Needle Worm's Twin Brother

"My turn. I draw!"

Yūki drew a Monster Card.

Morphing Jar #2.

Yūki looked at his hand, feeling pretty good.

"I activate my face-down card, The Shallow Grave."

A Spell Card flipped face up.

"Each player chooses one monster in their Graveyard and Special Summons it in face-down Defense Position."

He pointed at his Graveyard.

"Needle Worm, come back."

Needle Worm's card popped out of the Graveyard slot and was set on the field again.

Iwasaki Tōru glanced down at his own Graveyard, his eyes lighting up.

He also chose a monster and Special Summoned it in face-down Defense Position.

"You've actually helped me out."

A hint of laughter finally entered Iwasaki Tōru's voice.

"I have a suitable monster in my Graveyard too. Next turn, I'll show you my core monster!"

Yūki said nothing in reply.

He flipped over another face-down card.

"I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Book of Taiyou."

The Spell Card bearing a sun design lit up.

"I choose one monster on the field in face-down Defense Position and change it to face-up Attack Position. I choose Needle Worm."

The face-down card flipped over.

Needle Worm appeared on the field for the second time.

Yūki continued.

"Needle Worm has been flipped face up. Send the top five cards of your Deck to the Graveyard."

The smile froze on Iwasaki Tōru's face.

Five more cards popped out from the top of his Deck.

Then they went to the Graveyard.

Iwasaki Tōru's Duel Disk showed nineteen cards remaining in his Deck.

In just two turns, ten cards were gone.

The chatter in the stands died down.

Those who knew a little about the game had already caught on.

This guy wasn't targeting LP at all.

"I set another monster."

Yūki set the Morphing Jar #2 he had just drawn.

"I activate my face-down card, Book of Moon."

Blue moonlight fell.

"I choose one face-up monster on the field and change it to face-down Defense Position. I choose Needle Worm."

The Needle Worm that had just flipped face up was turned face down again.

Iwasaki Tōru stared at that face-down monster, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"Another face-down monster?"

He spoke under his breath.

"Can you do anything besides hide worms?!!"

"I end my turn."

Yūki spoke.

Iwasaki Tōru took a breath.

"My turn. I draw!"

Eighteen cards remained in his Deck.

After drawing, he saw the card's name, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

Giant Rock Dragon!

It's here.

The corners of Iwasaki Tōru's mouth finally lifted.

"So what if you mill my cards? All you do is avoid battle! Let me show you a real duel!"

He spread out the cards in his Graveyard.

"I banish all Rock monsters from my Graveyard to Special Summon Giant Rock Dragon!"

Bursts of light erupted from the Graveyard one after another.

Rock monsters were banished one by one, and chunks of rock gathered above the field, forming an enormous stone dragon.

"Giant Rock Dragon's ATK equals the number of banished Rock monsters times seven hundred!"

Iwasaki Tōru raised a hand and pointed at the banished zone.

"I banished eight Rock monsters."

"So its ATK is fifty-six hundred!"

[Giant Rock Dragon ATK: 5600]

The stands finally erupted.

"Fifty-six hundred!"

"Isn't that ATK ridiculous?"

"So strong! Its ATK is even higher than Blue-Eyes White Dragon's!"

"That guy from Third Municipal Middle School only has twenty-one hundred LP left. One hit and he's finished!"

Hearing the crowd's reaction, Iwasaki Tōru felt most of the tightness in his chest ease.

"I Flip Summon my face-down monster, Granmarg the Rock Monarch."

A monarch clad in stone armor rose from the ground.

[Granmarg the Rock Monarch ATK: 2400]

"Since it was Flip Summoned, the Rock Monarch's destruction effect cannot activate."

Iwasaki Tōru clarified that himself.

"But its ATK is enough."

He looked at the face-down Needle Worm.

Disgust filled his eyes.

"Gigantes, attack that worm."

Gigantes raised a fist and smashed it down.

The face-down card flipped over.

Needle Worm appeared for the third time.

"Needle Worm has been flipped face up. Send the top five cards of your Deck to the Graveyard."

Yūki spoke.

The smug look on Iwasaki Tōru's face froze.

Five cards went to the Graveyard.

He glanced at the remaining Deck count on his Duel Disk. Only thirteen cards were left!

Needle Worm was destroyed by Gigantes and sent to the Graveyard.

This time, Iwasaki Tōru finally lowered his head to look at the thickness of his Deck.

Thirteen cards!

His once fairly thick Deck was now so thin that his fingers tightened.

He suddenly understood.

That Card Destruction his opponent had played at the start had discarded his hand to the Graveyard and reduced his Deck by five cards.

Then Needle Worm, three times.

Fifteen cards.

Plus his draws.

His Deck was having its head shoved down as it was pushed off a cliff.

"Damn it!"

Iwasaki Tōru gritted his teeth.

Not attacking wouldn't help either.

If his opponent flipped the face-down worm again next turn, he would still lose five cards.

He might as well destroy the other face-down monster first.

He still had Giant Rock Dragon on the field.

One direct punch would reduce Yūki's Life Points to zero. Victory would still be his!

"Granmarg, attack the other monster in face-down Defense Position!"

The Rock Monarch raised its enormous palm and slammed it toward the monster Yūki had just set.

Kurosawa sat up straight.

Asakawa Suzune's gaze gradually grew more intent as well.

The face-down card flipped over!

A strange jar-shaped monster appeared on the field, its body covered in chaotic patterns, looking as though it had opened a twisted mouth.

[Morphing Jar #2 DEF: 700]

Yūki looked up and stated the monster's effect.

"Morphing Jar #2 flips face up."

Iwasaki Tōru's heart gave a sudden jolt.

Yūki said, "Morphing Jar #2's effect returns all monsters on the field to their owners' Decks and shuffles them."

"Then both players reveal cards from the top of their Decks until they reveal the same number of monsters as they each returned to their Decks."

"Revealed monsters of Level Four or lower are Special Summoned in face-down Defense Position. All other revealed cards are sent to the Graveyard."

As his words fell, the projections on the field warped simultaneously.

Giant Rock Dragon, Gigantes, Giant Rat, and Granmarg the Rock Monarch.

All four monsters turned into streams of light and returned to Iwasaki Tōru's Deck.

On Yūki's side, only Morphing Jar #2 returned to the Deck.

Much of the color instantly drained from Iwasaki Tōru's face.

"My Giant Rock Dragon!"

The spectators froze too.

The huge monster that had just boasted fifty-six hundred ATK had been shuffled back into the Deck before it could even declare an attack.

That sight hurt.

Iwasaki Tōru began revealing cards.

The first card was a Spell Card.

To the Graveyard.

The second card was Giant Rock Dragon!

Its Level was a full seven.

To the Graveyard!

The third card was Gigantes.

A monster of Level Four or lower, Special Summoned in face-down Defense Position.

The fourth card was a Trap Card.

To the Graveyard again.

He had returned four monsters, yet revealed only one low-level monster he could set.

Everything else went to the Graveyard.

His monsters had gone back, and his field was gone.

His big monster was gone!

Yūki revealed one card.

Needle Worm again.

Yūki chuckled and Special Summoned it straight into face-down Defense Position.

He ran three copies of Needle Worm in his Deck, along with other low-level monsters that milled cards, so there was a very high chance of revealing one.

Iwasaki Tōru looked at the newly set monster on Yūki's field, his Adam's apple bobbing.

A bystander in the stands spoke quietly.

"Here it comes again!"

Those words didn't do much damage.

But they were deeply insulting.

Iwasaki Tōru looked at the lone face-down monster on his own field, then at the face-down monster on Yūki's field.

He suddenly felt that little face-down worm was even scarier than the Giant Rock Dragon had been.

"I end my turn."

He struggled to get the words out.

Yūki nodded.

"My turn. I draw!"

He drew the Trap Card Negate Attack.

Yūki Set it right away.

"I Set one card."

"Turn end."

Iwasaki Tōru stared at the newly Set card, sweat beading at his temples.

"My turn. I draw!"

Twelve cards remained in his Deck.

He drew Giant Rat.

"I Normal Summon Giant Rat."

[Giant Rat ATK: 1400]

"I Flip Summon Gigantes."

[Gigantes ATK: 1900]

Iwasaki Tōru looked at the face-down monster on Yūki's field, his fingers pausing over his Set card.

"I activate the Trap Card Reinforcements."

The red Trap flipped face up.

"I target one face-up monster on my field. It gains five hundred ATK until the end of the turn. I choose Giant Rat."

[Giant Rat ATK: 1400 → 1900]

He gritted his teeth and chose to attack anyway.

"Giant Rat, attack that face-down monster!"

Yūki flipped up the Trap he had just Set.

"I activate Negate Attack."

The Trap Card's projection unfolded, and a blue barrier stretched across Giant Rat's path.

"When an opponent's monster declares an attack, this card activates, negating that attack and immediately ending the Battle Phase."

Giant Rat slammed into the barrier, and the entire Battle Phase was forcibly cut short.

Iwasaki Tōru looked at Gigantes, who had yet to get a chance to attack, and rubbed his hand against the seam of his trousers, feeling rather uncomfortable.

"My turn ends."

Giant Rat's ATK dropped back down.

It was Yūki's turn.

"My turn. I draw."

Another worm had arrived: Needle Worm's twin brother-Warm Worm.

This card had arrived very politely.