A purple-haired woman was sitting in her seat of a private jet, smiling over her recent success in getting another deal made for the sake of the Leo Corporation.
"Please unbuckle yoIt ur seatbelts and fold down your tray tables. We'll be landing shortly-," The pilot said, before correcting himself in embarrassment. "I mean, do the opposite. Sorry, first day."
"Congratulations on the successful negotiations, Madame Chairwoman," Claude said as Mrs. Akaba was riding back home in a limo.
"Thank you, Claude. It seems that everything is going according to plan so far," Henrietta accepted the praise. "And what a plan it is, to grow the Leo Institute to new heights. Oh, it will be grand. Very soon with the help of the Leo Institute dueling will touch every part of the globe… It will become an entire way of life."
"Yes, your hard work is starting to show and the President is pleased with the results, but…," Claude said.
Suddenly, Henrietta Akaba's smile was replaced with a frown. "But what?"
"While you were gone, Madame Chairwoman, there were some, shall we say, intriguing developments here. Developments that all seem to stem from something called Pendulum Summoning."
"Pendulum?"
Back in the Leo Institute's headquarters…
"Welcome back, Mother," Declan greeted his mom, the Chairwoman.
"Ah, Declan. Have you heard of a new summoning method? From what I hear, it's unlike Fusion, Synchro or Xyz summoning. From what I hear, it's unlike anything that the world has ever seen before," Henrietta said.
"Yes, Mother… It's true. I think you'd better sit down…," Declan confessed as he used a remote to bring up a monitor from a ceiling. "These bits of footage we've compiled tell the whole story." Declan showed his mother the footage of Yuya Sakaki Pendulum Summoning for the first time along with the confusion of the Leo Corp employees when they discovered the Pendulum energy being used.
"How can this be?" Henrietta asked.
"By way of a new type of card known quite aptly as a Pendulum card. As you saw, by utilizing two of them, you can summon numerous high level monsters. It's a powerful technique," Declan admitted.
Henrietta got over her shock and demanded, "These cards. Where'd they come from?"
"We have our best people looking into that as we speak. So far, they haven't been able to find anything. But I found a lead that is quite promising, and I think you will feel the same way, dear Mother," Declan explained.
"I'm intrigued. Please, go on."
"It's in regard to the duelist who first used these cards," Declan continued as he placed Yuya's profile and duel record on the screen. "His name is Yuya Sakaki. He's a 14 year-old who attends a cut rate duel school known as You Show. He's in the Junior Arc League and his duel record is 46 matches with 26 wins and 20 losses. Not only that, but a friend of his also has been able to learn to Pendulum Summon. Her name is Zuzu Boyle and her record is 27 wins and 19 losses."
"So, they're both average duelists at best. Surely Declan… You're not suggesting that these two could be responsible for pioneering such a cutting edge duel technique."
"Did I mention that Zuzu is Yusho Sakaki's former ace student and that Yuya is Yusho Sakaki's son?"
"Yusho Sakaki?!" Henrietta was shocked to hear that name. "The same Yusho Sakaki that vanished years ago? Are you saying he's back and back to cause us trouble?"
"I don't know but we must find out. And I may have a way…" Declan answered.
"Yes?"
Declan changed the screen before answering, "Just the other day I received reports of an incident not far off campus. A duelist was sent to the hospital after a duel. He says the one responsible was Yuya Sakaki."
At the hospital…
"Yuya Sakaki's going to pay! He's the one who did this to me! He tried to hide behind that mask… But I know! I'm so mad it hurts!" Sylvio cried out in rage as he slammed his casted arm on his bed.
"Yeah, 'cause you're hitting yourself with your cast," One pal said.
"Hard too," Another pal agreed.
"Quiet!" Sylvio yelled. "Now you three were there, too, and you saw him… Right?"
"Of course, yeah!" One pal agreed as he looked to another pal for support.
"We sure did," The second pal agreed. "It's totally true."
"So totally agree! That means you won't thump us with your cast, right?" The third pal asked nervously.
"The only one getting thumped will be Yuya, because when you mess with Sylvio you mess with me!" A short man, who was Sylvio's father cried out. He then went to the room's balcony and yelled in a megaphone, "And if you've forgotten, I'm Sylvio's father and mayoral candidate Furio Sawatari and these tears I shed for my son are sincere! After all, I'm a family man, a man of the people!"
"Wow. He'll do anything for a vote, won't he?" One pal said to another pal.
"Yeah. You know, aside from actual work," The second pal agreed.
"Dad!" Sylvio was happy to see his pop.
"Hey, lose that smile! If I'm gonna get the sympathy vote you need to look infirmed, okay?" Sylvio's dad begged his son.
"Sorry, Pop. Will do!" Sylvio agreed.
"Oh, there's our poor little patient, however are you coping, Sylvio?" Henrietta asked Sylvio as she entered the room with a bouquet of pink flowers.
"Madame Chairwoman, when did you get back?" Sylvio's dad asked.
"Just this morning, councilman, and seeing Sylvio was first on my to-do list," Henrietta answered as Sylvio's dad ran up to her.
"Well, you grace us with your presence!" Sylvio's dad gleefully said.
"So kind of you. Such a thing that happened- this delinquent doing harm to your sweet boy. And I'm certain that you're steaming mad and prepared to do whatever it takes to see that justice is served?" Henrietta asked.
"How's this for steaming? In fact, I'm calling for Yuya's arrest right now!" Sylvio's dad yelled as he got out his phone.
"Actually… What if you let me handle this little matter for you?" Henrietta offered. "After all, you want to be mayor, correct? And a mayor delegates, right?"
"Huh. I guess…" Sylvio's dad agreed reluctantly.
"This way you'll project power."
"You think so?"
"Sure. The voters will love it. So why don't you just relax and leave everything to me," Henrietta said with a grin.
"Good morning class, today we'll be learning all about how to summon in a duel," Skip Boyle began the lesson. "First up, we have the Normal Summon. This is the most basic summoning method…," Skip began.
"Where you take a monster from your hand then place it face-up in attack mode on the field. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah," Celina said, looking bored. "Can we learn something more worthy of our time?"
"Yeah. Wonder if we'll learn anything new here," Luna whispered to Lulu.
"Come one guys. We can always use a little reminder," Lulu calmly said.
"Now who can explain a Tribute Summoning?" Skip asked. "You, Tate?" Skip offered.
"Sure! A Tribute Summoning is similar to a Normal Summoning… However, there is one key difference: when calling out a Level 5 or 6 monster, one must tribute a monster on your field. If it's Level 7-or-above, then one must tribute two monsters," Tate answered.
"That's right! Bravo," Skip congratulated.
However, it appeared that a majority of the class wasn't that happy to go over the basics, as even Allie and Frederick were sitting there bored.
"So, when is lunch supposed to be?" Allie asked.
"Right now! Because I'm Fusion Summoning my mashed potatoes with yogurt to create the new food craze mashed pogurt!" Sora cheerfully said as he mixed both foods together and took a bite. "Mmm! So sour and starchy."
"Hey, you're being rude," Lulu commented to Sora.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.
"You see, you're eating in the middle of class," Yuya pointed out.
"Oh, I get it! I should be sharing!" Sora said, not getting the duo's point.
"That isn't the problem with what you're doing," Lulu responded.
"Yeah! You shouldn't be eating in class like that," Yuya said. "Besides, I don't think any of us want to be hit by Zuzu's fan for interrupting her father's class." Yuya looked over at Zuzu after saying this, though much to his surprise she looked like she wasn't paying much attention.
"Um, are you okay, Zuzu? Earth to Zuzu," Luna tried to get Zuzu's attention.
"She's been spacey since yesterday. I just hope she's okay," Yuya agreed.
"All right, next we'll be going over Fusion Summoning, so which of you would like to volunteer?" Skip asked the class.
"Next I'll Fusion Summon this donut and Principal Boyle's bagel!" Sora cheered. "Here goes!" Sora said as he took a bite of the bagel.
"Hey! Not cool! I was saving that!" Skip yelled out.
Zuzu finally left her spacey state and asked her dad, "Hey, Dad Xyz Summon!" The class looked on in confusion at Zuzu's request, except for Celina and Sora, who gave suspicious looks at the suggestion. "Since we're learning about summoning today, can you teach us how to Xyz Summon?" Zuzu explained.
"No, I'm afraid not," Skip sadly declined. "After all, I can't teach what I don't know! Xyz is one of the trickiest types of summoning there is. Why, you know someone who's mastered it, Zuzu?"
"I'm… not sure," Zuzu said slowly as she looked at Yuya and remembered his similarities to the guy from yesterday.
"You okay Zuzu?" Yuya asked his friend.
"Yeah, I'm cool. Don't mind me," Zuzu awkwardly answered. "I just don't know what to believe. Was that mystery duelist Yuya or not? Should I trust in what I saw or is there a better way to-." Zuzu thought only to be interrupted.
"How dare you! You've made the Gong angry! Now things get ugly!" Gong yelled out at someone from outside.
"What now?" Yuya was confused.
Yuya, Skip, Lulu, and the others started to head outside to see what was going on, with Yuya, Lulu, and Skip being the first ones down.
"What's the big brouhaha?" Skip questioned Gong.
"Somethin's brewin', but it isn't a ha ha matter. Gong was working out doing duel sprints when he saw some suspicious characters loitering on your campus and confronted them. They're accusing Yuya of hurting their pal Sylvio in a duel!" Gong explained as he motioned to Sylvio's three pals.
"Yuya?" Skip was shocked and confused.
"Me-ya?" Yuya was similarly shocked.
"I think these three have the wrong guy. Yuya is sunshine incarnate. I think it is more likely to have been Yur-," Lulu tried to say only to be interrupted.
"Don't bother lying! We already know that this was Yuya's doing!" One of Sylvio's pals interrupted.
"Yeah that's right, we saw you with our very own eyes!" A second pal said.
"We sure did. And they did, too!" The third pal confirmed, referring to Zuzu and Celina.
"Wait, they who?" Gong questioned.
"Two of Yuya's good friends. Right Zuzu and Celina?" One pal asked tauntingly as they pointed to the two girls that had just arrived via the elevator.
"Come on, it's true. Don't deny it, Celina and Zuzu!" The three friends taunted.
As Zuzu started to look worried, Gong pleaded, "They're crazy, Zuzu, right? They're making this all up."
"Or… aren't they?" Skip questioned worriedly.
"Making what up? That Zuzu was there and saw everything that happened! And so did her little friend. Yuya, you're so through!" One pal said as the trio pointed to Yuya.
Yuya looked stunned as Celina was held back from confronting the trio by Sora. Suddenly, Tate interrupted, "No, he's not! Yuya would never hurt someone like you say!"
"It was Sylvio who wanted to hurt Yuya!" Allie agreed.
"Yeah! The twerp wanted to hurt our comrade!" Celina agreed.
"And Zuzu only confronted Sylvio to protect Yuya!" Allie continued.
"Hold on there! You're saying that Zuzu confronted Sylvio? Then that means… The real culprit is Zuzu!" Skip cried out in horror as the others denied the claim.
"If this guy's the teacher… I feel bad for the students," One pal said.
"Like we said, Yuya's the guilty one!" Another pal said.
"And now poor Sylvio… He's holed up in the hospital," The third pal revealed.
"What?" Yuya was surprised to hear this.
"Oh no!" Lulu and Zuzu were concerned.
"And they say… He may never duel again! Poor, bedridden, Sylvio. How do you sleep at night, Yuya?" The third pal demanded, while back at the hospital Sylvio was eating fruit, not wearing either of his casts.
"Uh… with pillows mostly," Yuya was confused and concerned with where things were going.
"Lies! Sylvio wasn't hurt during the duel! Expect for the fool's ego, maybe!" Celina denied. "So, Yuya is innocent!"
"I am, right?" Yuya said as he turned to Zuzu who was just standing there. "Zuzu, why don't you say something? You were there! You know I didn't hurt Sylvio!"
"Yeah. I was there, Yuya…," Zuzu muttered to herself uncertainly as she remembered the previous night.
"Hold on! Are you saying I could do this, Zuzu?" Yuya questioned.
"No, I-," Zuzu tried to defend, only to be left uncertain by the events of the previous night.
"And there you have it. Your own friend won't even defend you," One pal said. "And now you'll pay."
"Pay?! How?!" Skip asked shocked, fearing legal trouble. "Maybe we can pay with loose change! Come on, everyone, empty out your pockets now!"
"Perhaps I can be of some assistance," The Chairwoman butted in as she stepped out of a limo that had just parked outside the duel school.
"I know you. You're Henrietta Akaba…," Skip recognized the businesswoman.
"Yes, I am. Chairwoman of the Leo Institute of Dueling. Why don't we all have a little talk?" Henrietta said as the group, except for Claude and the trio of friends, went inside.
"We scared them all real good just like you said," One pal said.
"And here's you reward," Claude said as he handed over three envelopes. "Now then, off with you." Before leaving, the three pals looked happy with themselves and what they had done.
"Thank you for having me," Henrietta said politely.
"Glad to have ya," Skip agreed.
"I only wish it was under better circumstances. But I'm afraid we must deal with the facts and the facts are that Yuya has created quite a row. And now we must figure out a way to make things right," Henrietta said.
Skip looked to be deep in thought before asking Yuya, "For the last time. Did you do this?" Skip asked calmly.
"No, no, no! Why doesn't anyone here believe me?" Yuya asked exacerbated.
"Not so fast there, Yuya. Gong does," Gong said.
"Same here! If anyone could have done this, it must be Yuri," Lulu agreed.
"Agreed! I'll deal with that snake myself if I have to!" Luna agreed.
"Who's Yuri?" Yuya asked.
"You're better off not knowing," Lulu answered. "Now, is anyone else here with us?"
"We're all with you, Yuya!" Frederick said as he, Tate and Allie nodded.
"Look, I can say that whoever was there yesterday looked like you, but there is no guarantee," Celina answered uncertainly, wishing she could be of more help.
"And you?" Gong asked Zuzu as Zuzu groaned nervously.
Zuzu looked down in shame before saying to her friend, "Yuya, I know what my eyes saw on that day… But sometimes looks can deceive… I… I…."
"It's okay, Zuzu. Just say what's in your heart then," Yuya said.
"My heart? My heart says your innocent!" Zuzu said comfortably.
"How sweet. But that changes nothing. Because I have three witnesses that say that Yuya is guilty. So unless you want me to get the authorities involved in this, I strongly suggest that you listen to my following proposal, and listen good," Henrietta demanded. "As you know, I am the Chairwoman of the Leo Institiute, the top duel school in the whole world."
"I'd say that honor would go to Duel Academy," Celina muttered to Sora.
"Be quiet!" Henrietta bit back.
"I have to ask, what's that have to do with Yuya?" Skip demanded.
"Yeah! He has nothing to do with your school," Lulu agreed, not seeing the point.
"Yuya made a fool of our student! And, from what I've heard, the girl with purple hair did too!" Henrietta cried out in fury. "This is now about honor! Honor that we have all lost! But that we'll soon restore! By way of our students battling in a duel!"
"Is it hot or is it just me?" Skip asked, scared.
After seeing the shock on Yuya and Zuzu and the smile on Sora's face, Henrietta calmed down and sat back down, explaining. "If you win, then I'll forget about the Yuya incident, but, if we win the duel… Then effective immediately the Leo Institute will take over the You Show Duel School."
"Take over?" Yuya was shocked.
"No way!" Zuzu agreed.
"They're no different from Duel Academy or Security," Luna growled, with Lulu holding Luna's hand trying to calm her down.
"How's taking it over restore honor?" Gong asked the question on everyone's minds. "This seems pretty fishy, if you ask Gong!"
"Yes, I agree. Especially since I know how the Leo Institute has been aggressively expanding across the globe. You've been taking over duel schools left and right, and not always in the nicest ways. Tell me… Did you set this all up simply to take our school?" Skip asked the Chairwoman.
"Yeah! Sounds like you may have been considering how those students lied about Sylvio's condition!" Celina agreed.
"No I did not. But, I happen to be an opportunist, so… When I see an opportunity such as this, I can't resist. You see, there are three ultimate summoning methods, Fusion, Synchro, and of course Xyz. But it's come to my attention that there is now a fourth method, Pendulum. And though I don't know why or how, you're the only school around that seems to have any kind of connection to it," Henrietta explained.
"So, she wants to learn about the summoning method," Celina commented.
"You know, she could have just asked," Lulu said, surprised they were making things more complicated.
"And with all due respect, the potential of Pendulum Summoning is wasted here. However, with the technological resources of the Leo Corporation it would positively flourish. Why, there's no telling of all the new monsters and duel maneuvers that could come of it. The possibilities are endless. Come now, doesn't that excite you?" Henrietta asked the school.
"Yeah, but the only way to Pendulum Summon is with Zuzu and Yuya's Pendulum cards," Tate pointed out.
"So it would seem, little one, but why don't you just let me worry about that? I'm certain that I will be able to figure out some sort of solution," Henrietta said. "And the solution is obvious. When I take over the school, I'll take over Yuya and Zuzu's decks. Then I'll get to the bottom of this Pendulum business, and perhaps even more importantly, determine whether Yuya and Zuzu are friends or foes."
"You treat dueling like it's a business… But here we believe it's all about show business! Don't you see? That;s when dueling is at its most powerful, when it's used to make people happy! Not when it's used to push people around in order to make some big shot school even bigger!" Yuya cried out.
"I agree! Ideally, dueling shouldn't be used for making money or fame alone! But if you really feel like your school has lost its rep after what happened last night and that the only way you can get it back is by way of a duel then that's fine! However, you'll have to get through all of us in order to do so!" Zuzu agreed as the Charwoman groaned to herself.
"Attaboy, Yuya and Zuzu! Gong totally feels the exact same way that you both do! And because he does, Gong agrees to take part in a match as well!" Gong said supportively.
Suddenly, Sora finally said as he jumped behind Gong, "You can't duel! We'd lose for sure!" At this, Gong gasped in shock. "What I mean is, we'd be disqualified because Gong doesn't go to You Show and she said students have to duel. So forget the big guy back there, if we're talking multiple duels, talk to me!"
"Wait, did you say forget about Gong? That's totally unacceptable! Gong wants to duel, Gong needs to duel!" Gong asked angrily.
"Hey! Let me duel, Sora! I'm easily the best duelist here!" Celina demanded.
"Um, if you don't mind I'd like to help this school stay afloat. So, please let me duel," Lulu suggested.
"It seems your students have agreed to my terms, but what say you?" Henrietta asked Skip.
Skip responded, "What I say, Madame Chairwoman… is you have a deal!"
"So that we're all in agreement, we will have three separate matches between three duelists from my school and three from yours. Now then, who's first?" Henrietta questioned as everyone stood int he duel arena in You Show, three students standing behind her.
"I'll go first!" Celina yelled as she raised her hand.
"No, me!" Sora and Lulu both interrupted.
"If you guys don't mind, I'll be the one to go first," Yuya said as he stepped forward.
"A wise choice. Starting your strongest duelist first. After all, getting blown out in your first match would be demoralizing. Save the weak for last…," Henrietta said.
"Who are you calling weak?!" Celina demanded.
"Yeah! Let's arm wrestle, right now, you and me!" Sora yelled.
Zuzu then placed a hand on Sora's head, saying, "Keep it together!"
"Although, I highly doubt that it will matter much whoever duels first. You see, the students I've brought over from the Leo Institute are at the top of their class and each one of them specializes in a unique style of play. The one facing Yuya will be Dipper," Henrietta said, referring to the boy with purple hair.
"That's my name, and don't you dare forget it, or you'll pay…," Dipper warns.
"We'll pay how?" Zuzu questioned nervously.
Meanwhile, Tate and the others were looking up Dipper's dueling profile. "No way! This guy's practically a pro!" Allie cried out in shock.
"Ja, it says he's already met the requirements to enter this year's Championships!" Frederick said.
"Not just met them, Frederick. His record is off the charts!" Allie corrected.
"When you're getting ready for battle, Yuya, there's just one way to go! And that's with a battle cry! You ready? Let's go!" Skip said as he and Yuya yelled and everyone but Yuya and Dipper got off the field.
"Enjoy this while it lasts, because I doubt it will last long," Henrietta commented to the others. "Now, shall we start?" Henrietta asked.
"Oh yeah! And we're starting with a bang! Know why? Because we… are blasting into outer space! I activate the Action field spell Cosmic Sanctuary!" Skip yelled out as he pushed the buttons to activate the spell from the control room.
"Augmented reality combat system energized. Generating Action Field."
Once the field was created, Dipper responded by laughing before saying, "You fool! Did you not realize space is my special style of play?"
"Say what?!" Skip was shocked.
"His name's Dipper, as in Big Dipper? He did warn you not to forget," Sora said with a sigh as Skip freaked out, comically white.
Yuya prepped his Duel Disk, saying, "Here we go! It's time to duel. And time for me to represent the You Show School with my best… 'Cause the stakes are high… My school's on the line!"
"The Action Duel is set and both the duelists are, too!" Allie said.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Frederick asked. "Let's get this going!"
"Right! Do the honors, Allie!" Tate called out.
"Right! Yuya, Dipper, without further ado… It is time to…," Allie said before both Yuya and Dipper said…
"DUEL!"
"Am I the only one who thinks that speech was a waste of time?" Celina asked everyone.
"Hey, it's called having fun, Cece! Besides, good morale could be of use to Yuya!" Sora countered as Celina looked annoyed.
Meanwhile, Declan was outside, prepared to enter the Duel School and see if Yuya and Zuzu were really all that.