Episode 96. - Watching The Mind Of A Master

Remil Torren had no idea what he was getting himself into when he took the seat opposite the dark-haired duelist. Very few people had dared to sit in that seat, for the day, and they had all left either humbled, if they had thought they could win, or surprised that they did win. It had been an interesting day of dueling for Yodaz.

Remil knew little or nothing of his opponent's reputation. He knew little of the former champion to begin with, and none of his knowledge involved knowing what Yodaz looked like. His cousin Harriet was wandering around, looking for a second copy of Death Phoenix for him, and so, there was nothing to do but try to trade, or duel. He chose the latter, and now...

Natural Snare went into Yodaz's mana zone, and Critical Blade into Remil's. Yodaz continued with a Crimson Hammer, and Remil with his Apocalypse Vise.

"Summon Kooc Pollon..." he declared, instantly causing a spike in his inexperienced Kaijudo that made his black cliffs take form. The Fire Bird made no sound, because as soon as his own Kaijudo rose, Yodaz's instantly equaled it, almost stifling him, the ocean appearing at the cliffs despite no Water mana. Remil's mouth dropped open, his wonderment at the power of his chosen adversary, power that surpassed that of his cousin, now manifesting in his mind.

"That card brings back memories," Yodaz smiled, charging his Illusionary Merfolk to mana and summoning an Aqua Hulcus. The creature rose now, making the ocean seem even more real.

"What, Kooc?" Remil asked, charging his Necrodragon Bagrazard to mana and casting Cloned Nightmare. The darkness energy slipped into Yodaz's ocean, and something in it dissipated. In this case, Corile. The dip in Kaijudo lasted only a moment. Kooc streaked in, to attack and shatter the first shield. No trigger.

"Yep," Yodaz replied, "Reminds me of a guy I knew once... Manzo. He was a fan of it. Rumbling Terahorn to mana, summon Aqua Hulcus. First Hulcus, ikei."

Yodaz's strategy normally involved no attacking, but today the Hulcus shattered the first shield, and Remil picked it up. Placing the Terror Pit he drew into mana, he cast another Cloned Nightmare, reversing the effect of both the Hulcus and the shield breaking he had done. Yodaz lost a Spiral Gate and a Terror Pit. Kooc attacked again, breaking another shield.

"Hmm... strong discard... but... Locomotiver to mana, summon Rumbling Terahorn, to retrieve my Emeral from my deck, and Hulcus, ikei."
Both of the Liquid People moved in, both shattering another of Remil's shields. Remil sighed. This was a bit strange, and he considered that it might have been better to summon his Gigappi Ponto instead of discarding, but too late now. He pondered his mana play for awhile, finally deciding on placing his Volcanic Arrows there, and summoning Necrodragon Bagrazard. In his hand, he held his single copy of Death Phoenix, Avatar of Doom, but it seemed that Yodaz's speed would not allow him to use it. All he could do now was hope for a Terror Pit in shields to stop the charge, and that Yodaz summoned nothing. Both were unlikely.

"Kooc Pollon, ikei..." he finally declared. The shield shattered with no trigger, for which he was thankful, but in order to escape, Yodaz would have to remove the first Kooc, and not discard the second one he had in hand, nor the Death Phoenix. A moment later, the champion's special technical card came into play, tearing away at the energy of Remil's world, and adding to his own. Reap and Sow. The creatures moved in to the cliffside...

"Aqua Hulcus, todomeda," came Yodaz's words, after the other two shattered the shields with no triggers. Remil sighed, and made a face. He could not figure out what exactly had gone wrong, other than Yodaz being more or less immune to his discard. He was about to get out of the chair when Harriet found him.

"There you are. Honestly, how do you manage to disappear so completely so fast? It's not even like the room is that large. Here. Now give me the Bajula, that's what they wanted."
She did not even seem to notice who Remil had been dueling against, until her cousin began to rifle through his deck in search of his Uberdragon. When she did...

"Um... Remil, don't you think you're overachieving a little bit?"

"What?" he wondered aloud as he handed her the card and took the Death Phoenix from her.

"I'll assume you haven't been introduced then. Yodaz, this is my cousin Remil. Remil, this is the former World Champion," she smirked, before spinning and striding off, to avoid causing any impatience or distrust in the duelist that had so kindly agreed to trade for a card she had not actually had in her possession.

"You're... one of the champions? Wow... I feel so stupid now. I just walked up to a champ and asked him to play..." Remil said sheepishly, as he reached into his bag to check for other adjustments he could make to his deck now. Another duelist with dark hair, a woman, this time, laughed nearby, before coming over to the table.

"Don't feel silly," she said, "Champions are regular people... who win tournaments. May I see your deck, though? Perhaps I can help with it."

Yodaz looked up into the gleaming eyes of Amera-Lynn Tyler, and Corile acknowledged Trox in a short mental exchange. Remil handed her the deck, and her fingers deftly manipulated the cards as she looked through it. Finally, she took out his two Volcanic Arrows.

"You don't need these as much as you'd think. I know it's scary to try to survive without Triggers, but sometimes all they do is come in your hand and be useless. Don't use too many that you wouldn't play from your hand. This card is for really fast decks to use for getting rid of counterattackers, but you don't have that problem with Giland and Kooc Pollon. Add another Giland instead, and perhaps another Gigappi Ponto."

Remil seemed hesitant, but nodded, and checked through his spare cards for such. Meanwhile, Harriet returned, and Bombersaur, too, greeted Trox.

"Ah, it's that girl Rusty talks about sometimes," Amera smirked, "Nice to see you again."

"Rusty talks about me?" Harriet laughed, "What makes you say that?"

"Let's just say that he and I spend quite a bit of time together now. He's here too, actually, just went off to find something to eat. We've been dueling quite a bit today without break."

"Wait..." Remil interrupted, "Rusty, like the North American Champion? He's here too? He knows Harriet? This is so weird..."

"Mm... sorry to interrupt, but are we dueling again?" Yodaz asked now, shuffling his deck.

"Oh, right! Sorry. Yes please!" Remil stammered. Amera-Lynn took the two cards from him, and proceeded to shuffle his deck before handing it back to him. Remil deployed his shields, a little nervously, and drew his five cards. Amera-Lynn and Harriet moved behind him somewhat, more interested in what the youngster drew, than how the duel itself would play out. Harriet groaned inwardly on sight of her cousin's hand. All three of his Terror Pit.

"What awful luck..." she said aloud, then sighed.

"Yes, quite bad, but I guess it makes my point from before, a bit... though I wonder if there's actually a better choice for him, than Terror Pit. Oh well. It happens..." Amera-Lynn added.

Remil's spirit did not sink even in the face of his odd hand. He charged one of the Terror Pit to mana, obviously, and ended his turn. The black cliffs seemed to loom more menacingly than before. Harriet was augmenting his imagery again, though her Kaijudo did no more.

Yodaz's ocean came alive again with his mana play of an Illusionary Merfolk. Remil's Kaijudo countered as his avatar appeared in play on his turn. Kooc Pollon. The energetic reaction made Amera-Lynn smile. She always enjoyed watching other Darkness-Fire users.

Yodaz charged more water mana. Nothing more. Remil drew his card, but could summon nothing, and merely attacked with his Kooc Pollon. Unfortunately for him, Yodaz's Terror Pits were apparently where they were supposed to be, at least...

The darkness reached out and swallowed up the tiny Fire Bird, causing Remil's Kaijudo to fall swiftly, and an 'aww' emotion to radiate from the two women standing behind him.

Yodaz charged nature mana, and summoned an Aqua Hulcus. Remil now made the move he had been taught, by Harriet, to make against players with both destruction for Kooc, and discarding tactics. He charged mana and cast Corpse Charger, reviving his Fire Bird.

"Hmm..." Yodaz remarked, "Locomotiver to mana, summon another Aqua Hulcus. End."

Remil sighed. More quick hand advantage. Harriet's energy comforted him slightly. "Bad luck", Bombersaur said... "It happens", Trox reinforced. He let their encouragement fuel his determination. He had the weapons, this duel, that had eluded him in the previous one...

"Volcano Charger on your Aqua Hulcus, and summon Kooc Pollon. End turn!"

"Natural Snare to mana. Summon Rumbling Terahorn..."
Remil cringed. A repeat of the previous duel. The former champion's cards seemed to be in a very similar configuration. Yodaz got his Velyrika Dragon out of his deck, and ended turn.

"I won't make this easy for you!" Remil said defiantly, "Summon another Kooc Pollon! First Kooc, ikei! Break second shield!"

Remil watched in disbelief as the second shield, also, turned out to be a Terror Pit, swallowing up one of his avatar cards. Amera cringed. Harriet sighed deeply.
"Always... always... unsatisfying... do your best anyway, Remil."

Yodaz drastically lessened the younger duelist's ability to do that, next turn, by casting Volcano Charger on the other Kooc Pollon, causing Remni's Kaijudo to take a painful nosedive. Harriet was tempted, for a moment, to support him, but held herself back. He had to learn how to handle such things on his own.

Remil was not out yet. He smiled as he cast another Corpse Charger, reviving his avatar yet again, and used the mana to summon another of his Fire Birds. Cocco Lupia, this time. Anything Yodaz used to remove Cocco, was one less card to remove Kooc with...

"Now I understand..." Kooc said to Trox, "With more Giland, I can focus on rebuilding more easily, and I rather do that, than destroy them and still have no real advantage, right?"

The General of Destruction nodded with a great grin. The young one was picking up on the tactics quickly. Trox turned to Bombersaur.
"This one is related to you? Teach him well, he will be a great duelist someday..."

Harriet, and Bombersaur, nodded. Remil watched as Yodaz put his Blizzard of Spears into his mana zone, and summoned his Rumbling Terahorn, this time, to get his Bazagazeal Dragon. A perfect play, against a deck that could mostly only throw creatures at him. A Spiral Gate accompanied this, making Cocco vanish again into a waterspout.

"These chargers are working out really well. Too bad I didn't get any last game," Remil said, "I think I've got it now. This is gonna be a great move if you do what I think you will. Cast Volcano Charger on your Aqua Hulcus! And summon Kooc Pollon and Cocco Lupia!"

The two Fire Birds seemed to celebrate the explosive heat that rid them of the Hulcus near the shore of one of Yodaz's islands. Remil predicted right. Surely enough, on the next turn, the great Bazagazeal Dragon split the sky, dived directly at the two Fire Birds... and missed.

It had swung its mighty blade, not at Cocco Lupia, but at the extremely agile Kooc Pollon. After about two more of those, Yodaz laughed at himself.
"Rogers is going to totally crack up if I ever tell him about this. Baza, destroy Lupia instead."

Unable to strike down Kooc Pollon, Bazagazeal now turned on the little bird's comrade. A single slash ended it, and with a roar, Bazagazeal returned to the sky.

"Got it!" Remil exclaimed joyfully, placing the card he had drawn, into the battle zone, "Necrodragon Giland! Now, Kooc and Giland, evolve into Death Phoenix, Avatar of Doom!"

The shriek of the great Phoenix made even Yodaz twitch, for a moment. It flapped above the black cliffs, then descended on the shields, ripping two of them to shreds, without giving even the chance to trigger, nor letting them add to Yodaz's growing resources in hand.

Harriet smiled. Her cousin was still doomed, but he had not been totally outplayed this round. Yodaz could not summon Bazagazeal to remove the Phoenix, nor could he remove it without losing Bazagazeal itself. He had one shield left... the only thing truly assuring Remil's loss... was the fact that his Terror Pit were already in the mana zone. On top of that, there was the tiny chance, that an attack now could force Yodaz to face a second Death Phoenix...

"Summon Bazagazeal Dragon. Bazagazeal, ikei."
Harriet and Amera-Lynn watched with bated breath. It was unlikely, but the right combination of cards from that shield zone would end this. Even a Cloned Nightmare might get rid of the great dragon once this was over.

Harriet ended up only sighing, and shaking her head, when it was over. The shields broken by the dragon and the two Terahorn gave Remil nothing of use. None of his four Cloned Nightmare, no other Giland, no second Death Phoenix, no Apocalypse Vise... nothing. He simply summoned Kooc, Cocco, and Bagrazard, and attacked one of the Terahorn, for the sake of it. Yodaz's Dragon finished the duel, a turn later, with a spectacular blast of Kaijudo.

"Don't feel bad," Amera-Lynn reassured the boy, placing her hand on his shoulder and letting her own warm dark psychic energy 'heal' his, "It was close after all. Nice deck."

"Not really," Yodaz said simply, "It kind of sucks."

Remni looked up instantly, his body quivering in that instant. Those words had cut far deeper than even Bazagazeal's blades. Harriet glared at Yodaz.
"How can you say that? That was so unlucky! It was close!"

"I always get shield Triggers. Usually early on. Deck's just not that good, but if you want I suppose I can help you fix it..."

Remil jumped at this chance, despite the immediate protective reaction from both Harriet and Amera-Lynn. At that moment, Rusty strode up as well, eating pizza, and offering Amera-Lynn her own slice. She spoke before accepting it...

"There's nothing wrong with the deck... I'd almost go so far as to say he had you, Yodaz."

"It needs discard... probably a Lost Soul would do it..." Yodaz began, accepting the deck from Remil, who handed it to him eagerly. Harriet groaned inwardly. This was not the influence she wanted on her cousin's dueling. Remil seemed intent on getting the advice of the former champion, however, and she could not bring herself to interfere.

"Well, I drew all my Terror Pit and none of my Cloned Nightmare. Sometimes I can cast two in a row and it kind of works like a Lost Soul..." Remil said.

"Not consistent. Take out one Apocalypse Vise and add one Soul. Also, you should take out all the Terror Pit... and add Propeller Mutants instead... Why are these Cocco Lupia even in here? They're not consistent either. Take out two of those, and one of these cost three dual civ Fire Birds, and one of your Volcano Chargers, and add another Lost Soul and three of those ghosts that let you get things back from grave when they die..."

Harriet groaned. Amera gave Yodaz a look of disbelief and confusion, and Rusty said nothing. Remil, on the other hand, happily set about making all of Yodaz's suggestions, reality.

"Let's go again?" he said, excited now, to test the changes. Yodaz nodded. Remil went first... but it was five turns in, before either of them even summoned. Remil had spent the first few turns casting Cloned Nightmare, before finally playing one of the Bat Doctor.

Yodaz simply cast Volcano Charger on that, and the duel went on a bit more, with Remil casting his Lost Soul not long afterward. In order to do it, he needed to sacrifice his own remaining cards in hand, to his mana zone, and so, the duel continued slowly.

"Propeller Mutant," Remil finally declared. Now, Yodaz's hand was empty anyway, but that turned out fine, since Yodaz then returned the creature to hand with Corile, rather than destroying it. Remil summoned it again on his next turn, and cast Volcano Charger on the Corile, to prevent any quick Merfolk based recovery.

"Summon Thrash Crawler, to retrieve Aqua Hulcus from mana, and summon it."

"I summon... um... Propeller Mutant..." It had been the card he'd drawn, and his only other, was his Death Phoenix. Yodaz drew his card but did nothing. Remni summoned his Necrodragon Bagrazard, which was quickly the victim of a Natural Snare. A Giland replaced it, and Yodaz responded with an Illusionary Merfolk, but had no Cyber Lord to augment it, and therefore drew no cards. Remil sighed as he drew yet another of the Propeller Mutant, and summoned it as well. Any Fire Bird would have, by now, made his Death Phoenix available...

Yodaz's Leviathan appeared in the ocean a turn later, bringing even more resources with it. Remil could only summon another Necrodragon Giland. Yodaz swiftly removed them both on the next turn, with his Spiral Gate and Natural Snare.

Remil finally drew a Fire Bird. One of his two Gigappi Ponto. Without a Dragon in play he could not use it directly, but he put Giland and Gigappi into the battle zone immediately. He was almost there. One more turn...

That one turn was not enough. Bazagazeal split the sky again, and led the charge against Remni's obviously trigger-less shield zone, ending the duel easily. Remil's energy sank...

"Well, that was definitely better," Yodaz said, "The discard worked spectacularly..."

"What?! That changed nothing!" Harriet exclaimed, "If anything, things got worse! And the Propeller Mutants didn't help even once when topdecking. A Fire Bird would have been totally better! I was going to stay out of this, but bad luck is bad luck, and that's what he had before. You shouldn't interfere with my cousin's--"

"Calm down," Corile told the now fuming Bombersaur, "I'm trying to help, and he seems to want that help, so let me help."

"Let him be," Trox told Bombersaur, "This is something he has to learn on his own."

"The Bat Doctor worked fine..." Yodaz continued...

"Worked fine? Are you serious!" Harriet exploded, her smoldering temper finally getting the better of her. The combined dark and icy Kaijudo sources behind her, immediately clamped down on hers, quieting her. This was about Remil, not her own ideals...

"Anyways," Yodaz went on, ignoring her outburst, "Those Cocco Lupia don't help at all, so just take them out altogether... and you should take out the huge darkness dragon too since it really isn't able to attack shields... Maybe lose another Volcano Charger. Try two Crimson Hammer and two Death Smoke instead, and... do you have any Trixo, Wicked Doll?"

Remil nodded, enthusiastically adding two of those, as well, at Yodaz's advisement. Harriet held her tongue, silently fuming, as her cousin fixed his deck more, and started another duel.

"Wow, I am down to two Volcano Charger and two Gigappi Ponto and I still drew both..."

Harriet again restrained herself from making another of her speeches about luck, and how to handle it. Two turns into the duel, both of those Volcano Charger were in mana, and Kooc Pollon was already in play. That lasted all of a turn, as a Crimson Hammer descended swiftly on the Fire Bird. Gigappi Pontos soon replaced it, within two turns of Yodaz doing little, but the second was lost to a Terror Pit when the first one attacked.

"What, again?" Remil sighed. Behind him, Rusty's Kaijudo slightly spiked. The North American Champion was currently calculating something.

Yodaz still did nothing but charge mana, giving Remil the chance to summon a Propeller Mutant and attack with the surviving Fire Bird. This shield did not trigger. Corile waved Gigappi away a moment later, and Remil drew a Death Smoke. He did not cast it on Corile, merely placing it into his mana zone and playing his Cloned Nightmare. This time, it did the best possible thing. Bazagazeal Dragon fell from the sky before it could even manifest in battle. No great dragon to worry about this time.

"Propeller Mutant, ikei!" The shield shattered without trigger. Yodaz cast nothing, summoned nothing. Merely attacked the Mutant with Corile. The crash robbed him of his Lost Soul, and Remil followed this up with a second Cloned Nightmare, discarding two Volcano Charger. He seemed joyful at the way this was turning out, increasing Harriet's growing worry...

Yodaz drew his card, and again did nothing. Remil found his own next card to be a Crimson Hammer, and summoned his Gigappi Ponto. Yodaz summoned his Thrash Crawler, and retrieved his Velyrika Dragon from his mana zone, then ended his turn. Remil drew his Lost Soul, but, unable to cast it, due to his only available card to place into mana, being his Death Phoenix, he could only Crimson Hammer Yodaz's Corile. The effect seemed to be nowhere near that caused by Yodaz's own Crimson Hammer earlier.

"Soulswap to mana. Summon Velyrika Dragon, to search out another Velyrika from my deck."

Remil drew his Bat Doctor, and placed the Lost Soul into mana, summoning the Bat Doctor. Yodaz placed an Emeral into mana, and cast Energy Stream, then ended his turn again.

Remil drew his card, and looked in surprise at it. This nearly never happened. He had his second Death Phoenix. Unfortunately he also had no way of summoning it now, with far less Zombie Dragons and Fire Birds even as options. He ended his turn, and a Locomotiver robbed him of the creature a moment later.

"Critical Blade, on your Thrash Crawler! Bat Doctor, attack shield. Ikei!"
The shield did not trigger, and Yodaz placed his Blizzard of Spears into mana on his own turn, summoning his second Velyrika Dragon. The first destroyed the Bat Doctor easily, allowing Remil to revive his Kooc Pollon. On his next turn, he summoned both Kooc Pollon and the Necrodragon Giland he drew, and Gigappi moved in against the final shield.

"Shield Trigger, Soulswap. Locomotiver to mana, Thrash Crawler to battle zone."
He picked up his Blizzard of Spears, and cast it without hesitation on his next turn, after placing his Lost Soul into his mana zone. The sky erupted in blades of flame, destroying the two Fire Birds, ironically. The Zombie Dragon alone survived, to be joined by another on Remil's next turn. The first attacked, dying against the Thrash Crawler in a brutal battle.

"Good game," Yodaz said. He could not remove the Necrodragon. The duel was over.

"Necrodragon Giland, todomeda!" Remil celebrated. He had won!

Harriet's Kaijudo finally escaped the hold of Rusty's and Amera-Lynn's.
"What was that!? Either you let him win or you drew worse than he's been drawing the first few duels! Was that supposed to 'help' him see that the fixes 'worked'!?"

"Calm!" Amera-Lynn said sharply, the military edge in her voice immediately revealing itself. She then leaned down next to Remil, and her voice became gentle again, "That was very good, young man, but nearly all of the cards that made you win, in that duel, were your own cards from before. None of the new cards helped you. So accept what your cousin says, and change it back, hm? Yodaz is very good, but his style is not your style... understand?"

Before Remil could argue, and before Harriet could add any of her own opinions on the matter, a great Kaijudo source revealed itself behind them. Rusty stepped forward, and gulped the last of the pizza slice before saying calmly; "Yodaz. Kettou da."