The one-eyed mercenary landed on Kira's field. He twirled his revolver deftly, struck what he probably thought was a cool pose, and slowly lifted his head.
"So in the end, you still need this old man's strength?"
Dark Scorpion crew watching from the back as spirits: "Boss is so cool!"
"Dark Scorpion?"
T-Bone was puzzled. He wasn't familiar with this deck, but he knew of it. The Dark Scorpion Burglars are common pack-fillers—the kind of useless cards you pull just to pad a booster.
At least as far as T-Bone knew, no serious duelist would ever run them as a main deck.
Revolver uses this?
"Don Zaloog, attack 'Mine Golem.'"
Zaloog drew and fired. Bang, bang—the bullets left two clear holes in the giant, which then exploded with a crash, collapsing into rubble.
[T-Bone, LP 4000 → LP 3600]
T-Bone raised an arm against the blast and barked, "At this moment, 'Mine Golem's' effect activates!
When Mine Golem is destroyed by battle, inflict 500 damage to the opponent!"
A whirlwind split off from the explosion, spiraling toward Kira like slicing wind.
[Kira, LP 4000 → LP 3500]
"Then Don Zaloog's effect activates," Kira said. "When it inflicts battle damage, choose one:
Opponent discards 1 random card, or
Send the top 2 cards of their Deck to the GY."
Zaloog spun his gun and aimed.
"I choose random discard."
He fired. One of the three cards in T-Bone's hand was pierced and burst into golden shards, flying into the GY.
"Tch, I'm not done." T-Bone said coolly. "Continuous Spell 'Guidance to Ore' effect!"
The rubble didn't vanish; it floated under some unseen pull and shot into the mineshaft behind him.
"When a Rock monster is destroyed, Guidance to Ore Special Summons a monster with the same name from the Deck.
Come! Mine Golem!"
The string of stones flashed gold within the shaft, then flew back out and reassembled into the golden ore giant.
[Mine Golem, ATK 1000]
"Next I flip my other set, the Trap 'Minefield Eruption'!" T-Bone revealed another backrow. "If I control an Mine Golem, inflict 1000 damage to the opponent for each Mine Golem I control, then destroy all Mine Golems I control!" (anime card)
A circle of flames formed beneath Kira. Lava-like fire erupted and engulfed him.
[Kira, LP 3500 → LP 2500]
With a boom, the golden giant exploded again into rubble.
Of course, the rubble immediately floated up like iron filings to a magnet, shot into the mineshaft, then reemerged and reassembled.
"Guidance to Ore's effect: when a Rock is destroyed, Special Summon a monster with the same name from the Deck," T-Bone said. "Special Summon 'Mine Golem No. 3' from the Deck!"
[Mine Golem, ATK 1000]
The Hanoi underlings around the ring started whispering.
"He kinda looks strong?"
"No kidding. You think just anyone would dare come challenge our boss?"
"Relax," one underling grinned. "Boss Revolver will teach him what real dueling is in no time."
"..."
"Not bad," Kira smiled. "You kept a monster, stocked your GY, and burned off a chunk of my LP."
He then swiftly set four cards.
"I set four backrow. Turn end."
"Four sets?"
T-Bone blinked.
So he's prioritizing defense?
He frowned, then continued: "My turn, draw!"
He drew.
"I activate the Spell 'Graceful Charity'. Draw 3, then discard 2."
He revealed one of the discarded cards.
"I discarded the Spell 'Card of Compensation', so I draw 2."
As he drew, Kira snapped his fingers.
"Flip my set—Continuous Trap 'Appropriate'. When the opponent draws outside the Draw Phase, activate this. After that, each time they draw outside the Draw Phase, I draw 2."
T-Bone ignored it and went on: "I tribute my remaining 'Mine Golem' to Tribute Summon!"
The Mine Golem was swirled away into the earth. The ground trembled, then split open. A golden monarch burst forth, dust billowing skyward.
"Roooaaaarrr!!!"
At the moment of summoning, T-Bone seemed to flare with golden aura.
"Lend me your power, Monarchs—
—Rock Monarch, Granmarg, summon!"
[Granmarg the Rock Monarch, ATK 2400]
"So your signature Monarch appears," Kira said.
As his name suggested, the Rock Monarch was T-Bone's ace.
Interestingly, as a signature soul card, T-Bone had more than one copy in the anime.
Which makes sense: Monarchs trigger on Tribute Summon. Running multiples makes them stronger.
"Granmarg's effect: when Tribute Summoned, destroy one set card on the field." T-Bone swept a hand. "Destroy the center of your remaining two backrow!"
The Monarch's fists slammed the ground, fissures racing toward Kira's backrow.
"Chain set card," Kira said. "Trap 'Back to the Front'—revive a monster from my GY in Defense Position."
"A GY monster?"
T-Bone frowned.
"The five cards you milled last turn?"
"Correct."
Kira took a monster from his GY.
"I Special Summon 'Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn' in Defense Position."
Granmarg's blow whiffed; the Trap left the field. A stylish black-leather-clad thief girl landed, crouched with her thorned whip raised defensively.
[Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn, DEF 1800]