[bonus]
After ending his turn, Alpha looked at Kira for a long moment.
Then suddenly asked, "With your skills, you'd be a top duelist even in today's world. Why…"
He paused, lowering his voice.
"…Why are you helping that Kaiba Seto?"
Kira met his gaze, expressionless.
"You guys seem to have misunderstood something," Kira said calmly. "I'm not helping Kaiba Seto. Like I've told many people, I'm not even that close to him.
But I don't see any reason to join you, either."
Alpha was silent for a moment, then said, "Kaiba Seto isn't what most of you think he is."
Kira: "Oh? What is he, then?"
"Great duelist, trailblazer…maybe those are true, but that's not all," Alpha said coldly. "Seto Kaiba is a criminal, the most vicious and evil in history.
He wasn't even worthy of the name 'Kaiba' at first—he was worthless.
He was dragged up from the depths of hell, from a forgotten world, given a noble surname, an identity, everything people dream of.
But how did he repay the one who gave him that, taught him to read, and gave him all those resources? He took everything from that man, drove him to despair and death, and then took over KaibaCorp for himself.
And as he climbed to the top, he stepped over countless corpses—"
"Yeah, I know." Kira nodded.
Alpha was cut off.
"You know?"
"Of course, isn't that common knowledge?" Kira shrugged.
A kid from an orphanage rising to this level—no one would believe he never used any dirty tricks or never got his hands dirty.
No one but Kaiba himself knows how much he schemed and how dark his path was.
"You know?" Alpha repeated. "You know, and you don't care?"
"Yeah," Kira said quietly. "But what's it got to do with me? Or rather, at least to me, Kaiba Seto made the world a better place."
Seto and Gozaburo both had their agendas when they first met; in the end, Gozaburo lost—simple as that. Seto's ruthless climb might mean he isn't a pure good guy, but at least he's better than Gozaburo.
"When he was in the orphanage, Seto Kaiba made a promise with his brother: they'd build a paradise where everyone in the world could be happy.
Maybe he's ruthless, maybe he's done things even he's not proud of. But seeing him now, as a person with power, I can see he hasn't forgotten where he started.
Even now, even after going through hell, that dream hasn't changed."
Kira spoke calmly.
"I just see someone trying to make the world better."
Alpha gritted his teeth: "You—"
"My turn, draw." Kira interrupted. "Set a card.
Then I activate the 'Card of Demise.' Draw until I have five cards in hand." (anime effect)
"Kaiba's card," Alpha said coldly. "But it has a drawback."
Uh, right, there's a drawback…
So Kira put on a pained expression: "But after five turns, I have to discard my entire hand."
He thought to himself: If you hadn't reminded me, I'd have forgotten about the risk.
Alpha looked at the card Kira had just set.
That must be "Butterfly Dagger – Elma," the core of his Gearfried combo.
But no matter, he had a counter.
Kira: "I Normal Summon 'Fire Princess.'"
[Fire Princess, ATK 1500]
"Next, activate Continuous Spell 'Morale Boost.' While this card is face-up, whenever a player equips an Equip Spell to a monster, that player gains 1000 LP. And whenever an Equip Spell leaves the field, that player takes 1000 damage."
Alpha: "Every time you equip, you—wait! Don't tell me—!"
"That's right, I activate Equip Spell 'Butterfly Dagger – Elma' to Gearfried. This moment, I gain 1000 LP because of 'Morale Boost.'"
[Kira, LP 2800 → LP 3800]
"Then, at this moment, the 'Fire Princess' effect activates. Whenever I gain LP, you take 500 damage."
The fire girl swung her staff, firing a fireball at Alpha.
"Ugh—!"
[Alpha, LP 5000 → LP 4500]
"Then, because of Gearfried's effect, Butterfly Dagger is destroyed. Because an Equip Spell left the field, 'Morale Boost' makes me take 1000 damage."
[Kira, LP 3800 → LP 2800]
"But Butterfly Dagger returns to my hand. Then I equip it again."
"Another infinite loop…!" Alpha gritted his teeth.
As he expected.
Each time, Morale Boost heals Kira, triggering Fire Princess's effect to burn Alpha. Then Butterfly Dagger returns to hand…
Another infinite burn loop!
Alpha felt a chill.
What a broken combo!
Even if he'd managed to get infinite LP last turn with Magic Cylinder, he'd still eventually be burned out by this.
But—!
"The infinite combo ends here!" Alpha shouted. "I activate the set card: Quick-Play Spell 'Cosmic Cyclone!' Pay 1000 LP to banish a Spell or Trap on the field!"
[Alpha, LP 4500 → LP 3500]
He pointed at Butterfly Dagger.
"Chain to your 'Butterfly Dagger – Elma'—banish it!"
Butterfly Dagger can only return from the graveyard, not when banished. He'd figured it out: Gearfried + Butterfly Dagger was the core of this entire deck.
Infinite Cerberus, infinite Magical Marionette, now infinite burn… All these loops relied on this card. Remove it, and the combos fell apart.
Kira just shrugged. "Even so, Butterfly Dagger triggered once more. I gain 1000 LP, then take 1000 damage—but because of Fire Princess's effect, you take another 500 damage."
[Alpha, LP 3500 → LP 3000]
A mere 500 damage—Alpha could take it.
He watched as Butterfly Dagger was banished by the cyclone, finally able to relax a bit, then sneered.
"Your combo's broken. Impressive, but this is as far as you go."
After a pause, he added mockingly:
"You talk big about me being a third-rate! How do you feel now?"
Kira ignored him and drew another card. "Then, I activate Spell 'Creature Swap.'
Both players choose a monster they control and switch control."
Alpha: "?"
Creature Swap? What's the point of that now?
So he's going after my dragons' power now?
Alpha thought for a moment.
Gravi-Crush Dragon can send a Continuous Spell to the graveyard to destroy an opponent's monster. If I give that away and the opponent has a Continuous Spell, that could be bad…
"I choose Darkblaze Dragon," Alpha said.
"I choose Gearfried the Iron Knight."
Gearfried leapt to Alpha's field, while Darkblaze Dragon came to Kira's side.
"Giving up Gearfried, huh?" Alpha sneered. "Guess you know your loop is gone, so you might as well give up another key piece."
"Is that so?" Kira smiled.
Alpha's heart skipped.
That devilish smile again—something bad was coming.
"I activate Equip Spell 'Cursed Armaments.'"
Kira revealed another card.
"The equipped monster loses 600 ATK for each monster you control. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; equip it with this card."
Alpha: "!"
If Kira equipped this to Gravi-Crush Dragon, its ATK would drop by 1200. Darkblaze Dragon could destroy Gravi-Crush Dragon in battle for 1200 damage, then its effect would deal another 2400—3600 total. He'd lose!
What a sinister move!
But—
Alpha shot a glance at his last set card and smiled to himself.
That last set was 'Waboku'—he'd take no battle damage this turn, and his monsters couldn't be destroyed in battle. Absolute defense.
His opponent's ploy was clever, but it wouldn't work.
"I equip 'Cursed Armaments' to your 'Gearfried the Iron Knight.'"
Alpha: "???"
What? Equipping it to the Gearfried he just gave away?
But Gearfried's effect is—
"That's right. Gearfried's effect: Any Equip Card attached to him is destroyed. But before that, since an Equip Spell was activated, 'Morale Boost' triggers again—I gain 1000 LP, and Fire Princess burns you for 500."
[Alpha, LP 3000 → LP 2500]
"Then Gearfried's effect destroys the 'Cursed Armaments' equipped to him. But when that card is sent from the field to the graveyard, it can equip itself to an opponent's monster."
Alpha's eyes widened: "W-What did you say!?"
When it goes to the graveyard, it can equip to an opponent's monster?
He looked at his field, seeing Gearfried staring back at him, arms folded, looking for all the world like the traitor among us.
"You… you…"
"'Cursed Armaments' now equips to Gearfried again.
'Morale Boost' triggers again—I gain 1000 LP, and Fire Princess burns you for 500."
Alpha's face was grim.
Another infinite loop!?
Even after getting rid of Butterfly Dagger, he couldn't stop the loop.
He looked up at Kira, seeing the youth's form growing ever more blurred in the moonlight.
This guy…
Just what is he?
"…Infinite loop confirmed. After infinite loops, you take infinite damage from Fire Princess." Kira said. "So, eat the biggest fireball in history."
Fire Princess raised her staff and gathered a fireball larger than ever before.
Alpha: "Uwaaaaaaaah!!!"
[Alpha, LP 2500 → LP 0]