Knock knock.
Bolt Tanner, sitting inside his prison cell, heard a sound of knuckles tapping against the wall. He looked up, following the noise towards the door, and saw the scruffy, bearded prison warden, Mr. Armstrong, standing at his door, grinning with a creepiness that was hard to ignore.
"Someone reported that you're hiding a weapon in here,"
Mr. Armstrong said.
"A weapon?"
Bolt was momentarily stunned, frowning,
"Why would I have something like that? If that's the case, just search my room."
Mr. Armstrong chuckled coldly.
"Not necessary."
As he spoke, he reached under Bolt's bed, rummaged around for a moment, and quickly pulled out a sharp blade.
Bolt's face changed instantly. He shot up, furious:
"You bastard—"
So this was a setup from the start; Bolt finally understood. He had heard infamous stories about Warden Mr. Armstrong from other—people said he was cruel and violent, taking out his anger on the inmates whenever he felt like it. He never believed it until now. Experiencing it firsthand made a chill run through his body, and he couldn't help but curse inwardly.
But before Bolt could do anything, two security officers lunged from behind, skillfully locking his arms behind his back and pressing his head to the ground, pinning him down.
"Aahhh—!"
Bolt's pained screams echoed throughout the The Facility, loud enough for everyone in every cell to hear.
After several minutes, a battered and bruised Bolt was tossed into the middle of the prison courtyard.
Warden Mr. Armstrong stood with his hands on his hips, shouting in a booming voice:
"Bolt Tanner has committed a grave offense, secretly hiding a deadly weapon! But it's impossible he managed this alone in this prison. There must be accomplices among you!
But going through every one of you to find the accomplices would be too troublesome. So, the responsibility will be shared by everyone here!
Starting today, all of your free time outside your rooms will be revoked for a full year! No one is allowed to leave their rooms!"
The whole place erupted, with prisoners poking their heads out of the bars, unable to suppress their outrage.
"Wait, isn't this going too far!?"
"I don't even know this Bolt guy!"
"Isn't this the same as solitary confinement for everyone?"
Bolt, pressed to the ground, struggled to breathe:
"You... You set me up! This was your plan from the start..."
"Shut up!"
Mr. Armstrong yelled,
"You trash have no right to shout here! In this world, no one needs scum like you! You have no freedom, no rights; you only exist to scrape by in the darkness!"
"You're wrong,"
A calm, cold voice cut through. Even Yusei, who had been keeping silent behind bars, couldn't tolerate this anymore.
"There is no such thing as a person in this world who isn't needed."
Mr. Armstrong sneered,
"Oh? A piece of trash from Satellite Zone wants to play hero?"
Yusei replied,
"Bolt is innocent. He's a true Duelist—he wouldn't get involved in some conspiracy."
"Oh?"
Mr. Armstrong laughed sarcastically.
"Are you saying that just because you know I'm a duelist, too? Interesting.
So you say HE is a real duelist, meaning I must be a fake?"
Yusei said nothing, but his icy expression said it all.
"Hmph, fine, then,"
Mr. Armstrong grinned nastily.
"Let's settle this in front of everyone. You and I—let's duel. If you win, I'll let Bolt go and won't revoke your free time.
But if I win—"
Before he could finish, Yusei cut him off:
"Then for the rest of my life, I'll do whatever you say."
Mr. Armstrong burst out laughing. Inwardly, though, he was scheming:
Kid, you might not know it, but your life won't last long... I'll see if these Signers are really as powerful as rumored, but whatever happens, you're not leaving after today.
But his laughter was interrupted.
"Oh, Mr. Armstrong, such good spirits today?"
A new, authoritative voice interjected.
Mr. Armstrong instantly bristled.
"Who's that?!"
He turned around—wondering who dared use that tone in his prison.
He nearly jumped out of his skin—
"Director Goodwin!"
A tall, silver-haired man stood there, strikingly handsome, back straight, hands behind his back. Even alone, he emanated an invisible sense of awe.
At this point in the timeline, Yusei had never seen Goodwin before, but after hearing Mr. Armstrong's address, he looked at the silver-haired man more closely.
Director? Is he Mr. Armstrong's superior?
(But of course, at this point, "Goodwin" was really Kira in disguise.)
Kira stepped forward with a gentle smile.
Mr. Armstrong and the guards on either side hurriedly saluted.
"Loving duels is a good thing—they drive the progress of our world and the advance of civilization. I personally promote them strongly,"
Kira said.
"However, challenging someone to a duel after confiscating their deck—that isn't the act of a true duelist, is it?"
"Uh..."
Mr. Armstrong lowered his eyes, embarrassed, unable to answer.
(Indeed, in the original anime, he also challenged Yusei after confiscating all the inmates' decks. In the end, every inmate secretly hid a card, pooled them, and gave Yusei a deck to duel with.)
At that moment, Mr. Armstrong wondered to himself: Wasn't the chief's order to eliminate this Signer? So why is he here interfering?
Maybe, just as he said, he really cares about the legitimacy of duels?
Even Yusei, standing behind bars emotionlessly, guessed the same:
This director might be a jerk, but his superior seems like a real duelist.
In the original timeline, when Yusei and Goodwin first met, Yusei's first impression wasn't great. But with the change of the world line, Kira's "Goodwin" actually made a better first impression.
This was all part of Kira's plan.
The mastermind who brought future-Goodwin to this timeline—regardless of motive—clearly assigned Goodwin to disrupt history.
Kira recalled KaibaCorp scientists' hypothesis: perhaps because the original 5DS dimension's history was disrupted, the worlds were drawn together, risking collision.
If so, then the mastermind's goal might be exactly this.
So, Kira thought, if that's the intent, then he'd try to restore history—realign the plot to its original track.
Whether this resulted in history being corrected, or in the mastermind emerging to confront him—it was a win either way.
The first step: rescue Yusei, stop him from being killed on Goodwin's orders,
and, if possible, earn Yusei's favor for the next phase.
To restore canon events, the next step would be for "Goodwin" to host the Fortune Cup—gathering the Signers to fight and awaken the Crimson Dragon's power.
But Yusei is notoriously stubborn—force only makes him resist harder. In the original, Goodwin had his friends in Satellite Zone kidnapped as hostages to compel him.
Kira didn't like using hostages. It was inelegant and troublesome. He thought of a better way.
Yusei is the opposite of Jaden—cold outside but warm within. If you demonstrate the qualities he admires, it's easy for him to see you as a companion.
For example—a "true duelist".
Yusei respects all duelists he acknowledges: skill, passion, honor—any such trait earns his respect.
If a recognized duelist invites him to a tournament, he'd agree without any threats.
So, Kira decided: he needed to create an opportunity to demonstrate his own qualities in front of Yusei.
"How about this, Mr. Armstrong,"
Kira smiled.
"Let's adjust your plan. Why not duel me?"
Mr. Armstrong was shocked, waving his hands:
"Wait, Director, I—how could I possibly..."
Before he could finish, Kira went on,
"If you win—I'll recommend you for immediate promotion to headquarters. Looking at your record, I can see you've hit a ceiling at this warden's post. If not for this opportunity, you'd never advance further, right?"
At this, Mr. Armstrong swallowed his words—and his spit.
Immediate promotion...?
…