Note: Well, things are going slow for me and my Plasmashock fic. It's gets so hard to think up the plot after all. Anyway, while I was working on that, I was inspired by a friend, BlackRoseDragonCK, to write a brand new fanfic! And this is what I came up! The storyline is based on the movie, "The Great Muppet Caper", but I added some twists and turns and changed up some of the plot to fit the characters. This one has Polarshipping, some Blueshipping, and of course, some Revolutionshipping in honor of BlackRoseDragonCK! In any case, I hope you'll enjoy the story as much as I enjoy making it. I took the plot of "The Great Muppet Caper" and put it on its ear... so come right in, we're gonna start right here!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh! Nor do I own the plot of "The Great Muppet Caper"! And you know what? I'M GLAD I DON'T!

The Great Duel Monster Caper

Prologue

A bright sunny day… A perfect day to go on a balloon ride. Such was the case of a certain pair of magicians, riding in one such hot air balloon that is patterned with shades of violet.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" A young man, Mahaad, stated. He had long straight hair in a dark shade of violet, and blue-green eyes. He wore a simple white T-shirt, and over that, a flowing button shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He also had on some blue jeans and a pair of tennis shoes. He and his companion had to wear casual clothes instead of the usual armor and robes, all the better to blend in with the public.

The companion was a girl, Mana by name, with green eyes and blonde hair styled to make it look like it was floating in water. She had a T-shirt with a Hello Kitty icon on the front. She also had a short skirt, long stockings and cute black shoes. She looked from the basket nervously. "Master…?"

"Yes?"

"…I'm scared. What if we drift off to sea, never to be seen or heard from again? Or—Or what if a thunderstorm comes up and we get struck by lightning?"

"Mana, there's nothing to be afraid of." Mahaad reassured. "Besides, the sky is clear; there's nothing but rays of sunshine. And besides, we have an excellent view of our destination."

"Destination?" Mana asked, curious, "What destination?" There was no need for words, for the disguised Dark Magician pointed downward. There, as far as the eye can see, was a bird's eye view of a very famous city. "Wow!" Mana gasped in amazement.

"There it is!" Mahaad stated, "Tokyo!"

"It looks fantastic!" Mana noted. "I guess you're right! There's nothing to be afraid of!" The disguised Dark Magician Girl paused for a moment.

"What's the matter?" Mahaad asked.

"Um… my ears feel like they're popping." Mana answered, "Is that normal in high altitudes like this?"

"Yes Mana."

She looked down again. "It's so high up… I heard that there are people who like to jump out and plummet through the sky in a free-fall."

"It's called skydiving."

"Really? Oh… They don't black out when they land, do they?"

"Of course not. They always make sure they land safely." Mahaad leaned over the edge of the basket to look down. "But of course, skydiving doesn't have much to do with the story I'm going to tell you."

"A story?" Mana piped up.

"That's right." Mahaad replied, climbing back inside, "And this city is the starting point, the beginning. And I'll do more than just tell you about it, we'll get to witness it as it happens!"

"Awesome!" Mana gasped in excitement, "How far are we from Tokyo?"

"We're right over it."

"Okay!" Mana stated cheerfully and began tugging on the rope hanging above them in the balloon.

"MANA, WAIT!" Mahaad shouted in shock. But it was too late. Mana had pulled hard, and the balloon was quickly loosing its hot air. It started falling soon after, and the magicians started screaming.

"EEEEEK! WE'RE GOING DOWN!" Mana screamed. As fate would have it, the balloon was plummeting right in the middle of a street in Tokyo.

"HEADS UP BELOW!" Mahaad shouted in warning through a megaphone. The crowd below them took heed, and rushed out of the way, just in time for the now-deflated hot air balloon to make an impact on the sidewalk and covered its passengers. As the people watched the spectacle, Mahaad barked at his pupil in frustration. "Would it kill you to land this thing in an open space, and NOT in the middle of the street?"

Sheepishly, Mana climbed out from under the deflated balloon. "Sorry Master. I wasn't thinking."

Her master climbed out after her. "Never mind about that, we're here either way. Follow me." And follow she did. The crowd moved on with their daily lives, and once again Mana grew excited.

"Master," she asked, "What's this story about? It must be very exciting!"

"It's more than that." Mahaad replied with a playful smirk. "It's got action, adventure, some mystery, a pinch of comedy, and a sweet slice of romance! Mana, this story is bound to knock your socks off!" Suddenly as they were crossing the street, a car came out of nowhere, and at the same time a man ran in front of them with a box full of Scapegoats. The resulting crash came so quickly that Mana had no time to react. Although she managed to avoid the crash, she stepped on one of the escaped scapegoats and lost her footing, thereby flipping over the now-destroyed box and landing on her rear. "Mana!" Mahaad shouted in concern.

The Dark Magician Girl sat up, rubbing her back. "I'm fine. I just landed on my bum." Of course, all that commotion caused a bit of a traffic jam. All the people in the cars yelled angrily and honked their horns, once again attracting the attention of the crowd.

"Hey!" One man shouted, rushing and panting toward the scene as Mahaad lifted his pupil to her feet and out of the way. He had spiky black hair held up by a headband decorated with cresting waves, a short light blue kimono and a pair of sandals. "Ryouta Kajiki is here to help!" the man Ryouta shouted. He never got a chance… he fell right into a manhole with a very surprised yelp. All the while the noise got louder and louder until…

"SHUT UP!" Mahaad bellowed. The whole crowd turned and stared at him in bewilderment, growing silent. Satisfied, the Dark Magician turned around and walked with his apprentice again. "Okay, now where was I? Oh yes! This story is about a set of identical twins, one Atem and Yugi Mutou, both of whom are overachievers. Together with their friends, Jonouchi Katsuya and Honda Hiroto, they work as underpaid investigative reporters in the Tokyo Nendaiki blog and newspaper." The magicians let out a scream, barely dodging yet another incoming car. Nevertheless, Mana could barely contain her excitement.

"Oh wow!" she stated, "I can't wait to meet them in person!"

"Me neither!" Mahaad replied, "In fact, we don't have to wait! Here they are now!" He pointed beyond them and Mana turned toward that direction, the scene shifted to four young men.

One had sandy blonde hair that appeared rather messy and hazel-brown eyes. He wore a short jacket over a white T-shirt, gray jeans and brown shoes.

The second had brown hair shaped like a unicorn's horn in the front. He had a brown leather jacket over a pale yellow T-shirt, dark blue jeans and plain black boots. His hazel eyes glared at the old fashioned camera he held in his hands.

And then, there's the twins themselves. They each had a gracefully thin builds, and they each had spiky black hair lined with crimson edges, and golden bangs shaped like lightning framing their handsome faces. Both wore black tank tops and blue jackets, studded black collars, blue denim pants held up by studded belts, and studded black boots. The crimson eyes of the younger twin were a little wide, hinting a bit of innocence, while those of the elder twin had a sharper edge to it.

The Dark Magician and his apprentice slipped into the background. "This is where the story begins." Mahaad stated.

"All right guys, you know the drill." The younger twin reminded his friends, "We need to find a great story to post in the newspaper AND in the blog."

"I'm on top of it Yugi!" replied the sandy blonde, "Although from the looks of things it seems pretty peaceful to me."

Little did he realize that things were about to get a lot less peaceful. A figure in a brown trenchcoat paused as the four friends passed by. He removed his sunglasses, long spiky white hair billowing from under a fedora, blue eyes scanning for his target. He sported a wicket smirk, and walked toward a building on the other side of the street. Ryouta climbed out of the manhole then, only to have his fingers stepped on by the suspicious figure. The fisherman in the manhole yelped in pain, then proceeded to stick his whole hand into his mouth.

"Peaceful as it may be Jonouchi," the elder twin explained seriously, "We still need to stay alert. You never know when something disturbing might happen."

"C'MON WILL YA?" the young man with unicorn hair suddenly yelled, smacking the side of the camera he was holding. The elder twin turned to face him.

"Honda… what the hell are you doing?"

"It's that stupid camera, Atem!" replied the young man, Honda, "All I ask for is a state-of-the-arts digital camera that would make our job much easier, but our boss just had to give us this old fashioned, outdated paparazzi camera with a flash bulb!"

"Well you know our boss better than he knows himself!" replied the sandy blonde, Jonouchi. "And if we just stand here worrying about that thing, we might miss out on a great story and you know how mad he's gonna get if we miss out!"

"That's right Honda," added the younger twin, Yugi, "Quit messing around!"

"At least let me test it out on those Scapegoats," Honda stated in frustration as one Scapegoat wobbled in front of him. "It's so outdated, I don't even know if it works anymore!"

"We don't have time for this!" the elder twin, Atem, murmured in equal frustration.

Right behind them, that was when the suspicious figure sprang into action. Donning a gas mask with a built-in voice-altering machine, he dashed toward a rich and fashionable lady and her entourage. They all stood in their tracks the moment he took something out: a large pistol. "This is a stick up! Nobody move!" And to prove it, he shot one unsuspecting bodyguard on the leg and slammed the weapon on the head on another, knocking him cold. He then grabbed the lady by the neckline of her expensive dress, clutching a bejeweled necklace in the process. "These baubles belong to me now! Hand them over!"

"NO! DON'T! HELP! HELP!" screamed the lady, "LET GO OF ME, PLEASE!"

Yugi and Atem spun around just in time to see the crime in progress. "GIMME THAT CAMERA!" Yugi shouted, snagging the camera right out of Honda's hands.

"HEY!" Honda exclaimed incredulously, "I haven't tested it yet!"

But Yugi wasn't paying attention to his friend's complaints. He prepared the lens and aimed right in front of him.

"HELP ME!" the lady screamed in horror.

"Shut up bitch!" the thief barked, and then aimed his pistol at her forehead. "In fact, shut up permanently!" And then he pulled the trigger. The poor woman was silenced instantly, blood spattering everywhere from a fatal wound. The murderous thief yanked the jewels from her neck as she fell lifelessly to the ground, and then shot her two more times in the head.

"MYSTIQUE HAS BEEN SHOT!" screamed someone from the crowd. The bystanders were so terrified of what they had witnessed that they did nothing as the murderous thief fled to a getaway car and started driving away with his ill-gotten gain. As they passed by the young reporters, Atem, in a determined rage, sped toward the car.

"ATEM!" Yugi exclaimed in shock, and before he even got a chance to stop his brother, Atem leapt high, landing himself on the very back of the getaway car and hanging on tight. The murderous thief spun around and glared from behind the mask, incensed that an unexpected 'passenger' was hanging on for dear life on the back of his car, trying to be a hero. Atem could only get a glimpse at the blue eyes staring menacingly at him before the thief suddenly spun the wheel. The car swerved to the left, then to the right. Already the elder twin was beginning to slip. When the car swerved to the left again, he lost his grip completely. Screaming, he flew off the car and crashed onto the ground. The murderous thief then stepped hard on the pedal and sped away before anything else would try to interfere.

"ATEM!" Jonouchi shouted as he and the others rushed over. "You all right buddy?" Atem sat up, bruised but otherwise unharmed. But he was gritting his teeth. He was very furious now… but this time at himself.

"DAMN IT!" he bellowed, slamming a fist into the ground. "We lost them!"

"Not quite." Yugi replied with a smirk. Atem spun around in confusion, and in response the younger twin lifted up the old camera. "It seems this old thing is still working after all!"

Realizing exactly what he meant, Atem smiled.

Note: Now here's the first of the many twists that make this fic so different! I didn't want it to be just mere thievery after all! In any case, the stage is set! Our story goes into full swing in the next chapter! And as I always say, Until Next Time!