"From the smallest seed grows a flower, a weed, a tree, a blade of grass. From the smallest duelist grows a win, a battle, a champ, a master."

-Geno Roads.

Seeds of the Future

Joey swung his fist in the air. "That's my girl!" He ran up to Seto and grinned, right in his face. "What do you think of that, rich boy? My flesh and blood is a million times cooler then your flesh and blood, eh?"

Tea frowned. "Thanks Joey."

"Tea, I wasn't….arrrrr." He frowned. "Sorry Tea, I forgot totally."

"Being brainless will cause that." Seto said calmly. Joey glared at him and clenched his fist. "I have half a mind…"

Guy burst into laughter. "Come on Joey, even Yugi is evil enough to make an insult out of that. Stop lobbing Seto balls to hit and sit down, a'ight?"

Joey muttered something as he sat down, his arms crossed. He remained that way for about 10 seconds, then the smell of lunch brought him out of his gloom. "I guess I can give my mouth a better purpose."

Tea clamped a hand down on Seto's mouth.

Yugi looked over at the big screen. "Hey, Lysandra's up next!" he turned to Yami and Gala. "How is she doing after that close win?"

Gala shrugged. "Like Lys always does: She meditated."

Lysandra Moto was one of the most interesting people in the world. She was a blend of two powerful houses: The house of Egypt, home of the Kings, and the House of Roads, home of gods. Lys was a mix of Gala and Yami, right down to her dark eyes. She was serious, yet caring, and didn't mind a bit of fun. She was also incredibly powerful in magic, being able to master magic in the earth from her mother, the shadow games from her father, and the Games of the Gods from her grandfather.

She was also quite well known. First off, she was the daughter and granddaughter of the three most famous duelists around. And her uncle and aunt were also well known. But, she was also royalty, twice over. She was a princess, daughter to the Pharaoh of Egypt, with even Malik and Ishizu becoming quiet when, as a little girl, she had talked baby gibberish.

And, through her mother, she was a princess among the gods. Though Lys remained a mere immortal, most gods saw her as being an incredible force, and there were some that even consulted with her. Her great grandmother, Isis, had trained her in the arts of earth magic, so she was able to take care of herself. Of course, being a Roads automatically made you one not to be messed with. Anyone who dared to mess with her would have to deal with her uncles, aunts, grandparents….even Destiny, that long feared god returned to light, had taken a shine to Lysandra, and had threatened to slit a god from mouth to ass if they dared to touch her, or any of his children.

But in the end, Lysandra Moto was not egotistical about this. Infact, she was very down to earth. She merely considered all of this her life and handled it in strive.

A duel however.

Lysandra tapped her feet against the ground, waiting for the ref to announce the game to begin. He was right now talking to her opponent, and while she understood the need to ok the rules, she wanted to duel. She had come across a new card, and was hoping to get to try it out.

She took a breath, and after steadying her nerves, looked at her opponent carefully. He was a little taller then her, even though he was only 16 years old. He had thick, light brown hair, an even face, and playful eyes. He wore a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. He also wore a strange, uniformic style jacket, deep yet brilliant red.

I've seen that jacket before.

Lys didn't have a chance to continue her line of thought as the ref stepped away from the boy. The ref had been telling him about the new rules again, explaining about the different point values. Lysandra figured this was his first year dueling, and he wanted to make sure he had got them all down pack.

"This match will be between Haramu Yurki and Lysandra Moto."

Yugi frowned, and looked at Lysandra's opponent again. Rebecca noticed his change in mood and glanced at him. "Yugi, something wrong?"

"I have heard that name before…a long time ago. But I can't remember where…and in what form."

Guy smiled. "What, did Yami's little memory problem rub off on you Yugi?" He chuckled, only for him to be slapped across the head twice, once from Raia, and once from kaikou taking over Raia. "Fine, it wasn't that funny….geez."

Haramu smiled as he shuffled his deck. "So, your last name is Moto…your related to…Yugi Moto?"

"Yami." Lysandra said.

Haramu nodded. "Cool." He slipped his cards into his duel disk. It, like his jacket, was different. It was a fancier version of the battle city duel disk her father used, but not as high tech as the duel disk used by her and her mother. It was something else she had seen though, with that jacket. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"This is your first duel?"

"Second." Haramu said, drawing his 5 cards. "I already won my first one." He smiled. "I hope we can have a fun duel."

Lysandra smiled softly. A Fun duel…that's a change. Most duelists here are only in it for the win or the glory. It will be nice to actually have a duel that about fun and adventure.

"I will start first." Lysandra drew her 6 cards. "First, I will set a monster in defense." The card flashed on the field on the field. "Next, I will activate Wave-Motion Cannon." As she said this, the jar shaped cannon appeared, not moving or doing anything. "This card has an interesting effect. Every time I have a standby phase, the pressure in this cannon will increase, till I fire it off at your lp directly. Your move."

"Now that is an interesting card!" Haramu said with a grin. "Let's see if I can beat it. First, I will summon Knight of the Rising Sun." On the field, light began to focus on one point, till a knight rode out of the opening. He wore glistening white armor, a sword in hand. His grand white horse neighed and stomped it's feet. "By his effect, I can discard one monster from my hand to summon Knight of the Falling Sun to the field." As he said this, the point of light faded, till a point of light remained. From this, darkness swirled around, and the next knight rode out. This knight was the negative version of the glistening white version, with black armor and stead.

Yami frowned. "He's summoned them in attack mode."

"So?" Mokuba said, looking over at the duel from his laptop.

"They only have an attack strength of 800. Why would he open himself up like that?" Yami stroked his chin. "He must have something planned, a way to protect them."

"Now, I will attack your down face card with Knight of the Falling Sun." The knight rode ahead, but stopped. The crowd murmured as Haramu smiled, and took a card out of his hand. "And now, I will activate this: Arrow of Death. Whenever one of our monsters destroys a monster in battle, we are allowed to destroy one spell or trap card on the field." The knight of the Falling Sun raised his sword, and with a slash, shattered Lysandra's monster. With that, an arrow emerged from Haramu's card, and shattered Lysandra's cannon. "And now, I will attack with my Knight of the Rising Sun!" The knight raced forward and slashed Lys in the chest, causing her to grunt. (Lys-5200)

And I was thinking how nice it would be to have a nice, calm duel. Lysandra thought as she drew. "I activate the magic card Re Seeding. This card allows us both to first take the cards form our graveyards and add them to our hand. Next, we discard the other cards that were once our hand, and draw that many cards from our deck."

Haramu nodded, sending two cards to the graveyard, returned the monster he had discarded to perform his Knight's effect, and then drew two cards. Lys did the same and smiled. "Now, I will set this card, and reactivate Wave-Motion Cannon. Next, I will summon Lord Poison to the field." The twisted root monster appeared, digging into the earth. "And I will have him attack your Knight of the Falling Sun, destroying it, and destroying your Arrow of Death!" The Poison master fired its barbs, shattering the knight. The Arrow twisted, and fired at it's own card, shattering it and itself. (Haramu-5300)

Haramu nodded. "That was so cool!" He grinned and looked at his hand. "This is an amazing duel." Lysandra nodded as Haramu drew. "I summon Trojan Horse in attack mode, and shift my Knight to defense." He paused. "Mmm…I don't trust you're down face card, so I will wait."

Lysandra nodded as she took her next card. "I will now summon Arcane Archer of the Forest, in attack mode." As the card appeared, a tree drew out of it, and a man with a bow appeared at the top watching the duel unfold. "And now, I will have my lord Poison attack your Trojan Horse!"

Guy watched his niece. "I think she is nuts."

"I think she is confused." Mokuba said.

"I think she is your next queen of games." Galanodel said, watching as Lord Poison shattered.

Lysandra smiled and turned to her graveyard. "Lord Poison will now activate his final effect. When he is sent to the graveyard, I can summon the monster I got rid of due to my Re Seed magic card: Fairy King Truesdale!"

Haramu watched in awe as the grand king of the forest appeared on the field. He was a youthful fairy, his long hair blowing as he walked. Every step he took, life sprung forth, from flowers to green grass. He stepped next to the tree that held Lys' archer, and nodded.

"But that is not all. I activate my Quickplay Spell card: Law of the Forest." Te spell card flipped up, the image of Truesdale tending a flower, a woman Haramu didn't know picking weeds.

"This card causes all effects that depend on card position to no longer be effected by these restrictions. That means my Truesdale and my Archer to increase their attacks by 500!"

Haramu nodded again, smiling. "Come on Lysandra, attack!"

Lys nodded. "Now, Truesdale, attack The Trojan Horse, and my archer, attack the final knight!"

As the archer shot the Knight of the Rising Sun fell, Truesdale waved his staff, and Trojan Horse fell apart (Haramu-3600)

Haramu still smiled though. He was enjoying this match against such a famous duelist, and it was a blast to see such new monsters. He had never faced a plant deck, and it was cool to see if he could crack its secrets.

"That was a well played move Lysandra. A very well played move." Haramu drew and nodded. "Now let's see if I can top it. First, I will activate my magic card, Knight's Oath." As it activated, a card with the two Sun Knights appeared. "This card allows me to search my deck for two knights, and place them in my graveyard, while also removing 2 knights from my graveyard from the game. I chose to remove my two sun knights and send a copy of each of them to the graveyard."

"What good does that do you?" Lysandra asked.

"By doing this, I can special summon a Knight monster from my deck to the field, without paying any tributes or costs." Haramu smiled. "So, I will be able to summon my key card: Gaia The Fierce Knight!"

Yugi leaned forward. "Wow…it's Gaia."

Joey nodded. "I remember when you had that version in your deck Yugi, before you went with all the Magnet warriors and Silent monsters."

Yugi nodded. "Ya….I wonder what he has planned for that. I mean, it still can't beat Lysandra's Truesdale."

Haramu smiled. "And since I special summoned Gaia, I am able to normal summon this monster: Naris, Stead of the fierce Knight!"

On the field, the sound of hooves echoed, until Gaia leapt off his horse and allowed it to paw the earth. It neighed and trotted up to Gaia, and the knight stroked its head. (Atk: 400, Def: 400)

"Now, I will activate his special ability. You see, Naris is a union card, which can join with Gaia. And when he does so, this horse gives my Gaia a 400 atk and def increases, matching your Truesdale. But it gets better."

"Does it now?" Lysandra asked, eyeing up the blue armored knight. "And what is that?"

Haramu smiled softly, his eyes bright. "As long as the horse is on the field, no card effects can damage my lp…making your Wave Motion that was sitting on the field, no longer a worry."

Lysandra cursed under her breath as Haramu ended his turn. She had been hoping that he would have forgotten it, and allowed her to fire t in a turn or two, winning the match. Now…it looked like she needed a new plan.

"I summon Dreamsprite, and end my turn."

Haramu nodded and drew his next card. "I will now activate book of the moon on your Fairy King Truesdale." As he said this, Truesdale faded into a down face card, reducing the attack of all of Lysandra's monsters. "And now, I will activate my spell card: Spiral Spearshot"

"Oh no."

Yami looked over at Yugi. "Yugi…what is it? Do you know what this card is, what it does?"

Yugi nodded. "It's one of those Monster Attack cards. It gives Gaia a trample effect."

Gala watched her daughter, a shadow creeping over her face. on Lys, you can do this."

"Gaia, Spiral Spearshot!" The Knight rode forth, and with a plunge, drove his lance into the card, shattering it. (Lysandra-4000)

Lysandra frowned as she drew. She needed to wait. She had the card she needed, but she wanted to wait. "I will end my turn by shifting Arcane to defense."

Haramu nodded as he drew his neck card. "Then I will attack your arcane archer…."

"Invalid!" Lys said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Haramu asked, running his fingers through his hair. He paused, and then grinned. "It's a lock! Of course!" He looked at the audience, all of whom were confused. "Dreamsprite causes me to have to attack Arcane. But Arcane is an invalid target. She has me beat till I use a card effect to destroy one of them!"

Lysandra frowned. How can Haramu be so upbeat. I mean, this is a hard duel, but he is enjoying it. I mean, I've seen people like dad and Grandpa Kaos enjoy dueling, but they like it differently. Haramu is acting all in good spirits, even though this is a textbook case of a hard fought due…textbook….that's it!

Lysandra turned to Haramu. "Why didn't you tell me we have something in common Haramu?"

"What do you mean?"

Lysandra smiled softly. "It took me a while to put it together, but I figured out where I saw that jacket before."

"My jacket?"

"It's based off of my grandfather's and Seto Kaiba's. Only one place in the world has jackets like that in Red…and yellow and blue." Lysandra's grin grew bigger. "The Dueling Academy set up by Seto Kaiba. And tell me, who is the most famous duelist to come out of the academy, who also wore a Slifer Red Jacket."

Yugi, in the booth, looked down in shook. The hair was right, just a bit lighter, and he had the same carefree expression. There was no doubt in his mind that the boy down there was…

"….the son of Judai Yurki, the king of games after my godfather, Yugi Moto."

The crowd murmured, as it suddenly fell into place. Haramu was the son of that famous duelist, the man with the E-Hero deck. The man that had been the heir to Yugi Moto.

Yugi looked down on the field. "It is his son. He looks like the boy I saw, those years ago, when I was going off to your house Gala, that day Yami returned….that is the son of the man I gave Hane Kuribo to."

Haramu nodded, bowing to the crowd. "You honor me and my family. Yes, I am the son of Judai, as well as the son of Asuka, Number One Female Duelist in the Dueling Academy."

Lysandra nodded as she drew her card. Haramu watched her, and then scratched his head. "You said we have something in common. What is it?"

Lysandra smiled softly. "It is true that you are the heir to Judai…I am the heir to Yami Moto. And it is time for me to show you why." Her smile faded as she took a card out. "It's time for you to meet my greatest servant. I sacrifice Arcane Archer and Dreamsprite to summon Biospell Magician!"

On the field, the two monsters faded as a new monster appeared. She wore her long green hair back in a ponytail, her body draped in brown robes with flowers adorning them. She had a crown of leaves upon her head, and in her hands, she held a thick wooden staff, twisted like a tree trunk. The mage spun her staff in her green silk covered hands. (Atk: 2400, Def: 1000)

"What does that mage do?" Haramu asked.

"It's simple. When I activate the effect of a card that would do effect damage to your card, it no longer does that. Instead, for this turn, it increases my mage's attack by the amount of damage it would have done."

The audience gasped as Wave-Motion Cannon faded, and BioSpell Mage increased her attack by 3000, to make her a whooping 5400 attacker. But Lys wasn't done.

"Next, I will play Seeds of the Future. By removing 1 plant monster from my field, I can do 500 lp damage to you. And I can do it more then once, and it all helps my Biospell Magician!"

Haramu watched as the Magician's attack increased by 1500 more, 500 per the 3 plant monsters, making it a 6900 beast. He looked at his Gaia, and already knew it wouldn't be able to survive this attack.

And he still smiled. "Do it Lys. It's ok…at least my Gaia will still survive."

Lysandra nodded. "BioSpell Magician, target Gaia, and destroy his union card, with Tree Fall Blast!"

The mage spun her staff, and behind her, a grand tree appeared. However, as she stopped, it creaked, and the mage let the staff fall horizontal, the tree crashing to the ground, a blast of green energy shattering Naris. Haramu watched his lp drop, and grinned, walking over to Lys and shaking her hand.

"Now that was a fun duel!" He said happily. "Man, I am going to remember that! Did you see Biospell attack, that was so cool, I mean, just wow…" He took a breath, and looked at her score. "73…that is great Lysandra."

"Thank you Haramu. You dueled great too. I am amazed you can manage to run such a hard hitting deck that I never even heard of."

The two stood on the field, swapping stories, as their monsters faded from sight.