Yugioh [894-896] (Patreon)

Chapter 894 – The Professor at Full Power

Crowler: "Special Summon 'Ancient Gear'!"

A small mechanical gear appeared on the field. Tiny metal arms extended from either side of the gear; with its stubby hands pushing against the ground, it clanked forward step by step.

[Ancient Gear, DEF 800]

"The effect of Ancient Gear: If you already control 'Ancient Gear', you can Special Summon this card from your hand in Attack Position."

Crowler revealed another card from his hand.

"So I Special Summon a second 'Ancient Gear' from my hand!"

The second Ancient Gear slapped down onto the Duel Disk and likewise quickly rose upright.

[Ancient Gear, ATK 100]

"Then I tribute my two Ancient Gears!"

Crowler raised his arm high, holding aloft his very soul and ace monster.

"Advance Summon, Level 8—

—Ancient Gear Golem!!!"

Crowler's ace monster, virtually his personal emblem, his soul card. The moment that card was placed in the Monster Zone, the entire field began to quake. Ancient gears meshed together; mechanical parts clanged and chimed with a strangely pleasant metallic ring. It was as if a steel fortress were rising from the ground. Two massive mechanical hands thrust out from the fortress, bracing against the earth, and an age-worn iron colossus lifted its body, a single red eye gleaming with a razor-sharp light.

[Ancient Gear Golem, ATK 3000]

"He summoned Ancient Gear Golem on the very first turn!" Syrus cried.

Chazz nodded. "Professor Crowler really is going all-out this time."

Crowler knew full well that facing the Lord in Yellow meant he couldn't afford the slightest carelessness. And this Duel involved fate itself, so he was attacking at full power from the very start.

Besides, he more or less understood Kira's style.

The Lord of the Underworld—specializes in using countless traps to interfere with the opponent and drag them into an inescapable abyss.

But Crowler's lips curled upward into a Pot of Greed-style grin.

Ancient Gears are made to fight in the underworld!

 All Ancient Gear monsters share a key trait: when they attack, the opponent cannot activate Spell or Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step. That lets them partially shut down many common traps.

In this Battle Royale format, all three players count as separate sides. Next, it was Professor Bonaparte's turn.

"My turn, draw!"

Compared to Crowler, Professor Bonaparte's side looked rather plain.

"I Normal Summon 'Toy Soldier'!" (Anime card)

 A little soldier in an old-European-style red uniform appeared. It looked like a life-size toy, holding a toy rifle shaped vaguely like a brass trumpet.

[Toy Soldier, ATK 800]

"Then I Set one card and end my turn," Bonaparte said.

Crowler was displeased. "What's that, ending so simply? Sure, the opponent's a student, but he's also the Duel King. You think you can win like that?"

"Shut up!"

Bonaparte snapped.

"In a first turn of a Battle Royale, no one can attack. Blowing half your hand just to summon your ace right away is completely pointless!"

"What did you say?" Crowler roared. "Are you trying to teach me how to Duel?"

Hands on his hips, Bonaparte shot back, "I'm just stating the truth—your level's still too green."

Crowler rolled up his sleeves. "Looks like I've let you off too easy all this time, you little stump. You really think I can't beat you to a pulp, none?"

Bonaparte met him head-on. "Bring it on, who's afraid of you, Pot of Greed?"

Onlookers: "…"

Jaden scratched his head helplessly. "Sure looks like getting these two to cooperate is going to be tough."

"Ahem."

Kira cleared his throat lightly, cutting in.

"Well then, if both professors are done, it's my turn."

The two shut up instantly, focusing their attention.

Even a two-on-one Duel against the Lord in Yellow was nerve-wracking.

What cruel methods was this guy going to use to torment them this time?

Kira revealed a card in his hand.

"I activate the Continuous Spell 'Future Fusion.'

This card allows you to perform a fusion from the future… but I believe professors as learned as you don't need me to explain it."

Kira smiled.

As if trying to show off in front of his future boss, Crowler rushed to answer:

"Future Fusion comes in Continuous and Equip variants. The Continuous version's effect is: choose one Fusion Monster, then send the required Fusion Material monsters from your Deck to the Graveyard. Two of your Standby Phases later, you perform a Fusion Summon of that monster!"

Bonaparte clenched his tiny fists, grinding his teeth. "Damn Crowler, using that quick tongue just to steal the spotlight from Student Kira…"

Crowler puffed his chest out. "This is the basic quality expected of a senior instructor. Professor Bonaparte still has much to learn, none."

Bonaparte shook with anger. "You bastard…"

"Now, for Future Fusion's effect, I choose one Fusion Monster.

The one I'm choosing is this."

Kira smiled and revealed a Fusion Monster.

"The ultimate Worm, Worm Zero.

Its Fusion requirements are: two or more Reptile-Type monsters with 'Worm' in their names, with no upper limit.

So from my Deck…"

Fwoosh—

A whole cascade of cards fanned up into the air.

Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at the monsters scattering like leaves. It looked almost as if he'd thrown an entire deck.

"From my Deck, I send twenty-five 'Worm' monsters to the Graveyard!"

"Mamma mia!" Crowler blurted. "Twenty-five Worms in one go?"

The Duel hadn't even really started, and already nearly half of his deck was in the Graveyard. This was way too intense.

"I then Normal Summon 'Worm Xex.'"

Kira played another monster from his hand.

At first, it appeared as a mass of green, sticky goo. It slowly gathered into a starfish-like form, but in the center was a horrifying maw lined with dense, white fangs.

[Worm Xex, ATK 1800]

"When Worm Xex is successfully Summoned, I can send one more Reptile-Type monster with 'Worm' in its name from my Deck to the Graveyard."

Kira's Deck performed an automatic search, and another Worm popped out and was sent to the Graveyard.

Crowler couldn't help but swallow.

In an instant, there were already twenty-six Worms in the Graveyard.

Bonaparte: "I've got a bad feeling something terrible is about to happen-de aru…"

"The effect of 'Worm Yagan' in the Graveyard," Kira continued. "If the only monster I control is 'Worm Xex,' I can Special Summon Worm Yagan from the Graveyard in face-down Defense Position."

Kira placed another monster card onto his Duel Disk. The face-down monster appeared horizontally on the field. Just before it was Set, the Worm's shadow briefly flashed into view—its body twisted like a warped tree, with a pair of eyes that radiated a bone-chilling cold. The 3D projection alone was enough to make one feel suffocated just by looking at it.

These were Worms—each more grotesque than the last, each one a sanity-draining abomination.

Chapter 895 – The Professors Join Forces

"Worms?"

The two professors glanced at each other and saw only confusion in each other's eyes.

Crowler: You familiar with these?

 Bonaparte: I have no idea, what happened to that 'basic quality of a professor' you just bragged about?

You couldn't really blame their knowledge base. As an archetype, Worms were quite rare in general. While a few Worm cards occasionally appeared in the meta, it was mostly as off-archetype tech because some of the singles were decent. Very few Duelists had a complete Worm deck.

Much less "Worm Zero," which was a top-rarity chase card. If not for having received it from a 'friend' in Domino, even Kira wouldn't have seen one.

But regardless, a twenty-five-material Fusion right off the bat was frightening. Even if they didn't recognize Worm Zero, any idiot could tell that something formed by fusing twenty-five monsters was not going to be mild-tempered.

"Well, this is a Battle Royale—no one can attack on the first turn." Kira said. "So I'll Set two cards and end my turn."

Crowler and Bonaparte exchanged a look and nodded.

"Then it's my turn again, none!"

Crowler declared in a loud voice.

"Draw!"

From the side, Bonaparte reminded him, "Take this seriously, Professor Crowler! Today isn't the day for us to fight each other—if we don't work together, we have no hope-de aru!"

"Quit yapping, I know!"

Crowler glanced at Kira's backrow Spell.

Whatever he was doing with Future Fusion, that Fusion Monster needed two turns before hitting the field. And in this Battle Royale structure, it took their side two full turns for Kira to get one.

In other words, by the time Kira's Standby Phase came around two turns later, that was still quite a ways off.

No need to worry about it just yet.

For now, the priority was to break through his defenses and end the Duel before that terrifying twenty-five-material Fusion appeared.

"Battle, none!" Crowler shouted. "Ancient Gear Golem, attack 'Worm Xex'!"

Kira: "I activate my Set card—"

"No you don't, none!" Crowler crowed. "While Ancient Gear Golem is attacking, your opponent cannot activate any Spell or Trap Cards!"

"I'm quite aware of that."

Kira smiled.

"But professor, I never said I was activating a Trap in response to the Golem's attack. I'm triggering it at the point when you declared Battle and entered the Battle Phase."

Crowler: "!"

Indeed, although Ancient Gear Golem prevented the activation of Traps during its attack, that restriction only applied from the declaration of its attack until the end of damage calculation. From the declaration of the Battle Phase until an attack was declared, it had no effect on free-timed traps.

"Therefore I activate my Set card, the Trap Card 'W Nebula Meteorite'!"

As Kira's trap flipped, everyone felt as though dark clouds suddenly gathered in the previously clear sky. Black clouds pressed heavily over the ground, rolling with thunder and lightning.

Within that vortex, a massive black object emerged. Like some harbinger of doomsday, it tore through the dark clouds, trailing a blazing tail of fire.

The meteorite slammed into the ground and exploded. The impact sent out a terrifying shockwave that kicked up waves of dust and debris, rising into the sky in a gigantic mushroom cloud.

"Mamma mia!" Crowler yelped. "Just like when the dinosaurs went extinct, none!"

"Hahaha, not that extreme." Kira chuckled. "The shock of W Nebula Meteorite's impact simply forces all face-down monsters on the field to flip into face-up Defense Position.

And right now, there's only one face-down monster on the field…"

He pointed to his own Set Worm.

"So 'Worm Yagan' is flipped face-up."

[Worm Yagan, DEF 1800]

"The effect of Worm Yagan: when this card is flipped, I target one face-up monster on my opponent's field and return it to the owner's hand."

Kira smiled.

"I return 'Ancient Gear Golem' to your hand.

If you activate a Trap before the attack declaration, even your Ancient Gears are powerless."

Sure enough, even mighty Ancient Gears had no answer to this kind of free-timed "underworld" trap. Letting out a howl of frustration, the Golem dissolved into a ball of golden light and shot back into Crowler's hand.

"What are you doing, Crowler!" Bonaparte snapped at his teammate's collapse. "Don't you always brag that Ancient Gears specialize in shutting down traps?"

Crowler's face flushed bright red. "Shut your mouth!"

He ground his teeth, muttering under his breath.

"Damn Bonaparte only ever has snark to offer…"

Fortunately, he'd at least not used his Normal Summon yet this turn.

"Then I Normal Summon 'Ancient Gear Soldier' in Defense Position and end my turn."

A soldier assembled from old mechanical parts appeared on the field. His left hand was a five-fingered metal hand, while his right had been refitted into a machine gun. He dropped into a crouched defensive stance.

[Ancient Gear Soldier, DEF 1300]

At least he'd avoided a complete blank turn. After all, under these rules, "teammates" didn't share fields.

And after so many years of open and hidden rivalry between Crowler and Bonaparte, Crowler knew better than to fully treat the man as a true ally. On paper, this Duel was their joint interview, and their interests seemed aligned, but Crowler was not naive enough to trust him.

If one of them was knocked out mid-Duel and the other won, what would the evaluation be? Would only the one who still had Life Points left get the job?

If he exhausted his resources and handed Bonaparte the victory, wouldn't he just be tailoring a wedding dress for someone else?

Given the choice between letting the other man "get ashore" while he played the role of stepping stone, Crowler would rather they both sank together. And he was sure Bonaparte thought exactly the same.

So while they looked like teammates, each one had his own plans.

"Then in the End Phase," Kira said, "the rest of W Nebula Meteorite's effect resolves."

Both professors tensed up.

There's more?

"During the End Phase of the turn it's activated, W Nebula Meteorite flips all LIGHT Reptile-Type monsters I control back into face-down Defense Position, and then I draw cards equal to the number of monsters flipped."

Kira pointed at his two Worms.

"So I flip both 'Worm Yagan' and 'Worm Xex' back to face-down Defense Position," he said. "Then I draw two cards from my Deck."

Crowler and Bonaparte exchanged looks, seeing only concern in each other's eyes.

Worm Yagan's flip effect, bouncing any monster on the field back to the hand, was disgustingly devious. Having it Set again felt like Kira had armed a time bomb on their field that could go off at any moment.

And that still wasn't the end of it.

"After that, I can also Special Summon one Level 7 or higher LIGHT Reptile-Type monster from my Deck."

Kira said calmly, revealing a card.

"From my Deck, I Special Summon this—

—Worm Victory descends!"

Chapter 896 – Power of the Worms

Though it was called a "Worm," the huge creature that appeared on Kira's field didn't look like a worm at all. Its massive body was reminiscent of a kaiju from Japanese tokusatsu shows, but with a far more horrific aesthetic. Its entire shell looked as though it had been soaked in blood, a deep crimson carapace. It stood upright like a biped, but its maw was bristling with sharp teeth, slick with thick, viscous fluid.

Worm Victory—Summon!

[Worm Victory, ATK 0]

Professor Bonaparte tensed up. "That looks like a very bad bug-de aru…"

Crowler: "Monsters with 0 attack are usually the dangerous ones, none."

Reality would soon prove the professor's experience absolutely correct.

"The effect of Worm Victory," Kira explained. "This card gains ATK equal to the number of Reptile-Type monsters with 'Worm' in their names in my Graveyard x 500."

Both professors froze.

The number of Worm monsters in Kira's Graveyard… That meant—

Chazz: "Future Fusion already dumped twenty-five Worms straight from his Deck."

"I currently have twenty-five Worms in my Graveyard," Kira continued. "So Worm Victory's ATK becomes…"

[Worm Victory, ATK 0 → ATK 12,500]

"Mamma mia!"

The two professors shrieked in unison.

"Tw-tw-twelve thousand five hundred attack!?" Crowler stammered. "What kind of monster is this, none!?"

Bonaparte drooped. "Can we really win against an opponent like this? Acting-Chancellor…"

Back when Crowler was acting chancellor, Bonaparte had always called him that. Even though the chancellor had returned and Crowler was no longer acting chancellor, Bonaparte had grown too used to the nickname.

Crowler shook his head, forcing himself to refocus. "Don't… don't say such defeatist things! There's… there's still a chance! We can't give up, none!"

Jaden folded his arms, laughing. "Kira really doesn't intend to let the professors have it easy, huh."

Syrus sighed. "I'm suddenly starting to feel kind of sorry for them…"

Bonaparte also perked himself up again.

"Honestly, Professor Crowler is completely unreliable—it all comes down to me." Professor Bonaparte said, "My turn, draw!"

At the same time, the cute little toy soldier on his field began to glow.

"The effect of Toy Soldier! During your Standby Phase, if this card is on the field, you can Special Summon any number of 'Toy Soldier' from your Deck!"

Bonaparte pulled two cards from his Deck.

"I Special Summon my other two 'Toy Soldier' to the field!"

[Toy Soldier, ATK 800] x2

Three Toy Soldiers at once!

"Then I activate the Spell Card 'Pot of Greed' to draw two cards."

"Now watch—this is my finishing combo!" Bonaparte declared. "I activate the Spell Card 'Fife and Drum Corps'!

This turn, all monsters I control with 1000 or less ATK have their ATK doubled!" (Anime card)

[Toy Soldier, ATK 800 → ATK 1600] x3

"Next, I activate the Spell Card 'Forced March'!" Bonaparte continued. "All of my monsters' ATK are halved, and this turn they can all attack my opponent directly!" (Anime card)

"Nice!" Crowler shouted. "That way you bypass his front line and deal massive damage in one go!"

Bonaparte: "Battle! I halve my three Toy Soldiers' ATK and attack Kira directly-de aru!"

[Toy Soldier, ATK 1600 → ATK 800] x3

The three Toy Soldiers raised their horn-shaped rifles in unison. With three sharp bangs, bullets flew straight at Kira, completely ignoring the towering Worms on his front line.

But Kira remained unruffled. "I activate my Set card, the Continuous Trap 'Spirit Barrier'!"

His backrow flipped, and as the Trap took effect, a faint, transparent energy wrapped around all three Worms on his field. The energies linked together into a pale golden barrier between Kira and the three monsters.

The Toy Soldiers' bombardment slammed against the golden barrier, sending ripples across its surface before washing away—without dealing so much as a scratch.

"Your idea was good," Kira said lightly. "But as long as Spirit Barrier is on the field and I still control a monster, I take no Battle Damage."

"NANI?!"

Bonaparte's face froze. He turned and eyed the giant Worm with deep dismay.

"So that means we have to go through those worms?"

A nasty Worm that bounced monsters back to the hand when flipped, and a colossal 12,500-ATK super behemoth…

The professor's scalp tingled. Once again, a familiar question surfaced in his mind.

Can we really win against this opponent?

He bit down hard.

No. He couldn't think like that. This Duel had to be won—whether it could be or not, there was no retreat.

"I Set one card and end my turn-de aru," Bonaparte said.

"Then at last it's my turn again—draw."

Kira drew, then immediately revealed a card.

"I activate the Spell Card 'Graceful Charity.' I draw three cards, then discard two from my hand to the Graveyard."

He tossed two cards, then flipped his face-down monster.

"I flip summon 'Worm Yagan'!"

[Worm Yagan, ATK 1000]

The Worm stood upright again, revealing its ghastly form. A baleful force burst from its body, surging straight toward Crowler's field.

"Worm Yagan's flip effect: I return one monster on my opponent's field to the owner's hand."

Kira snapped his fingers.

"I bounce Professor Crowler's 'Ancient Gear Soldier' back to his hand!"

The defending soldier was wrapped in dark currents and turned into a beam of light, flying back into Crowler's hand.

Crowler's field was instantly wiped clean, and his face changed drastically.

"Next, I flip my face-down 'Worm Xex' back into Attack Position."

[Worm Xex, ATK 1800]

"Battle!" Kira declared. "Worm Victory, attack Professor Crowler directly!"

The crimson giant let out a thunderous roar and hurled a fist that split the air, swinging straight down at Crowler's head.

A direct 12,500-ATK face-smash!

Crowler's eyes were filled with despair.

"This is the end for me, none…"

Too strong. They'd had no chance from the very start.

Kicked out of the Academy, forced to swallow his pride and ask a student for an interview—only for the interview itself to end in such failure. Maybe, he thought, his life as Vellian Crowler had been nothing but one long failure…

But at that moment, a shout came from his side.

"I activate my Set card, the Trap Card 'Toy Cannon'!"

Bonaparte roared.

"I change your monster to Defense Position and inflict 400 damage to you!" (Anime card)

Crowler: "!"