summon, and no more. Vlad drew his card, and his own Kaijudo now took a drastic turn upward, swamping hers entirely and drawing a confused whimper from his opponent. Luni's eyes opened wide with terror as he played his card. Rumble Gate.

Vlad chuckled a little. "Here are your orders! Magris, take the Balloon. Ruthless, Dava is yours. Ruthless two, the Gigazoul, and Sarius, the Gigastand for you. All of you now... GO! Ikei!"

The mindscape erupted into battle, and Yodaz could feel Corile's slight cringe as Vlad's aerial army swept down upon their opponents. The Gray Balloon took a direct modified electron cannon blast from Magris, exploding into a shower of ignited plasma. Dava Torey fought bravely against the Ruthless one's wing mounted energy sabers, but its own beam weapon did not save it from the Ruthless' cannons any more than its armor did. The modified cannon blast sealed the deal, inverting Luni's Kaijudo almost instantly as her avatar exploded. The second Skyterror sliced easily through the Gigazoul, and Sarius' antipersonnel field now had extra power. Enough to crush the Gigastand.

Luni gasped for air as she drew her card. She knew what her hand consisted of. A single Terror Pit. The Moonlight Guardian she drew was unnecessary and would probably only be at risk if she did summon it. She placed the card to mana, summoned a Gigazoul and ended her turn, relying totally on Vlad's lack of offense to see her through this. Vlad had no intention of letting that remain so, but his deck did, admittedly, lack the shield breaking capacity of most. He drew his card, and smiled again.

"I summon Bad-Axe Norsykler!" he declared. When the large red-bearded human lumbered out onto the battlefield, the Ruthless Skyterrors let out a mighty battle roar. Even more terrifyingly, Norsykler roared back...

Luni felt her legs go numb at the appearance of Vlad's avatar. She had no choice now but to destroy it. The creature could destroy anything she even summoned. Nothing was safe from the axe-wielding, plasma-cannon-toting Viking-like warrior. Vlad risked his assault, too, knowing this.

"Magris, break her shield. Ikei!"
The electron cannon blast shattered Luni's defence barrier, and there was no triggering effect. Luni drew her card as Vlad's turn ended, charged light mana, and saved herself from his intimidating Kaijudo...

"Terror Pit, to swallow your Norsykler," she managed to say. It seemed like an effort just to play the card. Yodaz found himself perspiring slightly now. It was as if every single creature Vlad summoned was one that absolutely had to be disposed of. This, in itself, was proving to be a far greater advantage than he was used to seeing in any opponent.

"I have card drawing ability and searching..." he reassured himself, "There's no way that he could outdo me for long. I shouldn't be so bothered..."

"She is not a threat either..." Corile interjected in the same tone of thought, "So what if she limits our ways of dealing with her Chimeras? It won't matter in the end... we still have Natural Snare, and I can do the rest... there is no problem. Neither is dangerous."

Somehow the thoughts seemed to ring hollow, even if they were true. Vlad was already on the move again.
"Don't make me repeat myself. I summon Bad-Axe Norsykler! Magris, ikei!"

Luni watched as the cannon blasted yet another of her shields, but seemed oddly relieved when it finally returned to her hand. Vlad ended his turn, and Luni wasted no time. She already felt lost, but she could still take what small sadistic pleasure she could, out of her next move.

"Then stop being so repetitive," she mocked, "Death Smoke, to swallow your Norsykler!"

In her mind, Vlad's cry of anguished rage mixed with that of his Skyterrors. The Light creatures made no such sounds, but the sparks of light and energy that buzzed around them showed that they too, were upset at the second loss.

"Now I play Crystal Memory," Luni declared, her face going into a wide grin as she did so. That instantly made Vlad even more wary. She could not tell, in fact, no one else could, but she was slowly wearing him down. He wondered momentarily what would happen if she had retrieved another Marinomancer, but there was no way to know. She ended her turn, and drew his card.

"Magris, it seems you're my lucky gunner today. Break shield! Ikei!"
The shield shattered as the other two had, and Vlad's turn ended. His air force only had one assault unit at the moment, but it seemed that it might only need one.

"I summon... Marinomancer!" The Cyber Lord sat quietly, and the dark orb in its hand glowed once, twice, then a third time. Dark Reversal, Terror Pit, and a Gray Balloon.
"And now Dia Nork, Moonlight Guardian! End turn!"

Vlad nodded. The twisted energy of his opponent was returning. This was certainly not a person he would ever duel by choice again. He could feel her evil intent. A vast depth of selfishness and pride that he could not even begin to fathom. Her goal was to be unforgettable, and he found that she was indeed etching a place for herself, and her crazy deck, in the recesses of his mind.

Yodaz was otherwise preoccupied, with thoughts from the tournament two months prior. Aquan. The Marinomancer, as it was, seemed a balance, not quite a threat. Aquan in its place, however, might have been a different story. Mentally, Corile urged him not to think about it. There was simply no more Aquan to contend with.

Luni now ended her turn, enabling Vlad to slide yet another card off the top of his deck. He growled at her, and his psychic force pushed against hers yet again, as if trying to free himself from the clinging darkness. Now, he looked at his card, and did so forcefully instead.
"Holy Awe!"

Luni snarled in frustration as the Ruthless Skyterrors swept down on her Moonlight Guardian and Marinomancer. The Jade Tree entangled Gigazoul and 'purified' it. Forcefully. Then, as always...
"Magris, break her shield! Ikei!"

There was no trigger. Vlad's turn ended. Luni was left devastated. Her mental image of herself seemed to be dissolving now into a puddle of black mud. Yodaz cringed. Who would have thought that such a bright, peppy young woman could harbor such dark jealousy inside. She played a Dark Reversal now, and the ooze that flowed from her body became another bubble, taking the form of Dia Nork, Moonlight Guardian, once more. This time, she used her mana to energize the Guardian, and on top of that, summoned another Gigastand.
"End... turn..." she hissed at him.

Vlad was no longer intimidated by her. He was actually revolted now. He could see into her, past her pleasant, almost charming exterior, to the cold blackness inside. Yodaz, also, knew then that what he thought he had been seeing in Libra and Shu was nowhere near this. Both were cold. Both were dark. But this one... she was just wrong.

Vlad looked at the card in his hand, and his squadron assembled into formation yet again.
"You will not break through, vile thing. You will not escape us either."

Yodaz felt himself shudder at the burst of energy from Vlad. Corile quickly went into calculations of the effectiveness of Lost Soul, and the destruction of Magris, to avoid seeing what happened next. Vlad showed no compassion or remorse in this one. He was struggling against her influence. To avoid being drawn into that odd blackness and warped. This no longer felt like fun. This felt like a fight, for his own sanity. Luni did not seem at all sane, and she was slowly supplanting that strange feeling onto him in ways he could not understand. He had to stop it now.
"Rumble Gate."

Luni seemed to twitch as the Ruthless Skyterror engaged her Moonlight Guardian in combat, piercing the Guardian's defenses easily with its cannons. The Jade Tree ensnared the Gigastand, and attempted to reduce it to nothingness, but there was no such luck. It returned to ooze, but inside the tree's energy field, that ooze shifted and morphed, until Dava Torey burst forth, out of the Jade Tree's control...

Directly into a combination saber slash/cannon blast from Vlad's other Skyterror. It had been anticipating that, and had swooped down on Luni's avatar. Vlad ordered the final attack on her last shield, from Magris, and ended his turn.
"It was no use. I told you I wasn't going to let you escape. You are finished, I assure you."

Luni laughed oddly now. "Oh really? Let's see how you like this, then. I summon Gigastand, and cast Terror Pit on your Vizier of Magnetism! Now who has the last laugh!? End turn!"

Vlad shook his head and sighed. He was free of her influence now, and his emotion toward her turned to one of pity.
"I told you. It is no use. You were right, though. I do not think I will ever forget you... so if that's your goal, you've achieved it. Although... tell me? Is this really how you want to be remembered?"

Luni simply grinned at him. She could see no further than her own twisted satisfaction at leaving him in what she considered to be a helpless state. A full aerial strike force, but nothing to deal the final blow.

"You are definitely not someone I would like to have the displeasure of facing again..." Vlad sighed, "So it is with great relief that I bring an end to this duel. I cast Diamond Cutter--" Luni's jaw dropped here, her lips simply giving a silent 'no...' and her expression turning to pleading eyes-- "Now, all of you! For your leader and for yourselves! Todomeda!!"