'All Duelists, report to the dueling arena!' A man says.
Everyone goes to where the dueling will take place, Tristan, Joey, Tea, Bakura and Gabrielle go to the top level to watch the first duel between Yugi and Maria. However, before that can happen Pegasus duels against Seto Kaiba. He is severely outmatched by him and Maria can feel the pain and becomes worried for him.
"Seto! You have to be more careful with your moves!" Maria calls.
"I said that I do not need-!" Seto starts but catches himself. He looks at Maria, why does she look so familiar?
"Oh~ Who would have thought Kaiba-boy has a crush!" Pegasus says.
"Shut up Pegasus! I don't even know her!" Seto growls.
Pegasus laughs at Seto's reaction, Gabrielle looks over at her friend. Why did she call to him like that? Why help him when they don't even know one another? Maria pays her friend no mind as the match continues, her face still holds worry for Seto. Gabrielle puts an arm around Maria's shoulder, everyone watches on as Seto is defeated by Pegasus.
"Now, this is certainly interesting," Pegasus says. "Don't worry Kaiba-boy, you will be with your brother again. And your soul will be safe."
Pegasus holds a card when suddenly Seto's image showed up on the card and his body was left limp and eyes are clouded and empty. Maria gasps in shock and gets closer to her friend. Gabrielle and Yami glare at Pegasus, knowing full well he used his abilities to steal Seto's soul from his body. Bakura notices the look on Gabrielle's face, he glares slightly at her. How can she possible tell that Pegasus did something? Who exactly is this girl and how does she look so familiar to him?
"He's a monster," Maria says, her body still shaking.
"Don't worry Maria," Yami says, grabbing the girls' attention. "We will save Kaiba."
"How do you know Kaiba?" Tristan asks Maria.
"I don't know him, I just felt...something towards him," Maria tells them.
"A spiritual connection?" Gabrielle asks her friend, earning a nod.
The group of friends look at one another, a spiritual connection?
"Yugi Moto and Maria Davis! Come to start your duel!" A man calls.
Yugi (Or Yami, idk) and Maria head down to begin their duel. Both are determined to win against the other, they both start with 2000 life points and the duel begins.
"You got this Yug!" Joey cheers.
"Go Maria!" Gabrielle cheers.
"I expect nothing less than your absolute best Maria," Yami says.
"Oh I will do my best, I have a lot on the line," Maria says.
"Duel!" The two say.
"I'm first," Yugi says. "I summon Feral Imp in attack position!" The monster appears on the field with a screech.
"And I place one card face down and that ends my turn."
"My turn," Maria says, drawing a card. "I summon Aeris in attack position! And now, Aeris attack Yugi's Feral Imp!"
The warrior charges at the imp and cuts it in half, destroying it. Yugi growls as his life points go down to 1800. Maria smiles as she places on card face down and ends her turn. As the duel continues, Gabrielle moves herself to the wall and sits down before closing her eyes and meditates.
"Yo, what up wit dat?" Joey whispers, nodding over to Gabrielle.
"Weird, what is she doing?" Tristan asks.
"Looks like she is meditating," Bakura says. "Maybe it helps her stay calm before a duel."
"Haha, she will need it goin against me!" Joey laughs.
Tea looks over at the girl, she sees the smile on her face. She obviously heard them and doesn't mind it, the smile is sweet and it makes Tea smile as well. Tea feels like Gabrielle and Maria can best great friends to the group, also Tea needs more girls to hang out with. After thirty minutes, Yami and Maria are at the end of the duel, Yami with 1000 life points and Maria with 800. Maria looks at her hand, trying to find a good move to play. She gulps as she draws a card, she looks at it and her frown turns into a smile.
"Alright, here I go!" Maria says. "I summon my Blue-eyes White Dragon in attack position!"
"What!?" Yami says.
Pegasus looks in amusement, so this girl also holds a blue eyes. Yugi's friends look in shock, only a few of those cards exist and Kaiba has them all, or so they thought. Gabrielle smirks, she knows that card well, Maria has had it since they have known each other. Maria has her dragon attack Yugi's monsters. However, the monster is still standing, Yami smirks while Maria and Gabrielle look in shock as monster with a reflecting mirror has the attack in the mirror.
"You just activated my trap," Yami says.
"But how!?"
"Now your attack will be reflected back at you, destroying your blue-eyes and the rest of your life points!"
Maria holds her arms in front of her as the attack hits her dragon and her life points, her points hit zero. Maria sighs in defeat, but smiles at Yami Yugi.
"That was a great duel, I was doing well there for a bit," Maria says.
"You fought well, you are a worthy opponent Maria," Yami Yugi says. "I hope to have a rematch someday."
"You know it!"
The two head up to the others while Joey and Gabrielle take their places for their duel. The two look serious before Joey gives a goofy smile to Gabrielle.
"Let's make this an awesome match!" Joey says.
"Let's," Gabrielle agrees, smirking a bit.
"Duel!"
The two start their duel, Maria watches and knows this will be a fairly quick one. Especially if Gabrielle summons her favorite monster. Gabrielle does her best to keep Joey from trying to use his combo of baby dragon and time wizard, however, luck isn't on her side.
"To finish my turn, I summon Baby Dragon!" Joey smiles.
"Dangit," Gabrielle mumbles.
"Your turn."
"Right," Gabrielle nods and draws a card.
"Joey may win this," Tea says.
"If his combination works, yes he will," Yami Yugi agrees.
"I am not too sure bout that," Maria comments, making the two look at her. "Look at the smirk on Gab's face."
Tea and Yami Yugi looks down to see Gabrielle is smirking as her eyes look back at Joey.
"Huh? Why are ya smirking?" Joey asks.
"I just got a good card to use, and don't worry, your dragon will be safe," Gabrielle says. "For the moment. First I place one card face down and now I summon Dark Magician Girl!"
Everyone, minus Maria, look in shock as the female magician appears on the field. This card is just as rare as the Dark Magician, they complement one another. Maria smirks at their faces as Gabrielle ends her turn.
"Your turn Joey," Gabrielle coos, almost mocking him.
"Uh...right. Let's go Time Wizard!"
"She is smart," Yami Yugi says.
"Yugi?" Tea asks.
"With her Dark Magician Girl there, Joey is going to lose this duel."
"That's Gabs for ya, she loves that card," Maria says. "She has always has faith in it when she is in a tight spot."
"She believes in the heart of the cards?" Tea questions.
"Yes, we both do. Our fathers' gave us our most precious cards, my blue eyes and her dark magician girl."
They watch as the clock soon hits the area to help Joey.
"Yea!" Joey cheers. "Now my baby dragon turns into 1000 year old dragon!"
The smoke clears to show the older dragon, Gabrielle smirks as Joey's eyes widen in shock. Dark Magician Girl is still there, but looks older and stronger.
"What!? But how!?" Joey asks.
"Not only did your baby dragon grow up into a powerful dragon, but so did my Dark Magician Girl," Gabrielle explains. "She has gain a thousand years of experience and spells and she gains 500 points to her attack and defense!"
"What!" Joey cries, clueless that could happen.
"Now, do you end your turn?" Gabrielle questions.
'I can't attack her, the defense is too high on her Dark Magician Girl,' Joey thinks. 'When it's her turn, I'll lose!'
"I...I end my turn."
"My turn," Gabrielle smiles, drawing a card. "Now, Dark Sorceress! Attack his thousand year dragon!"
Her Dark Sorceress attacks the dragon, destroying it and the rest of Joey's life points.
"I...I lost, now how am I gonna pay for my sista's operation?" Joey says. "You made me lose the only chance I had to help her!"
"I'm sorry Joey, but I need to help my family too," Gabrielle says.
"You live in America! Your family is pretty well off right!?"
"Maria is my only family!" Gabrielle yells, tears in her eyes. "My mom died when I was born and my father died five years later from cancer. I need the money so Maria and I can leave Foster Care and have our own lives."
Joey goes quiet, so that's it, they are orphans. Joey has heard that the American Foster Care system is flawed, maybe Gabrielle and Maria really need the money to leave it. Tea and Yami Yugi looks over at Maria to confirm what Gabrielle said, Maria looks at them and smiles sadly.
"My parents were killed in a car accident, the other driver was drunk," Maria explains. "Our families didn't want anything to do with us so we were placed in Foster Care. It has been a living hell for us."
On his 'throne' Pegasus watches as Joey runs to Gabrielle's side and pulls her into a hug. Pegasus never thought someone who looks and acts so strong can be so broken. Yami comes down as Tristan returns with Bakura and Mokuba.
"What happened?" Tristan asks, as Joey walks up and hugs Maria.
"Joey lost his match," Tea says. "And we found out that Maria and Gabrielle are orphans and want the money to leave foster care."
"What? They are-"
"Yes."
"Don't worry, we will help ya both," Joey says. "I know one of em will win."
"You know, we don't need all of the money," Maria says. "I'm sure we can give you the amount needed for the surgery."
The group soon turns back towards the duel, both Yami Yugi and Gabrielle have serious looks on their faces. This duel will determined who faces Pegasus.