Paradise City, the big apple of amnesia, the cradle of civilization for a forgotten world. One day, fourteen years ago, every person on the planet lost all memory of anything which had occurred before then, other than how central a card game was to their lives. But in spite of that, the world advanced in the face of adversity. Due largely in part to the efforts of two friends, who would be revered as the two pillars forming the foundation of the new world with their advances in technology and entertainment, the world could live in the present and look forward to tomorrow. The past was of no consequence, and any lessons to be learned from it were forever hidden away. And with this mindset, even the two pillars of "Good" would be forgotten, their current whereabouts unknown. But sometimes, certain remnants of the past have a way of resurfacing from even the deepest, darkest depths. That "Evil" would return would be a bitter surprise for any society unfamiliar with it, that it would return as a result of an intense Magic & Wizards match… not that surprising, to be honest.


Intro: BELIEVE x BELIEVE by Bulletrain

On-screen: Yuya Sakaki, main character of the series, shows up in many colors posing flashily in a bunch of cutaways, then flaps those away with his jacket like a magician disappearing an object, and turns to the side in front of a single playing card which flips over to show his silhouette on the back, and a sequence of three more differently colored playing cards appear from thin air, all with his silhouette on them, in an allusion to the show's twist of many Yuyas.

Then the show's logo appears while a pendulum sways back and forth in an arc, and for some reason a V appears, most likely due to this being the seventh series of Yu-Gi-Oh! if you count Capsule Monsters, which is confirmed when Gong and Zuzu get cutaways, forming a loose VII with the V. Then the characters from You Show Duel School appear in the strips, showing that much like the Pendulum Scales Yuya uses, his friends are the pillars supporting him in his dueling.

Now it's time to showcase the Performapal Archetype, where each member has their own unique quirks despite there being 90 of them in all, with several palette swaps. Then Sylvio shows off some Dart cards that are anime original and very shiny, which really makes you wonder why Yuya's Pendulum cards are just plain cardstock if they are the only ones in existence. Is the source of his powers not willing to dish out more money over some singles? Well, half of his counterparts are living on the bottom part of a class system and in a war-torn ruin respectively, so maybe he really doesn't have the hell-money to spare. Oh crap, theme song's almost over! Uh… "everyone's believing, hold onto that feeling, streetlights people!" Nailed it.


The stadium erupts in response to the boy's smack talk, half of them going "OHHH!" in respect to the diss while the other half goes "OHHH!" at the audacity this pipsqueak is showing to the champ!

Skip Boyle is in a similar position as of now. On one hand, he wants to cheer his student on for that display huge guts, but right now, he has to set a positive example for the impressionable charges in his care. He smiles down at three of them, all garbed in "You Show" paraphernalia. "Remember kids, it's important to always respect your opponent in a duel, just so they will do the same with you!"

His words fall on deaf ears, as Tate, Allie, and Frederick cup their hands, and on the count of three, shout out, """Get, Bent, Sledgehammer!"""

Gong observes Yuya. The man had his doubts that Yuya would be ready for this. Going up against The Sledgehammer was a goal Gong had been training for himself, and there was still quite a bit more mountain to climb there. He could only hope his friend's methods of calming his nerves did the trick for this upcoming battle, even if they made him look quite the cocky cock.

Zuzu's eyes are wide as she considers her childhood friend. On one hand, he seems to really be in it to win it, but on the other, just how much of that anger has he been keeping under the surface?


"Fu*k around and find out!"


Yuya smiles up at his opponent, who appears to be setting some kind of record for how much blood can pump through a man's throbbing musculature and temples.

"I will make you eat those words, clown boy!" The Sledgehammer growls as he activates his duel disk with a swipe of his forearm, nearly grazing Yuya's hair. "But I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I'm going to ram it into your stomach, and break your goddamn spine!"

Yuya activates his own duel disk while wagging a finger. "Mm, mm, mm. See, that's the problem with you. You let your fists do the dueling instead of the cards! What kinda example is that supposed to be setting for the kids?"

"Really?" The Sledgehammer scoffs, "Come on, don't bullshit me. A prick like you cares about family friendliness? Is your mommy watching in the stands or something? We both know Yusho isn't. In fact, after this match, I think I'll see about taking another trophy of his and (blah blah blah I'm a gorilla who escaped from a beauty products lab which is why I have this crap on my face)" was what Yuya heard as he tuned out from the trash talk that was breaking new ground at the bottom of the barrel. That's The Sledgehammer for ya!

He instead looked over to the stands with one of his eyes to pinpoint where his mother was. A mistake, as soon as he glimpsed at her, he could see that she had her arms crossed. With a frown.

As the Action Field Spell Castle of Chaos activates, dispersing Action Cards all over the Solid Vision arena of a Castle surrounded by a forest, Yuya texts his mom on his duel disk while he and The Sledgehammer rise higher atop a castle parapet.

":( ?" Yuya types in worriedly.

She responds: ":("

He gulps, thinks for a bit, then realizes why she mad. "what? I said what you told me to!"

"I told you to say it once" "not 13 times" "and dont think I dint hear you say (Poop Emoji)" "getting a bar of soap on the way home young man"

Yuya's face sinks in despair as he wails out, "Aw, fuuuuuuuu-"


"-udge! Getcha fudge here!" shouts a vendor amongst the stands.

A hand shoots up. "Please!" shouts a cyan-haired boy from beneath a bucket of sweets. (Rec. BGM: Umineko "Sakutaro's Adventure") The boy outright snatches the fudge square from the vendor's hand, and gobbles it down. He licks his fingers, and reclines. "Nii~! (Standard Sweets sure do make the trip worth it)!" the boy says in his own tongue, sighing in content. He opens his eyes to see the vendor still standing in front of him, in the way. Huh, why this?

The vendor holds his hand out, "Ahem."

Ah, the money. Well, purple nurples. He only had Fubles on him. The boy does his best to look meek, and throws out a basic phrase from his Ellinika to Anglika pocket dictionary, "Sorry, sir, I am without money!"

The vendor quirks an eyebrow, then sighs in frustration from seeing nearby seats have a distinct lack of blue hair. "Well, where are your parents?"

Soúper Nekroí. "I do not know, I lost scent of them!"

"Uh huh…" the vendor says, looking at the pile of sweets the kid's nabbed. "What school are you from, I'll get your principal to sort this out."

"Akadimía! …it's overseas!" he says. The boy then decides to break out in foreign shanty with his choiry voice, "'(Sailing my sea, Oh~ Never say die!)'"

The vendor rolls his eyes. "A FES kid? Well, let me see your voucher…" The overzealous confection dealer then narrows his eyes in suspicion. "Or your passport."

(Rec. BGM: Umineko "Happiness of marionette -Omake") Sora Perse's face twitches into a snarl at this pest's persistence, then he lets out a sigh, his features smoothing out. The extreme option would get noticed out here in broad daylight with tens of thousands of potential onlookers. "Fine, I will get voucher."

He reaches into his backpack, pulls out the buckler-shaped device, and bops the orb on it like one of those old toys he heard about from some rando member on the Force. The duel disk isn't quite activated for setting up a field, but the cards in the deck within are primed. Knowing his deck by heart, he drags an index finger along the edge of it, and plucks a certain card from it.

"Got it!" He smiles up at the nosy vendor, and presents the card. "Ble Fármako!" A blue light flashes from the spell card, blanketing the vendor.

The vendor's really not quite sure what just happened, but… he feels really good. He feels great. Incredible, even! Every bit of his body is flooding with warmth, and the ache in his back from carrying trays of food up and down stairs is gone! He starts laughing for no reason other than feeling fantastic.

Yeah yeah, that's the good stuff for ya. After removing the man's harness containing the rest of the sweets and setting it near his seat, Sora lightly guides the vendor through the row with a hand on his back, pretty easy to do when every sensation of touch is now a positive. Ah, buddy's legs are giving out from numbness, time to sit him down at the steps-

A voice pipes up on the holotron, "Time for me to make my getaway! Zipliiiiiiiiine~!"

Sora's head snaps back to the match, "Skatá, (what'd I miss)?!"

However, the man he was guiding no longer has any support from his legs, and with Sora distracted, is shoved a bit too far and goes tumbling down the stairs.

Sora shifts his gaze between the heap of a person making a journey down the steps, and to the rest of the audience. Indeed, those nearby have caught sight of the tumble, and him as the cause. He points at the man. "No voucher."

After getting vouchers to spare, he returns to his seat and returns the card to his deck. To his distaste, his sweet tooth's a little diminished from the sudden violence. First day here and he's already hospitalized someone by accident, way more intense than he was expecting… What was he expecting though? It's Standard, it's a wonder they can even dress themselves properly.


Amid the trees in the projected forest, Yuya Sakaki is stuck in a real jam! "Lousy zipper!"

YUYA SAKAKI (Deck: Performapals de L'arc) In the midst of fussing with his pants, Yuya notices you from the corner of his vision, and flashes a peace sign with a grin.

(Rec. BGM: FFX "Blitz Off") Having just used the Evasion that Hip Hippo found to throw his opponent off the trail with a dust cloud, Yuya and his monster are now hiding within the simulated forest. And a good thing they are too, for it is a key part of Yuya's plan that he change wardrobe for his next trick!

VERSUS...

THE SLEDGEHAMMER (Deck: Battleguard Beatdown) The Sledgehammer glares down at his tower, then notices you and backhands the computer screen so hard it shatters.

The Sledgehammer roars atop the castle wall, "You wanna be a squirrel? Here's a couple of acorns!" His newly summoned monster, Battleguard King, picks up a tree with one hand, and chucks it into the forest.

"Forget it, fly down!" Yuya decides when the trees 20 feet away smash apart into splinters and sparkles. He pats Hip Hippo's Hippo Hip. "You ready to ride, buddy?"

Hip Hippo looks at his master's pants, and shakes his head.

Yuya rolls his eyes. "Ha Ha, Ha Ha, Get a move on!" With a nod, the Hippo takes off!

When The Sledgehammer catches sight of his foes not splattered by a tree, he rages. "You're a clown boy compared to me! A clown boy! I end my turn!"

Yuya's voice projects from the stadium's speakers, "My turn! I draw… set Hip Hippo in defense, and end my turn!"

"Try and catch me, bitch!" Yuya taunts with a snicker as his Hippo runs to another action card.

The stadium erupts in confusion, disappointment, and concern. A duelist just bricked.

"Yuya!" Zuzu exclaims in worry. "We shouldn't have let him play today…"

"What's wrong, big sis?" Allie Sweetwater asks while twirling around an exclusive "You Show" promotional Performapal Sky Magician keychain.

Zuzu explains while frowning, "Okay, so you know how when you duel on the table or a floor, there's no timer or an audience watching you play?"

Allie tilts her head. "It's less fun that way though? Duels that can entertain are awesome."

Zuzu nods with a small smile. "They sure are. But there's a greater amount of pressure placed on a person to succeed in an official duel."

Skip nods. "When Yusho was building Action Duels from the ground up, back then there were tons of cases of blackouts, redouts, and brownouts. Luckily no one died!"

"""'DIED'?""" the kids ask with wide eyes.

"I just felt a shiver down my spine!" a frightened Frederick Paddywag notes as he clutches his "You Show" magician's wand with a flag on it to his tubby chest.

Gong pats the kid on the head. "It's wise to acknowledge fear. With discipline and experience, you will have the bravery to meet it." With the kid now looking up at him in admiration, Gong nods at the field. "If Yuya couldn't play anything, and fretted over what to do with all these people watching, there's a high chance that Strain would kick in."

"Strain?" Tate asks. "Like when you spend all week studying for a test, and then since you're tired you get a 99, so your parents don't take you anywhere on the weekend?" he considers while flattening a "You Show" foam top hat in his hands, only for it to pop back into shape when he releases it.

Zuzu averts her eyes, fiddling with her hair. "Haha, wow! I suppose that's a good way to describe it? (Sheesh, kid!)" She looks back at Yuya. "I don't remember all the symptoms exactly, but if you misplay in a duel or get dealt a bad hand… Well, let's say it's a small stadium with ten people watching. In that case, you'd get dizzy and have a sick tummy!"

Skip nods at his daughter. "With a hundred, it's knees weak, arms spaghetti! And a headache to go with the urge to vomit."

Gong solemnly continues, "And with a thousand, should one lose control of their cards, they will lose their sense of balance, scale, and place within the world. It is also said that one envisions everyone they've ever known ridiculing them, and the appearances of the opponent's monsters grow quite monstrous."

"Well duh!" "Monsters are monsters!" "Frankly, I don't see what the big deal is."

Zuzu nods, pulling up some images on her tablet. "Wouldn't you all say Hip Hippo looks cute?"

"Yas~!" "He's always hip and with it!" "I suppose so, objectively speaking."

Zuzu nods. Then shows off her screen of an actual hippo cosplaying as the duel monster, eating a fish. "How 'bout now?" she asks with a wink.

"Shiver me timbers!" "That poor fishie!" "H-hippos are ranked among the most dangerous creatures in the animal kingdom…"

Zuzu puts her tablet away. "If you wanna dueltain, you'll have to face off against monsters every duel. You all have fun when you duel, right?" Nods. She smiles, "So don't sweat it, okay?"

"""Okay.""" However, Tate furrows his brows. He asks, "But what's the Strain like for ten thou- no, right now, there are Sixty-Five Thousand people watching in the stadium alone!"

(Rec. BGM: FFX "Inflexible Determination") Down on the duel field, The Sledgehammer considers his next move as he hides his nosebleed with a swipe of his thumb, making it look like he's snubbing his foe. As he blinks out the redness from his vision, he again affirms to himself that the red war-paint was a good choice, then concludes that the only good choice he can make with this trap card is to set it, which he does. Huh, usually he has better reactions than this. His long list of defeated opponents have the surgery bills to prove it!

But, he had prepared himself to crush Yusho Sakaki today, and if this runt can pull off a fraction of what that coward could, it'd be wise to stay right where he is, atop the castle. "See, clown boy? I have no cards in my hand! None at all," he thinks to himself with a wry grin. Then he wipes up the blood leaking from his mouth with his wraps. He ain't got time to bleed! "Now I initiate the Battle Phase! Battleguard King, grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to hell with you!"

His monster beats his chest with a fist and lets out a grunt that sends seagulls around the stadium scattering. Then, it leaps across the arena, and touches down to the side of his prey, causing the ground to shake. While the whole stadium gets the shivers, Battleguard King swipes his club across in an arc towards Hip Hippo and his rider!

Hip Hippo breaks his momentum audibly at the sight of danger, and does his best impression of a turtle. His rider, however, remains fearless! "I activate the Action Spell Miracle!" The club does indeed collide, but instead of the shattering that would normally occur, the sound of a Sonic spring resounds and rebounds throughout the arena as Hip Hippo goes soaring through the air!

Yuya's friends tense up at this. "Aiee!" "This is giving me goosies!" "Will he make it okay?"

Zuzu bites her lip as the railing within her hands starts to creak.

"Yep, he's flying through the air, this is not good," Gong comments with concern writ large on his face. Oh right, children are present, time to be a force of calm. "To answer your question, Tate, the Strains for a match like this would be an ugly sight. But Yuya will survive." The man himself would make sure of it, even if he has to throw in the towel. He believed in his friend, to the point that he knew Yuya would never give in to The Sledgehammer. Yuya's bones, however…

"Oh, he'll do more than that," a new voice says. They turn to see Yuya's mom, Yoko Sakaki, standing beside them. "Yuya's out to steal the show right from under everyone's noses!"

Skip asks her, "Where ya been?"

She holds up a small crocodile. "New pet."

Skip backs over the railing but is fortunately caught by his daughter in time. "Surely, you can't be serious!"

"Yeah, she's more of a 'Karen,'" Yoko replies with a coy smile as she pats the croc's head, whose tongue lolls out the side of her mouth.

"How do you know it's a girl?" Tate asks. "I saw a diagram in a book once, it's hard to tell."

"Karen" huffs, and Yoko strokes her snout soothingly. "Oh, don't mind him Karen, he 'read a book.'" Then, she turns to the boy, and tells him with a kind smile, "You can tell by looking into her eyes!" The croc then winks at an extremely confused Tate.

"Ma'am," Gong begins. "May I ask how in the world Yuya plans on turning this around? Sure, he's stalled with a lot of Action Cards, but that's not enough to get over his opponent's monster."

Zuzu nods, "And with the eyes of the whole world on him, if he can't perform, he just might…"

Yoko waves a hand, "It's been that way with him for the past three years."

"Eh?"

She explains, "Ever since Yusho disappeared, everyone has been ridiculing him. Everyone but you, his friends. So for a while, he kept feeling terrible when others messed with him, till one day I took him aside and explained he would have to decide who he wanted to be. 'If he knew who he was, then what anyone else thinks is their problem.' And so he decided he wanted to be just like his father, Yusho Sakaki."

Zuzu blinks. "But Yuya acts more like a clown than a magician? Like, all the time."

Gong nods. "At times, it seems like 'self-respect' is a foreign concept to the man."

Yoko smirks. "Did you happen to catch when exactly he started laughing with them?"

Zuzu and Gong think for a moment.

"I remember arguing with him about it for the first time a couple of years ago…" Zuzu recalls.

"A couple of years ago…" Gong continues. "Well, that's when we got suspended for beating up all his bullies and laying them in a pile by the school's trash pick-up."

"Oh yeah, first time I ever got in that much trouble!" Zuzu laughs. "Oh crap," she realizes, eyes darting to Yoko. "Wait, really?"

Yoko nods. "He'd never admit it, kind of an annoying part of that 'What anyone else thinks is their problem' bit, but he always makes moves to protect those he loves the most. If you know where to look, you can see it."

Zuzu and Gong reflect on the memories they have of their friend for a bit in silence.

Then, Tate raises his hand. "Excuse me, hasn't it been about 10 seconds since we all last looked in Yuya's direction?"

Skip nods. "Why yes, I do believe it has been about 10 seconds since we all last laid eyes on him. Well, let's see how he's doing!"

They all turn back to see Hip Hippo hitting the ground with a nasty crunch, the duel monster himself bouncing up just fine from the impact site of his broken and mangled rider. Hip Hippo rubs his rump for a bit, then notices his former rider flat-as-a-pancake on the ground. The duel monster shifts his gaze to confirm that yes, everyone did see that, and he nods. Hip Hippo then speeds off back into the forest with a little hippo-shaped dust cloud in his wake.

The audience erupts in "Ohhh!"s and "Oooh!"s and "Ssss, ah!"s all around.

"Yuya!" his friends cry out. "He's not moving!" "Limbs aren't supposed to bend that way!" "Heads down, kids, heads down!"

"Wahahah!" The Sledgehammer laughs from the edge of the castle wall. "Do you see? In a match with The Sledgehammer, the only Miracle to be found is a swift and crushing demise!" The Sledgehammer thinks about how good it is to be on top in a system where brutalizing your opponent is completely allowed so long as it's within the bounds of a duel. Speaking of, "I end my turn. Take yours, clown boy, if you can!" There's a three minute window for a player's turn before the duel ends from inaction. Three minutes in which that worm can only writhe in agony!

"Alrighty. My turn!" (Rec. BGM: Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V "Yuya's Theme")

"Bwuh?" The Sledgehammer grunts. He rubs his eyes and sees that, yes, both of the clown boy's arms are in no shape to draw, in the most literal sense. It's a wonder he can even speak!

From the stands, Zuzu exclaims while pulling on her sidetails, "I have no clue what's going on!"

Yoko puts a hand on the girl's shoulder, "Hey, I told you, didn't I? If you know where to look, you can see it for what it is."

"Huh?" Zuzu turns her head to the side, then recoils when she sees Karen right next to her. "Eep!"

Yoko giggles, and explains, "For one thing, it's been a lot longer than ten seconds since anyone's had an eye on Yuya!" She points, "All of you, look closer."

All of You Show and Gong peer at the grisly sight of Yuya's body. His clown outfit even has a branch poking out the middle… with no blood?

Zuzu's jaw drops. "Oh, you have gotta be fu-"

"-before I draw," Yuya's voice rings out over the stadium speakers, "I'll go ahead and add this Action Card to my hand!"

The Sledgehammer doesn't know what's going on right now. Did clown boy land on an Action Card? Well, at least it'll be his last one.

-fwip-

He hears the small, slight sound of a trading card… from behind him? The Sledgehammer turns around to see his opponent standing beneath the tower's entrance.

Yuya Sakaki, now in his regular clothes, sports an open-mouthed smile on his face as he holds up an Action Card, which The Sledgehammer had been sitting on for the entire duel.

And as for The Sledgehammer: sweat is pouring down his face, eyebrows are raised to the roof, bloodshot eyes as big as dinner plates, bloody snot leaking from his nose, and a jaw opened as wide as it can go.

Yuya teases, "What's that look for? Not like you were using it!"