Underdogs and Trainees

It didn't take long for the helicopter to reach the amusement park. Looking out the window, Yugi and his friends were amazed to see all the different rides and stands. "It's huge," Joey said in amazement. He was sighing so much that the window was fogging up.

Rebecca faces Mokuba and asks him, "You wouldn't happen to have a tunnel of love, would you?"

He faces her and replies, "Well, we've got plenty of rides built for two." That was enough to make Rebecca squeal. Not only would Mokuba get to show her around the theme park, but he would also get to ride with her.

Kaiba brought his friends to the gate and was ready to give them the grand tour. "I thought you said the park wasn't open yet," Emily said, seeing families everywhere and children riding and playing games.

"It isn't. These are special guests," Kaiba tells her. He turns around and grins. "Oh, and did I mention every ride is free until opening day?"

Joey and Tristan were excited to hear that. They wanted to try all the extreme rides like the roller coasters. Téa and Emily couldn't stand to see that they weren't going to control their enthusiasm anymore. They even complained that they needed more female friends.

Then the group heard some familiar voices. "Hey, Yugi! Guys!" Yugi and the others looked and saw the three rivals they once fought against to save the world: Rafael, Alister, and Valon. Alister was wearing a blue sweater with a beige vest and navy blue jeans, Valon was wearing a white t-shirt with a red jacket and jeans, Rafael appeared more casual with black pants, a black shirt and a purple leather jacket.

"Hey, fancy meeting you guys here," said Joey.

"Well, we heard about the opening of KaibaLand and figured it'd be fun to check out," said Valon. After Dartz was defeated, the three bikers decided to start over and begin new lives for themselves. They've been wandering around for some time until they heard about the opening of Kaiba's theme park and that he was also hosting a new tournament.

"It's sure nice to see you all again," said Emily.

Valon agreed. "We missed you blokes."

Rafael puts his arms over Emily and starts hugging her. "I missed you the most." Yugi didn't like what he was seeing. Joey and Tristan and Duke watched nervously. Sure enough, Rafael's crush on Emily had not faded.

"Umm, thanks, I think," Emily groaned. "Can you let go now, please? That kind of hurts." Rafael eases his grip and lets her go. He had to remember to take it easy. It kind of made some of the people passing by think that Rafael was one of those jolly relatives smothering his distant relative because he was more than twice Emily's size.

They say 'the more, the merrier,' so Kaiba said it was all right for the three bikers to come along. The trio was actually hoping to meet up with the gang anyway. They hoped that since they were no longer enemies, perhaps they could start over and be friends. Joey already liked the sound of that matter. He and Valon decided to let bygones be bygones and agreed that they could be friends. Alister learned the truth about what happened to his family and quickly settled his affairs with Kaiba and apologized for what he put him through. The brunette easily forgave the redhead. The past was behind the both of them and they could start over as friends. Yugi wanted to be friends with Rafael, but he couldn't help but feel jealous for his crush on Emily. But he hoped the jealousy wouldn't last and Rafael would soon get over his crush. Yami assured Yugi that things would be all right and Rafael was a good person. He believed that he wouldn't do anything reckless. Rafael wanted to be friends with Yugi too, but he wouldn't give up on trying to win Emily's heart.

The last site of the tour was the duel dome. It was a stadium with a single dueling arena called the KC Duel Tech 760. Right now, the arena was open to duelists who wanted to have practice matches. Kids were lining up for a chance to try out the decks they constructed. "This is our state-of-the-art Duel Monsters platform," said Mokuba.

An adolescent named Luke was having a practice duel against the opposing computer. His reptilian beast attacked Blade Knight. The computer activated a magic card called Scapegoat, which confused Luke because the computer still had Battle Ox in play and had more life points. But Kaiba and Mokuba knew what was going on, so they told their friends to watch. For its next move, the computer revealed the trap DNA Surgery, turning every monster on the field into a dragon-type monster. Next, it activated Polymerization, merging Battle Ox and the four lamb tokens together to form Five-Headed Dragon.

"Poor Luke," said Emily. "Nothing can beat that monster."

Kaiba shakes his head. "Not a chance. The dueling robot was programmed to mimic the strategies of the greatest duelists in the world. Its deck is programmed to be constructed in the same way of every duelist we have information on. We've imported my deck and Yugi's too."

"But what fun is it to play against a computer that always wins?" Alister asked.

"We thought about that," said Mokuba, "so we let players choose from one of five levels ranging from beginner to expert."

"What an awesome way for kids to practice dueling and improve their skills," said Emily. "If Luke keeps practicing, he'll be a winner in no time."

Kaiba faces Emily and suggests, "Briar, do you want to have a few practice rounds before the tournament? It might help you feel prepared."

"Yeah, thanks! I'll go right after Luke."

Luke left the arena, but he wasn't too upset that he lost. He played well; he just set the level a little too high. Soon some of the kids took notice of Yugi and Rebecca and began asking for autographs. Joey asked if anyone wanted his autograph too, but none of them seemed to recognize him. Kaiba was more than happy to give a few autographs himself.

One boy with red violet hair and amber eyes named Leon was ecstatic to see Yugi. "I can't believe it's you! I've been a fan of yours since Duelist Kingdom!" Flattered to hear that, Yugi shakes Leon's hand.

Another boy named Rick managed to get to the center of the crowd. He asked Yugi to take a look at his deck and help him. "No matter what I do, I can't seem to win a duel."

As Yugi looked through Rick's cards, he saw the problem right away. "There's nothing but Dragons."

Rick nods. "Dragons are my favorite. I traded all my magic and trap cards to get the best ones."

Kaiba liked hearing that someone else was passionate about Dragons, but he had to be honest. "Dragons are impressive and totally awesome, but you'll never win with a deck like this." With such a smart attitude, Kaiba's element should have been honesty. That was what Joey thought.

But Yugi said differently. "It's obvious you value your cards, and that respect is going to take you far. But you also need to balance your deck with magic and trap cards." Joey agreed. That was one of the first lessons he learned when he started dueling. Yugi reaches into his pocket and gives Rick a magic card called Heart of the Underdog. "It reminds me of a good friend and I'd like you to have it."

Excited, Rick decides to see what the card can do by dueling the computer. He went to the arena and decided to fight at level two. Though Emily said she wanted to have a chance to duel, she decided to watch Rick. Everything was set, but before the duel could begin, the lights in the stadium suddenly went out. Mokuba went to the arena to try to investigate the problem. Either the power went out or there was a glitch in the system. But Kaiba claimed that the company had the best antiviral software and backup systems.

The arena rebooted and was running again. But all the exits began to seal themselves. "It's not responding," Mokuba said as he was trying to run the controls. "I've lost control."

"Let me see, Mokuba," Rebecca said and connected her laptop to the hardware. "According to this analysis, your computerized card shark is being controlled by an outside party. But we're not dealing with any ordinary hacker. This is a high-in job!"

"Who would do this?" Mokuba asked. "It's just a theme park attraction!"

Alister had an assumption. "My guess is that they're using it to get something that they want from you."

"What makes them think it's going to work?" Mokuba asked.

"Because they have our attention," his brother answered. "And I'm afraid there's only one solution to this. The only way to stop the computer is to defeat it in a duel."

But Rick wouldn't have a chance. He was just a beginner and the worst part was the computer set itself to the highest level. It made the first move by summoning Berserk Gorilla, a beast with 2000 attack points. It also played a card face down, ending its turn.

Emily decided not to wait around anymore. Rick was scared and didn't know what to do, so she climbed up to the platform. "Rick, would it be all right if I dueled in your place?"

"Um, sure," he replied.

"Thanks. I promise I'll do my best. Believe in me and in your cards because I do too." She had to duel using Rick's deck because they were on the playing field. Besides, this would make a good practice duel. She was familiar with the cards she saw in his deck, but she needed to unlock the power of the card Yugi gave him.

"Go, Emily," Yugi cheered.

"We're all behind you," Rafael encouraged.

"I hope Emily will be okay," Alister sighed. "Actually, I'm more worried about who's controlling your computer."

Kaiba agrees. "We do have a lot of dangerous enemies."

"Still," Valon was saying. "Who'd be crazy enough to hack into a system and trap all these innocent kiddies?"

All of the children started crying, saying they wanted their parents to come to their rescue. Téa helped calm them down by assuring them that everything would be all right.

Emily appreciated everyone's encouragement, but with Rick's deck of Dragons against a machine opponent, this wouldn't be easy. But she had to believe in the cards because Rick believed in them as well. That was why he constructed his deck this way. For now, she summoned Petite Dragon in defense mode. The computer played Cost Down to lower the level of the monsters in its hand by two; allowing it to summon Airknight Parshath. Its hidden trap was revealed to be Robbin' Goblin. Now every time damage would be dealt to Emily's life points, she would lose a card from her hand. Though Petite Dragon was in defense mode, Emily still lost life points because of Airknight Parshath's special ability, causing her to lose 1200 life points and forcing her to send one card to the graveyard. The computer was also allowed to draw one card. Berserk Gorilla dealt 2000 points of damage and Emily was forced to discard another card from her hand.

Rick was starting to feel like this was his fault. "If it weren't for my Dragon deck, you would be winning."

Emily turns around and smiles in a reassuring way. "Be patient. Your deck is strong. You put your heart into it and you're supporting me through your cards."

"So there's still a chance that we may win?"

She nods. In order to unlock the power of Rick's deck, I need to draw the card Yugi gave him. She places her fingertips on the top of the deck and draws her card. To her surprise, it's a magic card called Dragon Treasure. This gives her an idea. She summons Luster Dragon in attack mode. It had only 1900 attack points, but when equipped with Dragon Treasure, it became 300 attack and defense points stronger. Luster Dragon's Breath of Fire incinerated Airknight Parshath and dealt 300 points of damage to the computer.

The computer recovered the Sinister Serpent it discarded last turn when it had a full hand. Next, it summoned Slate Warrior and sent it to attack Luster Dragon. It costed the computer 300 life points, but the monster responsible for destroying Slate Warrior would lose 500 attack and defense points. Now Luster Dragon was vulnerable to attack. Berserk Gorilla attacked Luster Dragon and Emily lost 300 life points, dropping her down to 500 life points and causing her to discard another card.

There was nothing left to do but wait. To protect her life points. Emily summoned the Dragon Dwelling in the Cave in defense mode. It had 2000 defense points and she hoped it would be enough to protect her. The computer sacrificed Berserk Gorilla to summon Jinzo. Now all trap cards were useless even to the cardholder. So Robbin' Goblin was sent to the graveyard. After that, Jinzo attacked the Dragon with Cyber Energy Shock.

This was Emily's last chance to turn things around. She believed in Rick's cards and her belief came through as she drew Heart of the Underdog. She summons Baby Dragon in defense mode and plays the magic card.

"I don't get it," said Joey. "What's that Underdog card?"

All of his friends around him started snickering. "If anyone should know, it should be you," Kaiba smartly stated, trying to hold back his snickering.

"Way to go, Emily," Yugi cheered.

The computer makes its move by summoning Sinister Serpent in attack mode. Before attacking with the Serpent, Jinzo destroys Baby Dragon. Finally, the Serpent deals 300 points of damage to Emily's life points. Emily draws her card. "I summon Spirit Ryu in attack mode. Next, I activate the magic of Heart of the Underdog. Now I can draw a card from my deck and if it's a monster card, then I can draw again and the cycle continues." So she drew from her deck and got Curse of Dragon, Koumori Dragon, Winged Dragon and Guardian of the Fortress, Crawling Dragon, Blackland Fire Dragon, and Hyozanryu. "Spirit Ryu gains 1000 attack points for every Dragon I send from my hand to the graveyard and I count six. Now my Spirit Ryu has 7000 attack points. Now, my Spirit, destroy Jinzo with Sonic Flash attack!"

And with that, the duel came to an end. The lights were back on and the exits were unlocked. Everyone was free. "You were awesome," Rick said to Emily. "Thanks a lot."

She shakes her head. "In the end, it was your deck that came through for us. You believed in your cards, Rick, and that belief will take you far." Soon all of Rick's friends surrounded him, telling him what an awesome deck he had and wanting to trade their cards for some of his Dragons.

Kaiba admitted he was impressed. This proved to him that Emily did have what it would take to compete in the Grand Championship. "Nicely done, Briar. Now I know you'll do great in the tournament."

"You mean it? Thanks!" Emily was happy to hear him complement her. But she decided to have a few more practice duels.

He smiles and nods. "Look, guys, I got to head back and figure out what caused this mess. I'll meet you at the main hall where I'll be announcing the start of the tournament. Don't be late for registration or you'll be disqualified."

"We'll be there," Yugi promises, and Kaiba heads out.

Joey pulls Yugi close to him. "About that Underdog card, you said it reminded you of someone. Who, exactly?" When Yugi didn't answer, Joey pressed further and said, "Everyone seems to think the card reminds you of me."

"They do, huh?" Yugi sheepishly asked. "Well, let me think of how to put this. That card reminds me of you, Joey, because even when the odds are against you, you always pull through." So Joey managed to settle down because something good came from it. But everyone else was still having a few laughs about it.