Chapter 117: The (Megamorph) and (Toll) Combo Reappears
"Alright!"
Seeing Chumley escape his predicament and, in turn, destroy the monster Bandit Keith had summoned on his own turn, Joey laughed happily. "To actually destroy the opponent's monster during their turn... next turn, all Chumley has to do is summon a few more monsters and he can win easily."
"I thought the All-American Champion was supposed to be a big deal, but he's not even as tough as that Insect bastard."
Joey's words stung Bandit Keith's fragile ego. He shot a hateful glance toward the Audience Seating where Joey was, then said with some annoyance, "Damn brat, shut up!"
He turned his head back to the Field, his eyes staring straight at Chumley through his sunglasses. He thought to himself: *'Could this kid have known beforehand that I would use a monster with a destruction effect?!'*
*'No, that's impossible. It's troublesome enough having that bastard Pegasus around with his Mind Reading. It must be a coincidence. Right, (Sand Moth)'s DEF is pretty good on its own. This guy just got lucky, like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.'*
At this thought, Bandit Keith's emotions stabilized somewhat. "Kid, count yourself lucky you guessed right this once, happening to have a card like that."
"But your luck ends here. I'm about to get serious now!"
With that, Bandit Keith played a card from his Hand. "Witness the card that made me famous! I activate the Spell Card, *(Thief)*!"
"*(Thief)* has the ability to look at the opponent's Hand and take one card. For the shame of making a fool of me, you will pay with your own card!"
"Not only can you look at my Hand, but you can also just take a card? That's so cheap," Chumley grumbled about the card *(Thief)* as he placed his Hand in the designated display area on the Duel Arena. He remembered that this card, *(Thief)*, was so powerful due to its effect that it was never even made into a Real Card.
The name "Bandit" Keith came from how he swept up prize money from major Duel Monsters tournaments across America like a "bandit" with his eyes on a bounty, and also because his most frequently used card was this very *(Thief)*. Taking others' cards and then using them to achieve victory—this was the "bandit" way for Bandit Keith, truly embodying the spirit of 'Murong Fu' Howard.
"Let's see what kind of cards you have," Bandit Keith said with a triumphant smile as he looked at the Duel Arena. Chumley's two Hand cards were now displayed as a Virtual Projection in front of him. "(*Last Will*), and (*Goblin Thief*). Heh, not bad cards."
"Although this (*Goblin Thief*) seems perfect for me, I haven't forgotten about those annoying (Ojama) monsters of yours." Bandit Keith's finger pointed at (*Last Will*). "I'll choose this card."
After Bandit Keith selected (*Last Will*), the display area on Chumley's side of the Duel Arena flipped over. (*Last Will*) was sent to Bandit Keith's hand by the Duel Arena's mechanism, and Chumley returned (*Goblin Thief*) to his Hand.
Catching the (*Last Will*) card ejected by the Duel Arena, Bandit Keith had now perfectly met the condition to use it, since his (Barrel Dragon) had been destroyed by Chumley. Since it wasn't his card, he had no qualms about using it, and he played (*Last Will*).
"I activate the effect of (*Last Will*)! Because my (Barrel Dragon) was destroyed and sent to the Graveyard this turn, I can Special Summon one monster with 1500 ATK or less from my Deck."
"1500 ATK or less is just a Fodder Monster," Chumley said as he watched the (*Last Will*) card, used by Bandit Keith, return to his side before he placed it into his Graveyard with a hint of reluctance.
Bandit Keith flipped through his Deck to Search, his eyes scanning over the monsters one by one. He paused briefly on a monster he had specifically put in his Deck for Chumley, then continued his search.
*'*(Kinetic Soldier)* is for dealing with Warrior-Type monsters, but its base ATK is just too pathetic. If I summon it this early and it gets destroyed by that (Sand Moth), it would be a total waste.'*
"The monster I'm going to Summon to the Field is this one: (Electric Torturer)." After selecting his monster and summoning it to the Field, Bandit Keith began to Shuffle his Deck. However, as a former professional duelist, he used a special technique, shuffling the cards he had just confirmed from his Deck to the top in the order he desired.
[(Electric Torturer)] [Level 5/DARK]
[Fiend-Type/Effect]
[ATK 800/DEF 600]
On the surface, however, he remained composed. Placing his Deck back, he activated the summoned monster's effect: "When (Electric Torturer) is Summoned, Special Summoned, or Flip Summoned to the Field, all Set cards on the Field are returned to their Owner's Hand."
"Your three Set Cards have been completely wiped out by me."
Chumley returned the three cards to his Hand, subconsciously shuffling them to change their order. He looked at Bandit Keith and said, "It would have been trouble if (Sand Moth) was still in Face-down Defense Position. But in this situation, you can't Attack anyway, right?"
"Tch. I Set three cards and end my Turn." Bandit Keith set three cards from his hand, feeling the current situation was tricky. The destruction of (Barrel Dragon) was completely unexpected, forcing him to consider how to fend off Chumley's counterattack right at the start of the Duel, even resorting to using a monster as weak in both ATK and DEF as (Electric Torturer) as a shield.
[Bandit Keith: 3700 LP, Hand: 1]
[(Electric Torturer)] [DEF 600]
[Set Card] [Set Card] [Set Card]
"Then it's My Turn! I Draw!"
Chumley glanced at his Hand and drew a card. "I Summon (Masked Dragon) in Attack Position! Then, I activate the Spell Card, (Megamorph), and Equip it to (Masked Dragon)."
A sturdy Dragon-Type monster appeared on Chumley's Field. In its arms, it held a Stone Tablet inscribed with strange characters. After a flash of light, (Masked Dragon)'s size shrank to half its original size.
[(Masked Dragon)] [Level 3/FIRE Attribute]
[Dragon-Type/Effect]
[ATK 1400 -> 700 / DEF 1100]
"Its ATK dropped as soon as it hit the field? What a stupid monster design," Joey commented from the Audience Seating.
Yugi, however, shook his head. "No, I think that's the effect of the (Megamorph) card Chumley just activated."
Reminded by Yugi, Joey recalled that Chumley had indeed activated a Spell Card after summoning (Masked Dragon). "Oh yeah, I remember now. The effect of Chumley's (Megamorph) is something like—"
"When my Life Points are lower than my opponent's, the equipped monster's ATK becomes double its Original ATK. But right now, my Life Points are higher than yours, so the ATK of (Masked Dragon) equipped with (Megamorph) becomes half of its Original ATK," Chumley explained.
"After all, powerful cards often come with risks. However, if I add this card," Chumley paused, then played another card from his Hand, "the Spell Card, (Toll)! Neither player can Attack without paying 500 Life Points."
***
This Combo isn't that amazing, but it was pretty useful during DM. After all, it's a powerful effect that doubles ATK. If you add cards like Lucky Clover, you could even pull off a one-turn kill.
Also, this combo was last used in the Duel against that escaped death row inmate, Lucky. Just as characters like Weevil and Rex were based on the underlings of a delinquent in the manga, Bandit Keith's character design is also largely derived from this early manga extra.
(end of chapter)