Dudley picked up his last birthday present of the year. Grinning widely, he ripped apart the paper before gasping as he saw a brand new Duel Monsters deck. "Only the best for you champ." His dad said with a proud smile "We ordered a Duel Disk as well but it won't be in for a few days."
Dudley's grin widened. "I can't wait to show my friends! They'll be so jealous they don't have any!" Then he frowned as he realized what that meant. "If my friends don't have any cards then who am I supposed to duel?" he asked himself aloud.
Vernon frowned. "Yes...That IS a problem." He agreed.
Glancing around, Dudley saw the Freak cleaning the kitchen and asked "Why don't you just buy a few packs for the Freak and I can beat him?"
Vernon blinked. "One one hand, I DO hate to waste money on the freak...But it IS still techincally for you..." Vernon sighed and stood up. "I'll be right back." His dad promised. "I need to go to the store and pick up a few random packs for the freak so you can duel him." Dudley grinned. This was going to be brilliant...
And so...
Sighing, Harry stared at the box of card packs in his cupboard, his Uncle having told him to build a deck and duel Dudley. He honestly had no idea what to do with the cards...This game made no sense. Sighing, he opened the packs and saw a card, "Armed Dragon Level Three." he muttered and could have sworn he heard a roar before shaking it off and continuing, going with the cards that seemed to...draw him. These cards were fascinating to him. The creatures depicted in the artwork all had unique, interesting designs and descriptions... His favorite cards were the four armed dragons. There was just something about them that resonated with him...
Finishing his deck, he opened his cupboard door. "Um...I...I'm ready..." He called out softly, flinching as he heard the booming footsteps.
"Fine," Uncle Vernon growled before pushing him down in front of Dudley who grinned and held up a deck. "Now entertain Dudley." He whimpered in response, but obediently stood to attempt to play the game.
'Worry not, little one.' Harry blinked and looked around. Was he going insane...? 'Follow my directions. Trust me. Everything will turn out all right.' Harry decided to follow what he thought was instinct. Surely it wouldn't steer him wrong.
And so...
Harry quickly found that by doing what the voices in his head said, he would be able to play correctly and decided to follow their advice. Dudley's face turned purple as the game went on. Finally, Harry drew a card and called out "I play level up to turn my level seven armed dragon into a level ten and activate his ability by discarding one monster to destroy all of yours." Dudley's eye twitched as his life points reached zero. Harry shook his head, eyes wide. "I...I won?" he asked in confusion as he stared at his dragon.
"You...WON!?" Dudley said, outraged. "DAD!" He ran out of the room calling for his father. Paling, Harry clutched his dragon close, praying for a miracle to keep him safe and wishing his dragon was real to protect him, not realizing that he was pouring all his magic into the card. The sound of his uncle's footsteps made Harry shiver in terror. He knew what was to come, and he was not looking forward to it... Looking about frantically, he tried to find a place to hide. But it was too late. Yelling in pain, he felt his uncle strike him with the cricket bat.
"HOW DARE YOU UPSET DUDLEY!" Vernon roared. "KNOW YOUR PLACE, FREAK!" The obese man rained down blows on him with the bat...
Meanwhile...
Sighing, the Dark Magician Girl floated around her crystaline palace, everything having been quiet in the realm of the spirits since the Pharaoh had beaten the Leviathan. 'It's been so boring lately...I really hope something interesting happens soon, I don't care what it is...' The moment she spoke, she felt a ripple of power as a duel spirit, one she identified as the armed dragon level ten, called for her to save a small child. She blinked in confusion. 'A child...? Is he a spirit? What does he look like...?'
"He is a human with a soul stronger than the Pharoah!" the dragon roared at her. "Save him! Hurry up! Before he dies!"
Dark Magician Girl squeaked in fright. "Okay! Okay!"
Meanwhile...
Crying out, Harry felt his bones break one by one as he shielded his new deck with his body, wanting to protect the voices he felt came from his cards. Then, Vernon hoisted him up by his arm and threw him into the wall, hard enough to elicit an audible crunching sound. Harry whimpered and looked up to see the looming figure of his uncle towering over him. His vision went blurry...then was overtaken by darkness...
Meanwhile...
Giggling happily, Dark Magician Girl shot through the tunnel that connected the spirit world with the human world, seeing the vivid bursts of color as she felt the 'wind' whip about in her hair. 'I wish I could go to the human world more often.' She said. 'This tunnel is a blast! I wonder what that child is going through right now...It can't be TOO bad...right?'
With a giggle, she burst through the barrier and found herself in some sort of living room as she turned at the sound of a grunt. She froze, eyes wide at the sight before her. The child was in the worst condition she had ever seen in her life...And the man who had done it stood with a cricket bat by his side, making the used weapon obvious.
Seeing the man raise the club again, she whipped out her staff and fired a low powered dark magic attack to knock the man out as she shot over to the little boy, regretting taking her time in coming. Vernon grunted at the feeling of an unknown force slamming into him and knocking him flat on his face, out cold.
Shooting over, Dark Magician Girl stared in shock at the little boy, his black hair died red with his own blood, his white skin turned purple from bruises, his arms and legs bent at the wrong angles. It made her want to be sick. She was trembling at the sight as she bit her lip and knelt by his side, placing a hand on his cheek. A roar from armed dragon jolted her out of her shock. Wordlessly, the blonde snatched the child into her arms and cradled him tightly against her chest. Using her wand, she opened a portal and sucked in every living person in the house as she shot forward through the tunnel, Armed Dragon taking form next to her within it as she gazed down at the small child. Her eyes glazed over as he seemed to somehow sense the comforting embrace she was holding him in, snuggling closer to her with a soft coo-like sound. Trying hard not to squeal at his cuteness, as she didn't want to wake him up and armed dragon was giving her the stink eye, she flew faster through the portal. Still, as she flew, she continued to gaze down at him, smiling softly. Brushing the hair from his face, she looked up as she saw the gate to her palace approaching.
'You're gonna be okay...' She thought, glaring forward. 'Hang in there...'
With a roar, Armed Dragon punched through the barrier, which she flew through a second later. "Get me Guardian Angel Joan!" She ordered the nearest Duel Spirit, which rushed off to get the healing monster, not one to disobey an order from the sister of one of the strongest duel spirits.
Dark Magician Girl stopped in her palace, still floating, and sighed softly. "What happened back there?" she asked the giant dragon as she saw three humans fall from the portal. "Why were...why were they hurting him like that...?"
"He beat the small pink one in a duel." Armed dragon growled "And they beat him for it."
Dark Magician Girl blinked, then scowled. "WHAT?! THAT'S STUPID! THEY'RE STUPID!"
"Who do you think you're calling stupid you scarlet woman?!" An irritating voice demanded as she turned to see three humans fall out of the portal. Dark Magician Girl's eye twitched, and she pointed her staff in their direction. "You heartless monsters!" She screamed.
Before she could murder the Dursleys on the spot however, she heard footsteps, and smiled when she turned to see her longtime friend, Joan, step in the room.
"Dark Magician Girl. Why have you summoned-" She froze when she saw the reason.
Looking at the little boy in her friends arms, she felt rage consume her. The bloodied face, the bruised body, the broken limbs, and added to that she could FEEL the years of abuse rolling off the boy's spirit. She turned to her fellow duel spirit, who was holding Harry protectively. "Who did this?" She demanded. In way of answer, she pointed at the fat man.
"THAT bastard did it..." Dark Magician Girl growled.
Hearing the explination Joan looked enraged before the orange haired angel turned towards the three humans, seperating the little blob of a boy and the rude woman from the fat man with a wave of her hand as the Guardian Angel stalked closer to the now awake and cowering figure. Reaching them Joan shot her hand out and grabbed the walrus like man by his throat, lifting him up in the air as she flapped her wings and began to glow with a radiant light while the man screamed in pain before exploading in a burst of light. The light floated for a moment before shooting over to the unconcious little boy in her arms and surrounding him, gently flowing into him as she saw his wounds begin to heal.
Dark Magician Girl sighed in relief as the wounds healed at an incredibly rapid pace. "And what do we do with them?" Joan asked coldly, gesturing to the two cowering humans. Dark Magician Girl frowned, then turned to the dragon for an answer.
"The little one was raised to be like the fat one," Armed dragon explained "and the horse like woman encouraged it. She hates messes and animals so I reccomend making her a cleaning servant for the beast and beast warrior spirits. As for the brat...give him to the Ojamas."
Dark Magician Girl giggled. "That's perfect!" She exclaimed.
"WHAT?!" Petunia screeched before Dark Magician Girl fired a teleporation spell and sent her to the beasts along with a letter explaining why. The chubby boy stared where his mother used to be, shocked. Wanting to see the brat's expression, Dark Magician Girl summoned the seven Ojamas.
"Hi, boys!" She said cheerfully.
"Hello my lady," the Ojama King said with a nod as did the Ojama knight while Ojamas Red, Blue, Black, Green, and Yellow simply waved.
"So, how would you like to raise a spoiled brat?"
..."What?" the king asked, clearly surprised by her question.
She gestured to Dudley. "PLEASE take him off our hands."
When the spirit still looked conflicted she explaiend what had happened and how it might not be too late to reverse the brat's corruption. The Ojama King laughed jovially.
"Looks like we have a new Ojama boys!" the king said happily before grabbing the brat and walking off. Dudley was too stunned by what was going on around him to react in the slightest. He would never be the same again, everyone could tell by the look on his face.
"But what about my human?" Armed Dragon asked Dark Magician Girl.
Dark Magician Girl frowned, putting a finger under chin in thought. Then she closed her eyes and smiled brightly. "I'll take care of him!" At her words Joan, who had been drinking from a bottle of water, let loose a rather impressive spit take over armed dragon's hide. The blonde frowned. "What?"
"You want to be a mother?" her friend asked in shock "The only thing I've ever seen you do with a boy is tease and flirt!"
Dark Magician Girl scoffed. "Well, those were all teenagers and adults! I happen to think kids are adorable!"
"Hey!" Armed Dragon protested "He's my human!"
Dark Magician Girl looked at him. "If you were abused all your life, what would you rather see when you first wake up after being saved? A pretty woman, or a huge scary dragon?" At that, Armed Dragon just pouted. Dark Magician Girl giggled. "Don't worry." She suddenly grew very serious. "I WILL take good care of him."
"I'm staying with him." Armed dragon growled, putting its snout in her face.
Dark Magician Girl glared at him. "Give it time." She said sternly. "You'll scare him. Let me ease him into meeting you first."
"B-but...he's my human!" Armed Dragon complained "I talked to him and he talked back!" The magician didn't cease her stern glare, and finally he conceded. "Fine...But I want to meet him soon."
"Deal." she said with a nod. "Now shoo, I think he's waking up." The dragon snorted, then turned to leave. Just as the tail passed through the door, she heard a murmur as the little boy sleepily opened his eyes. Then he whimpered softly when he noticed the unfamiliar surroundings.
Cuddling him close, she hummed a lullaby as she reassured him. "It's alright little one," She promised. "You're safe." Harry looked up to see a pretty blonde woman smiling down at him.
"W-who are you?" He asked her nervously. "Wh-Where's my f-f-family...?"
"They weren't your family." She said with a frown. "Family doesn't treat family like that. Your Cousin was given to a new family who can, hopefully, correct the bad lessons his parents taught him. Your 'aunt' is now the servant of a few friends of ours."
"And...And my...uncle?"
"I used my power to take his life in order to heal you of all your injuries young one." Joan spoke up as she walked over.
Harry paled. "He's...dead...?"
"My power sent him to another plain of existence," Joan said "It may be death or simply rebirth as something else so he can attempt for redemption."
Harry sniffled. "He's...really gone...?"
"Yes." Dark Magician Girl said confidently. Harry looked up at her, tears forming. He was free...No more pain or suffering... Unless...
"Are...Are you gonna hurt me...? Like they did...?"
"Of course not!" She said in disgust at the thought. "I would never hurt an adorable little boy like you."
Harry teared up. "B-But...wh-why?"
"Let me show you something," She said as she walked over to the balcony and pointed out over the kingdom of duel spirits. "My job is to keep this world, the world of the spirits, safe, and to aide those with pure souls...Yours is the purest I have ever seen." She smiled down at him. "I have to keep you safe. No matter what." Harry's eyes began to well up and she thought she had said the wrong thing before he buried his face in her chest and began to sob, clutching to her tightly as he begged her to not send him back to where he had been.
"I don't want to be hurt anymore...I hate being hurt..." He cried.
"I know, my little one," She soothed as she ran her fingers through his hair. "I'll make sure nobody can ever hurt you again." This did little to stop him from crying. He had so much emotional baggage, and he needed to let it all out... Reailzing this, she simply sat down and held him as he cried it all out. She spoke softly, soothing him slightly with kind, gentle words.
"H-how did you know to save me?" he asked after a while as she continued to hum and run her fingers through his hair.
"...A friend of mine told me you needed help." She told him gently.
Dark Magician Girl winked. "You can meet my friend when I think you're ready, okay?"
"Awwwwwwwwwwww," he whined before he patted his chest and looked around in a panic for his deck.
Dark Magician Girl smirked and pointed out the cards over on the floor. "There they are, sweetie." Almost instinctively, he reached for his armed dragon, the card that made him feel safe, like he had a friend watching over him. Dark Magician Girl didn't release her hold on him. She simply floated to the card, picked it up and handed it to him.
"Thank you." He said softly as he held it, wondering why it felt...different from before. She giggled at the softness of his voice.
"You seem really fond of that card." she mused as she cradled him against her chest.
"Y-Yeah...It...makes me feel happy..." Hearing Armed dragon chuckle just outside the room, she felt her eyebrow twitch before glancing at Joan, silently asking her to get rid of the irritating lizard. Joan nodded and went off to do so, and the female spellcaster turned her attention to the little boy. "That's nice little one," she said with a smile before getting an idea and used her power to create a card of herself and handing it to him. "Maybe a card of your new mother will make you feel even safer?" She said with a wink.
"M-mother?!" He exclaimed before freezing as he saw that she had created a card out of nothing. "Wh-Who's my new mother...?" He took the card and his eyes widened when he saw it was the woman holding him.
"Well I am of course." She said with a small smile as she cradled him.
Harry looked at her, then the card. "Y-You have a c-card..."
Blinking, she realized she hadn't explained where she was as she sat down on the railing of the balcony, Harry still nestled in her lap. "This is the world of Duel Spirits Honey," She explained. "Each of those cards is a representation of a spirit that resides here."
Harry let out a soft gasp, wonderment in his huge green eyes. "So...The cards...They're...real...?"
"Yes we are," she said with a nod "my friend who told me about you is one, as is the woman who helped heal you."
Harry stared at her in awe. "S-So...You're..." He looked at the card. "Dark Magician Girl...Does that mean...you can do magic?"
"Yep!" she said happily "I'm not as good as my big brothers but I'm still rather skilled."
"C-Can I see...?" Nodding happily, she waved her wand as she conjured a small black kitten that jumped into Harry's arms with a soft mewl. Harry giggled and hugged the small cat tightly. The kitten nuzzled into him, purring in content.
"His name's Inky. And he's all yours." She said with a closed-eyed smile as she petted the little boy's head.
"Thank you..." Harry said gratefully. Giggling at the action she noticed Joan walking back in smugly.
"Thanks, Joan." She mouthed. She guessed Harry felt her shift as the little boy looked up and blushed shyly at Joan.
"Are...Are you one of the...card ghosts too?" He asked softly.
"Spirits, sweetie." Dark Magician Girl corrected as she kissed his cheek. "And this here is my good friend, the Guardian Angel Joan." Harry blushed at the kiss.
"He's so cute!" Joan squealed.
"I know, right?" Dark Magician Girl agreed, gleefully tightening her hold on him. "And now he's my little baby boy!" Blushing furiously, he let out an eep and held his new kitten close. The small cat mewled curiously at his new owner's timid reaction. Dark Magician Girl giggled and gave him another kiss on his forehead. At this point his face was as red as possible as he tried to hide in his new mother's clothes. This was a difficult task, however, considering how little she actually wore.
"Should we introduce him to his other friend?" Joan asked her while giggilng.
"Hmm...Not yet. I want more cuddle time." she could practically feel Armed Dragon's irritation as she giggled. She smiled lovingly down at her new son. Seeing him yawn widely, she cuddled him close. "Looks like it's bedtime for you little guy." She cooed. She floated off the railing of her balcony, then floated up to her bedroom.
"Goodnight mommy..." He mumbled sleepily, snuggling into her chest as they floated down. Dark Magician Girl froze in her tracks, then teared up slightly as she smiled at the sweet, adorable little boy in her arms. Wordlessly, she gave him three more kisses on his cheek, making him smile in his sleep. Gently, she conjured a bed and laid Harry down in it, tucking him in, along with the purring kitten, and even conjured up a little stuffed armed dragon level three. The sleeping little boy hugged the kitten and the toy tightly, smiling softly as he slept.
After staring at her son for a few more moments, she sighed and floated up and out of the bedroom. She stopped at the door and looked back at him with a smile. She just HAD to give him a quick goodnight kiss before leaving. Walking forward, she leaned down and tenderly kissed his forehead. "Good night, honey." She whispered softly, placing a hand on his cheek. Softly, she heard him mumble "Goodnight" back. She smiled and giggled softly, putting a hand to her mouth. Stiffling her giggles, she floated back up to the other room. 'He's so cute and cuddly...' She thought.
"He asleep?" Joan asked as she got back to the main floor.
Dark Magician Girl giggled and nodded. "Like a baby." She was about to pause when she thought she heard something. She blinked and floated above the couch.
"Is that Harry?" Joan asked, hearing the same thing.
Dark Magician Girl was already gone, zooming up the stairs at top speed. Harry was whimpering quite loudly in his sleep...She had to see what was bothering her little baby boy.