Mirror Force!
David's pupils shrank. "From your hand...!?"
"The monster you attacked, Jetroid, has a special effect," Kira said. "When this card is selected as an attack target, its controller can activate Trap Cards from their hand.
"So I activate Mirror Force from my hand."
"Urgh..."
David gnashed his teeth.
There was a second one hidden in his hand...
Boom!
The barrage hammered the energy barrier and rebounded. The Machina Fortress fell under its own firepower, exploding into a pillar of flame.
"I got careless," David said coldly. "As expected of the Duel King—just as unguardable as the rumors say."
"Flattered," Kira smiled.
But...
David's eyes swept his remaining hand.
He still had plays.
"I haven't conducted my Normal Summon this turn. I'll set a monster in Defense Position.
"I summon 'Quality'!" (manga card)
[Quality, DEF 1500]
"End turn."
At least he could put up a wall to avoid passing the turn empty.
"Then it's my turn. Draw," Kira said. "Activate Spell Card 'Pot of Greed.' Draw two."
He drew two, then flipped one in his hand.
"Activate Field Spell—
"—Megaroid City!"
A thunderous rumble, a steel metropolis rose from the ground; crisscrossing overpasses spanned the field between them.
"A Machine-field," David frowned. "A full Roid deck...?"
He didn't recall any record of the Duel King using this deck.
"Am I being looked down on...?" he muttered darkly.
"Don't underestimate him," Tragoedia's voice was cold by his ear. "You won't beat this one if you're half-hearted."
"Tch, I know," David grumbled.
He glanced at his face-down defender.
Quality was also an anime-original card, clearly in the same series as "Quantity," with synergy.
When Quality is destroyed, he can Special Summon as many "Quantity" from your GY as possible. So he'd send a bunch of Quantity to the GY, then let Quality be destroyed to mass-swarm—his usual tactic to seize field advantage.
Thinking of that, David smiled.
Come on, destroy my Quality—set off the chain reaction that leads to my victory.
Kira said, "Activate Megaroid City's effect. Destroy one of my cards other than this card; add a 'roid' from my Deck to hand.
"I destroy 'Jetroid' and add 'Submarineroid' from my Deck."
The jet exploded, and the search target popped from the Deck.
"Then I Normal Summon 'Submarineroid'!"
[Submarineroid, ATK 800]
"A submarine?" David blinked. He tributed his stronger monster just to search this...?
"Submarineroid can attack directly," Kira waved. "Direct attack."
David: "!"
Rather than destroying Quality, he's just skipping over it to hit me?
Crap—
"At this moment, Megaroid City's other effect. During battle, send a 'roid' from Deck to GY to swap the battling roid's original ATK and DEF until Damage Calculation."
Kira took the ejected card and sent it to the GY.
"Swap Submarineroid's ATK/DEF."
[Submarineroid, ATK 800 → ATK 1800]
The sub dove underground and emerged behind David's set monster, unloading a faceful of torpedoes.
Boom!
David was the first to taste his cherished touch of darkness. He cried out in pain, blasted off his feet and rolling across the ground.
[David, LP 4000 → 2200]
"I told you to be careful," Tragoedia said in his ear, displeased. "Even at full power, you might not beat this one."
Smoke curled from David as his body convulsed briefly, but he planted a hand on the ground and slowly rose.
He twisted his neck, rolled his joints, bones cracking.
"Ahhh... comfy."
A twisted grin.
"It hurts a bit, heh heh... but this is what a duel should feel like..."
Kira narrowed his eyes.
Huh. Not just a pervert—a masochist too?
There are Shadow Duelists like that. They have a natural advantage in death matches: when he hits you, it really hurts; when you hit him, he really enjoys it.
No matter.
Against this type, the Shadow Duel's physical pain matters less.
But the mind... that's another story.
"After battle, Submarineroid switches to Defense Position."
[Submarineroid, DEF 1800]
"I set two. End."
"My turn. Draw!" David said. "First, Spell Card 'Pot of Greed.' Draw two."
He drew two, then narrowed his eyes.
"If you won't destroy it for me, I'll do it myself...
"Activate Spell Card 'Dark Hole'! Destroy all monsters on the field!"
A devouring celestial body manifested; oppressive gravity blanketed the field. Kira's Submarineroid and David's Quality were both sucked into the vortex and annihilated.
"This way your monster's gone, but my Quality's destruction only triggers a new effect!" David laughed. "Quality's effect! When this card is destroyed, Special Summon as many 'Quantity' from your GY as possible!
"I have three Quantity in the GY—revive them all at once—"
"Before that, chain to Quality," Kira snapped his fingers. "Activate my set Trap 'Ojama Trio.'
"Special Summon three 'Ojama Tokens' to your field."
David froze.
He's preemptively giving me three Ojamas?
"Filling three of my Monster Zones to limit how many Quantity I can revive?"
David frowned, feeling something off.
"Don't rush. There's also this card..."
Kira smiled.
"Continuous Trap 'Rivalry of Warlords'! As long as this card remains, we can each only control one Type of monster. If a Type is already on the field, you can't Summon monsters of a different Type!"
Only now did David realize what was happening.
"You—you're..."
"Later effects resolve first, so 'Rivalry of Warlords' applies first.
"Then 'Ojama Trio' Special Summons three Ojama Tokens to your field."
The yellow, green, and black tokens cheerfully hopped onto his field and made themselves at home.
"'Scuse the intrusion!"
"Nice place you got here. Mind if we crash anywhere?"
"Zzz zzz"
[Ojama Token, DEF 0] x3
"Finally, we resolve your 'Quality.' But 'Ojama Trio' and 'Rivalry of Warlords' are already live.
"You control Beast-Type monsters; you can't Summon monsters of another Type. 'Quantity' is Machine-Type and can't be Summoned, so Quality's effect fizzles.
"Your turn. Please continue."
David: "..."