The clock tower shattered.
Dust and rubble filled the sky, and even the air seemed to be filled with a choking earthy smell. Massive stone beams and broken vaults interwove, and the thick steel hands of the tower fell amidst the cascading rubble, clanging as they hit the ground and were distorted in shape.
A wild roar sounded from the dust, like the furious cry of a wild beast. Then followed the figure of a formidable shadow bursting through the smoke, with a body as towering as a mountain.
It was a muscular man, shirtless, with a rusted yet exceptionally strong steel mask on his head. He wore heavy shackles on his hands and feet, with broken chains still attached. The moonlight from the sinister city of darkness illuminated the contours of his muscles, highlighting the man's impressive build.
[Destiny Hero: Fear Man, Attack Power?]
"He's here," Yugen said calmly, "the Destiny Hero bound to the clock tower. This is your trump card, because it's also the symbol of your soul, isn't it?
Is this how you see yourself, how you see your Destiny Hero? Does the meaning of Destiny Hero imply a prisoner bound by fate?"
Ed gritted his teeth and shook his head.
"Shut up... Fear Man's effect activates!"
Fear Man let out a roar and slammed his palms together. A transparent blast wave exploded on Ed's field.
"Destiny Hero: Fear Man summoned, special summon successful, all monsters on your field other than 'Destiny Hero' must be destroyed!"
Ed paused for a moment.
"Of course, right now there's no monster on my field other than Destiny Hero, so no monsters will be destroyed.
But the follow-up effect of Fear Man allows up to two monsters with 'Destiny Hero' in their names to be resurrected from my graveyard to the field."
He raised his duel disc, and a burst of golden light shone from the graveyard. Two more cards were ejected from his graveyard.
"Come On!
Destiny Hero: Diamond Man!
Destiny Hero: Sprinter!
Revive!"
Fear Man shouted angrily, swinging both hands together. The chains wrapped around his palms shot out to both sides, and two netherworld vortices opened on the ground, with chains shooting into them.
In each vortex, a pair of hands grabbed the chains, and the two heroes pulled themselves out. One was full of gleaming diamonds, shining brightly. The other spun on rollerblades like he was riding a tornado back.
[Destiny Hero: Diamond Man, Attack Power 1400]
[Destiny Hero: Sprinter, Attack Power 2100]
Fear Man's effect in the actual card game and the animation are different. Though the specific effects are mostly the same, the activation condition was modified. In the animation, not only does appearing through 'Netherworld Clock Tower' trigger the series of follow-up effects, but so does a normal summon with two tributes.
However, it's not the same for the physical card. In the physical card version, Fear Man can only activate his effect when appearing through 'Netherworld Clock Tower'; a standard tribute summon won't work.
"Furthermore, the follow-up effect of Fear Man," Ed stated, "is that this card's attack power and defense power become the combined original attack power of all other 'Destiny Hero' monsters on my field!"
Yugen nodded. "Currently, you have Demon Man, Diamond Man, and Sprinter on your field."
"Indeed, the attack power of all three Destiny Heroes accumulates onto Fear Man!"
Ed raised his arm high.
"Witness the true power of Destiny Heroes, the union of heroes!"
[Destiny Hero: Fear Man, Attack Power? → Attack Power 4100]
The attack power skyrocketed to 4100!
"And for the turn that Fear Man was successfully summoned, during this turn, none of my Destiny Heroes on the field can be destroyed by battle, nor by card effects, and any battle damage dealt to the controller becomes 0!"
Fear Man roared again, his entire body seemingly wrapped in a purple light. The purple light exploded with his roar and extended to his fellow Destiny Heroes beside him, forming layers of protective shields around them.
The aura was rather eerie.
Yugen squinted, scrutinizing the just-arrived Fear Man closely. He felt that this Destiny Hero had a subtle unique wave that no other Destiny Heroes had, not even the Doctrinal People who were similar high-level trump cards.
Upon closer inspection, he saw that the burly body seemed to radiate a faint white light. The light distorted into a sinister face, bearing a faint resemblance to Saio.
"I see," Yugen said calmly, "is this the card imbued with the power of Saio's influence on you?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
Ed shouted.
"Saio is my friend, and he always will be.
I activate 'Destiny Hero: Diamond Man's' effect once more! Look at the top card of the deck, if that card is a Magic Card, it is sent to the graveyard and can be used unconditionally during the next turn's preparation phase."
Ed drew the top card.
"Draw!"
He glanced at the card he drew, then revealed it.
"Magic Card 'Lightning Vortex'! By discarding a card from your hand, you can destroy all of your opponent's face-up monsters!"
Pausing for a moment, he sent the card to the graveyard, and with a slight smile, he said,
"Of course, since it's activated with Diamond Man's effect in the future, there's no need to pay the cost of discarding from the hand. No matter what monster you summon in your next turn, they'll all be destroyed by my next preparation phase."
"Another Magic Card, and such a ridiculous one," Yugen shrugged, "well-revered indeed."
"Of course, that assumes you have a next turn!"
Ed stepped forward and shouted.
"I have four Destiny Heroes on the field right now, all protected by Fear Man's immunity! Let's see if you can withstand this round of attacks.
Go! Destiny Hero: Diamond Man, attack 'Synthetic Air Hummingbird'!"
Diamond Man threw a punch, with the diamonds on his fist acting like weapons. The small Air Hummingbird couldn't withstand it, and the air shield shattered into pieces, with Air Hummingbird exiting the field amidst cries.
Of course, Synthetic Air Hummingbird had already been switched to defense, so it caused no damage.
"Then it's 'Destiny Hero: Sprinter's' turn; attack the face-down defense position monster!"
Sprinter rushed out on rollerblades, spinning mid-air, and lashed out with a leg like a whip.
The face-down monster flipped up, revealing its original form: a round pot with one eerie eye and an even eerier grin beneath it.
[Transformation Pot, Defense Power 600]
"The monster you attacked is 'Transformation Pot,'"
Yugen said.
"In the case of Transformation Pot's reversal, both sides discard all their hands and then draw five cards each from their decks."
The Transformation Pot exploded, spewing out a mass of darkness that swallowed both players' remaining hands. Both parties drew new five cards.
"But now your field has no more walls left, it's over!"
Ed shouted.
"Destiny Hero: Fear Man, direct attack!"