"Surprise, Surprise", known as "Flame Revenger: Speed King ☆ Skull Flame" in the Japanese version, is the seventeenth episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime. It first aired in Japan on July 23, 2008 and in the United States on January 3, 2009.
Hunter Pace, under the disguise of Shira, Duels Yusei Fudo in the Fortune Cup, using a Deck he's designed to use against Jack Atlas.
Summary
Hunter's infiltration
The MC announces the next duel, shall be a Turbo Duel between Yusei Fudo and Shira.
While Yusei works on his Duel Runner, Bolt Tanner tells him about how duelists who have faced Shira, have become too scared to duel again. He asks Yusei if he'll use, his recently retrieved "Stardust Dragon" in the upcoming duel. Yusei says that he is saving the card for his duel with Jack.
After looking at a holographic image of Jack Atlas, Hunter Pace swiftly speeds towards to the stadium on his Duel Runner, jumping over the guards. He manages to hide and disguise himself as a security officer, sending the guards off his trail.
"Dokuroyaiba" lodged into Hunter's helmet.
Whilst hiding, Hunter overhears Lazar talking to Shira. They wish for Shira to roughen up Yusei, but be cautious, since he is the one who defeated Jack. Hunter almost gives himself away as he gets excited. Hearing him, Shira throws a card, "Dokuroyaiba", in Hunter's direction. A mouse then rushes away. Assuming that to be the source of the noise, they don't spot Hunter. After they walk on, Hunter is seen with the card lodged into his helmet.
The Duel
The MC warms up the crowd as he introduces the Turbo Duel. He first calls out Yusei. No cheers are heard from the crowd as some of them throw abuse at him regarding his marking. As Shira is announced, the crowd cheer for him, counting on him to beat the marked Yusei.
As both Duel Runners take off, Shira's cloak blows off, revealing him to be Hunter in disguise. The MC excitedly announces that the man, who made it his life to defeat the King is now dueling. Many people are surprised, but Lazar cooly stands next to Goodwin, neither of whom have reacted majorly to the turn of events, stating that Shira is out of commission. Shira is shown lying on the ground, beaten-up and stripped to his underwear, cursing Hunter.
Shira beaten-up in the Japanese version.
The MC slightly nervous looks to a communication screen, with Goodwin. Goodwin says that it should prove entertaining. The MC refills with energy announcing that the duel has been approved.
Hunter Pace quickly begins building up Speed Counters. He manages to bring out his ace monster "Speed King Skull Flame" and lower Yusei's Life Points to 400.
Goodwin gets partly excited at this point, hoping for Yusei to play "Stardust Dragon". Hunter comes up from behind almost lapping Yusei. Yusei manages to use Hunter's high Level of Speed Counters against him. Along with a combo of many cards, Yusei manages to win.
Hunter sits up happy after the Duel. He says that it was a great Duel, but he won't lose next time.
An upset Zigzix looks at a meter, noting no rise in Ener-D levels. Goodwin says that Hunter lacked the strength to push Yusei. Lazar then says "that means next up is..." and begins laughing. Before he can continue, Jack stands up, demanding to know what the two of them have been up to behind his back.
Featured Duel: Hunter Pace vs. Yusei Fudo
Turn 1: Hunter
Yusei and Hunter each have 0 SPC.
Hunter draws. Hunter's hand contains "Burning Skull Head", "Doom Accelerator", "Speed Booster", "Speed Spell - Summon Speeder", and "Skull Flame". Hunter Normal Summons "Burning Skull Head" in Attack Position (1000/800). He then Sets 3 cards in the Spell & Trap Card Zone and ends his turn.
Turn 2: Yusei
Yusei and Hunter both have 1 SPC.
Yusei draws "Speed Warrior" and subsequently Normal Summons it in Attack Position (900/400). Yusei enters his Battle Phase and "Speed Warrior's" ATK then doubles due to its effect ("Speed Warrior": 900 → 1800/400). "Speed Warrior" then attacks "Burning Skull Head", but Hunter activates "Zero Guard", reducing "Burning Skull Head's" ATK to 0 until the End Phase ("Burning Skull Head": 1000 → 0/800), but letting it survive the battle (Hunter 4000 → 2200 Life Points). Hunter activates "Doom Accelerator", which prevents him from losing Speed Counters via the effect of "Speed World" and increases his Speed Counters by 3 (For every multiple of 500 damage Hunter took during damage calculation, "Doom Accelerator" grants him one Speed Counter) (Hunter's SPC 1 → 4). Yusei enters his Main Phase 2. Because the Battle Phase is now over, "Speed Warrior's" effect wears off, so its ATK returns to normal ("Speed Warrior": 1800 → 900/400). Yusei then Sets 2 cards in the Spell & Trap Card Zone and ends his turn. On the End Phase, the effect of "Zero Guard" wears off, so "Burning Skull Head's" ATK goes back to normal ("Burning Skull Head": 0 → 1000/800).
Turn 3: Hunter
Hunter has 5 SPC and Yusei has 2.
Hunter draws. His hand contains "Speed Spell - Summon Speeder" and "Skull Flame". Hunter activates "Speed Spell - Summon Speeder", which lets him Special Summon "Skull Base" in Attack Position (800/600). Yusei then activates "Slip Stream" to increase his Speed Counters by that of Hunter's on his Standby Phase since Hunter activated a Speed Spell, but Hunter does not notice this until later. Hunter then Tributes both his monsters to Tribute Summon "Skull Flame" (2600/2000) in Attack Position. Since Hunter Tributed "Skull Base" for a Tribute Summon, Hunter gets to draw 1 card ("Acceleration Zone"). Hunter attacks and destroys "Speed Warrior" with "Skull Flame" (Yusei 4000 → 2300 Life Points). Yusei loses one Speed Counter (Yusei's SPC 2 → 1). Hunter activates "Speed Booster". Now while Hunter has more Speed Counters than Yusei the following two effects are active. Whenever it's Hunter's turn, he can inflict damage to Yusei equal to the difference in SPC times 100 once per turn. Whenever it is Yusei's turn, Hunter can negate a number of attacks equal to the difference in Speed Counters. Hunter activates the effect of "Speed Booster", inflicting 400 damage to Yusei since the difference in Speed Counters is four (Yusei 2300 → 1900 Life Points). Hunter Sets 1 card in the Spell & Trap Card Zone and ends his turn.
Turn 4: Yusei
Hunter has 6 SPC. Due to the effect of "Slip Stream", Yusei gains 5 Speed Counters, giving him a total of 6 SPC.
Yusei draws "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow". Hunter activates "Acceleration Zone", which gives him 5 Speed Counters since Yusei gained Speed Counters through an effect other than "Speed World" (Hunter's SPC 6 → 11). Yusei activates "Speed Spell - Summon Speeder", Special Summoning "Quillbolt Hedgehog" in Defense Position (800/800). Yusei Normal Summons "Junk Synchron" in Attack Position (1300/500). He then uses the effect of "Junk Synchron" to Special Summon "Speed Warrior" from his Graveyard (900/400) in Defense Position with its effects negated. Yusei sends "Junk Synchron" and "Speed Warrior" to the Graveyard to Synchro Summon "Junk Warrior" in Attack Position (2300/1300). Due to the effect of "Junk Warrior", it gains ATK equal to the ATK of all Level 2 or below monsters ("Junk Warrior": 2300 → 3100/1300). Yusei attacks "Skull Flame" with "Junk Warrior", but Hunter negates the attack via the effect of "Speed Booster". Yusei Sets 1 card in the Spell & Trap Card Zone and ends his turn.
Turn 5: Hunter
Hunter has 12 SPC and Yusei has 7 SPC.
Hunter draws. He then activates "Speed Spell - Accelerate Draw", drawing 2 cards ("Speed Spell - The End of the Storm" and "Speed King - Skull Flame"). He then activates "Speed Spell - The End of the Storm", destroying all monsters on the field, and inflicting 300 damage to each player for each monster they lost. Hunter lost one, so he takes 300 damage. Yusei lost two, so he takes 600 damage (Hunter 2200 → 1900 Life Points) (Yusei 1900 → 1300 Life Points). Hunter removes "Skull Flame" from his Graveyard from play to Special Summon "Speed King Skull Flame" in Attack Position (3000/2300). Hunter attacks Yusei directly with "Speed King Skull Flame", but Yusei activates "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow", negating the attack. Due to the effect of "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow", it resets itself face-down after it is successfully activated. Hunter activates the effect of "Speed Booster", inflicting 500 damage to Yusei since the difference in Speed Counters is five (Yusei 1300 → 800 Life Points). Hunter activates "Speed King Skull Flame's" effect, inflicting 400 damage to Yusei for every "Burning Skull Head" in his Graveyard. There is currently only one in the Graveyard, so Yusei takes 400 damage (Yusei 800 → 400 Life Points). Hunter ends his turn.
Turn 6: Yusei
Yusei relies on his draw from the effect of "Nitro Synchron".
Yusei has 8 SPC and Hunter has 12 SPC.
Yusei draws "Speed Spell - Shift Down" and subsequently activates it, decreasing his Speed Counters by 6 (Yusei's SPC 8 → 2) and drawing 2 cards. Yusei Normal Summons "Nitro Synchron" in Attack Position (300/100). Yusei then uses "Quillbolt Hedgehog's" effect to revive itself in Defense Position (800/800). Yusei activates his face-down "Give and Take", Special Summoning "Junk Synchron" from his Graveyard to Hunter's side of the field in Defense Position (1300/500) and adding its Level to "Quillbolt Hedgehog's" ("Quillbolt Hedgehog": Level 2 → 5). Yusei sends "Nitro Synchron" and "Quillbolt Hedgehog" to the Graveyard Synchro Summon "Nitro Warrior" (2800/1800) in Attack Position. Due to the effect of "Quillbolt Hedgehog", it is removed from play.
"Nitro Warrior" attacks and destroys "Junk Synchron".
Yusei draws a card due to "Nitro Synchron's" effect (it is "Speed Spell - Gap Storm"). Yusei's hand contains only "Graceful Revival". Yusei activates "Speed Spell - Gap Storm", destroying Hunter's "Speed Booster" along with all the other Spell and Trap Cards on the field other than "Speed World". Yusei attacks "Speed King Skull Flame" with "Nitro Warrior" who gains 1000 ATK during Damage Calculation only due to its effect ("Nitro Warrior": 2800 → 3800/1800). "Nitro Warrior" then destroys "Speed King Skull Flame" (Hunter 1900 → 1100 Life Points). "Nitro Warrior's" ATK reverts back to normal since the attack is over ("Nitro Warrior": 3800 → 2800/1800). Yusei then uses "Nitro Warrior's" effect to switch "Junk Synchron" to Attack Position and allow "Nitro Warrior" to attack it. "Nitro Warrior" then destroys "Junk Synchron" (Hunter 1100 → 0 Life Points).
Yusei wins.
Featured cards
The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.
Differences in adaption
- In the original a bit after Yusei activates "Slip Stream" he says this (the duel) is pretty fun, while in the dub he says he heard Yusei was good.
- In the original when Hunter Pace boasted, at one point Yanagi asked what Hunter ment, with Bolt Tanner explaining the Speed Counter difference. In the dub, Yanagi says he (Hunter) sure talks a lot, while Bolt Tanner replys in this case he can put his money where his mouth is.
- In the dub, Zigzix wanted to see what Yusei was made of. He did not say this in the original.
Card creation contest
At the end of the episode's original broadcast, there was an announcement asking viewers to send their own card creations to an address. These cards are to play a part in the show. The winning cards; "Drill Synchron", "Drill Warrior", "Splendid Rose", "Chaos King Archfiend", "Bird of Roses" and "Morphtronic Vacuumen" were announced at the end of each of their respective episodes.
Mistakes
When Goodwin is thinking Yusei should use "Stardust Dragon", Lazar then says he would like to see that as well, however Goodwin did not say anything outloud.
