It was a dark and stormy night, two men sat alone within an old church as they passed the hours quietly waiting for the next war to begin but as one slowly swirled a glass of wine with a bored expression upon his face he looked to the door “Hmm, seems we have company?”
“Yes I can sense....power and a lot of it” the second man said as he sipped from a second glass “Maybe our waiting is finally over?”
“I do not believe so” the first man said as the door opened and in walked three figures “hmm seems you have disturbed us at a rather inconvenient moment but I assume you desire my treasure?”
The first of the three who’d entered smirked “If I desired your treasure I would simply take it. My name is Giin or you can call me the god of destruction, either works fine for me...what care have I how mortals address me...so long as they do as I ask” the first figure said as he stepped closer and looked around “I must congratulate you on being the one to win the Holy grail war, Gilgamesh”
“Yes, well it wasn’t quite the glorious victory I had envisioned” Gilgamesh said as he took a small sip from his glass and smiled “I assume you are here to do more than congratulate me? Though to be praised by a god carries a certain amount of…pleasurable irony”
“I guess beating around the bushes is meaningless to you” the second figure said as he smiled at Gilgamesh “Oh my name is Agu, I am the Supreme Kai but I am an equal to Giin”
“Cheeky” Giin grinned smugly.
“It would be” Gilgamesh said as he turned to the second man “This is my friend, Kirei Kotomine”
Kirei bowed slightly and asked “So maybe you would be so kind to explain to us what we have done to earn the attention of two gods? It is a true honour" he was speaking honestly but his eyes indicated he was suspicious to the god's motives.
Giin smirked already taking a liking to Gilgamesh “Well it’s simple. The Holy Grail's one wish is somewhat limited, though for a planet like Earth it’s powers are amazing but how would you feel about earning a wish with unlimited power?” Giin offered with a smile, Gilgamesh rubbed his chin with a smirk upon his face and nodded “You could reform the whole universe to your liking”
“hmm so even a supposed god asks for my help, all for the vague promise of a wish?” Gilgamesh said as he swirled his glass and paused “And yet I sense there’s more?”
“Your senses serve you well. Yes you would be required to participate in a tournament with these” Martinu said as she placed the cards before Gilgamesh who gave the cards a dirty look “Problem?”
“No. I know these cards and to say the least the Pharaoh Atem’s use of them annoys me…” He paused and his look grew even more sour “I control the most powerful cards of this game…” he raised a hand and a bright circle of light appeared “All the treasures of the world are mine…so I possess the cards to put any opponent to shame” he revealed three cards in his hand at that moment placing them onto the table before him.
Giin smiled as he picked up one “Slifer the Sky Dragon? You’ll need more than three cards to be a threat?” again Gilgamesh raised his hand but this time cards poured out “These are some of the rarest and most powerful cards in the game?” Gilgamesh nodded “Your treasure room must be as full as legend tells”
“Doubting me is a dangerous mistake but I shall allow you to do so this once” Gilgamesh said with a sinister smirk “A tournament with a wish beyond the Holy Grail does sound enticing but I assume you’ll need more than me?”
“Yes we’ll need a team of ten” Agu said but then smirked “However I assume you have a list of names you would like on your team?”
Gilgamesh smiled “Very knowledgeable…as you three will know the Holy Grail war gathers 7 mages and 7 spirits to fight to the death but I desire 8 spirits to serve me in this tournament” he explained as he pulled out a book “I already have access to the names here but they will obey me alone. Does this sound reasonable to you?”
Giin’s smirk only grew wider before nodding “So long as you win I do not much care who you want on your team. Tell Agu and Martinu who you want, I would like to sample your wine” he reached a hand forward for the wine but Gilgamesh grabbed his wrist “What?”
Gilgamesh met the god’s gaze before producing a fresh goblet of wine “You should only be served the best. Behold this is my rarest and most desired wine” he said as the god took hold of the goblet, handing it to the god, before picking up his glass and then took a sip “A toast to our victory!” he coughed and turned to Agu “I trust any name is agreeable?”
“Indeed” Agu said
Martinu rubbed her chin already impressed by the powerful and confident Gilgamesh “You do certainly impress”
“Naturally” Gilgamesh said as he opened his book “My first name is the Legendary warrior king of Sparta, Leonidus…I need a muscle man to help me keep the others in line. For the others will be my slaves is this agreeable?” Giin nodded but didn’t look thrilled about the idea “It’s not like we’ll need the others…I’m all you will need”
Agu looked even more unsure but nodded as he sighed “I suppose as long as we secure your services…that’s all that matters” Giin gave Agu a knowing look, both felt this could be a mistake given Gilgamesh’s clear superiority complex but the fact was he was brilliantly intelligent and second to none in terms of power on Earth “So we’ll get Leonidus? Who else do you want?”
Gilgamesh handed the kai a written list and Agu looked at it with a sad realisation “You understand these warriors will be…”
“My slaves…they are unworthy to be my equals” Gilgamesh spelt out firmly as he turned towards a large armchair “Or you can simply see yourselves out?” Giin looked tempted by the idea of blasting the arrogant man on the spot but sighed knowing he had little choice “Good…By the end of this Tournament I promise we will be the victors”
Giin smiled “Excellent…then I suppose I shouldn’t be too worried by your steep price” he walked out with Agu “By the end of this Tournament…Universe 12 will be the most powerful of all”
However Kirei was unsure if this was a good idea “You know this is just a childish game? I don’t see the value in playing along?”
Gilgamesh smiled as he picked up a loose card from the floor “A wish with no limit…we could change the nature of the holy grail war to our liking, the world or even the Universe. Isn’t that worth shooting for? I can see so many routes into the future if we win…and like in all battles the winner takes the spoils. So every loser we beat will become our prize” he rubbed his hands together “I could become the ruler of the cosmos if I so desired and then the power to write the rules will be mine”
Kirei nodded “May I assume I’d be the 10th member of your team?”
“You know I keep you around for more than your looks” Gilgamesh said as he looked out a window and whispered to himself “Before long Artoria…you will be mine. Once and for all!”
******
Sunset smiled as she looked at the cards in the shop, the whole team was given a budget by Bulma and whilst they had to stick to it, they had little to worry about price wise but Tien seemed unsure by the big variety “Everything okay?” Sunset asked as she approached the man who smiled back and shook his head “ooo that’s an interesting choice…”
“hmm I’m not sure” Tien admitted as he looked at another set of cards “What are these?” he looked at the shop owner who looked out a selection of cards that matched the one he’d selected “Huh…they look strong?”
“They’re Elemental Heroes…albeit they’re new but I’ve been told they’re good fusion monsters” The shop owner said as she looked out the final batch of cards “But they’re pretty powerful so I’d recommend them”
Tien nodded as he asked “Twilight? What cards are you wanting to use?”
Twilight shrugged as she looked through pile after pile for a card that captured her imagination but Whis then stepped up behind her “I believe these cards would be perfect for you” he said handing her a stack of cards “They should serve you well and you know them well”
Twilight looked through the pile and smiled “Yeah I do” she turned to the shop worker and asked “How much?”
“Don’t look at me? Those aren’t ours” The shop worker admitted as he handed Goku his change
“So are these cards…” Twilight began but decided she didn’t want to know
Vegeta growled as he looked through another pile of cards and swore loudly as other people looked at him annoyed but he simply shot them a dirty look “This is ridiculous! You Sunset! Tell me which cards are best!?” he snapped as he looked at Sunset as if expecting her to have all the answers on this card game “Well?!”
“How about you try look for cards that match your personality!?” Sunset fired back but Vegeta looked even more annoyed by that “If it makes you get off my back, you seem to like big powerful attacks that get the job done. Dragons go for them”
Vegeta nodded and said “Fine, I’ll get a suitably powerful deck”
Goku looked at the cards he’d selected and smiled “Hey Vegeta do you think we’ll get to duel in the Tournament”
“I’m counting on it Kakarot” Vegeta said as he turned away “But just remember this…when I win I’ll be sure to rub your nose in it!”
Sunset sighed as Bulma tapped her shoulder “Sorry about my husband. I’ll make it up to you, Twilight, Rainbow and 18” she turned as Beerus groaned loudly “We’ll be going soon, Beerus” this seemed to settle Beerus’ impatience but Bulma knew they’d have to hurry.
*****
“This is ridiculous!?” Quitela groaned as he looked through Universe 4’s files, he’d spend the first few days doing almost nothing but now he was feeling the pinch “How can our Earth be so Pathetic!? This is so unfair! I don’t even know where to start looking!”
Cognac shrugged as he simply said “You haven’t got a lot of time remaining to make your mind up”
“I know that! If I don’t decide I’ll be in real trouble!” Quitela snapped as he looked through more of his files but then his eyes found something “Hmm this is interesting…our Earth has a co-World does it? Digital World?!” he smirked “The files say there’s 12 children with creatures from this alternate world? Hmm and these creatures are called Digimon?”
“Yes but that’s two more children than we need!” Cognac sighed annoyed by the god’s almost insane focus on children “How do you plan to make the children obey your will!?” Quitela held up a picture of the digimon partners and Cognac smiled “Oooo that is clever…hold the Digimon hostage and the kids will fight for us?”
“And the left over kids will make great hostages too!” Quitela said as he rubbed his hands together “Kuru can go get the kids whilst we go and capture their pathetic little pets” his plan seemed brilliant in its simplicity and if they tried to resist well no harm in blowing their digital pets to bits “Let’s move out”
On Earth, in Tokyo Kari smiled as Tai sat across from her in their home, the two were playing the very card game that they were now being targeted for and Tai seemed to be struggling “Come on Big brother…are you struggling to get by my defences?”
“No…I….I well…alright well yeah…Oh nuts!” Tai finally admitted as he couldn’t see a way to win, Kari giggled as Tai gathered up his cards and pointed to the dishes “Guess I have to do them?” Kari nodded and Tai sighed “Yeah…okay it’s a fair cop”
“So how was soccer practise earlier?” Kari asked as Tai shrugged “You still thinking about Agumon?” Tai nodded “We all agreed it was for the best…You’ll see him again”
Tai shook his head and began to clean the dishes carefully “I once thought that Agumon and I were a dream team but now it feels like he’s been away for years” Kari laughed as Tai blushed “But also I have a bad feeling. What do you think?” Kari didn’t answer, Tai turned and the sight that met his eyes was something he hadn’t been expecting. Kuru stood with his hand over Kari’s mouth “Kari!”
Kuru raised his other hand and raised his index finger moving it right to left “Tsk tsk, is that anyway to welcome a houseguest?” Kuru said as Tai felt utterly powerless to stop him “Now you two are the last ones on my list...Quitela the god of Destruction has an offer for you. Agree to obey him or your digimon friends will disappear”
“What?!” Tai snarled as he raised a fist but Kuru simply pulled Kari closer “You’re going to be in for a world of hurt!”
However from behind out stepped Izzy with Davis “Tai…he has Mimi and Ken…” Davis said sounding broken “We have to do what he says. If we don’t his friend, Quitela will kill them and our partners” Tai had never seen Davis looking so broken and nodded slowly.
“Excellent. So now we have our team and trust me…you’d best be good little children or there will be consequences” Kuru said as he let Kari go who turned and punched him in the stomach but Kuru barely felt a thing “Hmm your courage is to be commented my dear but you better behave!”
*****
Meanwhile in Universe 6, Applejack sat in her kitchen sadly looking out the window, they’d spend all day practising and now she sat dwelling on Applebloom “A penny for your thoughts?” Big Mac asked as he walked in “Oh is this about…”
“Big Mac…how could I believe Applebloom was…doing something illegal!?” Applejack sniffed as she pushed the deck of cards away “All because I…I…I’m an idiot!” she turned away and Big Mac put an arm around her “What if…we never see Applebloom again!?”
Big Mac simply shook his head “I promise we’ll see them again”
“I hope you’re right but Applebloom…” Applejack couldn’t bear to finish that thought as she then added “And we’re going to duel against possibly our friends from Equestria!? And people who may be many times smarter than even Twilight!? Stronger than any enemy we’ve ever faced and could be better just in general!”
Big Mac smiled kindly “You need to remember something important. All those times you and your friends have defeated powerful magical things…it wasn’t because you were the strongest or smartest it’s because you had the heart, drive and courage to succeed but also you had your friends” Applejack nodded as he continued “Just remember what you’re fighting for and who”
Cabba was in the next room, it’d been discovered the Sparkle family house wasn’t big enough for all of them and so Cabba listened in “Hmm they really are amazing” he said to himself and stood up to look at a photo of the family “I wonder…” he looked around the living room as he picked up a picture of two people he hadn’t seen anywhere “I wonder who they are…”
“Put that down!” Applejack snapped as she ran in having heard the movement of the picture “I can’t believe you! Who do ya think ya are!?”
Cabba looked around alarmed as Applejack yanked the picture from him “Who are they?” he asked kindly but Applejack’s eyes narrowed “Please?”
“OUT!” Applejack yelled at the sayain who knew better than to stay, Applejack placed the picture back as Big Mac walked in and Applejack sighed “Cabba was…”
“Wasn’t doing any harm!” Big Mac said firmly “I know what he did but he’s been the only one of them to try and…” Applejack nodded as she punched the wall in frustration “Look maybe we should get some sleep?”
“Yeah I guess” Applejack said sadly.
*****
“So our Earth isn’t much use!?” Sidra snapped as he looked through the information on his Earth provided by Mohito, who nodded sadly as the god, angel and Kai stared through the information accessible to them on their Earth and it made for grim reading “So it’s just a normal planet with barely any power?!”
Roh sighed “It seems so but in the spirit world plain it seems to be a different story….in our universe things are a little different. Centuries ago, the afterlife process was streamlined to a more…”
“Yes I’m aware! What is your point?!” Sidra snapped in annoyance but then his eyes widened “The Soul Reapers? They seem hardly the type to know how to play this childish game”
“No indeed not my lords it would seem they are not best qualified for the job considering their recent conflict with the Espanda and Lord Aizen” Mohito explained slowly but then added “But their human allies may in fact maybe more fruitful…it could be easier to get them to help us”
Sidra stroked his long beard for a moment and then smiled “And with their powers we could ensure they’re a good counter to any other super powers the other universes use….however I would like to test their powers first…send the Trio of Danger”
On Earth Ichigo Kurosaki sat on the warm grass near the river as he took the day easy, the sun was bright, all his friends were safe, life was good…it couldn’t last. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and Ichigo felt himself being pushed back “Oh hey! What’s going on!?”
“Hey, Bergamo? Is this one of them?” a voice said as the owner of the voice looked down, Ichigo’s eyes went wide as he realised without his Soul Reaper powers…he was very vulnerable to these three who all looked very strong “So your name is Ichigo Kurosaki…name’s Lavender…let’s see what you got!?” Ichigo dodged with barely a millisecond to spare as Lavender began his attack “OI! Hold still! This is a fight! Come on I promise I’ll play fair”
“I doubt that” Ichigo hissed as he began to run, with no power left after the battle with Aizen he was no match for the Trio of Danger and now he had to get away but a red wolf appeared in front of him “Oh nuts…” Ichigo was send flying into Bergamo’s waiting hand who grabbed him by the front of his neck “OW!”
“Hey kid! Come on! You’re supposed to be powerful!?” Bergamo snarled “So quit playing around and show us!”
“I tried to inform you three, he lost his power and we need him for other things” Sidra said as he walked up to Ichigo who was trying to pull his shirt free of Bergamo’s grip “Excuse me young man have you heard of Yugioh or Duel monsters?”
“Yeah?! It’s a kids game?!” Ichigo snapped as he kicked and punched Bergamo’s arm “Let go, Dog Breath!”
“I’d do as he says if I were you” said a voice from the nearby road, there stood Uryu Ishida with his bow drawn and aimed at Bergamo “Put him down! Or prepare to find out what a bad idea fighting a Quincy is! By Honour of the Quincys!” he fired but Lavender blocked the arrow and it didn’t do a lot “Oh no”
“Oh yes!” Lavender laughed as he flew forward and punched Uryu who went flying back into a nearby building but was saved from crashing by an orange field of energy “HUH?!”
“Koten Zanshun! I reject!” a female voice called out and a second later, Lavender screamed as a flash of light scored a direct hit on his eye “Leave my friends alone!” Orihime stood looking angrier than she’d ever looked.
“And what if we don’t!” Basil yelled in anger ready to attack Orihime.
“Then you’ll deal with me” Basil turned only to get an unwelcome surprise in the stomach by a powerful punch delivered from Chad “I’m sorry but I can’t let you hurt my friends” Chad apologised but despite their best shots and the element of surprise being on their side…their attacks, the trio of danger seemed more annoyed than fearful for their lives but Chad picked up on it quickly “Uryu! Get Ichigo out of here!”
“Remember boys we need them alive but…that one can heal most injuries so…do what you will” Sidra said calmly as he sat down “Just don’t kill them…probably nothing to worry about”
Chad fell first, Basil returned the favour by kicking Chad across the face, this send Chad flying back into a bridge’s support and next Lavender grabbed Uryu this time slamming him into the ground “Orihime! Get hat and clogs!” Ichigo tried to warn as Bergamo carried him over to the now terrified girl “NO! DON’T!” Orihime did try to run but too late as Bergamo grabbed the back of her neck “Let her go!”
“You four will make good bait to get the others” Sidra said as he watched as the four were gathered by the river “The Soul Reapers maybe here soon…Trio of Danger. I suspect they won’t take kindly to us beating up their friends”
Basil cracked his knuckle “One is already here…I can smell them”
*****
Iwan stood waiting in Universe one for his Angel, Awamo to return from his mission to their Earth, the god sighed as he turned to the Kai, Anato and said calmly “Awamo seems to be taking his time?” Anato nodded calmly but Iwan shrugged “I hope our Earth has enough players of this game”
Anato nodded saying calmly “Our Earth is not the strongest Earth without reason…we have spent much time promoting the planet’s strength and…soon we’ll have a team unrivalled in duelling skill but also power” Anato smiled as his statement ended as a bright flash of light filled their vision “AH! See, Awarno? Was your mission a success?”
“Indeed…” Awarmo said as he turned to the figure that stood behind him “Iwan, Anato may I introduce King Micky…the captain of our team”
“Excellent” Iwan said as King Micky smiled nodding “Let’s test your duelling skills!”
“Happy to” Micky said calmly “I already have selected my team!”