042 Mouthless vs Mouthless! Who’s afraid of Who!
[Game: 1800 LP, Hand: 4 cards, Monster Zone: Dark Knight Gaia, Spell/Trap Zone: Spiral Spear Strike]
"My turn, draw!"
Looking at the card drawn this turn and the card gained due to the destruction of Sparkman by effect, Yu Arts eyed Game with an increasingly mischievous gaze.
‘Hmph! Since you, Game, started playing dirty with on-the-spot cards, don’t blame me, Yu Arts, for responding in kind with trap tricks!’
Game: ?
What’s going on? Why do I feel chills as if someone’s glaring daggers at me? (A shiver passes through him.)
"I set a monster in defense position, then set two cards face-down. Turn end."
With 2300 attack power and the “Spiral Spear Strike” gained through on-the-spot effect, Yu Arts truly dared not confront Game head-on right now. All he could do was employ a sly counterattack strategy.
[Yu Arts: 1300 LP, Hand: 2 cards, Monster Zone: 1 face-down defense, Spell/Trap Zone: 2 face-down cards]
"My turn, draw!"
‘A set monster in defense, plus two unknown face-down spell/traps... Could it be that Clayman combo again!?’
Honestly, Yu Arts’ “Clayman combo” had already left a deep impression on Game and his friends!
The first time was at Ryota Kajiki’s duel, witnessed from Yu Arts’ hand;
The second time was against Seto Kaiba, nearly sending him to the brink of defeat;
The third time was this morning, against Mai Valentine, where this exact combo ended the match!
Thus, seeing a defense position monster and face-down cards, Game’s first instinct was, “Yu Arts has set up the Clayman combo, just waiting for me to trigger it.”
But this combo had its drawbacks: if the back row traps were destroyed, Clayman could only rely on its 2000 defense, and if Clayman in the front was removed by effect or left the field, the “Clay Crash” trap in the back row became a useless, space-consuming card.
But the problem is—
‘I’ve drawn Curse Dragon, and the rest of my hand can’t clear the back row...’
He could summon a monster without attacking, but that would give Yu Arts time to build up, and Yu Arts’ deck was no less powerful—perhaps even stronger.
‘...Wait! This spell card...’
Contemplating his options, Game noticed a spell card already in his hand.
‘If I combine Gaia and Curse Dragon, perhaps...’
His eyes sparkling, Game finally made his move:
"Summon ‘Curse Dragon’ in attack position!"
The sinister yellow skeletal dragon appeared beside the Gaia Knight.
"Then, Gaia! Attack the face-down monster!"
After summoning his new monster, Game immediately ordered Gaia Knight to attack Yu Arts’ set monster, and Yu Arts had been waiting for this moment—
"At this instant, I activate the trap card ‘Clay Crash’!"
‘As expected!’
Seeing the trap card rise on Yu Arts’ field, Game muttered inwardly and quickly responded with a chain:
"I also activate the spell card ‘Fusion’ at this moment! I fuse my ‘Dark Knight Gaia’ with ‘Curse Dragon’!"
Game activated “Fusion,” combining his two monsters on the field; amid a sudden “train arriving at the station” sound effect, they merged.
But in Yu Arts’ eyes, it looked less like a fusion and more like Curse Dragon devouring Gaia Knight’s purple steed, growing larger as a result, and allowing Gaia Knight to ride on its back.
If possible, Yu Arts really wanted to ask Gaia: Where’s your horse?
"Fusion summon! Dragon Knight Gaia!"
Dragon Knight Gaia, one of Game’s signature monsters and the first fusion monster to appear in the entire animation.
(Dragon Knight Gaia, Level 7, ATK: 2600)
"Go! Gaia! Attack Clayman!"
Since Yu Arts activated “Clay Crash,” the set monster could only be Clayman!
"Because ‘Dark Knight Gaia’ was one of the fusion materials for ‘Dragon Knight Gaia,’ the ‘Spiral Spear Strike’ equipped to Gaia is now perfectly inherited by Dragon Knight! Even if your Clayman is in defense position, you’ll take piercing damage!"
As Gaia rode Curse Dragon toward Yu Arts’ side, Game quickly bluffed, allowing Dragon Knight to inherit the “Spiral Spear Strike” effect sent to the graveyard.
"Hmph!"
Watching Gaia approach, Yu Arts didn’t panic but laughed instead:
"Game! Did you forget? My ‘Clay Crash’ is a non-targeting trap card! Now that you’re attacking again, the monster going to the graveyard with Clayman switches from ‘Dark Knight Gaia’ to the newly fused ‘Dragon Knight Gaia’!"
You bluff, Game, so I’ll bluff too! Who’s afraid of who!
"Engine start!"
Reminded by Yu Arts, Game recalled the previous times “Clay Crash” had been triggered, along with Yu Arts’ explanations and subsequent effects.
"…Right! My ‘Dragon Knight Gaia’ can fly, your Clayman can’t possibly crash into my monster! How could they both go to the graveyard?"
Thinking of Gaia’s card name, Game quickly bluffed, but Yu Arts had already reached maximum defense against his bluffs!
"If your monster can fly, can’t my Clayman summon elemental power, raise an earth wall, and soar upward?" (Literally.)
"…"
This time, Game fell silent, as the scene showed Clayman rising on an earth wall, closing in on Dragon Knight Gaia.
"Boom!"
Seeing Dragon Knight Gaia perish from the effect damage, and the stone arrows from “Clay Crash” flying toward him, Game hurriedly played his trump card—
Kuriboh! Save me!!!
"Kuriboh can, when I take damage, ‘electrify’ itself and self-destruct to block the harm!"
Yu Arts quietly added, "But it can only block one instance of damage."
Game: "…"
The electrified Kuriboh chose to block the highest damage, the effect damage from Dragon Knight Gaia, but was powerless against the 400 points from Clay Crash.
(Game: 1800 LP → 1400 LP)
"Hiss! In just two turns, Yu Arts pulled Game’s life points down to a level similar to his own!"
This battle left Jonouchi utterly dumbfounded—just as Spiral Spear Strike Gaia had shifted the advantage to Game, the Clayman combo now brought Game’s life points down to Yu Arts’ level.
No wonder both duelists’ names bear the character “Yu”!
Maybe I, Katsuya Jonouchi, should change my name too? How about… hmmm… ‘Jonouchi Yuya’?
Then we could form a ‘Yu’ Duelist Boy Band—Game, Yu Arts, Yuya!
Hehe! Just thinking about it gets me fired up!
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