MLP Meets Yu-Gi-Oh Volume 1

Up in Pegasus's castle, in one of the towers, a rope of bedsheets is lowered down from the window, and a young boy starts to climb down said rope. Once he reaches the end, he realizes that the rope isn't long enough to get him down to the ground. Suddenly, the rope starts to unravel, and the boy falls down towards the forest, but the trees and bushes manage to break his fall. Inside the castle, one of Pegasus' guards rolls a cart with food on it to a door, possibly the door to the room the boy was in.

"All right, you little runt. Here's your daily gruel." the guard says, but he soon spots the rope and realizes the boy escaped. "Oh no! He's gone!" The guard rushes to inform Pegasus, who's sitting in the dining hall reading a comic book while drinking something and eating cheese.

"Where do these guys get their ideas?" Pegasus asks himself. Soon, the guard from earlier comes in.

"Master Pegasus." he says. "A thousands pardons, sir."

"Gorgonzola cheese and the world's finest fruit juice along with a copy of my favorite comic book. Times like this are more precious to me than any other, you do realize that, don't you?" Pegasus asks, clearly annoyed.

"But the prisoner has escaped." the guard answers.

"Which one?" Pegasus asks.

"The boy we imprisoned in the north tower." he answers. "I have our men searching the island, but so far, there's no sign of him."

"I guess he didn't appreciate my hospitality. Well, no matter, I'm sure I know exactly where our little escapee is heading." Pegasus says as he pulls out a remote. "He'll seek out Yugi." Pegasus says as he presses a button on the remote. "Computer, request data on the status of the Duel Monsters tournament." The computer says that six hours had passed since the competition started and twelve of the participants have been eliminated and are being removed from the island by boat.

"And what of Yugi Muto?" Pegasus asks. The computer says that Yugi has gained five star chips from his past two duels in the contest.

"Wonderful. I expected no less." Pegasus says. "He is determined to work his way up in the standings in order to gain entry to my castle. Which is exactly what I want little Yugi to do. We'll just keep our spy cams trained on our star duelist. Sooner or later, the little runaway prisoner will confront Yugi, for reasons of his own."

"Very wise, sir." says the guard as he takes his leave.

"Actually, the boy's escape plays right into my plans." Pegasus reveals. "And I do have such special plans in store for Yugi, plans I hope he'll find as entertaining as I do." Meanwhile, outside, Yugi's friends are in disbelief that Yugi already has five star chips.

"Just five more of those star chips to win, and you'll be heading to Pegasus in no time!" Rainbow says.

"We should be able to rescue your grandpa after one or two more duels." put in Rarity.

"I wish I had more star chips, rather than just the two I already have." Joey says.

"Don't worry about it, Joey." Fluttershy says. "You'll do fine. You'll be able to help your sister save her eyesight if you just keep your head held high."

"I sure hope so." Joey replies as he starts thinking about how much his sister is counting on him. Suddenly, they all hear a cry for help.

"What was that?" Pinkie asks.

"My guess, trouble." Applejack answers. And soon, they see one of the guards holding a duelist and taking him away somewhere, prompting our heroes to rush to the rescue.

"Hold on, kid! We're coming!" Rainbow calls.

"Let that kid go!" Tristan says as he charges in and tosses the guard over his head. However, the guard recovers as Tristan compliments himself and lands a kick on him. He then grabs the duelist again.

"Quit squirming, you little brat." he says. The others confront the guard.

"Come on, needle-head! Put the kid down!" Joey demands.

"Just what are you doing to that poor child?!" Rarity said with fury.

"This is none of your business. This duelist lost his star chips, and the rules say he's to be kicked off the island." the guard answers, but the kid protests that his star chips and his deck were stolen. "I don't care what excuse you have, legitimate or not, you need star chips to duel and haven't got any, so you're shipping out of here." the guard retorts as he takes the kid away. "Those are the rules, and my orders from Pegasus himself."

"Well, what are we standing around for?" Rainbow asks. "Let's follow that big creep!"

Soon, the guard meets up with two others on a dock.

"Hey, Kemo, what'd you catch?" one of them asks.

"Just another loser." Kemo says as he tosses the kid onto the boat, next to Weevil, who immediately pushes him away.

"Hey, buzz off!" Weevil says. "They may be shipping me out, and I may have lost my title of regional champion, but I'm still Weevil Underwood, bug duelist extraordinaire!" The kid, sad that he didn't even get the chance to duel before his cards and star chips were stolen, soon hears the gang coming.

"Hey, you!" Spike calls as Kemo is puzzled as to why they showed up. "What did the guy who stole your star chips look like?" The kid tells the team that he didn't see the thief's face because it was covered with a bandana, but he does says that he's small and challenged him to a duel in a meadow. But as soon as the kid put his star chips and deck down, the thief snatched them up and took off.

"You shouldn't be shipped off the island for that!" Yugi says. "We'll get your chips and your deck back!"

"This boat leaves in exactly half an hour, anyone without a star chip ships out." Kemo says.

"Then we'll get his chips and deck back by that time." Fluttershy says with confidence.

"Better believe it! We're gonna catch that thief one way or another." put in Rainbow. "Trust us, between the eleven of us, you'll have your deck and your chips back in no time!"

"And with the brilliant mind of Joey Wheeler leading the charge, that thief is as good as caught!" Joey says with confidence. "I spotted a Duel Monsters arena in a meadow near where we were when we heard you, so we'll start there! Forward, troops!" Soon, the "troops" head to said arena.

"So, got any ideas in that brilliant mind of yours now that we're here, Sherlock?" Tristan asks.

"I got nothing, except a brilliant headache." Joey admits.

"Well, I say the first thing we do is stakeout the scene of the crime." Twilight suggests as she and Yugi rush ahead to the duel arena, where they sit and wait.

"Do you think the culprit could return, darlings?" Rarity asks.

"Exactly." Twilight says. "So now, we can plan a way to catch the thief in the meantime. All we need to do is wait." However, little do they know that the thief they're looking for is closer than they thought. And then, at the right moment, the thief leaps out.

"Aha! I finally found you at last, Yugi!" says the thief.

"Well, looks like we'll have to take this little bandit on right here, right now." Rainbow said.

"Just try and take me!" the thief retorts.

"There's an easy way to do this, just hand over those star chips and that deck you stole." Fluttershy says.

"Hold up, I think I know what this kid's after." Yugi says. "He wants to duel me." None of the others can believe it. "That's what you want, isn't it?"

"You better believe it." the thief answers as both he and Yugi take their positions.

"What I don't get is why Yugi's going through the trouble of dueling this guy when we could just take the star chips and the deck back." Rainbow says.

"Honestly, I don't think Yugi even knows he's doing half the stuff he does." Tristan adds.

"I think I might know why." Spike chimes in. "I say it's got a bit to do with that Millennium Puzzle around his neck." Right on cue, said Millennium Item activates, and once Yugi's confident half comes out, the thief steps back a bit.

"Now, how many star chips will you wager?" Yugi asks.

"To wipe you out, I'll wager five!" the thief replies.

"Then five it is, but only because I think I know why you're doing this." Yugi says as he presses a button on his gauntlet to detach all his star chips.

"Who cares what you think, Yugi? Because you're gonna lose!" the thief retorts as he puts own his chips. At the same time, the eye of Anubis appears on Yugi's forehead, and Twilight spots it quickly.

"What does Yugi see that we don't?" asks Tea. "It's like he's looking into the other player's soul."

"I think that might be what he's doing." Twilight responds. "Since the Millennium Puzzle is ancient, it might have some magic we don't know about. After all, if Pegasus has the magic necessary to steal souls, it would make sense for Yugi to have magic as well, only he can see into someone else's soul rather than take it."

"Well, magic or not, I can see that this kid's gonna get his butt kicked." Joey says.

"But Yugi better hurry if we wanna catch that boat in time." put in Applejack.

"I'm sure we'll get the chips and the deck and get to the boat with time to spare." Pinkie says confidently as both players call out 'Let's Duel!' The thief then remembers what Yugi did to his big brother, Seto, indicating that this thief is actually Seto Kaiba's little brother. He remembers the day before the boat for Duelist Kingdom was to ship out, and his brother told him he wasn't gonna go, saying that there was no point in going and that he was in no condition to duel anyone. He further remembers that Kaiba told him that since he lost his duel with Yugi weeks prior, his thoughts about power being what Duel Monsters are all about were shaken and he didn't know what to think anymore, as if he lost a part of himself that day. And after he lost to Yugi, he wasn't feeling like a champion since the day Yugi beat him. The kid remembers further that Kaiba gave him a card from his collection that he saw as his favorite, saying that he would be going away for a while and he wasn't sure how long he'd be gone. He remembers when he asked Kaiba why he was leaving, Kaiba told him he didn't know who he was anymore. His memory ends as he prepares to play his first card.

"My first card, is the Man-Eating Plant!" the kid says as the monster appears.

"Now it's my turn." Yugi says. "I'll counter your monster with the Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress!" Soon, the dragon appears, but the kid is not impressed.

"Bad choice, Yugi." the thief says. "My Man-Eating Plant will eat your dragon alive. You're finally gonna pay for what you did, Yugi. And your dragon's about to be plant food. Man-Eating Plant, attack!"

"Fireball Attack!" Yugi calls, and in no time, the Man-Eating Plant is burned to pieces, lowering the thief's life points to 1400.

"My monster lost?" the thief asks in surprise.

"Of course it did! Did you not see the difference in attack points?" Rainbow asks back.

"I figured that would happen." Spike said. "After all, the Man-Eating Plant has only 800 attack points."

"Not only did you pick a monster that was weaker than my own, but you can't win with cards that don't rightfully belong to you." Yugi says. "How can your heart ever live in a deck that belongs to someone else?"

"Be quiet." the thief retorts. "I don't believe any of that Heart of the Cards nonsense you got your foolish friends to fall for. Duel Monsters have nothing to do with heart, it's all about power!"

"Yes, I can see it now." Yugi says. "I knew I sensed a connection to Kaiba based on the words you used. You're his brother, Mokuba." None of the gang can believe it.

"How did you know my name?!" Mokuba asks in shock as he takes off his bandana and hat. "Well, it doesn't matter."

"No way! Kaiba's little brother?!" Rainbow asks in disbelief.

"That's right, Seto Kaiba is my brother and he's the best duelist there ever was, until Yugi came along!" Mokuba says. "Now, thanks to Yugi, he's gone. And now Pegasus is trying to take over KaibaCorp." Everyone is shocked when they hear what Mokuba says.

"Pegasus wants KaibaCorp?!" Yugi asks.

"But why? He's already the president of Industrial Illusions." put in Rarity.

"I don't know what you did to my big brother after you beat him, Yugi, but ever since that defeat, he hasn't been the same." Mokuba says as he remembers the day Pegasus put his plan to take over KaibaCorp. "He ran away because of you, and with him gone, Pegasus moved right in. Five KaibaCorp executives, known as the Big Five, invited him to some kind of secret board meeting, but I managed to hear nearly every word." He remembers Pegasus repeating the Big Five's proposition so he can understand it. That proposition being, with Kaiba abandoning his corporate station as president of the company, they want to seize control of KaibaCorp and then merge with Industrial Illusions and have Pegasus handle any messy details. The Big Five believed that with Pegasus' leadership and their money, they could easily take control of the company. But for their plan to succeed, Seto would have to be taken out of the picture, permanently. Though there is a catch, as per the corporate bylaws, only a member of the Kaiba family could legally control the company. Therefore, they recommended to Pegasus to kidnap Mokuba. In name, he would control KaibaCorp, but they would control him. And if Pegasus did all that, the Big Five would lay all of KaibaCorps technology at Pegasus' feet. Pegasus agreed to all the terms, but the Big Five laid out one final condition. That being Yugi, whom they claim had tarnished KaibaCorp's name after beating Kaiba. Pegasus then revealed that he already had plans to duel Yugi already at the Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus then proceeded to have Kemo capture Mokuba, whom he knew was listening in through the cracked door, and bring him in before Pegasus and the Big Five, proving that he was the man for the job.

"It's all your fault!" Mokuba says in anger as his memory ends. "Seto deserted me and the company he built because of you!"

"You don't understand." Yugi calmly says. "Mokuba, your brother hasn't deserted you, he's just searching for himself."

"Liar!" Mokuba retorts. "Tell it to my monster!" Mokuba then plays another monster.

"Go, Krokodilus!" Mokuba calls, but Yugi's dragon destroys it just as easily as the last monster Mokuba played, lowering Mokuba's life points to 1100.

"Seriously?" Rainbow asks. "Yugi's got better and stronger cards than you! That Krokodilus monster only had 1100 attack points!"

"More than what Rainbow said, battling me won't bring your brother back." Yugi said. "And we want to stop Pegasus as much as you do. He's taken my grandfather prisoner."

"That's right. Pegasus is the bad guy here, can't you see that, you crazy little kid?" Joey asked.

"You're wrong." Mokuba retorts. "I have to protect my brother's company, and Yugi's the one Pegasus has to beat in order to completely take over it over."

"So, let me get this straight." Rarity says. "Mokuba's trying to save KaibaCorp by beating Yugi, so Pegasus doesn't get to face Yugi at all! In short, if Yugi is beaten by someone else instead of Pegasus, KaibaCorp remains with the Kaiba family." Yugi concurs, but when he turns to Mokuba, he's gone.

"Where'd he go?" Yugi asks. Mokuba then comes up behind Yugi.

"If I can't beat you, I'll have you disqualified!" Mokuba says as he takes two of Yugi's star chips.

"My star chips!" Yugi says aloud in shock.

"Hey, those are Yugi's star chips, you thieving varmint!" Applejack shouts.

"Mokuba, listen to me! You'll never save KaibaCorp that way!" Yugi calls out, which brings Mokuba to a stop. "Your big brother is just confused. After I defeated Kaiba in our duel, I opened his mind. I removed from him all the dark influences and thoughts of duel monster cards being about power only that clouded his thoughts and actions. Free of that evil essence, Kaiba is struggling. Now your brother realizes that his way wasn't the right way and he's searching for answers, including inside his own his heart. And you know deep down in your own heart, what you're doing isn't the right way, either."

"But, then, what can I do?" Mokuba asks.

"You can start by trusting in us." Fluttershy says. "And together, we will save your brother's company and beat Pegasus at his own game. I promise you, we can only bring Pegasus down if we stick together and work together."

"We'll help you protect your brother and his company, Mokuba, but you've got to help us, okay?" Twilight asks "You've got to go back and return those cards and those five star chips to the kid you stole them from."

"You're right, Twilight." Mokuba says at last. "Then we'll take on Pegasus together!"

"We've only got three minutes until the boat leaves." Rarity says, checking her watch. "Let's get going, Mokuba, dear."

"Let's do it." Mokuba says.

Meanwhile, far away from Duelist Kingdom and Domino City, in a cottage by the sea, a familiar person is busy thinking about something he just can't figure out. That person is Kaiba, and that something he's thinking over and can't figure out is how Yugi, a kid who virtually came out of nowhere, able to defeat him, a world champion duelist. He ran computer simulations, probability scenarios, and quantum analysis of their duel, be he still doesn't have the answer. He thinks back to his duel against Yugi, remembering that he dominated the match twice, once with Saggi until Yugi drew Gaia the Fierce Knight, and a second time when he drew his Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which ripped through Yugi's forces. He remembers that he knew he was on the verge of winning, but Yugi refused to give up. And against all odds and with absolute faith in the deck his grandfather gave him, Yugi somehow drew the one card that assured his victory, Exodia the Forbidden One. Kaiba tells himself he always believed Duel Monsters was a game of sheer power, but Yugi claims that every deck of Duel Monsters cards, and every card in said deck, has a heart. He admits it sounds crazy, but wonders if Yugi was right, if there really is a Heart of the Cards that can effect the outcome of a duel, which would explain how he won. But the only way he'll know for sure is to duel Yugi again, and the new portable holo-generators, codenamed Duel Discs, will enable him to challenge Yugi no matter where he is. Suddenly, theirs someone pounding on the door, demanding for Kaiba to come out or they'll break the door down. The door is soon broken down, and two guards with guns trained on him as Kaiba puts his Duel Discs into his briefcase of cards with a deck in each.

"Let's go, Kaiba!" says one of the guards.

"On your feet." says the other.

"Mr. Pegasus would like to have a few words with you." the first guard says.

"I bet he would, but it'll take more than you two goons to grab me." Kaiba says with a scoff.

"This can go easy, or we can snap you in two, wise guy!" the first guard responds, but Kaiba kicks the chair he was sitting in at the two men.

"You'll never take me alive!" Kaiba says in defiance as he takes his briefcase and jumps out the window, just as the guards get up to pursue.

"No way!" the second guard says in shock as they head to the window. "He jumped!" Both guards look out the window and see no sign of Kaiba.

"Nobody could survive a fall like that." the second guard says.

"Looks like he did our work for us." put in the first one.

"Yeah, that just leaves the rest of the job." the second guard adds. "Pegasus was very clear, he wants the deck with the deadly Blue-Eyes White Dragons." Back at Duelist Kingdom, the gang is hurrying to catch the boat before it leaves. They nearly reach the dock, but when they look out on the ocean, they realize their running was in vain.

"No way! We're too late!" Spike says in shock as everyone looks out on the water and sees the duelists departing the island.

"I told you, I'm not gonna row, so quit bugging me!" Weevil says in annoyed anger.

"I can't believe the boat left before we could get there!" Rainbow said in disbelief. "And there's the lowlife that shipped them out!"

"Looks like you're too late." said Kemo. "Those losers are all on their way back home to Domino City."

"That's not fair! It hasn't even been a full half hour yet!" Applejack said in protest.

"Tough luck, cowgirl." Kemo responded. "Pegasus sets the schedule here."

"If Twilight wasn't holding me back, I'd turn that haircut of yours into a flattop!" Rainbow snapped as Mokuba rushed up to Kemo.

"You gotta call the boat back, I have the kid's star chips and his deck." Mokuba said. However, Kemo knocked the chips into the water, to the shock of everyone.

"Two of those stars were Yugi's, you big jerk!" Pinkie shouted.

"I'm so sorry, Yugi." Mokuba said sadly.

"That's why you all should keep a tighter grip on your belongings, don't you think?" Kemo asks. "Then things like that wouldn't happen." Kemo then grabs Mokuba from behind. "Now...let's go, you. Back to the cage. This little ingrate is a special guest of Mr. Maximillian Pegasus, and he's been invited to attend a special dinner in his honor back at the castle, right, Mokuba?"

"Hold on." Yugi says. "I still have my other three star chips, therefore I challenge you to a duel. And if I win, Mokuba comes with us!"

"I don't know why you'd waste your chips for this kid, but if that's how you want to waste your last three star chips, meet me back at the arena you found and dueled this kid, field 146, in exactly 4 hours. Then you'll have your duel." Kemo says. In four hours, everyone meets at field 146.

"We're here, and there's antenna head!" Spike said when he spots Kemo and Mokuba.

"Guys! Please, get him to let me go!" Mokuba says.

"Hold on, dear!" Rarity called. "Put the child down, you great big brute!"

"I'll consider it, if your friend wins the duel." Kemo responds.

"Oh, I'll beat you alright." Yugi retorts.

"I'm not the one you'll be dueling." Kemo says with a smile as he points up to the red player platform on the field. "There is your opponent." None of the others can believe what they see, and what they see is none other than Kaiba.

"He's an old friend who's dying to see you again. He met with an unfortunate end today, but he's returned from beyond just to duel you." Kemo says.

"What are you saying?!" Pinkie asks aloud.

"It can't be!" Rainbow says in shock.

"I think it is!" Applejack responds.

"Kaiba?!" Yugi asks in just as much shock as Pinkie.

"But if that big brute said that he met with an unfortunate end.." Rarity says.

"Then that would mean.." put in Twilight.

"You're telling me he's..." Spike added.

"A g-g-ghost?!" finished Fluttershy in stuttered fear.

"Yes, indeed." Kaiba's ghost answers. "It's me, Kaiba. And this time, Yugi, you don't stand--a ghost of a chance."