"You've assembled a powerful deck, Yugi."
With the little Yugi standing beside him in spirit form, the ancient spirit Yami set their dueling deck on an end table that Grandpa Moto had brought in for them to assemble their cards. The pharaoh placed his hand on the top card, smiling proudly.
"What if it's not good enough to win?" Yugi asked with unnecessary worry in his voice.
Picking the deck up again and flipping it so the bottom card was facing him, Yami spoke, "There comes a time when there's nothing left to do but believe in the deck you've created. Yugi…" He turned to face his smaller partner. "This tournament is unlike any challenge we've ever faced before."
"Right."
"The fate of the world depends on us, so you've got to be strong and trust in your cards."
"But there's still so much we don't know."
"Our destiny will reveal itself when the time is right."
Yugi gasped, almost as if he was surprised the pharaoh didn't give him a straight answer.
"According to Ishizu, an ancient evil force will return to threaten the world, and you and I must defeat it…by winning Kaiba's Battle City Tournament," he extended his arm with deck in hand, "with this deck. If you believe in the heart of the cards, we can unlock the secrets of the past and save the world."
The pharaoh's strong words replaced Yugi's hesitation with courage, and the young boy perked up brightly. "Yeah, we can do this!"
"Yes, we can, but it won't be easy."
"I'm ready to face whoever or whatever we have to! You stood by me and helped me rescue my grandpa from Pegasus, and now it's my turn to stand by you. I promise you and I will work together to figure out your past. You already saved the entire world once 5,000 years ago, but there was one difference then – you had to do it alone, and this time you have me by your side to help you."
Yami smiled gratefully. "Thank you."
With Yami's arm still extended, Yugi placed his hand over the deck and the two became one again, this time with Yugi on the forefront. He grabbed his dueling belt and slung it around his waist, buckling it and sliding his deck into the box attached to it.
Bursting with newfound valor and enthusiasm, they both cried out in unison.
"Let's duel!"
Dabbing his Mohawk with gel, Scott carefully maneuvered around his messy room, making a mental note of all of the things he would need for Battle City.
Duel Disk – check.
Cell phone – check.
As he moved on to his dueling deck, he took a moment to go over it one more time, assessing all of the individual cards within it and the strategies he had come up with. He wiped his hands free of extra hair gel with a shirt that was hanging on his bed before picking up the deck of cards and going through them.
"I can't wait to put this deck to the test against all of the talented duelists in the tournament. It's gonna be tough, but I know I can make it to the finals, where I hope to battle you, Jacob."
He placed the deck in a holder on his belt, breathing in and out deeply.
"I wouldn't want it any other way, dude."
Hearing that familiar voice, Scott swiftly turned to see Jacob leaning against his open door, wearing his usual running suit as well as his Duel Disk.
"Whoa, dude, when did you get here?" he asked, chuckling self-consciously.
"A few minutes ago. I would've said hi earlier but you started talking to yourself and I didn't want to interrupt. So you're ready for the tournament, then?"
Nodding, Scott attached his Duel Disk to his arm. "Sure am. Hey, where's Susan?"
"She's outside with Aaron."
"Aaron? What's he doing here? I didn't think he cared about Duel Monsters."
"Apparently he's in the tournament, too. He has a Duel Disk and a deck and everything. I don't know what cards he has, but I doubt it's anything for us to worry about. He's never shown interest in this stuff before so I don't think he went out and bought a bunch of rare cards all of the sudden."
Scott agreed with his friend's assumption. "Yeah. I hope you're ready, dude. All of the world's best duelists are gonna be there, including Yugi! You better have your deck in top condition because I don't want to hear that you lost before the finals."
"Don't worry about me. I'll do my best."
Scott headed for the door, pocketing his deck. "Promise me one thing, man."
"Yeah?"
"You'll make it to the finals so we can duel and have an amazing match, and you won't let anybody stop you."
Jacob chuckled lightly. "You got it, man. Now let's go. We've only got an hour before the tournament officially starts."
The clouds in the sky cradled the sun as it hit its peak high above the town of Domino, which was bustling with activity as an army of duelists ready for battle marched through the main street toward the town's center. The forecast looked bright and mostly clear for what was sure to be an eventful day.
Studying the transparent piece of plastic in his hand, Yugi Moto appeared perplexed as he strolled through the street, coming to the town square and stopping just in front of a clock the stood on top of a street lamp.
"This clear card was in the same package as the Duel Disk," he recalled. "Looks like it's part of a map, but where's the rest of it?" He sighed sharply. "It must be another new twist Kaiba threw into his tournament."
As he tried to make sense of the locator card, a friendly voice yelled out his name.
"Yugi! Hey!"
The King of Games spun around, finding Joey, Tristan, and Tea running up to him.
"Hey, guys!" he exclaimed joyfully. "It's good to see you here. Where is Jericho?"
Joey waved him off. "Ah, who knows. He'll show up sooner or later. Right now we gotta focus on the tournament." He scanned the area around them. "Look at all of these duelists, just ready to get their butts kicked by yours truly, the fantastic Joey Wheeler!"
"Looks like a pretty big turnout for this thing," Tristan said. "I'm sure one of them will get lucky and knock you out of the tournament, Joey."
Wheeler didn't take kindly to his friend's joke, punching him on the shoulder half-heartedly. As the two were about to get into it, Jericho showed up, sporting a shiny metallic blue jacket and black pants.
"What's up, guys? Man, I've never seen so many duelists in one place in my life, and I was at Duelist Mania 3. This thing is gonna be crazy. I hope you're ready, Yugi, 'cause it's gonna be me and you in the finals."
Jericho was clearly elated, drawing the attention of several other duelists around them. One of those duelists was Mako Tsunami, the famous fisherman who used WATER attribute monsters to drown his adversaries' chances of victory. He made a beeline toward the group, waving his hand at them upon arrival.
"Mako! Long time no see," Yugi said.
"Aha! Certainly has been! What a grand pleasure seeing you here, Yugi Moto. There's no doubt in my mind that you'll get pretty far in this tournament Kaiba set up, but make no mistake, I'll be the last duelist standing!" Mako declared, heaving his chest out and crossing his arms proudly.
"We'll see about that," Joey said, also crossing his arms. "My Red-Eyes Black Dragon would beg to differ."
"Oh, yeah?" Mako laughed. "Well, my Fortress Whale will capsize your dragon with the splash of its tailfin! You don't stand a chance against my denizens of the deep!"
"My Black Tyranno would eat your whale for supper," Scott scoffed, appearing next to Mako. Jacob, Susan, and Aaron were catching up to him. "And then snack on the rest of your sea creatures."
"I don't believe we've met," Mako said as he observed the muscular teenager. "I am Mako Tsunami, fish duelist extraordinaire! Who might you be?"
Scott extended his hand for Mako to shake. "I'm Scott Wahlberg, and I'm going to be the best dinosaur duelist in the world soon. I just have to surpass Rex Raptor."
Almost as if on cue, the world's current best dinosaur duelist Rex Raptor walked onto the scene, glaring at Scott. Scott glared back, then held out his hand.
"I'm Scott Wahlberg. Mister Raptor, you've been a big inspiration to me," he said. "Ever since I was a little kid I've wanted to be as good as you and be a regional champion."
The snobbish duelist gave him the cold shoulder. "Keep dreaming, kid. I'm the world's best dino duelist and that's not gonna change anytime soon. Go back to flipping burgers while I win this tournament."
Feeling slighted, Scott was ready to wallop his idol, but Susan grasped his bicep, sending a soothing chill through his body. He relaxed and backed down.
"Whatever," he said. "When this thing starts, you better hope we don't duel each other."
Rex simply shrugged and walked off.
"What an ass, and here I was idolizing that guy."
"It's alright," Susan assured him. "He'll get what's coming to him. You just need to focus on the now."
"Speaking of which," Tea said, checking her watch, "the tournament should be starting any minute."
Jacob shook his arms and stretched his legs out, exhaling deeply.
"Nervous?" Yugi questioned.
Jacob rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, really. I don't know if my deck can compete with all of these seasoned duelists."
"Well, as a good friend always tells me when I'm nervous before a duel, you just have to believe in your cards and they'll back you up."
Unbeknownst to them, a small unit of Rare Hunters were seated behind a hot dog and rice cake stand, watching Yugi and his friends covertly.
One took a bite of his hot dog, chomping loudly as he sat back in his chair. "Mmm, just look at that brunette."
"The tall one or the short one?" asked the Rare Hunter beside him.
"The tall one. I think her name is Susan." He licked his lips. "Those legs are phenomenal."
The third Rare Hunter, who had a laptop open and held a frostee in his hand, cleared his throat, garnering the attention of the other two. "Her name is Tea, you dumbass. The short one is Susan. We're here for their rare cards, so keep it in your pants and get ready."
On the laptop screen was a table with pictures of Yugi, Joey, Jericho, Mako, and Rex, each with a star rating beneath their picture. Yugi had five stars, Joey had four, Jericho had three, Mako had three and a half, and Rex had three. Below that was a picture of their rarest card, although Jericho's was a glaring question mark.
"These rare cards will make fine additions to the master's collection. The only question is, which care do we go after first?"
Fireworks shot up and exploded in the sky, filling it with glittering colors and immaculate designs. Brass fanfare played from speakers around the city.
"Greetings, duelists. Welcome to Battle City."
Replacing the speakers was Seto Kaiba's harsh voice, catching the awareness of everybody in Domino.
Baffled, Tea tried to figure out the source of his voice. "Where is he?"
Aaron finally spoke, pointing out a speaker than was nuzzled in between two benches. "High-quality speakers. I counted ten of them when we got here. But the question still remains of where exactly Mister Kaiba is…"
To quash their wondering, a shadow was cast over them, darkening the courtyard. They all shifted their gazes upward, their jaws popping open as a colossal blimp hovered just above the buildings. Hanging from the bottom of it was a triangular television screen presenting Seto Kaiba, who looked to be sitting down comfortably in a room somewhere.
"Leave it to Kaiba to flaunt his money." Tristan sneered.
Aaron glowered at him for a moment before concentrating back on Kaiba's emergence.
Kaiba continued. "It's time to put your dueling skills to the test. I hope none of you entered my tournament looking for friendly competition. Battle City's going to be an all-out war." He held off his speech for a moment, letting his sentiments sink in. "Before my Battle City tournament begins, I thought I'd let you all know what you're in for in case you want to back out now. Let's begin with my new Duel Disks."
Yugi glanced down at his.
"Everyone who I decided was good enough to enter received one. With it, you can duel anytime, anywhere…and they contain a tracking chip that allows me to watch every move you make."
The conceited CEO placed his deck into the holder on the Duel Disk before moving on.
"Next, let's talk about the most important tournament rule…"
He removed a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from his deck, holding it up for everyone to see its splendor.
"The loser of each duel is required to fork over their rarest card to the winner. If you don't have the guts to risk losing your precious cards, then I suggest you forfeit now."
Some of the less timid duelists spoke up, claiming to not be afraid.
"And anyone who's foolish enough can challenge me to a duel," he said, replacing his Blue-Eyes in his deck, "because I'll also be competing in this tournament."
"Thought so," Yugi whispered to himself.
"But don't get your hopes up because I intend to win, and there's one duelist out there I can't wait to defeat."
"You're on, Kaiba!"
"Hm. And speaking of winning, only the eight best duelists will make it to the final round, which will be held in a hidden location."
Joey wasn't sure how that stipulation would hold up. "Then how do we get there? No one will show up if the location's hidden."
"Just keep listening," Aaron murmured.
"In order to find the finals, you'll need these locator cards," Kaiba said, holding one up. "You've each received one with your Duel Disk, but don't get too excited. One's not enough. You'll need six of them to make it to the tournament finals. Every time you win a duel, you get a locator card from your losing opponent. When six cards are stacked together, they produce a map of Battle City and activate a global positioning satellite, which will transmit the location to you. But the tournament finals are a long time away, and most of you will be eliminated way before that. Alright, everything I just said and more can be found in my tournament rulebook. Just remember: only one player can win and claim the title of number one duelist in the world."
"And that'll be me," Jericho affirmed, pointing to himself.
The courtyard began bustling again, each duelist trying to one-up the other in their arguments about who the better duelist was. Kaiba's blimp continued to hover through the city as its owner began to speak.
"Now get ready, duelists," he spoke with a snide grin across his face, throwing his arm outward. "Let the tournament begin!"
The courtyard erupted with duelists filing out in search of opponents, rare cards, and locator cards. Soon most of the area was cleared out, leaving only Yugi's group, some stragglers by the hot dog stand, and the faction of Rare Hunters behind it, still unseen by Yugi and company.
Yugi sighed. "Well, time to face my destiny!"
Jericho immediately turned to Scott. "Before we go our separate ways, how about we have our duel right here, right now?"
A big grin came over Scott's face. "Yeah! This is gonna be great! Get ready because I'm not holding back!"
Watching this duel unfold, the Rare Hunters stood up, leaving from behind the hot dog stand and approaching their targets.