original

The Fall of the Heart of the Cards

Author: Le0_0

Chapter 1: Magnus Kaiba

The stars of various constellations shine brightly upon the cityscape of Domino City and its skyscrapers. The ethereal radiance exuding from them makes for a sublime view of the otherwise boring metropolis.

In the tallest of towers, with the famous logo with the letters 'K' and 'C' on top of a familiar white dragon, a teenager with brown hair with a white strike and blue and brown monochromatic eyes was watching a recording of a duel between the King of Games and the young multi-billionaire CEO, Seto Kaiba.

"I use polymerization to fusion summon one monster with materials from my field and my hand. I choose the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my field and the two in my hand to summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon." echoed the deep and raspy voice from the white dragon aficionado.

Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500 ATK / 3800 DEF)

"Attack Dark Magician and end this game!". As the triple-headed dragon took flight to attack and vaporize both Dark Magician and its master's 2000 life points that were left, the spiky haired teen yelled in a surprisingly deep voice. "Not so fast Kaiba! For I activate my trap card Waboku!". Three beautiful women clad in blue robes appeared behind Yugi Muto and cast a blue translucent shield over his field.

The dragon's breath hit the shield and disappeared, leaving no damage. "When I activate Waboku, Not only is my Dark Magician safe from destruction, but so are my life points.". Kaiba scoffed. "Yugi, all you've done is delay the inevitable. With no cards left in your hands, you can hardly escape losing the next turn. I set one card face down and end my turn. So draw your last pathetic card and let's finish this once and for all."

The Duel King put his right hand over his deck and closed his eyes. "You're wrong Kaiba. With my belief in my cards everything is possible. I DRAW!" With that, he dramatically drew his card in a swift arched motion and gazed at it. "I activate Pot of Greed, drawing two cards." His smile widened as he organized his two cards in his hand. "I activate Pot of Greed yet again.". The teen now had three more cards than at the beginning of his turn. "Using Graceful Charity, I draw three more cards and discard two cards." Kaiba's speechless jaw was on the ground looking at the three cards in his opponent's hand. "I activate polymerisation and fuse the Dark Magician in the field with Buster Blader in my hand, summoning the all powerful Dark Paladin!"

A figure dressed in shiny dark blue armor with golden accents and a big spear with the same color scheme as his armor, his face similar to that of the Dark Magician used for its summon appeared on the field.

Dark Paladin (2900 ATK / 2400 DEF)

"With his effect, he gains 500 attack for every dragon monster in the field and in the graveyard! There are three dragons in your graveyard and one in the field, and so, my paladin gains 2000 attack points."

A high pitched sound representing the change in Dark Paladin's attack was heard.

Dark Paladin (4900 ATK / 2400 DEF)

"Now, I use the last card in my hand and activate Mystical Space Typhoon which allows me to destroy one Spell or Trap card. I choose your set card."

A giant rotating storm appears above what is now shown to be a Mirror Force before it's completely obliterated.

"No… No way, it's impossible!" Kaiba finally responds in a disbelieving tone.

"Oh… yes way Kaiba, It is possible and it is happening right in front of you. Now, I believe you said I would not survive this turn, but it appears to me that the one who is doomed to lose is you. Dark Paladin, attack Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" The paladin rushed forward and sidestepped the middle head's bite, evaded the left one with a roll and stabbed his shiny spear in the dragon's heart. The dragon evaporated and Kaiba's life points were reduced to 3600.

"Ugh… This is not over. Even after this ridiculous turn, as long as I have life points I won't give up!" Kaiba all but shouted. "I DRAW!"

The moment he saw the front of his drawn card, all life left his eyes for a brief period and then, he grinded his teeth so hard, the sound could be heard in the recording. He passed and the King of Games continued undefeated against the young CEO. The screen returned to the video selector section and the attentive odd-eyed teen finally started voicing his thoughts.

"While it's not truly impossible for two Pots of Greed and a Graceful Charity to be drawn back to back, it's highly unlikely. If this was a one time event, I would disregard it as a plausible occurrence, however, every single time my father battles against this guy, he always draws whatever card is needed to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat." He got up and started pacing back and forth. "Some would just call him lucky, but I don't believe in luck. I also didn't spot any signs of cheating so, how can I explain this statistical improbability?" His pacing got faster and faster which would probably result in bumping into something, but in his gigantic bedroom, he could run around blindfolded and not hit anything. "There is one aspect I haven't tested yet, precisely because my father vehemently disagrees with its existence, but, what if the Heart of the Cards is real?" Stopping in front of his glass wall, with a view down at all the smaller buildings with his hands behind his back he continued his monologue. "In all of their duels together, he has always preached about the Heart of the Cards and it does seem ridiculous, but what if? How would it even work? I have to start testing this."

He grabbed his first and oldest deck, his most recently built one and a few unopened card packs he had bought with his allowance, left his room and ran on his way to the elevator and then the labs.

"Good evening Mr. Magnus, may I inquire about the motives of your presence at the laboratories at such a late hour?" asked the guard in front of the white double doors that gave entrance to the lab.

"You may not. Show me the way to my personal testing room and leave me alone."

"Your father will be notified of your presence…" he started to argue before he was interrupted by what sounded like a slightly higher pitched Seto Kaiba, except this one was coming from a 15 year old. "Shut up and show me to my room or you're fired."

"... Right this way sir.". I was escorted through the halls where scientists behind glass walls were staring at me and finally arrived at a black door with a golden plaque above it. In it was written "Magnus Kaiba".

"Go back to your post and leave me."

"Yes, Mr. Magnus."

As I heard his heavy footsteps getting quieter I opened the door and entered the room.

There is a big rectangular table in the middle and counters all around, hugging the walls with all kinds of tech equipment. Kaiba Corp really was at the forefront of technological development, as anyone not affiliated with us would never see or understand the equipment sitting in this room.

Putting the packs, the new deck and the old one in this order on the table, I walked over to one of the counters and picked up a few wave generators and some wave glasses and started working, examining the cards under heavy scrutiny. "This is going to be a long night." I said looking at the digital clock hologram above my left arm that displayed '02:43 AM'.

"Mr. Kaiba, it's almost 3 o'clock in the morning. I understand that your work is important but you need to rest every now and then. I think your lifestyle may be rubbing off on Magnus. He has been watching and rewatching all your duels with the king of games until very late at night and that's harmful for a growing child." Echoed a feminine voice who had just entered into his office. Seto Kaiba, sitting behind a desk, containing stacks of papers with varying sizes on one side and a few small rectangular card boxes and a mountain of cards. Seto had been deck building for hours and was interrupted just now.

"Look Abigail, if I needed a babysitter I'd hire one. In regards to Magnus, I don't see the problem as long as he keeps his perfect grades in school and at home. I don't understand why he only looks at my losses, but I don't really care. As the heir to Kaiba Corp he does need to learn to duel as much as possible, but if the reason he watches those is because he somehow idolizes that dumbass, then I'll have to punish him greatly." He pauses for a minute while looking at the mess of cards in his desk. "How is Project Crown coming along?"

His secretary thought for a second and replied confidently. "Well sir, it's advancing perfectly and is in its final stages. I believe it'll be ready in a week to a month's time.".

"Hmmm… This time, I will be the king and Yugi will finally be knocked down to where he should be." A small sardonic smile appeared on his face and disappeared right after, upon hearing Abigail's comment.

"I have heard variations of that line for fifteen years but every year the Duel Monster's ranking is the same and the King doesn't change."

"..." Kaiba stays silent while glaring at his rude secretary 'Why did I hire her again?'.

As Kaiba was brooding over whether to fire Abigail or not, a few knocks were heard.

"Again? Who is it?", "It's Gener Ikgard, with a report about your son's activities." A deep voice was heard behind the door. Kaiba was confused, 'Wasn't he supposed to be sleeping? I mean, It is Saturday right now, but still', but agreed to let Gener enter either way. The guard bowed and started the report.

"Magnus Kaiba has aced all his written exams, and of course, also his practical dueling tests. With this, he continues to have an unblemished record against the professors. His duel win percentage is now around 96% and he has lost twice against Ace Muto this week, bringing his score against him to a 15/22 in favor of the Prince of Games. With the school report out of the way, i came to inform you that Mr. Magnus entered the laboratories today at 02:42 AM.". Silence ensued after the man finished speaking while the second ranked duelist in the world rested his head in his interlocked hands and had an inner monologue.

'So Magnus still isn't skilled enough to beat a single brat. The only reason he is number one at school is because he battles much more frequently than yugi's spawn. He is both a disappointment and a failure. I guess if we're to look at the bright side, at least he is trying to better himself. But what is he doing in the labs?'. After a moment of silence, Kaiba spoke up.

"What is he doing there?" and was disappointed again by the answer given. "... Well sir, Marcus didn't state his purpose.", 'Of course he didn't. He has been very secretive these past weeks. It probably has something to do with the old and recent duels he has been watching.'.

"Well, anyway, get out of my sight, the both of you. I need to build a deck to put a stop to Yugi's reign once and for all."