Kira dumped five, but his turn continued.
"Even though Machina Fortress's Summon failed, it also has a self-revive effect," Kira said. "Discard Machine-Type monsters whose total Levels equal 8 or more from hand; revive Machina Fortress from the GY."
He flashed a card in hand.
"I discard the Level 8 Machina Megaform from my hand to revive Fortress!"
A heavy rumble; gears ground, treads slammed down, and the massive cannon locked on.
[Machina Fortress, ATK 2500]
"Fortress, attack the face-down monster."
The heavy cannon fired and blew open the set card.
[Skelengel, DEF 400]
"When Skelengel is flipped, I draw a card from my deck."
Dr. Eisenstein drew.
Kira: "My turn ends."
Eisenstein: "My turn—draw."
He glanced at Kira with a mischievous smile.
"I activate this from my hand—
—Continuous Spell: Schrödinger's Cat!" (Anime Card)
Kira raised a brow.
Another strange one.
A cat in a white suit appeared, hat perched on its twitching tail, posing like an elegant magician.
"Whenever I draw cards outside my Draw Phase, after confirming the cards, I can choose to return them to the deck and shuffle.
If I use this effect to return and shuffle, I then draw the same number of cards. But if I use this effect to draw, I can't use Schrödinger's Cat to draw again that turn."
Misawa nodded. "So it increases the odds of finding what you need."
"I activate Pot of Greed to draw two."
The Doctor drew two and peered at them.
"Hm… I'll use Schrödinger's Cat to return these to the deck and draw two again."
He redrew and smiled.
"Now I'll summon this guy. Normal Summon Laplace the Fiend Mathematician!"
Though "mathematician," he looked like a goat-skulled demon.
[Laplace the Fiend Mathematician, ATK 1000]
"Then I set two backrow. Next, I activate the Spell, Dimensionhole!"
Dr. Eisenstein continued.
"Dimensionhole targets one of my monsters and banishes it until my next Standby Phase. While it's banished, the Monster Zone remains unusable.
I banish Laplace the Fiend Mathematician!"
A massive wormhole yawed open in the cosmos, as if to swallow starlight. Laplace was dragged in and vanished.
"Banishing your own monster?" Alexis asked.
"Heh, smart girl. But Laplace has a special talent," the Doctor said. "When Laplace leaves the field, for each card on the field, he deals 300 damage to the opponent!"
Misawa nodded. "So you purposely set backrow before Dimensionhole—"
"Now I have a Field Spell, the Continuous Spell Schrödinger's Cat, and two set cards. You have Machina Fortress. That's five cards total.
So, 1500 damage!"
The departed demon appeared half-transparent, chanting. Numbers and formulas flooded the air, surrounding Kira and piercing through him.
The power of knowledge.jpg.
[Kira, LP 4000 → 2500]
"And the Relativity Field activates," Eisenstein said. "Since you took damage, every monster on your field must suffer an ATK drop equal to the damage dealt, until it leaves the field.
Machina Fortress loses 1500 ATK."
[Machina Fortress, ATK 2500 → 1000]
"I see—attacking the duelist also attacks the monster!" Misawa said. "So this is Dr. Eisenstein's duel style."
"My turn ends."
Kira: "My turn—draw."
Before he could, the Doctor cut in: "Wait! During your Draw Phase, a trap activates!
Continuous Trap: Draw Paradox!"
A set card flipped up.
"As long as this card remains, neither player can draw during their own Draw Phase," Dr. Eisenstein said. "Instead, each player may draw one card during the opponent's Draw Phase.
So now, during your Draw Phase, I draw."
Misawa: "?"
Alexis: "?"
What kind of card is this?
Kira frowned slightly.
"I see. The master of duel physics lives up to his name."
Printing a card this busted does take a master.
Swapping both players' draw timing to the opponent's turn. On the surface it looks fair, but your opponent controls the timing, easily maintaining card advantage and even using it to pseudo-Seal your crucial draw. And it's a trap—you can tribute or destroy it before your own Draw Phase comes.
And since it makes the "normal draw" an "effect draw," you open up even more ways to negate drawing. Draw one on their turn, then negate your draw on your turn; the card advantage gap might already be lethal.
In the anime world, no one cares about "game balance." Duelists who can wield them are the strong.
Judging from Singularity Fiend and Draw Paradox, the Doctor's customs are potent. If he made all these, his reputation may not be empty.
"Then I activate the grave effect of Take Over 5," Kira said. "During my Standby Phase, I banish this card from my GY and a copy from my deck to draw one."
Kira drew.
"Hm. So you managed to draw even under Draw Paradox," Eisenstein frowned, displeased his draw lock didn't fully land.
"Then I'll add this—
Trap: Thunder of Ruler!"
The other set card flipped.
"This Trap can only be activated during the Standby Phase. This turn, your Battle Phase is skipped!"
...
2 Bonus chapter at 500 PS