The coin of the Cup of Ace landed tails, and the Birdman drew two cards. The noisy crowd of players instantly quieted down; Cola Sprite also fell silent for a moment, saying nothing, and the atmosphere turned a bit awkward.
After a while, Sprite lightly coughed to ease the awkward mood: "Ahem, as everyone knows, when you play Yu-Gi-Oh you don't just have to allocate resources for yourself, you also have to allocate resources for your opponent.
If the opponent bricks and can't play any cards, then even if I win it's a cheap victory, no fun at all..."
The players all half-squinted, wearing expressions like "I almost believed you for a second."
But that Birdman was still a bit dumbfounded.
Huh? People say it like that too?
Are all these foreign Duelists this noble about card ethics?
Sprite looked a bit helpless: "Then I activate the Continuous Magic 'The Fountain in the Sky' from my hand."
A spring of water erupted on her field, enveloped and surrounded by a holy white glow.
"I set two cards, turn end."
Forget it, forget it, I already drew enough cards this turn anyway, luck was decent so there's nothing to complain about. Sending the opponent two cards can just count as making friends...
"My turn, draw." The Birdman glanced at his hand. "I activate the Magic Card 'Spider Silk'! I gain one card that the opponent sent to the Graveyard last turn!" (anime card)
"Hm?" Sprite raised an eyebrow.
Don't tell me you're gonna...
"The card I'm getting is your 'Cup of Ace'!" The Birdman clenched his fist. "Then I activate the Magic Card 'Cup of Ace' from my hand! I toss a coin—if it's heads, I draw! If it's tails, the opponent draws!"
Cola Sprite and the players next to her all instantly got hyped.
Yo, we're going full gambling addict now?
Cola Sprite was starting to regret things a bit. She felt that before coming here she should've figured out a way to go worship Kaiba a little, just to leech some of that luck.
Last turn Sprite had already randomly gifted the opponent two cards for nothing, so the other side started with eight cards in hand and was already profiting like crazy before the duel even really began. If his stolen Cup of Ace here flips heads and lets him draw two more cards, that'd be a full-on resource explosion...
Clink.
The coin dropped and stopped spinning.
Tails.
"Yosha!" Cola Sprite was insanely excited. "Cup of Ace's tails effect—I draw two cards!"
She drew while grinning from ear to ear: "Thank you thank you thank you, you're just too polite!"
The surrounding players were also laughing their heads off, some even throwing in jabs.
"Wow, people from the Other Dimension are way too courteous, huh? Even card games are all about mutual courtesy?"
"Birdman: I'm the kind of guy who hates owing favors the most. Since she gave me cards, no matter what I've gotta find a way to pay them back."
"Hahahahaha I can't hold it anymore..."
Birdman: "..."
Granted, hitting tails was a bit tilting, but what he found even harder to understand was this bunch acting like it was New Year's.
Come on, this is a Duel, okay? Can you people be serious?
If you lose, you die! Not even ashes left!
Your companion just died right in front of you, remember? Could you at least...pretend to be sad for a bit?
The Birdman had played cards his whole life, growing stronger through countless battles to finally climb to where he was now. But in his entire life, he'd never seen anyone duel while singing and dancing like this, all festive like some holiday.
It made him feel like the whole atmosphere of the duel was being dragged off track, making it completely impossible to stay serious...
But he still quickly adjusted his mentality.
After all, he was a professionally trained Warrior. No matter how goofy the tone was, he would take the Duel seriously.
"I activate the Magic Card 'Simorgh Onslaught'!" the Birdman said. "I discard one Winged Beast-Type Monster from my hand, and add up to two 'Simorgh' Monsters from my Card Deck to my hand!"
"Simorgh!" A player immediately got excited.
"Holy crap, so the Birdman's running Simorgh Card Deck?"
"I thought he was just some scrub. Instant change of perspective..."
Simorgh, Bird of Divinity was originally a card used in the anime by this very 'Birdman' spirit from the Other Dimension's ruling class.
Back then the card didn't get much attention, but who would've thought K Consortium later actually turned Simorgh into a card archetype, releasing a full Card Deck that stayed fairly well-known through generations of players.
It's just that while the Card Deck got famous, if you ask who originally used this Monster, probably barely anyone remembers. Shows just how nonexistent this Birdman spirit's presence in the anime was...
"According to 'Simorgh Onslaught's' effect, I discard the Winged Beast-Type 'Snowstorm Swallow' from my hand to the Graveyard, and add 'Simorgh, Bird of Divinity' and 'Dark Simorgh' from my Card Deck to my hand!"
Two cards popped out of his Card Deck, and the Birdman drew them into his hand.
"Next I activate the Magic Card 'Summon Storm' from my hand!" the Birdman said. "I pay 800 Life Points to Special Summon a Level 6 or lower Wind Attribute Monster from my hand!"
[Birdman, LP 4000 → LP 3200]
The Birdman slammed down a card from his hand. "I Special Summon 'Whirlwind Prodigy'!"
A fierce gust of wind swirled up, and a simply dressed kid hopped out onto the field.
[Whirlwind Prodigy, ATK 1500]
"When Whirlwind Prodigy is Tributed as a Wind Attribute Monster, it counts as two Tributes for a Monster!"
The Birdman quickly scooped up the card on his Duel Disc and slammed down a new one.
"I Tribute 'Whirlwind Prodigy' as two Tributes to perform a Tribute Summon—
—Simorgh, Bird of Divinity, descend!!"
A violent gale howled, green tempests lashing out like countless whips! The divine bird with emerald feathers flapped its wings as it descended, the storm carving hundreds of deep scars into the surrounding buildings and stone walls.
[Simorgh, Bird of Divinity, ATK 2700]
"Then I use the effect of the 'Dark Simorgh' I just searched!" the Birdman said. "While this card is in my hand, I can Special Summon it by removing from play one Dark Attribute and one Wind Attribute Monster in my Graveyard!
I remove the Wind Attribute 'Whirlwind Prodigy' and the Dark Attribute 'Snowstorm Swallow' in my Graveyard from play—appear now—
—Dark Simorgh!!"
Another storm surged forth, this time a jet-black whirlwind even stronger and fiercer than the last!
Two blood-red eyes pierced through the maelstrom, as a new divine bird's steel-like wings sliced the winds apart! Its form was similar to the first Simorgh, but its body was covered in corrupted black feathers, its gaze cold and sharp like blades.
[Dark Simorgh, ATK 2700]
The surrounding spirits were all stunned.
"He Summoned two such powerful High-Level Monsters in one go!" said a Petit Angel with a halo over its head.
"It's over, the Bird Beasts' leader is as absurdly strong as expected." A Level 1 little white rabbit drooped its ears. "We basically can't win, can we..."
"Hahahaha! That's right, this is the power of High-Level Monsters—you low-level scrubs can only look up in awe for your whole lives!" The Birdman laughed loudly, raising his arm. "Go! First, Simorgh, Bird of Divinity, attack 'The Agent of Creation - Venus'!"