In the end, Tetsu refused to bet Goyo Guardian—much to Kira's regret.
A pity. In this early Synchro meta, Goyo Guardian was still overpowered. But it was an exclusive card, available only to Security; you couldn't buy it even with money.
And its monster-stealing effect did suit Kira's playstyle…
But it was just a Synchro Monster, nothing to fret over. One reason Tetsu didn't want a rematch was because his experience dueling Kira wasn't pleasant; another was that he didn't dare.
After all, Goyo Guardian was like a standard-issue police firearm—no matter how thick-skinned, Tetsu wouldn't dare gamble it away. If he lost, he'd probably end up in jail with Yusei.
Sure enough, Kira quickly found himself gaining a reputation in this dueling hall. Fewer and fewer people wanted to accept his card bet challenges. People even pointed at him and whispered about "the embodiment of darkness," or called him "the rising dark sun."
So Kira decided to quit while ahead, moving from one duel venue to another, continuing his card battles elsewhere.
In just one day, he'd reaped quite a harvest. He traveled between various dueling halls and card shops, opening card packs, then selling cards he didn't need to buy more packs.
His judgment of card value differed from the market. Some cards considered useless in the current meta were, to Kira, highly valuable. Some cards others considered priceless, he found useless and sold off at high prices.
In this way, he made a tidy profit in just one day.
One card in particular caught his eye.
[Fishborg Blaster
Level 1, ATK 100, DEF 200
Tuner/Effect: If you control a Level 3 or lower WATER monster, discard a card to Special Summon this card from your graveyard. If used as Synchro Material, all other materials must be WATER.]
This was a real power card—banned even today. Any modern duelist could see how broken it was: it could revive itself from the graveyard, and the effect wasn't even once per turn.
By today's standards, anything without a "once per turn" clause is already questionable—this card didn't even have that, so being banned was only natural.
Yet in this world, it didn't seem highly valued.
But Kira could guess why. With only 100 ATK, it would be dismissed as "junk" in the anime, not fitting the value system of anime duelists. Even for Synchro, it could only use WATER monsters as materials.
WATER attribute was always niche in early years, unlike the popular LIGHT or DARK. Even in the anime, few duelists favored WATER decks, so it was neglected.
Which was great for Kira. He easily put together a playset of Fishborg Blaster.
And in this era, there was a very strong WATER deck he knew.
The 2010 World Champion deck from Long Beach, USA—Frogs.
A frog-themed deck. Back then, Frogs had blazing speed, could fetch any resource from the deck, and summon monsters rapidly. When paired with the undead WATER Tuner Fishborg Blaster, they gained Synchro ability, making them a formidable force.
But it wasn't totally dominant.
In the finals of that year's championship, Frogs faced the previous year's champion—Blackwings. It was an epic battle, with both sides using all their resources; Frogs barely eked out a win.
Kira had already collected most of the Frog deck before coming to this dimension. Now, with a few more cards unavailable in the previous world, he had a nearly complete champion deck.
Speaking of which, last year's champion—Blackwings, was also on his list.
Compared to Frogs, Blackwings were even more famous, especially with their anime boost. From the start, Blackwings were known for their speed and aggression, the hallmark of Synchro era decks.
In the anime, as Crow's deck from the Satellite, most cards weren't hard to get. Kira purposely opened related packs and quickly collected a set.
In fact, the 5D's characters' backgrounds meant the protagonist decks were all easy to obtain. Yusei's Synchron, Crow's Blackwings, Jack's Resonators. Since they were all from Satellite, except for the dragons destined to find their owners, the rest of their decks couldn't have too many rare cards—so their main decks were all easily accessible.
Still, Kira always found it odd.
Blackwings were the real-world World Champion deck, and Yusei's deck, after being optimized with Junk Doppel builds, was also a top-tier deck of the era.
Yet in the anime, such strong decks were thrown into the Satellite scum heap, which was simply unthinkable.
…
New Domino City, Sector Security Headquarters.
Security Head Rex Goodwin stood by the window, face expressionless but eyes deep as he surveyed the bustling city below.
The automatic door opened; his subordinate, Lazar, entered and bowed respectfully.
"Security Head."
Goodwin glanced at him and asked, "Any news on Yusei Fudo?"
"Yes," Lazar replied in his sharp voice, chuckling, "That Yusei Fudo is in for it this time. I hear the warden there isn't someone to mess with—he'll suffer inside."
Goodwin narrowed his eyes, saying nothing.
"So, Security Head, what now?" Lazar looked around, lowering his voice. "That Yusei Fudo snuck out of Satellite and dueled our King. The duel was kept secret, but we know the King lost."
"The King's undefeated legend has been broken. If word gets out, it'd be bad for us. So—"
"Hmm," Goodwin said flatly, "Just take care of him."
"That man… Yusei Fudo."