"What a pity," Kira chuckled, "Had you destroyed my materials before the Synchro Summon, I might not have been able to summmon Brionac again, nor dodge your SKY FIRE with 'Synchro Back.'
A misjudgment, Greiger. Now your SKY FIRE effect is wasted this turn."
Greiger ground his teeth. "Damn you, Goodwin…"
On the sidelines, Yusei said gravely, "Even so, without knowing what Goodwin had face-down, Greiger was very likely to wait for the Synchro Summon before activating SKY FIRE's effect out of caution.
Also, Goodwin's provocations seemed designed to bait out an early activation, but perhaps they were reverse psychology, making Greiger more cautious and likely to hold his effect until the Synchro came out…"
It's the classic "real or fake" mind game. Greiger thought he'd seen through Goodwin's provoke, not realizing even that was part of Goodwin's plan.
In retrospect, activating SKY FIRE before the Synchro might have been smarter; if Goodwin didn't have another Level 4 monster, Brionac's arrival could have been truly prevented.
Jack said coolly, "Not just in dueling—this Greiger's every thought has been read by Goodwin, utterly manipulated. Perhaps all this was within his expectations."
He hesitated, then added,
"No, perhaps even if Greiger acted earlier, Goodwin would have had another counter in store..."
No proof, but his intuition said so.
For the first time since moving to the city, Jack felt: Goodwin is a truly frightening man.
"Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, effect activate!" Kira declared. "Discard any number of cards; return the same number of cards on the field to their owner's hands!"
Greiger: "What did you say?!"
His eyes bulged.
Return to hand, again!?
It was hard enough getting rid of one Abyss Soldier, now there's this? And this can bounce any number—this is like a fully powered-up, Synchro-era version of Abyss Soldier!
"I'll discard one card," Kira said. "First, your 'Flying Fortress SKY FIRE'—go back to your hand."
He tossed a card to his graveyard, and Brionac roared, gathering freezing energy in its maw.
Before Greiger could react, SKY FIRE's metal joints froze up in an instant, ice spikes jutted up from the ground, and in no time, the massive steel robot became a glittering ice statue.
A crisp shatter, and the statue exploded into a spray of icy shards, a datastream flying back to Greiger's hand.
Greiger looked at his returned SKY FIRE, face contorted.
Although he still had his Dark Flattop, which could revive the SKY FIRE from the grave, it couldn't help once the card was in his hand.
What's worse, "Flying Fortress SKY FIRE" could only be Special Summoned through a specific effect. Sitting in his hand, it was utterly useless.
"And just now, I discarded 'Learning Elf,'" Kira said. "When it's sent to the grave, I get to draw a card."
Kira drew one card.
"Next is the Dark Flattop," Kira continued. "Without SKY FIRE, the Flattop isn't much threat, but it does have Blue-Eyes White Dragon-level DEF. Annoying."
He pitched another card to the graveyard.
"Brionac's effect activates again! Flattop to your hand, please."
Brionac hurled more icicles at the massive ship floating above.
This time, however, Greiger interrupted: "Activate face-down! Trap Card—'Interdimensional Matter Transporter!'
Select 1 face-up monster you control; banish it until the end of this turn!"
He pointed at his Dark Flattop.
"Banishing 'Dark Flattop!'"
A strange metallic device appeared, sending ripples across the field. Enveloped in the shimmering aura, the Dark Flattop faded, eventually vanishing from the dimension.
Brionac's icicles struck only empty air.
"Oh? Used a trap to make your monster escape temporarily. But now, you're wide open."
Kira waved grandly.
"Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier—direct attack, Greiger!"
As the attack was declared, Greiger's tiny hope that Brionac could not attack the turn it used its effect evaporated.
Attack restriction? Hand cost? Sorry, Brionac's unbeatable; there's no such thing.
A torrent of freezing air blasted from Brionac's maw, an icy gale sweeping over Greiger. His Duel Runner shook violently, but its triple wheels kept him from wiping out entirely.
Greiger: "Urgh—!"
[Greiger, LP 4000 → LP 1700]
His Duel Runner shuddered under the impact, and Greiger gripped tightly to avoid careening out of control.
In the Speed World field, every 1000 damage suffered caused a player to lose one Speed Counter, and the Duel Runner's speed would drop accordingly.
Greiger had taken two thousand at once—his Speed Counters dropped from five to three.
Three versus five Speed Counters—a huge difference; it meant many once-accessible Speed Spells were now locked. For example, even "Speed Fusion" now couldn't be used without four counters.
With just three, even Fusion Summons were out of reach.
Having lost his Speed Counters, Greiger was left in the dust. Nonetheless, he immediately worked to regain control, pushing his Duel Runner to catch up.
"Roaaaaar!"
Greiger howled.
"My rage, and the pain of my fallen brothers and sisters—this can't stop me!"
Kira laughed. "That's right. If you just wiped out there, my enjoyment would've ended."
He slid another card into his back row.
"I set a card. Turn end."