Chapter II:
Heart of the Cards
I stood behind Yugi, watching him play Duel Monsters with Joey. It had been about four weeks since I came to Domino City and it felt like I had been there forever. The boys were like brothers and Tea was like the sister I always wanted.
I leaned down and looked at Yugi's cards. "So, how do you play this game?" I asked, intrigued by the game play.
"You see, each monster has attack and defense points," Yugi explained. "The players duel to bring each other's life points down to zero. The first one who does so wins the duel."
"Oh…" I whispered. "So, it's a strategy game?"
Yugi nodded. "Yes, it is, Amelia. Are you interested in learning how to play?"
I shrugged. "I'm not sure, to be perfectly honest. I'm not much of a strategy person."
"I can show you how to play after school," Yugi offered, smiling up at me.
"Would you really?" I asked, still a little shy about asking my new friends for help. "I would really like that."
"Why don't you all come over?" Yugi suggested to our group. "Maybe I can get Grandpa to show off his super rare card!"
"Rare card?" Joey asked. "Sounds awesome!"
"Sounds like fun," Tristan added.
"Then it's settled!" Tea stated.
Leaving school, I was laughing at a joke Tea had told me. We walked with our friends, heading to Yugi's house. It was a nice and warm afternoon when we arrived at the Game Shop, the four of us entering behind Yugi. "Grandpa, I'm home!" Yugi announced.
"Yugi, I see you brought guests!" Grandpa stated as we walked up to the counter. "Ah, Amy. Are you staying with us again?" he asked me.
I nodded. "My parents are headed to Egypt for another business conference. They should be back in a couple weeks, though." I moved to set my backpack in the living room before coming back to the shop. "I really appreciate you guys letting me stay here while my parents are out of the country."
"We enjoy having you here, Amy," Yugi stated with a smile. "It's like having a sister!"
I gave him a bright smile.
Yugi then turned back to Grandpa. "Gramps, can we see your super rare card? Please?" Yugi asked nicely.
"Rare card? My special card?" Gramps asked, looking off to the side as he playfully contemplated the idea.
"Please? Please?" Yugi and I asked sweetly.
"Pretty please?" Joey asked as well, bowing respectfully to Grandpa.
Grandpa went from contemplating to a bright smile. "Ha, ha, how can I refuse?" He turned around and pulled out a small card-sized brown box, placing it on the glass counter where the cash register sat. "You kids are in for a treat; I don't take this care out too often." He opened the box and showed us a card with a ferocious looking dragon on it. "Here it is, The Blue Eyes White Dragon; so rare, so powerful, I never let it leave my hands."
I felt a thumping in my chest and head, as if something was familiar about the sight of that dragon but this was my first time seeing it. It was an odd feeling, but it wasn't scary. I would have to learn about it another time.
We all looked at the card with awe and wonder, but Tristan simply plucked the card from Grandpa with an unimpressed look on his face. "It doesn't look all that special to me," he stated plainly.
Grandpa, after recovering from the shock of Tristan taking the card from him, swiftly took the card back and held it to him. "This card is priceless," he stated bluntly. "There are only four of them in the world!"
"Speaking of prices, I'm ready to trade," Joey stated bluntly.
"Not for THIS card," Grandpa almost growled, holding the card away from us.
Joey looked at Grandpa with confusion before realizing that he had taken Joey's statement wrong. "Huh? Nah, I don't mean that card," he assured Grandpa. "I meant show me some other cool cards to get me started."
"I can go get the new shipment from the back to do that, Gramps," I offered, ready to do some work. While staying with the Muto family, I was working with Yugi in the shop part-time. I headed to the back and got the big box of Duel Monsters cards, picking it up and carrying it back to the front of the shop. "Got it," I announced as I entered the front, but was shocked to see a blue-eyed brunette man taller than all of us dressed in our school's male uniform and a briefcase filled with Duel Monsters cards. "Um, what's going on?" I asked, looking at Yugi and the others.
The brunette turned to me with a sneer on his face, but it seemed to soften just a tad when he saw me. The look vanished and he growled, "I see you got the new girl pulled into your loser club, Yugi."
"Excuse me, that's rude," I scolded him. "You don't get to come into Yugi's home and start insulting people like you're better than them."
He grunted. "You can't tell me what to do, Runt."
"And you can't treat people like they're below you!" I rebutted, setting the box of card packs on the counter. I walked to the front the counter and stood in front of the boy, looking up at him with my hands on my hips. "You're acting like a child."
"Amy, don't," Yugi said with concern, pulling on my arm to try and pull me back. "Don't let Kaiba get to you."
"No, I am sick of trust fund babies treating other people like crap," I stated, looking back at Yugi before looking back up at Kaiba. "What exactly brought you here anyway?"
"I came for the Blue Eyes White Dragon that this old man has," Kaiba told me with a condescending voice. "Do you understand how rare it is?"
"Who cares?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "That card means everything to Gramps. You don't get to come in here and demand something because of it rarity. Not only is it rude, it's disrespectful. Nothing you do is going to get Gramps to give you the card."
"And what are you going to do to about it, Runt?" Kaiba threatened.
Running the name Kaiba through my mind, I recalled that this must be Seto Kaiba-CEO of Kaiba Corporation, a lucrative game company. A game company that was reborn from a quasi-military company that was shut down when Seto Kaiba inherited the reigns. I smirked and stated, "Wouldn't want your company's stocks and shareholders to deplete if they hear about the CEO harassing the elderly for their personal property, now would we?"
"Can she do that?" Tristan whispered to Tea.
"Her parents are successful businessmen and she has been around the rich world her entire life," Tea said. "She must know plenty of news outlets who trust her word."
Kaiba, fixing a glare on me, slammed his briefcase closed and turned away from us. "You haven't seen the last of me. You will rue the day you crossed me," he warned darkly. With that, he left the shop and drove off in his limo.
I let out a deep sigh and turned to the others, my smirk falling. "I apologize for my behavior. I grew up with idiots like that and I'm sick of their attitude of thinking they own the world and that the world should bow to their every demand."
Gramps smiled and shook his head. "You were very brave to stand up to him and protect me and my treasure. Thank you, my dear Amy."
"Yeah, you showed that Kaiba who's boss!" Joey added.
"You stood up for what you believed in," Tea chimed in. "That's the best thing you can do."
"Let's just hope Kaiba doesn't try to muddle your name, Amy," Yugi said with worry. "I don't want you to get hurt." He looked at me with brotherly concern.
"When I know you guys have my back, I'm not scared of anything, especially Seto Kaiba," I said bravely.
"And we're always here for you," Tea assured me.
"Come on, let's get you started on your training," Yugi told me, grabbing my hand and pulled me into the living room. The rest of our friends followed and stayed for a couple of hours before they left for their homes for the night.
It was creeping close to 9 pm and we were sitting on the floor of Yugi's room, Duel Monsters cards all around us as I was working to construct a good deck. "So, it is a mixture of not only monster cards, but spell and trap cards as well," I stated, looking at the cards in my hands.
Yugi nodded. "The trap and spell cards are used to strengthen your monsters and protect them from your opponent. It's all about building a deck that is cohesive and you can use with honor to your deck."
"Yeah, the Heart of the Cards like Grandpa was saying when we got the first shipment in," I chimed, looking at the Kuriboh in my left hand. "Even the weakest monsters can put up a fight because of effects, right?"
"That's right," he said, picking up more cards from the group. "Let's start with what type of deck do you want: spellcaster, machine, strategy, etc. It's all about creating a deck of your personality and likes."
I smiled and picked up a card that had the picture of a blue-haired woman with six wings and wore a golden wrap dress. The card name read Wingweaver. "Can I somehow revolve my deck around a certain card?" I asked.
He nodded. "Which card calls to you?"
I showed him the card. "An angel who prays for hope and peace…sounds a lot like me," I admitted.
Yugi smiled. "She does. We can build a fairy/spellcaster deck to surround her."
"Then let's do it!"
We walked up to the game shop, school finished for the day and we were ready to just hang out.
"I can't wait to see if he has more cards," Joey stated excitedly and we all cheered in agreement, approaching the game shop. We entered the game shop and Joey shouted, "Hey Gramps, I'm back to get more cards! Gramps?"
We noticed that the front counter was unoccupied, which was odd because it was being the middle of the day.
"Grandpa, Amy and I are home," Yugi added.
"Maybe he…went out?" Tea suggested.
"Maybe, but why would he leave the door unlocked?" Joey questioned.
The phone on the wall behind the counter began to ring so Yugi walked up to the phone and answered, "Hello, Game Shop." His face showed shock when he heard the voice. "Kaiba?!" he said. He listened for a few moments before saying, "Kaiba! What've you done, Kaiba?!" Not getting any more answers, he hung up the phone.
"Does Kaiba have Grandpa?" I asked Yugi.
He nodded. "We need to go get him from Kaiba Corp!"
Once at Kaiba Corp, we exited the elevator on an upper floor with Yugi running out in front of us to Grandpa, who was lying on the ground.
"Grandpa! Grandpa. A-are you okay?" Yugi asked Grandpa.
Grandpa propped himself up on his elbows. "Yugi. I failed. I wanted to teach that boy Kaiba a lesson about the heart of the cards, but I lost." He groaned.
"Grandpa!" I shouted in panic, running to kneel beside Yugi and Grandpa.
Kaiba spoke from his position at a large doorway. "How's the old man feeling, hmmm?"
"Kaiba, you sleaze. What've you done to him?" Joey demanded.
"We had a duel, that's all. 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." Kaiba laughed to himself.
Tea pointed at Kaiba. "Kaiba, you should be ashamed of yourself.
"It was fair." He held up the Blue Eyes White Dragon. "And look at the sweet prize I won." He then ripped the precious card in half.
We all let out a collective gasp.
"Grandpa's most treasured card!" Yugi lamented.
"Yes, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a rare and powerful card and this one will never be used against me," Kaiba monologued.
"Ah, my Blue-Eyes White Dragon. My treasure." Grandpa moaned before gasping in pain.
"Grandpa! Hold on." Yugi looked up at Kaiba. "How could you do such a thing?"
"Yugi, here. Take this," Grandpa said, handing Yugi his deck.
"Huh? Grandpa?" Yugi questioned him.
"I built this deck. 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 for the heart of the cards, Yugi," Grandpa asked of him.
Yugi protested, "But Grandpa, you need help. I've got to get you to a doctor."
"That sounds like an excuse. Your friends can care for your grandfather while you and I duel... unless you're afraid?" Kaiba taunted Yugi.
"Take him, Yugi," Joey encouraged him.
"Huh?" Yugi looked back at our friends.
"We can take care of your grandpa while you take care of creepy Kaiba. Teach that rich, spoiled brat what a real duel's all about," Joey encouraged him.
"For your grandpa, Yugi," Tea added.
"I don't know," Yugi said softly.
I touched Yugi's shoulder, making him look at me. "Yugi, you're the best duelist I know, and you have the Millennium Puzzle on your side. I know that you can do this and teach Kaiba a lesson," I encouraged him.
"We all do," Tristan added.
Yugi nodded and took Grandpa's deck from him. "I'll do it," he agreed.
"I know you will, my boy," Grandpa stated proudly.
Tea pulled out a black sharpie from her pocket. "Everyone, put your hands together and I'll mark us with a special sign." We did just that and she proceeded to draw a smiley face on our combined hands.
"What gives, Tea?" Joey asked as we pulled out hands back to look at the markings.
"It's a symbol of our friendship 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," she explained with passion.
"I'll stay with Yugi while you guys take Grandpa to the hospital," I told them.
They all nodded, and Tristan helped Grandpa onto his back. He then led Tea and Joey outside to get Grandpa to a hospital. With Grandpa taken care of, Kaiba led Yugi and I to his dueling arena.
"I designed this virtual stadium myself. Impressive, hmmm? I think you'll agree, it adds a bit more life to the game. We each begin with two thousand life points, the first player to hit zero loses. Are you ready to play, runt?" Kaiba taunted, him taking his place at his duel pad.
Yugi took his place in the other duel pad. "Playtime is over, Kaiba!" Yugi shouted before a bright light erupted from the Millennium Puzzle. I could see it from my position on the sidelines. I watched Yugi go from 5'0 to 5'7 and his outfit seemed to change, mostly his sneakers to boots. His eyes went from droopy to sharp and more blonde streaks appeared in his hair.
"What the-?" Kaiba spoke in shock.
What came from Yugi wasn't his normal high voice, but a deep and commanding voice. "Now, Kaiba, prepare yourself, because it's time to duel."
"Yugi?" I asked aloud, not expecting to be answered as Yugi focused on Kaiba. He looked like Yugi, but the voice and eyes made it obvious that it wasn't really Yugi. This was someone else entirely.
"Virtual systems ready. So, let's begin. I attack with the mighty Hitotsu Me Giant. Brace yourself, Yugi. You've never dueled like this before." Kaiba placed the monster down and I gasped almost in fear at the appearance of a giant green monster in the dueling arena.
Yugi recoiled back. "He's brought the monster on the card to life."
"It's my virtual simulator. It creates life-like holograms of every Duel Monster," Kaiba said with a large hint of smugness.
"So, this is how you beat my grandfather. Well now it's my turn. I call on the Winged Dragon- Guardian of the Fortress." Yugi played the card and the large golden dragon appeared across from the Hitotsu Me Giant. "Fireball attack!"
The dragon blasted a fireball from its mouth and it flew directly for the giant, making the giant shatter into thousands of diamond pixels.
From across the arena, I saw a small boy about twelve with black hair and blue eyes enter. He looked up at Kaiba. "Big brother!" he shouted as Kaiba's life points reduced from 2000 to 1800. "Are you all right?"
"Yes!" I cheered, smiling brightly. "Go, Yugi!"
"Hah. Well played, Yugi... for a beginner. But how will you deal with this?" He summoned this creepy looking clown.
"Saggi the Dark Clown? But that card has hardly any attack strength," Yugi said with confusion.
"True, your winged dragon's attack is fourteen hundred, while my dark clown's is only six hundred, but if I combine it with this card..." Kaiba showed a green card.
"Ah, a magic card!" Yugi stated.
"Exactly. The Negative Energy Generator. It multiplies my monster's attack by three. Dark Clown, attack with Dark Light!" Kaiba shouted.
Saggi attacked the dragon and said dragon dissolved into pixels much like the giant before it did. Yugi's life-points went from 2000 to 1600, two hundred behind Kaiba.
"You see, combining cards can be very effective," Kaiba bragged.
So, this is what Yugi meant about combining spell cards with monsters to increase their strength, I thought while watching the duel. Yugi placed a monster down in face-down defense, protecting him from losing any life points.
"Dark Light attack!" Kaiba called out again.
The face-down monster was destroyed, dissolved.
"You can do this, Yugi!" I called up to him. "Just believe and everything will work itself out!"
Yugi looked down at me and nodded with a smile, saying he believed me.
"You're not faring any better than the old man did, Yugi. Your deck is just as weak and feeble as your grandfather." Kaiba had an evil smirk on his face.
Kaiba's comment made Yugi scrunch his face in anger. "My grandpa is a great man, and a better duelist than you'll ever be. He entrusted me with his cards and I can feel his heart in this deck. I doubt you have that kind of faith in your cards, Kaiba."
"Wha?" Kaiba asked, shocked at Yugi's confidence.
Yugi pulled a card and smirked. "And my faith rewards me with Gaia the Fierce Knight! With a destructive power of twenty-three hundred!"
"Ah!" Kaiba shouted.
Gaia appeared on the field and attacked Saggi, shattering the creepy clown. Kaiba's life points went from 1800 to 1300.
"Way to go, Yugi!" I cheered.
"Your move, Kaiba," Yugi told him.
Kaiba let out a dry laugh. "This will be over sooner than you think." He drew a card. "Hmm, I call upon the Blue Eyes White Dragon."
Like the monsters before it, the giant white dragon appeared on the playing field. I gasped and back up a little, that thumping in my chest returning. This monster was so familiar, but I couldn't recall coming across this monster before Grandpa showed us the card.
"No way!" Yugi said, shocked at its appearance.
"Impossible!" I shouted. "We watched Kaiba rip that card in half!"
"Surprised?" Kaiba asked, humored at our surprise. "Did you think your grandfather was the only one to possess a Blue-Eyes White Dragon?"
The dragon attacked Gaia and Gaia was destroyed, vanishing from the field. I looked at the life points in despair as Yugi's points dwindled down to 900.
"Your Fierce Knight is destroyed. 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. In your entire deck, there's not a single card that can stand up to a Blue-Eyes White Dragon." He held up another Blue Eyes White Dragon. "So what hope do you have against two?"
And so, another white dragon appeared on the field.
"Another one?!" I shouted.
"Why don't you admit defeat, Yugi?" Kaiba asked, confident that Yugi would give in.
Yugi looked as if he was conflicted, but that expression vanished, and his confidence remained. "I won't give up. Grandpa's counting on me." He drew a new card. "Huh, a magic card. Swords of Revealing Light! It stops all monsters on the field for three turns."
Large glowing swords appear around the Blue Eyes White Dragons. At this move, I let out a sigh of relief.
"How desperate," Kaiba lamented with a fake sigh. "What good could three turns possibly do?"
Yugi was looking at his hand, contemplating his actions. Apparently, he was taking too long for Prince Seto Kaiba's liking.
"Quit your stalling, Yugi, or you forfeit the match," Kaiba threatened.
"I never forfeit!" Yugi drew another card and nodded to himself.
"Draw any card you like, it won't change a thing. My dragons may be frozen for another two turns, but my new monster is under no such spell. The Judge Man, with an attack power of twenty-two hundred."
Judge Man appeared on the field and destroyed Yugi's monster in defense, making it do the now familiar dissolving effect.
Yugi drew a new card for his turn and he smirked. He placed the card and the Dark Magician appeared. I knew that this was Yugi's favorite card. "Dark Magician…attack!"
The Dark Magician attacked and destroyed the Judge Man, bringing Kaiba's life points reduced from 1300 to 100.
"Ah, a sacrifice that doesn't even faze me," he said nonchalantly. "And though neither dragon can move for one more turn, my next card is... the third Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"
I backed up enough that I ended up landing on the stone step seats behind me in shock as this third dragon appeared.
"Now, my dragon, attack!" Kaiba ordered.
This new dragon attack and destroyed the Dark Magician. I let out a whine as that 900 fell to 400.
"So, tell me, Yugi, how's your faith now? On my next turn, all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons are free to attack. This game's over no matter what card you draw. You can't possibly stand against my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. It's over, Yugi. You were never a match for me." Kaiba stood confidently, looking so sure that he was going to win.
I growled and stood back up, shouting up at Yugi. "Don't listen to him, Yugi! I know you can do this. We all believe in you! Don't forget that!"
"Draw your last pathetic card so we can end this duel," Kaiba demanded.
Yugi smirked. "My grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards, Kaiba, but it does have this." He showed a card he just drew. "The unstoppable Exodia."
"Exodia?" I asked.
"Ah!" Kaiba recoiled. "Impossible!"
"I've assembled all five special cards. All five pieces of the puzzle." On Yugi's side of the field, a blue star appeared and Exodia's limbs appeared inside it, one by one.
"Exodia! Ah, it's not possible! No one's ever been able to call him!" Kaiba protested.
"Exodia! Obliterate!" Yugi ordered.
Exodia attacked, vaporizing all three of Kaiba's dragons and bringing his life points to 0.
I let out a cheerful noise and jumped in a circle, my skirt flaring out a bit. "You did it, Yugi! You won! I knew you could do it!"
"This can't be," Mokuba stated in complete shock. "My brother never loses."
"You play only for power, Kaiba, and that is why you lost. But if you put your heart in the game, there is nothing you can't do," Yugi told him.
"But... but how? How could I have lost to him?" Kaiba asked himself as he stared down as his duel screen.
"Kaiba, if you truly wish to know…" A bright yellow eye appeared on Yugi's forehead. "Then open you mind!" He lifted his hand pointed at Kaiba, a blast of invisible energy hitting him with such force that Kaiba fell to his knees has his dark expression fell from his face and replaced with a shattered look on his face. "There, Kaiba, now maybe you will see."
I ran over to Yugi, embracing him when he got off his platform. "I'm so proud of you!" I told him.
He hugged me in return and chuckled. "I won because of your faith and the faith of our friends."
I pulled away and nodded. "Come on, let's go make sure Grandpa is okay!" I took him by the hand and led him out of Kaiba Corp. "Though, I do have a question." I turned back to him and found that Yugi returned to his normal height and looks. Huh? How did he do that? I thought as Yugi smiled.
"What's that?" he asked, his voice back to normal and his droopy eyes shining at me.
"Well, I…" Before I could formulate a fake question, I let out a loud sneeze and coughed as if my lungs were going to come out. I groaned. "Oh man."
Yugi laughed. "Let's get you checked out while we check on Grandpa." He took the lead and smiled at me now wimpy state.
Okay, so an update after a year? I'm so sorry for not updating till now. I have been busy with work and applying to get my BA and credential. But, I am back, and I am going to finish this story. I have the plot planned out and I know this story will be very, very long. That's why this chapter is super long. So, I will try to update once a week. Perhaps setting a schedule will force me to really do it. (; Until next time!