Chapter 1: Heart of the Cards
Long ago, when the pyramids were still young, the Egyptian Kings played a game of great and terrible power. But these Shadow Games erupted into a war that threatened to destroy the entire world. Until a brave and powerful pharaoh locked the magic away, imprisoning it within the mystical Millennium Items. Now, five thousand years later, a boy named Yugi unlocks the secret of the Millennium Puzzle. He is infused with ancient magical energies, for destiny has chosen him to defend the world from the return of the Shadow Games, just as the brave Pharaoh did five thousand years ago.
"They can take your world.
They can take your heart,
Cut you loose from all you know.
But if it's your fate,
The scene changes to a boy with spiky hair looking in the sky. This was Sora. He wore a black jacket with gray pockets and a stripe of the same color on each sleeve. The hood, sleeves and jacket had a red lining, and six buttons could be seen on the front. Underneath, Sora wore a black tank top with a V-neck style collar and a white lining. His gloves were replaced with gauntlets with a similar color scheme to his jacket. The gauntlets had red linings and gray circles on the backs, with yellow buckled straps wrapped around Sora's wrists. The palms of his hands were exposed. Sora's shorts were black, and are roughly the same length as they are in his Kingdom Hearts II attire, with several gray pockets. A red band wrapped around each pant leg. His shoes also resembled those of his Kingdom Hearts II outfit, with the blue straps and zipper now removed.
then every step forward will always be a step closer to home."
(Play Kingdom Hearts Face My Fears)
Sora found himself enjoying the years of the islands with his two best friends. Even sharing the same dream with Riku and Kairi as they ran along the beach shores.
"Breath, should I take a deep?"
They turned to Sora as they smiled at him. He smiled back at them.
"Faith, should I take the leap?"
Unaware to them, a man in a black coat watched over them with seven strange items floating around him.
"Taste, what a bittersweet~ All my, all my life~"
He then raised his other hand as the items began to glow and darkness shrouded the islands much to Sora and his friends' horror.
"Let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"
Much to Sora's horror, he saw Riku turn to Ansem the Seeker of Darkness. Ansem then proceeded to blow Sora and Kairi away. The young teenagers tried to reach out to each other but were blown off to the other worlds.
"Oh, let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"
Sora was then caught by Donald and Goofy. Each gave Sora reassuring smiles. Soda smiled back at them as he summoned a magic weapon called the Keyblade.
"Won't be long, won't be long, I'm almost here~ Watch me cry all my tears~"
Sora then ran up and struck Ansem down and Ansem faded away to the darkness. The dark figure watched these events use the items again and Sora, Donald, and Goofy ended up in Castle Oblivion.
"Lose, soon have nothing to~"
Naminé drew in her Notebook as Marluxia watched her with a smile on his face when someone burst through the door. It was Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
"Space, this is what I choose~"
Marluxia summoned his weapon, a scythe, into his hand as the three junior heroes went into their battle stances.
"A mile, could you walk in my shoes? All your, all your life~"
The heroes engaged the villain as Roxas, Axel, and Xion enjoyed their ice cream as they watched the sunset in Twilight Town.
"Let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"
Sora and his team came out victorious as Naminé (With Kairi by her side) smiled in gratitude. Sora (With Ventus by his side) smiled back.
"Oh, let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"
The hooded figure simply looked down as the items shined again. This time, Sora was surrounded by thirteen figures in similar outfits.
"Won't be long, won't be long, I'm almost here~ Watch me cry all my tears~"
Xemnas smirked on this throne. Sora's eyes narrowed in anger when someone placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Riku by his side as he gave him a nod. Together, they took down Xemnas.
"Watch me cry all my tears~"
Sora turned to see Kairi on the shores of the Destiny Islands. The Princess Of Heart smiled as she waved to him as she held a paopu fruit in her hands. He beamed for joy as he was about to run over to her when the hooded man's items shined again. Kairi was struck down by Master Xehanort and his thirteen darkness much to Sora's horror.
"Let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"
Sora glared at Xehanort as he used his Keyblade to summon forth Riku, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Roxas, Axel, and Xion to join the fight.
"Oh, let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"
As the Guardians of Light battled the Seekers of Darkness, Sora took on Xehanort himself. He then joined with all his friends as he used his Keyblade to defeat Xehanort for good.
"Won't be long, won't be long, I'm almost here~"
With Xehanort defeated, Sora saw Kairi's heart. He made a dash for it as he reached out to her. Once he was close enough, Kairi ran towards him.
"Watch me cry all my tears~"
Sora and Kairi pulled each other into the hug under Kingdom Hearts's Light as the hooded man watched over them as the items began to glow one last time...
Kingdom Hearts: Heart of the Cards
They gathered as many Keyblade Wielders they could find and took on Xehanort and his Seekers of Darkness for one final clash. Despite the victory over the Keyblade War, Sora had nearly lost to Kairi. The girl he loves. So, using the Power of Waking, he traveled to the past to collect the fragments of Kairi's heart.
Once Kairi was restored, Sora brought Kairi to the Final World. The Princess of Heart stared at the world's beauty, "It's so pretty."
Sora smiled, he knew Kairi would like his place, but suddenly his hand felt funny. He took a look at it and noticed he was starting to fade away. It was like Chirithy and even Xehanort warned him. Paying the ultimate price. He knew he had only a day to stay with her before fading away. However, if it was enough for his friends, Will Turner and Elizabeth, then it was enough for him too.
He turned to his lifelong friend with a smile, "Kairi. Come on. Everyone's waiting."
Kairi nodded, making Sora's smile wider when he blinked. He had nearly forgotten about the one who helped him get Kairi back. He looked around the Final World as Kairi looked to him with concern, "What's wrong?"
"Well... My friend should be here, but..." Sora explained to her before calling out, "Heeeey! Chirithy!"
Just then, Chirithy appeared before Sora's feet as he gasped in shock, "Whoa! Hey, why didn't you say anything?"
"I was just trying to give you two some privacy," Chirithy told them.
This made the two smile as they shyly blushed at that. Kairi then giggled a little at how cute Charity looked. Kairi then walked up to the Dream Eater before knelt to him as she offered him her hand, "Nice to meet you."
"Oh, likewise." Chirithy nodded as he shook Kairi's hand, "I'm glad you're okay."
Once they released their hands, Sora told Chirithy, "Chirithy, we're heading home. You should come with us."
"Whaaaaaaat...?" Chirithy gasped in shock.
Sora explained as Kairi smiled in agreement, "Take it from me, it's not enough to wait for someone you care about. It's true that hearts are connected wherever you are. If it's impossible for you to be together, then all you can do is wait. But, if it is possible to be together, then that's how it should be."
"Sora..." Was all Chirithy could say at Sora's words of wisdom.
Sora commented, "You know, this really is a beautiful place." He then turned to Kairi, who nodded in agreement, as he continued, "But you'd enjoy it so much more with someone you care about. Before I was looking for Kairi, I remembered how important it is... to share these moments with your friends. That's why you're coming with us. I'm taking you to see your friend, Chirithy."
Chirithy began to tear up and tried to wipe away his tears, before giving Sora a grateful nod. Kairi smiled at the Dream Eater as she and Sora knelt down to Chirithy as Sora offered him his hand, "Okay! Let's go!"
Later that evening, everyone returned to the worlds they called home. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy left the Gummi Hanger of Disney Castle to see an awaiting Queen Minnie and Daisy waiting for them. King Mickey beamed and ran to his wife. Minnie whipped away a tear and was about to join her husband when Pluto, their dog, beat her to it, tacking his master to the ground. Mickey laughed as his dog licked him, Pluto let up when Minnie joined them. The King sat back up as Minnie giggled. They then smiled happily as they took each other's hands.
Daisy marched her way up to Donald, who began to look afraid until she smiled and hugged her boyfriend. Donald sighed in relief as he hugged back. Jiminy Cricket climbed on to Goofy's shoulder and the two smiled. Everyone then turned to see Master Yen Sid join them with Chip and Dale at his side. Yen Sid smiled with pride at his old pupil when they noticed fireworks going off as the Kingdom of Disney Castle celebrated the King's return and the Guardians' victory. Everyone turned around as they enjoyed the fireworks. They were completely unaware of the fact that sitting on the castle walls, Sora and Kairi were also there enjoying the fireworks as Chirithy jumped for joy at the sight…
The next day, on the Land of Departure, Ventus, Terra, and Aqua had a long overdue funeral for Master Eraqus. Over ten years ago, he was struck down on this very world by Master Xehanort. Aqua had placed the Master's Defender Keyblade, in the ground, and decorated with reef flowers. Holding their wayfinders closer to their hearts, they gave a moment of silence for the deceased Master. They then placed their wayfinders on their Master's Keyblade and returned to their old home.
Chirithy was very nervous meeting his friend for the first time in eons, but Sora gave the Dream Eater a reassuring shove to get out of the opening getting Ven's attention before Chirithy retreated to the corner. Chirithy, unsure what to do, tried to remain out of sight. Ventus notices the spying Chirithy and calls to it with open arms. Chirithy bounds over happily and leaps into his arms, cuddling him before Ven begins to introduce his old friend to Aqua and Terra. Sora and Kairi smiled for Chirithy before moving on to what they wanted to do next…
Later in Twilight Town, Roxas and Axel, now in his new clothes that Master Yen Sid gave him before the second Keyblade War, sat on the bell tower enjoying the sunset like they used to do. Xion, also in her new outfit, joined them. The three smiled as they were finally together, yet there was something still missing. Just then Isa, the former Organization known as Saïx, joined them and offered them all sea-salt ice cream. Everyone smiled as they each took one and Isa joined the group. A minute later, Hayner, Pence, and Olette joined them, with their own ice cream. The four smiled and greeted Roxas's friends.
As the seven of them enjoyed their ice cream, they were completely unaware that above them sat Sora and Kairi holding hands as they too shared the frozen treat. As they watched the sunset a dark shadow flew above them. While Hayner, Pence, and Olette were curious at what they saw, the others knew what it was easily…
On Radiant Garden, Ansem the Wise, Ienzo, and Even finished their latest project to revive Naminé having been brought back to life using Dark Riku's replica vessel. In the other room, Sora used his Kingdom Key Keyblade to free Namine's heart from Kairi's without harming the Princess. Kairi then proceeded to place the heart in the new vessel, causing the former Nobody to wake up in the lab in Radiant Garden's castle. The three scientists smiled at this...
When she was able to walk, Dilan and Aeleus escorted her out of the castle where the Gummi Ship was waiting for her. Riku exited the ship, where he smiled at the sight of Naminé and offered her his hand to take her to their other friends. Naminé smiled and took it as they entered the Gummi Ship. With that, the ship flew away from the world and headed back to the homeworld where Sora, Riku, and Kairi grew up…
On Destiny Islands, with everyone gathered, they spent their day playing on the beach. Riku, Roxas, and Terra raced each other as Mickey and Aqua cheered them on. Ven, Axel, and Isa played catch with one of Lea's old frisbees.
Naminé and Xion collected sea-shells near the water. Hayner, Pence, and Olette made a sand sculpture of Mickey, however, they were shocked by Donald's spitting image sand sculpture of himself. Donald showed it off to Goofy as he made the exact pose as his sculpture of himself. Goofy tried to warn Donald but it was too late when the frisbee knocked over the sculpture burying him in the sand.
Donald then lost his temper as he shook the sandpile off him. He then began yelling at the boy responsible, as Ven tried to apologize. Everyone else began laughing at the sight before they turned to see Sora and Kairi sitting on the Paopu tree watching the sunset, as they held each other's hands. Sora had successfully brought Kairi back. They held their hands tightly as they turned to each other and smiled. Tears slid down the Princess of Hearts check as she knew what was to come next. Much to everyone's horror, they watched helplessly as Sora faded-away.
Before he vanished completely, he made Kairi a promise, "I'll come back to you, I promise."
With that, Sora has vanished completely. Kairi sniffed as she replied, "I love you."
She then finally broke down crying as she sat there alone…
The sun was floating high up in the sky, shooting its warm rays down upon the high school. It was break time in Domino High and all the students had ditched their school books for basketball or the seating chart to sit next to their friends. Many people ran outside to play basketball with the guys while students inside hung around with their friends. Like a group of teens at a desk near the window.
"Hey Joey! Earth to Joey" Yugi Muto said to his friend Joey Wheeler from his seat opposite of his blond headed friend, trying to get his attention. "Hey, are you in there? It's your turn." Yugi and Joey were playing the card game Duel Monsters. It was a pretty interesting game, considering the fact it was so complex with all the spell, trap, and monster cards. This game included cunning and strategic methods to defeat opponents. Yugi was known as a pretty good player by his friends, mostly because he was more skilled. Joey was only a beginner at the game, and right now, it seemed as though he couldn't decide on what to play.
Yugi wore the Domino High School uniform, consisting of blue pants and a blue blazer thrown over a white shirt. A beautiful, golden upside-down pyramid pendant was hanging around his neck by a smooth rope. It shone mysteriously beneath the light of the room. All the boys wore the same uniform he was wearing, and the girls wore a blue skirt with a pink blazer, and a blue bow on their collar.
Yugi had the prettiest of amethyst eyes always shining with care, kindness, and perception. Although he was short for his age, he still stood out from the rest of his classmates with his unique hairstyle. His hair was black with magenta highlights and his golden yellow bands framed his face. His smile was his best feature, always brimming with happiness.
"Hmm..." Joey looked through his whole hand of cards, a little confused on which card he should play, but he didn't hold a nervous gaze. Oh no, he held a determined one, like he would find the card he was looking for soon.
Joey Wheeler was tall, just like the other two friends of the boys, and he had soft, blond hair. He was the jock of the group, the funny and intimidating guy. In fact, him and Tristan could be passed as twins. They were almost the same except for their looks. If there would ever be any trouble, they would both fight through it with their fists drawn, like guardians of their friends. Both of the taller boys had brown eyes, but Joey's looked a lot like honey under the sun, while Tristan's looked a lot like chocolate.
Tristan Taylor, another one of the boys' friends, popped up behind Joey who was thinking so deeply that he didn't notice him standing there. Until his head was caught in a friendly headlock.
"Awww. Isn't he cute when he's thinking?" said Tristan playfully, ripping Joey's glare from his cards.
The blond gave him a smirk with a vein pounding on the side of his head. "Hey Tristan," he said, greeting his pal. "Yugi here is teaching me how to play Duel Monsters."
Tristan blinked in confusion, still not loosening his grip on the blonde. "Drooling Monsters?" he asked, mishearing.
The vein on Joey's head pounded even more and he lightly shoved his friend away with his hand. "DUEL Monsters, you nimrod!"
Tristan fell back into step with another friend of theirs. This one was special. She was the glue to their friendship and she always knew there was some way to get through everything life threw down at them. She was Yugi's first friend and she would stick by everyone no matter what. She wore the high school's uniform for girls, and it brought out her ocean blue eyes and brown hair very nicely.
"Sheesh," said Tristan, brushing himself off from the shove Joey gave him. He didn't seem all too impressed by it, and it didn't mean for Joey to go on ahead and just shrug him off.
Téa Gardner, the girl Tristan was standing next to, gave him an apologetic smile in courtesy of Joey. "They've been at it for a while," she explained. "Joey is starting to get the hang of the game, but Yugi's like an expert. He's been trying to beat him all day but can't seem to figure out a way to get around Yugi's cards."
Tristan blinked. "Oh."
The blond had played a level-2 monster card with 200 attack points and 400 defence points. It was a warrior card. Téa decided to explain to Tristan what the game was about so he would understand why it was taking a while for Joey to choose a card.
"See, each card has an attack number and a defense number," she said, pointing to the two numbers on the bottom of the card. "When opponents' monsters attack, the monster with the highest attack number wins the round, and the difference is taken out of the losing person's life points. First player to eliminate their opponent's life points wins the duel." Tristan seemed to be able to understand now, and with a nod directed to Téa, he started focusing more intently on the game.
"Pretty good move, huh Yugi?" asked Joey cockily, like he had already won the duel. He was so sure Yugi wasn't going to be able to get past this monster. He seemed pretty impressed with himself.
Yugi smiled at his friend's move. "Yup!" He nodded. "Pretty good move..." Then he put down one of his own cards for his turn which turned the tables around. It was a level-4 monster card; a dragon type, with 1500 ATK and 800 DEF. Joey's card was no match for it. Yugi smiled again at his friend when he saw him gawking at it. "But not good enough," he said.
Joey shot to his feet. "What?" he lamented. Then he gave his buddy a glare which he knew that Yugi knew was supposed to be only meant as nothing but the reaction to the outcome of the duel. "Thanks a lot. A card that powerful totally wipes me out!"
Tristan laughed at his friend's try. "Man, Joey!" he said. "You stink at this game!"
Yugi smiled at the two. Joey was about to jump out of his seat to run after Tristan, but he kept his cool and stayed put. "You did fine, Joey," he said. "I just have better cards. You see, my grandpa owns a game shop and I get all my best cards from him."
Joey blinked at his friend. "Your own game shop?" he asked, slightly incredulous at this tidbit of information. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go check it out!"
Yugi nodded. "Sure," he said. "We'll go there after school. Maybe while we're there, my grandpa will even show us this super rare card he's got." Everyone agreed and then went back to seeing Joey try to beat Yugi all over again. It seemed like the boy wouldn't ever give up.
A few seats away, a teen by the name of Seto Kaiba, who was CEO of his company Kaiba Corp., was sitting at his desk reading, that was, until he overheard what Yugi and his friends were talking about. He cast his steely blue eyes over the group of people not too far from him. A few of his other classmates had also joined them, interested in seeing the outcome of another duel between the two friends.
'Rare card?' he thought to himself curiously. His vivid ocean eyes returned to the words on his page as he thought over this new found information. 'Could they have found the card that I've been searching for?' For a while now, this CEO has been on the hunt for a legendary card, one known to be one of the strongest in the whole game of Duel Monsters. He had his reasons for going after the card, and if Yugi's grandfather had it, it meant that he was close; very close to obtaining a very valuable card.
It was finally after school and as the day had gone on so did the boredom, until Yugi reminded his friends that they were headed for his grandfather's shop. Everyone was excited and began heading their way down the sidewalk, led by Yugi. The sun still shone brightly and there were no clouds in the sky, making it a happy day amongst the teenagers. Especially if they were able to see a rare card Yugi's grandfather owned. It wasn't everyday one could.
Yugi led his friends through the door to the Game Shop, and a small bell rang when they walked in. There were shelves filled with games and the counter at the far end of the shop was a display case. In it, there were tons of colorful cards, probably rare ones that could be sold individually or popular ones that could be sold easily. Behind the counter-display case was an old man with the same hair as Yugi, but with different shades of gray, and which he kept down with a black bandana. He wore a white collar shirt under green overalls and he seemed kind. He held this sense of warmth and understanding around him, a sense you usually get when you're around elders. It only means that they're there for you.
"Hi, grandpa!" greeted Yugi with a smile as he and his friends approached the counter. "I'm home from school."
The man gave his grandson a kind smile. "And I see you brought company," he said. "What brings you youngsters here?"
"Gramps, I was hoping you could show my friends your super rare card?" Yugi asked hopefully, wanting to see the card himself. He had heard of it from his grandpa, but he had never actually seen the thing.
Grandpa Muto blinked. "Rare card?" he said. "My special card?" He placed his chin in his hand and looked away for a second. It didn't seem like he was ready to trust anyone enough to only look at it. Or he was simply causing suspense in a playful manner.
"Hm..."
Yugi put his hands together and pleaded. "Please! Please!"
Joey joined him and bowed to edge their point. "Pretty please?" he asked with a grin.
Mr. Muto thought for a while longer before glancing over to the two. Then he chuckled and nodded. "How can I refuse?" he said, before reaching into his overalls' pocket and withdrawing a small brown box. He placed it on the counter and everyone huddled around it, waiting to see what the rare card would be, like a treasure from the bottom of the ocean; something rare.
Yugi's grandfather opened the small box and from it he carefully brought out a Duel Monsters card. The picture on it showed a beautiful white dragon with incredibly bright blue eyes. It looked majestic and stunning with its wings outstretched and the numbers at the bottom reaching so high, no one in the gang had ever seen before. It was a level-8 monster with 3000 ATK and 2500 DEF. Yes, the card was both rare and powerful.
"The Blue-Eyes White Dragon," said Mr. Muto with a hint of pride in his voice. "It's at the top in Duel Monsters and it's so rare and so powerful, I never let it leave my hands!"
The gang gawked over the sight of it. Everyone stood there, trying to get every corners' glance just to soak it all in. After a moment, Tristan took it out of Mr. Muto's hand and held it up to investigate. He didn't seem at all impressed by it.
"It doesn't look all that special to me," he said, and before he knew it, Mr. Muto had snatched it back into his hands with the rest of the gang sweat dropping at Tristan.
"This card is priceless!" said Mr. Muto, holding the card close to him. "There are only four of them in the world!" Yugi thought for a moment. It was cool to know his grandfather had one, but now he wondered where the other three were.
"Speaking of priceless," said Joey, cutting in to save Tristan from getting a scolding. "I'm ready to trade!" So it seemed like he would trade his cards instead of paying for them... based on the priceless comment.
Mr Muto turned away, still holding the card close to his heart. "Not for this card," he said, a little too overprotective.
Joey blinked, but realized what Mr. Muto meant. "Huh? Nah I didn't mean that card," he said. Then he looked around the glass case for some inspiration to save himself too. "I... meant... show me some other cool cards to get me started."
Mr. Muto seemed to like that idea much better. He placed the rare card back in its box without putting the lid back on in case the gang wanted to see it some more. He was just about to ask Joey what kind of cards he was looking for when the door to the Game Shop opened and that same 'ding' came from the bell once more. Everyone turned around to see who had just come in. When they saw who it was, they nearly jumped out of their skins.
"Hello there," greeted Mr. Muto, not seeing the difference in the teenagers around him. "Can I help you with something?"
The stranger scoffed as he kept the door open with one hand while in the other he was clutching a silver briefcase. Standing there in all his proud glory, was the CEO from their class.
"If you can't, it certainly wouldn't surprise me," said the man.
Seto Kaiba was also quite tall, standing with such a confident stance that he scared away all opposition at his meetings. He had chestnut brown hair and blue eyes as cold as ice. He wasn't the type to play nice. He was all about intimidation and power.
Yugi blinked and asked in slight shock of his own, "Seto Kaiba?" Joey yelled the CEO's name as well from surprise.
Tristan stuffed a hand in his pocket and brought his school bag over his shoulder. "Kaiba?" he asked, regaining any memory of the man from ever meeting them. "Doesn't he have a big fancy company to run? What's he doing down here?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but I came to see the card," said Kaiba, and his eyes showed severity, something fierce - as if they didn't get out of the way, he would trample them.
Joey stepped in front of everyone at the mention of a card. He had no idea the great CEO of one of the world's largest companies was interested in games. A new expression came to pass and it was an invitation. "Hey, are you into Duel Monsters too?" the blond asked the brunette with a very small and hopeful smile on his face. Maybe they could get along with the connection of having common interests. "This is perfect! Maybe we can all duel together sometime."
The CEO smirked and made his way farther into the shop until he came face to face with Joey. "Me? Duel you?" he said, a bit malevolently. "I would have more of a challenge playing Solitaire." He had no intention of being friends with anyone.
Joey became confused about what this guy was saying. "What?" he asked.
"I am the number one ranked duelist in the country and the favorite to win the Duel Monster's championship," he said, still not the least bit interested in Joey and his friends. He was all business. "You wouldn't even last two minutes in a duel against me."
All thoughts of being friends with the guy drained from Joey's mind and his face fell into a frown. "Oooh, I'm shakin'," he said, with his own voice being just as ferocious as Kaiba's. "Maybe we should settle this with fists instead of cards."
Yugi quickly stepped in front of Joey and held his hands up to make him stop before he did anything he would regret. "Woah, take it easy Joey," he said.
"But, Yugi," said Joey in protest. "Kaiba's asking for it."
"Now, does this shop have any worthwhile cards or not?" said Kaiba, ready to sue the people who owned the place if he didn't find what he came here for. He was about to say some other retorting comment about the shop, or lack of anything valuable, when something caught his eye.
His eyes had landed on the unclosed brown box still sitting on top of the counter-display case which was still holding the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card inside. Kaiba's usual cold, blue eyes widened at the sight of it and he pushed his way through everybody to get to it.
"Can it be?" he asked no one in particular. "The Blue-Eyes White Dragon? In a dump like this?"
His chest almost heaved at the sudden surprise of finding this card in a place he least expected it to be in. 'It is...' he thought, still staring at it. 'The card I've been searching for...'
Mr. Muto saw his shock-stricken face and knew where this was going. With the swift flick of his wrist, he popped the lid back onto the box and pulled it back towards him. "Well, enough window shopping," he said with a small glower at the man. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Kaiba looked annoyed. Now that the card was literally within his reach, he wasn't going to leave without it. With a swift movement of his own, he placed his briefcase onto the countertop, and as soon as he unclasped the locks to open it, he swung it around to show Mr. Muto what he was offering for the one card.
"Give me the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and I'll trade you with all of these!" Kaiba practically demanded. The gang looked over his shoulder or from over the counter top to see what was inside. The briefcase was filled with cards. Rare cards. Every rare card you could think of!
Mr. Muto stayed perfectly calm while everyone else admired the rare cards. Yugi's grandpa didn't even seem to be choosing between his Blue-Eyes and Kaiba's briefcase full of cards. He had his mind set on his card, and while Kaiba might have thought he was going to be intimidated by it, he wasn't.
"Ah, nice," said Mr. Muto. "But, no thanks."
Everyone stared at grandpa Muto in shock.questioned to himself. 'What makes that Blue-Eyes so special to him? It couldn't be because of its power... there's gotta be something else, because by the looks of things, the cards in Kaiba's briefcase could easily match up somewhat close to the Blue-Eyes in power. Not exactly the same kind of power, but he would have had tons of cards that were both rare and powerful instead of one!
'So, why would he give it all up?'
Kaiba looked just as surprised as everyone else did. He wasn't expecting anyone to abdicate his proposal of rare cards for the Blue-Eyes. But, he will get that card. Another idea soon hit him.
"Fine," he said. "If you won't trade, maybe you'll sell it. Name your price, I can pay anything you ask!"
Mr. Muto looked at him with soft eyes. "I'm sure you could," he said. "But this card is worth more to me than you could ever offer. Not because of its power or because it's so rare, but because of what it means to me. This card was given to me by a dear friend. So I treasure this card just like I treasure my friend. So parting with it is completely out of the question.
Kaiba was almost shaking with anger. He never, let us say this again, never expected someone to ever give up both offers! Could this card really be that special to him?
It all made sense to Yugi, though. His grandfather always told him to treasure his friends and the friendship they shared. Not parting with the card, because his friend gave it to him, was a sure sign that grandpa really did treasure his friends.
"You'd feel the same even if it was a common card, right grandpa?" asked Yugi, now understanding the bond between his grandfather and his friend through the Blue-Eyes card. Unbeknownst to anyone, Kaiba clenched his fist from the anger he felt toward Mr. Muto's words.
"Exactly," Mr. Muto replied to his grandson. "You see, this precious card has bonded with my heart."
Kaiba had heard enough. If the way he vigorously shut his briefcase and walked away from the counter-display case wasn't enough to show how cross he was about Mr. Muto's decision, his scoff before heading out the door would have sealed the anger. "Fine," he said. "I've heard enough of your nonsense." When he was just about to open the door to the shop, and that familiar 'ding' of the bell rang throughout the air, he muttered under his breath, "Senile old fool."
Everyone in the gang and grandpa stared after him just as he was getting into his limo for the ride home. Something about this character didn't make sense. Why would he want the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card so much? There were three others too, maybe he could go find them. Maybe they weren't even owned yet. They weren't in the game shop but perhaps another one had them.
But they had no idea that their questions might be answered in a much more horrible way than a simple worded sentence.
Sitting in the back of his limo, and while the driver at the front drove him back to his company's building, Kaiba was nearly radiating with tense anger. With his arms crossed, he scoffed to himself about what nonsense the man was talking about. "Heart of the Cards…" he derided. "Ridiculous! These cards are all about power! And one way or another, his Blue-Eyes White Dragon card... will be mine."
After he reached his company's building, Kaiba made his way into his office and his first order of business was to get his men to do something for him.
"Gentlemen," he said, "There's a little something I'd like you to pick up for me at the Game Shop." Seated behind his dark chestnut wood computer desk, Kaiba was stunning: a man of power, allies, and business. No one would dare step into line with him, let alone over it. They were very intimidated by his superiority in the gaming business but even more so at just his presence.
"Gladly, master Kaiba," said his leading henchman. The shadows of the room from lack of light outside obscured his face, making it hard to see what he looked like, but Kaiba trusted the man. For he was the one who always took his stepfather's side when he was adopted. He had pushed him to his limits in his studies and never let him take a break. All that tough work made him into what he was. A cold, almost heartless person. He had a sort of soft spot though, but it was only kept for his little brother.
Kaiba nodded, his cold eyes sharp and illuminated with an unnaturally grayish light just by the light from the moon outside his office window. The smirk on his face was striking, it was his classic weapon. He almost had the card in his grasp. He could almost feel its smooth surface between his fingers.
"Excellent."
The man Kaiba had instructed directly to go to the Game Shop arrived there during the early afternoon of the next day. The light streaming down by the sun above cast short shadows of the men who just reached the Game Shop's door. They opened it, and after that small little 'ding' from the bell hanging on the door, Mr. Muto stopped dusting off the display cases lining the walls of his shop to look up and see who it was.
"Good morning, " Grandpa's voice stopped short when he saw who it was at the door. His brow furrowed in suspicion.
Two tall, muscular bodyguards stood in the doorway with a shorter man in front of them. The bodyguards had on business suits and shades over their eyes while the shorter of the two was wearing a butler's outfit, complete with a purple bow tie and yellow coloured glasses. The scene looked like something from a kidnapper's movie, but it wasn't all too different here either.
The shorter one stood forward. "My master, Seto Kaiba, challenges you to a duel," he said. "You will come with us now."
Mr. Muto stayed put. He made no motion to move. With his hands behind his back, he said, "And if I were to decline?"
Something flashed across the mystery man's glasses. "I'm afraid I must... insist," he replied, almost as cold as his master. The two bodyguards behind him took one step forward, ready for any drastic measures if necessary.
'Young Kaiba doesn't understand,' thought Mr. Muto. 'But I'll teach him a lesson about the Heart of the Cards...' With that lesson, hopefully Kaiba will truly understand why he wasn't willing to give away his Blue-Eyes White Dragon to him before. Hopefully that lesson will come to pass with this duel.
It was after school on the same day as the teens from yesterday appeared in Yugi's grandfather's shop once more in hopes for Joey to get some cooler cards. He was really determined to beat Yugi in a game. They walked in through the doors to the same little bell chime just as Yugi called in.
"Grandpa!" he said. "I'm home!"
There was no answer. The shop left an eerie and mysterious silence in its wake and the gang felt a chill run up their spines. Something was horribly wrong.
Joey tried next, in case Mr. Muto didn't hear his friend. "Hey, Mr. Muto!" he shouted. "I'm here to get more cards!" He scanned the room for any signs of the elder man. Then he shrugged to his friends.
"Maybe he... went out?" suggested Téa, also not understanding where he could have gone.
"Maybe," agreed Tristan. "But why would he leave the door unlocked?"
Suddenly, the silence was split with the ringing of the store phone. Yugi walked over to the wall it was attached to, behind the counter, and picked it up, thinking for the time being that his grandfather was probably upstairs.
"Hello?" he called into the phone after putting it up to his ear. "Game Shop."
"Ah, Yugi," a deep voice said from the other line. "Perfect."
Yugi recognized the voice. It belonged to the same man who he and his friends met yesterday to get the Blue-Eyes from Mr. Muto. "Kaiba?" Yugi gasped into the phone, surprised.
"Your grandfather's here visiting, but he's not feeling well," said Kaiba and all thoughts of his grandpa being upstairs vanished from Yugi's mind. What was left was this cold feeling of dread. "Why don't you come by my office and pick him up?"
"Kaiba!" said Yugi, just as he heard some shuffling on the other line, which could only mean Kaiba was about to shut off the phone. "What have you done, Kaiba?!" But it was too late. The line went dead.
Without wasting another moment, Yugi hung up the phone and quickly told his friends what was wrong. In a split second, everyone dashed out the door of the shop and sprinted as fast as they could to the Kaiba Corp. building. They couldn't believe what Yugi was filling in along the way. Why in the world would Mr. Muto be at Kaiba's building in the first place? It seemed like a trap if Kaiba didn't stick around to explain anything more about it on the phone.
When the group of teens finally reached the entry doors to Kaiba's company building, they burst through the arc, ready to bring Mr. Muto home from who-knows-why he was there in the first place. After stepping into the elevator to go up to meet Kaiba, the doors shut and the elevator began moving up. They waited with eager tensity, Joey and Tristan not being able to wait from sudden adrenaline running through their veins. Not out of excitement though - out of worry for grandpa.
When the elevator stopped at a wide open room with nothing but a door on the opposite wall, the doors opened and everyone shared a collective gasp. There, almost on the verge of unconsciousness, lying on the floor, hurt, was Mr. Muto. One of their worst fears had been recognized.
"Grandpa!" Yugi shouted, running out of the elevator to fall on his knees beside his grandfather. With tentative hands, and eyes on the point of leaking with tears from seeing his grandfather like this, he helped him onto his elbows. "Grandpa, are you okay...?"
With the strength he could muster at the moment, Yugi's grandpa looked up at his grandson with small droplets of sweat beading his face. "Yugi, I failed," he said. His voice was strained. "I wanted to teach that boy Kaiba a lesson about the Heart of the Cards, but I lost." His strength diminished and he crouched down from his elbows.
"Grandpa..."
The door on the other side of the room opened and a bright white light illuminated the figure standing before it. A tall figure that ignited a dark aura about the room.
"How's the old man feeling, hm?" he asked slyly. His eyes were darker than normal.
"Kaiba?" yelled Joey out of pure outrage, clenching his fist. His honey coloured eyes blazed with pure anger. "You sleaze! What have you done to him?!"
"We had a duel, that's all," Kaiba said smugly, not even fazed by Joey's anger. "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 stimulation for the old fool."
Téa pointed at him accusingly with her ocean blue eyes just as narrow as everyone else's. "Kaiba!" she said. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"
"It was fair," said Kaiba. Then he pulled something from out his pocket and showed it to the gang, savoring their shocked faces. "And look at the sweet prize I won."
It was Mr. Muto's Blue-Eyes White Dragon card.
Then... Kaiba did the unthinkable. Everyone thought he was after the card to gain it, to control it. But when he gave it a half turn, and everyone watched in horror at what he was about to commence, a new question popped into their minds, but this time, it wasn't about the card, it was about his thinking.
Why would he do such a thing?
After giving the card a half turn, he... ripped it in two!
Why? After going after the card and finally gaining its power, he went ahead and ripped the card. What sort of sick and demented game was he playing?
Everyone gasped as the two pieces of the card fell to the ground, like petals of flower raining down from the sky. Heartbeats nearly stopped at the incredible dismay and horror from seeing grandpa's card in shreds.
"Grandpa's most treasured card!" cried Yugi.
"Yes, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a rare and powerful card," agreed Kaiba, but with a bad edge to it. "But this one will never be used against me."
Mr. Muto reached out a shaking hand towards the bits of card. "Ah, my Blue-Eyes White Dragon," he said, his voice weak. "M-My treasure!" He winced and suddenly curled his hand back into him. His body was in pain.
Yugi held his grandfather's shoulder, worry and ultimate concern carved into his once happy features. "Grandpa, hold on," he said. He was on the verge of tears. He couldn't believe he was seeing his grandfather so hurt like this. "Kaiba, how could you do such a thing!"
Mr. Muto reached up a hand to his grandson, but he held something in his fingers. "Yugi, here," he said, still keeping his voice very much strained, forcing himself to say the words he wanted to and fighting against the border of unconsciousness which was pushing into him. "Take this."
Yugi looked down at his grandfather. "Grandpa..." He had placed his Duel monsters deck in his hand.
"I built this deck," said his grandfather weakly. "I put my soul in these cards. And I taught you everything I know, Yugi.
"Take them. Take my cards and teach him respect. Teach Kaiba respect about the Heart of the Cards, Yugi."
Yugi shook his head. "But grandpa," he said. "You need help. I've got to get you to a doctor."
Kaiba stepped down from the platform attached to the door as a step. "Sounds like an excuse," he said, his eyes still the same shade as cloudy dark blue. "Your friends can care for your grandfather… while you and I duel."
He smirked. "Unless you're afraid," he said. Yugi gritted his teeth in anger at him and the bottoms of his eyelids blocked the tears from escaping. He didn't want to duel Kaiba and leave his grandfather lying on the floor. He wanted him safe and away from this place. Joey's voice stopped him from thinking any further.
"Take him, Yugi!" he said. Yugi gave him a look of confusion. "We'll take care of your grandpa while you take care of creepy Kaiba. Teach that rich spoiled brat what a real duel is all about!"
"For your grandpa, Yugi," said Téa, and it was then Yugi saw something in everyone's eyes that was different. It was determination. For him. They believed that going up against Kaiba would teach him about respect. Just like what his grandfather said. And they believed he was the one for the job.
But Yugi was still unsure. He appreciated his friends' help, but he really thought he should personally make sure grandpa was okay first before he dueled Kaiba. "I don't know..." he said.
"Trust me," said Joey. "You're like the best player I've ever seen, and you've got the Millennium Puzzle. You can do this, Yugi. I know you can!"
"We all do," said Tristan.
That seemed to spark some courage in Yugi. A small glimmer of the feeling spread through him with ease, and he knew his friends and grandpa were right. He had to duel against Kaiba. After the boost, Yugi gave his friends a determined nod before turning back around to his grandpa. He took the deck of cards from his grandfather's shaking hands and said. "Okay, grandpa. I'll do it."
"I know you will, my boy," said Mr. Muto. He believed his grandson would win too.
Téa brought out a marker from her pocket, it was probably still in there from school. "Everyone," she said, grabbing everyone's attention and unclasping the cap on the marker. "Put your hands together, and I'll mark us with a special sign." Everyone did as they were told, not really knowing what Téa had in mind. With a few simple, but artistic strokes, Téa drew a circle over everyone's hands, as if their hands - when put together - made paper. Then inside that circle she drew a smiley face.
When she was done, everyone removed their hand and looked it over. Joey was the first to blink and stare at it before saying his comment. "What gives, Téa?"
"It's a symbol of our friendship," she said. "So when Yugi's dueling, no matter how tough it gets, he'll know that he's not alone. We're all right there with him."
Yugi gave her a grateful nod. This really meant a lot to him. Now he wouldn't feel as though he were dueling all by himself.
The gang called the hospital from Téa's cell phone, and just as the ambulance pulled up at the front entrance to the building, Téa. Joey, and Tristan ran out of the archway with Tristan carrying Mr. Muto on his back.
"Joey," called Téa, just as they stopped at the back of the ambulance. "Tristan and I will take Yugi's grandpa to the hospital. Why don't you get back in there and cheer Yugi on?"
Joey nodded and made a move to run back into Kaiba Corp. "Okay," he said. "Take good care of him, Téa." And with that, both parties were on their way.
Back inside the building, on the floor Yugi was supposed to duel Kaiba, there was a small strain of tension. Never had Yugi gone up against the champion of Duel Monsters before. This was certainly both an honor and a tragedy. Kaiba wouldn't be forgiven for what he did to grandpa.
Turns out, the door Kaiba had emerged from was the room in which they were going to duel in. The size of the room was almost like putting five average-sized rooms into one, while the ceiling was incredibly high. There were rows of stone seats lining the perimeter of the room, with large pillars holding towering statues in every corner, and a green grid with white lines on the floor in the middle. On the north and south walls were columns of stone in which hid the compacted stands for the players and on the ceiling were six rectangular boxes that showed the life points for each player at every angle no matter where one stood in the room. In the space in the middle of the rectangular-made-circle was a hexagon with thick wires and cables holding it up onto the ceiling. Right now, each rectangular box reads "Yugi: 2000, Kaiba: 2000".
'Hopefully when the duel ends,' Yugi thought to himself. 'I'm not the one with zero life points on that counter.'
"I designed this virtual stadium myself. Impressive, hm?" Kaiba said to Yugi, pretty impressed with himself. Yugi looked around to take in his surroundings, but he didn't forget the reason why he was there. He would have to admit though, it was intimidating.
"I think you'll agree," continued the CEO. "It adds a bit more life to the game." The way he said the word "life" sent a small shiver up Yugi's spine. It didn't seem right to him.
Both duelists stood on the sections of the duel stadium that were compacted into the stone columns. When they had unfolded and stretched out to reach the green grid did they stop moving and did Kaiba start telling the rules.
"We each begin with 2000 life points," he said. "First player to hit zero loses."
He gave Yugi a smirk, thinking it would be easy to beat him. "Are you ready to play, runt?" he almost sneered.
Yugi furrowed his brow in determination. "Playtime is over, Kaiba," he said and without really thinking, or knowing what was going on—only knowing that the sudden burst of courage triggered something unusual—a bright golden light emerged from within his Millennium Puzzle, engulfing Yugi in it. His head tilted to the ceiling and an unfamiliar cry escaped his lips and unimagined symbols never before seen by the teen encircled around his feet with spirals of sky blue smoke shooting along with them. Ocean blue light shot out of the ground around him, and he soon felt himself change. Not only physically, but mentally too. It was like he became a whole different person.
When the blue light twirled upward into the ceiling, he was back, but this time, he knew he was completely different than how he was when Kaiba challenged him to a duel. No longer did he feel like shying away from the challenge. He actually felt like he could duel circles around the brunette. Even the look on Kaiba's face showed him that something had happened.
"Ah, what the—" Kaiba was stunned. This Yugi was suddenly taller and the look in his usual amethyst eyes, the one of averse and gentleness, was replaced by almost glowing and exotic crimson eyes. They held more determination than the brunette had ever seen and the utmost courage too. What just happened?
"Now, Kaiba," said the unknown man, but Kaiba kept his identity as Yugi who he was dueling. He just thought his mind was playing tricks on him. "Prepare yourself, because it's time to duel!"
LP: Yugi: 2000/Kaiba: 2000
Kaiba pushed the thought out of his mind of there being two Yugis. "Virtual systems, ready," he said, activating the dueling platform that they were floating high above. Both players drew their hands to start the game and the life points on the counter above their heads glowed, signaling it was ready.
Kaiba drew from his deck and then chose a card from his hand. "Let's begin," he said, placing the card he chose to start the duel off with onto the dueling mat laid out in front of him. The whole mat was placed upon a dashboard, showing the player how their opponent played their cards (attack, defense, face down, etc.) and their current life points. The mat shimmered for a second before the hexagon on the ceiling glowed an eerie green color.
"I attack with the mighty Hitotsu-Me Giant," said Kaiba and the green began to glow more. "Brace yourself, Yugi. You've never dueled like this before."
Suddenly the green glow turned into a circular pillar of green sparks falling down to the floor on a square on the green grid. The monster's shadow flickered before Yugi who was staring face-to-face with the Hitotsu-Me Giant in virtual graphics. He stood there, tall and scary, with one eye and green skin.
Hitotsu-Me Giant
Attribute: EARTH
Monster Type: Beast-Warrior
Level: 4
ATK/DEF: 1200/1000
"He's brought the monster on the card to life!" exclaimed Yugi, taking one step back from the thing he wasn't expecting. It looked like the monster was three dimensional.
"It's my virtual simulator," said Kaiba. "It creates life-like holograms of every Duel Monster." The Hitotsu-Me Giant gave Yugi a growl, only to prove what Kaiba had said.
Yugi gave the CEO a sharp glare. He realized now why his grandfather had been so weak when they found him. "So this is how you beat my grandfather," accused Yugi. He drew his first card for the duel too and held it up. "I'm not going to let you get away with this. It's my turn. I call on the Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress!" He swiftly settled the card he was holding onto the mat in front of him and watched the stream of green-light snow onto his side of the green grid, this time, making a blue dragon with sharp white teeth appear.
Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1
Attribute: WIND
Monster Type: Dragon
Level: 4
ATK/DEF: 1400/1200
Just then, Joey dashed into the room to do what Téa had told him to do, which was to cheer Yugi on for everyone. But when he got there, all thoughts drained from his mind as he stared up at the two monsters glaring at each other as if to strike.
"Whoa!" he said, astonished by their size and, not to mention, the fact that they were really monsters on the playing field. "Monsters? Real Monsters?"
The Hitotsu-Me Giant darted in for an attack, but Yugi was ready. "Fireball attack!" he yelled and the dragon he had summoned blasted a bright orange ball filled with fire straight at the giant. It hit him straight on and shattered him into holographic pieces. The blast was so huge and bright from the impact, Kaiba had to shield his face to refrain from getting scorched.
LP: Yugi: 2000/Kaiba: 1800
Just as Kaiba's life points dropped down from 2000 to 1800, a young boy with raven black hair and shy, deep purple eyes ran into one of the balconies built into a row of stairs behind Kaiba. "Big brother!" he shouted out of worry. "Are you alright?" So the two were brothers? They didn't look anything alike, but if one looked a little closer, one could see the same thing in their eyes. It was a small spark which was very hard to see but it was definitely there. And that precious spark was to care for one another.
Even if the great CEO Seto Kaiba seemed bad, he was actually much nicer to his younger brother, but he never dared show it to anyone else. They would think he was weak and he couldn't let that happen.
Joey clenched a fist in amazement. "All right!" he cheered. "Go Yugi!"
Kaiba didn't seem all too fazed. It was like he always got hits like that but he also always managed to win afterwards. Letting his opponents get a head start and to let them think they were winning were parts of strategies everywhere.
The CEO drew his next card and smirked when he saw what it was. "Hunh. Well played, Yugi," he said. "For a beginner."
He put down another monster card. "But how will you deal with this?" he taunted. His monster appeared onto the field in a shower of sparks, and when Yugi saw it, he wasn't all that impressed.
Saggi the Dark Clown
Attribute: DARK
Monster Type: Spellcaster
Level: 3
ATK/DEF: 600/1500
"Saggi the Dark Clown?" questioned Yugi. "But that card has hardly any attack strength."
"True your Winged Dragon's attack is 1400, while my Dark Clown's is only 600," said Kaiba nonchalantly with his arms crossed. He was very confident with this play. Then he played another card. "But if I combine it with this card..." he said.
Yugi seemed to catch on. Since it was against the rules to summon two monsters in the same turn, and Kaiba played another card this turn, it could only mean that he either placed a magic card or a trap card, but since he also said something about combining the card with Saggi, it couldn't be a trap card. So that could only mean that Kaiba was planning to use a—
"Ah, a magic card."
Kaiba smirked, realizing that Yugi was catching on to the game quite well. 'But he won't ever defeat me.' "Exactly," he said. The card showed the letter "E" with blue and yellow lightning streaks all around it. "The Negative Energy Generator. It multiplies my monster's attack by three."
Saggi decided to prove what Kaiba meant. So after the card was put into play, a black spotlight encircled Saggi and he immediately grew in size; three times his small size from moments before.
Saggi the Dark Clown
ATK/DEF: 600/1500 1800/1500
"Dark Clown, attack with Dark Light!" Saggi did what he was told and by raising his arms, he bolted a shot of black energy straight into Yugi's dragon. The monster shattered.
LP: Yugi: 1600/Kaiba: 1800
"As you can see," boasted Kaiba, with a proud smirk on his face, as he watched Yugi's life points drop to 1600. "Combining cards can be very effective."
'He's good...' thought Yugi to himself, clenching his teeth in slight frustration. 'He knows every aspect of this game.' Yugi placed a hand over his deck to draw the next card. 'But my grandpa put all his gaming knowledge, his whole heart, into assembling this deck. I have to believe that it holds some secret strategy.'
He pulled the card off from the top and saw what it was. It appeared to be a right leg to some sort of monster but it only had 200 ATK. Not enough to beat Saggi. He released a small sigh. 'This card is useless,' he thought. 'I can't beat the Dark Clown with this. I'll have to use a different monster.' An idea suddenly struck him. To place a monster in defense mode. 'The monster will be sacrificed but my overall life points will be safe.'
He placed a monster in defense mode, hoping that it could withstand Saggi's attack. Kaiba ordered his monster to attack Yugi's, which only turned out to be Sangan, weak compared to Saggi, so it was destroyed. Even though Yugi's monster was demolished, he didn't lose any life points, seeing as how he put the monster in defense mode.
Joey hit his clenched fists against the stone railing he was standing behind. "Hang in there, Yugi!" he cried.
Sora groaned as he opened his eyes, as he opened his eyes. He groaned, "What is this? Where am I?" He pushed himself up and noticed he was back in the Final World. "Did I die?" Sora asked himself. Sora looked in his pockets and he found all of his belongings in his pockets.
Before he could figure out what to do next, he saw a strange figure approach him. He had been garbed in a cream-white cloak and turban. His complexion was dark, and his azure eyes were devoid of emotion. Around his neck was a rope, tied to an ankh-shaped key of sorts. Upon this sight, Sora had been very close to summoning his Keyblade to defend himself, but this man did not have any real weapon. Instead, he had resorted to words. "Who are you?"
"My name is of no real consequence," the stranger had replied. "You are the Key Bearer, correct?"
Sora couldn't help but be surprised. People had approached him about this before, but such a person like this simply made him nervous about the whole affair. Deciding to play it safe, the boy narrowed his gaze. "And if I am?"
The instant he said it, the key around the man's neck glistened very slightly. Normally, he would not have noticed it, but his time of battling Heartless, Nobodies, and Unversed with the Keyblade had honed his ability to notice such things. The man's gaze narrowed a bit. "I do not wish to force myself on you to extract the truth," he said. "But if you are the Key Bearer, I must request your assistance."
If anything, that had caught Sora's attention. When someone asked for his help with that tone of voice, it could only mean one thing, and he never liked the sound of it. "I'll do what I can," he said. "What do you need?"
"Dark creatures threaten our world," the man said, seeming satisfied with Sora's answer. "Chaos is invading our safety. We have done our best to hold them off, but our own efforts are in decline. We need your help." said the stranger before he looked at Sora and handed him a small suitcase.I crafted this deck myself so that you will succeed"
Sora, confused on how a deck of playing cards could help him, nodded before looking at the card that was in front of him. It was called Winged Kuriboh and it winked at him. When he looked back up, he gasped in shock, noticing that he was now in a small apartment. "All the paperwork has been taken care of. This is where you will be staying. Good luck Sora Openheimer...May your heart be your guiding key." said the man before he vanished in a golden light,
Sora sat down on his bed before he pulled out his deck and he decided to look at some of his cards. he felt a warm glow come on his hand feeling the cards. As Sora looked through his deck and the suitcase, he saw an envelope on the top of the suitcase. curious he took the envelope and opened it to pull out another card but his jaw dropped when he saw what it was.
The Winged Dragon of Ra
Attribute: DIVINE
Monster Type: Divine-Beast
Level: 10
ATK/DEF: ?/?
For the next few turns, it had been difficult. Every time Yugi summoned a monster, it would just get destroyed by Kaiba's monster. Saggi seemed almost unbeatable! And the more Yugi's monsters kept going to the graveyard, the more Kaiba savored the sweet almost-victory. He was very close to making Yugi lose. If he succeeded, he'd become even darker than before!
"You're not faring any better than the old man did, Yugi," sneered Kaiba. "Your deck is just as weak and feeble as your grandfather."
"My grandpa is a great man and a better duelist than you'll ever be!" Yugi rejoined. How dare Kaiba insult his grandfather! His crimson eyes burned with conviction. "He entrusted me with his cards and I can feel his heart in this deck."
Yugi gave Kaiba a small glare, yet it was filled with intensity. "I doubt you have that kind of faith in your cards, Kaiba!"
Kaiba's smirk seemed to falter. It was the Heart of the Cards talk again...
Yugi held his hand over his deck and with a new burst of determination he said, "But I believe in my grandpa's deck!" He pulled off the next card and slowly brought it up, only to see what it was and begin his own smirking spree. "And my Faith rewards me with Gaia the Fierce Knight! With a destructive power of 2300!"
The card was activated and, from out of a stream of green sparks raining down from the hexagon block above, materialized a knight on horseback, wearing extravagant armor and sitting upon a dazzling horse. Gaia's armor gleamed under the artificial light given off from the ceiling lights.
Gaia The Fierce Knight
Attribute: EARTH
Monster Type: Warrior
Level: 7
ATK/DEF: 2300/2100
Kaiba faltered completely, not able to comprehend how Yugi made his comeback. The knight drew up his lance and darted forward, the horse's hooves pounding across the grid. The sharp point of the lance struck the Dark Clown with precision and shattered him into nothingness.
LP: Yugi: 1600/Kaiba: 1300
Joey threw his fist into the air. "Way to go Yugi!" he cheered, happy that his pal got through that tough monster. It seemed unbeatable, but when one thought about it hard enough and didn't give up, one tends to make miracles happen.
Is that what was going to happen today?
Yugi crossed his arms with defiance and smirked. "All right, Kaiba," he said. "Your move."
"Hah," smirked Kaiba, even though one of his strong monsters was just destroyed. Why in the world was he so mellow? Could he be planning something? "This'll be over sooner than you think."
He drew his next card and something flashed across his eyes. It was too hard to understand what it could have been, but Yugi understood what it was when he summoned the monster he just drew.
"I call on the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" he said and before Yugi's and Joey's eyes, a shining white dragon emerged from the green sparks of the summon. It stood mighty and fierce upon its powerful legs and roared with certainty. The gleam of darkness in Kaiba's eyes appeared again. The blue eyes of the dragon, shining.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon
Attribute: LIGHT
Monster Type: Dragon
Level: 8
ATK/DEF: 3000/2500
Yugi was in awe. "Ah, no way!" he said. He couldn't believe his eyes. Neither could Joey. How in the world did Kaiba get a Blue-Eyes White Dragon card when everyone saw what he did to it before this duel started?
"Impossible!" cried Joey. "We all watched Kaiba tear that card in half!"
Kaiba smirked. "Surprised?" he asked in a taunting manner. "Did you think your grandfather was the only one to possess the Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"
The great beast opened its jaws wide and produced a burst of blue electrical energy in its mouth. Then it launched the attack at Gaia, demolishing Yugi's monster and sending his life points tumbling.
LP: Yugi: 900/Kaiba: 1300
"Your Fierce Knight is destroyed," said Kaiba. "Faith or no faith, you will fall before my superior monsters, Yugi.
"Power is what this game is all about, you fool. Faith is for losers, like your pathetic grandfather."
Yugi clenched his teeth, discouraged for a moment. Kaibe never used to be like this in class. Why was he so dark? There wasn't a card in his deck that could stand up to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and as the turns passed by with Yugi only being able to defend with his monsters once more, Kaiba pulled another trick out of his sleeve.
"If you can't stand up to one," he said, drawing his next card and giving it a small smirk when he saw what it was. "What hope do you have against two?"
The air beside the first Blue-Eyes rippled and from within a shower of sparks appeared another Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Kaiba had two of them?
Blue-Eyes White Dragon
Attribute: LIGHT
Monster Type: Dragon
Level: 8
ATK/DEF: 3000/2500
"Why don't you just admit defeat, Yugi?" Kaiba provoked. It was a tempting idea, but Yugi didn't even go near the thought.
A small voice in the back of his mind, sounding a lot like his grandfather, said "Don't give up, Yugi." He knew his grandfather was counting on him to win. He couldn't give up now!
"I won't give up. Grandpa's counting on me," he said. Then he drew his next card and his heart almost skipped a beat. It was a magic card. "Swords of Revealing Light!" he cried, activating the card. White swords with a slight green glow about them shot through the air from above, locking themselves into place around Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragons. "This magic card stops all monsters on the field from attacking for three turns."
"How desperate," scoffed Kaiba. "What possible good will a three turn delay do you?"
Yugi looked down at his cards, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. 'He's right... What do I do?' His hand only consisted of some cards that looked like a bunch of body pieces. 'I can't figure out what to do with these cards! They're just a bunch of... pieces. How can I use them to battle an expert like Kaiba?'
'For someone claiming to have faith, you're giving up too easily, Yugi,' a familiar voice echoed in his mind. Yugi turned around in the darkness to see a lighted shadow of his grandfather. He was a little surprised he was there, but he was also glad.
'Listen,' he said. 'Sometimes the cards are like a puzzle. You have to put all the different pieces in their proper place.'
Yugi kind of understood what this version of grandfather was saying. 'Oh, like the Millennium Puzzle?' he asked, looking down at the upside down gold pyramid hanging around his neck. It had taken him eight years to complete the Millennium Puzzle, and he even decided to give up a few times too, but he kept going. For something at the end. A wish.
Yugi's grandpa nodded. 'Exactly,' he said. 'Each piece helps build a greater entity.' Then he began to vanish and Yugi found himself reaching for his grandfather in the darkness.
'Grandpa!'
'Like the pieces of a puzzle, Yugi. Remember.'
'Puzzle? When are the cards like a puzzle...?' Then a thought struck Yugi; a flashback. 'Wait! Grandpa once said...'
It was back at the Game Shop one day when Yugi was listening to one of grandpa's many stories. A question had popped up about which Duel Monster was the strongest, and grandpa had said this:
"Duel Monsters contains only one unstoppable monster, Exodia. But he can only be summoned by drawing all five special cards. A feat that to this very day no one has ever accomplished."
Could it be that grandpa has... Exodia in his deck?
"Quit your stalling, Yugi," demanded Kaiba, slightly irritated by the lack of response from the boy. "Or you will forfeit the match!"
Yugi glared at his opponent. "I never forfeit," he said. Yugi commenced drawing his card and his eyes immediately widened at what it was. It was another piece of the puzzle! Another body part; the right arm! Until he could get all the pieces into his hand though, he placed a monster on the field in defense mode.
"Draw any card you like, but it won't change a thing," sneered Kaiba. "My dragons may be frozen for another two turns, but my new monster is under no such spell!" He summoned a monster to the field, the Judge Man; a burly monster with two spiked clubs.
Judge Man
Attribute: EARTH
Monster Type: Warrior
Level: 6
ATK/DEF: 2200/1500
Kaiba ordered his monster to attack Yugi's face down defense card. It had an attack power of 2200 so Yugi's defense monster couldn't stand up to it and was destroyed.
Yugi's turn to draw. He drew a spell caster known as the Dark Magician. Long purple robes adorned his figure and a light teal staff with an orb at the end was in his hand. He had a higher attack power than Kaiba's Judge Man, 2500, but when the Swords disappeared, he wouldn't be able to contend with Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragons.
He went with it and played the card. After more green lights, the spell caster appeared onto the field.
Dark Magician
Attribute: DARK
Monster Type: Spellcaster
Level: 7
ATK/DEF: 2500/2100
"Dark Magician, attack!" The magician held up a hand and expelled a shock wave at the Judge Man, shattering him to pieces.
"Your Judge Man falls," said Yugi. And so did Kaiba's life points.
LP: Yugi: 900/Kaiba: 1000
Kaiba put on an act of sadness from his monster being destroyed, but he was actually much colder. "Oh, a sacrifice that doesn't even faze me," he said. Then he held up the next card. "And though neither dragon can move for one more turn, my next card is... the third Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
Blue-Eyes White Dragon
Attribute: LIGHT
Monster Type: Dragon
Level: 8
ATK/DEF: 3000/2500
Yugi and Joey couldn't believe their eyes. When the third white dragon materialized onto the field and struck down Yugi's Dark Magician did the two realize that it was no joke. Kaiba really did have all three!
"So tell me, Yugi," said Kaiba. "Where's your faith now?
"On my next turn, all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons are free to attack. This game is over no matter what card you draw. "You can't possibly stand up against my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. It's over, Yugi. You were never a match for me."
Joey knew what Kaiba was up to. Along with his Blue-Eyes staring Yugi down, the brunette was trying to push Yugi into forfeiting the duel himself. He tried making it seem like there was no hope. "Don't listen to him, Yugi!" he shouted over to his friend, but Yugi looked through the cards in his hand as though he was about to break.
'Kaiba had three Blue-Eyes all along. He only wanted my grandpa's card so it couldn't be used against him. My only chance now is to assemble all the pieces of Exodia. But the odds are against me.' That feeling in the depths of Yugi's mind grew and soon it almost overpowered him. 'I don't think I can do this…'
When he reached over his deck to draw his next card, his deck moved away from him. Surprised, his eyes widened. 'The deck. It senses my doubt!' cried Yugi, shocked, but it wasn't his own voice. It was deeper like the different person that Yugi turned into to duel Kaiba. To make matters more confusing, Yugi's spirit almost disconnected from his body. Then that deep voice told him what to do.
'Don't lose focus, Yugi! Don't lose faith! Concentrate!' The two spirits joined again when Yugi began concentrating harder. He felt like he should listen to this voice. He sounded confident. Then they both saw it. The mark on their right hand. The symbol Téa drew on all four of them; Joey, Tristan, Yugi, and herself. The symbol of their friendship. Then he saw every one of his friends circling around his deck. They had their hands in and the part of the smiley face that wasn't there was on Yugi's hand.
It was another puzzle. But he didn't need a lot of thinking to figure this one out.
Each of his friends wore a warm smile. "Yugi, we're right here with you," said Téa. And then the words she had said before came back to mind. Téa made the friendship symbol for this exact reason; to tell Yugi that he wasn't alone. During the tough spots, like right now, his friends wanted to tell him that they were supporting him no matter what, no matter how far away they were from each other.
"Yugi, you've got to believe in yourself," said Tristan next. On the brink of losing, he couldn't just give up. He had to believe in himself that he could win, no matter how much the odds were against him.
"You can do it," said Joey last. "Just kick Kaiba's butt."
With his friends beside him, how could he not?
"Need some help?"
Yugi's eyes widened, seeing a boy he had never met before, put Yugi's hand on his deck.
The feeling of dread evaporated and a new feeling of hope shined through the doubt. Yugi was filled with exceptional and new determination from his friends' and the stranger's words. 'They're right,' he said, looking down at his extended hand over his deck with a brave smile on his face. 'I've got to believe in the cards like my friends believe in me.'
"Draw your last pathetic card so I can end this, Yugi," said Kaiba and his face told Yugi he was overconfident that he would win. It seemed to the brunette that there was no way he could lose, not when his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons were on the field at the same time.
But Yugi was about to change all that.
"My grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards, Kaiba," he said as he and the non-existent boy drew the card that would seriously end this duel. The boy then disappeared, as Yugi held it up to show Kaiba. "But it does contain... the unstoppable Exodia!" It was the Forbidden One's head.
Kaiba's eyes widened in horror. "What? Impossible!" This was ridiculous! How in the world was Yugi able to draw Exodia! He had the beast in his deck in the first place? It seemed unfathomable! He had won this match!
Yugi laid down all five cards to summon Exodia. "I've assembled all five special cards," he said to Kaiba. "All five pieces of the puzzle!"
A ten pointed blue star swiveled onto the field. From the point on the upper right appeared a left arm and on the upper left a right arm. From the bottom right point appeared a left leg and on the left a right leg. And finally, from the point at the top, a head appeared. It was definitely Exodia, the Forbidden One. Never had the CEO been against such a beast, only because no one he ever faced had Exodia in their deck. The pieces to summon him were extremely rare and it was impossible to get all of them. Now he knew there was no way out of this. He lost. He couldn't believe it, but he lost.
Exodia towered above his dragons like a skyscraper, and the dragons were merely streetlamps. The giant beast had his golden hands and feet in broken chains, now being summoned and not being contained in his cards, he didn't really have anything to be chained to anymore. He stood in front of Yugi, ready to demolish Kaiba's monsters.
Left Leg of the Forbidden One
Attribute: DARK
Monster Type: Spellcaster
Level: 1
ATK/DEF: 200/300
Right Leg of the Forbidden One
Attribute: DARK
Monster Type: Spellcaster
Level: 1
ATK/DEF: 200/300
Left Arm of the Forbidden One
Attribute: DARK
Monster Type: Spellcaster
Level: 1
ATK/DEF: 200/300
Right Arm of the Forbidden One
Attribute: DARK
Monster Type: Spellcaster
Level: 1
ATK/DEF: 200/300
Exodia the Forbidden One
Attribute: DARK
Monster Type: Spellcaster
Level: 3
ATK/DEF: 1000/1000
"Exodia..." Kaiba staggered back from the fall of his determination. "It's not possible! No one's ever been able to call him!" From this day on, Yugi changed everything.
And not only from the help of his friends, but also from the help of a friend-to-be.
"Exodia," said Yugi, feeling the strength and courage within him growing just by the sight of his monster and his nearing victory. He beat Kaiba. "Obliterate!"
From his hands, Exodia summoned a ball of golden light. He threw it at the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. It exploded halfway into the throw and destroyed all three of the dragons at once, finally defeating Kaiba.
LP: Yugi: 900/Kaiba: 0
"You did it!" cheered Joey, proud of his pal's victory. He always knew he would defeat Kaiba. "Yugi, you won!"
However, the younger boy in the stands who was cheering for his older brother couldn't believe his eyes. "That can't be!" he said. "My brother never loses!"
"You play only for power, Kaiba, and that is why you lost," said Yugi. "But if you put your heart in the game, there is nothing you can't do."
He watched Kaiba try to regain himself from the blast, but the look of ultimate horror hadn't left his face and he clung to the dashboard, rereading the life points and the cards' positions over and over again, thinking the whole time that it couldn't have been true. "But... but how?" he cried. "How could I have lost to him?"
Yugi had had enough. All Kaiba thought about this whole time was power and making people bend on their knees. He had to put a stop to this. "Kaiba," he called. "If you truly want to know... open your mind!" With a thrust of his hand into Kaiba's direction, Yugi sent a powerful shock wave that shattered Kaiba's mental state. The brunette fell to his knees in exhaustion from being overpowered by his dark and power hungry side. This was why he wasn't normally like this. Something had grown in his heart that made him someone else - a dark being who only wished for power. Now, it was gone, with the help of Yugi's friend who seemed to have strange powers.
"There, Kaiba. Maybe now, you can begin to see."
Crimson eyes that held wisdom and determination... Who could this be? Yugi hadn't known what really happened—all he thought was that he was dueling Kaiba, but this other side, this other presence... was unbeknownst to him.
At the hospital, where Tristan and Téa were in grandpa's room, he stirred and his eyes opened. Téa, who was sitting beside his bedside, smiled with relief. "Grandpa's awake!" she cried, overjoyed. Tristan smiled as well.
"Yugi won," was all Mr. Muto said. He knew his grandson had won. He could feel it in his heart.
Author's Note:
I have been thinking about doing a side project like this for a while now. There aren't that many Kingdom Hearts x Yu-Gi-Oh crossovers, so I decided to do one.
Current Status on Crossover Vote:
My Little Pony x Bakugan Battle Brawlers (the original Bakugan) (Takes place where a Brawler and his Partner, Leonidas, end up in Equestria) - 1 Vote
My Little Pony x The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword (takes place after Shining Armor kicks Twilight Sparkle out of his wedding) - 8 Votes
My Little Pony x Luigi's Mansion 3 (takes place during the first episode of MLP and Luigi's Mansion 3 did not happen) - 2 Votes
To vote, just simply leave a comment or PM me.