"Morphing Jar and Nightmare Penguin?" The D frowned. "You want to bounce Plasma with Penguin? Useless! I said your monsters are blank under Plasma—no effects..."
"Only 'on the field,'" Kira said. "If Plasma negates my monsters on the field, what if they're not on the field?"
"What?"
"Quick-Play Spell 'Mystik Wok': tribute a monster on the field and gain LP equal to its ATK or DEF."
Kira raised a hand.
"I tribute 'Morphing Jar'—"
[Morphing Jar ATK 700]
"—and gain LP equal to its ATK."
[Kira LP 3300 → 4000]
"Healed? Even so, it's meaningless before Plasma—"
He stopped mid-sentence, pupils shrinking.
Wait—this is...!?
"Noticed?" Kira smiled. "Right. Morphing Jar resolves while already in the GY because it was tributed by Mystik Wok before resolution. Since it's no longer on the field at resolution, Plasma doesn't negate it."
Same trick he used to break Sartorius's Light Barrier: tribute-escape, a classic.
"And Morphing Jar's effect..."
The D's heart lurched.
Damn, the Jar's effect is—!
"Exactly. Morphing Jar forces both players to discard their entire hands and then draw five."
Kira pointed at the top of The D's Deck.
"And you must draw five cards into your hand—including that face-up 'D - Force' on top."
"I see!" Aster realized. "'D - Force' only unleashes Plasma's hidden power while it's face-up on top of the Deck. If it's drawn—"
Plasma's hidden abilities all shut off!
"And I used 'Desert Sunlight' to flip my monsters, so both Morphing Jar and Nightmare Penguin have mandatory triggers.
When multiple mandatory effects trigger at the same time, I can choose their order."
In other words, self-ordered chain building.
Simple principle: on a single chain, first-in resolves last. With multiple mandatory triggers, place what you want to resolve last at the end to control resolution order.
"So I'll chain them as follows:
Chain 1: Nightmare Penguin, targeting 'Destiny HERO – Plasma' to return it to hand. Chain 2: Morphing Jar, both players discard hands and draw five. Chain 3: Mystik Wok, tribute Morphing Jar to ensure Jar isn't negated by Plasma."
Kira explained.
"Thus Jar dodges suppression via tribute-escape; we both draw five. Since 'D - Force' leaves the top of your Deck, Plasma loses its 'negate opponent monsters' and targeting protection.
Then Chain 1—Penguin—resolves last. With D - Force no longer active, all of D - Force's resistances vanish, so Penguin bounces successfully."
Kira crooked a finger at the opponent's field.
"Return 'Destiny HERO – Plasma' to the hand."
A chain of plays later, both flips resolved cleanly. Plasma roared but was engulfed by a geyser and shot back as a blood-streaked arrow into The D's hand.
Naturally, with Plasma gone, the equipped BLS was released and went to Kira's GY.
The D's eyes bulged in disbelief.
"Impossible! Plasma empowered by D - Force is invincible—how was it broken!?"
Aster watched the dazzling sequence, shaken even as a pro duelist.
Tribute-escape, self-ordered chains... A seemingly unbreakable Plasma undone by a few small cards woven together, effortlessly...
To Kira, this was nothing remarkable.
Isn't this basic dueling?
Anyone still dueling these days can self-chain, right?
"I set three and end."
"Damn you, bouncing my Plasma..."
The D glanced at his hand, then looked up darkly.
"You'll regret this."
Aster was amazed by Kira's play, but once the emotions faded, unease returned.
Though he'd dismantled the board, the crisis wasn't over. Plasma and D - Force were merely back in The D's hand—a time bomb with a hidden fuse.
As soon as three tributes are assembled, Plasma returns, and D - Force can be re-activated...
The D was a former world champion, and now seemed stronger than ever. Aster had no doubt that assembling three tributes again wouldn't be hard.
"My turn. Draw!"
Sure enough, The D's eyes gleamed viciously.
"Your neat counterattack only delayed the inevitable! If you fear Ultimate D so much, then this turn I'll—"
"Flip a set card," Kira said impassively. "Trap 'Mind Crush.' Declare a card name. If the opponent has it, they must discard all copies."
The D's smug look froze.
Huh?
He's calling my hand?
"I declare 'D - Force,'" Kira said. "If you have it, please discard it."
He even said please.
He could've declared Plasma, but he wasn't sure if the anime Plasma had a revival restriction. If not, tossing it only invites Monster Reborn or any revival—helping the opponent.
Even with a restriction, monsters are usually easier to recur than Spells. Monsters in GY are often resources; Spells rarely are.
And in the anime D–system, without D - Force, Plasma is almost toothless. No protection, no global negation. Just a pitiful 1900 ATK for an 8-star.
Oh right, it can still absorb a monster and gain its power. But Kira's field is a Jar and a Penguin—free to donate without impact.
From The D's twitching, contorted face, Kira knew he picked right.
"KISAMA!!"
....
2 Bonus chapters at 1000 PS