Prologue

A grave, professional-sounding voice spoke.

"Since aeons ago, duel monsters have been a great, significant part of history. It's how Emperors fought, and how they spent their time, it was part of the culture and daily life. Using its powerful, long lost magic that has been diluted over the centuries, but it still exists, out there in the world, untainted and undiscovered."

The narrating voice came from a burly man, the features of his face shaded, except his smile, his black hair all combed back, a single strand escaping and falling over his forehead, his clothes were those of an archeologist, he sat at a wooden chair, and on his lap, a little girl on her frilly, long sleeved pajama dress, her big lilac eyes staring at the book open at the wooden table, under the dim light of the oil lamp whose flame flickered.

"Do you think duel monsters really have power, professor?"

"Of course. I believe in all this, and this is why I work in this field, finding relics of the past, the thrills of the magic and lingering effects it imposes on people. It's a fascinating world."

"Aren't duel monsters just ugly things?" folding her arms over one another on the table, she supported her chin atop it, her orange strands of hair plying over the wooden surface.

"For some, a duel monster is more than just a tool, it's a living being, a soul with its own will, a friend."

She perked up. "Do you think I can also have cool duel monsters that will be my friends and use their magic for me?" she shoved her hands in the air, "Like this: Schwaa schwaa."

"Ahahah, I'm sure you can," he gently caressed the top of her head. "You can be anything you dream of, Sylvia. You just need… To work hard for it."

"I'll do my best, professor!"

He smiled kindly at that girl whose eyes shone, determined to achieve her exquisite goal of befriending duel monsters.

Twelve years later,

Johan Andersen enters the director's office of Industrial Illusions, his fists clenching, brows furrowed slightly, an earnest, determined gaze. He was called there by the duel monsters creator in person.

Pegasus looked outside of the window, his back turned to the door, lost in thought, but not unaware of his presence.

"Welcome, Johan boy."

"Chairman Pegasus," he waved briefly, smiling as a greeting. "If you asked me to come as soon as possible, the situation must be very dire."

"Indeed..." he turned around, his eyes narrowing as he nodded. "A few weeks ago, a team of excavators found an ancient temple under the sand in Egypt."

Johan gulps, he is waiting for the revelation. It has to be related to the gem beasts, right? His spirits can feel the unrest in his heart, trying to calm him down. Except his gem beasts were found in a shipwreck headed to Rome, not in Egypt.

"Don't worry too much, Johan boy. Have you ever heard of the guardian of all gem beasts?"

"Isn't that the Rainbow Dragon you made me?"

"It is and at the same time, it isn't."

"I don't get your riddle."

"Johan boy, much like the Cyber style has a reverse deck, your gem beasts were once corrupted by darkness and the Rainbow Dark Dragon came to existence… In theory, it shouldn't exist other than in that situation, yet the stone tablet found was the depiction of your Rainbow Dark Dragon."

"That's impossible…" a bead of sweat delineated his face. "After all, this only happened because of…"

"Light and dark, two halves once separated… What I am saying is: there is another version of the Rainbow Dragon buried in those sands… And you know how it goes, Johan boy…"

"Yeah, gem beasts call for each other…"

Despite the news, he was less than flattered, his eyes squinted. Thinking of that card left a bad taste in his mouth.

"We also do not understand what is happening, this is why I've called you here in hopes you would. Given your expression, I believe we both would do well in researching more about it."

"If it really exists, then, I have to go there!"

"I knew you would say this."

Pegasus sighed heavily, as if he had bad news to give next, his eyes focusing with a severe, worried tone.

"I would like to allow that, but it is very dangerous, much like light and dark are opposites, your Rainbow Dragon that saved the world and the duel academy represented the good side, while its other half was sealed away because it wanted to destroy the world. I suspended the excavations, but it was too late. Some people from underground got wind that something unique is there and they are coming to retrieve whatever is sealed inside that temple. This is the actual reason I called you here, as a gem beast owner and the one chosen by them, I thought you could help in fending them off while we secure the Rainbow Dark Dragon and transfer it to a safe place."

"I didn't expect this… But are you sure about that…? That it was sealed because it wanted to destroy the world? As an owner of the gem beasts, I've seen them become wicked only under Yubel's spell… But they would never..."

"It is what we discovered. We cannot risk unsealing the beast, for the sake of humanity. I've done many wrong things in the past, but now, we all fight to keep this world safe, don't we?"

His wavering gaze lowered to the ground, resigned. He wants to meet the other half of the rainbow dragon too, add it to his deck if possible, but as someone who wants to bridge spirits and humans, he cannot say it's fine to unseal an ancient evil, the dark side of his beast.

"I understand… What do we know so far?"

"There is a stone tablet with the same design as the one we found before, of your Rainbow Dragon, but it is inverted. Plus, there is a coffin in front of the stone tablet, we believe it was an important person sacrificed to appease the fury of the beast before its sealing. Unfortunately, our archeologists have a hard time finding out how to open the coffin, it seems to be intimately related to the seal on the beast, so we decided to keep it as it is and bring it along with the tablet if possible."

"A coffin… A sacrifice?"

"Or an offering…"

His heart ached with the thought, his gem beasts were pure, good willed creatures, yet the opposite half of his Rainbow Dragon seemed to be a threat even to the people of its time. But how? Was his Rainbow Dragon incomplete in the end? Were the two halves originally one that became separated or were they distinct entities from the start? Something doesn't add up and the more he thinks, the more he dislikes this whole tale.

There are so many doubts, so many things he wants to know, his blood boils in excitement just in finding it out. If it's regarding his gem beasts, he will take responsibility for it. With a decided glint wavering in his eyes, he declares confidently:

"I will go there! I will help you take that gem beast out of the place! I will duel anyone that tries to stop it."

"That's marvelous!" Pegasus answered with a faint smile. "I will prepare a team to take you there immediately, prepare yourself for the long trip and take care."

Nodding firmly, he turns around, his brows gathering on the middle of his forehead. He'd not let any grave thief take away the Rainbow Dark Dragon, even if it's an evil spirit. He will prevent it from falling in the wrong hands at any cost.