Transcript:
Eyes On the Prize

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Original Air Date: June 25, 2011

TEASER

(It's a peaceful afternoon at the garage; the clock out front reads about quarter after one, and the clouds peacefully drift by above. Inside, Bruno taps the keys on a device, possibly wired to Jack's runner; Crow polishes the side of his own runner; and Jack, Akiza, and the twins stand around the desktop computer while Yusei types busily on the keyboard.)
Luna: So, it looks like your next opponent in the Grand Prix is Team Ragnarok.
Yusei: Right; let's see what we can pull up on these guys.
(As he speaks each name, three windows appear on the screen, each with a photo and text.)
Yusei: Hmm, there's Dragen, Broder, and then their captain, Halldor.
Akiza: Yes; and together, they're said to be the most skilled duel team in the world.
(The twins look worried.)
Luna: So, what's the plan?
Yusei: To *win*... because if we don't advance past them, we don't make the Finals and we can't face the three Emperors.
Crow: And not stopping them is *not an option*!
Jack: you said it, Crow, that's why my Red Dragon Archfiend is gonna *rage out* on Team Ragnarok!
(Yusei stands from the computer chair and turns to the other two.)
Yusei: Right, Jack! We have to give this one our all!
Twins: Ha!
Crow: No doubt!

(Somewhere on New Domino's coastline is a circular concrete plaza overlooking trees and distant cityscape, with a grassy park nearby. Parked below are a trio of duel runners, and their three riders stand at the railing, watching not the beautiful orange sunset, but the sky above, which is filled with unnaturally dark clouds that crackle and crash with lightning. The clouds shift, and what they're swirling around comes into view; a jagged, rocky point sticking down toward the city out of the sky.)
Dragen: I see now what you were speaking of, Halldor.
(In Halldor's left eye, a shining blue rune in a shape like an 'F' lights up against his light brown iris. In Dragen's purple eye, the 'P' shaped rune shines green.)
Dragen: This is most troubling.
Halldor: Indeed it is, Dragen. *Most* troubling. <1:00>
Broder: It seems a grave threat is approaching.
(Broder's eye rune glows magenta against his iris's light green; it's Halldor's rune writ upside-down. They look up again toward the rocky formation in the clouds, with a thousand points stabbing down toward the city, like a rough quartz crystal.)

(Yusei, Jack, and Crow, all in their racing gear on their runners, ride toward the same cliffside plaza. They brake a distance away, looking up at the strange rocky protrusion in the sky.)
Jack: Check it *out*...!
Crow: What *is* that thing?
Jack: I dunno, but it *can't be good*.
(Yusei puts up his helmet visor.)
Broder: Whatever it is, it is intriguing to know we're not the only ones who can see it.
(The three duelists of Team Ragnarok regard them from atop the shallow set of stairs leading to the plaza.)
Yusei: it's Team Ragnarok!
(Broder, Halldor, and Dragen of Team Ragnarok are more daunting in person than they were on a computer screen. All three wear the team costume in shades of white, grey, yellow, and black, with breastplates shaped like fierce eyes. Their captain Halldor, grey-haired but not old, regards the opposition with a stiff frown. Redheaded Broder smiles slightly on his right, and blond-and-black-haired Dragen on his left shows a face devoid of emotion. Yusei raises the left-side arm bar on his runner and the three Team 5D's duelists step forward to face them at the bottom of the steps. The tense moment holds. Then all three Ragnarok duelists' eyes light up with their respective runes, and all three 5D's duelists' arms light up red with their respective Signs.)
Jack: What's with their eyes?!
Crow: I dunno, Jack; but something's happening that's activating our marks.
Broder: Ah, yes, we've heard quite a bit about *you* three. The ones who bear the marks of the Crimson Dragon!
Dragen: As you seem to have noticed...
(Halldor indicates his own left eye.)
Halldor: We three bear a mark as well.
Yusei: So those aren't contacts? <2:00>
Halldor: Enough joking. The safety of our world hangs in the balance.
Yusei: 'Hangs in the balance'?
Halldor: That's right. This mysterious object in the sky, has released a cosmic force that has altered time and space and now threatens our very existence. The object in the sky is an *omen* for this... Fimbulwinter will be here soon.
Yusei: Fimbulwinter?
Halldor: *Yes*... it is an event well-known in Norse mythology. It is an epic battle.
Yusei: Wait, what're you saying, that this battle is gonna happen *soon*?
Halldor: Yes. *How* soon, I know not... but... I can tell you that I believe this object that we see floating above... has a connection with the duelists who have formed Team New World.
Yusei: How d'you know all this?
Halldor: My eye shows me *many things*; and one of them is quite dreadful.
Yusei: Huh...!
Halldor: Team New World *must be defeated*... and that is our mission-- the mission of the duelists with the Rune Eyes! <3:00>

(Opening)

ACT 1 <4:00>

Halldor: Yusei, we three bear the Rune Eyes because we bear the power of the three mighty legends. These legends you may've heard of; they were noble, they were righteous, they were the Nordic Gods.
Yusei: The three *Nordic* Gods? What're you talking about, aren't those just cards?
Halldor: Ah, they are *much more* than that. The Nordic Gods once existed as flesh and blood. It's true, they are cards *now*. But cards that still hold the power of the gods themselves!
(As Halldor speaks, he envisions a book filled with row after row of runes, with illustrations depicting a swordsman fighting a huge snake, and a giant horse with eight legs.)
Halldor: You see, they were sealed *in* these cards... so they would be available when the world needed them. Well, now they are needed.
(He closes his eyes, and remembers...)

(Flashback. Several fighter planes fly above snowy mountains.)
Halldor (VO): I know because I saw the threat that approaches. You see, before I was a duelist... I was a pilot.
(In one of the planes' cockpits, Halldor is recognizable even through his breathing mask and heavy helmet. He looks over toward the other plane; then there's an explosion, out of nowhere, filling the air with smoke. A voice comes over his radio.)
- Captain-- I've been hit! Help! My instruments-- they're going haywire!
FB Halldor (think): Oh no!
(He looks ahead, and can see nothing but smoke; the devices on his console are wobbling unsteadily.) <5:00>
FB Halldor (think): It must be due to that strange wave that hit us!
- Captain, I can't see anything-- what do I do?!
The blue rune appears in Halldor's eye, and suddenly he can see the landscape below through the smokescreen, lit up bright blue, and the other jet soaring toward a mountain straight ahead of them both.)
FB Halldor: Climb! Now, now!
- Wait-- I think the smoke is clearing...!
FB Halldor: Pull up! That's an order!
- Roger that. ...Whoa! Where'd *that* come from!
(The two planes emerge from the cloud of smoke, headed straight for the top of the mountain they would've smashed into; they'll need to fly over the mountain to avoid crashing into it.)
- This'll be close!!
FB Halldor: Not if *I* can help it!
(His left eye still shining, Halldor presses a button; two of the rockets attached to the wings of his plane fire, and collide with the mountain in a spectacular explosion. The two planes fly through safely.)

- Captain Halldor. You fired your combat missiles without authorization; unless you give me a good reason why, I'll have no choice but to discharge you.
(Planes like Halldor's are parked at this airfield military base. In an office, a commanding officer at a desk looks over the report, while Halldor stands at attention.)
FB Halldor: Hmph. Fine with *me*; I was planning on retiring anyhow.
- Sorry? What did you say?
(Back then, the grey hair Halldor wears long in the present was clipped and shaved in a military cut at the back, but his distinctive bangs and the points to either side remain the same.)
FB Halldor: I'm through with the Service, sir.
(The officer at the desk is surprised.)
- Through? But you always said you wanted to protect the world from harm.
FB Halldor: That's right, sir; but those planes out there...
(He looks out the window toward them, then speaks with more resolve.)
FB Halldor: They won't do any good against the harm that's coming. I have a hunch what might, though.
(He turns and walks toward the door.)
- Wait... Halldor...! <6:00> I don't get it. Whadda you mean? Where are you going? Answer me! Halldor! What's coming? What're you talking about?!
(The last two words are muffled behind the door as Halldor opens it, walks out, and lets it swing shut behind him.)

(Sebastian the butler walks through an archaic, sliding stone doorway to enter a chamber lined with thick, twining wooden roots, with the thickest bunch winding through the center, where Halldor sits reading on a stone platform. around him in a sort of moat is a luminescent orange liquid, with a few stepping stones across; then beyond that, a stone walkway around around it, then another moat.)
FB Halldor (reading aloud): ...'And when Fimbulwinter arrives, the morale of all the people who are caught in it, will crumble. And soon after... they will wilt, and lose their souls.'
(He pauses, and looks toward the ancient roots beside him. In the deepest hollow shines a single card-- Odin, Father of the Aesir. He reaches in, and takes it.)
FB Halldor: So the time has finally come. Our great test...
(He holds the card in his hand, looking at it; in the time since he left the Service, his hair has grown long. The shining blue rune appears in his left eye.)
FB Sebastian: So then Halldor, are you off to go and find the other *two*?
FB Halldor: That's right; and I don't have a moment to spare. After all, Sebastian, I won't be able to take on these forces alone.
FB Sebastian: I figured.
(He pulls out a handheld holographic screen, smiling.)
FB Sebastian: That is why I have already found them for you.
(Halldor has closed his archaic leather-bound book.)
FB Halldor: Then it's time... that we meet.
(Halldor's mansion is on rocky terrain with thin bright green grass, raised from the landscape on a rocky verge. The architecture is more like a castle, and the whole large complex is crowned with the boughs of the huge, ancient tree rooted at its heart. A lone helicopter rises from the complex, and flies away...)

(Soon, the helicopter is landed outside a modest building with a snowy mountain prominent behind it. Dragen's dad speaks in a hoarse, whispery voice.) <7:00>
FB Dragen's dad: Did I hear you correctly? (cough) You're one of the keepers of the three Nordic God cards?
(Halldor is sitting in a chair at the man's bedside. He pulls his Odin card from his crisp white suit jacket, and his eye glints blue.)
FB Halldor: Fate brought this card to me, just as I know Fate brought the Thor, Lord of the Aesir card to your son. I need his help.
FB Dragen's dad: Since you seem to be who you say, open that drawer, right there.
(He points toward the bedside table with a hand still halfway under the blankets; it's clear how painful it is for him to move. Halldor opens the drawer. Inside, there is nothing but a single card. Halldor picks it up.)
FB Halldor: Dear me...! It's the Thor, Lord of the Aesir card.
FB Dragen's dad: My son left that card here, along with his heart. I'm sorry to say that he's in a troubled state, deeply so.
(Halldor looks at Dragen's father, then back to the card, resolute. Outside the window, the snowy mountain peak looms over the landscape.)
FB Dragen's dad: Perhaps you can help him, Halldor. He's gone to the mountain... (cough) and I fear he has no intention of ever coming back.
(Halldor looks back toward Dragen's dad, who seems to have grown even weaker through the short conversation; it's all he can do to just lie still.)
FB Dragen's dad: The card... get it to him, and there might still be hope.
(He looks Halldor in the eyes, regardless of pain.)
FB Dragen's dad: You must do this, Halldor, for your own sake... <8:00> and for that of my son.
(Halldor looks at the card, his gaze steely, left eye shining blue.)
FB Halldor: Then it shall be done.

ACT 2 <8:05>

(The flashback continues. High in the snowy peaks...)
- Are you out of your *mind*, Dragen?! Stick to the trail!
(Dragen doesn't listen, driving his ice pick into the surface of the sheer rock face he has already halfway climbed. Teeth clenched in bitter frustration, deaf to reason, he keeps climbing.)
- For the *last time*, it's too dangerous to go up that way! Fine-- If he won't listen to reason, then the fool is on his own.
(Then the mountainside rumbles, and a few chunks of ice slide down. Dragen stubbornly clings to the hook he's attaching to the top of the cliff, then looks up.)
- Avalanche!!
(Without warning, the wave of snow rushes down the mountain, right over Dragen. The other man has found cover behind a boulder, and looks out bleakly toward where Dragen was climbing.)
- He's done-for...!

(Inside the avalanche, Dragen watches the snow wide-eyed, and his left eye lights up, glowing green. Then he falls from the ledge...)
FB Dragen: Aaaaaaaaaahhh!!!

FB Dragen: Ugh...
(Dragen opens his eyes to see Halldor standing over him in a thick blue snow jacket, frowning with concern; a helicopter hovers in the air over his shoulder.)
FB Halldor: You just survived an *avalanche*, Dragen. And you did so by way of the mighty Rune Eye.
FB Dragen: Rune Eye? I don't...
FB Halldor: Dragen. You have great power inside you. Power that the world needs now.
(Dragen pushes himself up on his hands.)
FB Dragen: Who are you? Tell me.
(Halldor replies by showing his Odin, Father of the Aesir card.) <9:00>
FB Halldor: My name is Halldor. I am keeper of the Odin, Father of the Aesir card. Now then...
(Halldor's eye rune lights up; Dragen looks up into his eyes, mystified.)
FB Halldor: Please, come with me.
(The two of them are conveyed up to the helicopter, clinging to its rope ladder; Sebastian is at the controls. Once they're inside, Halldor offers Dragen the Thor, Lord of the Aesir card.)
FB Halldor: This is another one of the Nordic God cards. This is Thor. You are *owner* of this card, are you not?
(Dragen, now in a borrowed hoodie sweatshirt instead of his snow-soaked climbing gear, looks at it, then away.)
FB Dragen: I'm not. I tossed that card, and I'll have you know I did it for a good reason. Because I really don't deserve it. Sorry.
FB Halldor: Your father seemed to think otherwise. He very much wanted you to have it.
(He throws the card to Dragen, who catches it as though it's magnetized to his hand. His eye rune lights up green, and the card shines white.)
FB Halldor: Your father told me that you lost your heart, Dragen. Well, friend... if you battle alongside me, with Thor, I think you just might find it!
(As he speaks, Thor himself seems to loom over their quiet conversation in the back of a helicopter.)
FB Halldor: I can't take on the coming threat *alone*; to be victorious, I need your assistance...
(Dragen looks dubious.)
FB Halldor: ...And that of one other. <10:00>

(The quest takes them next to a jungle island.)
FB Broder: Boy, you sure picked a way out-of-the-way place to look for treasure. An' not t' mention dangerous, too!
(Halldor is dignified in his white suit; leading him through the jungle is Broder, less formal in sneakers, khaki shorts, a hawaiian shirt, and dark glasses. Back then, Broder's accent was much stronger.)
FB Broder: I don't mean to scare ya, but there're pirates all 'round these parts!
(They've reached a large tree ringed by a perfect circle of stones. The shape of the gnarls in the bark, and the dark vines in its boughs, add to the spooky feel of black magic.)
FB Broder: In fact, some say this entire area's haunte-e-ed! Uh, s-so, that being the case, I'm sure that you'll understand, ah, (bows) if I just *wait here*.
(Halldor walks past and enters the cavern before them.)

(Inside, down a flight of stone steps, Halldor finds a dark, swampy cavern. He raises his Odin card, and it shines, as does his eye. Beneath the swampy surface, a circle of runes glows yellow in the water, lighting up the spooky cavern. At its center, across a set of stepping stones, stands a thick gnarl of old roots, with a dark hollow at its heart. The very air seems to shiver a bit. As Halldor's Odin card shines, an answering glow appears in the hollow of the tree roots, then fades; he has found the third card.)
FB Halldor: There it is; the third of the Nordic God Cards, the elusive Loki, Lord of the Aesir card. <11:00>
(Suddenly, Broder jumps down behind him, and whips out a rope that sticks to the card and pulls it back to him. In a blink, Broder has swiped the treasure that brought Halldor to the jungle.)
FB Broder: Heheh! On second thought, don't worry about the pirates or ghosts-- if there's anyone you're gonna worry about, it should be *me*! Hehah! Later, gator!
(He runs away up the stairs from the cave; Halldor smiles over his shoulder, pleased.)

(Broder makes his getaway in a speedboat.)
FB Broder: Heheheheheh! That was too easy!
(He hears a motor behind him.)
FB Broder: Huh?
(Another speedboat is gaining on him fast, dodging through the rocks near the coast. Halldor runs through the forest, then leaps the cliff, the sun high above, and lands nimbly atop the pursuing speedboat, which is driven by Dragen and Sebastian.)
FB Broder: Looks like 'e brought backup! Too bad they're not gonna do 'im any good; after all, if you dunno these here waters, you're *wrecked*!
FB Halldor: Dragen, these rocks are posing quite the problem. See to it.
(Dragen's rune eye begins to glow. The craggy bottom of the shallow coastal waters is now visible to him as shining outlines. Their vision aided, they quickly gain on Broder.)
FB Broder: How in the *world*?! Huagh! Ohh no!!
(While he was looking at the other boat, he didn't notice the rocks ahead of him. The first one sends him airborne, straight toward the biggest one ahead.)
FB Broder: I'm wre-e-e-e-e-e-ecked!!
(Halldor and Dragen watch intently; Dragen's eye already glows green, Halldor's lights up blue, and, as Broder stares down the rock, his left eye glows with the magenta rune. A massive bolt of power smites the rock, shattering it, and Broder's boat flies through unharmed. Broder is thrown from his seat, right before boulders crash down on the speedboat, and he blacks out.) <12:00>

(The second speedboat stops at the beach where Broder has washed up onshore, moaning. When he opens his eyes, Halldor and Dragen are standing over him. Broder looks sheepish and guilty.)
FB Broder: Look, 'm sorry, okay? But no harm, no foul; here's your card.
(Dragen responds by showing his Thor card, which lights up and shines white; Halldor next raises his Odin card.)
FB Halldor: That is not just any card. That is one of the Nordic God Cards. It is known as Loki, Lord of the Aesir, and it's not ours; it's *yours*.
FB Broder: Mine?
(He looks at the card, and it lights up as well.)
FB Halldor: That's right. None of this is an accident, Broder. After all, why d'you think I *asked* you to help me track that card down? You were *destined* to have it, so that you could help us now.
FB Broder: How can *I* help? I'm no one.
(Even as he speaks, his left eye shines with magenta light.)
FB Halldor: I can see it in your eyes! And now that the three Nordic Gods have been placed, they shall at long last be resurrected!
(Halldor raises his card; Dragen's glows brighter, as does Broder's.)
FB Broder: Whoa!! Wait, uh, what's happenin' here?! <13:00>
(Halldor's rune eye lights; then Dragen's; then Broder's.)
FB Halldor: What *needs* to happen... so that the world, can be saved!
(The bright tropical sky turns dark and starry, glowing with aurora borealis lights. As the three duelists stand on the beach, their cards alight, the three deities they represent appear in the benighted sky above...)

ACT 3 <13:16>

(End Flashback. Now Halldor, Dragen, and Broder face the three duelists of Team 5D's in New Domino City against the backdrop of a golden sunset.)
Halldor: They say the three Nordic Gods, have the power to fend off the gravest of threats. So we are going to use that power, against the threat that is now fast approaching. After all, this is our duty.
Yusei: We're still talking about the Emperors, right?
Halldor: That is correct, Yusei, they hold the key to everything. Which is why we must face them, because only *then*, will the full scope of their plan be revealed.
Crow: So taking on Team New World is why you entered this whole thing?!
Yusei: Listen, guys, we wanna take them down, too. We should all just work together.
(Halldor shows his Odin card, and it lights up.)
Halldor: Sorry, but I'm afraid the three Nordic God Cards, don't believe you're an ally worth *having*, Yusei.
Yusei: What?
(Halldor smiles with condescending superiority.)
Halldor: The person whose research brought about Zero Reverse, <14:00> was your *father*, was it not, Yusei? And since you're of his *bloodline*, you have it in you to cause the same damage *his* research did.
Yusei: That's not true at all! And my father was a *very* good man.
Halldor: *So you say*, but I suppose we'll just have to let our upcoming duel reveal what's what.
Jack: Just forget about these three *bozos*, Yusei. It's not like we need their help, anyhow.
Dragen: Ah, Jack, I see your *diva attitude* hasn't changed.
Jack: My *what*?!
Dragen: You heard me! You're so arrogant I'll bet you still think you really *won* back when we dueled!
Jack: *We dueled*? Are you sure about that?
Dragen: I couldn't be *more* sure, after all you're the reason I lost heart in dueling.
Jack: I am?
Dragen: Yes, it was three years ago!

(Flashback. The scene is forbidding, icy mountains, evergreen trees, and snow. One tree is incredibly tall, its thin trunk and sparse branches stretching toward the heavens, its base deep in a pinnacle of ice. Built into the base of the ice pinnacle are several buildings.)
Dragen (VO): When one morning I woke and decided it was time for me to leave home and make my name as a duelist.

(A third cavern much like the other two, with thick, ice-rimed roots and a shallow pool of ice glowing blue with runes, lies at its heart. Two explorers in heavy gear stand before the root hollow and its glowing card.)
Dragen (VO): However, in order to do that, I would need to find a card that was as strong as my competitive instincts. I soon found what I was looking for. <15:00>
(Dragen takes the card from the hollow. The other explorer, his father, back then whole and healthy, watches him gravely. As Dragen's eye lights up green, his face illuminates with a smile of amazement.)
Dragen (VO): One of the three Nordic God Cards. Thor. My father was there with me. He saw the connection I felt to Thor.
(Then the ground starts shaking.)
FB Dragen: Huh?!
Dragen (VO): *And* he saw Thor's might!
(The walls begin to collapse inward, rocks smashing into the pool. The two of them run back across the stepping stones-- but not fast enough.)
Dragen (VO): My father was badly injured when the cave collapsed.
(In the dark cave, Dragen pushes aside a last rock and kneels beside his dad.)

(Soon, he's running down a hospital hallway beside the gurney.)
Dragen (VO): But luckily, I was able to get 'im to a hospital. However, the operations that my father needed to get better weren't cheap.

(Outside the hospital, the weather is clear and cold; Dragen walks out the front door alone, hands in pockets, dejected.)
Dragen (VO): And unfortunately... we had no money. I didn't know *what* to do... Until...
(At the front entrance of the hospital, Dragen encounters a short man with lavender hair, a red coat, and red markings across his frighteningly mischievous green eyes. It's Lezar, the one and only.)
Dragen (VO): An opportunity presented itself.
(Lezar pulls out a handheld holographic screen, and unscrolls it with a smug chuckle.)
FB Lezar: Mmhmhmhmhmhm.
FB Dragen: You're asking me to duel Jack Atlas? For *money*?
FB Lezar: Mm-hmm.

(A crowd of press people with cameras snap flashbulbs as Jack uneasily emerges from a doorway, Mina at his shoulder. Dragen hides in the crowd.)
Dragen (VO): I couldn't refuse. But at the same time, I couldn't understand why *I* was selected to be your opponent.
(Jack contemptuously endures the cameras. Mina pointedly leads him away, primly conscious of her job back then as his official handler.)
Dragen (VO): Back then, you were a dueling star.
FB Mina: This way, Mister Atlas.
(The press people call out, trying to get one last good shot.)
- Jack!
- Jack, over here!
- Jack!
- Come on, Jack! <16:00>
Dragen (VO): But soon I realized-- they wanted me to be your opponent *because* you were a star. See-- I was a nobody.

(The garage in which competitors wait to enter the Kaibadome is dark, lit only by Dragen's runner headlight, as he sits there, silently struggling with himself.)
Dragen (VO): They figured I would to what I was told-- especially if the *price was right*. And what I was told... was to *lose the match*. Losing on purpose was against every instinct I had as a duelist-- but with my father's wellbeing on the line, I had to *reject* those instincts. I had to accept the instructions that Lezar gave me and throw the match!
(End Flashback.)

Jack: You lie! I defeated you with *pure skill* in our duel, that's all!
Dragen: No! You defeated me because you were a *product* that made Goodwin money, and he wanted to *keep* making money; but now... it's payback time!

ACT 4 <16:29>

Dragen: Jack, I can see it in your eyes, you *know* it's true.
Jack: Rrrrggghhh...!
Dragen: Our duel-- *was a setup*!!

(Flashback. On the Kaibadome track, the skies are a familiar shade of fuchsia, the stands are packed, and Speed Circuit Champion Jack Atlas is up against another wannabe-- or so it appears.)
Dragen (VO): All you need do is remember how the events of that day unfolded. Perhaps the *crowd* was too pumped up to notice, <17:00> but *you* must've seen that the fix was in!
FB Jack: It's my turn! And I summon the tuner monster Top Runner!
[Top Runner 1100//L4/]
FB Jack: I then play two cards facedown and end my turn!
(Dragen glares over his shoulder at Jack, teeth clenched.)
Dragen (VO): Your moves were *pathetic*, Jack! I saw a *myriad* of ways to take you down. But I *wasn't allowed to use* any of them!
FB Jack: Ha! I see you've been *paralyzed* with fear! Well, don't be ashamed; that's often the case when a *weak duelist* like yourself faces me!
(Dragen bites back a retort, furious.)
FB Dragen: My turn!
(Scoreboard; Jack, 4000, 1; Dragen, 4000, 1.)
FB Dragen: First I'll summon Garmr of the Nordic Beasts!
[Garmr of the Nordic Beasts 800//L4/]
(Pronounced 'garm' with the R silent. In the tower, Goodwin stands at his usual spot before the window, eyes on the duel below.)
FB Dragen: Next, I'll play a facedown and end my turn!
FB Jack: Fool. A weak monster in attack mode and a facedown card? Looks like this duel is going to be over even sooner than I thought! My turn now-- so watch and learn! Here we go!
(Scoreboard. Jack, 4000, 2; Dragen, 4000, 2.) <18:00>
FB Jack: First, I summon forth Power Breaker from my hand!
[Power Breaker 1900//L4/]
FB Jack: Next, my level-four Top Runner will tune with that level-four Power Breaker! Behold, in an inferno of power and might, a blazing new beast is now forged!
(L4 + L4 = L8)
FB Jack: I synchro-summon, Red Dragon Archfiend!
[Red Dragon Archfiend 3000//L8/]
(Archfiend appears in a swirl of fire and embers. The crowd is eating it up.)
Dragen (VO): The crowd went crazy. That's what they came to see, after all; the star monster of their star duelist-- It made me *absolutely sick*. Seeing the way you were *showboating*, how you were so full of *false confidence*-- it awakened the competition in me. Suddenly, I found myself wanting to beat you, no matter *what* the cost.
(He reaches for his facedown card...)
FB Dragen (think): If I use this trap card... I can win! I can show the world how good I really *am*...!!
FB Lezar (via radio): Come in, Dragen. It's Lezar.
FB Dragen: Haah!
FB Lezar (via radio): Don't forget your agreement with Director Goodwin. If you *don't* lose the match, <19:00> you *don't* get the money-- and you *don't* save your father.
(At the last moment, Dragen clenches his fist away from the facedown, anguished. Jack, oblivious to the real drama going on behind this match, is in-character as the heartless champion he was back then.)
FB Jack: Take heart, my little dueling friend-- Red Dragon Archfiend and I are about to put you out of your misery! Go, Absolute Powerforce!!
(Red Dragon Archfiend reaches for Dragen and his runner with one flaming claw, and Dragen is hit hard with a blazing inferno.)

(Back at the hospital, Dragen's dad still has a cast on both legs and bandages around his whole face and neck, but a nurse is wheeling him around in a wheelchair outside in his pajamas. Dragen's dad holds a single card, looking at it. Dragen leans against a tree nearby, hands in pockets, watching unseen.)
Dragen (VO): I lost the match... but I won my father's health. I never *regretted* what I did... but at the same time, I never stopped thinking about what *could've* been.
(Dragen turns, and walks away in the other direction. End Flashback.)

(Having finished his tale, Dragen is silent.)
Jack: Oh, please-- you're just *sore*! I'll bet you created that *whole story* just to make yourself *feel better*! The truth is, though, you lost *fair and square*!
Dragen: No, Jack, the truth *is*-- if I had used my trump card, I would've won the match.
Jack: You're off your rocker!
Dragen: Enough small talk-- <20:00> we can settle this matter *another way*!
Jack: Yeah; with a *rematch*! So since we have to duel for the Grand Prix anyhow, this should make things *extra* interesting!
(Dragen's eye rune lights up green; then Broder's pink, then Halldor's blue. Jack's Sign responds, beginning to glow.)
Jack: Huh?
(As does Yusei's, then Crow's.)
Yusei: Huh.
Crow: Huh?
Halldor: Then it's settled! Tomorrow we duel to settle things between Jack and Dragen-- but even more importantly, to see which of our teams gets to advance to the Grand Prix finals--
Yusei: Where we'll have the chance to take on the *real* villains-- so you had better believe-- we're gonna *rev it up*!
(And so the battle lines have been drawn between the two teams; they face each other, ready to fight... To Be Continued...)

END <20:45>

* Special thanks to AnimeRatio.com for making this episode available online.
* Special thanks to Yugioh Wikia as a source for checking cards.
* Special thanks to Kazuki Takahashi, 4Kids, et al. for Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's!

Last Updated: October 21, 2011

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