"Summon 'Cross Porter'!"
[Cross Porter, DEF 400]
"Cross Porter's effect: Select one monster on your field and send it to the Graveyard; you can Special Summon one 'Neo-Spacian' from your hand." Kira declared.
"I send 'Cross Porter' itself to the Graveyard to Special Summon 'Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird' from my hand!"
[Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird, ATK 800]
"And at this moment, Cross Porter's other effect activates," Kira continued. "When Cross Porter is sent to the Graveyard, add one 'Neo-Spacian' from your Deck to your hand."
Kira drew the card that automatically popped out from his Deck. "I add the second 'Neo-Spacian Dark Panther' from my Deck to my hand!"
His cards weren't spirit cards but printed by his own factory, so naturally they could include a second copy.
"Air Hummingbird's monster effect: Once per turn, gain Life Points equal to the number of cards in your opponent's hand × 500."
Trueman: "I have three cards left in my hand."
"Excellent. Then through Hummingbird, I gain 1500 Life Points."
As he spoke, three flowers bloomed above Trueman's three remaining cards. Air Hummingbird fluttered forward, sipping nectar from each flower in turn. Warm golden streams of light flowed back through its flapping wings and into Kira's body.
[Kira, LP 2400 → LP 3900]
Trueman clicked his tongue in displeasure. This almost nullified all the damage he had dealt so far.
"Next, I activate the Continuous Spell 'Common Soul'," Kira said. "Select one monster on the field and Special Summon one 'Neo-Spacian' from your hand onto the field. After that, the selected monster gains ATK equal to the ATK of the Special Summoned 'Neo-Spacian'."
Kira revealed the card he had just searched. "I Special Summon a second 'Neo-Spacian Dark Panther' and add this Dark Panther's ATK to the first Dark Panther."
[Neo-Spacian Dark Panther (No.2), ATK 1000]
[Neo-Spacian Dark Panther (No.1), ATK 1000 → ATK 2000]
"I activate the Spell Card 'Space Gift' once again," Kira declared. "I currently control three different Neo-Spacians, so I draw three cards from my Deck!"
Kira drew three cards, then revealed one of them. "A third 'Space Gift'! I draw three more cards!"
Trueman watched him draw card after card until Kira's hand had become a thick stack. Though annoyed, he sneered, "So what? No matter how many cards you hold, your field is still full of trash."
"Trash?" Kira laughed. "Then take a good look at what these 'trash' can do.
"I activate the effect of 'Machina Fortress' in my hand. By discarding Machine-Type monsters from my hand whose total Levels equal 8 or more, I can Special Summon this card. I discard 'Machina Megaform' to Special Summon 'Machina Fortress'."
[Machina Fortress, ATK 2500]
Trueman: "???"
The art style suddenly changed—from aliens to mechs.
"Then I activate the Spell Card 'Shien's Spy'," Kira said unhurriedly. "Give control of one monster on your field to your opponent. Here, I give you 'Machina Fortress'. No need to thank me."
Trueman: "?????????"
He summoned a bunch of trash, finally got a high-Level monster, and now he was just giving it away? What was the meaning of this?
"And with that, it's over," Kira said calmly. "Sorry, but you're already dead."
Trueman frowned darkly. "What nonsense are you spouting?"
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't imagine how a few trash Neo-Spacians plus shoving a Mecha Fortress onto his own field could possibly kill him.
"Next, I Set one card from my hand," Kira continued.
"I activate the effect of 'Neo-Spacian Dark Panther'. Once per turn, target one monster your opponent controls; until the end of the turn, this card gains that monster's original name and effects!"
In the original anime, Dark Panther could even copy the target's ATK, essentially functioning as a perfect copy. Unfortunately, although Kira had successfully recreated the Neo-Spacian deck, the cards he produced followed real-life OCG effects, which were generally nerfed compared to the anime.
Jaden quickly noticed this too. "Kira's Dark Panther doesn't seem to have its full power…"
Too bad. If it could copy Five-Headed Dragon's ATK as well, that would have been really strong.
"It's fine. It's enough," Kira smiled. He snapped his fingers.
"The monster I choose for 'Neo-Spacian Dark Panther' to copy is—" Kira pointed at the heavy mech on the opponent's field. "Machina Fortress!"
Trueman was bewildered. Copy the name and effect of the Fortress? But wasn't the Fortress something you just gave me? If you wanted its effect so badly, why didn't you just keep it from the start?
He soon understood.
The key wasn't copying the effect itself. The key was the process of "being targeted by an opponent's monster effect."
"At this moment, the effect of 'Machina Fortress' on your field activates," Kira said. "'Machina Fortress' activates when it becomes the target of an opponent's monster effect: reveal your opponent's hand and discard one card from it."
Trueman frowned. All this trouble just to make him discard a card?
"Go ahead. Look at my hand and choose whichever card you like." Kira smiled and revealed his remaining two cards.
At that moment, Trueman clearly saw that the two remaining cards were identical monster cards.
[Elephant Statue of Disaster, ATK 1500 / DEF 0]
Effect: When this card is sent from the hand to the Graveyard by an opponent's card effect, inflict 2000 damage to your opponent.
Trueman froze. Huh?
"Not choosing? Then I'll choose for you. Since they're the same anyway," Kira said cheerfully. "This one will do. I discard one 'Elephant Statue of Disaster'. Since it was discarded by your 'Machina Fortress' effect, Elephant Statue of Disaster's effect activates. Inflict 2000 damage to your opponent."
Trueman: "Uwaah!"
[Trueman, LP 4000 → LP 2000]
Sent flying back after losing 2000 LP in one go, a chill ran down Trueman's spine. Only now did he begin to truly understand the opponent's intention.
Kira still had one "Elephant Statue of Disaster" left in hand. If the Fortress effect triggered again, another 2000 damage would finish him. And on the opponent's field, there was still a second "Neo-Spacian Dark Panther"!
However—Trueman said in a low voice, "Your other Dark Panther was Special Summoned by the Trap Card 'NEXT'. Monsters Special Summoned by that Trap have their effects negated!"
Kira acted as if he hadn't heard. "I activate the effect of the second 'Neo-Spacian Dark Panther'. Target one monster your opponent controls and copy its original name and effects. I copy 'Machina Fortress' once again!"
Trueman was shocked. "Wait! Your Dark Panther's effect is already negated—"
Was this blatant cheating? It had to be cheating, right?
"You know," Kira said leisurely, "do you even understand how dueling works? 'The effect is negated' does not mean 'the effect cannot be activated.' Even a negated monster can still activate its effect. It's just that when the effect resolves, it will be treated as negated and not applied. But the activation itself can still be performed. And 'Machina Fortress' effect activates as long as it is targeted by an opponent's monster effect. Whether Dark Panther's effect is negated or not is completely irrelevant."
Trueman was stunned. …Was that how it worked?
"Therefore, the Fortress effect activates once again. You must reveal my hand and discard one card." Kira revealed his last remaining card. "Go on. Choose."
Choose your preferred way to die. Oh, sorry—there seems to be only one option.
Trueman: "…"
"Not choosing? Fine. Then I'll choose for you." Kira calmly sent his final card to the Graveyard. "The last 'Elephant Statue of Disaster' is discarded, inflicting 2000 damage!"
[Trueman, LP 2000 → LP 0]
….