Who Let Him Play Yu-Gi-Oh!

"My... draw."

The zombie drew a card with a dull groan.

But before he could make his move—

"I activate a set card."

Kira waved his hand, flipping a card in his back row.

"Trap Card 'Mind Crush'! Name a card—if your opponent has it in their hand, they must discard all copies. If not, I must randomly discard a card."

He paused, smiling at his opponent's hand.

"Which card should I name... It's hard to choose... Alright, I'll pick this."

He crooked his finger.

"Continuous Spell 'Solidarity'—I choose that."

It was bounced back to his hand last turn, so of course it was there. The zombie stared at Kira's Trap, then at his hand, until the named card glowed gold, turned transparent, then vanished.

The zombie opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something, but couldn't—just groaning "mmnnnghh" in his throat.

He seemed... unwilling, maybe even aggrieved.

"I remember, in the league, 'Solidarity' was the key to your deck's offense, right?" Kira smiled. "If you got that going again, it'd be a pain to deal with."

Morita's deck was all fighter jets—Blue Thunder T45 and Falchionβ had only 1700 and 1200 ATK, but with Solidarity, they'd go up to 2500 and 2000.

Blue Thunder could summon token drones after destroying monsters, and Falchionβ had powerful effects to dump monsters to the Graveyard or revive them. With Solidarity, he could quickly gain the upper hand.

With two Solidarities, it'd be almost unstoppable—a great setup for both offense and endurance.

Of course, that all depended on getting the first Solidarity boost.

But now, with the bounce and Mind Crush combo, his whole plan was ruined.

The zombie looked wronged, but said nothing; after staring at Kira for a moment, he could only keep playing cards.

"Blue Thunder T45, summon."

The blue jet, bounced last turn, roared out again.

[Blue Thunder T45, ATK 1700]

"Level 8—Machina Fortress, discard."

He revealed his Level 8 'Machina Fortress' and discarded it. Another card in his hand glowed gold.

"Machina Fortress, Special Summon!"

A staple Machine engine, Machina Fortress could be Special Summoned from hand or Graveyard by discarding Machine monsters whose Levels total 8 or more.

[Machina Fortress, ATK 2500]

"UFO Turtle, switch to Attack Position."

[UFO Turtle, ATK 1400]

"Spell... activate!"

His moves were still slow, but just a bit faster than before, and his voice a little higher—like he was getting hyped.

"Burning Land!"

A surge of flames, like giant claws, ripped through the earth, engulfing the catapult field in a sea of fire. The two massive catapults burned and crumbled in the inferno.

Continuous Spell 'Burning Land'—when activated, destroys all Field Spells.

"Catapult Zone destroyed!"

The zombie seemed excited.

Now, Kira couldn't protect his monsters by sending Rocks from the deck anymore.

Morita entered the Battle Phase: "Blue Thunder... attack Soldier!"

Blue Thunder's exhaust flared as it launched, lasers firing towards Sentry Soldier of Stone.

But they didn't hit.

Because, once again, the massive, imposing Sphinx appeared to block the attack!

Zombie: "!!?"

He clearly attacked Sentry Soldier of Stone—so how did it turn into that Sphinx again?

"This time it's not Guardian Sphinx—it's my Trap Card.

Continuous Trap, 'Ordeal of a Traveler.'"

Kira smiled at the zombie.

"As a pro, you must have heard the legend of the Sphinx, right? The one about the riddle—what walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs at night?"

Zombie: "..."

"Never heard of it? Or don't understand?"

Kira looked disappointed.

"Or maybe your intelligence only works for dueling... oh well. Anyway, Ordeal of a Traveler activates when your monster attacks.

You have to guess the type of a random card from my hand—Monster, Spell, or Trap. If you guess right, the attack goes through.

If you guess wrong, your attacking monster is returned to your hand."

Kira held up a card, face-down.

"Go ahead, traveler—guess: Monster, Spell, or Trap?"

The zombie stared at the card for a long time, as if trying to see through it.

"...Spell."

"Is that so?"

Kira turned the card over with a smile.

"Too bad. It's Monster Card 'Gigantes.' Wrong guess."

"Blue Thunder T45 returns to your hand."

The Sphinx's eyes flashed red, golden light wrapped around the fighter jet, and it flew back to Morita's hand.

Bounced again.

Zombie: "..."

With no choice, the zombie continued: "UFO Turtle... attack."

"Once again, Ordeal of a Traveler triggers. Each time you attack, you have to guess a card. Guess wrong, and your monster bounces."

Zombie: "!!!"

His dark-circled eyes widened in disbelief.

"What's wrong? Surprised?" Kira smiled. "Ordeal of a Traveler is a Continuous Trap. Not once per turn. Every time you attack, it triggers."

Zombie: "..."

Attack, guess—get it wrong, bounce. As many attacks as you make, that many guesses.

If the zombie was still conscious, he'd probably be cursing:

—What kind of bullshit card is this!?

Incidentally, this card was used by Yugi's grandpa Solomon Muto in the KC Grand Prix against Joey, and even nearly broke Joey's spirit.

It's clear that Yugi's and Atem's playstyles are very different—maybe it's in the blood...

"Come on, guess."

Kira held up another card.

The zombie hesitated for a long time.

"...Monster."

"Ah, too bad. Wrong again."

Kira revealed the card.

"This time it's Spell Card 'Terraforming.' Sorry, UFO Turtle goes back too."

The Sphinx stood tall; UFO Turtle was wrapped in golden light and bounced back to the zombie's hand.

Zombie: "..."

His face was still blank, but a pound sign seemed to appear on his forehead.

"Machina Fortress... attack."

He pointed a trembling finger at Kira's set monster.

"Attack Sphinx."

Even this zombie brain calculated—although Sentry Soldier of Stone was in Attack Position, beating it wouldn't do much damage. But if he didn't deal with the Sphinx, next turn it'd just flip and bounce everything again.

He'd be completely screwed.

"Ordeal of a Traveler triggers again."

Kira shuffled his hand and held up a card.

The zombie hesitated for a while.

"...Monster."

"Oh? Still guessing monster?"

Kira nodded and revealed the card.

"Not bad, you got it right. This time it's Monster Card 'Gigantes.' So the attack goes through."

[Machina Fortress, ATK 2500]

[Guardian Sphinx, DEF 2400]

Machina Fortress's cannons blasted apart the Sphinx, the massive statue finally collapsing into rubble.

"Sphinx... destroyed!"

Maybe it was just that beating the Sphinx was so hard, but the zombie actually seemed excited.

"Not bad, you finally beat the Sphinx. But..."

Kira snapped his fingers.

"I activate my set card—Trap Card 'Time Machine.' Any monster destroyed by battle this turn can be Special Summoned in the same position.

I Special Summon 'Guardian Sphinx' from the Graveyard."

[Guardian Sphinx, DEF 2400]

Zombie: "..."

Beaten, but not really defeated.

"My turn. Draw."

Kira waved his hand.

"Guardian Sphinx's effect—once per turn, it can flip face-down again."

The Sphinx turned back into a set monster.

"And since it wasn't summoned this turn, I can Flip Summon it again.

So, Flip Summon 'Guardian Sphinx.'"

[Guardian Sphinx, ATK 1700]

"When Guardian Sphinx is Flip Summoned, all your monsters return to your hand."

Kira smiled, pointing at Morita's field.

"Machina Fortress goes back, too."

The fortress was enveloped in gold and followed its companions back to the zombie's hand.

The zombie's eyes widened to their limit, staring at Kira for a long time.

Then, gritting his teeth, he forced out words through his sluggish mouth:

"You... son of... a bitch..."

"Oh? You can speak outside of dueling now?" Kira was delighted.

A medical miracle.

"I have 'Gigantes' in my hand. I can banish an Earth monster from my Graveyard to Special Summon it.

I banish 'Tackle Crusader' to Special Summon 'Gigantes.'"

[Gigantes, ATK 1900]

"Battle Phase," Kira said. "Gigantes, Guardian Sphinx, Sentry Soldier of Stone—direct attack!"

His three Rock monsters attacked in turn, their solid blows knocking the zombie to the ground, black blood spurting from his mouth.

[Duel Zombie, LP 4000 → LP 0]

PS: Bonus chapter at 100 PS