//------------------------------// // Tournament Announced // Story: An Equestrian Element // by Quillion9000 //------------------------------// Kaiba Corp., Night… Seto stood within a room he’d created back when he first conceived of the Duel Disk as the next innovation in dueling. Not long into their development, he had a life changing duel with Yugi followed by everything Pegasus did. That had prompted an accelerated development. The moment he finished it, Seto was onto Duelist Kingdom leading to field testing. Upon returning, there were instances of people, Rex and Soren, renting them out which only granted him more data to the point this room hadn’t been used. With all that data, he was able to refine the systems and craft a sleek product that was fit to truly take dueling into the next age. A new age required a more fitting attire followed by refined rules. Rules he was about to test alongside the power of his god card. “All hands stand by for the final test of the new duel disk system.” “As you’ve requested Mr. Kaiba, we’ve removed all safe guards from the computer.” “You’re crazy if you go through with this Seto.” Mokuba declared worriedly. “If the safeguards are off, the monsters in this duel could really hurt you.” “Enough whining.” Seto retorted as he put the new duel disk on his arm. “Let’s go.” He activated it fully. “I invented this new duel disk system, so I’ll be the one to test it. I must make sure my company’s satellite tracking is working perfectly. It will trace all duel disks allowing me to keep an eye on every duel in the tournament, and I can’t afford a single screw up. Even more importantly, I want to test the power of my new Egyptian God. If I’m going to use it in my deck, I’ll need to be assured of its power.” “The duel disk is online. Duel Robot’s hard drive is coming back positive on the update to its rules.” The robot lowered from the ceiling across from Seto. “Setting skill level to max. We’re ready to begin on your order.” Seto took his current deck and slotted it into his deck reader causing the new life point total of 4,000 to appear. “Time to learn just how strong an Egyptian God really is.” He looked at the Duel Robot. “There’s no better test than my own Blue-Eyes.” He nodded. “Let’s go!” “Switching on the computer’s auto duel system.” “Check.” “Duel Robot is standing by.” “Engage.” “Good luck.” Mokuba voiced. “It’s time to duel.” Seto declared. (Seto 4000/Duel Robot 4000) “Draw card.” The robot added one to its hand. “Accessing duel database for optimal battle. Set monster card in defense mode. End of turn.” “Since I currently control no monsters, I can special summon Kaiser Vorse Raider(LV 5/1900/1200).” A blue, humanoid beast with a massive axe appeared. “Destroy that face down monster.” Vorse Raider rushed forward slashing through the card only to reveal Cyber Jar(LV 3/900/900). “Monster. Cyber Jar.” Duel Robot informed. “Effect 1 destroys all monsters on field.” Kaiser Vorse Raider was blasted. “Effect 2. Each player looks at next five cards. Special summon any level 4 or lower monsters. Rest added to hand.” The robot added five cards. “Set two on field.” Kaiba drew his five. “I summon Peten the Dark Clown(LV 3/500/1200), Familiar Knight(LV 3/1200/1400), Blade Knight(LV 4/1600/1000), and Starliege Seyfert(LV 4/1800/0) in attack mode.” A theatrical clown, a noble night with blond hair, a knight in all blue armor, and a gold and black dragon with a universe in its chest all appeared on Seto’s field. “That monster just backfired since Seto now has a huge lead.” Mokuba commented. “I could attempt to destroy those monsters, but I want to see my dragons on the field.” Seto took a card from his hand. “I’ll simply set one card to end my turn.” Duel Robot drew. “Analyzing new tournament rules. Must sacrifice two monsters to summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon(LV 8/3000/2500).” The white dragon with eyes of blue appeared. “Only Normal Summon conducted. Now activating Melody of Awakening Dragon. Discard 1 card to add up to two Dragon-type monsters with 3000 ATK and 2500 DEF from deck to hand. Analyzing hand. Activating spell card Polymerization. Fuse 3 Blue-Eyes into Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon(LV 12/4500/3800).” The three-headed, colossal white dragon with blue eyes appeared roaring. “Oh no, turn the machine off before my brother gets hurt!” Mokuba shouted. Unlike his brother, Seto was perfectly calm. “Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon will attack Peten the Dark Clown with Neo Ultimate Burst.” The computer declared. “I flip my face down Negate Attack.” Kaiba countered. “This trap targets Ultimate Dragon negating his current attack before then ending the Battle Phase. That means you can’t use your monster’s effect to attack again this turn.” “Analyzing.” Duel Robot stated. “No further moves detected. End turn.” “Without his Blue-Eyes, there’s not a monster in Mr. Kaiba’s deck that can compare here.” “The damage from Neo Blue-Eyes will be catastrophic.” “What!?” Mokuba exclaimed. “With the safety measures disabled, even with a monster taking away some of the damage, one blast would cause Mr. Kaiba serious injury.” “Get out of there Seto!” Mokuba exclaimed in worry. “Shut down the duel!” “They’re wrong Mokuba.” Seto voiced. “Even without my dragons, without most of my extra deck, there is one card that should have all the power needed to end this.” He drew before smirking. “I’ve just drawn it. Time to see what a god card can do! Obelisk the Tormentor(LV 10/4000/4000) I summon you by offering Peten, Blade, and Familiar as tribute.” The three monsters were offered summoning forth a blue titan of a monster larger than even Blue Blood’s strongest Drytrons. The systems in the control room began sparking as everyone within looked on in awe. “No way.” Mokuba breathed, “That god card is humongous!” “Obelisk the Tormentor, let’s see just how powerful you are.” Seto took a card from his hand. “First, since I’ve summoned a monster, I can special summon Clone Dragon(LV 4/?/?).” a colorful sphere appeared. “That’s not all. Whatever monster resulted in this one’s special summon grants it the right to use the name, ATK, and DEF of the monster.” The sphere shifted to a much smaller, colorful Obelisk the Tormentor(Clone Dragon)(LV 4/4000/4000). “This monster no longer matters as I’m entering the Battle Phase where I will offer it and Starliege to the real Obelisk.” The god grasped both monsters. “Absorb their power to grant me victory in this duel.” The systems were just going wilder and wilder. “I’ve never seen anything like this!” “Now, wipe the field with Fist of Fury and deplete all four thousand life points!” Kaiba declared. Obelisk slammed his fist into the Ultimate Dragon destroying it. The resulting waves of destruction washed over Duel Robot. Its life points depleted before it broke (Seto 4000/Dule Robot 0). This began its systems overloading making the men scurry to shut it down. “Obelisk the Tormentor just defeated one of Seto’s best monsters in a single punch.” Mokuba declared stunned. “Incredible.” Seto grinned as Obelisk remained behind him. “If this is the power of one god card, then acquiring two more will make me unstoppable. I will stand atop every duelist as the best.” He then laughed. Joey’s Apartment Joey was trudging home after finishing another odd job and decided to check the mail before heading in. He found a package addressed to him, yet there was no return address. He opened it finding a bound deck of duel monster cards along with a white envelope with his first name on it. “What da heck is this?” Joey questioned. He pulled out the envelope and tore it open to get at the letter. “Joey Wheeler, My father observed every duel on Duelist Kingdom and kept extensive notes. In short, you impressed him. Your heart, courage, and dedication led to him marking you as a person with an exceptionally pure soul, so I know he’d have wanted you to have the enclosed gift. Of course, you did make it to the top 4 of Duelist Kingdom which is no easy feat. It proves your deck was good; however, there is room to grow. Since you have in your possession a rare dragon, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, I believe the enclosed deck will accentuate him. Do well by them. According to my father’s notes, you are likely the one who can bring to bear the Red-Eyes Black Dragon’s full potential. If anyone can unlock every ounce of it, my father believed it was you, and I’m inclined to agree. Signed, Gekko Tenma” “Gekko Tenma?” Joey never heard of the guy; however, he did take out the deck to have a look at it, and he was not disappointed. “Whoa, these cards are sweet!” He didn’t know how rare some of these cards were, but two more Red-Eyes Black Dragons, to join the one he already had, certainly said something about this deck. Even though he had no idea who this Gekko was, the guy had supplied him with some good cards. “I got to get started on seeing how I can add some of my cards to it and learn what I can do with such a deck.” Joey thought as he walked on into his apartment building. World Wide: One Week Later… Word had spread, whether you received an invitation to compete or not. All around the world, people were gathered in the nearest, largest cities to catch the official announcement of this upcoming tournament. Domino City: Night… Yami and Sunset were among countless duelists gathered in the center of Domino City and were currently walking around the area. “This is only what it’s like here in Domino.” Sunset noted. “In every major city around the world, there’s duelist just awaiting the same announcement as us.” “Whoever I must face, I cannot lose early if I am to begin understanding my fate.” Yami stated. “Beyond that, there’s bound to be people who’ll come after our Millennium Items.” Sunset noted. “Indeed.” Yami agreed. “I would not put it past whoever controlled Keith to appear there.” “Sunset, there you are!” A familiar voice called out. “Mai?” Sunset questioned. Both duelists turned to see that the Harpie user had called out the Hero users name, and she was currently running up to them. “Should have figured you’d crop up for this.” Sunset voiced. “But of course.” Mai put her arm around the Hero user. “Considering how things ended off at Duelist Kingdom, I simply could not miss this chance to have another duel with you.” She released Sunset. “I can only assume you both got invitations as well.” “We did.” Yami nodded. “Though, they did not inform us of who they were from. Do you know who is hosting this tournament?” “It’s a total mystery.” Mai crossed her arms. “One that no one seems to have an answer to. That said, I’ve heard its someone with money and an obnoxious attitude. I’d put my money on it being Kaiba.” “That checks out.” Sunset agreed. “Even if it’s someone else, I’m seeing a few familiar faces, and I have no doubt we’ll see many more wherever this tournament is meant to be held.” “You can say that again.” Mai nodded. “I’ve caught sight of Weevil skulking around.” “Probably looking into who the week links are that he can take advantage of.” Sunset voiced. “On a positive note, I do see Mako Tsunami over there.” She gave a smile. “He’s alright.” “I see Rex Raptor standing at the top of the train station steps.” Yami voiced. “Given the note he ended on with Joey, I’d say that’s good.” Suddenly, there was a new sound which drew attention to the screens as all of them displayed Seto Kaiba. “Greetings duelists from around the world and welcome to the preparation stage of my tournament. Before I get to certain facts of this, let’s go over some special rules. For example.” The image shifted to display the duel disk. “Anyone who officially enters my tournament will duel using these new duel disks.” “Check that out.” “Man, Kaiba Corp. has all the coolest products.” “Another rule is that each duelist shall ante up their rarest card. The loser will forfeit their ante to the winner. Of course, some of those cards don’t mesh well in other decks, so the winner has the right to substitute it for 1 card that’s in their grave at the time or 1 extra deck monster. “Potentially forfeit my Dark Magician!” Yugi exclaimed. “That could mean losing my Bladedge!” Sunset added. “It means losing even one duel would totally throw off my deck.” Mai declared. “My competition shall make Pegasus and his Duelist Kingdom Torunamnet look like a joke.” Kaiba continued. The crowd cheered before a Kaiba Corp. helicopter appeared in the air space above. Seto himself was leaning out of it. “I knew you two would come, Yugi and Sunset.” His gaze fell squarely on the two of them in this moment. “We’ll see which of the three of us is the number one duelist.” He held a finger up. “Don’t forget to register in any city where this is being broadcasted. Exactly one week from tomorrow at 8 AM Japanese Standard Time, my tournament begins. Anyone who successfully registers from out of the country, will get a nice discount on whatever fare they need to pay to be at Domino City on that day.” Rooftop Helios and Soren managed to get onto the roof of a relatively tall building where they observed all the duelists gather. They paid special attention when Sunset and Yugi arrived before then listening to Seto Kaiba announcing his tournament. “Considering his reputation, I think Kaiba has a good chance of following through on his word.” Soren reasoned. “This tournament is going to be huge.” “Considering we couldn’t determine if Golden took any interest in Duelist Kingdom, we’ll need to pay close attention this time around as the tournament proceeds.” Helios voiced. “I must say, things have never been dull since I joined your crusade.” A familiar voice declared. Helios and Soren turned to see a guy around their age. He has a toned, lean body, ashen skin, and golden eyes. His medium length hair was black with crimson streaks. His attire consisted of jeans, dark sneakers, a red buttoned shirt, black jacket, fingerless gloves, and a fedora. “Hope.” Helios grinned as he approached him. “Looks like you finally made it.” They grasped hands in a friendly, firm manner for a moment before releasing. “As anyone in show business knows, it’s all about timing the entrance.” Helios smiled. “While I can’t compete with what Seto Kaiba just did, I’d say arriving when I did will be good enough.” “You arrived at a good time because there’s a lot that couldn’t be adequately explained over a phone call.” Soren voiced as he joined them. Hope had to be let in on a lot, but once he was caught up, they’d have another steadfast ally in the loop. That was probably for the best as Blue Blood stood within the shadows, on a nearby building, having observed everything. “Seto Kaiba’s tournament does have potential, but it is not my role to participate.” Blue Blood focused his gaze squarely on the trio still chatting away. “In fact, no one under Golden is meant to participate. No, this time it’s about observing it and seeing what you two got.” New York City: Time Square, Morning… Aside from Japan’s meeting place only being Domino City, practically every other continent had a fair number of places duelists could converge to hear the exact, same announcement. As luck would have it, Rarity happened to get into a fashion show in New York City. This was right around the time news of this upcoming tournament was circling around. As such, this time, Rarity didn’t care about the fashion show. She’d also brought along Rainbow, Fluttershy, Pinkie, AJ, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie, and Flash. Despite none of them getting an invitation, it sounded like that wasn’t the end of the world. No matter what it took to enter this tournament, they’d do it. Considering Sunset competed in Duelist Kingdom, they had little choice but to try if they wanted any shot of seeing her again. ??? Within a room lit by candles, various people wearing the same cloaks as Bandit Keith had stood before a tan skin, blue eyed guy with light gray hair. “Battle City, huh?” The guy questioned interested. “That is correct master. The worlds most skilled duelists, or those with valuable enough cards, will assemble for this tournament.” “How very convenient.” The guy chuckled. “Many of our targets will gather in one location. Now my Rare Hunters, scatter to every city hosting registrations. Sign yourselves up and do what you do best before the tournament begins.” Every one of them put a fist over their heart. “Yes sir.” Domino High: After School… The week between getting the invitations and attending the announcement of the coming Battle City Tournament had seen Sunset and Yugi unable to really speak with their friends like they normally would have about things. Fortunately, this morning finally presented just such an opportunity where the pair laid out everything to Tea, Tristan, and Joey. “You two can’t be serious?” Joey was clearly frustrated. “I’d overheard people talking about some tournament, but to think it was that rich punk Kaiba. Gah, I can’t believe money bags didn’t bother sending me an invite. I finished Duelist Kingdom in the Top 4 for crying out loud.” “News flash Joey.” Tristan stated sarcastically. “Kaiba doesn’t like you.” “I’ll give rich boy something not to like.” Joey retorted. “You are aware reacting like this is exactly what he wants, right?” Tristan asked. “You got a good point there.” Joey realized the guy was right, but that didn’t change what he had to do. “Well, invitation isn’t the only way in, and I got some primo cards. With two of my buds heading up against some dark force, I got to join up. What are we waiting for?” Joey immediately took off prompting the rest to follow. Domino City: Streets, Evening… “Hey, looks like the registration office is over there.” Tea pointed out. “Battle City here I come!” Joey declared. “Excuse us.” Tristan added. The pair had taken off. “This is about what I expected form them.” Sunset voiced as she walked after them. Tea looked at Yugi. “You really think they’ll let Joey sign up?” “Well, Red-Eyes Black Dragon is a fairly rare card, so it’s possible.” Yugi responded. Registration Office The gang entered the store together. “Eh, how you doin’?” Joey questioned the shopkeeper. “May I be of some assistance?” “Three of us came to register for the Battle City Torunamnet and get our duel disks.” Yugi informed. “You have come to the right place and are rather fortunate since I just happen to have three duel disks left. Of course, I first must make sure you have one of the proper qualifications.” “Alright, my name is Yugi Muto.” Yugi informed. “Yugi Muto.” The shopkeeper pulled up his info. “Not bad. You have five stars which is the highest rank.” “Where does this information come from?” Yugi inquired. “Kaiba Corp. has performed extensive research on duelists from around the world.” The guy shifted the screen to show them a picture of Yugi along with his Dark Magician and star level. “This here is the result. It shows your skill level and rarest card you’ve ever played.” This stunned the group. “Everything?” Yugi questioned. “Knowing every card in our decks gives an unfair advantage to Kaiba.” “That’s not cool.” Tea added. “Anyways, since you qualify, you get this.” The shopkeeper declared as he handed over the duel disk. “Awesome!” Yugi exclaimed happily. “Thank you.” “Guess I’m next.” Sunset stated. “I’m Sunset Shimmer.” “Let me see.” The shopkeeper stated. He brought up her info showing she too was a rated a five star duelist with her rarest card being Elemental Hero Cutting Bladedge. “Another five stars which effortlessly sees you qualify on your skill alone.” He grabbed the second duel disk. “Here is your duel disk.” Sunset accepted it. “Thank you.” “I’m last from the group.” Joey pushed forward. “Joey Wheeler is the name.” “Let me see.” The guy punched in the info. “Joey Wheeler…” It displayed Joey with his rarest card being Red-Eyes Black Dragon and a duelist rating of one star. “I’m sorry, but your skills alone do not qualify you according to this.” “Kaiba!” Joey yelled frustrated. “First, he doesn’t send me an invite, and now he has the gall to make me a one-star duelist in his systems! I came in the Top 4 of Duelist Kingdom for crying out loud!” “Of course, you do still qualify to register since your rarest card is Red-Eyes Black Dragon.” The Shopkeeper retrieved the last duel disk. “Congratulations to all three of you as you are now official participants in Battle City.” Joey did accept his duel disk. “Just you wait Kaiba because I’ll have my rematch with ya, and this time you won’t steam roll old Joey Wheeler. Especially with this new deck I’m packing.” “Battle City, here we come.” Yugi declared happily. Despite the rocky situation from moments prior, Sunset and Joey did celebrate with Tea and Tristan joining in as they left. Once they were gone, the shopkeeper pulled out a cell phone. “Send over the Rare Hunters. A boy who holds a Red-Eyes Black Dragon just left.” America: New York, Morning… The 5 members of the Rainbooms, 3 Crusaders, and Flash decided to register for Battle City today. Fortunately, that decision didn’t bite them in the butt as the place they went had ten duel disks left. One more than their whole group needed; however, there was a small problem. The simple fact is that none of them could qualify on their skill alone. AJ, Rainbow, and Flash were the highest at one star each while the other six had none. “Oh, come on.” Rainbow complained as a newcomer entered the shop. “I’m at bear minimum a three-star duelist.” The newcomer was a seemingly unassuming young man around the early twenties in age. He had a lanky frame with slightly pale skin, brown eyes behind glasses, and short brown hair. He wore a simple green shirt with complementary blue shorts. “To be fair, we didn’t have long to put in the work between the end of Duelist Kingdom and the start of this here new tournament.” AJ reasoned. “It’s not like any of us really got the pedigree from before attempting to apply ourselves outside of the school.” Flash reasoned. “Simply holding the top spot in school does not equate to tangible, tournament experience.” The newcomer moved forward doing his best to compose himself in the presence of these people. Considering what he knew of them from his research, that was a rather hard task to manage, but he was managing to pull it off. “While these nine are working out that they obviously need to apply with the rare card stipulation, I’d like to register for Battle City.” The guy informed the shopkeeper as the others looked at him. “My name is Rob Snowden.” “Let me have a look.” The shopkeeper pulled up his information displaying his picture, three stars, and his rarest card being Digital Bug Rhinosebus. “You have three stars witch is just enough to qualify on skill.” He retrieved one of the duel disk. “Here you are.” “Thank you.” Rob took it before looking at the nine of them. “I believe you should hurry before someone else comes to collect one of the remaining nine. After all, it’d be a pity for you to miss Battle City. Especially since I intend to make my point known with at least one of you then.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked. “Anon-a-Miss.” That drew shocked expressions from all of them that this random guy they never met knew about that. “An incident like this was picked up by news outlets. While it was decided by CHS not to reveal who they were, finding such information was a simple matter. It didn’t take much to see that eight of you are especially guilty in this. Three of you made such an abhorrent user while five of you abandoned a friend over thinking she was responsible. Sunset Shimmer was grievously wronged especially as she corrected her prior attitude.” Considering how all of them were still feeling after the Anon-a-Miss situation, not even Rainbow Dash could argue with how Rob was addressing them. “We know.” Fluttershy finally stated. “We wished we had acted differently, but that’s in the past. All we can do now is try to make amends with her now.” “It’s not all you could do for her.” Rob was focusing squarely on the group, so he missed the shopkeeper discreetly placing his hand under the counter to press a button to signal the Rare Hunters. “Reconciliation in instances like this are something I see no value in. Good day.” The nine of them looked among themselves feeling thoroughly talked down to; however, no one was any less certain about entering Battle City. Despite what he said, they believed some form of amends could be made. One thing did come of this in that they got down to registering. None of them had the stars to get in, but each of them did have decently rare cards that earned them a place in Seto Kaiba’s tournament. By proxy of being the first to leave, Rob had invertedly drawn the Rare Hunter to him as opposed to the group.