Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Legacy of Tarot
Prologue
Our story begins long ago, ages before even the Millenium Items filled the earth with their power and might. Those long years ago, when Duel Monsters was a method of war rather than a sport, 21 men and women reigned supreme over all others. None could stand in their way. Entire armies of duelists challenged them and fell like tissue paper to a hot knife. Their secret? Each of these 21 elites carried with them 1 special card, known only as the Tarot Beasts. Forged long before any man can remember and imbued with powerful magic, these dangerous cards tore through the world with their dark magics, corrupting their masters and soon becoming the masters themselves. For a while, the world lay in ruin, all peoples afraid to even venture outside their doors for fear that they too would succumb to the wrath of the Tarot Beasts.
It was, surprisingly, a young girl that was able to stand up to the malice and the corruption of the Tarot Beasts. Though no one knows why she was able to defeat them while entire armies could not, one riddle to explain it has been passed through the generations:
"The Heart of a Child can move mountains."
Codswallop, say most scientists and Duel Monsters experts. Just some pretty rumour started by a troublemaker ages ago to throw everyone off. In their naivety, they knew that a simple child - nor his or her heart - could move a mountain. No one can! Of course, the riddle was clearly a figure of speech, but it did not answer many questions for anyone, and many more arose from it.
But what became of the Tarot Beasts, you ask? Upon Lord Lucius Malgrave Tarot's defeat many ages ago, it is said they were scattered to the winds by the girl that defeated him in hopes that they would never be found again. Unfortunately, one card managed to find it's way right into the hands of an ambitious group of young science majors at Motoh City University..
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"Hey, Craig, look at this!" a young woman called, dressed in a while lab coat and holding what looked to be an archaeologist's brush in her hand.
"What is it, Amanda?" a man replied, rushing over to see what was the matter. Upon arriving at her position, he found that she was holding a somewhat dirty Duel Monsters card that was in surprisingly good condition. Upon it was etched the picture of a court jester dancing foolishly, just about to fall over the edge of a steep cliff.
"It's a Duel Monsters card, I think." she began, pausing for a moment to examine it more closely. The card's name was a bit blurred and withered with age, but she finally managed to make it out. "King of Fools. That's its name. It's old, too."
"Look at that Attack and Defense! This is a pretty powerful card, Amanda!" Craig exclaimed, extending his hand to hold it for himself. He brought it up closer to his nose, examining it through his glasses, a smile painted on his face the whole while. "This card is amazing! What a find! It must have been made by the ancient civilization of Duelists that Professor Duncan was telling us about on the way here."
"We should show the professors, quick! We'll definitely get an A in this course if we've really found an ancient card!" Amanda said excitedly. Her eyes lit up at the very thought of the fame and fortune she would receive for this.
"You're right, Amanda. Professor Duncan! Professor Gardner!" Craig called, waving the card above his head as he hollered. The two professors who had been supervising the expedition, a man and a woman, ran over to see what was the matter.
"What's wrong, Craig?" Professor Duncan, a tall, handsome man asked in his deep voice. Amanda did everything she could to keep from blushing every time his beautiful voice penetrated her ears, and she almost succeeded. Almost. The professor winked at her playfully, knowing that she had a crush on him. It was a harmless crush, after all, since Professor Duncan had been married for 8 years now and he knew that Amanda knew that.
"I. I mean we found this strange card when we were digging over here! I've never seen one like it!" the excited student exclaimed, practically shoving the golden card in Professor Duncan's face.
"Oh? It's that rare, eh?" Professor Gardner, a tall, sexy young woman who was clearly younger than Professor Duncan but quite a lot better looking, joked. She had long, straight brown hair that fell just above her shoulders, and she wore half-circle glasses that only amplified her appearance. She knew that Craig was a pretty avid Duelist. He had come in second in the University's annual Duel Tournament this year, and owned more cards than many students in the entire school. Professor Duncan and Professor Gardner had barely gotten a chance to glance at the card when Amanda interrupted.
"Yeah! It's called the King of Fools. It's really strong!"
Immediately the two professors went white as ghosts. They looked at the students, then at each other, and then at the card. They whispered something back and forth to each other for a while, each one nodding in turn and humming deep in thought to themselves. Still pale, Professor Gardner ran off to gather the rest of the students while Professor Duncan barked an announcement.
"Students! The field trip is now over! Please make your way to the bus so we can return to the school!"
The announcement was met only by a few "Huh?"s and groans from students that had, until this point, been enjoying themselves quite a lot. Reluctant to follow their professors' orders, the budding scientists filed onto the three buses and began to drive back to the school.
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The King of Fools that Amanda and Craig found was indeed one of the 21 Tarot Beasts that plagued the world all those years ago, though the teachers never told them. Whenever any of the students inquired about the card, the teachers would go white and frantically change the subject. A buzz fluttered through the school, but eventually most of the talk of the King of Fools card vanished as the students that had found it graduated and went on with their lives. Was the King of Fools card dead and dormant, as the teachers hope, or was it - and the rest of the Tarot Beasts - still awake, trying to return to each other to plague the world again? Either way, the Tarot Beasts have been unearthed again. The future is dark.
Prologue
Our story begins long ago, ages before even the Millenium Items filled the earth with their power and might. Those long years ago, when Duel Monsters was a method of war rather than a sport, 21 men and women reigned supreme over all others. None could stand in their way. Entire armies of duelists challenged them and fell like tissue paper to a hot knife. Their secret? Each of these 21 elites carried with them 1 special card, known only as the Tarot Beasts. Forged long before any man can remember and imbued with powerful magic, these dangerous cards tore through the world with their dark magics, corrupting their masters and soon becoming the masters themselves. For a while, the world lay in ruin, all peoples afraid to even venture outside their doors for fear that they too would succumb to the wrath of the Tarot Beasts.
It was, surprisingly, a young girl that was able to stand up to the malice and the corruption of the Tarot Beasts. Though no one knows why she was able to defeat them while entire armies could not, one riddle to explain it has been passed through the generations:
"The Heart of a Child can move mountains."
Codswallop, say most scientists and Duel Monsters experts. Just some pretty rumour started by a troublemaker ages ago to throw everyone off. In their naivety, they knew that a simple child - nor his or her heart - could move a mountain. No one can! Of course, the riddle was clearly a figure of speech, but it did not answer many questions for anyone, and many more arose from it.
But what became of the Tarot Beasts, you ask? Upon Lord Lucius Malgrave Tarot's defeat many ages ago, it is said they were scattered to the winds by the girl that defeated him in hopes that they would never be found again. Unfortunately, one card managed to find it's way right into the hands of an ambitious group of young science majors at Motoh City University..
----------------------------------
"Hey, Craig, look at this!" a young woman called, dressed in a while lab coat and holding what looked to be an archaeologist's brush in her hand.
"What is it, Amanda?" a man replied, rushing over to see what was the matter. Upon arriving at her position, he found that she was holding a somewhat dirty Duel Monsters card that was in surprisingly good condition. Upon it was etched the picture of a court jester dancing foolishly, just about to fall over the edge of a steep cliff.
"It's a Duel Monsters card, I think." she began, pausing for a moment to examine it more closely. The card's name was a bit blurred and withered with age, but she finally managed to make it out. "King of Fools. That's its name. It's old, too."
"Look at that Attack and Defense! This is a pretty powerful card, Amanda!" Craig exclaimed, extending his hand to hold it for himself. He brought it up closer to his nose, examining it through his glasses, a smile painted on his face the whole while. "This card is amazing! What a find! It must have been made by the ancient civilization of Duelists that Professor Duncan was telling us about on the way here."
"We should show the professors, quick! We'll definitely get an A in this course if we've really found an ancient card!" Amanda said excitedly. Her eyes lit up at the very thought of the fame and fortune she would receive for this.
"You're right, Amanda. Professor Duncan! Professor Gardner!" Craig called, waving the card above his head as he hollered. The two professors who had been supervising the expedition, a man and a woman, ran over to see what was the matter.
"What's wrong, Craig?" Professor Duncan, a tall, handsome man asked in his deep voice. Amanda did everything she could to keep from blushing every time his beautiful voice penetrated her ears, and she almost succeeded. Almost. The professor winked at her playfully, knowing that she had a crush on him. It was a harmless crush, after all, since Professor Duncan had been married for 8 years now and he knew that Amanda knew that.
"I. I mean we found this strange card when we were digging over here! I've never seen one like it!" the excited student exclaimed, practically shoving the golden card in Professor Duncan's face.
"Oh? It's that rare, eh?" Professor Gardner, a tall, sexy young woman who was clearly younger than Professor Duncan but quite a lot better looking, joked. She had long, straight brown hair that fell just above her shoulders, and she wore half-circle glasses that only amplified her appearance. She knew that Craig was a pretty avid Duelist. He had come in second in the University's annual Duel Tournament this year, and owned more cards than many students in the entire school. Professor Duncan and Professor Gardner had barely gotten a chance to glance at the card when Amanda interrupted.
"Yeah! It's called the King of Fools. It's really strong!"
Immediately the two professors went white as ghosts. They looked at the students, then at each other, and then at the card. They whispered something back and forth to each other for a while, each one nodding in turn and humming deep in thought to themselves. Still pale, Professor Gardner ran off to gather the rest of the students while Professor Duncan barked an announcement.
"Students! The field trip is now over! Please make your way to the bus so we can return to the school!"
The announcement was met only by a few "Huh?"s and groans from students that had, until this point, been enjoying themselves quite a lot. Reluctant to follow their professors' orders, the budding scientists filed onto the three buses and began to drive back to the school.
----------------------------------
The King of Fools that Amanda and Craig found was indeed one of the 21 Tarot Beasts that plagued the world all those years ago, though the teachers never told them. Whenever any of the students inquired about the card, the teachers would go white and frantically change the subject. A buzz fluttered through the school, but eventually most of the talk of the King of Fools card vanished as the students that had found it graduated and went on with their lives. Was the King of Fools card dead and dormant, as the teachers hope, or was it - and the rest of the Tarot Beasts - still awake, trying to return to each other to plague the world again? Either way, the Tarot Beasts have been unearthed again. The future is dark.
