"End Phase. You didn't forget your own BLS effect, did you?"
A rift to another dimension opened on The D's field. A ray of golden light shot out, turning into a card that fell into The D's hand.
Kira nodded. "The card in the opponent's hand that was banished by 'Evening Twilight Knight' granting BLS's power returns to the opponent's hand at the end of their next turn."
"Correct. The card you banished is back in my hand now."
The D waggled the card with a chilling smile, his eyes narrowing.
With this card added, Plasma would truly reach his strongest form. At that point, the duel would be as good as over.
"My turn. Draw."
Kira revealed the card he drew.
"I activate the Spell Card 'Card of Burial Magic.' Banish 'Card of Adversity,' 'Trade-In,' and 'Super Soldier Synthesis' from my GY to draw two cards."
Three Spells rose from his GY as shimmering gold lights and vanished. Kira drew two cards.
"Then I Normal Summon 'Elemental HERO Bubbleman' in Defense."
The ever-confident blue HERO, encircled by bubbles, flew onto the field and knelt defensively.
"When Bubbleman is successfully Summoned, if you control no other cards, draw two cards." (Anime effect)
Kira drew two more, then glanced at them and set all the cards in his hand.
"I set three and end my turn."
"So you're even using scrub-level Elemental HEROes just to stall? Too weak, too weak! Before the Ultimate HERO, such lowly heroes don't even deserve to show up!"
The D continued.
"My turn! Draw!"
The instant he drew, Kira flipped a backrow.
"I activate my set card, the Trap 'Thunder of Ruler.' This card can only be activated during the opponent's Standby Phase. This turn, your Battle Phase is skipped."
"Hoh? Sealing the Ultimate HERO's attack with a trick like that? Fair enough," The D snorted. "Then first, I'll activate the card that was previously banished by you—the true key to unleashing Ultimate D's power—"
He revealed a Spell in his hand but, bizarrely, activated it by inserting the face-up card into the top of his Deck.
"Spell Card 'D - Force,' activate!"
Aster blinked. "D - Force? A Spell you activate by sticking it face-up on top of the Deck?"
"Correct! Once D - Force is activated, it must be inserted face-up on top of my Deck!" The D barked. "While D - Force is on top of my Deck, I cannot conduct my normal draw in the Draw Phase. But in exchange, I can unleash Plasma's ultimate power!"
Plasma roared. Bone wings spread as blood-red flames wreathed him, his aura and power surging.
"Empowered by 'D - Force,' Plasma releases his hidden effect: All monsters on the opponent's field have their effects negated!"
"NANI?" Aster gasped.
All monster effects negated—continuously! That's near top-tier suppression.
"And while D - Force is on top of my Deck, any effects that target my cards become negated!"
In the anime, that means any Spell/Trap/Monster effect that targets your own field will have its activation and effect negated and be destroyed.
In the anime, Plasma himself doesn't have one-way effect-steal by default; he must combo with D - Force to unlock the hidden effect. The real card was actually buffed: the printed Plasma silences the opponent's field on summon—opponent's monster effects are all negated.
But in the anime, Plasma can seize the effects of monsters he absorbs—an advantage the printed card lacks.
D - Force tantalized IRL players for years, but it did eventually get printed, and it's arguably stronger than the anime version.
In the TCG/OCG, D - Force is a Continuous Spell. The anime's D - Force only negated opposing Spell/Trap activations that targeted your cards, but the printed D - Force prevents your monsters from being targeted by any opponent's effects, including monster effects.
The printed D - Force also adds new effects: Plasma gains ATK equal to 100 times the total number of monsters in both GYs, cannot be targeted or destroyed by opponent's effects, gaining stronger protection than the original.
And with D - Force up, Plasma can attack twice each Battle Phase—another anime-only omission.
Overall, the printed Plasma system is significantly stronger than the anime's. If the printed D - Force is weaker anywhere, it's that as a Continuous Spell it remains on the field and can be cleared by blowout backrow removal like Heavy Storm or Harpie's Feather Duster.
Whereas in the anime, D - Force sits on top of the Deck after activation, so typical S/T destruction can't touch it.
"Well, it has protection, sure—but it only makes effects on Plasma invalid. If your Battle Phase is skipped, it still can't attack..."
The D paused, eyes narrowing.
"But that doesn't mean I can't attack at all! With the absorbed 'BLS' effect, Plasma can banish an opponent's monster. Banish 'Elemental HERO Bubbleman'!"
Plasma raised the dragon-head limb and fired blood hardened like a blade. A slash of blood-energy struck Bubbleman, ripping open a dimensional fissure that sucked him away.
"And there's also the effect granted by Evening Twilight Knight: once per turn, I can banish a random card from the opponent's hand... Though I'd like to, you have no hand."
The D shrugged, glanced at the two facedowns in Kira's back row, and chuckled.
"Looks like you anticipated that and set your hand to avoid the banish. Heh. Not bad. Struggle all you like. Your struggle only makes your soul tastier—better nourishment for Plasma."
"As I thought," Kira said coolly.
"Nourishment for Plasma? How many souls have you fed to that card by now?"
Aster jolted, whipping his head toward The D.
Feeding human souls to Plasma?
"Not many. Unfortunately, I never used this card in public for the past ten years... The underworld's shadow duels? Sometimes. It's eaten plenty.
But the most memorable was the first time. The first soul Plasma devoured—"
He narrowed his eyes and looked at Aster.
"—was your father, Aster."
Aster: "!"
...
2 Bonus chapters at 1000 PS