"Duel!" X 2
[Yutaka: 2000]
[Keith: 2000]
"My turn! Draw!"
Bandit Keith took the first turn as he looked at the cards in his hand.
He was laughing to himself; this little fan of his did not know what kind of purgatory awaited him.
The Duel Arena they were using was specifically modified to boost Machine-type monsters only.
Machine monsters were a rarity among the common players, and only top players like him had some in their decks.
Not to mention this arena didn't only boost them; it also had a special feature, but he was not sure if he would even get to use it.
"I set one monster card and I set one more card in my back row to end my turn."
Yuta looked at the field and then at the cards in his hand.
To the outsiders, he looked calm and composed, but only he knew what he truly felt at this moment.
He had... bricked.
For those unaware, 'bricked' is a term used in card games when mentioning that your starting hand has no playable or very bad cards.
In Yutaka's case he had 0 monsters.
This reminded him of his place once again.
He did not have the protagonist template of being able to draw whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
He should not have diluted his deck with Kaiba's cards.
He decided that once he was finished with this duel, if he did not lose, he was going to adjust his deck again and reduce it to 40.
No matter how good the cards were, it would not matter if he could not draw them right?
"My turn! Draw!"
As he drew his card Yuta complained to Red-Eyes in his mind.
Kaiba always started with 3 Blue-Eyes and 1 Polymerization to quickly summon his Ultimate dragon in the first turn.
His Red-Eyes, on the other hand, was an effing drama queen.
His Red-Eyes always arrived in a dramatic fashion, especially when he was in distress.
Like a hero saving a damsel.
*ROAR*
A roar came from his deck, which implied that it had nothing to do with Red-Eyes.
It insisted that it was an honest dragon and it was Yuta's own bad luck that it was always in the middle of the deck.
Looking at the card he drew, he sighed in relief.
"I activated my spell card Pot of Greed! Which let me draw 2 cards from the deck!"
[Pot of Greed] [SPELL]
[SPELL CARD]
[Draw 2 cards.]
Yuta yelled excitedly.
No matter how many times he said it, he never grew tired of explaining Pot of Greed.
"I set one monster card and three cards to my back row to end my turn."
A classic reverse T opening.
"Don't you guys think Yuta's expression was weird just now?" Tea asked the gang.
She did not know much about Duel Monsters, so she would usually focus on the players and their expressions to understand what's going on.
Yuta looked like he had just overcome a great ordeal just now, but it was only the first turn.
"You must be overthinking, Tea. I didn't notice anything." Tristan replied.
"Tea must be onto something, Tristan. Maybe there is a reason he accepted this unfair duel. So Yuta might have his inner difficulties." Yami Yugi started to think about the reason why Yuta might have gone out of his way to have this duel, even betting his prized deck for it.
"Him? Having inner difficulties? Colour me intrigued." Mai perked up her ears, as she was also curious about what was going on with Yuta.
"I don't know about difficulties, but I know one thing. That Yuta was searching for a specific duellist the whole day," Tristan commented after thinking about it.
"So there was someone else he wanted to have a duel with aside from Rex Raptor?" Yami Yugi frowned while imagining all sorts of stories in his mind.
"Does that even matter? Aren't they already duelling? I think we should just give him our support. Go Yuta!" Joey answered without thinking. He was not good at stuff that required thinking.
If you could solve a problem with your fists, why waste brain cells just pondering over it?
"You are right, Joey," Yami Yugi agreed with Joey's philosophy and decided to focus on the duel. He wondered what kind of duel Yuta would showcase this time.
"My turn! Draw!"
"I flip summon my monster! Robotic Knight! Because of the field bonus my knight's ATK points raises by 30%."
[Robotic Knight ATK 1600→ 2100]
A knight in a red uniform appeared on the field. One of its hands was a gatling gun while the other held a sabre. With its hat it looked like a French soldier from Napoleon's times.
Though there were more pressing questions about this robot in Yuta's mind rather than its french get up.
It was... if it had a gatling gun for an arm, why did it need a sabre?
For close combat?
But a gatling gun is even more dangerous in close combat, right?
Is it for when the bullets-
"Robotic Knight attack his set card! Scatter Shot!"
Robotic Knight aimed towards Yuta's set card and then started blasting.
Under the card was a blonde princess who quickly fell victim to its bullets.
"Princess of Tsurugi flip effect: you take 500 effect damage to your life points per set card."
Suddenly, the princess climbed out of the graveyard with full gusto. She looked towards Bandit Keith with great anger.
As they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Princess shot the knives in her hand at Keith, reducing his life points by 500.
[Keith: 2000 → 1500]
Keith took a step back and frowned. Even though he was the one to attack, it was him whose life points had reduced.
Maybe there was more to this little fan of his than meets the eye.
"I set one card and end my turn."
"Wonderful comeback! I wonder if Yuta will try to summon his Cannon Soldier to end the duel soon," Yami Yugi commented with excitement.
Since it was the only duel he had seen of Yuta, Yami Yugi had thought that aside from Red-Eyes, Cannon Soldier must be his second ace monster. After all, it was so strong.
"I don't think so. I don't know much about duelling, but he used a different method to end each of his duels." Tristan replied, thinking to himself about Yuta's previous duels. He never seemed to use the same tactic twice.
"You are telling me he has more than just his sheep tactics?" Mai doubted what she had just heard.
She already had to adjust her deck just to be able to deal with that annoying Cannon Soldier, and you were telling her that he had more tactics besides that?
"Yes, there was that little cyborg that could attack directly in the first turn with that kunai trap card, and then... HEY! Why do I need to tell you about Yuta's tactics? Who are you anyway?" Tristan asked Mai.
Since she had joined their group so naturally, he had not even noticed when she joined them.
She was a bombshell; he had to give her that, but this was a matter of principle, he could not sell out his friends... unless she agreed to go out with him first, of course!
"Wait, you don't know who I am?" Mai asked, surprised. She had thought Yuta would have told them about her.
"Are we supposed to? Are you Yuta's enemy or something since you keep trying to trouble him?" Tristan asked, confused.
She had just spoken so confidently that Tristan thought that they were supposed to know her.
"Enemy? Trouble him? I-..." As she replied, Mai thought about all of her interactions with Yuta from start to finish to define their relationship.
When they first met, he helped her get rid of Rex and let her stay in a VIP suite just for a single card.
Their second meeting was one-sided, as she had watched him duel against Rex Raptor.
Before that she was actually trying to get him to duel her, as his deck looked weak to Mai.
That way she could get some Star Chips easily.
But he had shattered her expectations by defeating Rex in his second turn.
Since she looked down at him, she had felt betrayed, and that had lit a spark in her, which was that she wanted to defeat him.
In the third meeting, she had forced him to duel her even though he did not want to, and she was crushed despite the fact that he was not in a good condition at the time and even made mistakes.
Now for the fourth meeting that was happening right now, she had brought the Champion of the States to challenge him because she wanted to see him lose.
Most importantly, she noticed, she had not even introduced herself to him in any of these encounters.
So she must have looked like a crazy stalker to him, right?
Mai felt like she wanted to dig a hole and hide there but didn't let it show on her face.
She was Mai Valentine.
She was going to be the best duellist in the world.
There was no way she could let such a setback get in her way.
"I am Mai, Mai Valentine. I am his... rival, I guess? Something like that."
"Rival? First time hearing of it.
Though Yuta never talked about himself, though.
I guess the only exception was when we were under gunpoint and he had said his family ran a magic shop? Tristan, by the way, Tristan Taylor." Tristan held his hand out, but it was ignored by Mai.
She was wondering what she had just heard.
They were under gunpoint?
And he said his family ran a magic shop?
How did these two things relate in any way?
Also, what happened after their duel that they were under gunpoint anyway?
So many questions!
"Hello, Tea Gardner. Nice meeting you, Yuta's rival. Can you tell us more about him? Like his family?" Tea thought this was an opportunity to learn more about their new friend, so she was curious.
She also had her own theory that Yuta and Yugi were relatives, so she wanted to see if she could find any clues.
What she didn't know was that Mai was just as curious as she was, but Mai felt she couldn't admit her curiosity because it would make her seem like a creepy stalker who had just met Yuta and called him her rival.
Thankfully, Tristan jumped in.
"Oh, I know! Yuta also said he had a little sister, and their magic shop was run by his grandmother. Because his mother was an archaeologist, they were mostly taken care of by their grandma."
"An archaeologist, you say?" Bakura, who was originally not interested in the conversation, finally found something that piqued his curiosity.
Ever since he had seen Tristan and Yuta in the forest, Yami Bakura was questioning himself why that was.
The Millennium Ring was only supposed to point towards other millennium items, but he could not see one on Yuta, let alone even sense its presence on him.
This was the first time such a thing had ever happened in his life.
Maybe his mother was the one with the millennium item, and the ring was sensing the leftover residue on him?
Or she might have handed him one, but it was hidden on his body since he didn't know how to use it?
He decided that he had to find out the truth tonight through a shadow game.
The nameless pharaoh was also here, so he might unexpectedly hit two birds with one stone?
"Yugi, wasn't your grandfather also an archaeologist?" Tea asked with light shining in her eyes.
"Yes, Yugi's Grandfather has a doctorate in archaeology," Yami Yugi replied calmly, not understanding Tea's meaning.
"Wait, Yugi? Are you Yugi Muto? The one who defeated Yuta in a duel and took his Star Chip?" Mai caught onto Yugi's name, as Yuta had mentioned it to her before during their duel.
"Defeat Yuta? Sorry to disappoint you, Mai, but Yuta and I have never duelled, but it is true that I took one of his Star Chips, as he had lent me one of his, which I later returned to him," Yami Yugi explained, not understanding why Mai would think he had duelled Yuta in the first place.
"Huh, he really lent it?" Mai's eyes grew wide in amazement.
So he really did not lie and lent it to him?
But why?
Didn't he know they were his ticket to the finals?
"AH! Can't you guys keep quiet!? I am tryin to watch a duel over here!" Joey finally said in annoyance.
"My turn! Draw!"
Yutaka frowned as he looked at the four cards in his hands.
Two of them were the dragon series spell cards, so he needed to have a dragon on the field before being able to play them.
The other was Meteor Dragon, which he needed to save if he wanted to summon Meteor Black Dragon, so it was a no-go either.
The last one was the card he had just drawn, which was Swords of Revealing Light.
According to Duellist Kingdom rules, Yutaka had to play a monster; otherwise, he would lose the duel right now.
He had some defensive cards, so maybe he could hold on until he drew both of them?
Though wouldn't that also give Bandit Keith time to assemble his combo pieces?
So was it the right thing to just give his Meteor Dragon and let it be destroyed?
But what if he couldn't draw a monster or a draw card next turn? Wouldn't he directly lose?
"Tch, I summon Meteor Dragon in defence mode! Then I activate my spell card! Swords of Revealing Light!"
[Swords of Revealing Light] [SPELL]
[SPELL CARD]
[Flip all monsters your opponent controls face-up.
This card remains on the field for 3 of your opponent's turns.
While this card is face-up on the field, monsters your opponent controls cannot declare an attack.]
A meteor crashed from the sky into the field. It was a dragon that looked like a meatball or rather a meteor.
It gazed at the field and then noticed the scary Robotic Knight standing on the other side of the field, and its appendages went inside the meteor just like how a turtle went back inside its shell.
The rock that was left on the field didn't look any different from a normal meteor. Maybe its surface was a little hotter than a normal meteor, but that was it.
[Meteor Dragon] [EARTH]
[LV: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ]
[DRAGON / NORMAL]
[This dragon appeared from the sky and crashed to the earth.]
[1800 ATK / 2000 DEF]
"Hey yug! Look! He used the same card as you!" Joey shook Yugi as he spoke. He was like a little kid in a zoo that just saw an animal move.
"I see that, Joey. I wonder where he got it from, as it is a very potent and rare spell that only a select few possess," Yami Yugi commented offhandedly.
From his perspective, Yuta was like an onion.
The more he peeled, the more layers he found underneath.
Which made him more curious, and he peeled some more to find even more layers, making you question if there was even an end to them.
"Ha! Taking a defensive stance won't help you. Most importantly, machine-type monsters are coated with magic-immune metal, rendering your magical swords nothing more than shiny decorations!
I summon Launcher Spider in attack mode!
Now my arachnid! Destroy his Meteor Dragon! Missile Strike!"
[Launcher Spider] [FIRE]
[LV: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ]
[MACHINE / NORMAL]
[A mechanical spider with rocket launchers capable of random fire.]
[2200 ATK / 2500 DEF]
[Launcher Spider ATK 2200→ 2900]
A giant spider robot took the stage. It opened the missile hatches on its back and started an artillery strike towards Yuta's dragon.
"I activate my trap card! Ancient Lamp!"
[Ancient Lamp] [TRAP]
[TRAP CARD]
[Ancient Lamp reflects all attacks.]
This was the card that Yuta was talking about when he mentioned a card that was completely different from its real-life counterpart.
The Ancient Lamp in the real-world environment was a monster card, and its ability could basically be summed up as summoning La Jinn.
"I redirect your missiles towards your Robotic Knight!"
Though the card had mirror-force-like text. Its actual usage was different.
Mirror Force could reflect the attack to all the opponent's attack position monsters.
This card could only redirect one attack to another monster.
So in that its usage was more flexible, as the redirected attack didn't need to be towards the opponent's card.
If he had a stronger monster than Launcher Spider, then he could have redirected to it and let it self-destruct.
[Keith: 1500 → 700]
Keith couldn't believe that his second attack was foiled as well. He didn't even scratch the opponent's life points, but he had already lost more than half of his.
"Kuh, the effect of the field. My Machine monsters gain an additional 800 ATK and DEF points!"
[Launcher Spider ATK 2900→ 3700]
"Oh my god! His ATK points are stronger than Blue-Eyes White Dragon! How will Yuta deal with this?" Joey gasped in surprise.
"I also activate my trap card. Time Machine!"
[Time Machine] [TRAP]
[TRAP CARD]
[When a monster is destroyed by battle and sent to the GY : Special Summon that monster to the same field it was on, in the same battle position it was in when destroyed.]
[Robotic Knight ATK 1600→ 2100 → 2900]
"Robotic Knight! Destroy his Meteor Dragon for me!"
As the Robotic Knight drew closer, Yuta hesitated whether to activate his trap card or not, but he was afraid of the last trap card in Keith's back row, so he decided to let this attack through.
He could have tried to keep the Meteor Dragon and use his dragon spell cards to finish the game, but then there would be no meaning, as for him, winning this duel was just par for the course.
What he needed was to summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon in a pinch situation, print it a new vest on the spot and then win the duel.
Why?
Because this was an anime world, and any sort of power-up needed to be achieved in a pinch.
Also... it was because his Red-Eyes Black Dragon was a drama queen and refused to finish a duel early.
Maybe it had a hero syndrome?
Speaking of, technically he should be able to live till the GX era, so was it possible for him to have a tag duel with the real master of heroes, Jaiden Yuki, and print a real hero Red-Eyes?
That was food for thought.
Red-Eyes should also be pleased with that, right?
"Oh no! Yuta is in a difficult situation now! How can he defeat monsters stronger than Blue-Eyes White Dragon?" Joey asked, but he looked excited as well.
Yuta wanted to stop the duel and ask him if he was an enemy spy.
Why did he look so excited to see him lose?
"Do not worry, Joey. Yuta is a true duellist! His deck should respond to him when he needs it most!" Yami Yugi assured Joey and watched with keen intent.
Hearing that, Yuta sighed in relief.
One part of the puzzle was filled in, and now it was time for the other one, so he looked at Bandit Keith and hoped he would follow the script.
"Hahaha, impossible! In this specially prepared arena nothing can defeat my machine monsters! I set one card and end my turn. Go and draw your last card because the next round will be your last!"
As Bandith Keith declared, Yutaka wanted to jump into the air. The puzzle was complete.
He was in a tough situation, holding only 2 cards with no monsters in his hand or on the field.
The peanut gallery said he needed to believe in the heart of the cards.
The opponent declared that there was no way for him to defeat his invincible monster.
You know what that means!
"My turn! Draw!"
Yuta didn't even look at his card as he activated it, as there could only be one card he could draw in this situation, which was...
"I activate Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two more cards!"
As he drew his next card, Yuta could feel the heat emanating from it.
*ROAR*
DESTINY DRAW!
As Yuta drew his card, a gust of wind followed his motion, with the sky gathering black clouds and red lightning jumping around between them.
What card could it be aside from his deck's resident drama queen, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!
Even its entrance into the hand had to be a show.
*ROAR*
Red-Eyes roared in response, which roughly translated to 'Shut up and play me! Let me show them who is the boss!'
Unfortunately...
"I activate Graceful charity to draw three more cards. Then I discard Stampeding Destruction and Dragon's Gunfire from my hand."
Seeing the cards Yuta had just discarded, Red-Eyes suddenly started to sweat.
Suddenly its confidence was deflated, and it wanted to go back inside the deck.
Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to wait inside the deck after all.
That way if they lost, it would not be its fault but Yuta's.
Also, what was up with its stupid master?
Even though Red-Eyes and Yuta were connected spiritually, Red-Eyes was unable to read Yuta's thoughts and was therefore unaware of his intentions.
No way!
They had just reunited! Were they going to have to separate again?
"Yugi, did you notice?" Mai asked Yugi, as she felt like he was the only duellist on her level.
Joey?
Joey who?
"Yes, I noticed." Yami Yugi nodded seriously.
"Ey, what are you guys talking about?" Joey asked as he felt like he was getting left out.
"Yuta... just threw the game." Yami Yugi answered clueless Joey.
"WHAT?"
"Yes, he had used those against me in our duel.
One of them could deal 800 effect damage, and the other could destroy a back row card and deal 500.
He should have been able to win with those," Mai explained.
She checked Yuta's figure, but unlike when he duelled her, he seemed okay for now.
He wasn't panting or flushed heavily.
So this couldn't have been a misplay, unlike back then.
"But why would he do that? Does he want to lose intentionally?"
"I don't think so. In fact, he had done something similar in the duel against the fake Kaiba. Now that I think about it, this weird weather phenomenon had also happened back then."
"Tristan, explain to me what happened in that duel from start to finish. It might be a clue to why Yuta is acting so weirdly." Yami Yugi looked towards Tristan, waiting for his explanation.
Fake Kaiba?
Mai wondered after their duel if the duo went to film a movie or something. They were talking about guns pointed at them, a fake Kaiba and something about Kaiba's kidnapped brother? Maybe she shouldn't have left after the duel, as it sounded exciting.
"I summon the dragon with a thousand faces that represents infinite potential. The Fiercest! The Ferocious! The Dreadful! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
With Yuta's shout a great gust came over the field, and Red-Eyes Black Dragon arrived with a roar, but soon it was shut down by the two mechanical monstrosities looking at it.
[Robotic Knight ATK 2900] [Launcher Spider ATK 3700]
Was it really too late to jump back into the deck?
[Red-Eyes Black Dragon DEF 2000]
"I activate Tribute to the Doomed. I discard Bacon Saver to the graveyard to destroy your Launcher Spider!"
"Hah! Haven't you learnt your lesson? My Machine monsters are immune to your spells!"
As Keith declared, the mummified hands that rose from the graveyard couldn't pull down the mechanical spider as it just stomped over them.
Now Yuta only had a single card left in his hand, which provided him immense mental support.
"My turn! Draw!"
Making sure nobody was paying attention to him, Bandit Keith replaced one of his cards with one hidden in his wristband.
"I summon one of my best monsters, Zoa!"
As Keith put his card on the field, a blue, spiked giant fiendish creature took the field.
[Zoa ATK 2600]
Among these machine-type monsters, it looked like a husky that sneakily mixed inside a pack of wolves. But it would not stay that way for long.
"Then I activate my trap card Metalmorph!"
This time it was Yuta's turn to be surprised, as he was expecting Magic Metal Force instead of Metalmorph, but he was not complaining, though he needed to adjust the wording he had planned for his metal dragon, which was a shame.
Without Magic Metal Force, he couldn't bs a negate effect but that was fine.
[Metalmorph] [TRAP]
[TRAP CARD]
[Target 1 face-up monster on the field; equip this card to that target. It gains 300 ATK/DEF. If it attacks, it gains ATK equal to half the ATK of the attack target, during damage calculation only.]
---
[Magic Metal Force] [TRAP]
[TRAP CARD]
[When your opponent attacks, metalize 1 monster on the field, and if it was a magic attack, reflect it. Then, this card becomes an Equip Card, ATK +400 DEF +400.]
Soon Zoa looked like it was kidnapped by a bunch of scientists, and a mechanical copy of it was made. Just like Godzilla and Mecha Godzilla. Though unlike them, Metalzoa was superior to Zoa in every way!
[Metalzoa ATK 3000 → 4000 → 4800]
The new Zoa took the centre stage in the field as the strongest monster. Yuta could feel the pressure emanating from it, almost trembling in fear.
Yes, this was EXACTLY what he wanted.
"Oh my god! Almost 5000 ATK points? It could rival the legendary Five-Headed Dragon with those stats!" Joey exclaimed in surprise. This duel was making his blood boil. He also wanted to find someone and duel immediately.
"I also activate my set spell card! Stop Defense! Then I change your Red-Eyes into the attack position!"
[Stop Defense] [SPELL]
[SPELL CARD]
[Select 1 Defense Position monster on your opponent's side of the field and change it to Attack Position.]
---
[Red-Eyes Black Dragon DEF 2000 → ATK 2400]
Even though it was unwilling. Red-Eyes was forcefully switched to attack position. It looked towards Yuta and asked him to do something with its roar.
But Yuta was calm and didn't even acknowledge Red-Eyes' presence. It was almost like its life and death had nothing to do with him.
"Now my metal fiend! Destroy his black dragon!"
Metalzoa took to the skies and lifted its hands, and a thunderball started to gather between its metal claws, but Red-Eyes was not a coward.
Now that it knew it was going to die for sure, it decided to go out with a bang as it gathered pinkish-red flames in its mouth.
However, before the two monsters could fire their attacks, they were negated.
"I activate my trap card! Negate Attack!"
It was one of the cards he took from Kaiba's deck, and it was a damn good one at that.
[Negate Attack] [TRAP]
[COUNTER-TRAP CARD]
[When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Target the attacking monster, negate the attack, then end the Battle Phase.]
"My trap card also ends your battle phase, so you can't declare any other attacks this round."
The black dragon sighed in relief. It was not afraid of being sent to the graveyard, but no one would want to go there willingly if they had a choice, right?
"Tch! I set one card and end my turn." Bandit Keith had already figured out that there was something wrong with the duellist named Yuta.
Though he could not figure out his aim, Bandit Keith had no intention of losing again.
Not before he took his revenge against Pegasus.
And for that he didn't even mind cheating.
"This is so exciting. This is not even the finals, but we are watching such an intense duel." Joey said, imagining himself as one of the duellists on the stage.
But then he reminded himself he was not participating in this tournament for money or fame... Well, technically it was for money, but it was because he wanted to treat his sister's eye disease.
So he could not afford to let such events affect his mentality, and he needed to focus on his goal.
"Thank you, Tristan. I think I might have an idea what is going on now." Yami Yugi nodded after listening to Tristan's story about the duel against the Ghost Kaiba.
There were a lot of unnecessary exaggerations in the middle, but the essence was the same.
Yuta was intentionally slowing down his duels. As for the reason...
"Oh, care to explain?" Mai asked, as she did not get what Yugi was talking about.
From the story it looked like Yuta just wanted to prove that his dragon was better than Kaiba's white dragon, so he destroyed each of them in a different way, showcasing his dominance.
What did it have to do with this duel?
"It is just a theory; in order to confirm it, I still have to watch the duel." Yami Yugi refused to comment and refocused on the duel. Red-Eyes was already in the field, so it should not take that long.
"My turn! Draw!"
Yuta frowned as the card he just drew was not something that was useful for his situation, but he still played it anyway.
At least, it might help him finish the duel this turn.
"I summon the Blue Flame Swordsman in defence mode!"
[Blue Flame Swordsman DEF 1600]
"Futile! So what if you summon another weak monster? It will just be destroyed by my monsters anyway." This was not blind confidence, as Keith still had strong monsters in his 'hand'.
So even if Yuta somehow managed to wipe his board, he would summon another stronger one.
"Watch it pal! How could you diss my precious Flame Swordsman like that!? Let me go!" As Joey was about to jump into the arena and give a good thrashing to Bandit Keith for speaking badly about his favourite monster, he was held back by his best friend, Tristan.
"Oh, we will see. Now I activate my trap card, Graverobber! Guess which card I will pick?" While Yuta was speaking mischievously, a little guy with a silly smile and two shovels on its back appeared on the field and swaggered to Bandit Keith's graveyard.
"Is it coming?" Yami Yugi squinted his eyes and took a step towards the arena.
Bandit Keith thought of all the cards in his graveyard when a certain possibility hit him.
That was when Graverobber's shovel hit something with a loud ding.
It excitedly brought up the coffin to the surface and opened it.
Inside lay a card.
Metalmorph.
Yuta laughed as he took over the card Graverobber handed him.
How did a hologram hand him a card?
Don't sweat such stupid details.
The important point was, he was finally going to print another vest for his favourite dragon.
And this time, it would solely belong to him.
"Red-Eyes! It's time to show everyone once again why you are known as the dragon with a thousand faces."
As Yuta declared once again, Red-Eyes was dumbfounded.
Didn't he already print Meteor Black Dragon in the last duel?
Did its master even have the stamina to print another vest?
Though if that white bitch knew about it, she would be jealous, right?
Thinking so, Red-Eyes roared towards the sky as a bolt of red lightning struck it!
"I equip Metalmorph to Red-Eyes Black Dragon to turn it into a brand new form! Arise, the new vest of my soulmate! Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon!!"
As the smoke cleared, a new monster took Red-Eyes' place.
It was a metallic beast painted jet black.
Its wings looked as sharp as razors, and its claws looked like it could tear apart even the hardest of minerals in existence.
Black Metal Dragon roared towards the sky in excitement once again, but its cry this time carried a hint of pressure, forcing the bystanders to take a step back except for Yami Yugi, who seemed to have already expected it.
Seeing that, Bandit Keith panicked and activated one of his set cards.
"I activate my spell card Pillage! Now give me the card you have remaining in your hand!"
As Yuta only had a single card left in his hand, he had to hand it to Bandit Keith and felt annoyed.
Now he really was in danger of losing...
Then he looked towards his Red-Eyes, who was also looking at him, awaiting his command.
Yuta thought if he could bullshit enough, he might win this turn.
Well, it was certainly worth a try.
[Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon ATK 2800 → ATK 3700]
Because of the field bonus that boosted the Machine monsters, Black Metal Dragon's ATK points had risen by 30%.
Seeing its stats, Keith sighed in relief; at least his Metalzoa was safe this turn, but his other monsters were still under a big threat, and he could still lose, but thankfully he had a spell card just for the situation that was set on the field called Limiter Removal.
When activated, it doubled the points of his Machine-type monsters, but at the end of the round, they would be destroyed.
Still, who cared?
He had enough strong monsters in his hand, so as long as he survived the round, it would not matter which one of them was destroyed.
"I activate the ability of my Blue Flame Swordsman and raise the ATK points of my Metal Dragon!"
[Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon ATK 3700 → ATK 5500]
"Even higher than Five-Headed Dragon!? How is that possible?" Bandit Keith was the one who had shouted in surprise.
He quickly did the maths in his head and sighed in relief.
Even if Yuta attacked his weakest Robotic Knight, with the spell it would still have 5800 ATK points and destroy his dragon.
"Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon attack his Metalzoa! Dark Mega Flare!"
Even before Yuta gave his order, Red-Eyes was flying towards Metalzoa while a dark ball that was crackling with red lightning was condensing in its mouth.
They had won anyway, so they should obviously take down the strongest monster on the opponent's field. Only this was worthy of a dragon of its stature.
"Hahahahaha! I was wondering which one of my monsters you would choose, but you lost the duel because you made such a stupid decision. I activate my set spell, Limiter Removal!"
[Limiter Removal] [SPELL]
[QUICK-SPELL CARD]
[Double the ATK of all Machine monsters you currently control, until the end of this turn. During the End Phase of this turn, destroy those monsters.]
After Keith activated his spell card all the monsters on his side of the field started to leak electricity from all sorts of parts around their bodies but their ATK points had doubled!
[Metalzoa ATK 4800 → 9600]
"ALMOST TEN THOUSAND!?" Joey was so shocked that he was about to foam at the mouth.
His strongest monster only had 2400 ATK points, and that was a two-card combo! If he added another card, it would reach 3000 at best. So he was having a hard time comprehending the ATK value of almost ten thousand.
Was he supposed to duel against freaks like these!?
But as he was about to be disappointed, Joey remembered the face of his sister again and recollected himself.
Instead of wallowing, he started to think of ways to how he would have been able to overcome it if he was in the arena instead of Yuta right now.
"Guys, I don't think Yuta is worried... he even seems to be smirking," Tea said. She was not good at Duel Monsters, so she had a habit of watching the faces of duellists themselves to see if the situation was good or bad.
And from what she saw, Yuta didn't seem to mind that 10,000 ATK value.
"You are right, Tea. Yuta is a true duellist. So he must have a solution to this problem, but his hand is empty, and there are no set cards on his side of the field." Yami Yugi started to analyse the situation; if he were in this situation, he would have...
"It must be the graveyard!
In the duel against me, he played a little piglet from the graveyard.
It can negate one attack by banishing itself from the graveyard!" Mai joined the discussion as she started to see the same line as Yugi, even though she was a beat late.
"That's right! Last round he had played Tribute to the Doomed; despite not being able to destroy Launcher Spider, he still had to discard one card as the cost! How could Yuta make a mistake like that!? He himself plays a lot of machine-type monsters, so he should have known it would not have worked. His goal must have been to put that card into the graveyard! If I am not, its name was-" Yami Yugi looked like he solved a puzzle, and his respect for Yuta rose. He was a duellist that thought far into the future and used his cards just like chess pieces.
"Bacon Saver! That was the name of the card!" Mai spat the name of the card venomously. Because of that, she had a bias against pigs now, and she would definitely eat pork cutlets as revenge once the tournament was over and they returned to the mainland.
"Which means Yuta is safe right now, and that's why he is smirking?" Tea asked.
That's when Yami's pupils dilated, noticing something. However, Yuta did not give him time to deduce right now and instead directly gave the answer.
"I activate the effect of the Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon. As the dragon with infinite potential, how could it lose the effect of the original trap card? During the damage phase, only Black Metal Dragon's ATK points rise by half the total ATK points of Metalzoa. Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon! Gear Shift!"
The moment Yuta gave his order, clockwork-like ticking came from the metal dragon, the soles of its feet spat out jet flames as it took air with enormous gusto, and the black ball it was gathering started to grow bigger and bigger, almost resembling a black hole!
[Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon ATK 5500 → ATK 10300]
"Tristan, I think I am going to pass out. ANOTHER monster with over ten thousand attack points. Are we even playing the same game?" Of course, Joey had no intention of backing down from the fight, but that did not mean he could not complain about it.
"That was it! Yuta was smirking, meaning he was sure he would win the fight. If he was banking on Bacon Saver, he would not be smirking!" Yami Yugi explained.
"So you are telling me he knew that he would win the fight but still left an out for himself a turn prior?" Mai asked for clarification, and Yami Yugi nodded.
Mai started to ponder if she could even defeat this guy, but just like Joey, she had no intention of backing down without a fight.
Exactly a 700-point difference between the ATK values of Metal Dragon and Metalzoa.
The same value as Bandit Keith's remaining LP.
Almost like this was a book and the author carefully choreographed the duel to reach this exact moment and values.
Of course, if there really was an author of this situation, it would be Yuta.
Because, as he said before. Only if his card's power level was 'reasonable' would he be able to print it.
In other words, if Bandit Keith did not use Limiter Removal to double the ATK points of his Machine-type monsters, he would not be able to bullshit that Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon could inherit the ability of Metalmorph. Because that would be overkill, and the world would not allow it.
Finally, after gathering enough energy to almost destroy the earth beneath their feet. Black Metal Dragon shot its Dark Mega Flare at Metalzoa, who tried to stop it with its claws but was unable to in the end, as it was too strong!
"Then I activate the monster card in my hand, Kuriboh, that I stole from you and take no battle damage from this fight!"
"Oh no! He had almost won, but he was stopped by Keith right when the victory was in his grasp!"
"Despicable! It was even the card he had stolen from Yuta!"
"Wait! So you are telling me he knew that he would win the fight but still left an out for himself a turn prior AND he had a life-saving card in his hand?" Mai questioned if this guy was a cockroach.
Who even needed that many life-saving cards in the first place!?
Thinking about it, weren't his traps also the same?
Ancient Lamp, Negate Attack all were life-saving cards. Not to mention the Damage Diet that cut the damage in half. The more she thought about it, the more Yuta looked like a cockroach to her.
This was also the reason why Yuta had frowned when Bandit Keith had used Pliage. The only card in his hand was the 4th Egyptian God Card, the legendary Kuriboh!
The problem was that the 4th Egyptian God Card was currently in the hands of an enemy.
Still, it was also an opportunity.
An opportunity to bullshit some more!
"I activate the second ability of Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon! As the dragon with infinite potential, how could it JUST inherit an ability from the trap card? Thanks to its mechanical transformation, Red-Eyes finally managed to tap into the potential that lay deep beneath its body. After the Damage Phase, if Black Metal Dragon destroys a monster controlled by the opponent, it deals half the monster's ATK points as effect damage! Since Kuriboh can only negate damage related to battle, this will go through. Metal Dragon, go! Flash Fire Blast!!"
With Yuta's order, Red-Eyes zoomed past the debris left behind by Metalzoa and arrived in front of Bandit Keith and opened its mouth wide just like it did against Mai. But this time, instead of black, there was a white ball crackling with red lightning gathering in its mouth, which it shot towards Keith.
[Keith: 700 → 0]
As the duel was finished, Yuta suddenly felt drained. It was like every single drop of blood in his body was getting drained by a vampire.
He thought he would be fine this time, as he didn't feel bad during the duel, but he was wrong. This was the worst he had felt since he arrived in this world.
"Tristan—" Yuta managed to shout and wake everyone from their daze.
"I am co-" As he tried to rush towards Yuta, he was stopped by his second shout.
"Not me idiot! Make sure he doesn't get away with th-"
Before he could even finish his words, Yuta had blacked out.