'Hey Joey. Earth to Joey! Hey, are you in there? It's your move' Yugi called to his friend sitting across from him. It was another regular school day and while they had a free study period, Yugi was trying to teach Joey the basics of Duel Monsters.

'Eh?' the blond snapped out of his daydream 'Sorry Yug, I'm still trying to figure this out' he said, his face filled with concentration before finally deciding his move, 'Try this on for size!' he said placing a card on the board.

Yugi chuckled at Joey's attempt, 'Pretty good!' he said, turning his own card over 'But not good enough!' he said triumphantly.

Joey yelped 'What?! Gee, thanks a lot Yug, a card that powerful totally wiped out the rest of my life points!' he groaned in defeat, placing his head in his hands.

Tristen chuckled as he appeared behind him, grabbing his shoulders looking at the board 'Wow Joey, you really suck at this game'

Joey growled at his friend, 'Shut up' he muttered gathering his deck back together.

'Hey guys! What did I miss?' came a voice across the room. Yugi looked up to see Hikari come towards them, her flowing black hair draped across her small shoulders, her green eyes inquisitive of the commotion around the table. She was carrying a load of textbooks, 'Must have just come from the library' he thought.

'Hey Hikari!' waved Tea, 'The guys just finished playing a game of Duel Monsters. Yugi won, obviously' she said laughing quietly.

'Why I oughta' Joey mumbled under his breath as he shot a look at Tea.

'Duel Monsters eh?' said Hikari, her eyes sparkling 'I love that game!' she placed her textbooks on a nearby table and produced a small stack of cards from her pocket, 'Maybe you and I should duel sometime Yugi' she smiled.

'Sure! That sounds great' said Yugi as he rubbed the back of his spikey tri coloured hair. He'd known Hikari since they were kids, her father helping his grandfather on his archeological digs in Egypt, where they found his millennium puzzle. But when her father was deployed back to Cairo 6 years ago, her family had to move.

She only got back a few weeks ago, and the two resumed their friendship as if the break never happened. He was happy that all of his friends liked her too, she fit right into their little group perfectly.

'You play too, Hikari?' Joey asked his eyes lighting up.

'Mmhm' she nodded 'But maybe you should learn a bit more about the rules first Joey, while I was living on the base with my dad, there wasn't a lot to do apart from play Duel Monsters' she chuckled

'I could totally take ya!' he said standing up ready to accept a new challenge before the memory of his recent loss came back into his head 'I just need some better cards is all' he said looking back over his deck with concern.

'Maybe I could help with that' said Yugi. Joey perked up, waiting expectantly for him to explain 'My grandpa owns a game shop, so I always get to look at the best cards from him, maybe we should go there after school today, then you could get some more cards for you Joey'

'Yeah! That sounds great Yug!' he beamed. Joey was already running through possibilities in his mind thinking about what new cards to add to his deck.

'Great!' enthused Yugi 'We can all go! Maybe my Grandpa will even show us his super rare card'

Across the room, Seto Kaiba's attention was grabbed from the book he had buried himself into the avoid the droning from his classmates 'Rare card?' he thought, he eyes narrowing 'Maybe I should go check it out, it might be just what I need'

The group, not noticing Kaiba's newfound interest in their conversation started discussing various duelling strategies until the bell rang.

'C'mon guys! What are we waitin' for?' Joey said excitedly packing his things together 'Let's go check out that game shop!' he started jogging in the direction of the school doors.

The others couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm as he bounded away from them dragging Tristen by the sleeve.

'Coming Hikari?' Yugi said looking behind him as his purple eyes sparkled with the excitement of finally having his best friend back with him.

'Yeah! I just need to go put some of these books in my locker, go ahead, I'll be there in a sec!' she smiled at him

'Don't worry! Give me some of those' he said reaching for some of the books she had piled into her arms 'I'll help you'

Hikari smiled at Yugi, his kindness had never waivered even after all these years 'Thanks Yugi, let's go'

'Managed to finally solve that thing then?' Hikari asked, eyeing the puzzle around Yugi's neck.

'Yeah!' He said happily 'Took me a long time though!' he added

'I'm not surprised' she chuckled 'You were working on that before I even left for Cairo'

The pair finally met the rest of the group outside, Joey was already proclaiming to Tristan and Tea that he was going to go down as one of the best duelists in history, that nothing would stand in his way of becoming a champion.

'He's certainly enthusiastic, isn't he?' Hikari giggled to Yugi

Yugi just chuckled in agreement, as the friends walked down to the game shop.

'Hey, Gramps! I'm home' called Yugi as they walked through the door.

Solomon Muto was standing behind the counter of the shop 'So I see, and it appears you've brought company!' he said as he eyed the group of teenagers behind his grandson.

'Gramps, do you think you could show my friends your awesome super rare card?' asked Yugi, he eyes wide with excitement

'Hm?' said Solomon 'Rare card? My special card?' he asked surprised

'Please?' said Yugi, putting his hands together begging

'Please?' the rest of the group chimed in, smiling at the old man

Solomon thought about it for a moment and then laughed 'Oh, how can I say no!' fishing a small container from the counter, he retrieved the card from the box. 'Here it is!' he said proudly, holding up the card for the group to see 'The Blue Eyes White Dragon!'

'No way!' Hikari gasped from behind Yugi 'I never thought I'd ever see one in real life!'

'What's so special about it?' asked Tea as she leaned in for a closer view

'There's only four of them in the entire world' Hikari explained as her eyes were glued to the picture of the dragon on the card 'It's extremely powerful, and very difficult to beat'

'Speaking of powerful!' Joey piped up, breaking Hikari out of her staring contest with the card 'I'm ready to trade!' he said

Solomon pulled the card closer to him 'Not for this you're not!' he said protectively.

'Nah, not for that card' said Joey quickly putting his hands up, 'I meant some other cool cards to get me started'

'Oh, well in that case...' Solomon was cut off by the sound of the front door opening.

The group turned around and were greeted with the figure of Seto Kaiba standing at the doorway, the gang tensed at the sight of him. What was Seto Kaiba doing here?

Solomon was unfazed by the sudden change in atmosphere from his grandson's friends and chirply called 'Hello! Can I help you?'

A low throaty chuckle came from the boy 'If you can't, it certainly wouldn't surprise me' he said flatly as he walked over to the counter, a silver briefcase by his side.

Tristen scoffed 'Doesn't he have a big fancy company to run? What is he doing here?' he asked, crossing his arms.

'Not that it's any of your business, but I came to see the card'

'Hey, that's cool, you're into duel monsters too?' said Joey stepping forward 'Maybe we could all duel together sometime!'

'Me?' Kabia sneered 'Duel you? I'd have a better time playing solitaire'

'Wha-' Joey stammered at the sudden hostility from the CEO.

'I'm the number one ranked duelist in the country' he gloated looking at Joey with disdain 'and the favourite to win the duel monsters championship' he swept his eyes over the shop and landed back on Joey in front of him 'You wouldn't last two seconds in a duel against me' he said arrogantly.

What's this guys problem? Hikari thought looking him up and down He certainly doesn't look all that special.

Joey was fired up now 'Woah, I'm shakin' he said angrily 'Maybe you'd like to settle this with fists instead of cards!' holding up one of his hands as if to take a swing at Kaiba, who looked on with relative disinterest.

'Woah, Joey!' Yugi moved between the two 'Take it easy!' his hands going to Joey's chest to stop him from doing anything rash.

Kaiba was no longer paying attention, his eyes quickly moved to the open box on the counter, the card he'd been searching for, right in front of him after all these years. 'Can it be?!' he gasped, rushing over to the counter, pushing Yugi and Joey aside as he did so. Hikari caught Yugi's shoulders before he stumbled over. 'The Blue Eyes White Dragon!' he said in awe.

'Well' Solomon said, securing the card back in the box 'Enough window shopping, is there anything else I can help you with?' he said matter of factly, staring up at the boy.

Kaiba growled before slamming his briefcase on the counter, clicking it open 'Listen to me old man' he said sharply 'Give me your Blue Eyes White Dragon card and I'll trade you all of these'

In the briefcase must have been hundreds of rare and exotic duel monsters cards, Hikari glanced over, Cyber Dragon, Sacred Crane, Darklord Desire.. Where did he find cards like this? she thought. Her hand instinctively fluttered to her pocket where her own cards were secured.

'Ah nice!' said Solomon looking over the contents 'But no thank you' he said with a smile. Yugi and Joey gasped at the words.

'Fine' Kabia said swiftly shutting the case 'If you won't trade it, maybe you'll sell it!' retrieving his checkbook from his jacket 'Name your price, I can pay anything you ask' he waited expectantly.

Solomon just smiled 'I'm sure you could, but this card means more to me than you could ever offer' his voice growing gentle 'Not because of its power, or because its so rare, but because of what it means to me' Kabia's expression grew confused 'This card was given to me by a dear friend, and so I treasure this card as I do this friend, so parting with it is completely out of the question!' he ended harshly.

Kabia stood dumbstruck. How could he be refused? His eyes narrowed. 'Fine, I've heard enough of your nonsense' he growled 'Senile old fool' he spat as he left the shop, without what he came for.

The atmosphere was still tense for a beat until Tea broke it with a snort 'Ugh' she coughed 'I can't believe how much of an ass that guy is'

Hikari giggled in agreement 'You said it, Tea'

Solomon remained unfazed by the boy's harsh words and turned his attention back to his grandson and his friends 'So, Joey, what sort of cards did you want to look for?'

Joey's excitement came back as his anger dissipated, he hurriedly went over to the counter to view the cards on offer.

'Hey Hikari' said Yugi turning his attention from Joey, 'While Joey is looking for new cards, how about a duel?' he asked.

Hikari chuckled looking down at her friend 'Sure Yugi! But be warned, I'm not gonna go easy on you!'

'I wouldn't want it any other way!' he laughed as he sat down in a small booth the other side of the shop.

'Yugi dueling Hikari? This I gotta see!' Tristan said as he walked over to watch the match. Tea followed as Joey was still bombarding Solomon with questions about strategies and special monster effects. They were going to be some time.

'Alright Yugi, you ready?' asked Hikari as she finished shuffling her deck.

'You bet!'

'Lets Duel' they said together.

'Ladies first' he offered

Hikari giggled 'How gentlemanly of you' picking up a card from her deck.

She'd started off with a decent hard, two magic cards, two monster cards, and a trap card. 'Hm..' she hummed thinking about her strategy.

'I'll place this card face down, and summon Priestess of Alexandria, in attack mode [1200/800]. I'll end my turn' she said triumphantly.

'Woah!' said Yugi examining her card 'I've never seen a card like that before, where did you get it?' he asked.

Hikari chuckled 'When my dad was stationed in Cairo, there were a few other kids on the military base, they got me into duel monsters and showed me these kinds of cards. They're super popular in Egypt!' Hikari loved the uniqueness of her cards, they were based off of the lost library of Alexandria in Egypt, a place where her father provided security for a team of archaeologists as they combed the area for any sign of the structure. The other kids at the dig made friends with Hikari, showing her the duel monsters cards based around the legend, it wasn't long until she created a deck around them.

'Cool!' said Yugi looking back over his hand 'Doesn't mean I can't defeat it though!' he said grinning as he placed down his Gaia The Fierce Knight [2300/2100]

'Awh man' Hikari moaned as she sent her Priestess to the graveyard. She drew her next card and had to try and maintain her poker face.

'I summon Keeper of Alexandria!' she said placing down her card [1900/1500] Yugi looked quizzically at Hikari as she placed down a monster weaker than his knight 'And I activate this magic card, Ancient Texts, which adds another 500 attack and defence points to my monster [2400/2000], so you can wave goodbye to your knight Yugi!' she giggled.

'Wow Yugi!' said Joey as he looked over at the duel 'Hikari is wiping the floor wit' ya!'

Hikari gave Joey a thumbs up 'You bet I am!' she laughed and turned her attention back, as she did so, a crash came from the store room. Yugi got up and ran behind the counter 'Grandpa!' he called as he turned the corner and saw a mess of boxes. Solomon was on the floor after mishandling some stuff in the storeroom, Yugi turned back to Hikari 'Sorry Hikari, I've got to help Gramps, how about we pick up another time?' he said helping Solomon off the ground.

Hikari nodded as she put away her deck, 'No problem Yugi' she smiled as she glanced down at her watch 'I better get going anyway, my dad will be wondering where I am' she stood and headed for the door.

'Wait up!' said Tea, grabbing her bag, 'I'll come with you, I gotta head home too' she smiled and waved at the boys who were already moving the boxes back to their rightful place 'See ya tomorrow guys!'

'Bye!' Hikari threw over her shoulder as the pair exited the shop.

'So Hikari, I didn't know you were so good at Duel Monsters' exclaimed Tea as they walked down the street

Hikari chuckled 'I wouldn't say I'm good, but I can hold my own. As I said before, when my dad was deployed, there wasn't much else to do on the base, so it became a favorite hobby of mine' she shrugged.

'Well, I think you're great!' said Tea beaming at her friend. She'd not known Hikari for very long, but she had welcomed another girl into the circle with open arms, it was refreshing to not be surrounded by boys all the time, she needed a girlfriend.

'Thanks Tea! Anyway, I have to go, my dad is gonna worry!' Hikari said as she started walking away 'I'll see you later!' throwing a wave over her shoulder she continued home.

'Hey Dad' she called as she walked through the door.

'Hey Kiddo' he said as she looked up from the stack of papers in front of him ' How're tricks?'

'I went to Yugi's grandpa's game shop after school' she said smiling 'Get this dad, his grandpa has a blue eyes white dragon!'

'Woah, no way!' he smiled 'That's amazing! What else did you get up to?' as he started drifting back to his papers

'Well, Yugi and I started to have a duel, but there was a bit of a box fiasco, so we'll pick it up again soon' She headed over to the fridge to check the contents, and was bitterly disappointed.

'You forgot to go grocery shopping again, didn't you?' changing the subject her tone accusatory.

'Uhh..' he started 'Yeah, sorry kiddo' giving her a smile 'But hey, why don't we order some takeout?'

Hikari chuckled, she couldn't blame her dad, he was still the same military man she always knew, cropped brown hair, tall and broad physique. He was so used to ration packs and group canteen dinners, he's pretty much forgotten how to function outside the base. But after his injury a year ago, he was transferred out of Cairo and back into Domino, behind a desk. She knew he wasn't as happy as he used to be, but he tried hard.

'Sure Dad, whatever you want' she smiled as she reached for the takeout menu drawer in the kitchen.

Hikari fell into bed, exhausted What a day she thought as she curled into her duvet and drifted to sleep.

The shrill ring of her phone woke Hikari up with a start, she fumbled around the top of her nightstand until her hands made contact with the source of the noise. Not bothering to check the caller ID she answered.

'Hello?' she said sleepily, eyes still not open

'Hikari! It's me! Something awful has happened!' Yugi wailed on the other end, clearly distressed.

'Yugi?' asked Hikari, a bit more awake now 'What happened? What's going on?'

'Kaiba took my grandpa, he's in trouble!'

'It's okay Yugi, I'll meet you at the shop in 10 minutes, we'll get your gramps back!' Hikari was out of bed now, trying to find something to wear.

'Thanks Hikari, I'll see you soon' Yugi hung up.

Hikari's head was spinning, Why would Kabia take Yugi's grandpa? Then it hit her 'The Blue Eyes..' she whispered to herself, he was obviously still bitter that he couldn't get his hands on it yesterday.

Throwing on a pair of black skinny jeans and a white tank, she grabbed her dad's old army jacket and headed out of the door.

'Hey guys!' she called as she neared the game shop, Joey, Tristan and Tea were already standing outside with Yugi.

'Hey Hikari' Joey said as she joined them 'Yug says that slimeball Kabia has his gramps at his company building downtown'

'What are we waiting for?' asked Tristan 'Let's go!'

The group reached the Kaiba building a short time later, as they stepped off the elevator they saw Solomon on the floor, obviously looking weak.

'Grandpa!' exclaimed Yugi, running over to him. 'What happened? Are you okay?' asked Yugi looking over Solomon for any sign of serious injury.

'Yugi!' he answered, his voice shaking slightly 'I tried to teach Kabia a lesson about the heart of the cards, but I lost' he groaned in pain.

'How's the old man doing?' Kabia asked appearing in the far doorway, looking over at Yugi.

'Kaiba you sleaze!' shouted Joey 'What have you done to him?' raising his fist.

'We had a duel, that's all' he replied innocently 'With each of us putting up our most valuable card as the prize, but I guess playing against a champion like myself was just too much for the old fool' he shrugged, obviously unfazed by what he's done.

'Kaiba!' yelled Tea from across the room 'You should be ashamed of yourself!'

'It was fair' he said cooly, ignoring Tea's outburst 'and look at the sweet prize I won' holding up the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Hikari gasped seeing the card, but just as she took a step to retrieve it, he tore the card into two, stopping her dead in her tracks. The group gasped 'Grandpa's most treasured card!' said Yugi in disbelief.

'Now it can never be used against me' Kabia said, throwing the pieces to his side.

'Yugi, here. Take this' Solomon turned to his grandson and held out his deck to him 'Take my deck Yugi, I put my heart and soul into these cards, and taught you everything I know! Take them and teach Kabia a lesson, about the heart of the cards Yugi!' Solomon said, suddenly intense. Yugi stared at the cards in mild disbelief.

'But Grandpa, I have to get you to a doctor!' said Yugi worriedly

Kabia stepped forward, he expression amused 'Sounds like an excuse, Yugi, your friends can care for your grandpa, while you and I duel'

'Take him Yugi!' Joey said behind him

'Yeah, teach this creep a lesson!' added Tristan

'Don't worry Yugi, we'll look after your Grandpa' added Tea, looking down at her friend.

'We know you can do this!' Hikari said nodding in encouragement.

Yugi's eyes suddenly became intense and focused, he turned around 'Okay Grandpa, I'll duel using your deck, and I'll teach Kaiba what the heart of the cards is all about!' taking the cards out of his Grandpa's hands, determination etched onto his face.

Tea fished around in her bag for a moment 'Everyone, come here. I'll mark us with a special sign' she drew a smiley face across the 5 hands in front of her 'There, now no matter how far apart we are, we'll always be together. No matter how tough is gets' she nodded.

'Hey Tea, that's great!' Hikari said as she examined the marks on her hand.

'C'mon guys, let's get Yugi's grandpa out of here!' said Tristan, leaning over to pick up Solomon from the floor.

'You guys go ahead' Hikari said quietly 'I'll stay here to cheer Yugi on!'

The three nodded as they left for the hospital.

'Thanks Hikari' Yugi said looking over at his friend

'No problem Yugi' she smiled 'You're gonna teach this creep a lesson!'

Kaiba was stood silently throughout the exchange, when Yugi turned his attention over to him he gestured into the room behind him 'Right this way, Yugi' as he walked.

Hikari stepped into the room, and greeted with a large dueling stadium, she looked in awe at the size of the thing, wondering how they were possibly going to duel so far away from each other. Her mind went back to the tabletop duel she had started with Yugi yesterday as she compared the scale of the two.

'I designed this virtual stadium myself' Kabia said as his platform moved forwards 'Impressive eh?' he continued without a pause for confirmation 'We each begin with 2000 life points, the first player to hit zero loses!' Kabia looked over at his opponent 'Are you ready to play, runt?' he spat.

Hikari gritted her teeth.

'Playtime is over!' Yugi shouted from across the stadium 'Now Kabia! Prepare yourself because it's time to duel!' Hikari looked over at Yugi, something's changed she thought. Yugi's voice just dropped an octave or two, he appeared taller, more confident. His purple eyes burned with an intensity that Hikari had never seen in her friend. She was taken aback by the sudden change in her friend, seemingly so was Kabia, who looked at Yugi with shock.

Kabia shrugged off his intrusive thought 'Virtual systems ready' he said checking over the stadium. 'I'll start off with the powerful Hitotsu-Me Giant! [1200/800] Kabia placed the card on the grid in front of him.

Hikari gasped as the card materialized in front of Kabia, the giant roared at Yugi as he looked on shocked.

'Thanks to my virtual technology, the monsters in our decks become lifelike holograms. You've never dueled like this before, Yugi!' Kabia declared.

Yugi let out a tense sound before drawing a card. 'It's my move Kaiba! And I summon Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress' placing his card down [1400/1200]. The card appeared before Yugi, larger than life.

Hikari was tense, this is unlike any duel she'd ever seen before. She held a silent concern about Yugi's safety, even though these monsters were holograms, they looked dangerous. She shook her head to clear away the thoughts 'You can do it Yugi!' she yelled from the sidelines.

'Fireball Attack!' he yelled, as the dragon obeyed breathing fire from its mouth, destroying Kabia's monster in a single move, Kaiba shielded himself from the gust of the attack letting out a groan as his monster shattered, his life points dropped down to 1800.

'Big Brother!' a voice called from the opposite side of the arena 'Are you alright?!'

Hikari looked over at the small boy running into the room, his shaggy black hair making up most of his height, he looked over at Kabia, his eyes full of concern.

Kabia composed himself 'I'm fine Mokuba' he growled as he drew his next card.

Hikari looked on at the duel as it unfolded, it was so evenly matched it was difficult to tell who had the upper hand.

Yugi stood confidently at the end of the arena 'It's your move, Kaiba' he said as his opponent drew his next card. His eyes went over to his new card, and he smirked. Hikari felt her stomach drop.

'This will be over sooner than you think, Yugi! I call upon the mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon!' placing the card down, the creature took form. Hikari couldn't believe what she was seeing, the massive dragon rose from the ground and roared into the sky beating its wings before placing its gaze upon Yugi's monster with its piercing blue stare.

'How is that possible?!' Hikari directed at Kaiba 'You just tore that card to pieces, we saw it!'

'Surprised?' asked Kaiba, nonchalantly 'Did you think your Grandpa was the only person to possess a Blue Eyes White Dragon?' The dragon roared again, bearing its teeth 'Now, Blue Eyes, attack his monster, White Lightning Attack!' he commanded. The ball of electricity flew from the mouth of the dragon and collided with Yugi's monster, destroying it instantly.

Hikari's stomach dropped even further, How is Yugi going to get past this? She thought, biting her lip. Her worries were not eased as Kaiba went on to summon a further two Blue Eyes. 'No way!' she yelled in disbelief 'You own the other three Blue-Eyes White Dragons?!' looking at the trio. This was bad news.

'Its over Yugi' Kaiba yelled 'Draw your last pathetic card'

'My grandfather's deck has no pathetic cards Kaiba' he said as he picked up the next card 'But it does have, the unstoppable Exodia!' he turned the card in his hand around to show the face of the monster.

'Impossible' Hikari breathed. She'd only ever heard rumors about Exodia, she never thought it actually existed, let alone see it. Yugi placed the five cards down on the field, the creature coming forth from the magic circle that encased it.

'Exodia?' Kaiba stammered 'It's not possible, nobody has ever been able to summon him!' he took a step back, his heels reaching the edge of the platform as the monster towered over his trio of Dragons.

'Exodia' Yugi declared 'Obliterate!'

The light that came from Exodia was blinding, the vibrations shook the entire stadium as Kaiba held on to the side of his platform to avoid being sent over the edge from the shockwave, the scream that came from him was deafening.

By the time Hikari blinked the light from her eyes, Yugi's platform was already descending back to the floor.

'Yugi! You did it! I knew you could do it!' she cheered as she ran over to her friend embracing him. 'Kabia will think twice before messing with you again!' she gave him a thumbs up as he rubbed the back of his head.

'I just believed in the heart of the cards, I can accomplish anything when I have my deck with me' he said holding up his cards. His expression suddenly turned worried 'C'mon Hikari, we have to go see Grandpa!' he began running towards the elevator. Hikari following behind him.

She smiled to herself slightly, it felt good to be home.