Following Crow and Dole through Satellite's winding alleyways, piled high on both sides with discarded scrap and junk, Dio gradually formed a basic understanding of Team Satisfaction.
Mostly because Dole, with that same easy familiarity as always, had one arm hooked around Dio's shoulder and was enthusiastically talking the whole way.
"Team Satisfaction—full name, the Satisfaction Alliance! We haven't been around that long, but here in Satellite, we're already pretty well known!"
His voice brimmed with pride.
"And the reason is simple: Team Satisfaction has four insanely strong duelists holding it up!"
Then he began listing them off one by one, like he was reciting family treasures.
"First, our strongest leader—Kyosuke Kiryu!"
Dole's face was full of awe.
"He opens with five set cards going first—he's an absolute monster! So far, no one's ever managed to beat him head-on! His ace is the despair-inducing Infernity Doom Dragon!"
Dio narrowed his eyes slightly, puzzled.
If he remembered right, before becoming a Dark Signer, didn't Kiryu use a Dice deck?
This world really was a little different...
"Next is Jack Atlas! His style is the most violent, the most direct kind of offense there is! I've heard no one can calmly set up a defense in front of him—his pressure and relentless attacks just crush everything! His ace is the symbol of absolute power: Red Dragon Archfiend!"
"Then there's Yusei Fudo! He's Jack's complete opposite—his specialty is airtight defense and precise, razor-sharp counterattacks! People say no one can truly break through his iron wall of defense. His ace is the guardian dragon, Stardust Dragon!"
"And last—" Dole slapped Crow on the shoulder beside him, "—that'd be our Boss Crow! He specializes in resource recycling. After a whole duel, having five cards left in hand is totally normal for him! The king of long games! His ace is Blackwing Armor Master!"
Hearing Dole's clearly exaggerated, highly embellished introduction, Crow looked more than a little embarrassed and waved his hands in protest.
"Hey, Dole, that's way too exaggerated!"
Dio, meanwhile, silently digested all of this information. His gaze landed on Crow, who still looked a bit sheepish, and he asked:
"Why is only your ace not a Dragon, Crow?"
"..."
The smile on Crow's face froze instantly.
Didn't he want to use a Dragon? If he couldn't scavenge one, then he couldn't scavenge one. Who knew how Yusei and the others had managed to get their hands on cards like that?
And then Crow suddenly realized something even more serious:
If Dio joined them, his ace would be Scrap Dragon—a real, genuine Dragon.
Wouldn't that leave him as the only one in the team without a Dragon ace?
The team composition would become even more unbalanced!
In the end, Crow could only laugh it off and muddle the subject away, though inwardly he felt a little stabbed.
As they talked, they arrived at their destination.
Team Satisfaction's gathering place was not nearly as dramatic as Dio had imagined.
It was just a relatively spacious old single-story house, rebuilt using the frame of a structure left over from years ago.
There was a large open lot beside it too, littered with abandoned tires and rusting metal frames.
Crow casually mentioned that before the great explosion over a decade ago—the one that had changed Satellite's fate—this place had apparently been something like a small community activity center.
Crow stepped forward and pushed open the weathered sheet-metal door.
The moment the door opened, the scene inside came into view.
In the middle of the room, three people were standing with their backs to the entrance, striking an extremely odd pose.
Kiryu stood in the center, slightly ahead of the others, arms folded across his chest, chin raised proudly.
Jack stood behind him to the left, one fist clenched and raised before him, his gaze sharp.
Yusei stood to the right, his posture more composed, but he too was clearly in a full-on heroic team introduction pose.
The three of them looked like they were just about to turn around together and deliver some kind of entrance line.
Then the door opened.
Crow, Dole, and Dio stood there in the doorway.
The three inside froze mid-pose.
The three who had just entered froze too.
Six pairs of eyes met in the air.
For one instant, time itself seemed to stop, and an indescribable silence spread through the room.
Dio: "...?"
Crow covered his face with one hand, unable to bear the sight.
Dole was briefly stunned by the scene, then the corners of his mouth twitched. But he quickly recovered.
He felt it was his duty to smooth things over.
Rubbing his chin, he gave the trio's poses a solemn once-over and offered his review:
"Honestly, that pose is pretty cool. Yeah, it's got a kind of special presence. Sort of like... what was it again... right, the Ginyu Force!"
"Please, I'm begging you, stop talking!"
The first one to break was Jack.
He could no longer hold that arrogant pose. He spun around, face bright red, buried his face in his hands, and crouched down in agony.
"I knew it! I knew I never should have agreed to this ridiculous idea about making some imposing opening animation! It's so stupid!"
Kiryu and Yusei both returned to normal stances.
"You're still too young, Jack. As long as you aren't embarrassed, they'll fear you—or even admire you," Kiryu declared.
Dio's expression turned complicated.
Was this where Jack's future habit of calling himself King and shouting about his soul had originated from?
As for Yusei, he wore a perfectly calm expression, as if he hadn't just been posing a moment ago—though the tips of his ears were faintly red.
After a brief round of chaos and Jack's ongoing muttered complaints, the scene finally settled back down.
Jack stood up again, forcing his face into a stern expression as he tried to recover his earlier aura.
He looked at Dio, lifted his chin, and said in a haughty voice:
"Hmph! So you're the one Crow brought back? Listen well—joining Team Satisfaction is no simple matter! You must prove that you possess truly outstanding dueling skill!"
He tried to fix Dio with a severe, scrutinizing stare.
But then Yusei's calm voice sounded from the side, carrying sincere confusion.
"When we joined, didn't Kiryu just beat each of us up one by one and then we agreed to join? I don't remember anyone needing to prove especially outstanding skill."
Dole decided that later, once he got back to his room, he was just going to knock himself unconscious.
These were not matters he was qualified to witness.
"Yusei!"
Jack could feel his blood pressure skyrocketing. He whipped around toward Yusei and practically shouted:
"Don't tear down my moment right now!"
He felt like he was at the end of his rope.
Could this team ever function properly? Seriously—every single one of them!
"No! There is only one condition for joining Team Satisfaction!"
At that moment, Kyosuke Kiryu stepped forward.
His eyes burned with a pure and fiery passion for dueling as he took out his Duel Disk and fixed Dio with an intense stare.
"Can you satisfy me?! With a duel!"
His presence was overwhelming, packed with naked challenge.
"N-no-no-no, Kiryu!"
Jack hurriedly leapt in front of him, trying to block his line of sight. His face was still faintly flushed, but his tone was firm.
"This time, leave it to me! I'm going to wash away my humiliation!"
From the side, Crow muttered dryly, "If you want to wash away your humiliation, shouldn't you be going after Yusei instead?"
Meaning the humiliation of having his moment sabotaged.
Jack: "...Mind your own business!"
He was so furious he looked like steam might start pouring off his head. Turning back to Dio, he raised his voice again, trying to cover his embarrassment.
"Anyway—duel me, newcomer! If I win, then everything that just happened—all of it—you are to forget it completely! You are not allowed to remember any of it!"
"Can't I duel him first?"
Kiryu's voice rang out again.
Dio silently watched the interaction among the three of them.
This really didn't match the impression he'd had.
Was it because the timeline was still early, and everyone was younger, with far less weighing on their shoulders?
Or was it because this world itself differed in subtle ways from the story he knew?
Either way, one thing was certain:
He had to duel.
It was the most direct way to integrate into this team and earn their recognition.
Dio did not waste any words. He simply raised his arm and activated the homemade Duel Disk he had assembled from discarded parts.
Seeing that, Jack gave a cold snort and activated his own Duel Disk as well.
"No, wait—I'm the leader, aren't I? So why can't I duel first?"
"The leader obviously goes last," Crow said matter-of-factly, shoving Kiryu down into a chair.