Episode 38. - Random Access Memory Module

The opening of a millionaire's most unorthodox idea yet. A combination gaming arcade and botanical garden. Why the dying eccentric had insisted that a large part of his estate be put toward the construction of such an odd combination, few knew. It had something to do with his wish to educate people about the beauty of nature. It could probably just as easily have been a wildlife preserve or aquarium.

Jack Skyler was there, though not for any particular reason. He had simply needed something to do for the afternoon before the evening's tournament not too far away, and for that reason, he was hanging around in the arcade, a virtual reality helmet covering most of his shoulder length golden 'mane'. His hands, within the gloves, moved rapidly, though he would have preferred a controller for this particular game. The gloves just were not responsive enough to help simulate combat in a giant robot, though he admitted to himself that the experience would have felt considerably less real without them. After finding himself being destroyed by heavy enemy fire yet again, he decided to stop letting the VR console eat his tokens, and lifted the helmet off his head, shaking his hair free and placing it back on its stand.

The guy behind him stepped forward, nodding a greeting, as he moved to take his place in the console seat. Just as he was about to, he spied the deck case peeking out of Jack's left hip pocket, and instinctively asked the question...
"Duel Masters?"

Jack looked confused for a moment, then realized what the shorter boy's brown-haired head was tilted to look at. He flicked the deck case out of his pocket.
"Heheh. Yeah. Here for the tournament later."

Cloud Sylver stood there a moment with the helmet in his hands, conversing with Jack.
"Isn't that tournament later a KC League one? I wanted to enter too, but with all those changes..."

"Eh. They're not that many. Most of them I can play around, even though I prefer the normal league. Less hassle and better competition. Still, I want ranking in both leagues, y'know? So sometimes I need to show up for these too. What about you?"

Cloud put the helmet down now, taking his own deck case out of his bag.
"I guess I could try entering it. How about a friendly game, help us both get used to the rules?"

Jack looked around for somewhere close where they could duel, nodding his acceptance of the 'challenge'. Noticing the booth, he motioned toward it with his head, and Cloud nodded.
"If you're lucky, I'll show you why dueling can be better than VR..." Jack smirked.

It was only when Jack played his first nature mana that Cloud understood what he meant. The faintest twinge of Kaijudo began to hum in his head. The Mana Nexus fit well with the surroundings somehow, but Cloud knew that the difference in his feeling had nothing to do with the gardens themselves. He charged his own mana, Aqua Sniper, and ended his turn, not yet revealing to Jack that not only did he know what was going on, but that he was also capable of it.

Jack's next turn involved adding a Holy Awe to his mana zone, increasing the resonance from himself. Cloud looked carefully at the cards in his hand, wondering if he was indeed facing a nature-light deck. He charged darkness mana to even out the mana energy, and again hide from Jack that there was any Kaijudo in him. Jack's Kaijudo itself increased more when he played a second Mana Nexus to his mana zone, and ended his turn.

"Light and Nature, not a very quick starter, mostly good defensive cards so far..." Cloud noted to himself, placing a Bronze-Arm Tribe into his own mana zone, "I think I can take him out..."

Jack drew his card and placed an Illusionary Merfolk into his mana zone, again, playing no spell or creature. Cloud seemed skeptical by now. Jack had not truly shown the Kaijudo that Cloud knew he was holding back, and although the Merfolk was not surprising, he surmised that his opponent was a little too random to be easily understood. He charged fire mana. Jack was the confused looking one now. Four types of mana so far, but it did not look quite like the four color decks he was used to. He still withheld his Kaijudo, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Locomotiver," Cloud declared, tapping his mana and placing the creature into the battle zone. He stretched out and pointed to his chosen card from Jack's hand. Jack smirked, and placed his own creature into the battle zone. Dava Torey, Seeker of Clouds.

Cloud looked down at the card, smirking as he noted its name, "Well, that's ironic. End turn."

Jack was still holding back his Kaijudo, but it did not seem necessary to continue doing so for much longer. He was still as unclear on what Cloud was trying to do, as Cloud was concerning him. He charged mana, another Holy Awe, which confused Cloud even more.
"Dava Torey breaks shield. Ikei."

Cloud picked it up. Jack ended his turn. Cloud then placed the Mongrel Man card directly to mana, even as he drew his next one, and in so doing, executed the summon that instantly let Jack Skyler know that his opponent was just as entrenched in the use of Kaijudo as he was himself.
"I summon Rothus, the Traveler!"

The imagery that assailed Jack's mind cleared up any doubt. The Locomotiver crashed into the Seeker of Clouds, and Dava stabbed its saber into the body of the train. Rothus' weapons locked on, and by the Locomotiver's sacrifice, met their mark, destroying Dava Torey, and the Locomotiver along with it. The explosion was vividly depicted in Jack's mind. He smirked again.

"I guess you already know how Duel Masters can be better than VR. All right then. Terror Pit to mana, summon Cryptic Totem! End turn."

Inwardly, Cloud sighed, giving up on even trying to understand what he was up against. So far all Jack seemed to be lacking was fire cards, and though the Totem was not much of a surprise, the Terror Pit threw him off a little. More pitfalls to look out for. The Totem in front of him, in his mind, was not that big a deal... yet. He drew his card and charged fire mana.
"Dimension Gate, to summon a Phantom Fish. End turn."

Jack drew his card, and charged more nature mana, "Corile, on your Phantom Fish."

For the first time since he had originally encountered the card, Corile did not have the regular choking effect on his Kaijudo, which surprised Cloud, as he, out of habit, returned the Phantom Fish to the top of his deck. Only when he realized that for some reason, he did not feel his dueling form have any trouble breathing, did he remember, and he picked up the card again. He was still in for a bit of trouble, however.
"Cryptic Totem, double break his shields. Ikei!"

Jack's visualization for the effect of the Totem was quite interesting. Though it was a nature creature, and 'should not' have had such ability, it seemed to hack into the shields that protected Cloud, disabling both them and their ability to trigger. Cloud made a slight face, but was not worried yet. He had got two cards that might help, and his Phantom Fish back. He drew his card, and charged more nature mana. Another Bronze-Arm Tribe. Even amidst the scenic floral surroundings, neither duelist was finding much use for their mana generation cards.
"I summon Unicorn Fish, to return your Totem to your hand, and Bloody Squito. Now, Rothus, break his shield. Ikei!"

"Nice timing, but I'll bet you weren't expecting this," Jack smirked, "Shield Trigger, Locomotiver!"

Cloud threw his hands up in exasperation. Was there anything that this deck did not have in it? He discarded the card Jack pointed at, an Aqua Hulcus, and ended his turn. He was still not doing too badly, but Jack's deck was beginning to feel very much like a 'jack-in-the-box'. Every time he thought he had figured out what would come out of it, it changed.

Jack placed one of his Dava Torey into his mana zone, and summoned an Illusionary Merfolk now, beside his Corile. The Cyber Lord reached out and activated the Merfolk's long range scanners and communication systems, drawing three new cards to Jack's hand, and increasing the pressure of his randomized Kaijudo, against Cloud's. A Bronze-Arm finally saw play, also, and by its effect placed another Locomotiver into Jack's mana zone.

Cloud balked at the sight. There was no way he was going to be able to figure out what this deck was doing in time to do anything about it. It was probably best to just get ahead as quickly as he could. Jack ended his turn without attack, leaving Cloud free to do a little damage control.
"I summon Phantom Fish, and play Searing Wave!"

Even as he declared it, he inwardly cursed himself for it. "I forgot! KC rules!"

"Ha! You gonna give up three mana?" Jack laughed.

"Minus one, ain't it? I'm pretty sure I only have to give up two," Cloud pointed out, his hand hovering over his mana. He was glad not to have to lose the shield, somewhat, but three mana?

"It's one for every creature," Jack said, sounding fairly sure of himself. Cloud was the one in the right, but Jack was also a little blurry on the rules, having not played with them too much yet. Cloud acceded to the supposed penalty, which would, by the rules, have had him end up with one mana more, but neither of them knew for sure, at that point. He placed two of his nature and one of his fire mana into his grave. Jack gave up his Locomotiver, Corile, and Bronze-Arm Tribe.

Cloud decided to go for it. He had just taken great pains to get the advantage, and since there was nothing more he could do about the Merfolk, he was going in; "Rothus! Unicorn Fish, ikei!"

"Shield Trigger!" Jack laughed, "Locomotiver!"

"Ack, not again!" Cloud moaned miserably. The train's appearance 'knocked' another card out of his hand. Another Mongrel Man. Jack's randomness was getting to him. He had no idea what to expect, and it made everything feel a little quirky.

Jack sent a Lost Soul to his mana zone now, causing Cloud to groan in frustration. No matter how he tried to understand it, this deck made no sense. Jack now played a Terror Pit on his Rothus, further increasing Cloud's irritation and general confusion, and draining part of his Kaijudo away. Cloud's own psychic energy was not exactly the most cohesive either, at this point, so for Jack's randomness to affect him in such a way was a clear sign of something very odd. Jack added an Aqua Hulcus to this, drawing a card and ending his turn.

"Okay, it is official, I have absolutely no idea what is going on here. I should probably have just tried to get Bolmeteus..." Cloud thought to himself, summoning his Aqua Hulcus and drawing a card, "Unicorn Fish, ikei!"

"Shield Trigger. Holy Awe!"

Cloud shrieked in absolute frustration now, causing many of the players in the arcade to look around, some of them even coming over to see the cause, and standing around to watch the end of the duel. Cloud's Kaijudo was totally off-center now. After the two Awe in the mana zone, he certainly had not been expecting the third. Now, the super illumination had disabled all his creatures, blockers included, leaving Jack a clear path to eliminate them.

"I summon Aqua Hulcus... and Phal Eega, Dawn Guardian!" The appearance of Jack's card increased his Kaijudo intensely. Cloud was not experienced enough with people who had actually developed that sort of bond, to understand that persons other than himself had a particular card that would do this, but he knew it now. Phal returned Jack's Holy Awe to his hand, sealing Cloud's fate. The Merfolk and Hulcus easily defeated Cloud's Hulcus and Fish, and Jack ended his turn, momentarily wondering if he had chosen correctly for Phal's effect.

Cloud drew his card and summoned a Meteosaur, evaporating Jack's Hulcus in one magma blast, but could do no more. Jack smirked, summoning a Cryptic Totem and a Senatine Jade Tree. The appearance of the tree caused Cloud to fume even more. He was being defeated by a deck that seemed to make no sense, or perhaps it was because it made no sense that he was losing. Or worse still, maybe this was all Jack's brilliant strategy to begin with. Jack ended his turn.

Cloud drew his card, charging Ghost Touch to his mana zone and casting Brain Serum. He drew two cards, neither of which were helpful now, and ended his turn. Jack smirked as usual. The end.
"Good game. Holy Awe! Cryptic Totem, double break his final shields. Phal Eega! Todomeda!"

Cloud grumbled slightly as he picked up his cards, "...I'm gonna go see if I can find someone who knows the KC ruling on Searing Wave. See you at the tournament later..."

"I'll be there, heheh..." Jack leaned back, enjoying his victory. He had not pushed his psychic energy into that final attack. Cloud had seemed too disoriented to handle it. Momentarily, though, he too wondered if what he had told his opponent about Searing Wave had been correct...

Across the compound, another two duelists were wandering around also, enjoying the scenic beauty of the botanical gardens. Mohamed Al-Hendy and his younger brother Omar were therefore surprised to see a thin, scruffy looking dark haired man sitting on a bench with his eyes closed, practicing alone with his Duel Masters deck. As the two approached him, those eyes opened, and he quickly gathered his deck together.
"Hello... what do you want...?" he asked, giving the brothers a rather creepy smile. He looked a little sickly, as if some chronic ailment was weakening him.

"Nothing really. Just saw you and wondered if you were here for the tournament," Mohamed said.

"No, no... not really. I do not play in those 'KC League' games. My deck is not suited for it. I much prefer normal play. What about you, are both you youngsters here for that tournament? You must have some reason for being so curious about me, right?" The smile again. The too-friendly smile that showed the weakened, slightly diseased gums. Omar did not seem bothered by the man, but something about him made Mohamed's skin crawl.

Omar sat opposite the man on the bench and took out his deck. "How do you know that the KC rules are so bad if you don't play in the KC League? You get used to them fairly fast."

"I don't think so. My deck is based on one of the cards they affected. I dislike having my abilities changed for any reason. They may call it fair, but it is not very fair to me."

"Aww, come on. My deck has all three of the cards in it, and I can do okay when I play. I'm sure you can too," Omar encouraged, "Why don't we play and see, Mr..."

"Saives. Roland Saives..."

"I'm Omar Al-Hendy. This is my brother Mohamed. So can we play? Just a friendly duel? Okay?"

Roland gave Omar the smile again, and nodded. Mohamed instantly knew what was bothering him. That 'Kaijudo' that he had learnt about at KirriCorp, and had developed a little of, with Omar, before that. This man had an abundance of it and was hiding it for some reason. He leant down to whisper to his brother; "Be careful, Omar. This man isn't as nice as he see--"

Omar gently pushed his older brother away. He did not want it to seem as if he needed any form of coaching. The two deployed their shields, and Roland made the first move, sending his Crow Winger to his mana zone. Omar charged a Thrash Crawler, and ended his turn. Roland sent one Essence Elf to his mana zone, and summoned the other. Instantly, Mohamed was even more on guard. Something about the feeling from the man, became almost vampiric.

Roland ended his turn, and Omar placed his Cranium Clamp card into his mana zone, causing Roland to smile yet again, but this time, it was not the same smile. Not at all. Now, his smile was sinister, and his eyes seemed to be possessed of an evil glint.
"Ah, so you do also use my card. That's interesting, little man."

"See, told you so," Omar smiled, "End turn."

"There is a difference between using it, and using it. Terror Pit to mana. Cranium Clamp."

Omar waited awhile before reminding Roland; "You need to attack me with your Elf, and you need to randomly choose the cards I discard."

"Oh, right. Of course. Even better," Roland smirked, happy for random discard. He pointed out the two cards even as he declared his attack, "Essence Elf, ikei!"

"Shield Trigger," Omar smiled, getting into the game, "Terror Pit!"

"What!?" Roland exclaimed irritatedly, his Kaijudo now lashing out as if with dark tendrils. He had not calculated for that. Normally his opponent would have lost the two cards, and that would be that. Now, even though Omar had not regained a card to make up for the lost Locomotiver and Corpse Charger, he had lost his Elf, preventing him from easily building his field as he often did.

"Wow," Omar remarked, looking at his depleted hand, "That is pretty deadly when you use it like that. Hm... I draw, and place my Cutthroat Skyterror to mana. End turn."

Roland drew his card, his Kaijudo finally reaching out to begin his true aim, draining the essence of his opponent, at least, as much as one could manage against a relatively innocent boy. He charged more nature mana and summoned Locomotiver, discarding Omar's Pyrofighter Magnus. Omar winced a little. Mohamed gritted his teeth, ready to jump in and stop the duel at any time.

Omar drew his card and charged water mana, then played a Volcano Charger, surprising Roland.
"Pow!" the youngster laughed as the spell went to his mana zone, and Roland's Locomotiver went to the graveyard. Roland drew his card, charging no mana, and summoned a Bone Spider.

"Chargers totally own nature, don'tcha think?" Omar laughed, drawing his card. Roland seethed. He found nature to be quite useful, and did not like to hear that, but he kept himself in check, especially when Omar muttered 'Darn...' and placed his Bolmeteus Steel Dragon into his mana zone, ending his turn.

"Maybe you just don't use nature that well. Some people do, some don't..." Roland said, through a forced smile more like before. Again, the older man did not seem to need mana, he merely summoned a second Bone Spider, and attacked with the first. Omar picked up the broken shield, and Roland ended his turn.

"Nah, Chargers are great," Omar said, placing another of his Volcano Chargers into his mana zone, "Look what I can do already. Twin-Cannon Skyterror, come on out and destroy his Spider!"

Roland placed the Spider into his grave, now regretting the fact that he had made the attack. This is why he disliked KC styled dueling. There was too much 'attacking' in it. He drew, and again, without charging mana, summoned Locomotiver. Kaijudo began to snake into Omar's mind.

"Too much discard! Ahhh!" Omar yelped. Mohamed was not sure if his younger brother was messing around again, or if the dark energy emanating from Roland Saives was as bad as it seemed to be, at first impression. Roland ended his turn.

Omar drew his card, and smiled again, "Look, another Twin-Cannon! No attack this time though."

Roland looked unimpressed at the summon.
"Lucky little fellow, aren't you? Topdeck two Skyterrors... Looks like you might win this after all."
He drew his card, and again, played no mana, simply summoning a Crow Winger and a Bloody Squito. Mohamed became even more suspicious of someone who could play from only four mana and cause this much trouble. Thankfully for Omar, the youth did not see it as 'trouble' at all.

"Terror Pit... hmmm... on your Crow Winger. No attack. End turn."

Roland felt the sudden urge to somehow squelch Omar's enthusiasm, but his turn consisted only of another Bone Spider summon. There was little he could do against two Twin-Cannon Skyterrors, so his vengeful spirit would get no satisfaction today.

Omar drew his card, but could find no use for it, and so, ended his turn. Roland played a Mana Crisis now, to momentarily prevent the appearance of any darkness from Omar, destroying the Cranium Clamp in the mana zone.

"Evil!" Omar laughed. Mohamed silently agreed, but not in the way his brother was thinking.

Roland ended his turn, and Omar drew his card and placed his Searing Wave to mana, leaving Roland and Mohamed wondering why he had not played it. Roland assumed that he needed the mana, and whatever was in his hand was important enough to hold onto. Roland played another Bone Spider now, thankful that yet another had appeared, and decided to go for it now before the child built too much of an advantage. It would be nearly impossible for Omar to both destroy his creatures and gain a shield advantage.
"Locomotiver, ikei!"

"Shield Trigger, Terror Pit, to destroy your blocker."

Roland growled. The young man was lucky, but he would not be stopped by that. Not this time. He knew how easily he could lose the advantage if he did not press it. His Spiders broke the remaining two shields, and, much to his misery, and Omar's delight, one of them triggered too. Another Locomotiver. They had both been topdecking for awhile now, however, so Roland had no cards to discard. Only a cranky look on his face from Omar's constant thwarting...

Omar drew his card and placed his Cutthroat Skyterror into his mana zone.
"Summon Thrash Crawler, to get another Thrash Crawler, to get Volcano Charger back. End turn."

Roland clenched his teeth and made a fist with his free hand. This could not be happening. He was so close, but everything just seemed to be going Omar's way.

"Skyterrors, take out those Spiders! Locomotiver, time for a train wreck!" Omar laughed. Roland watched as the young man's own Kaijudo kicked in, creating the image of the Bone Spiders surrounded by circling Skyterrors. The crash of the two trains seemed to be the signal for the Skyterrors to fire, obliterating the Bone Spiders. Omar's turn ended. Roland could do nothing on his own turn but summon a new Bloody Squito.

Omar seemed to be totally enjoying himself, which annoyed Roland to no end. Omar put the Volcano Charger back to mana and played a Corile now, on the Bone Spider. Roland accepted this, and the fact that Omar ended turn with that. Roland drew his card, and finally revealed his true power, getting his most treasured creature into play, and swamping Omar with his energy, to shut him up at last.
"Charmilia, the Enticer. End turn."

Omar was finally afraid. Just how Roland wanted it. The boy charged darkness mana and his Twin-Cannons made their shield assault at last. The first two shields contained a trap in one. A Proclamation of Death, which Omar's Corile bravely took. The second Skyterror blast triggered nothing new. Roland had not blocked either one. Omar ended his turn. Mohamed stood by, watching worriedly as his little brother's hand began to tremble a little. Roland irritatedly placed his now useless Cranium Clamp to mana, and cast another Proclamation of Death. Omar let one of the Thrash Crawlers take this. Roland ended his turn, still irritated, but a bit satisfied now.

Omar charged more mana, fire, and played an Energy Stream, drawing two new cards.
"Looks like I have to risk it all. Corpse Charger, to revive my Pyrofighter Magnus, and using the last mana from the charger, summon him for the win! Twin-Cannon Skyterror, ikei!" --Roland did not block, and the shield did not trigger, "Pyrofighter Magnus, ikei!" --this, the Squito intercepted, but it was useless-- "Twin-Cannon Skyterror! Todomeda!"

Roland took the 'hit' bravely. Omar was tired from his draining ability, and was not yet capable of putting up a strong enough final strike in the first place. Looking at his hand, he realized that he should have at least tried to play his Stinger Horn instead of the Proclamation of Death, though the result would have been the same either way. The dark presence in him seemed to fade as the duel ended, and he shook Omar Al-Hendy's hand.

"Well played, young man. Your luck is sound, and you handle your charger cards well. Perhaps I will see you in the tournament after all, but for now, you'd best be moving along..." he looked up at Mohamed as he said this, his eyes gleaming darkly again. Mohamed took that as his cue to pull his little brother up by the sleeve and guide him away from Roland, Omar waving cheerfully all the way...