Long ago, when the pyramids were still young, the Egyptian Kings played a game of great and terrible power. But these Shadow Games erupted into a war that threatened to destroy the entire world. Until a brave and powerful pharaoh locked the magic away, imprisoning it within the mystical Millennium Items. Now, five thousand years later, a boy named Yugi unlocks the secret of the Millennium Puzzle. He is infused with ancient magical energies, for destiny has chosen him to defend the world from the return of the Shadow Games, just as the brave Pharaoh did five thousand years ago.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Paradise City, around the same time…
Rainbow Dash was currently unconscious on the sidewalk, not very far from Paradise Prep School. She had been there for some time and a crowd had managed to gather not far from where she was. Many of them were students, as school had just gotten out.
“So…, do you think she’s dead, Kit?” One teenager with purple hair asked bluntly.
“Uh…I don’t think so, Dipper. I mean, she looks like she’s still breathing,” Another teen with brown hair and holding a wooden sword responded.
“Yeah. Fair enough. I wonder if she’s a bum or something,” the teen, named Dipper, rudely remarked.
“It doesn’t matter who she is, guys. All that matters is that she is causing a big fuss here and taking up time we could be using to train at the Leo Institute. Still, is she okay?” A third tan skinned girl asked with some concern. She then crouched down next to Rainbow and shook her for a moment. “Come on, wake up!” The girl called out as Rainbow began to stir.
“Five more minutes, mom! I was just having the best dream,” Rainbow sleepily grumbled as she opened her eyes and saw the trio of teens and a bunch of other people. “What the…? What kind of creatures are you supposed to be? You obviously aren’t ponies,” Rainbow was confused as she tried to spread her wings and fly. However, much to her confusion and shock, she was unable to fly. “What the…? Why can’t I feel my wings?!”
“Well, first of all you insane weirdo, we are all humans,” Dipper rudely responded.
“Yeah! Second, ponies? You must be an obsessive little girl who loves ponies to think the way you just did,” Kit agreed.
“Hey! I’m not a little girl! I’m a pegasus, you jerks!” Rainbow yelled as she sat up, with the whole crowd looking at her in confusion.
“Uh…yep. You two are right. She is insane. Lady, you’re not a pegasus. You’re a human just like us,” The girl, named Julia, bluntly said.
“Uh, no. I may not feel my wings right now, but I am definitely a pe-,” Rainbow looked at what used to be her hooves, and saw that she now had hands. She gave a scared gasp as she looked over the rest of her body and saw that these people were right. She was no longer a pegasus. She was a human. She gave a scared scream, even if she wouldn’t admit it was fear. The group looked on in concern and confusion, except for the three teens up front who were annoyed. “So…I’m no longer a pegasus…but how?”
“How are we still having this conversation? I’m not sure. Look, we’ll let the doctors deal with this insanity,” Julia said as she began to leave.
“Hey! You jerks can’t just leave me right now!” Rainbow yelled.
“Uh, yes we can!” Kit rejected helping her.
“Uh huh. We have Duel school to go to,” Dipper agreed.
As some of the crowd began to leave, Rainbow groaned to herself. She may not be the thinking type like Twilight was, but she had a few big questions she needed to have answered. First, why was she human and without her wings? Second, where did she end up? And third, why was she here? As she noticed that most of the crowd was either gone or recording her, she looked to see if her friends were anywhere nearby, human or not. However, sadly for her, they weren’t. Fortunately, she noticed that there was a girl with pink hair and wearing a school uniform still looking on in sympathy.
“Uh…are you okay?” The teen girl asked.
“Uh, no! I’m not okay! I’m separated from my friends, I’m in an unfamiliar land, I’m no longer a pegasus, and I have no wings!” Rainbow yelled, much to the discomfort of the girl. Before Rainbow could respond, the girl got out a fan and hit her with it. “Ow! What was that for?!”
“Sorry, but I was just trying to help and you jumped down my throat! Maybe you should be less hostile towards someone trying to help you,” The girl warned.
Rainbow looked ready to yell…only to realize she was right. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I’m lost and don’t know where I am.”
“It’s okay…and maybe me hitting you with the fan was a bit much…,” The girl admitted.
“You think?” Rainbow asked. “So, have you seen anyone else that is acting like they aren’t human like me?”
“Uh, no? Also are you sure you’re okay mentally? Pegasi aren’t real, miss…,” The girl asked.
“Rainbow Dash is my name. And you?” Rainbow introduced herself.
“I’m Zuzu. Zuzu Boyle,” The girl did the same.
“Look, you may not believe me, but where I come from I am a pegasus. Also, have you really not seen anyone else like me?” Rainbow asked somberly.
“No. Sorry. If it’ll make you feel better, maybe you can come with me. I was heading over to the You Show Duel School to practice my Dueling with Yuya and Gong. Maybe together we can help you out,” Zuzu suggested.
“No thanks. Also, Duel?” Rainbow was confused.
“Yeah. You know, with cards? Duel Monsters?” Zuzu asked Rainbow, trying to get the girl to understand what she was saying as she looked puzzled. “The game created by Maximillion Pegasus?”
“Sorry, but I haven’t played the game before. It sounds like an uncool nerd or kid’s game, not a game for adults or even teenagers like me,” Rainbow said bluntly.
“Actually, the game has found an audience with people of all ages, Rainbow. You don’t have to feel weird about watching or even playing the game,” Zuzu said. “Heck, you may even want to join our school. My dad and I would sure be happy to have another student.”
“School? Sorry, but I’ll pass. I’d rather not waste time on a game that I have to spend hours of my life learning to play. So, sorry, but no. Look, I’m gonna go look around for my friends. The sooner I find them, the sooner I can figure out why we’re here and what’s going on. I won’t leave my friends to be lost in such a weird place all alone,” Rainbow declined.
“Okay…I can always give you a hand with your search,” Zuzu suggested.
“Sure. Where should we look first?” Rainbow asked.
“We can start by taking a quick look around Paradise Prep School. If your friends are teenagers like us, we should have a decent chance finding them there,” Zuzu suggested.
“As much as I’d rather not go to egghead central…sure. Let’s go give the place a good look,” Rainbow agreed as the two teens left to look around the school.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sadly, the duo were unable to find anyone that fit Rainbow’s descriptions in appearance or personality at the Prep School.
“Seriously?! Where are Twilight and the others? You’d think that it would be easy to find them in a school when there aren’t many po-er-people and when they aren’t wearing the school uniform!” Rainbow groaned.
“Yeah…I shoulda figured that this was unlikely to work out from the get go,” Zuzu shook her head at the fact that their search didn’t work out. “I guess they aren’t here. You think they could have left?”
“I guess so. Let’s go look elsewhere…,” Rainbow was about to give up the current search when she suddenly heard a voice come from outside of the school.
“Hey Joey! Earth to Joey! Hey, are you in there? It's your turn,” a boy with red, yellow, and black hair told his friend in regards to a card game they were playing. Rainbow was quick to look out the window and see this, shocked to see that there was a strange non-human creature near where the multi-colored haired kid was standing.
“Unreal! He has a golem-like creature with him?! That’s amazing!” Rainbow cheered.
“Actually, the term for that is a monster. See, those two guys are Dueling right now,” Zuzu explained.
“But…then why does he…?” Rainbow was confused.
“See, in a Duel, you can have a Duel Disk that can summon many monsters near you when you play them to your side of the field,” Zuzu explained.
“Well…looks like that one guy isn’t doing so well. He has no monsters,” Rainbow noted, and she was right. There were no cards on Joey’s side while his friend had a card called Alpha the Magnet Warrior on his side.
“Ummm…,” Joey looked over his hand as he thought over his move.
“Oh, isn't he cute when he's thinking?” Another boy teased Joey.
“Is it anywhere near as cool as it looks, though?” Rainbow wondered. “Er…it looks a little awesome. So…can the monsters fight then?” Rainbow asked.
“Kinda? You can, under normal circumstances, only fight once a turn and only during your turn. Plus, without an Action Field, the monsters are just holograms that phase right through you,” Zuzu explained.
“Well…if this is your egghead game, then…I’ll admit it doesn’t look too bad so far…,” Rainbow said, not wanting to admit she was wrong.
Meanwhile, back with Yugi and company…
“Hey Tristan, Yuugi here's teaching me how to play Duel Monsters,” Joey told his friend.
“Drooling monsters?” Tristan asked in confusion.
“Duel Monsters, you nimrod,” Joey chided his pal that teased him earlier.
“Sheesh,” Tristan huffed.
“Well…I guess we should go back to looking for my friends?” Rainbow noted as she pushed against the window and accidentally pushed it open, falling over through it as she did so. “Aw, my back!” Unfortunately for the brash girl, she managed to get the attention of the group of friends. “Uh…oops?”
“Sorry! For the interruption, you guys! We were just about to leave!” Zuzu apologized with a bow.
“Oh, hey there! How is it going?” Yugi, the boy with the weird hair, greeted, not at all bothered by the two new arrivals.
“I don’t know?” Rainbow was confused.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you two. What are your names?” Tea asked.
“I’m Rainbow Dash. Back home, I’m the fastest and most awesomest pegasus ever! Though, here I’m just a bot as awesome human. And the girl with me is named Zuzu Boyle. We’ll get out of your hair now. But…before we go, have you seen any girls named Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, or Fluttershy here at all?” Rainbow asked. “Oh! Or a boy named Spike?”
“Uh…nope, sorry! You may wanna try a different part of the city!” Tristan responded.
“Aw! But I already checked this school! And the city is looking so huge that we may be looking forever!” Rainbow complained. “Well…I guess I’ll get going then. Have fun with…whatever this nerd game is.”
“Uh…Duel Monsters isn’t a nerd game! It just so happens to becoming a massive hit with almost anyone of any age. You should try it once we’re done with our Duel!” Yugi said.
“Okay…fine. I’ll bite. How does this game work…?” Rainbow offered as she asked for their names.
“I’m Téa. And these are my friends Yugi, Joey, and Tirstan. It’s nice to meet you Miss Rainbow Dash,” Tea introduced herself and her friends.
“So…the game?” Rainbow asked.
“Oh, right! You see, these two have been at it for hours. Joey's starting to get the hang of the game, but Yugi's like an expert at the game!” Tea began.
“Well…maybe Joey can still win! I mean, I’ve won a few sports without knowing the rules much before,” Rainbow said.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Rainbow! Okay Yugi. It's time to duel,” Joey cried out.
“See, each card has an attack number and a defense number. They also have a level that helps to determine if the can be summoned without Tribute or not. The monster cards battle each other during the battle phase, and the monsters with the higher points win! You must battle in order to reduce the opposing player’s Life Points. Spells and Traps can be used to support the monsters in a variety of ways. The first player to eliminate the other player's Life Points wins the duel,” Tea explained.
“I guess…that sounds kinda cool. Zuzu said they were holograms. What biz is that?” Rainbow asked with excitement.
“See, even though these monsters are only illusions, they can still appear thanks to the Kaiba Corp Duel Disk,” Yugi explained.
“Though, with an Arc System from the Leo Institute, you can also interact with the monsters like they were real,” Zuzu added on.
“So we can fight with them! Awesome! Where do we get this system?” Rainbow asked excitedly.
“Uh…sadly, only Duel Schools have such a system. Duel Disks currently lack Arc Systems,” Yugi broke the bad news.
“Okay. Well…maybe the Duel will still be interesting?” Rainbow asked, not quite believing what she was saying.
Joey-500 LP
Yugi-2700 LP
“It will be! I play the spell card Flame Sword Revival! With it, I can summon my most powerful monsta, Flame Swordsman, from my Extra Deck (1800 Attack)! Now, attack and wipe out his Alpha the Magnet Warrior (Yugi-2300 LP). Pretty good move, huh Yugi?” Joey asked, hoping he impressed his pal.
“Yup! Pretty good move, but not good enough. I now play the spell card Monster Reborn! With it, I can revive a monster from my Graveyard. And I choose Obnoxious Celtic Guardian(1400 Attack)! Next, I’ll release my mighty warrior in order to Tribute Summon Dark Magician Girl(2000 Attack)!” Yugi summoned one of his favorite monsters.
“Well…I guess she looks pretty-uh pretty cool!” Rainbow said with a blush.
“Not bad, Yuge. But I’ll still have some Life Points left,” Joey pointed out.
“Not after this you won’t! Next, I’ll play the spell card Magic Formula! With it, I’ll increase my Magician’s power by 500 points (2000->2500 Attack)! Now, Dark Magician Girl, wipe out Joey’s monster! Dark Burning Attack!” Yugi cried out as Joey lose his remaining Life Points.
“What?! Thanks a lot. A card that powerful totally wipes me out,” Joey grumbled.
“Wait. That’s it? That’s all this game is? Kinda boring if you ask me,” Rainbow grumbled, partly lying.
“Well…give it a try or two. I trust you’ll have a good time,” Yugi suggested.
“Yeah! I didn’t immediately love this game,” Tea agreed.
“I do have to say, you stink at this game, Joey,” Tristan teased as Joey looked ready to hit him.
“I can’t really judge myself as I’m new to the game, but judging by the remaining points on this…thingy,” Rainbow said as she pointed to a Life Point counter on the disk. “I’d say you did poorly as well.”
“What is this? Roast Joey day?!” Joey grumbled.
Yugi laughs good-naturedly before saying, “You did fine, Joey. I just have better cards. See, my Grandpa owns a game shop and I get all my best cards from him.”
“Oh, really?” Zuzu was interested.
You do? So…does that give you an advantage over the competition then?” Rainbow asked.
“Well…a little. But really, my Deck is pretty basic compared to some of the pros. My Deck doesn’t even have Synchro or Xyz monsters,” Yugi admitted.
“Really? But doesn’t your Grandpa have some cool cards or something?” Rainbow asked.
“My Grandpa doesn’t have a lot of those types of cards and the ones he does have don’t suit me very well, so…,” Yugi noted.
“Wait…you know the other summoning methods?! Are you in the Leo Institute or something?” Zuzu asked the first part in awe and the latter more begrudging.
“Well…my grandpa has a lot of older and rarer cards, but honestly I don’t go to a Duel School. Also, while I’m aware of the summoning methods, I haven’t ever done them,” Yugi admitted.
“Well…maybe you’d consider going to our Duel School then, Yugi?” Zuzu suggested.
“I suppose so…which school is it?” Tea asked.
“It’s the You Show School. What we lack in numbers we’ve been able to make up for with guts,” Zuzu said a tagline for the school.
“Well…we can at least go and give it a try. But first, I’d like to go and visit my grandpa at our game shop.
“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!” Joey cheered.
“Maybe while we’re there I can ask my grandpa if we can see his rarest card,” Yugi suggested as the group left.
“Rare card? Could they have found the card that I've been searching for?” A man with brown hair wondered, having watched the duel from afar, though he wasn’t impressed with either duelist.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Grandpa? I'm home,” Yugi greeted his grandfather as everyone got inside.
“And I see you've brought company. A lot of it, in fact,” Solomon noted happily.
“Yep! We just met earlier today and when we’re done, we plan on going to my dad’s Duel School,” Zuzu said.
“Anyways…we’re here on important business. Have you seen anyone named Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Fluttershy around here?” Rainbow asked, hoping that he would say yes.
Sadly, he responded, “No. I haven’t. Are they friends of yours?”
“Yes, they are! I may not have known one of them for long now, but we’re still getting fairly close. For now, though, what games you got here?” Rainbow asked.
“Mostly some smaller games and some Duel Monsters cards,” Solomon asked.
“Well, you certainly appear to have plenty of rare and powerful cards…,” Zuzu noted.
“I agree! The points on many of these cards are insane! I’ll buy some when I get more money,” Joey agreed.
“It may take some time for that,” Tristan grumbled.
“What was that?!” Joey yelled.
“Nothing!” Tristan lied.
“You certainly have some kind and colorful new friends, Yugi,” Solomon noted.
“Yep. But…to be honest, we’re not just here to look at some cards. Gramps, could you show my friends your awesome, super rare card?” Yugi asked.
“Rare card? My special card? Hmmm…,” Solomon considered.
“Come on! We wanna see it! It must be a good one if Yugi believes it to be special!” Rainbow agreed.
“Please! Please!” Yugi begged.
“Pretty please?” Joey asked.
“Hmmm... Hah hah! How could I refuse? You kids are in for a treat. I don't take this card out too often. Ready? Here it is,” Solomon said as he got out and showed a card that had 3000 Attack Points without being an Extra Deck monster. “The Blue-Eyes White Dragon, so rare, so powerful, I never let it leave my hands.”
“Awesome!” Joey cheered.
“I have to say it looks cool,” Rainbow noted.
“Wait…you have a Blue Eyes?!” Zuzu was shocked and in awe.
Suddenly, Tristan snatches the BEWD out of Solomon's hands. “It doesn't look all that special to me…”
“Ahh! This card is priceless. There are only four of them in all the world,” Solomon pleaded as he tried to take the card back.
“Really? That rare?” Rainbow asked.
“Uh huh! Only one other person has the other three cards,” Yugi confirmed.
“Yeah…and it’s rumored the guy sold his soul to do so,” Zuzu noted.
“Speaking of priceless, I'm ready to trade!” Joey cheered.
“Not for this card,” Solomon denied as he finally got the card back.
“Huh? Nah, I didn't mean that card. I meant, show me some other cool cards to get me started,” Joey corrected.
“Yeah! Do you have any powerful cards? Or maybe another copy of that Dark Magician Girl?” Rainbow asked.
“Why? You found her pretty?” Tristan teased.
“Uh…no! I just thought she was very awesome and rare is all!” Rainbow denied.
“Don’t worry! We won’t judge you for liking girls, Rainbow. Also…we do happen to have one extra copy you can have if you want it…,” Tea reassured.
“Well…sure! She’s sure to be an awesome card to own for myself! If only I could also have myself that Blue Eyes card as well,” Rainbow said.
“Speaking of which…who does own the other three copies of the card anyhow?” Joey asked.
“You see, the guy who owns them is…,” Zuzu began.
Suddenly, the door opens with the man from earlier standing inside the entrance.
“Who’s that guy?” Rainbow asked.
“Another customer maybe?” Tristan suggested.
“Hello, can I help you?” Solomon asked.
“Huh?” Tea asked as she looked over to see the man in the entrance.
“If you can't, it certainly wouldn't surprise me,” The man snarked.
“Seto Kaiba!” Yugi was shocked.
“Kaiba?!” Joey asked.
“Who’s that guy?” Rainbow asked.
“Seto Kaiba is a top level champ at the game of Duel Monsters,” Yugi said.
“He also happens to own the other three copies of the Blue Eyes White Dragon,” Zuzu answered.
“Wait. He does?!” Rainbow was shocked. “That. Sounds. Awesome! We get to meet the man with the other three copies of a rare and cool card…not that I care!”
“I guess you don’t,” Tristan snarked. “But…what is Kaiba doing here? Doesn't he have a big fancy company to run?”
“Simple. Not that it's any of your business, but I came to see the card,” Kaiba answered.
Joey, meanwhile, smiles and steps forward. “Hey, are you into Duel Monsters too? This is perfect. Maybe we could all duel together sometime.”
“Yeah! That would be fun! We can possibly even have a mini tournament!...If this game is actually fun…Anyways, it’s nice to meet you,” Rainbow greeted.
Seto finally walks into the shop. “Me? Duel you? I'd have more of a challenge playing solitaire. I don’t care for meeting a bunch of clowns like you.”
“What?!” Joey yelled.
“Yeah! What did you say?!” Rainbow agreed.
“Simply put, you mutts are way out of your league. I am the number one ranked duelist in the country, and the favorite to win the Duel Monsters championship in the upcoming tournament. I’ll even beat the current champ, the Sledgehammer. Hah, you two wouldn't last two minutes in a duel against me,” Kaiba grinned jerkishly.
Joey clenches his fist. “Ooh, I'm shaking. Maybe you'd like to settle this with fists instead of cards.”
“Agreed! You’ll pay for disrespecting me and my friends!” Rainbow yelled as she began to rush towards Kaiba. However, Tristan and Zuzu held back Rainbow and Yugi and Tea, Joey.
“Whoa! Take it easy, Joey,” Yugi tried to calm his friend down.
“Yeah! We can’t stoop down to his level…even if he is being a jerk!” Zuzu agreed.
“But Yugi, Kaiba's asking for it,” Joey said.
“Can’t we just hit him once?” Rainbow asked.
“No! We aren’t gonna hit him!” Tea scolded.
“Fine! Be a stick in the mud like Applejack!” Rainbow yelled.
“Now does this shop have any worthwhile cards or not?” Kaiba asked as he catches sight of the BEWD, and lurches forward. “Can it be? The Blue-Eyes White Dragon in a dump like this? It is. The card I've been searching for.”
“But why? Don’t ya already have three copies of da card?” Joey asked.
“Yeah! Don’t be greedy like Rarity can be!” Rainbow agreed. “You can just be happy with three of the card. What, do you wanna play with four?”
“That wouldn’t really work out…,” Zuzu acknowledged.
“You see, you can only have a maximum of three of a certain card in your deck at once,” Yugi explained.
“Maybe he wants a collection of all of them?” Tea suggested.
“Makes sense…,” Tristan said.
Solomon, meanwhile, covers the BEWD, “Well, enough window shopping. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Seto growls, lifts his briefcase onto the counter and opens it, showing many cards of various types.
“Huh? Oooh,” Solomon looks on in awe.
“Listen to me, old man. Gimme your Blue-Eyes White Dragon card and I'll trade you all of these,” Seto made a proposition.
“Whoa!” Everyone was impressed.
“Makes sense to me. Could even help out your shop,” Zuzu said.
“Just wish it didn’t have ta go to such a jerk,” Joey grumbled.
“I agree,” Rainbow said.
“Ahh, nice. But no thanks,” Solomon politely declined.
“Huh?!” Everyone was shocked.
“Nngh. Fine. If you won't trade, maybe you'll sell it. Name your price. I can pay anything you ask,” Kaiba demanded.
“I'm sure you could. But this card is worth more than you could ever offer. Not because of its power or because it's so rare, but because of what it means to me. This card was given to me by a dear friend and so I treasure this card as I do that friend. So parting with it is completely out of the question,” Solomon explained.
“Sounds very touching…,” Zuzu said as she fought tears.
“Well…looks like dat jerk won’t be getting his way!” Joey said.
“Yeah!” Rainbow said as she held out her hand as a fist and fistbumped awkwardly with Joey.
“No!” Kaiba yelled.
Yugi then said, “You'd feel the same even if it were a common card, right Grandpa?”
“Exactly. You see, this precious card has bonded with my heart,” Solomon agreed.
“Fine! I've heard enough of your nonsense,” Kaiba yelled as he closes his briefcase and walks away. “Senile old fool.”
“Yeah? And good riddance!” Rainbow yelled.
“So…now that that’s over, any other cards you’d like to see?” Solomon asked as he began to put away his Blue Eyes.
“Well… I’ll give them a look later. Right now, I need to go back to looking for my friends. Zuzu? Can we go see your friends now?” Rainbow asked.
“Um.., sure? I thought you’d like a bit more of a look seeing as how you’re beginning to like this game,” Zuzu noted.
“Yeah….it’s growing on me, but I don’t wanna give up on finding my friends. I don’t wanna leave them hanging,” Rainbow explained.
“Looks like you really care about your pals….Okay! Let’s go see the others and we can all look!” Zuzu decided.
“Hey! Don’t forget about us! You wanted ta show us to yer school, right?” Joey reminded.
“Um, yes?” Zuzu asked.
“Well, we don’t wanna just stay here and not help out our friends when they need us,” Yugi said.
“Wait…friends already? But we just met,” Zuzu was confused.
“Well, the way I see it, games are a way for people to make friends with each other. So, we’ve begun to become friends,” Yugi explained. “Isn’t that right guys?”
“Of course!” Tristan agreed.
“Any friend of Yugi’s is a friend of ours!” Tea agreed.
“Thanks! So, let’s get going!” Rainbow cheered.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, inside of Kaiba’s car…
“Heart of the cards. Ridiculous. Cards are all about power. And one way or another, his Blue-Eyes White Dragon card... will be mine,” Kaiba said to himself ominously.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Where do you think we ended up, Spike. Do you think we’re in Manehattan? Or Canterlot? Oh! Maybe we are near a more nature based part of the city. After all, the water nearby looks pretty,” Pinkie Pie answered, trying to be peppy.
“I don’t think we’re Manehatten or Canterlot. I wonder where we are,” Spike wondered.
Seeing a woman walk by, Pinkie Pie decided to ask her, “Hello there! If you don’t mind telling me, where exactly are we at?”
“I assume you guys are new here? Well then, we’re in Paradise City in front of the duel school that used to be taught by Yusho Sakaki before he disappeared. Now, please leave me alone. I have places to go and people to see,” The woman said as she left.
“Yusho Sakaki? Who do you think that is?” Pinkie wondered.
“I don’t know. Maybe we can find out more if we go inside,” Spike suggested.
“Okie Dokie Lokie! The sooner we begin our search, the sooner we can find everyone! It’s like a big game of hide and seek!” Pinkie cheered.
“Okay…? I must say, you’re taking this whole being in a new world and being human very well,” Spike noticed.
“Well…duh! We’re someplace new and all! It’d be weird to not accept this, right?” Pinkie asked.
“Uh…I guess. It’s weird, but I can manage for now,” Spike said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upon getting inside, the duo noticed a woman standing next to a boy with blue hair. Curious as to what they were looking at, the duo looked through the glass and saw that two boys were dueling, a tall and bulky, through muscle, boy in white and a boy decked out in red and green that had left the visible point of view.
“No way! Spike! That game we’re into is in this world! And we’re witnessing a Duel right now! So, who is winning?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously.
“Pinkie! We don’t have time to watch the duel! We need to find out where everyone else is!” Spike scolded the girl.
“Sorry. But you know we should still talk to these people after the duel. Maybe they can help us,” Pinkie suggested.
Finally, the blue haired boy turned around and saw that three strangers were present. “Oh! What are you two doing here? You watching Yuya duel too?”
“Yuya?” The two asked the boy.
“Yeah. He’s the one with green hair riding on a Hip Hippo. Man, even when he doesn’t win, his duels are so fun! You know, this school is supposed to turn out duelists that go on to entertain the crowd, and Yuya sure sure can do that!” The boy explained.
“Entertaining the crowd while you duel? Sounds like my kind of duel!” Pinkie Pie was happy to hear this news. “Can we join this school, please?!”
“Hold on, Pinkie! We need to find our friends first. So kid, have you seen anyone by the name of Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, or Fluttershy?” Spike asked the boy.
“I’m afraid not. Sorry. So, are you here to watch or to join the duel school? Oh, the name’s Tate by the way,” The boy, named Tate said.
“My name’s Spike and the random girl is named Pinkie Pie,” Spike introduced herself.
“Well, I might join this school,” Pinkie Pie said. “So, do you think we should ask the two guys when they are done dueling?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?” Spike was uncertain what to do next.
Meanwhile, with Yuya and his opponent…
“It’s time for Gong’s two sword swingin’, Superheavy Samurais to say buh-bye and hit the road!” The fourteen-year-old named Gong said as he tributed his two monsters. “Now Gong can bring out the biggest, baddest Samurai of ‘em all: Superheavy Samurai BIG Benkei (Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei 3500 Defense LVL 8)! Alright Yuya, enough ridin’ around, it’s time to take center stage and show Gong what you’re made of!”
“It’s show time! Ladies, Gentlemen and Gong, how ‘bout I kick off this round’s entertainment with some carnival craving hippos! Get hopping hippos!” Yuya, who was around the same age as Gong, played, summoning three tokens to his field while riding on Hip Hippo.
“Well, at least he seems confident in their ability to help?” Spike awkwardly commented. “Maybe he plans to stop attacks with them?”
“I think it’s a jazzing good time!” Pinkie Pie was amazed.
“Hey! What’s with all that shaking? We’re not dancing, we’re dueling!” Gong yelled out.
“Quit goofing around, Yuya!” Zuzu yelled as she entered the school, watching the duel from afar. “You do remember that while you should entertain the audience that we still need to Duel and not just put on a show!”
“On the bright side, he seems to be enjoying himself?” Yugi offered.
“Yeah…I guess…not the way I’d love to enjoy it though,” Rainbow grumbled.
“You mean by watching monsters fight it out?...Wait? Dashie!” Pinkie cried out as she tackle hugged the rainbow haired girl tightly. “I was beginning to think we’d never find you and that you’d forget us and that we’d-.”
“Okay, okay, pinks! It’s fine. We’re here and ready to look for everyone else!” Rainbow reassured.
“Well…it looks like you got us a big search party…somehow? Where’d you find them?” Spike asked as Rainbow broke out of Pinkie’s grip.
“They apparently are teens that love to Duel, kinda like you two,” Rainbow answered.
“And when we’re done lookin’, we plan on joining this here school!” Joey said.
“But first…Yuya! Once again, get back into the Duel if you’re gonna finish! We can’t waste any more time!” Zuzu yelled.
“Zuzu’s right, you know Yuya! Dueling may be fun, but we also need to remember the game!” A red haired grade school girl reminded as she hit the console in front of her. Suddenly, the device began to short circuit, having broken as a result of the hit.
“What’s going on, Allie?” A much older man asked as he entered the control room.
“Oh, just had a wee mishap,” Allie said.
“I told you and all of our few students to treat this equipment with TLC!” The man reminded her. “Our duel school depends on this ARC system!”
“You hippos sure know how to have a good time!” Yuya said before the japanese duel field disappeared and he fell out of the sky and onto the floor, much to the discomfort of the ones watching.
“Yuya… What do you have to say for yourself?” Zuzu demanded an explanation. In response, Yuya made a funny face. “Figures.”
“What do you think that technology does?” Spike wondered.
“I don’t know, but I am really interested in learning more!” Pinkie Pie was excited as she ran towards the main room of the school.
“Pinkie Pie, wait!” Rainbow yelled as she and Spike ran after her.
“Um, Yuge? Should we follow them?” Joey asked.
“I think we should,” Yugi agreed as he and his friends followed after the trio.
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“Our duel school is going down the tubes! We can’t teach Action Dueling without our ARC system!” The principal wailed. “Soon all our You Show students will turn into no-shows! At times like this I wish I were principal of a cooking school.”
“Aw, don’t worry. I think that you’ll still have some students if you plan on making others happy,” Pinkie Pie consoled.
Everyone was shocked to see the trio having entered the main room of the school. “Um, who are you three?” The principal asked.
“Oh, I’m Pinkie Pie and these are my friends Rainbow Dash and Spike. We’d like to join your school in you don’t mind,” Pinkie Pie said.
“Well, I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere.”
“Dad…Why not accept them? We’ve always been looking for new students after all,” Zuzu reminded.
“Yeah…normally I’d accept them, but without our Arc System our School will tank in no time!” Zuzu’s dad explained miserably.
“To be fair, we can be students without said system. We can have a great time and have fun!” Pinkie Pie said cheerfully.
“As good as your enthusiasm is, I don’t think it’ll be so easy to solve that problem,” Tea said as she and her friends entered the room.
“I may not know much about Dueling, but even I know that without an Arc System a Duel school won’t last long,” Tristan pointed out.
“You keep on mentioning this Arc System. What is that?” Spike asked.
“I think Zuzu mentioned it earlier. I think it allows monsters to become real,” Rainbow offered.
“Correct. Our machine may have been running on fumes for the last three years, but we’ve done our best to make it work. I don’t know how we’ll make our school work without it…,” Zuzu said somberly.
Yuya then put his goggles over his eyes and said, disappointed, “I was just getting to my most duel-taining moves when the system went down.”
“I know! Your dueling was spectacular!” Pinkie Pie agreed.
“Heh. Thanks!” Yuya said with a smile.
“Your duel-taining distracted Allie, Yuya. You and this Pinkie girl need to take life more seriously!” Zuzu yelled as she tried to slap Yuya, who ran to escape the blow only to bump into Gong.
“Is that you, Gong?” Yuya asked. “Or did someone just put a boulder in here?”
“Why do you have to turn everything into a joke, Yuya?” Gong asked his friend.
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with giving the fans a good laugh,” Yuya answered.
“I agree! Guess we have some things in common,” Pinkie Pie said.
“I know! Thanks, Pinkie! See? Why can’t you guys be more accepting like her?” Yuya asked the others.
“Maybe because something bad happened due to your attitude. No offense, but you two need to take things more seriously,” Spike responded.
“The boy is right, Yuya. When fans watch your duels, they’re not laughing with you, they’re all laughing at you! When your daddy was on the field he had all the fans smiling. He made duel-taining entertaining,” Gong explained as he motioned over to a few photos of an older man in red. “Your duels are usually just embarrassing!”
“So, that’s Yusho I take it?” Rainbow asked out of curiosity.
“Correct. I never met him personally, but I do know that he was a Dueling pioneer,” Yugi answered.
“Hey! Just because he wants people to smile doesn’t mean Yuya’s duels are embarrassing!” Pinkie Pie countered.
“I don’t know. Maybe he could be a tad more serious. Maybe then he can make people smile a little better,” Rainbow Dash suggested.
“Well, if you ask me, my dad’s last duel was pretty embarrassing, too!” Yuya joked.
“Yuya!” Both Gong and Zuzu countered.
“Relax!” Yuya responded.
Just then. A man in a yellow and black outfit entered the room and said, “Afternoon all. I do hope I’m not intruding!”
“Who are you?” The principal asked, confused as to who the man was.
“Yeah, and what’s with the mustache?” Rainbow asked, looking ready to counter if he turned out to be a jerk.
“I’m Nico Smiley, dueling manager and promoter. Currently I represent the reigning Action Duel Champion, the Sledgehammer!” Nico explained.
“Not the Sledgehammer!” Yuya was shocked.
“So, the Sledgehammer is the guy to beat, huh?” Rainbow Dash wondered.
“Rainbow! I know we’re visiting, but maybe we shouldn’t interfere in these guy’s business,” Spike whispered.
“Anyways, The Sledgehammer is hosting a fan appreciation day at the Leo Institute and as part of the festivities he’s issuing a one-on-one dueling challenge to Yuya,” Nico explained.
“You’re inviting me to duel the Sledgehammer?” Yuya asked for clarity.
“I’m not inviting you to duel his grandma! Seriously, though, it’s your chance to make up for your father’s disappearing act. You remember what happened don’t you?” Nico reminded.
“This crowd’s boiling over and I don’t blame them! Our Action Duel Championship was supposed to get underway an hour ago, but Yusho Sakaki still hasn’t shown up to defend his title,” The announcer said.
“Sakaki has chickened out!” The Sledgehammer yelled out.
In response, the whole crowd was booing Yusho’s name, believing him to be a coward.
“My dad’s no chicken! Let me duel the Sledgehammer ‘til my dad shows up! I’m not scared, duel me instead!” A younger Yuya yelled.
“So, Yusho just disappeared never to be seen again? Wow, that’s rough,” Rainbow admitted, wondering how she would have felt if one of her parents had just disappeared and was mocked for it.
“Are you sure he didn’t disappear for another reason?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Well, you’ll be glad to hear that you’re old enough to get your wish, Yuya! We’ll publicize it as the duel of the decade! ‘The son of Yusho Sakaki tried to clear up his father’s name!’” Nico finished as Yuya looked like he was contemplating the challenge.
“Forget it! I will never let Yuya take part in this match,” The principal declined.
“Why not? It’s what all the dueling fans want to see, plus it’ll mean tons of free publicity for your dueling school,” Nico countered.
“I won’t let Yuya be humiliated! The boy’s suffered enough since his father disappeared. Get out of here, Nico!” The principal demanded.
“Oh hey, I understand, Boyle! It’s a real shame though, ‘cause if you had agreed, the Leo Corp would’ve donated the newest Augmented Reality Combat system to your dueling school for no charge. As in free,” Nico played his trump card.
The principal was quick to change his tune. “You’ve got a deal!”
Suddenly, Zuzu hit her father, the principal on the head with a fan. “You just said you’d never let Yuya duel the Sledgehammer!” Zuzu reminded.
“But for the good of the school…,” The dad tried to counter.
“What about for the good of Yuya?” Zuzu reminded.
“Yeah, we gotta have Yuya’s back!” Gong agreed.
“I’d say we let Yuya decide. After all, it’s his duel and maybe he can make up for what happened before, if he wants to that is,” Rainbow Dash suggested.
“Rainbow has a point. Let’s see if Yuya wants to Duel,” Yugi agreed.
“Well, I’d ask him but- he ran out while we were talking,” Zuzu said.
“Just like his old man!” Nico commented.
“Maybe he needs some cheering up. Here, let me go looking for him!” Pinkie Pie said as she left the building.
“Should we join her?” Tea asked.
“How about no for now?” Zuzu responded. “So…how are you all?”
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After some searching, Pinkie Pie found Yuya sitting on a bar on a bridge looking at the stadium as he moved his pendulum necklace back and forth.
“You know, you really worried everyone for a moment there. I bet you’re thinking of the duel with that mean old Sledgehammer right now. You know, you don’t have to duel him if you don’t want to. However, just know that whatever you choose your friends will be behind you,” Pinkie Pie comforted.
Yuya finally responded. “I don’t know what to do. On the one hand, I can finally make up for my father disappearing against the Sledgehammer. However, can I do this? I don’t know if I’ll be able to win or not.”
“Well, maybe we can find out together. Even if you lose you can still give a good performance and make others happy. Even if the crowd doesn’t like you at first, you can change their minds with your amazing dueling, right?” Pinkie Pie suggested.
“You know, you sound just like my dad,” Yuya said with a smile. “You see, when I was younger he told me ‘Try to laugh when you feel like crying. And when things get tough, respond with a smile. It will give you the strength to keep moving forward! It’s kinda like a pendulum. If the pendulum swings one way, you know it will swing the other way, too, like in a duel! The key to dueling is to believe in your deck and yourself. When you’re falling behind, you can always make things swing your way again, so don’t worry about anything. Just try and enjoy the ride.’”
“Wow. Your dad has some great advice! I’d like to meet him someday,” Pinkie Pie said, impressed.
“Thanks. You know what? You, and my dad, are right. I can win if I just believe in myself and have fun!”
“I’m glad I was able to help out. I look forward to seeing your fun and amazing duel!” Pinkie Pie said as she returned to the Duel School to tell the others the news.