"You!"
"You again!"
Kira seemed to hear a gloomy voice sound by his ear.
He raised an eyebrow, sizing up the blond foreign youth before him, but noticed the man's mouth wasn't moving at all.
Kira's gaze shifted past the man to the mass of familiar black mist behind him. The darkness had coalesced, and within it there seemed to be a pair of icy eyes staring back.
"Let me guess," Kira asked calmly. "Tragoedia?"
"Duel King, Fujiki Kira. What a troublesome fellow," the voice within the darkness hissed. "Why must you always stand in my way?"
"Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing," Kira said lightly. "The world's so big—why do you always like to loiter around me?"
Tragoedia: "..."
"I'm serious. That's really my question," Kira said matter-of-factly. "What draws you here? Why are you here?"
The little crayfish didn't answer. He turned to David and growled in a low voice by his ear: "Kill him."
"Heh, finally."
David's lips curled in a cold smile as he unfurled his Duel Disk.
"I was just wondering when I'd get the chance to try the Duel King..."
"Fine. In the end, a duel says it all."
Kira likewise opened his Duel Disk.
"Then I'll ask you after we're done."
"Duel!" x2
[Kira, LP 4000]
[David, LP 4000]
"I'll go first. Draw!" David said.
An eerie grin twisted his face—sinister, a hint of perversion—one look and you'd think of Marik back in the day.
A warped psyche, and a great gift for face-acting.
In fact, David really was that kind of person.
In the manga, David and Reggie Mackenzie were Tragoedia's most capable right and left hands, his favorite two puppets.
And unlike Reggie. Reggie would do anything to survive, didn't mind hurting others in the process, but she didn't take pleasure in it. She hated Shadow Duels and always wanted to escape Tragoedia's control, but had no chance.
David was the opposite.
He was twisted to begin with and didn't resist being Tragoedia's puppet. He enjoyed the darkness—especially watching opponents struggle in it, inch by inch swallowed.
If Marik's dark personality still existed, they'd have plenty to talk about.
"Activate the Spell Card 'Graceful Charity.' Draw three, then discard two from my hand."
David slowly drew another card from his hand.
"First, I'll summon this guy.
"In Defense Position, 'Quantity'!" (manga card)
David's manga monster was a small robot with a spherical head, dropping into a crouched guard on the field.
[Quantity, DEF 400]
"Then I'll set a card to my back row and end my turn."
The mist of the Shadow Duel coiled, making the already night-shrouded crags even hazier.
Ending his turn, David looked at Kira with a sinister yet oddly expectant expression. Some twisted voice in his heart seemed to murmur to itself.
"Heh, the Duel King is a rare bait you don't meet every day."
He licked his lips.
"If I could consign a soul like that to the darkness..."
"Heh heh... heh heh heh heh..."
"My turn. Draw."
Kira observed David's expression.
Smiling that lewdly, huh...
"Activate Quick-Play Spell 'Mystical Space Typhoon,'" Kira said. "Destroy one Spell/Trap on the field."
Blow away the back row first, in any case.
Kira pointed at the set card.
"Destroy the set card."
A pitch-black gale tore toward the set card, lightning crackling within.
"Opening by handling my back row," David said. "Such a cautious style. Then I'll chain my set card, Quick-Play Spell 'Scrap Storage'!"
The spell flared, sheathing his Quantity in pale gold light.
"Scrap Storage: select a Machine you control," David said. "Send any number of cards with the same name from your Deck to the GY."
Kira's eyelid twitched.
They say the anime spawns god cards—no exaggeration. Some random passerby casually shows world-ending power...
"I choose my 'Quantity.'"
David pulled out his Deck, quickly extracting two more copies.
"From the Deck, send the other two 'Quantity' to the GY."
Two monsters slid from the Deck to the grave.
Kira: "Then I'll Normal Summon 'Jetroid.'"
A red jet streaked a flaming arc across the sky, landed, and transformed into a humanoid machine.
[Jetroid, ATK 1200]
"Attack 'Quantity.'"
Jetroid reverted to aircraft, ignited, swooped like an iron raptor, and dropped a string of missiles, blasting the little robot to bits.
"I'll set a card. End."
"My turn. Draw."
David added the card to his hand, then smirked darkly.
"Cautiously clearing my back row before attacking—then allow me to learn some of the Duel King's caution as well...
"Spell Card 'Heavy Storm'!"
A pitch-black tempest, far more violent than Kira's Typhoon, roared across both back rows. Kira's set card was ripped up and shredded by the wind's pressure.
Trap Card: Mirror Force.
"Ha! The strongest-shield defensive trap couldn't even go off—what a shame."
David laughed.
"Next, the effect of 'Machina Fortress' that I discarded last turn. By discarding Machine monsters from my hand whose Levels total 8 or more, I can Special Summon Fortress from the GY."
He flashed a card briefly, then pitched it.
"I discard the Level 8 'Fiendish Engine Ω' from my hand—revive to the field—
"—Machina Fortress!"
Mechanical rumbling, metal parts grinding and assembling. The hulking mobile fortress rose, guns of all sizes locking onto Kira.
[Machina Fortress, ATK 2500]
"Now feel it with your body, Duel King! My finest touch of darkness—the pain that strikes the soul!"
David laughed wildly and thrust his arm.
"Battle! Machina Fortress, attack 'Jetroid'!"
All barrels locked in unison, loading and charging, about to unleash a sea of fire!
"Thanks, but I'll pass," Kira said politely, revealing a card in hand.
"From my hand, I activate the Trap Card 'Mirror Force.' When an opponent's monster declares an attack, destroy all Attack Position monsters they control."
David: "!"
NANI!?