In a flash of light, a figure lands on the ground in the middle of the forest. He looks around the area in confusion. He looks down at his hands and freaks out. "Where are my hooves?!" He tries to back away from them but soon realizes they are attached to him. He takes in deep breaths trying to calm down. He stands up on his hands and feet but falls over, unable to keep his balance. "Ok... maybe i should try something different." He shakily stands on his two legs. Shaky steps follow suit as he tries to walk, having to catch himself on trees. He eventually gets the hang of the new walk and is able to escape the forest, into a small alley way. A flickering light above showers him in light, then darkness, then back again. His long golden hair gets illuminated as his orange skin gets the first light he has had in awhile. His simple yellow shirt with a phoenix feather, orange pants, and red shoes are bright against the darkness of the alley. "Ok, Gold. Lets see what this place has in store."

Gold walks out into the street and looks around amazed at his surroundings. Lights that don't use magic, chariots that are not pulled by ponies. He accidentally steps into the road and is almost hit by a car. "Get out of the road you deadbeat!" The driver drives off once Gold has backed away. He continues to a small park and sits down on the bench.

"In a new world, still no place to sleep." Gold lays down on the bench and tries to get some shut eye.

A very eccentric and animated man visiting the area walks along the path close to Gold. He senses a great light power coming from him. The man gives a chuckle. "My boy, you need a proper place if you want to be a hero."

4 years later

Golden Rise: 2500
Maximillion Pegasus: 4000

Gold smiles. "You may have more life points, dad. But I was always taught to fight to the end. It's my turn, I draw!" Gold drew his new card. "I tribute my Emerald Phoenix and Obsidian Phoenix to bring out the ultimate card you gave me, Gold-Eyes Crimson Dragon."

The two phoenixes disappear and a dragon descends. Its crimson scales shine as its fiery wings spread out covering my side of the field. The golden eyes open wide and my dragon unleashes a grand roar across the arena.

Gold-Eyes Crimson Dragon
Att: Light
Level 8
Destroy one monster on your opponents side of the field. This card gains attack equal to the destroyed monsters attack.
Attack: 3000
Defense: 2500

"Now I will destroy your Toon Dark Magician and adds its attack to Gold-Eyes." Gold-Eyes realeased a powerful roar and destroyed Toon Dark Magician

Attack: 5500

"Gold-Eyes attack him directly." A scorching blast of fire was sent at Pegasus and burned away the rest of his life points.

Maximillion Pegasus: 0

Winner Golden Rise

Pegasus clapped with a smile as he had been bested by his adoptive son. "Well done Goldy-boy. You did fantastic with those test cards. I believe it is time to give you the final project." Pegasus pulled out a deck bow that was adorned with a phoenix feather. "I present to you the Crimson Phoenix Deck."

"Is this the deck I designed?"

"Yes it is. With some changes to certain effects to make it fair."

"Thank you, dad." Gold takes the new deck. "This is incredible."

"You have become a fine duelist, Gold. Now get some sleep, we will be traveling tomorrow."

"Where to?"

"The place I first found you, Canterlot."

Gold nods and heads to his room for the night. He is almost to excited and nervous to sleep, but he eventually falls asleep readying for tomorrow.

Gold awakens in a grand hall. Pillars of gold stretch high up to an unseen ceiling. He stand and walks down the hall, no end in site. "What is this place?" As he walks, Gold starts to feel an energy pulling him towards the end of the hall. He goes further until a statue appears at the end. A knight like figure with feathery wings stands tall among the hall. The energy pulls Gold to the bottom of the statue.

There is a small inscription: Unlock thy spirit and forge the path of the heroic light.

Gold holds his hand out and the hall begins to rumble. Cracks appear along the statue, piercing light filling the area. Fire spreads across the statue's wings. The light fills the area forcing Gold to cover his eyes.

Gold opens his eyes and finds himself outside a cave. He looks behind him to see a cityscape in the distance. "Go through the entrance..." Gold looks around with fear, seeing nothing but the rocky terrain. "See the seal..." Gold suddenly feels a sense of calm. Listening to the voice, he goes in to find a huge wall. Circular protrusions appear around the wall with symbols along the outside of each. "Prepare the heroes... Finish the battle..." Gold gets an understanding of what the voice means.

"This is my goal. I must be the hero to save this world... my home."

Gold wakes up back in his bed, the sun peering through his window. He quickly gets dressed and grabs his stuff. A small sliver of light shines from the deck box but it goes unnoticed. Gold runs through the mansion, needing to tell Pegasus what he saw.

The flight to Canterlot is filled with questions in the minds of the two. "I don't want you to go searching for that seal just yet Gold." Pegasus gives a stern look that is not seen very often. "It is too dangerous to do anything right now."

"Yes, dad. I also think that it would be too much to search for it. I have no idea what that voice was to begin with."

"Well lets forget about that now. We have the new Duel Store that is opening. Its a day that should be faced with a smile." Pegasus places a hand on Gold's shoulder.

"Your right." Gold smiles the first time during the flight. "Its a day to celebrate."

The flight finally lands and they are escorted to the limo. As they are driven into the city, crowds of duelist and duelist fans surround the sidewalks. They cheer and hold up signs. Cameras follow them everywhere they go and a helicopter even follows the limo. The car pulls up outside a grand store display, gates block off the public as Gold and Pegasus step out to the cheers of the crowd. The two are lead to the front, a ribbon awaits them.

Pegasus takes a podium. "People of Canterlot, I am pleased to announce the opening of this brand new Duel Store. This store will be the corner piece for duelist in this city. Please enjoy it to your hearts content. Now for the cutting of the ribbon, my son... Golden Rise!"

Gold prepares to cut the ribbon. A deep, guttural laugh rings through the area. A figure stands atop the Duel Store. "This grand ceremony is perfect." Everyone looks up to see a figure with dark draconic wings on his back, covered in a cloak. "My master shall cherish this grand welcome as he appears once more. But I must remove and uninvited guest." The figure dives down, grabs Gold and disappears within shadows. The two reappear by a certain cave entrance. "Now, stay down and die!"

The figure slashes at Gold with a scythe. He dodges and stands back up. "Who are you? What's going on here?"

"I have come to free my master... and this place will be your grave in return."

Gold activates his red duel disk. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"If its a duel you want, its a duel you'll get." Shadows form a duel disk on the cloaked figure. "But this will not be a normal duel. Dimension Rift! Activate!" The area gains a purple and navy hue. "This shall be a Dimension Duel. I suggest using your spirit power wisely, otherwise you will fall too soon. I want to savor this."

Golden Rise
Life Points: 8000
Spirit: 100

???
Life Points: 8000
Spirit: 100

The mysterious figure begins. "I will start by Dimension summoning out my Card Guard. Using all my spirit to set its full attack."

Card Guard
Att: Dark
Level 4
If this card or Normal or Special summoned: Place 1 Guard Counter on it. This card gains 300 ATK for each Guard Counter on it. Once per turn: You can target 1 other face-up card you control; remove 1 Guard Counter from this card, and if you do, place 1 Guard Counter on the target. (If that card would be destroyed, remove one Guard Counter from it instead.)

Attack:1600
Defense: 500

A monster with a red top and white underbelly appears. Its wide wing like arms stretch out and it singe eye stares Gold down. "I then place two cards face down to end my turn."

"I draw!" Gold draws his first card. "I'll start by Dimension summoning out my Amethyst Phoenix."

Amethyst Phoenix
Att: Light
Level 4
If this card is used to Fusion summon a monster, add this cards attack to that monster.
Attack: 1000
Defense: 1000

A purple phoenix with an amethyst body appears.

Attack: 0

"Why does it have no attack?"

"You never declared how much spirit you were using. By default your monster has zero attack."

"I should have paid attention to that. I'll set three cards and end my turn."

"Are you actually the son of Pegasus." The figure draws his first card. "I will normal summon, Dark Extractor."

Dark Extractor
Att: Dark
Level 4
Once per turn, target a Dark attribute monster either you or your opponent controls. That monster's attack points are reduced to zero. This monster gains attack points equal to the attack points lost. At the end of your turn, all attack points effected by this effect are returned to normal.

Attack: 500
Defense: 2000

A robotic being is summoned. One arm features a giant syringe with a huge needle. "Now I will use its effect on my Card Guard." Dark Extractor stabs its needle into Card Guard. Its color is drained and is added to the syringe.

Attack: 2100

"Then I activate my trap card Stone Cold." The figure flips up one of his face downs.

Stone Cold
Trap
If you control a monster with 0 ATK, your opponent cannot activate Spell/Trap cards.

Gold's cards are turned to stone. "Now Dark Extractor, destroy that stupid bird of his." Dark Extractor struck down, destroying Amethyst Phoenix. Gold is pushed back by the shockwave.

Gold: 5900

"Then I activate Second Wind. This trap allows me attack again if I destroyed your monster." Dark Extractor attacks again. Gold feels like he was really stabbed by the monster but is physically unharmed. He is pushed back further. "I end my turn with a face down."

Card Guard: ATK 1600

Dark Extractor: ATK 500

Gold's cards return to normal. He shakily draws his card as fear grips him. "That felt real. Like I was going to die." Gold tries to stop his nerve, but he keeps shaking. "I-I activate Graceful Charity. I draw three cards then discard two." Gold drew his three cards and then discarded two. "I then activate my face down... To Ashes."

To Ashes
Spell Card
If you have more than one "Phoenix" monster in the graveyard, Special summon "Ash" tokens up to the number of "Phoenix" monster in your graveyard.

"Since I have two Phoenix monster in my graveyard... I can bring out two A...Ash tokens." Two piles of Ash appear on the field. Gold looks down and gets a boost of courage seeing his ace. "This ends here. I tribute my two Ash tokens to Dimension summon Golden-Eyes Crimson Dragon. Adding my full spirit into this summon." Golden-Eyes descended onto the field.

Attack: 3000

"And I will destroy your Card Guard to have Gold-Eyes gain its attack." Gold's dragon releases a powerful roar.

"I remove a Guard Token to protect my monster." Card Guard remains safe.

"Doesnt matter. I activate my face down Burning Feathers."

Burning Feathers
Spell Card
Target one monster you control you control. Have it gain attack equal to the number of "Phoenix" monsters in the graveyard x1000. Destroy the monster at the end of the turn.

Attack: 5000

"Now Gold-Eyes... destroy his Dark Extractor!" Gold-Eyes fires out a stream of flames.

"I activate Swords of Concealing Light. This forces you monster into face down defense mode." Crimson Dragon is forced into face down defense position.

"No... this cant be."

"But it is. And I activate Explosive Destruction. This Trap card makes it so that if a monster is destroyed at the end of the turn, you take damage equally to double its original attack."

"Which means..." Gold looks down at his 5900 life points. "I end... my turn." The face down exploded, sending Gold flying into the cave and crashing into the back wall. His life points drop to zero.

"I told you this would be your grave. The perfect final life for my master." Dark tendrils of energy begin to surround the unconscious Gold. The figure releases a grand laugh at the scene.

Then, a sword of light pierces the figure. A knight with fiery wings strikes down the dark figure. The knight summons a ball of light and pushes back the dark energy. "Not yet. There is still a battle to be won." The golden knight kneels down and places a hand on Gold. "Rest now, you will fight once more when you awaken." In a flash of light, Gold is teleported back to the grand opening. Gasps fills the scene as paramedics rush in, saving what is left of Gold's life.

Author's Note

This is the beginning of a new version of my original Yugioh story. Its is going in a new direction and will feature many old and new characters of mine. I hope you enjoy and please look forwards to the next one. As always, Rise to the Occasion.