Get your flu shots, kids!
Oh, and, Happy New Year. Finally.
But then I remember every time he put on a pompous smirk and pulled some trick out his ass that he TOTALLY MEANT TO DO ALL ALONG I SWEAR. And then I don't feel quite so bad.
Right now he's gaping in horror at Slifer the Sky Dragon in disbelief, while Marik confirms with a nasty grin that this is indeed one of the Egyptian god cards he's heard SO much about. He encourages Yami to take a look at its power - which is apparently however many cards are in Marik's hand multiplied by 1000. In addition to that, any monster Yami manages to summon gets its attack cut by 2000 automatically.
Yami gasps as Slifer roars at him, and he realizes that he's frozen in fear and can't move for the power he feels pouring out from the god card. He wonders how he can even hope to beat it, especially when the whole world seems to shake when it moves. Marik has no qualms about telling him he CAN'T beat it, and no one can. He says all duelists are powerless against Slifer's "infinite" attack power. Infinite? Kid, I know you had limited education, what with growing up a tomb keeper and all. I'm certain that the curriculum wasn't the most comprehensive, or comprehensible. But man, did whoever taught you math do YOU a disservice...
Despite his sustained fear, Yami too seems a little skeptical of Marik's use of words. Marik spells out that since Slifer's attack power is equal to the amount of cards in his doll's hands, and his doll has three cards, Slifer's attack is 3000 points. Again, this is FAR from infinite, but Yami is just BLOWN AWAY that the dragon's power is dependent on the number of cards in Marik's hand. He extrapolates that next turn it will be 4000, and since Duel Monsters allows up to seven cards in a player's hand at a time, Slifer's attack could be as high as 7000 points.
But not infinite points. Marik, as if he knows what I'm thinking, says he knows what YAMI is thinking. I know that doesn't make much sense, but hang with me here. He reminds Yami that he said INFINITE power before, and tells Yami that he has a card that can increase Slifer's power all the more. Okay, let's have it.
Oh, but apparently Slifer has another special ability that will maybe make what Marik says true. Possibly. We get a brief look at Yami's 4000 life points and Marik's 3200 and instead of telling us what that special ability is, he just taunts Yami with the knowledge that the end of his next turn means the steel cage disappears and leaves him vulnerable to attack. He demands Yami make his move.
Yami growls while the monster roars. He considers the fact that Slifer has 3000 attack points, and Buster Blader gets 500 attack points for every dragon Marik has on his side. He calculates that to be 3100 attack points for Buster, but I'm wondering if Buster is included in the 2000-point-slash in Slifer's fine print. Regardless of whether or not he could kill Slifer, Yami is unable to attack at this point due to the Steel Cage. Marik is sure to draw another card at the beginning of his turn anyway and Slifer's points will rise.
Marik continues to taunt, asking Yami if he's too paralyzed to draw a card, trying to goad him into summoning a monster or laying a trap even if an attack can't happen this turn. He wants Yami to at least pretend not to give up, apparently so that he can enjoy the sight of Yami squirm and struggle in his predicament. I mean cage.
Yami grits his teeth and glares, deciding he's not going to lose to this douchebag. He draws a card with a firm announcement, reaffirming that he's not going to ever give up as he looks at it. This doesn't appear to be promising right off the bat, because he's still examining his cards and mentally insisting there has to be a way to beat Marik with them in the next panel. One of them is Kuriboh, which can only mean one thing: Marik is going to nosh on some tribbles some time in the near future.
But before that happens, Yami urges himself to think of how he can make that happen. He takes stock of Marik's side of the duel; Slifer, Revival Jam in defense, and a face down card. Yami glares over the top of his cards, knowing that Marik's next turn will decide the match. With that burning thought out of the way, he slaps two face down cards on his Duel Disk and then plays Kuriboh in defense before ending his turn.
Marik narrates the hissing disintegration of the Steel Cage surrounding Yami, the only thing protecting him up until this point.
With the doll's drawing of a new card, Slifer roars (victoriously, I'm sure) for having a new total of 4000 attack points. Yami clenches his teeth, looking utterly terrified, despite being prepared for this. After a moment where Slifer stares threateningly at Buster, Marik commands it to attack. It spits a great big energy loogie at Buster called Super-Conductor Thunder Force, and Buster braces for the hit, like a batter following a pitch.
It's at this point that Yami reveals one of his face down cards, which Marik is too surprised by considering they were only just played a couple of pages ago.
Or maybe not so close after all. Marik says he's activating another spell in this moment as well. I thought you couldn't do that in your attack phase, which is the point of calling out an attack, but yeah, alright. It's called "Card of Safe Return", and gives Marik the right to draw three new cards every time one of his cards is special summoned from his discard pile (graveyard, as they say). Yami identifies it as a hand-increase card, and an extremely specific one too. Did Marik commission this card from his underground lair or something? For this particular scenario?
He explains that this will allow him to draw more cards every time his Slime regenerates, and he has five cards in his hand now, so Slifer has the corresponding 5000 attack points. Buster is razed by a god-laser to the face.
Elsewhere in the city, an electronic beep is heard from Kaiba's Fonzie coat collar. A voice is transmitted to Kaiba from the KC logo on the lapel, alerting him to the fact that they've found some god card activity in 350 West Block "E", involving Yuugi Mutou. Kaiba turns to look dramatically into the distance, fist clenched as he thinks Yuugi's name. Mokuba looks at him with confusion.
Me too, kid. Me too.
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? KT is managing to keep the tension up for this one, which I didn't think he would be able to pull off. I admit, I was SURE this chapter would have Yami pulling a duel-turning move that would flip the odds of the game in his favor again. That is, after all, the established pattern for games in this story. It's definitely what Yami TRIED to do... and FAILED. KT successfully subverted my expectations and kept his golden boy down in this one in order to maintain the pressure on him, and it's working. I feel all the more invested in the duel knowing that Yami's usual ease with which he turns the duel around is not there, and he has to work harder for his victory this time. It's that try-fail cycle I was talking about regarding Jonouchi's growth in the game a while back. KT must be cottoning on to the fact that his characters really have to struggle in order for everyone to identify with them on an emotional level, and I'm really hoping he keeps this up.
That said, the card Marik played in order to be able to draw more cards was too specific, which threw me right out of the action. When you cite a rule about a player only being allowed a certain number of cards in their hand at once, my suspension of disbelief only extends so long as to accommodate ONE card that allows them to break that rule. When you add a supplement card that would only work on the off chance that the player also had the first card in this very situation, that's when I have to call bullshit.
Of course, if Marik and his Ghouls can make copies of rare cards that are convincing, perhaps he just manufactured these cards himself for his own needs. It seems plausible, if not a little "headcanon-y" for the sake of having a reasonable explanation for such a card's existence. It might explain why Marik is so dumb as to take the word "infinity" so damn literally when playing the card. If he made it, that's probably how he MEANT it. Literally.
Which is dumber than ever, but at least it makes the existence of these highly-specific cards less of a stretch.
Osiris' effect only kicks in on monsters that are summoned after it hits the field. Monsters that are there beforehand, like Buster Blader, are perfectly safe.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the facts - I was definitely wondering about that!
Delete