"Duel!" x2
[Dark Yugi, LP 4000]
[Mr. T, LP 4000]
Mr. T drew five cards from his deck, all the while scrutinizing the young man in front of him, trying to see through him with his special ability that could perceive everything.
But he couldn't.
Honestly, he was starting to regret it a bit now, feeling that he might have underestimated the strength of human Duelists. He didn't expect there to be a Duelist among humans with such formidable power.
But that's fine. After all, he was merely a disposable pawn under Darkness, a phantom that was meaningless no matter how many times he was destroyed.
It's a good chance to test this so-called "Duel King's" true strength.
With that thought, Mr. T's lips quirked into a slight smile.
"Then, I'll go first, draw." He chuckled, "I'll summon from my hand, 'Dark Prototype', in attack position."
[Dark Prototype, attack power 1400]
"Then I'll set a card, and end my turn."
Standing on the overpass, Youyu couldn't help but twitch his lips.
Does this guy seriously not shuffle his deck at the start of every match? How is it always this thing right from the start?
That said, in the original Yu-Gi-Oh series, it seems whether hero or villain, everyone played cards this way. Despite having forty cards in the deck, the starting hand always seemed to be those same few cards.
"Hand accidents" are basically a concern only for players in real-life card games, where you must consider issues like the "drawing dead rate" and "starter cards" when constructing a deck.
The characters in anime don't have such problems. They casually toss whichever cards seem useful or can form combos into the deck, and always manage to draw exactly what they want, with no concept of "bricking."
Players who played Linked World long enough all knew clearly that you couldn't recklessly compare your deck with an important storyline NPC's because it's not the same game you're playing.
For example, if you gave a player Duel King Yugi Muto's deck, they would likely be crushed by other players.
But the truth is, if a player were to challenge Yugi Muto himself, that player would likely be defeated to the point of being unable to function in life...
Don't ask why, it's because you don't have enough bonds with your deck.
They have such bonds, so they get whatever they want, whenever they want it.
"Alright, it's your turn, Duel King." Mr. T snickered, "Show me your duel."
"My turn!"
Dark Yugi drew a card, his eyes sharp but cautious, observing the monsters on Mr. T's field.
Dark Prototype... a monster he's never heard of.
But his duelist intuition told him that there was definitely a trick here.
Is it the special ability of that monster? Or is the problem with the set card in the back row?
In the original Yu-Gi-Oh series, unlike players who could check each other's card effects, encountering unfamiliar monsters meant only trial and error regarding their effects.
Dark Yugi glanced at his hand, quickly making a decision.
He could not retreat merely because he feared traps; he decided to take the initiative here.
"Activate from my hand, Magic Card Pot of Greed!" Dark Yugi played this player-favorite draw card, "Draw two cards from the deck!"
Dark Yugi drew two more cards, his hand replenishing to seven. The briefly appearing green Jar of Greed on the field cracked open.
"Then activate the Monster Effect of 'Watapon' from my hand!" Dark Yugi drew a Monster Card, placing it on the Duel Disc, "When Watapon is added to the hand by a card effect, it can be Special Summoned from the hand!"
A gentle white glow enveloped Dark Yugi's field as a snow-white, tiny spherical monster appeared.
[Watapon, Defense 300]
"Then I use Watapon as a tribute... to summon, Dark Magician Girl!"
At this moment, the Dark Magician Girl beside Youyu exclaimed, "This guy has the same card as I do!"
"Yeah, he's the Duel King of this world. 'Dark Magician' and 'Dark Magician Girl' are his ace cards," Youyu explained.
"Wow~" Dark Magician Girl widened her eyes, "That's amazing!"
As Dark Yugi's field whipped up a vortex, a graceful figure leapt out from the magical storm. The blonde girl, wielding a flat-headed Magic Staff, spun gracefully mid-air like a feather.
[Dark Magician Girl, Attack 2000]
The Dark Magician Girl beside Youyu hesitated as she looked at the identical figure below, "This Duel King's 'Dark Magician Girl' should also be a spirit, but it feels... a bit different from an ordinary spirit."
Youyu was surprised, "You can sense that?"
"Yes." The Dark Magician Girl tilted her head, "But I can't quite pinpoint how it's different."
Youyu said nothing, but he knew the reason.
Although there are more than one "Dark Magician" and "Dark Magician Girl" in the world, the ones Dark Yugi holds are truly unique.
In Yugi's hands, the "Dark Magician" spirit is the reincarnation of the Egyptian Priest Mahad from three thousand years ago, and the corresponding "Dark Magician Girl" spirit is Mahad's apprentice Mana.
To Dark Yugi, who is the Pharaoh, they are not just servants or subordinates, but companions he grew up and played with, akin to family, irreplaceable to each other.
Of course, Dark Yugi currently doesn't remember his past life as the Pharaoh.
Dark Yugi isn't done yet: "Next, activate from my hand... the Magic Card - Sage's Stone! This card can be activated when 'Dark Magician Girl' is on your field, from my deck, Special Summon my strongest servant, Dark Magician!"
A shadowy figure flew out from Dark Yugi's deck, whipping up another storm around the field. The might of the ruler swept across the arena as the black-clad Magician elegantly descended with his emerald-tinted Magic Staff, his gaze burning like a dark torch.
The Dark Magician Girl on the field seemed delighted, waving excitedly at her mentor behind her. However, he merely nodded in response.
"Oh, is this your ace?" Mr. T remained unfazed, simply smiling at the Magician duo before him, "It's indeed a quite impressive monster... It should also be a spirit, right? The spirits you possess seem to be quite extraordinary as well."
"Battle!" Dark Yugi had no intentions of chat, "Dark Magician, attack Dark Prototype! Dark Magic Attack!"
"At this moment, activate Trap Card," Mr. T laughed lightly, "'Zero Eye'! This card can be activated when your monster is selected as an attack target, reducing the attack power of the monster being attacked on your field to 0, and I draw a card from the deck."
[Dark Prototype, Attack 1400 → Attack 0]
Dark Yugi frowned, "Reducing your own monster's attack to 0?"
"Heh, my duel can't be understood with mere logic." Mr. T coldly sneered meaningfully, "When Dark Prototype is destroyed in battle, it can Special Summon a monster from the deck with attack power equal to the damage taken."
"Ah, so that's your plan?"
Dark Yugi confidently smiled.
"But it seems you no longer have a chance!"
"What!?" Mr. T's expression changed drastically.
"From my hand, activate Magic Card... 'Dark Magic Twin Burst'!" Dark Yugi swiftly played a card, "For this turn only, Dark Magician's attack power increases by the same amount as Dark Magician Girl's attack power!"
Dark Magician Girl's small Magic Staff rested on her mentor's emerald-tinted staff. The magical forces of the two intertwined, flowing like black streams up the staff to its tip.
[Dark Magician, Attack 2500 → Attack 4500]
Mr. T immediately became uneasy, "At... attack power 4500!?"
"Ha!"
The Magician duo shouted together as the magical orb formed from their intertwining powers blasted forth. Dark Prototype's form was pulverized in the magical storm, and Mr. T was caught in it as well, his body torn apart amidst a long, drawn-out scream.
[Mr. T, LP4000 → LP 0]
One-hit KO!