Black Garden, Field Spell.
In short, under this field, all monsters summoned by either player have their ATK halved. And every time someone summons a monster, a Rose Token with 800 ATK is created on the opponent's field.
Its second effect: destroy all Plant monsters you control; then special summon Plant monsters from your GY whose total ATK equals the combined ATK of the destroyed monsters.
Because the card was used by 5D's heroine Akiza Izinski, Kira figured it belonged to the next generation.
But then again, 5D's shares the same world as GX, and many older cards stick around into the future.
And while 5D's is said to take place decades after GX, the series features Tetsu Trudge, a character spanning the franchise. Tetsu Trudge was an early DM-era hall monitor at Yugi's school—he once beat up Joey and extorted Yugi—then suffered a Penalty Game from the Pharaoh.
In 5D's, that former upperclassman had become a security officer, arresting criminals via Turbo Duels.
From DM to GX is already a 10-year jump; if 5D's were truly decades more, Tetsu Trudge would be a frail old man—hardly active in the plot. Using him as an anchor, the gap between Gen 2 and Gen 3 can't be that long.
Besides that, Kira unexpectedly found a few "Ice Barrier" cards.
Ice Barrier used to be a popular archetype—full Water, focused on locking the opponent's actions. Their Synchro aces like Brionac and Trishula were infamous on banlists for ruining fun.
Of course, Synchro doesn't exist yet. And calling it an "archetype" here is generous—just a handful of cards, nowhere near playable.
Still, it made Kira think: when the Synchro era arrives, Ice Barrier would suit him.
Not just for power—because it tilts people.
Recently, Kira's haul had been great—his stock saw a bumper crop, which was rare for him at this stage. Over the past half-year his inventory had expanded a lot; even through Duel Academy's channels, truly valuable cards had grown scarce.
Lately, he completed Volcanic—well, mainly grabbed the last pieces from KaibaCorp; the build had been in progress for a while.
Then the big prize: Gladiator Beasts from Mello—a world champion-tier archetype dominating the Fusion era.
Beating the Supreme King, although the Supreme King's Evil HERO suite along with the King himself had been absorbed by Jaden, Kira still made gains. He confiscated many decks from the King's subordinates.
The most valuable among them was a fan-favorite archetype that served as a major arm of the Supreme King's army in the anime:
Dark World.
Dark World once had a huge player base. Dark-Attribute Fiends with effects that trigger when discarded by card effects, and even stronger effects if discarded by the opponent's effects.
They were strong back then—but still a pain to assemble for Kira.
As shown in the anime, each Dark World monster appeared separately, scattered across the Supreme King's domains and different squads.
So Kira had spent a long time—months trekking through the King's dimensions, picking them up one by one—only completing a rough build after clearing the Supreme King's castle.
The upside: almost every Dark World card he collected corresponded to a spirit. They didn't directly inhabit the cards, staying in Dark World, but they had all been subdued by Kira in duels. With their previous master toppled, they were now loyal to their new one.
Well, if you lose at cards, loyalty's not exactly optional.
"Thank you for your patronage~"
Kira was spending big these days. Grandpa Solomon took the money, then smilingly handed over a boxed stack of cards.
"Good stuff, young man," Grandpa said. "I've seen some of your duels—lots of potential. When Yugi gets back, you two should talk. I've got a feeling you'll hit it off."
"Thank you, Grandpa," Kira said, putting the box away.
He did want to talk to Mr. Yugi sometime—for more than one reason. He was curious.
By the GX era, that once small, harmless Yugi had shot up, his build approaching the Pharaoh's. By now he should be max level, a myth in the dueling world—but the anime never showed how strong he'd become.
In GX's ending, Yugi only sent Jaden back ten years to duel his past self. Even in later movies, when protagonists time-traveled, the Yugi they found was always DM-era Yugi. Adult Yugi never appeared on-screen in any spinoff.
Kira was very curious how strong Yugi was now.
…
Elsewhere.
In a dark alley, a man ran at full tilt, glancing back in terror as if afraid of something behind him.
He focused too much on his rear, not enough on what lay ahead. He stumbled over something in the alley and lurched forward, crashing hard to the ground.
He scrambled, trying to get up, but the last of his strength had been squeezed out during his sprint.
Every cell screamed in despair—he couldn't force himself upright. He could only sit with his back to the wall, his ragged breathing echoing through the alley.
Just as a flicker of hope rose that he might have gotten away—
"Time to give up, don't you think?"
He shuddered and turned, terrified. At the far end of the alley stood a young man in a red cap and green jacket, smirking down at him.
The man who had crossed paths with two generations of Duel Kings—Rex Raptor the Dinosaur Duelist!
The man scrambled up, trying to run the other way—but someone was already blocking that exit.
"My my, you've been quite the hassle—such a runner. For the former owner of the old-school Dark Duelists' Club, is fleeing like this really your style?"
The newcomer wore huge thick glasses, his face cold and clearly villainous, with a weaselly grin.
Another legendary duelist—Rex Raptor's inseparable partner—Weevil Underwood the Insect Duelist!
"My club's already been wiped out by you—what more do you want?"
The man roared.
"What do we want? Nothing much. Just tell us where 'it' is."
"I don't know. It escaped. It's not with us anymore."
He slumped. "But it probably went to Domino," he said. "We all know whose turf that is now. The place has fallen completely under the Knights of Hanoi. Ordinary folks don't dare mess with them…"
Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor burst out laughing in unison.
"Do we look like ordinary folks to you?"
The man fell silent, head lowered.
"All right then. Domino… what a nostalgic place," Rex Raptor said.
"Knights of Hanoi, huh."
Weevil Underwood pushed up his frames. "Perfect. I'd love to see what exactly we're not supposed to mess with."
PS: Another beating in coming.