The Fortune Cup's first day went off without a hitch.
As for his mission to keep history on track, Kira figured it had gone well—incidents had even played out in line with his knowledge of the story.
For example, the Sector Security had hired a notable duelist called "Death-something," but he'd been intercepted midway.
Another duelist, Hunter Pace, ambushed and knocked out the "Death" contestant, donned his jacket, and snuck into the competition. Driven by losing to Jack in a title match and not getting an invitation, he was after a rematch.
Of course, just like the original history, he was defeated by Yusei Fudo.
But Kira did find Hunter Pace's Speed Counter deck pretty interesting.
Hunter Pace's deck was designed exclusively for Turbo Duels—and Turbo Duels differed from regular duels by adding the concept of "Speed Counters." Each player gained one per turn. Only specially marked "Speed Spells" could be played—regular spell cards were banned.
Use of Speed Spells was limited by how many Speed Counters you had.
Hunter Pace's deck specialized in rapidly building Speed Counters, outpacing the opponent and taking advantage of Speed Spell superiority.
Although Hunter Pace lost, Kira saw potential in that deck.
He figured the deck just wasn't at its best yet. In later 5DS storylines, riding duels switched to "Speed World 2" as the field spell.
Speed World 2 came with a core effect lacking in the original Speed World: by removing 4 Speed Counters, a player could reveal any number of Speed Spells from their hand—each one dealt 800 damage to the opponent.
Too bad Hunter Pace never got an appearance after that—Kira thought that, with a lockdown stall deck to quickly build Speed Counters, pure "Speed World 2" burn could actually work.
And since Speed World 2 was a rules-enforced field, it couldn't be replaced or destroyed—perfect for burn.
Meanwhile, the knight who drew Akiza Izinski as his first-round matchup suffered her wrath more badly than in the original.
Fortunately for him, the man was a total chuuni who wore thick gold armor and even a helmet to duel. While Akiza's psychic powers dealt physical damage rather than the mental attacks of Dark Duels, the armor actually helped a fair bit.
Though he was sent to the medical room, he was otherwise unharmed.
This story teaches us the importance of wearing full armor and helmets while playing Yu-Gi-Oh—it really can get dangerous.
After day one ended, the audience dispersed and contestants were assigned their rest quarters.
Kira sat in his office, reviewing the day's video footage and data from KaibaCorp's R.R.D., tapping quietly on his desk.
"Hm?"
Kira frowned, mumbling to himself.
"Do you all sense that?"
After a pause, the Vampire Fraulein appeared, even at night holding her signature parasol.
"Dark power. Malice... seems like it's directed here again."
"Is it a provocation—at us?"
Kira closed his laptop and stood.
"Interesting."
Leaving the Sector Security's tower, Kira made for the dueling arena. In the dead of night, absolutely deserted, the stadium was cloaked in silence.
But there was a Duel Runner parked there.
No—it'd be a stretch to call it a 'Duel Runner'. Almost no such enormous vehicle existed—topped by a devilish skull motif. It was triangular, supported by three massive tires—a giant chariot.
Kira recognized it. Its owner was a contestant notably absent from the Fortune Cup.
Now, that person strode out of the darkness, exuding an aura of death. His eyes were black as the grave, face marked with the purple lines of a Dark Signer.
"Greiger."
Kira spoke calmly.
"I sent for you to join the Fortune Cup, but the staff said they couldn't find you anywhere..."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Never would've thought... You're already dead."
Yes. Greiger was dead. But then revived—chosen as a Dark Signer.
In the original, Greiger also became a Dark Signer, but only after the Fortune Cup arc.
History had changed again.
"Goodwin!" Greiger bellowed. "I've crawled out from hell to seek vengeance on you!"
Kira sighed.
Well, wearing Goodwin's mask, he'd gotten the perks—authority, resources, cards—but it seemed he'd inherited part of Goodwin's bad luck as well.
But he also knew, at least regarding Greiger, Goodwin had gotten a raw deal. Greiger believed Goodwin experimented in his homeland to awaken the Crimson Dragon's power, which resulted in his entire village being annihilated—no survivors.
So Greiger burned with rage and came for revenge.
But the truth was, Goodwin was wrongly blamed. The real culprit was the Dark Signers and Earthbound Immortal—the very ones Greiger served. But Greiger knew nothing, being used as a pawn.
Kira: "Well, I guess you won't listen to any explanations anyway."
"I won't listen to your pretty lies, Goodwin!" Greiger raged. "Only your blood can honor the dead of my slaughtered kin!"
"If you insist... Then let's run a lap."
Turbo duel.
At last, Kira's first real Turbo Duel. The special Turbo rules—dueling at high speed on the Speed World field, the only spells allowed being Speed Spells.
Kira mounted his Duel Runner, lined up on the starting line with Greiger.
Greiger revved the monstrous engine; his chariot's roar shook the ground.
"DUEL!" x2
[Kira, LP4000]
[Greiger, LP4000]
Greiger's machine thundered ahead—taking the first curve in the lead.
"I'll go first! Draw!"
Quickly scanning his hand with dark eyes, Greiger played a card:
"I summon 'Spell Reactor ・RE' in defense mode!"
A red-steel mecha landed on his field, popping out a dragon head.
[Spell Reactor ・RE, DEF 900]
"Then I set three cards face-down and end my turn!"
Greiger swung his arm and snarled.
"Through the ritual of duel, I'll use your soul as tribute!"