It was a balmy summer night in Domino City, and many people were standing around in a small courtyard, conversing and mingling indistinctly. On almost every building was an enormous television screen, although none were on at the moment. Although there were many people, a large majority of them didn't look as if they were from around the city; they appeared to be foreigners, gathered from all walks of life.
A familiar face stepped into the large courtyard, a golden triangle hanging on a chain necklace around his neck. He strolled alongside a skinny brunette wearing a short skirt and a yellow tank top. Next to her was another man, taller than both of them, texting on his iPod.
The brunette walked calmly beside him, carrying her orange-colored purse on her shoulder. She opened her mouth and spoke softly, "The invitation said the tournament would be announced tonight. Ishizu was right."
"I don't know if everything she said is true," the man with the chain necklace replied, stopping in his tracks. "But I do know this." He faced her. "I must enter and win this tournament in order to fulfill my destiny."
Looking away from the screen, the taller man chuckled at Yami's destiny talk. "Don't count me out so quickly, Yami. I haven't stopped practicing since Duelist Kingdom. I've gotten much better than I was back then."
The girl seemed hesitant, pondering something. "Just promise me you'll be careful, guys, 'cause I'm sure there's still danger ahead."
Yami looked forward. "Yes, whoever's after the Millennium Puzzle is still out there." He reached over to a deck holder latched onto the right side of his belt, retrieving his Duel Monsters deck and staring at the top card. It was his reliable Dark Magician. "But you must trust me, Téa. This deck has never let me down before. As long as Yugi and I stay connected to one another, I am confident that we can use this deck to win this tournament, unlock the mysteries of my ancient past, and realize our destiny."
"If you don't lose to me, of course," said Jericho, texting again. "Destiny only gets you so far."
A voice called out to Yami from the distance. As Yami and Téa peered around, they noticed a well-endowed blond in a light purple miniskirt running up to them, waving her arm around and smiling.
"It's Mai Valentine," Yami noted, he and Téa turning to face the new arrival. As Mai caught up to them, Yami spoke, "I assume you've come here for the tournament."
"But of course," she said, facing him. "I presume you two got invitations also."
"Yes, we did," Yami replied. "But it didn't say who it was from. Do you know who's hosting this tournament?"
"I have no idea. It's a mystery. Nobody seems to know. Everybody I spoke to got an anonymous invitation. But there is a buzz going around that it's someone with a ton of cash and an obnoxious attitude. I'd guess Kaiba."
Jericho threw his hand up and let it fall to his side. "Seto Kaiba. Hah. I'd love to take him on again. It won't end the same way. I can guarantee that!"
Yami's eyes widened as images of ancient stone tablets flashed before him, filling his mind temporarily. "Of course! That must be why Ishizu told me to enter! If the events of the past are to happen again, I must face Kaiba in this tournament!"
Mai crossed her arms and looked at Yami as if he was a crazy that had just escaped from the psych ward. "What are you mumbling about? Anyway, nobody knows for sure who it is that's throwing this thing."
"I suppose we'll find out soon."
"It's pretty safe to say it's not Pegasus again."
"Speaking of Pegasus, it's beginning to look like Duelist Kingdom all over again," Yami spoke with a bit of disdain in his voice.
"You can say that again. There certainly are a lot of familiar faces in this crowd, most of whom I'm not too happy to see."
Téa gasped, then sighed in disgust, lowering her head and sulking. "Ugh, you're right." She pointed to two shrimpy men standing around on the alpine building in front of them. "That's Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor."
Mai extended her index finger to an even shorter man in a pink jacket speaking to what seemed like little clones of himself. "Over there's Espa Roba. They say he uses psychic powers to duel."
"And Mako's here too!" Téa added quickly, observing a man in blue clothing eating fish from a couple of skewers.
"If what Mai said earlier is correct, then this tournament is going to have one new wrinkle," said Yami, turning toward the large television screen positioned on the building that Weevil and Rex were standing on the steps of. "Kaiba."
Seto Kaiba's booming voice carried over to every person in the courtyard, then even further as every screen in the city televised him. "Greetings, duelists. Welcome to the town of Domino. But more importantly, welcome to my tournament." He paused, then began again. "I see you each received your private invite to KaibaCorp's very exclusive Duel Monsters tournament, and you had enough brains to show up here tonight." At this, there was a small commotion amongst the people in the courtyard, torn between praising Kaiba's cockiness or yelling at him for his rudeness. Either way, Kaiba continued his speech. "Being that you are all elite duelists, I've added special rules to my tournament, just for experts. For example..." The screen zipped down to a shot of Kaiba's left forearm, where a shiny new technological device was attached. "...you will duel using these new improved Duel Disks." The crowd began to chatter amongst themselves even more. "Another new rule that I designed for the tournament is that before each duel, both players must ante up their rarest card and the loser of the duel forfeits his card to the winner."
Yami protested immediately at Kaiba's new rule, lurching forward. "Forfeit my Dark Magician?!"
Mai didn't enjoy the new rule either. "That means losing even one duel can ruin my deck!"
Jericho pocketed his iPod and smirked confidently in the wake of this new rule. "If he wanted my rarest card, all he had to do was ask."
"My competition will make Pegasus and his Duelist Kingdom tournament look like a joke," Kaiba resumed, his fans cheering him on. "Unlike his sad excuse for a tournament, each player will begin with 8000 Life Points instead of 2000, and that also brings me to my next rule - direct attacks will be permitted in the tournament!"
"That new rule of his could change the game entirely!" Yami shouted, trying to process all of the information Kaiba was handing out to them.
Unlike the others, Jericho was reveling throughout this. Each new rule Kaiba came out with only increased his excitement for the tournament. "This just makes for a much more enjoyable challenge."
"One final thing," Kaiba said, grinning sinisterly. "You'll each be given 1 Locator Card when you register. In order to find the location of the Battle City Finals, you'll need 6. The first 8 duelists to gain 6 Cards will move on to the Finals, while the rest of you will be eliminated!" The screens shut off abruptly, leaving each person to wonder.
The winds picked up considerably in the courtyard, the trees blowing in every direction. Each person in the courtyard and in the nearby streets shifted their attention from each other to a KaibaCorp helicopter flying just above the trees, Kaiba hanging out of the side of it, staring a hole through Yami. The two made no sounds, but they knew exactly what the other was thinking.
"Don't forget to register and pick up your Duel Disk because exactly one week from today, my Battle City tournament begins!" Kaiba yelled, raising his hand high above his head.
"You're on, Kaiba!" Yami bellowed up to the rich CEO of KaibaCorp, returning Kaiba's stare.
