The Young Master of the Dragonmaids

by The Imperator 2 you

Joseph Takara is a young man who has come into the ownership of the Dragonmaid cards, a rare set of cards that seem to only appear to a single duelist and whom only 'they' call master. With dreams of becoming a professional duelist, he attends Duel Academy, and with the help of his family of girls, and the help of the rare and beautiful Dragonmaids, his dream might come true.

10. Chapter 9

"My young master… do not for a single moment doubt your abilities and your capabilities as a duelist. Always remember that there is more to a duel than simply overpowering or outmaneuvering your opponent. In dueling there is a belief one duelist must have in the cards that reside inside of their decks, this belief known as the Heart of the Cards. If your heart is strong then our strength will only be multiplied, we your ever faithful, ever loyal Dragonmaids."

"Do not doubt what you are capable of, if you believe in yourself then we will never waver in our duty to you."

= Chapter 9 Prologue =

Once more Joseph was staring down Alexis' Cyber Angel Vrash with his House Dragonmaid and Laundry Dragonmaid in the practice arena they'd 'set up' outside of the Maid of Dragon's Café. He had seventeen hundred life points to Alexis' eleven hundred, neither of them had any face downs and Joseph was about to make his final move of the duel.

"Alright, I enter the battle phase! Laundry transform into Dragonmaid Nudyarl!"

Laundry nodded as she closed her eyes, glowed, and grew into her true dragon form of Dragonmaid Nudyarl, smirking as he blue feathery form roared proudly for all to hear.

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl, Water Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2600 Atk / 1600 Def]

"And since a Dragon returned to my hand, House's effect activates! So, say goodbye to Cyber Angel Vrash! Take her out House!"

House nodded as she gathered a tiny ball of blue draconic energy at the tip of her finger, before launching it at the opposing monster before them.

"I activate Cyber Angel Vrash's special ability, by shuffling a ritual monster from my graveyard back into the deck, I can negate the effect and destroy that card!" Alexis countered, taking her Cyber Angel Natasha and shuffling it back. "Now your House Dragonmaid's effect is negated, and she's destroyed!"

Cyber Angel Vrash blocked the draconic energy and countered with her own blast of angel energy, yet House only smiled as the energy was blocked, and she was spared. The reason for this was the emerald visage of a dragon that absorbed the attack, shielding the House Dragonmaid from damage.

"Sorry Alexis but Return of the Dragon Lords is still in the graveyard, so by banishing it, House is spared from your angel's wrath!" Joseph said. "House attack Cyber Angel Vrash!"

House nodded and began gathering her draconic energy.

"Now I activate the quick effect of Tinkech from my hand, by discarding her I give 2000 attack to my House Dragonmaid!"

As he discarded Tinkech, she appeared on the field to blast House Dragonmaid's attack with her own flame, boosting her attack power and aiding in her assault.

[House Dragonmaid 3000 Atk / 2000 Def – 5000 Atk / 2000 Def]

House smiled as she launcher her assault, and While Cyber Angel Vrash had access to a ritual spell in the graveyard to keep her alive, it did not matter because Alexis' life points were too low to withstand the assault. Vrash was enveloped by draconic flame, and Alexis cringed as her life points began dropping.

[Alexis Rhodes – 0 / Joseph Takara – 1700]

As the holograms began vanishing, House bowed respectfully with Nudyarl just before they too vanished and the field was cleared.

"Nicely done Joseph, that ties us up once again!" Alexis called out as her duel disk folded up.

"Yep, and since I won, that means 'you' have to buy me a new pack of cards from the card shop like you promised!" Joseph chuckled.

"I guess I have no choice but to do that~!" Alexis replied.

The sound of applauding came from the café's front door, where Sheou, Kite, Luna, Amber, Sun, and Lora were all applauding his and Alexis' performance in the duel.

"That was well fought both of you." Sheou complimented.

"Three Cheers for Joseph!" Luna cheered.

"Way to go Joe, he is our bro!" Kite, Sun and Lora all happily cheered in unison.

"Ara Ara, keep it up and we'll cook you a reward feast after the school duel~!" Amber snickered.

"Ehehe… I'll do my best!" He smiled. "It's still a few days away though."

"Yea but with how you've been dueling recently, you've got that duel in the bag Joseph!" Alexis said.

"And on that note, everyone back to work!" Sheou said while clapping her hands. "We've still got a few hours before the café opens up, let's go ladies!"

As one all of the girls turned and bowed humbly, replying "Yes ma'am.", before walking into the café to get back to work.

"Well before I go and buy you 'your' free booster pack, how about we head on to the public mess hall for lunch, I think today is Eggwich Day." Alexis smiled. "That duel left me starving, and while I wouldn't mind eating here, something tells me the café isn't quite ready to serve us!"

"I deeply apologize on behalf of the Maid of the Dragon's Café, but my staff does other things during the day." Sheou explained with a humble bow. "If you wish to wait, I'm sure Kite would be more than willing to prepare a quick meal to your liking."

"Nah it's okay, we can go get something to eat at the mess hall! Besides' it's also on the way to the card shop." Joseph said.

"Eager Beaver, aren't you?" Alexis joked. "Just remember that next win you have to buy 'me' a card pack!"

"I know… my wallet is still recovering from the last two packs, why do you have to make me buy the most expensive pack available?"

"Cause you lost that double or nothing bet!"

They continued to joke on their way to the main building, trading little jabs at one another while Sheou followed diligently behind him, hands clasped and smiling contentedly as she walked.

At the main building they headed inside and down the hallway to where the main cafeteria was. While each dorm had their own cafeteria, all students were required to come here for lunch during the weekdays, it was designed to promote school unity among the students. But for the most part, students tended to sit with their own dorm mates. However, a small group of Ra, Blue and Slifer students tended to group together at one table, those students being Joseph, Alexis, Chumley, Syrus, Bastion, and even Zane found himself sitting there starting one day. As they walked, he thought back to when he started seeing Syrus hanging out with his brother Zane.

Ever since Syrus started to hang out with his brother more often, he noticed his best friend had changed, ever so slightly. He actually challenged 'him' to a duel, a full-fledged duel against his Dragonmaids, and even though he lost he wasn't as 'down' about it.

"Hey what's up?" Joseph asked as they saw a line of students right outside the public cafeteria.

They turned the corner to see a huge crowd of students crowding the area in front of where everyone got their food usually. When he and Alexis managed to push forward just enough to see what was going on, they saw…

"Syrus?" Joseph yelled in shock.

Syrus was dueling a student, from Ra Yellow by the looks of it. Syrus was down to 1800 Life points and had in face up attack mode his Jetroid monster.

As for his opponent, well he didn't know who he was, but his opponent was at 2300 life points with 2 cards face down.

"Syrus what's going on?" Alexis called out.

"Hey guys!" Syrus said. "It's a high stakes lunch time duel, take a look!"

He pointed up to a large poster and Joseph could only marvel as he saw it was none other than Yugi Moto, with a promotion featuring his cards.

"Whoa… Yugi's deck is going on tour?" He read out loud. "And the first stop is here at Duel Academy!"

"Oh my, that must be quite the honor, to see the deck of the King of Games and the cards he played!" Sheou said with a smile.

"Yea, and I'm dueling for the last ticket!"

"The last ticket?" Joseph asked in shock and despair.

= Chapter 9, Joseph vs Yugi? =

= The Copycat Duelist, Battle the King of Games =

"I can't believe it… the King of Games Deck, coming here to Duel Academy, the deck Yugi brought to Duelist Kingdom to defeat Pegasus himself and where he claimed the title. The deck he used to defeat Marik and Kaiba in Battle City! The same deck that had all 'three' of the Egyptian God cards!" Joseph muttered, before moaning loudly, "And there's only 1 ticket leeeeeft?"

"You mean you 'didn't' reserve a ticket? I reserved mine like 'days' ago." Alexis smirked apologetically.

"I have been trying to prepare for the School Duel in case you haven't noticed, day and night I haven't had time to myself unless its 'sleep' or to 'eat'!" He complained.

"Well then its your lucky day Joseph, because that's why Syrus is dueling, see he already got his own ticket earlier, and since this is the last ticket, he's dueling for your sake!" Dorothy called out with a smile. "Winner gets the ticket, what could be a better prize than that?"

"Really Syrus?" Joseph asked.

"Yea Jo, I knew you were studying super hard to get ready for the school duel, so I'm dueling to try and get you a ticket because I know you want to check out the deck!" Syrus said. "After all that work you earned a little break yourself!"

"Yes, but before that happens, you have to get past ME!" His opponent said and called everyone's attention back to the duel. "So, if you please, vacate the dueling arena!"

Joseph nodded and stepped back. "So uh, who is he dueling?"

"His name is Dimitri, and he's known in Ra as a copycat duelist." Bastion responded instantly.

"Copycat Duelist?"

"Alright, it's my turn… I draw…" Dimitri said as he smirked. "And I play the spell card, Heavy Storm! This magic card destroys all the spell and trap cards on the field!"

"Wait but Syurs doesn't have any…" Joseph said before he noticed the 2 face downs on the opponent's side of the field. "Hang on… that looks… familiar."

"It should be, because Doctor Crowler used the same trick against you in your entrance exam." Bastion said. "In fact, this next card will be very familiar."

The cards on the field flipped up and were destroyed, revealing themselves to be Statue of the Wicked.

"No way… That's the same card that Crowler used on me."

"Told you, you see Dimitri is a copycat duelist, he duels by copying other people's decks and stratagems. In this case, he's copying Doctor Crowler's deck and maneuvers, which means this next card won't be a surprise either."

"Now young scholar, due to the effects of my Statues of the Wicked, I now get 2 Wicked Tokens special summoned to my field!"

From the field two wicked token monsters rose and began snarling and baring fangs at Syrus' Jetroid.

[Wicked Token, Fiend Type, Dark Attribute, Lvl 4, 1000 Atk/Def x 2]

"And now I'm going to sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens to summon, the legendary… Ancient Gear Golem!"

Joseph's mouth was agape as he watched the Ancient Gear Golem rising from his side of the field, gears grinding and its mechanical body imposing its will on the battlefield.

[Ancient Gear Golem, Lvl 8, Earth Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 3000 Def]

"Talk about Déjà vu…" He whispered as his draconic friends appeared next to him.

'And I 'still' wouldn't open the door even if it were a paying customer'Lorpar muttered.

'This brings back memories…' Nudyarl said.

'Still scary even if we're not on the receiving end.' Tinkech said.

'Could be worse… at least we don't have to tango with that thing again.' Ernus agreed.

"Time for your next lesson, attack Golem, Mechanized Melee!" Dimitri shouted, aiming his hand forward in a way similar to Doctor Crowler when 'he' ordered his Ancient Gear Golem to attack.

Golem's gears began to grind and wind as it pulled its fist back, before launching it forward at Jetroid.

"Not so fast, I activate my Jetroid's special ability! When it becomes the target of an attack, it's ability activates to let me play a trap from my hand!" Syrus yelled as his Jetroid released an energy burst from itself and toward Syrus. "A trap card… like THIS! Magic Cylinder, it takes your own attack, and puts it in reverse, attacking your life points directly!"

"TIME OUT!" Dimitri tried to yell, but it was too late, Gear Golem's holographic fist flew into one of two cylinders that appeared in front of Jetroid and was flung out the other one directly at Dimitri.

Dimitri was smacked by the attack, and his life points tanked.

[Dimitri – 0 / Syrus Truesdale – 1800]

"Victory is mine!" Syrus proclaimed proudly as he walked over to claim his prize from Dorothy, once the holograms vanished.

"Way to play Syrus, you got some serious game!" Joseph exclaimed as everyone applauded.

"It was easy, since I knew whose deck he was copying, and since I saw how you defeated Crowler, I knew exactly how he was going to duel and what cards he'd run." Syrus declared. "Here's your ticket by the way Joseph."

"Thanks Syrus, you're the best friend a guy could ask for!"

"And with that the show's over everyone, back to the mess hall before going back to class!" Dorothy called out.

Unfortunately, as Joseph was enjoying checking out the ticket, he began hearing as students were talking about Dimitri who was looking defeated and dejected where he lost.

"And another stunning performance by Dimitri the copycat loser!"

"What a loser why do we even have him in Ra?"

"As a Ra Yellow he should have wiped the floor with that Slifer Lifer!"

"Guess when you copy a great duelist it doesn't 'make' you a great duelist!"

"It's a wonder why he's even still here to begin with?"

"Heh, maybe he and that Slifer should swap dorms!"

'Tough crowd…' Nudyarl whispered sadly.

'And I thought master had it rough early on…' Tinkech agreed.

Bastion was smiling apologetically as he watched all the other students walking away with his arms crossed. "Well, I think that's the worst of it Dimitri."

"Grrg… yea… until the next time I lose, WELL I'VE HAD IT!" Dimitri yelled as he ran away.

Bastion looked on as he left with a sad frown, a frown matched by Dorothy and her assistant. Joseph walked over to him and asked, "What's up with him?"

"Dimitri is a Ra Yellow Duelist but, he's never found much success. You see he tries to copy other duelists and their strategies to win, but even though he is a good study at other duelist's decks and strategies, he never has found success with them." Bastion said.

"He copies other people's decks and strategies?" He asked. "Who does that, where's the fun in just copying what someone else has done and uses?"

"Well, to put it simply, some people don't have that skill to build their own deck, so they copy what others have done."

"I see…" Joseph muttered as he looked to where Dimitri had run off. "So out of curiosity, how many decks has he copied?"

"A lot… but at least you don't have to worry about your deck being copied!" Bastion chuckled.

"Yea, considering there's only one set of Dragonmaids in the world, kind of hard to copy them!" Alexis smirked as she Syrus and Bastioned walked with him into the mess hall.

'And we wouldn't have it any other way!' Tinkech cheered happily.

During lunch everyone chatted and talked, mostly about tomorrow when the King of Game's deck would be on display along with all of the cards. The only exceptions being the Egyptian Gods, Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormenter, and The Winged Dragon of Ra.

"But all of the classics will be there on display, Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, Kuriboh, Dark Magician Girl…" Syrus said.

"Uh, you said Dark Magician Girl twice Syrus." Alexis chuckled.

"Please don't tell me you're still saying your dating her…" Zane muttered. "I thought you were past that phase."

"Am not!" Syrus said. "But she is still cute…"

"Syrus just can't wait to see the deck." Joseph agreed.

"So what cards are you excited to see?" Bastion asked him.

"I don't know… I'm just psyched to see 'all' of them! Again, big thanks Syrus for getting me that ticket!"

"No need to thank me, though go ahead and keep thanking me… I won't stop you!"

"The humble type I see." Alexis joked.

'Oh sure, stroke his ego why don't ya!" Nudyarl muttered.

'Eh those cards aren't so impressive, right girls?' Tinkech asked.

'Totally… right?' Lorpar asked Ernus.

'Siiiiigh… Dark Magician… I hope we can get his autograph…' Ernus sighed happily.

As one the other three Dragonmaids turned to look at her with evil auras to match their suspicious stares. 'What… he's a famous monster, who wouldn't want to get his autograph?' She quickly said.

'She does have a point, maybe if we ask nicely, we can get his autograph!' Nudyarl agreed after thinking about it.

Joseph just chuckled as his dragonmaids had their fun and gossiped about the famous monsters.

"So, steering away from the famous deck of the King of Games, how do you feel about your chances for the upcoming school duel?" Bastion asked.

"My chances, about as good as I'll ever be, some extra practice would be nice though…" Joseph told him honestly.

"Practice does make perfect, but I think you'll be able to handle yourself quite well." Zane said as Sheou walked by and handed them napkins, as well as offering them drinks.

"If I may offer my input young master, but I believe you will do quite well in your upcoming duel." Sheou declared honestly.

"I hope so, being chosen to represent the entire duel academy… when there are still so many better duelists here."

"Joseph, that may be true for 'now', but you're overlooking something." Zane said and everyone turned to look at him. "There is one thing you lack that we 'better duelists' have but is something that you'll gain with time… and that is experience. True, there will always be someone better than you, but as you gain more experience, that gap between you and them will soon shrink, and then when you've finally caught up with them, you won't even realize it."

"Wise words Mr. Zane, you should listen to them Young Master." Sheou said politely.

"You say that like I never listen!" He complained.

"Well, there 'was' one time I told you to take an umbrella when going to the library…" Sheou began saying.

"The weather reporter said it would be a 'low' chance of rain!" He began saying, which got everyone to laugh at him.

Lunch went on as normal after that, with Zane mostly not talking very much, Alexis trading friendly jabs with Joseph, Syrus going on about his big victory, Chumley joining them soon after with a big pile of food, and Bastion giving Joseph the occasional pop quiz as he asked him to do so to make sure he was ready for anything with the upcoming school duel. When lunch ended, they all returned to their classes and the day went on as normal, with everyone else going to their classes while Joseph went back to the library to study and practice in solitude some more, with only Sheou to tend to him and remain by his side.

After more than an hour of studying and solo practicing, he began to duel against himself as an imaginary opponent who knew his every card and strategy, using a random deck of cards that the academy loaned him.

"Well so far so good… guess all I can do now is just wait until the School Duel to see if all of my practice will be worth it." Joseph said as he put all of the cards back and stretched.

'You're looking pretty good master~!' Tinkech cheered as she appeared while Sheou was returning some books for him.

'Looking handsome and strong, my favorite combo!' Lorpar giggled.

'The best kind of combo around!' Ernus agreed.

'Whoever North Academy sends won't know what hit em!' Nudyarl also cheered.

"I hope so girls…" He muttered, taking advantage of the fact that nobody could hear him.

'You'll do fine master!' Nudyarl said as she floated in front of him, smiling happily at him. 'It may be an important duel, the most important so far… but we'll be right beside you every step of it! Just remember, we'll be there when you need us!'

He smiled back and nodded as he scratched Nudyarl's head, grateful for all of their words of encouragement, causing her to purr lovingly in response.

'How come 'we' don't get pets?' Tinkech asked.

'Cause I'm his favorite!' Nudyarl cackled, right as they all began vanishing once Sheou returned.

After Sheou returned the two of them left and headed back to the Slifer Dorm, and once there, Joseph decided to take some time to himself to just 'relax' and rest after the constant studying the dueling, the studying, the practicing and everything else he's been doing the past few weeks to prepare for this duel. Sheou asked why he didn't head over to the café and rest with his friends, but he honestly didn't want to relax at the café, knowing that everyone was just going to be talking about Yugi's deck the next day when the display opened, or his friends asking if he was ready and offering him a quick duel to help him. He was just so beat…

"What was I 'thinking' Sheou…" He muttered as he sat at his desk, knowing that while he was sitting there alone everyone else was at the café.

"What do you mean young master?" Sheou asked warmly as she folded his clothes for him.

"I mean, what was I thinking coming here… I knew it would be work to become a professional duelist but… I wasn't expecting it to be 'this' hard." He told her. "Like… I have done nothing but study, duel, study some more, duel some more, study even 'more', practice, more studying, more more more studying… I used to 'love' dueling but… after everything I've been through the past few weeks. I just don't want to pick up my deck again until the school duel."

"We sometimes must do things we don't want to do, so that we can enjoy the things we love the most, Young Master." Sheou said politely as she hung up his clothes behind him.

He just sighed as he looked at his cards before smiling and stashing them away in his box.

"Hey Sheou, do 'you' think I'm going to win in the school duel?"

"I have every confidence and faith that you will succeed in everything you seek to do Young Master." Sheou said happily. "As your maid, nothing would put a smile on my face than to see you succeed in this upcoming duel that you are working so hard for."

"I hope so…" He whispered quietly. "Everyone is counting on me to win…"

As he was sighing, he felt Sheou wrap her arms around him in a warm embrace. "Young Master, believe in yourself and believe in your cards…" She whispered lovingly. "As long as you do that, then no matter the outcome, you will have done your absolute best. And if that happens, you will have no regrets, because what more could you have done?"

He nodded and thanked her, to which she tightened her grip ever so slightly for just a moment longer, before finally releasing him and bowing humbly to him and saying, "Do you have any further need of me tonight Young Master?"

"No… I'm fine."

She nodded and proceeded to leave, before Joseph suddenly asked, "Hey Sheou, why 'do' you like being a maid so much? I mean… you are a great violin player, you are an excellent cook, you know how to run a business. Why be a maid?"

She paused and looked back at him with a courteous smile. "Because my young master… that is one of the few things that I enjoy the most and love doing in this world." She replied. "Nothing makes me smile more than serving you as your maid." She turned to leave, but before she left, she said, "In all honesty… if I could do that for the rest of my life… nothing would make me happier or put a smile on my face as much."

With that she walked out of his dorm room and left to head over to the café, leaving him alone in the room to wait for Chumley and Syrus to come back.

However, at the Ra Yellow Dorm, the mood was not nearly as cheerful for one student. Dimitri was looking at his pile of papers and notes from his latest 'failure'. Once again, the deck he'd been studying, practicing, preparing to use and finally get some respect that he deserved.

"I don't get it; I just don't GET IT!" He yelled to his empty room. "I watch… and I study… AND STILL I LOSE!"

He started flinging his notes and study papers across the room in a fit of rage, as again, 'again', all of his work had been a complete and utter waste of time. What was the point of studying and learning all of those strategies and plays if it fails him in a real duel.

"Crowler's deck, it was just as useless as all of the rest! Zane's deck, Joey's Deck, Pegasus' or Zigfried's… it doesn't matter who I copy, I always just lose… lose lose and LOSE SOME MORE!" Dimitri yelled in frustration while his papers and notes fell around him.

All of his work, all of his practicing and studying, and yet NOTHING was working for him.

"What else is there to do… if copying the greatest duelists won't help me win, then what 'can'?" He asked.

As he watched, a poster floated down onto the desk before him, a poster that many duelists had gotten as souvenirs for the next day, when so many students were going to see the famous King of Game's deck. The King of Game's… unbeatable deck, the strongest deck… in the entire duel. The deck… not even Seto Kaiba could…

"Of course… it's so OBVIOUS… the only thing left to do… is 'becoming' the greatest duelist." Dimitri said.

Back at the Slifer Red dorm, Joseph and his friends were up late swapping stories, with Chumley saying he 'almost' got a C in dueling, and how Syrus was talking about his victory 'again'.

"And so, I said, not so fast, cause I'm putting your own attack in reverse… but you know, much more cooler sounding!" Syrus said.

"Licious, hey Jo, what's up?" Chumley asked him while he was still examining his cards for what felt like the umpteenth time. "You been staring at your cards all night man."

"It's nothing… just thinking about the school duel." He muttered as he looked at Tinkech, before putting her back in the deck and then drawing Ernus.

"Again, Jo you need to relax, you've been studying non-stop and practicing since the morning 'after' your duel with Bastion." Syrus said, right as his Dragonmaids appeared around him.

'Master, you're bumming yourself out again…' Nudyarl said to him.

'Yea, it's just a duel, not the end of the world!' Tinkech agreed.

'Yea, we can have those kinds of duels in the future if you really want to!' Lorpar giggled.

'Not helping Lorpar.' Ernus muttered.

"Listen bro, you really need to take a chill pill. Stress yourself out over the duel and you're going to flunk it, and then what you're fearing will happen man." Chumley said. "What you need is to distract yourself and get it off your mind… and I just had a licious idea, why not go check out Yugi's Deck in the exhibit before tomorrow! Like right now!"

"What, like… as in sneak into the academy main building, go to the exhibit and check it out as well as risk detention and 'worse' if we get caught?" Joseph said suddenly.

"Why not, they won't be expecting us to check out the deck this early at night, and I bet you a grilled cheese that other students will be doing it to!"

He thought about it and, actually it sounded like a nice little distraction, plus it 'would' get his mind off of the duel, but what if they got caught… what if 'he' got caught?

"Alright… but only a quick peak, we go in, take a quick look, then come back to bed."

"You mean I won you that ticket for nothing?" Syrus complained.

"Hey, we'll check out the exhibit bright and early tomorrow too, your ticket won't go to waste… now let's go! Before I lose my nerve and go to bed instead…"

With that the three of them swiftly and silently left their room, turning the light off to make it seem like they had gone to bed, heading to the main school building. Moments after they left the door quietly opened and Sheou walked in, "Sorry for interrupting young master but…" she said, holding a small tray of drinks for them, but looked around in 'mild surprise' that the room was empty. "Now where could they have gone?"

She looked down at the tray of tea before sighing sadly.

"Now this tea will go to waste…"

With Joseph and company, they made their way over to the main academy building, Joseph leading the way with his draconic friends floating beside him, Syrus behind and Chumley bringing up the rear. Everything was quiet and dark with the only light coming from the moon through the glass windows. They edged around every corridor, peaking around every turn, making sure they weren't spotted by campus security as they made their way to the exhibit.

As they neared the exhibit, they quickly hid behind a giant sign explaining where students were to line up to check out the exhibit, right as a pair of security guards walked by.

"So nice of Doctor Crowler to let us off early for the night."

"I can't believe he's a doctor!"

"I couldn't believe he was a dude…"

"With the way he dresses, it's not a surprise!"

They laughed as they left, allowing Joseph and crew to slip around without being noticed.

'Must be slick, must be slippery, must be smooth ladies!' Nudyarl whispered.

'What are we, spies?' Tinkech asked.

'Nobody but master can even see us, why do 'we' have to be sneaky?' Ernus asked.

'Think we can slip a souvenir out as we leave?' Lorpar asked them.

Again, Joseph ignored them for the most part as he saw the exhibit coming up, but he was not the only student who was making a quick dash in the night to check out the exhibit, as he saw Bastion Misawa approaching from the other corridor.

"Huh, hey Bastion, what brings 'you' out this late at night?" He asked as they all met up in the middle.

"Well, I assume the same thing that brought you out, the King of Game's deck, unless you forgot which way the Slifer Dorms were suddenly, in which case your way off course." Bastion chuckled.

"Late night get-together boys, or can anyone join this party?"

They all turned to see Alexis walk up to them with a hearty smile, and they all knew why she was there as well.

"You know, how about we just head over to each of the dorms and invite everyone else who wants to check out the deck in the middle of the night, I mean at this point why not?" Joseph joked.

"Great minds think alike." Alexis agreed.

"Alright how about we just all get on with what we were doing, looking at the exhibit before everyone else, and especially before anyone else shows up… specifically campus security." Bastion stated.

"Yea, a big group like ours is…"

"Gyaaaaaarh!"

They all turned toward the exhibit.

"That sounded like someone is in trouble, and its coming from the exhibit!" Syrus muttered.

"Let's go help them!" Joseph called out, and together they all ran to the double doors, running past the posters of Yugi Moto and some of his most popular monsters.

They opened them up and saw what looked like a large display case which had been smashed open, with an overhead light lighting up the broken glass littering the floor and none other than Doctor Crowler standing near it looking on in shock and surprise at the sudden appearance of Joseph and his friends.

"Whoa… Doctor Crowler?" Bastion asked.

"The display case is smashed?" Alexis asked now.

"Did he steal Yugi's deck?" Chumley asked accusingly.

"N-no wait I can-" Crowler quickly tried to speak but they weren't having any of it.

"Why'd you do it Crowler?" Syrus yelled.

"Come on let's get Chancellor Shepard!" Chumley said quickly.

"Hold on…" Joseph said. "Why would Crowler steal the deck, and then 'stay' here at the scene of the crime, especially after shouting when 'anyone' nearby might have heard him like we did and come running?"

"Y-yes, I didn't steal the deck, look me over, check my pockets, I swear I just came in here to make sure the exhibit was perfect for tomorrow, and when I came in this is how it looked, I swear!" Crowler rushed to speak and explain himself, taking Joseph's words to give him a chance to prove his innocence.

"Mmnn I don't believe him!" Syrus still said.

"No, Joseph makes a good point, there's five of us and one of him, and we're all students who have the same alibi, if Crowler 'did' in fact steal the deck, then he wouldn't have made a commotion to attract attention, and then 'offer' us the chance to look him over. Unless he really is innocent."

"Plus, why would anyone steal Yugi's deck, they can't use it, the moment they do they'll be found out and arrested." Alexis agreed.

"And if that's the case… the thief is still out there with Yugi's deck." Joseph muttered.

"And if they were here recently, then they couldn't have gone far!" Alexis agreed.

"A logical line of reasoning if there ever was one!" Bastion stated.

"Yes, and we must find this evil doer at once… and by 'we' I really mean to say 'you'." Crowler agreed with a sheepish smile.

So, with no help from Crowler, who at Syrus, Chumley and finally Alexis' request, emptied his pockets and showed he didn't have the deck on him at last, they all split up and decided to search the school and grounds for the real thief. Joseph would cover the classrooms, Chumley the cafeteria and sports dome, Alexis would take the duel stadiums, Bastion the library and practice duel rooms, and Syrus would look around outside covering the grounds and pier.

As Joseph ran through the building, he saw room after room was locked, peeked inside those he could and asked his draconic friends to help him, since they were able to float freely and go through doors.

'Nothing in the chemistry class!' Tinkech hollered.

'Nothing in this one either!' Nudyarl screamed further down.

'Nothing yet master.' Lorpar said as she peaked her head into a room that was locked, allowing Joseph to move ono faster.

"Where could they be?" He muttered as his Dragonmaids flew further than he did so that they could give him an all-clear shout for each room, saving him time searching. "They've gotta be here somewhere!"

'What are we ganna do master, that deck is the most famous deck in the entire world, if it gets stolen here from Duel Academy…" Ernus whispered fearfully as she kept tagging behind him.

"I know, they may just shut this place down… we have to find it!" He said as he paused to catch his breath, right as his draconic friends regrouped with him. "Alright girls, I need your help, each of you take a different floor, look around, check every room, every locker, behind every door, under every desk, I'll take this floor, we gatta move 'fast'!"

'Yes master!' They each replied, before floating up and down and out of sight.

With their help searching the floors he couldn't cover, he focused on the one he could, but he had zero luck finding anything. After he checked his final door, he headed for the staircase to meet up with the others.

'We checked everywhere master, we found nothing!' Nudyarl muttered sadly.

"Well at least we know they aren't in the building!"

Outside he met back up with Alexis, Chumley and Bastion. "Building's clear!"

"So are the duel rooms."

"Cafeteria's clear too, same as the sports dome."

"So are the practice duel rooms and library."

"Ugh… he's gatta be here, where's Syrus, have any of you seen him?"

"Ygaaaaaah!"

For the second time they heard someone shouting loudly, coming from the waterfront.

"That sounded like Syrus! Come on!"

They ran toward the source of the yelling, and there they saw two individuals, one Ra Yellow and the other a Slifer Red. Who the Slifer was, was none other than Syrus wearing a duel disk, and looking like he'd just had a rough time. As for the Ra Yellow duelist… it was Dimitri, but he looked… different.

"Syrus, are you okay?" Joseph called out as he helped him to his feet.

"No… he's got it… he has it, Yugi's deck… and he beat me with it!" Syrus moaned.

"Grrrg… you stole Yugi's deck, hand it back over this instant, or I swear Dimitri, I'll report you to the Chancellor and get you expelled!" He demanded.

"Dimitri, I'm afraid your mistaken, I'm not Dimitri, I'm 'Yugi'." Dimitri said, but his voice was deeper.

He smirked as the wind blew around them, looking at the duel disk he had with the deck still in the deck slot.

"Dimitri was some child, who would study other people's decks and then copy them. But with these cards I'm not just 'copying' the King of Games, I TRULY AM THE KING OF GAMES! I can beat even the likes of SETO KAIBA! And if you want this deck back, you'll have to prove I'm not!"

Once more his Dragonmaids appeared next to him, 'Heeee's lost more than just his marbles master…' Nudyarl commented.

"Same, but he still has that deck, and we have to get it back, so if the only way TO get it back is to duel, then I accept your challenge!" Joseph declared. "Syrus, leme borrow your duel disk!"

"Sure…" Syrus said as he extracted his cards, before handing it to him.

Joseph strapped it on, pulled out his Dragonmaid deck, inserted it and activated the duel disk.

"Let's Duel!"

"It's time to Duel!"

Both duel disks activated, their decks were shuffled, life points set and their opening hands were extracted.

[Yugi Moto? – 4000 / Joseph Takara – 4000]

Joseph looked at his hand and nodded as he saw the cards he had access to.

[Masked Dragon, Return of the Dragon Lords, Dragonmaid Tidying, Tyrant Wing, Dragonmaid Lorpar.]

"Alright Dimitri, I'm going to snap you out of it, and since you're the thief I call dibs on the opening draw, so I'll start this duel off!" Joseph called out as he drew.

[Dragonmaid Sendoff]

"I set two cards face down, and then I'll play a monster face down in defense mode, now do your worst Dimitri." He called out, playing Tyrant Wing, Send Off and Masked Dragon on the field.

"That's 'Yugi'." He countered as he drew his first card, then took three cards and played all three of them. "I fuse Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and Berfomet, to create Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast!"

From the field two beast monsters appeared, and then the spell card Polymerization was played, taking both monsters and fusing them into one. Replacing the two was a yellow twin headed beast monster with 2 large wings and horns on one head.

[Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast, lvl 6, Wind Attribute, Beast Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 2100 Atk, 1800 Def]

"Oooh dear…" He muttered.

"Next, I'll activate the magic card, Monster Reincarnation, so by discarding one card, I can bring a monster back in my graveyard to my hand! And I choose to add Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts! Next, I'll summon him out in attack mode, come forth, Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts!"

A lion-like monster with sharp claws and black fur leapt forward from its card, snarling and roaring.

[Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts, lvl 4, Earth Attribute, Beast Type, Normal Monster, 1500 Atk / 1200 Def]

"Now attack Gazelle, Pounce of the Beast King!"

Gazelle leapt and pounced on his face down, Masked Dragon, who was unable to resist the mighty beast because of its low defense stat of 1100. The monster was destroyed, which was exactly what Joseph hoped for.

"Thanks for the help, now that Masked Dragon has been destroyed, I can special summon a dragon type monster with less than 1500 attack points, and I choose, Chamber Dragonmaid!"

Before him a pillar of black flame rose that coalesced into a ball of flame, before erupting to reveal the smirking expression of the Chamber Dragonmaid as she twirled her feather duster.

'Ara Ara, bringing me out so soon, I like that in a master…' She whispered. 'Though master, I wish you'd bring me out in better company… such brutish beasts… how am I to ever show them 'any' hospitality when they snarl and show fangs in such an… uncivilized manner… oh well, at least I have 'you' to keep me in close company~.'

[Chamber Dragonmaid, lvl 4, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1800 Def]

"Now that Chamber's on the field, her effect activates, and I can ask my girl to bring a Dragonmaid Spell or Trap card to my hand. So, Chamber, bring out Dragonmaid Changeover for me!"

'Time to show off my 'talents'~!' She giggled, before pointing her finger behind her, and without even looking, blasted his duel disk with a short burst of her signature black draconic energy.

The magic card was extracted, and he added it to his hand.

"That's a good move, but I still have another monster on my field that can attack, go Chimera, Pulverizing Pounce!" Dimitri yelled, and Chimera leapt up to take down Chamber.

Chamber looked worried for all of half a second, before a face down card flipped up.

"Sorry but I have a face down, Dragonmaid Send Off, so b4 your attack can connect, I'm going to save my Dragonmaid, Chamber come back, and in your place will be Dragonmaid Lorpar!"

Chamber smirked as she nodded, turned around, and walked into the card, vanishing just as Lorpar came out to take her place in defense mode. The reptilian green Dragonmaid flew out and spread her wings defensively, smirking as she shielded her master from any potential harm.

[Dragonmaid Lorpar, Lvl 8, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2700 Atk / 1700 Def]

"That's a nice play, but it's too bad Chimera still has the higher attack, your pet dragon can't withstand the attack, go Chimera, continue your assault!"

Chimera resumed its assault, attempting to bear into Lorpar's scaly hide, but she snarled and held it back, before releasing a powerful gust of wind to knock it back to Dimitri's side of the field, snarling and baring her fangs as she refused to be destroyed.

'It's going to take more than 'that' to separate me from my master's side, ya overgrown Siamese… lion… thing!'

"It's a chimera Lorpar." He muttered to her.

'Whatever!'

"What's going on here, my monster should have destroyed yours, Chimera's attack points are 400 points higher than your dragon's defense points?"

"And she would have, but Send Off has a special side effect, the Dragonmaid I summon from the hand to take the place of the one on the field, becomes immune to battle and card effect destruction. Until the end phase of the second turn after this card was played!"

"Heh, good move… now let's see what else you can do, I play one card face down, and end my turn!"

Meanwhile on the sidelines, Alexis, Bastion, Syrus and Chumley were all watching the duel, both with interest and with worry.

"Hey Syrus, you dueled this guy, got any clue as to how to beat him?" Chumley asked.

"None, I tried everything, but nothing worked…"

"Nothing? So, what are you saying, that Joseph hasn't got a chance?" Chumley asked.

"Against Yugi's deck, that's a possibility."

"It's more than that you two, remember, Dimitri is a copycat duelist, so in order to defeat Dimitri you must first exploit the weaknesses of the duelist he is copying. That's how you defeated him before Syrus, you defeated Dimitri because you knew he was copying Doctor Crowler's deck, and so you exploited its weaknesses." Bastion said sourly. "The problem is now he's copying the King of Games himself, the one and only Yugi, a duelist who has 'no' weaknesses that are known, if he has any to begin with. Since there is no known formula on how to beat him, now there is no known formula to defeat Dimitri! In other words, the odds are as out of his favor as possible as could be."

"He'll find a way to win, Joseph isn't on Yugi's level and he's nowhere near Kaiba's level of skill, but Joseph will find a way to win and get that deck back." Alexis said.

Meanwhile Joseph and Lorpar were both thinking in unison as they prepared to take their turn.

"That was too close, if Masked Dragon wasn't in my hand and if I didn't have Send Off, this would have been bad for me. Losing Chamber would have been horrible for me!" He muttered. "It's only the first move, and already, Yugi's deck has me on the defense. How the heck am I going to beat it, when he hasn't even shown off a quarter of what it can do?"

'Master, we have to do something, it's just like you said, it's only the opening turns, so this is our best chance to win! We have to hit him now before he can use the 'rest' of the cards in that deck to overwhelm us!' Lorpar said while still growling.

"Good idea… now it's MY turn!" He said as he drew his next card, [Dragonmaid Welcome]

"I play the magic card, Dragonmaid Welcome. Next, I'll play the Chamber Dragonmaid!"

From the field two cards appeared, first Welcome to activate its effects, and then Chamber Dragonmaid appeared in another pillar of black draconic fire, smirking as she was summoned out for the second time in a row during a duel.

'Ara Ara, master… you must 'really' want me on the field if you want to bring me out again~.' She said lovingly.

"Focus girl, now's not the time to be silly, I activate your effect to bring out the Dragonmaid Hospitality card!"

She nodded happily, and again without even looking back to him, pointed her finger and blasted his duel disk with her black draconic energy, extracting the card he desired and allowing it to be added to his hand.

"Now that I have it, I activate the Dragonmaid Changeover magic card!" He yelled, and a whirlwind began surrounding Chamber and Lorpar.

'Ready Lorpar?'

'Let's call out the boss!'

"This magic card allows me to fusion summon a dragon type fusion monster, using fusion materials from my hand or field that fit the criteria, and the monster I'm summoning requires a Dragon type and a Dragonmaid monster, and Dragonmaids are 'both'. So, I'm combining Dragonmaid Lorpar and Chamber Dragonmaid, to fusion summon the one and only…"

Both of them nodded and became enveloped by draconic flames that swirled and rose into a pillar of black, white and crimson draconic fire, slowly taking on the visage of a terrifying dragon that snarled and roared to the world around it.

"House Dragonmaid!"

Suddenly the entire pillar of flame dissipated as House flung her arms out to end the display of power she had at her disposal, before she lowered her arms and clasped them humbly before her, smiling as she looked upon the opposing monsters. Her wings fluttered for a second before resting on her waist, her draconic gauntlets gleamed in the night, and her maid attire shone brightly in the moonlight.

[House Dragonmaid, lvl 9, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 2000 Def]

"Alright, the House Dragonmaid is here, now Joseph can kick some major butt!" Chumley said.

"Good thing too, the faster he wins this the sooner we can return that deck to it's rightful place." Alexis called out.

"Nice monster you have there, very powerful, she must be your most trusted ally." Dimitri said in that 'Yugi' voice of his.

"More than you realize, House we have to win this duel fast, so don't hold anything back!" Joseph declared.

House only nodded slightly in response as a face down activated behind her.

"Now I activate the face down card, Tyrant Wing! I can activate this trap card if there's a face up dragon on the field, now I can equip it to her, and she gains 400 attack and defense, and she can make two attacks on monsters on your side of the field!"

House's wings glowed and began to unfold, expanding from her body and spreading wide, glowing a brilliant white as House felt power flow into her.

[House Dragonmaid 3000 / 2000 – 3400 / 2400 + Bonus attack granted]

"And now I activate my next magic card, Dragonmaid Hospitality!" He said as he played his next card. "With this I can special summon a Dragonmaid from my hand or grave to the field in defense mode, and then I can send another Dragonmaid with the same attribute but a different name from my deck to the grave. So come to my field, one more time, Chamber Dragonmaid!"

Once again Chamber's pillar of draconic flame appeared on the field, this time however next to House. Chamber humbly stood with a short bow at her appearance, before smirking as she stood with her arms crossed to indicate she as in defense mode.

[Chamber Dragonmaid, lvl 4, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1800 Def]

'Mhmhmmm, guess 'I'm' the favorite this duel.' She chuckled.

House glanced over at her and Chamber nodded, keeping her silence.

"Wait, why would he do that, Chamber has no dragon form." Syrus asked.

"No, but remember, Chamber is the only maid who can go into 'any' of the other Dragonmaid dragons. This way, Joseph can still keep Chamber and bring out Lorpar to use her power for battle and use House Dragonmaid's effect." Bastion stated. "He's only got 2 Dragonmaids, not counting House, he has to make every move he makes with them count until he gets the others into play."

"He's trying to win this duel as fast as possible, bringing out House this early was impressive, now he just needs to make the most of it!" Alexis agreed.

"Alright Dimitri, time to give you some serious but whooping, I enter the battle phase, go Chamber, activate your ability and bring out Lorpar!"

'As you wish my master~!' Chamber said as she wrapped herself in draconic fire, before being completely enveloped and reemerging as Dragonmaid Lorpar.

[Dragonmaid Lorpar, lvl 8, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2700 Atk / 1700 Def]

House began gathering energy in her hand similar to Lorpar's color scheme as Lorpar finished appearing.

"What's going on with your monster?" Dimitri asked.

"Oh nothing, nothing that I need to worry about at least, you on the other hand, when a dragon type monster returns to my hand, I can activate her effect to destroy one monster on the field, and I choose to destroy Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast! Now go House!"

House nodded and launched the attack against Chimera, who received the blast and exploded in a fiery display of draconic power.

"Grrr… nice ability, now let me show you one of mine! When Chimera is destroyed, I can special summon from my grave Berfomet in defense mode!" Dimitri countered.

Berfomet leapt from the smoke and crouched into defense mode, shielding Dimitri from further attacks.

[Berfomet, Lvl 5, Dark Attribute, Fiend Type, Effect Monster, 1400 Atk / 1800 Def]

"Jeez, that deck really is living up to its reputation, it has responses to everything! But it doesn't matter if you have a bonus monster, cause now I go on the attack, and thanks to Dragonmaid Welcome, my monsters gain a bonus attack boost for each Dragonmaid on the field, and I count '2', so 200 points please!"

[House Dragonmaid 3400 Atk / 2400 Def – 3600 Atk / 2600 Def + bonus attack]

[Dragonmaid Lorpar, 2700 Atk / 1700 Def – 2900 Atk / 1900 Def]

"Now attack House Dragonmaid, take that Gazelle down with Draconic Maid Flame!"

House nodded and gathered her power, before launching it at Gazelle, but just as the attack tried to connect, a wall of color appeared to absorb and begin gathering it.

"You didn't think I'd let you get away with that attack did you, or did you forget I had a face down? I activate the trap card, Mirror Force! It takes your attack and reflects it right back at you, destroying all of your monsters in attack mode!"

Instantly draconic energy blasted back toward his monsters, but without even flinching House spread her arms before Lorpar, extended her wings and drew the attack into herself. In a flash of light and smoke she was annihilated by her own attack, but Lorpar was spared, though she looked shaken as House sacrificed herself to keep her safe.

'Thanks boss… I won't let you down.'

"How is that possible, your monsters should all have been destroyed!"

"They would have, but my Dragonmaids have another special ability, as long as there's a dragon fusion on my field, they can't be destroyed by card effects. Unfortunately, House is not protected, so she was lost. Now Lorpar, avenge House and finish what she tried to start, take out that Gazelle!"

[Dragonmaid Lorpar 2900 Atk / 1900 Def – 2800 Atk / 1800 Def]

Lorpar roared as she unleashed her attack, destroying Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts in a fiery display, with the remaining flames incinerating a piece of Dimitri's life points.

"Graaaaaaarg." He yelled before the attack died down. "Nice try, but my deck won't be defeated so easily."

[Yugi Moto? – 2700 / Joseph Takara – 4000]

"If only he didn't have that Mirror Force, Joseph almost won the duel that round." Bastion said.

"Yea, and he lost House, and one of his best cards to boot, that Tyrant Wing could have wiped out the two monsters he had, and left Lorpar free to attack his life points."

"Well, he didn't win, but this duel isn't over yet!" Alexis said.

"But now its Dimitri's turn…" Syrus moaned.

"Alright, I end my turn Dimitri."

"It's Yugi… now then, I draw, and I play a card face down, and then I activate the magic card, SWORDS OF REVEALING LIGHT!"

Dimitri played the magic card, and from the sky several swords made of light rained down, impaling into the ground around him, surrounding his field and locking Lorpar in place!

"Oh man, not the swords again, I hate these things!" He complained.

'Does everyone gatta run that card, why didn't they hit that card with the nerf darts when they were reprinting cards!' Lorpar complained.

"I see you're familiar with this spell card, well then you don't need to be told that your no longer able to attack for three turns, which leaves me free to carry out my strategies." Dimitri said with a smirk. "With that I end my turn, now make your move, not that it will be much of a move."

"We'll see about that, I draw!" Joseph said as he drew. [Wall of Revealing Light]

'What are the odds, come on deck I need something more!' He thought bitterly. 'I can't do anything with just House, Chamber and Lorpar, as good as they are, three maids are nothing, I need the others. And for that, I know just the card to help me out!'

"I summon to the field, Chamber Dragonmaid once again!"

Once more Chamber appeared in a pillar of her signature flame, smirking and twirling her feather duster.

'This guest is becoming truly unruly master, our 'hospitality' is running thin.'

"With her arrival comes my maid's special ability, when she hits the field, I can bring another Dragonmaid magic or trap card to my hand, Chamber, bring me Downtime please!"

Chamber nodded warmly and once more, blasted his deck with her energy without even looking, drawing out the card he desired.

"Nice move, but you still can't attack, and now I must thank you for summoning a monster to your field, I activate my face down trap, Dark Renewal!" Dimitri declared as he triggered his face down.

From the field a red blazoned coffin with a golden cross and a sapphire jewel rose between him and Dimitri.

"Thanks to this card, when you summon a monster, I can now use that monster as a sacrifice with one of mine to bring back a Spellcaster from my deck or graveyard. And I'm choosing one from my graveyard!"

"But you don't have a spell caster in your grave, all you have are Chimera and Gazelle." He said, but then he remembered, on the very first turn, Dimitri played Monster Reincarnation to discard a card, to bring Gazelle back to his hand. "Unless…"

"I see you figured it out, so thank you once again, now I can stop you from bringing back that fusion monster with your maid… now Chamber Dragonmaid and Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts, step aside and make some room!"

The coffin opened up and sent out two beams of light, one striking Gazelle and the other striking Chamber, who looked shocked and tried to shield herself but could not stop the inevitable. She and Dimitri's monster vanished from the field and were absorbed into the coffin, which sealed up and began to glow.

"Now that the tributes have been made, say hello to the one… the 'only'… DARK MAGICIAN!"

The coffin opened up and the Dark Magician leapt out, a blue staff in hand, a purple armor themed robe with the trademark magician's hat prominent. If Joseph weren't shocked to see him on the other side of the field, he would be feeling giddy, but Chamber being destroyed meant House was no longer available until he could find a way to bring her back. He twirled his staff and took aim at Lorpar, defiantly staring and waiting for battle to commence.

[Dark Magician, lvl 7, Dark Attribute, Spellcaster Type, Normal Monster, 2500 Atk / 2100 Def]

"Oh no… it's him!" Joseph moaned in shock; a look matched by Lorpar.

'It's the Dark Magician, the strongest monster in Yugi's deck!' Lorpar whispered in disbelief. 'If we weren't trying to save his deck, I'd be so honored to be fighting him.'

"It's the Dark Magician…" Alexis whispered in surprise.

"Wow… this is so awesome… and terrifying." Chumley said.

"Yea, you think he'll give an autograph when this is over?" Syrus asked.

"An autograph is hardly what we should be thinking about, this is not good, Joseph has lost his strongest monster and his most useful maid, and Dimitri is bringing out the big guns now, Joseph's chances of winning this duel and rescuing that deck are slipping even further away than before, and they were already pretty bleak to begin with!" Bastion said.

Joseph could hear his friends behind him, and he had to agree, he had only one move he could really do. He still had Dragonmaid Tidying, Return of the Dragon Lords, Wall of Revealing Light, and now Downtime in his hand, but that was all he had. Lorpar was safe for now, her attack points would keep her safe from destruction, but because of the swords he could not attack!

"I play two cards face down and end my turn." He said as he placed Tidying and Wall of Revealing Light on the field.

"Which means its back to me, now I draw, and I play the magic card Pot of Greed, which lets me draw 2 more cards!" Dimitri said as he smirked. "Next, I'll play the magic card, Bond between Teacher and Student! This magic card lets me special summon Dark Magician girl from my hand, deck or graveyard if Dark Magician is on the field. And as you can see, my trusted ally is in fact, on the field! Now come forth, DARK MAGICIAN GIRL!"

From the field a magic spell appeared, and from it a brilliant light shown which called out a female magician with a similar robe design to the Dark Magician's, but bluer and pinker, with blond hair and a slightly smaller staff in hand. She smiled and twirled her staff expertly before winking and standing beside her 'mentor'.

[Dark Magician Girl, lvl 6, Dark Attribute, Spellcaster Type, Effect Monster, 2000 Atk / 1700 Def]

"This just went from worse to 'crazy worse'." Joseph muttered.

'I am not liking where this is going master…' Lorpar agreed.

"Now my magic card's secondary effect activates, which allows me to set Dark Burning Magic from my hand to the field, and then I'll activate that magic card!"

On the field another card appeared face down, but it quickly flipped up, revealing the card with an image of both Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl launching a united attack.

"When this magic card is played while I control a Dark Magician, and a Dark Magician Girl, I can destroy all cards that my opponent controls, so goodbye to your entire field Joseph!" Dimitri said. "Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, GO! DARK BURNING MAGIC!"

Both magicians raised their scepters and pointed them in Joseph's direction, and as one unleashed a powerful burst of magical energy against his entire field. Lorpar tried to counter but she was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the attack, and all of Joseph's face down cards were 'also' wiped out. With one card, Lorpar, Tidying, and Welcome were all sent to the grave, leaving Joseph's field completely empty.

"Impossible!" He yelled in shock.

"No, it's not impossible, it's what happens when you when you believe in the Heart of the Cards, now it's time to end this duel and prove that I am the King of Games, once and for all! Dark Magician, ATTACK!"

Dark Magician spun his staff before launching a direct assault against Joseph who was exposed, with little time to waste, he quickly countered, pushing the button on the duel disk, extracting Tidying from the grave, and then activating its effect just before the attack could connect.

From the field a roar of draconic flame pushed against the attack, shoving it back for a brief moment, as the flame dissipated to reveal House Dragonmaid straining with all of her might to keep the attack at bay, her dress fraying everywhere while both arms were using her own attack, in a desperate bid to protect her master from harm.

[House Dragonmaid, lvl 9, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 2000 Def]

"What's this, where did she come from?" Dimitri yelled.

"I activated my Dragonmaid Tidying trap card, by banishing it from the grave it allows me to special summon a Dragonmaid to my field in defense mode, but she has to go back to my hand at the end of the turn."

"So, you saved your life points from my Dark Magician's attack, but not from her own destruction, FINISH HER OFF!"

Dark Magician launched a second attack, and this combined with the first was enough to overwhelm House Dragonmaid's defense, but she still resolutely tried to shield him, until the very end when she was destroyed in an explosion of magical energy.

"And don't forget about Dark Magician girl, attack his life points directly! Dark burning strike!"

Dark Magician Girl twirled her staff before launching her own assault, hitting him for 2000 points of damage, and with no more defenses he was left to feel the full fury of Yugi's magicians.

[Yugi Moto? – 2700 / Joseph Takara – 2000]

"Do you understand now, this deck and I fit perfectly, always have and always will."

"Fat chance… I'm not giving up just yet." He said. 'Easier said then done, I'm facing the King of Game's deck, I'm staring down two of his strongest monsters, I'm down half my life points, I have no maids on the field, no cards on the field, and only one 'draw' to make something happen just to stay alive in this duel! And worse of all, I'm facing a Ra Yellow student who believes himself to 'be' the King of Games, and that makes him even more dangerous.'

"That's the way, never give up, always believe in the Heart of the cards, just as I always say!" He said, "But before I end my turn, I'll play 1 card face down, now it's your turn."

"Enough with the weird talk…" He muttered as he drew his next card. [Nurse Dragonmaid.]

"I play Nurse Dragonmaid in Attack mode!"

From the field Nurse appeared in a small pillar of pastel draconic flame, she rose and looked scared as she saw the opposition against them.

'I wanted to meet the Dark Magician himself, but not like 'this'!' She whispered fearfully.

[Nurse Dragonmaid, lvl 2, Earth Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1600 Def]

"Nurse, activate your effect, now that you've been summoned, I can revive a Dragonmaid monster from my grave, as long as she's level 4 or below, and there's only one that I can bring that fits the bill, Chamber Dragonmaid!"

She nodded and pointed to her side, where a pastel flame rose, before changing into a darkened black. Then Chamber rose, twirled her feather duster before frowning at the opposition.

[Chamber Dragonmaid, lvl 4, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1800 Def]

'Master, while I have no qualms about carrying out whatever wishes you have of me, there is very little even 'I' can do against such guests as these two.' Chamber said to him.

'I can't even go into my dragon form, I'm helpless out here!' Nurse muttered nervously.

"That's alright you two, I have a plan, now Chamber, bring out Dragonmaid Donwtime for me!"

She nodded and once more, without looking, blasted his duel disk with her draconic energy to extract his second copy of Downtime for him.

"Don't forget, you still can't attack because of my swords of revealing light!"

"How could I forget, I play one card face down, and then end my turn!"

"Well, Joseph may not know of a formula to defeat the King of Game's deck, but that doesn't mean he's going to give up on trying. At the very least he's wounded Dimitri, and that's a start, a morale boost even, it means Yugi's deck is not invincible, and that logical line of thinking means only one thing."

"If the person using it can have their life points damaged, it means they can be beaten, regardless of if it's the strongest deck or not." Alexis concluded.

"He's still got a lot of work ahead of him, but Chamber being back on the field is a good start again!" Syrus agreed.

"Come on Joseph…" Chumley said.

"So be it, I draw now, ah… perfect! Now first thing's first, prepare to do battle, with Dark Magician!"

"Not so fast, Chamber, activate your effect, and bring out House Dragonmaid!"

Chamber once again nodded, enveloped herself with the power of her draconic flame, and transformed herself into the House Dragonmaid, appearing in a plume of her own signature draconic flame, consisting of the colors black, white and crimson red. She appeared once more with a calm demeanor in attack mode.

[House Dragonmaid, lvl 9, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 2000 Def]

'That's great for Chamber, but what about me?' Nurse complained fearfully.

"You didn't think I wasn't prepared for her did you, I activate my face down card, the Spellbinding Circle!"

A magical symbol appeared in front of the Dark Magician to block the attack, then it began to move toward his Dragonmaid, who's face bore enormous surprise as she was wrapped and bound by the seal.

"With this trap card activated, I can stop one of your monsters from attacking for as long as it is active, and not only that, but it also loses 700 attack points. Good try Joseph, but not good enough…"

[House Dragonmaid 3000 – 2000 / 2300 – 2000 – incapacitated]

"Now, carry out your attack, Dark Magician, attack Nurse Dragonmaid!"

'Master?!' Nurse screamed in fear as Dark Magician prepared to attack her.

"I activate my face down, Dragonmaid Downtime!" He declared as he flipped the card up. "I'm activating its first effect, by sending a Dragonmaid from my field to the hand, I can draw out another Dragonmaid card from my deck to my hand. Nurse, come back to me girl, quick!"

Nurse nodded and ran into the card, vanishing as her card was taken back into his hand.

"Now for my card, I think it's time I brought Kitchen Dragonmaid to the hand, but that's not the only thing that happens, since a Dragon was returned to my hand, now I can activate House Dragonmaid's special ability! So, I can destroy one of your magicians! And since Sheou always taught me to be a gentleman first, I'll take out Dark Magician himself!"

House took in a deep breath before releasing a jet of her signature power through her mouth, launching it at the powerful spellcaster. Dark Magician looked surprised as House blasted him with her power, before being destroyed in an explosion of fire and power.

"Grrrg… you'll pay for that one duelist… but by destroying Dark Magician, you've activated Dark Magician Girl's, for every Dark Magician in the graveyard, she gains an additional 300 attack points.

"Hnaaaah…" Dark Magicial Girl whispered as she glowed with power, before her points rose.

[Dark Magician Girl 2000 Atk / 1700 – 2300 Atk / 1700]

"Now I'll play one card face down and end my turn."

"And that means it's the end of your Swords of Revealing Light, so now that means I'm free to attack!" Joseph said as the swords began to vanish, meaning his monsters, with exception to House were finally free to attack Dimitri.

'Alright, I'm free to attack, but the problem is that I can't attack with House, as much as she's free, that still limits what I can do in terms of attacks, and I need every ounce of power I can to take out Dimitri and set him straight.'

He looked at his options as he drew his next card. [Negate Attack]

He thought about his options, looked at the face down, and thought some more, before coming up with a plan.

"I summon out Ktichen Dragonmaid in attack mode!"

Within a flash of crimson fire Kitchen rose with a smirk while standing next to House, who was still bound by the Spellbinding Circle.

'Talk about a spicy duel master, what would you like for victory?'

[Kitchen Dragonmaid, lvl 3, Fire Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1700 Def]

"First thing's first, activate your effect girl and bring Dragonmaid Ernus to my hand."

She nodded and turned to blast his duel disk with her signature energy, pulling the card out and adding it to his hand.

"Now because of her effect, I must discard a Dragonmaid monster from my hand, so I choose to send, Chamber Dragonmaid! But that's not all, next I'll discard Dragonmaid Ernus to activate her effect, allowing me to special summon a Dragonmaid from my hand to the field as long as she's lvl 4 or below, so come on out Nurse Dragonmaid."

In a plume of pastel flame Nurse appeared next to Kitchen with a smile.

'Now I feel safer, what would you like me to do master~?' Nurse asked warmly.

[Nurse Dragonmaid, lvl 2, Earth Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1600 Def]

"Your effect would be lovely now, bring Chamber back for me please?"

'With pleasure~!'

She turned and humbly used her powers to bring Chamber out in a plume of black flame, summoning her in defense mode, who smirked as she lazily waved her feather duster.

'Now this is the company I was expecting master~.'

[Chamber Dragonmaid, lvl 4, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1800 Def]

"Now we're talking, that's the kind of powerhouse lineup I was expecting from Joseph!" Syrus called out.

"Alright way to go Joseph!" Alexis cheered.

"Three maids in one move, that's so cool!" Chumley agreed.

"If this works, Joseph wins the duel!" Bastion said excitedly. "He'll be the first to have ever defeated Yugi's Deck!"

Dimitri however wasn't looking as scared, he still looked confident and prepared to do battle, something that Joseph was worried about, but as his friends said, this was as good a chance as any other so far to win the duel and get that deck back!

"Alright, time to enter the battle phase, Kitchen, Nurse, transform!"

Both of them nodded and began to glow, grow, and finally emerge as Dragonmaid Ernus and Dragonmaid… Lorpar?

[Dragonmaid Ernus, lvl 7, Earth Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2600 Atk / 1600 Def]

[Dragonmaid Lorpar, lvl 8, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2700 Atk / 1700 Def]

Joseph's friends were confused when they saw Lorpar appear instead of Tinkech, since usually it's Tinkech who comes out in Kitchen's place.

"What's going on, where's Tinkech?" Syrus asked.

"Yea, Ernus is here but that's not Tinkech, that's Loprar, usually its Parlor who transforms into Lorpar not Kitchen."

"I was wondering when he'd start doing that." Bastion said with a smirk. "So why has he started doing it today?"

"Joseph has been practicing his maid combos, in case a situation like this occurred." Alexis said warmly. "You see Syrus and Chumley, until today, Joseph has been going into their specific dragon forms, but the truth is, Kitchen, Parlor, Nurse and Laundry are able to go into each other's dragon forms if needed. Although the restriction is based on the levels, that means Nurse and Laundry can go into each other's dragon forms and vice versa, but not into Parlor's or Kitchen's. The same applies to Kitchen and Parlor too. He's been preparing to use this combo in case he doesn't have access to all of his maids and dragons at the same time. Chamber's not the only one who can go into multiple dragon forms."

'Hey, I'm back on the field again!' Lorpar cheered happily.

'I feel so much safer now that I have my dragon form!' Ernus sighed in relief.

'Now all we're missing is Nudyarl and the family's together.' Chamber said warmly.

House nodded in agreement, though she was still bound on the field.

"Alright, since dragons returned to my hand, I can activate House's effect, 2 returned so do your stuff House, take out Dark Magician Girl!"

House nodded as she took a deep breath, before releasing a powerful but steady stream of draconic flame, blowing up Dark Magician girl without any effort. Dark Magician girl cried in agony but was destroyed, nonetheless.

"Now that your wide open for attack, and with '2' Dragonmaids ready to attack, you're finished Dimitri, go Lorpar, attack with Emerald Maid Flame."

'Roaaaawr'

Lorpar released a powerful burst of flame, launching it at Dimitri to finish the duel and reclaim the stolen deck of the King of Games.

"Did you think I didn't see that coming, my deck is prepared for every contingency, I activate the trap card, Negate Attack!"

The trap card flipped up and Lorpar's attack was absorbed, and that meant only one thing, the battle phase was over.

"That deck just has answers to 'everything'." Joseph said, impressed that it truly was living up to its reputation as the King of Game's deck.

'What's it ganna take to break this guy?' Lorpar asked.

'You're telling me, we wipe his field out, we outnumber him, we come back from the grave and 'still' it keeps on going!' Ernus complained.

'Well, it 'is' the deck of the King of Games, the strongest duelist in the entire world.' Chamber said plainly.

"Alright, I play one card face down and end my turn." He declared, playing Negate Attack just in case.

"My turn, Heart of the Cards, guide me." He said as he closed his eyes, drew, and looked at the card. "The Heart of the Cards does indeed hear my cry, I play the magic card, Card of Sanctity!" He declared. "Now due to this card's effect, we both draw until we have 6 cards each!"

He nodded as he began drawing, because he still had access to Return of the Dragon Lords, Nurse Dragonmaid, and Kitchen Dragonmaid, he could only draw '3' cards.

[Dragon Shrine, Dragonmaid Tidying, Spring of Rebirth]

Meanwhile, since he had no cards in his hand when he played Card of Sanctity, Dimitri was able to make full use of the card, drawing '6' cards.

Dimitri looked at his cards and smiled. "The heart of the cards aids me again, I've drawn the monster, Watapon, if this card is ever added to my hand by way of card effect, I can special summon it to my field."

From his hand a pink ball of fluff with 2 antennae and big blue eyes appeared, special summoned into defense mode.

[Watapon, lvl 1, Light Attribute, Fairy Type, Effect Monster, 200 Atk / 300 Def]

"Next, I'll play the magic card, Brain Control! It lets me take control of one of your monsters for one full turn!"

The spell card was played, and then Joseph watched as a pair of spectral arms surged forward and grabbed Lorpar.

'Ghagh… get… off meeeeee!' Lorpar screamed in fear.

"Lorpar, try to resist!" He screamed in fear, but it was pointless.

'I can't… I'm sorry masteeeeeer!' She was pulled over to Dimitri's side and snarled back at Joseph, no longer his friend as she was under Dimitri's control.

'What's the point of taking Lorpar? She can't do anything that we can't repair next turn.' Ernus whispered nervously.

'This is not good…' Chamber complained.

"Thanks for the Dragon Joseph, now its time for me to put her to use, I play the magic card, Polymerization!" He said. "Fusin the Dragonmaid Lorpar I took from you, with the Buster Blader I have in my hand, to create the all-powerful, Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman!"

Lorpar was pulled into a swirling vortex, just as another monster was pulled into it, the famous Buster Blader that Yugi used to defeat Slifer the Sky Dragon back in Battle City. But the monster that came out, while resembling Buster Blader, was 'far' more dangerous as it glowed with draconic might. The gleaming purple, gold and white armor, with a matching silver gleaming blade glowed with brilliant draconic might.

[Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman, lvl 8, Light Attribute, Warrior Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 2800 Atk / 2500 Def]

Joseph didn't know why, but as he looked at his maids, all of them, even House, looked upon the monster in fear, like they were 'terrified' to even be 'seen' by it.

"Do you like my monster Joseph, he's one of my favorites, but I only bring him out on 'certain' occasions. So, you're in for a treat, because now that Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman has been summoned to the field, his effect activates! Now get on your knees Dragons!"

Ernus and House began to kneel, crossing their arms in fear as they each took a defensive posture, with House straining to resist even as she looked 'fearful' of the fusion monster that Dimitri had summoned.

"Hey, what gives?"

'I… I can't… it's too… help us!' Ernus shivered in fear.

"Like it, while Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman is on the field, all Dragon type monsters on my opponent's side of the field are forced into defense mode. But that's not the only thing, for each Dragon in your grave or on the field, my swordsman gains '1000' attack and defense points! Since I count '4', thanks for nearly tripling his attack power!"

[Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman 2800 Atk / 2500 Def – 6800 Atk / 6500 Def]

"Sixty-eight hundred attack points?"

"That's right and get ready to see them all in action! Because when my Buster Blader attacks a monster in defense mode, you take the difference between his attack points and your monster's defense points as 'damage'. And in case you were curious, my monster has another effect, as long as he's on the field, your dragons cannot activate their effects, so don't think you can save yourself with your monster's special ability. This duel is over!"

As Buster Blader readied its sword for battle, it was as Dimitri said, Chamber gave off a faint flame to try and transform during the battle phase's start, but it sputtered and she grimaced with pain, trying to force her effect. But it was useless, she was defenseless, just as House and Ernus were. Without Chamber being able to transform, House could not activate her effect, and if House could not defend him from that behemoth…

"It's all over, he can't stop this attack, Chamber can't save him and activate House's effect!" Bastion shouted.

"You're right, it IS over, Buster Blader, attack and end this duel!"

Buster Blader leapt and swung down, bringing the full weight of his sword upon House Dragonmaid.

"I activate my trap, Negate Attack!" He countered desperately.

The face down he played flipped over and he managed to save his monster and life points, Buster Blader's blade was knocked away, and he leapt back to Dimitri's side as the battle phase ended automatically. House glanced back at him and nodded gratefully with a heartwarming smile.

"Hmpf, so I guess you got off easy that round, but next round you won't be so fortunate. But I'm not done yet. I play the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy your Dragonmaid Downtime card!"

As Joseph's second and last Dragonmaid Downtime card was about to be destroyed, he declared, "I activate Downtime's effect, before you can destroy it, I'll use it to send one Dragonmaid to my hand, and then draw out another Dragonmaid card, Chamber return to me, and then Downtime will give me Parlor Dragonmaid!"

Chamber nodded and quickly stumbled into the card, just before Mystical Space typhoon could remove it, and when the price was paid he received Parlor Dragonmaid into his hand.

"Nice save, but now that that's gone I play one card face down and then I activate the spell card Exchange. Now we both swap one card from our hands with our opponent's."

Joseph frowned as he stepped forward and held out his hand, while Dimitri handed him his '1' card remaining.

[Kuriboh]

As for Dimitri, he smirked as he took Spring of Rebirth from his hand, with that they returned to where they were.

"Now I'll play the magic card you just gave me, Spring of Rebirth, and with that I end my turn."

He nodded as he drew his next card. [Pot of Greed]

"I play Pot of Greed, which lets me draw 2 cards." He said, playing the card and drawing 2 cards.

[Dragon Rage, Masked Dragon]

"These won't help me at all, but I think I know what I can do! I summon Kitchen Dragonmaid to the field in attack mode!"

In a plume of red flame Kitchen rose up, smirking as usual, before suddenly her body was shivering, and she was 'forced' into defense mode with a pained expression on her face.

'I can't… control it… I can't… move!' She moaned painfully.

"Ugh… I thought I could activate her effect, looks like I can't, good thing I have this magic card, Dragon Shrine! This magic card lets me send a Dragon type monster to the grave as long as its level is 7 or 8, and I choose to send Dragonmaid Tinkech! Then I play one card face down… and end my turn."

"Wait, that's it?" Syrus moaned fearfully.

"There's nothing else he can do; his maids are on full lockdown!" Bastion whispered. "That one monster has completely nullified and broken-down Joseph's entire strategy. His maids cannot activate their effects, and even if they could, they're stuck in defense mode as long as that Buster Blader is face up. Finally, his House Dragonmaid is 'still' trapped by the Spellbinding Circle, so she cannot attack or change her battle position willingly. Without her effect, she's powerless."

Back with the duelists, Joseph watched as Dimitri drew his next card, smirking as he looked at it.

"Your friends seem to have given up hope young duelist, but you still believe in your deck don't you? You haven't given up on it, that's the true test of skill between two duelists, when pushed to the edge, a true duelist 'never' gives up in his deck or himself, he believes in the Heart of the Cards, and knows that he cannot fail as long as they believe in him!" Dimitri said.

"How about you just make your move Dimitri?" He countered.

"That's Yugi… and since you want me to, I play the Spider Web Magic card!"

From the field a spider suddenly appeared and launched a thread that attached to a card in his graveyard, and then extracted it, handing it to Dimitri, or at least the holographic form of it.

"This magic card allows me to use a card that you used last turn and add it to my hand from your graveyard, next I'll play 'pot of greed' which lets me draw 2 cards! Next, I'll play the magic card I have face down, Magical Stone Excavation, by discarding 2 cards I get to bring a magic card from my graveyard and add it to my hand, so one more time, I'll activate the magic of Card of Sanctity!"

Joseph frowned as he began drawing again, but because he still had Laundry, Dragon Rage, Return of Dragon Lords, Parlor Dragonmaid and Nurse Dragonmaid, he could only draw 1 card, whereas again, Dimitri could draw '6'.

[Dragonmaid Welcome]

"Hmhmhm, the Heart of the cards truly is on my side, I activate the magic of Monster Reborn, now I can bring back a monster from my grave, and I choose Dark Magician!"

The same Buster Blader that he used to fuse earlier appeared in face up defense mode.

[Dark Magician, lvl 7, Dark Attribute, Spellcaster Type, normal Monster, 2500 Atk / 2100 Def]

"Just the play I was hoping to see, I activate my trap card, Dragonmaid Tidying!" Joseph hollered as he saw his moment was 'now', before he could activate another effect. "This trap card allows me to send one Dragon from my field and in exchange, I can send a card you have on the field or the grave to the hand, so House, time to free yourself of your binds, I send 'YOU' back, to send that Buster Blader keeping my maids down."

"NO!" Dimitri screamed as House smirked, before vanishing along with the spellbinding circle, and on Dimitri's side, Buster Blader, the Dragon destroyer Swordsman vanished too.

"ALRIGHT JOSEPH!"

"Way to go!"

"Now we're back in the game.

"Grrr, this is far from over, I activate the magic card Shallow Grave, this card allows us both to special summon 1 monster from our grave into defense mode face up, and I choose Dark Magician Girl."

Once again Magician Girl appeared, in defense mode, holding her scepter defensively before her.

[Dark Magician, lvl 6, Dark Attribute, Spellcaster Type, Effect Monster, 2000 Atk / 1600 Def]

"Now I play Dark Burning Attack, this magic card can only be activated if I have a face up Dark Magician Girl on the field, now she can destroy 'all' of your face up monsters! Go Magician girl, Dark Burning Attaaaaack!"

"Hnaaah… HAH!"

Magician girl launched her assault, and once more his Dragonmaids were decimated, as without House to protect them, they were defenseless.

"Now you're wide open to attack, GO DARK MAGICIAN, END THIS!"

Dark Magician launched the attack, but Joseph, quick as before, discarded the Kuriboh he took from Dimitri before, and Kuriboh appeared before him to absorb the attack.

"Grg… I forgot about that, you took Kuriboh from me… you got lucky again, I should have summoned him out and given you something else… that was 'my' mistake, a mistake I won't make again. I play Altar of Restoration, to remove the top 2 cards from my deck from play, to add 1 card from my grave to my hand! So, I'll be taking Kuriboh back, next I play Soul Release, and when this card is activated, I can remove up to 5 cards from either player's graveyard, and I choose the following, Dragonmaid Lorpar, Dragonmaid Tinkech, Kitchen Dragonmaid, Dragonmaid Ernus, and that Dragonmaid Tidying trap card!"

In horror Joseph watched as 'four' of his Dragonmaids were removed from the game, along with Tidying.

"And that ends my turn."

Joseph was panting as he tried his hardest to focus, he pushed, he pushed, and pushed again, but time and again Yugi's deck just would not 'budge'. It would not go down, it had answers to everything, nothing he was doing was working. And now he was down even MORE maids than he did in his duel against Bastion, all but '1' Dragon had been removed, Nudyarl.

"Can't give up, mustn't give up… I have to keep trying! I draw!" He said. [Dragonmaid Hospitality]

Nudyarl appeared beside him, looking worried. 'Master… we can't keep this up much longer…'

"I know, but we have to keep trying… I play the magic of Dragonmaid Hospitality, you know how it works… so I bring out Laundry Dragonmaid, and I choose to send Nudyarl to the grave!"

Laundry appeared in an azure pillar of flame, but she looked scared as she stood in defense mode against the powerful magicians before her.

'Uhm… ready master, what do you want me to do?'

[Laundry Dragonmaid, lvl 2, Water Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1600 Def]

"Now I summon out 'parlor' Dragonmaid, she's still in my hand, so come to my field Parlor!"

Parlor appeared in her emerald flame, but she was scared as she stood awaiting Joseph's commands.

'At your service… master.'

[Par;pr Dragonmaid, lvl 3, Wind Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1700 Def]

"I activate the magic of Dragonmaid Welcome, when this card is played, all my monsters gain a 100 attack and defense point boost, for each Dragonmaid on my field, I count 2. But that's not all it does, since there are 2 Dragonmaids on the field, I can bring back a Dragonmaid Card from my grave, bring back Changeover girls."

Both Parlor and Laundry nodded together, and together they turned and combined their energies to bring back the card he requested.

"Now I 'play' my changeover card, from dragon might and humble loyalty, I fuse the Chamber and Nurse in my hand to bring out, House Dragonmaid!"

In a pillar of draconic power and flame, once again the terrifying visage of a powerful dragon 'roared' to the night air, as again, House Dragonmaid appeared, looking calm and confident even as Parlor and Laundry bowed humbly at her appearance, still radiating worry and fear.

[House Dragonmaid, lvl 9, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 2000 Def]

'Please… please let this move work, if this doesn't work, I have 'nothing' left. I must make this count… I 'MUST' make it count!'

"Now I initiate the battle phase, Laundry transform!"

Laundry nodded, glowed brilliantly before growing and transforming into her 'true' dragon form. She roared with confidence and snarled with ferocity.

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl, lvl 7, Water Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2600 Atk / 1600 Def]

[House Dragonmaid 3000 Atk / 2000 Def – 3300 Atk / 2300 Def]

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl 2600 Atk / 1600 Def – 2900 Atk / 1900 Def]

[Parlor Dragonmaid 500 Atk / 1700 Def – 800 Atk / 2000 Def]

"Now that a dragon returned to the hand, her effect activates, Destroy Dark Magician girl House Dragonmaid!"

House nodded, before gathering draconic energy similar to Nudyarl's flame, and launching it at Dark Magician Girl, destroying the defense position monster.

"Parlor, take out that Watapon!"

Parlor nodded as she leaped up and blasted Watapon with her attack, as weak as it was compared to Nudyarl and House, it was than enough to send the pink ball of fluff to the grave with it's meager 300 defense points.

"Now House Dragonmaid, attack Dark Magician!"

House nodded and launched as powerful an attack as she could, striking the magician down and causing 800 points of damage!

[Yugi Moto? – 1900 / Joseph Takara – 2000]

'Let this work…' he thought, before calling out, "Nudyarl, don't hold back, hit him with EVERYTHING, attaaaaaack!"

Nudyarl nodded before launching as powerful an attack as she could muster, Dimitri's field was empty, the spring of rebirth card was 'useless' to him, and he was wide open for attack with no other cards on the field.

And Dimitri's only response was to 'frown'. "I DON'T THINK SO, you're forgetting about my trusted ally, I activate Kuriboh's effect!"

He went open mouthed as Kuriboh appeared again, but on Dimitri's side, to take the hit for 'him' now.

"You know how he works, by discarding Kuriboh from my hand I don't take any damage! Good thing Altar of Restoration brought him back to me last turn." Dimitri said. "Thank you Kuriboh, that move brings me back to our duel against Seto Kaiba in Battle City, when you saved me from Obelisk the Tormentor's effect. I'll never forget that moment."

He felt all his strength to fight beginning to fade, all of that work, after everything… all he'd done was 'even' the score.

"I… I can't risk losing Laundry to another of Yugi's spell cards, I need to keep her as safe as possible, by keeping her in my hand. I end the battle phase without switching my Dragonmaid's form. But before I end my turn, I activate the effect of Dragonmaid Changeover, I send Parlor back to my hand, to bring this spell card back to my hand!"

House glanced over and nodded at Parlor, who nodded in understanding and then vanished from the field.

[House Dragonmaid 3300 Atk / 2300 Def – 3200 Atk / 2200 Def]

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl 2900 Atk / 1900 Def – 2800 Atk / 1800 Def]

"With that my turn comes to an end…"

Down with Joseph's friends, they were seeing the look of desperation on his face, he was trying his hardest, but nothing was working, Yugi's deck was just too strong.

"It took a duelist like Kaiba just to be 'even' with Yugi, how is Joseph going to win?" Alexis asked.

"Bastion, please… your smart, is there ANYTHING he can do, any weakness, some flaw, 'anything' that Joseph can exploit?" Syrus begged.

"I really wish I could answer, but… there's just nothing that comes to mind. Joseph has done everything within his power, he's thrown 'everything', everything in the kitchen 'and' the sink and still… nothing is bringing that deck down. The one benefit though, is that Joseph is playing remarkable, even though Dimitri is playing almost exactly as the King of Games would, Joseph is still in this, winning even. Sure, it may be a narrow lead, but that's a morale booster if ever there was one."

"Ya hear that Joseph, you took the lead, now take him down!" Chumley tried to cheer.

"This duel is far from over; my deck is prepared for 'all' situations!" Dimitri yelled as he took his turn. "Hmpf, it seems I owe my deck some serious gratitude, for the Heart of the Cards once again aids me… I remove one Light monster and one Dark monster from my grave!"

On the field Kuriboh and Watapon appeared with a swirling vortex behind them.

"Wait, take that step back again, 'why' are you removing them from play?" Joseph asked.

"Because the monster I'm about to summon requires a very 'special' summoning condition, one that can only be done thanks to 'your' helping me, when you destroyed Watapon and then had me discard Kuriboh. So, I thank you for helping me with this."

"A monster that requires a light and a dark monster to be removed from the game in order to play it, what kind of monster does that?" Syrus asked.

"He's got to be bluffing, there's no way he has such a card. Even 'Yugi' would have used it before now." Chumley said.

Bastion was thoughtful before his eyes snapped wide open in horror. "No, he's not, there is such a monster, there are 2 such monsters in all of Duel Monsters that can be summoned this way, 2 rare cards of such power that duelists have scoured the earth to add them to their collection!" Bastion said quickly. "The first… is Chaos Dragon, Envoy of the End, a card with such destructive power that it is forbidden to be in one's deck during official tournaments, and as such is outlawed. The second shares power comparable to the Chaos Dragon but has never been outlawed because of its scarcity. Some people say copies of it don't even exist."

Dimitri smiled before frowning, "Oh, well they're wrong because I have one right here, I summon Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning!"

Both Kuriboh and Watapon floated into the vortex, and then from that Vortex a golden knight wielding a mighty blade and a shield leapt forth. It glowed with a devastating purple aura as its armor gleamed in the night, before it stood up straight and defiantly stared at Joseph's monsters.

[Black luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning, lvl 8, Light Attribute, Warrior Type, Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 2500 Def]

"Next, I equip him with the equip spell card, Horn of the Unicorn! Boosting his attack power by 700!"

A unicorn's horn appeared on Black Luster Soldier's forehead, covered in armor, it would look silly to Joseph, if the attack points didn't warrant his fear.

[Black Luster Soldier 3000 Atk / 2500 Def – 3700 Atk / 3200 Def]

"Now than before I attack let me just tell you 'why' this card is so powerful, you see it has 2 effects, the first is that once per turn, I can target one monster on the field and 'banish' it from the game 'face down', meaning neither of us can touch it for the rest of the duel. But I cannot attack with my Luster Soldier this turn, so instead I'll attack House Dragonmaid with my Luster Soldier!"

Black Luster Soldier leapt forward and charged at House, slashing her down before she could mount 'any' defense, causing Joseph 500 points of damage.

[Yugi Moto? – 1900 / Joseph Takara – 1500]

'Boss!' Nudyarl screamed in fear.

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl 2800 Atk / 1800 Def – 2700 Atk / 1700 Def]

"And now here comes the best part, the second effect of my luster soldier, when it destroys a monster in battle, I can have it launch a second attack!" Dimitri declared as Luster Soldier prepared to do just that.

"Oh man, I'm starting to see why cards like this are outlawed!" Syrus said in fear.

"Hang strong Joseph!" Alexis yelled out.

"LUSTER SOLDIER ATTACK!"

Nudyarl looked afraid but she roared back in defiance, even with no hope of defeating the Black Luster Soldier, she still launched a burst of her flame to try and counterattack. Black Luster Soldier simply shielded himself as he charged through the flame, before slashing down Nudyarl with his powerful blade, dealing a further 900 points of direct damage.

[Yugi Moto? – 1900 / Joseph Takara – 600]

"Give up yet, don't you see it's pointless, this deck and I belong together, just admit you were wrong."

Joseph, however, wasn't listening, he'd just watched his maids be destroyed, 'again'. That was his best and last chance, House had done all she could, he'd done everything he could think of, but Yugi's deck was just too strong. What more did his deck have left in it? His dragons were banished, his maids, 'all' but a few of them were in the grave or removed from the game, he had no monsters left to call upon besides Masked Dragon, Parlor and Laundry, sure he had Return of the Dragon Lords that he'd been keeping since turn one but what good would it do him now, all it would do is stall for 1 more turn if that.

"I'm sorry… I gave it my best shot…" He thought disheartened that he couldn't rescue the King of Game's deck.

'Master what are you talking about?' Nudyarl said as she floated before him. 'We can't give up, not now!'

"But what can I do, I have nothing left in me… he has everything, a monster that can't be beat, the King of Game's deck, even this Heart of the Cards is on his side, what do I have?" He muttered to her.

'Heart of the Cards, if anyone has the Heart of the Cards on their side its 'you' master!' Nudyarl snarled. 'Do you even know what it means to believe in that Heart of the Cards stuff?'

"But Nudyarl, that's 'Yugi's' Deck…" He whispered, before it snapped, that was 'Yugi's' deck, not Dimitri's deck.

'Master, the Heart of the Cards is the belief a duelist has in 'his' cards, and the belief that his cards believe in him!' She whispered proudly, before lovingly smiling at him, 'And we believe in you master, so if anyone has the Heart of the Cards on their side, it's 'you'. We believe in you… we'll always believe in you no matter what, so do you believe in us?'

He looked at Nudyarl before looking at his deck. He didn't have many cards left, but he nodded as he 'did' believe in them, he knew his deck wouldn't fail him. "Hey Dimitri, you want Heart of the Cards, well get this, the heart of the cards is on 'MY' side, not yours!"

"What?" Dimitri said.

"You heard me, those aren't your cards Dimitri, those cards belong to Yugi Moto, not Dimitri the Copycat Duelist of Ra Yellow. But I know who has 'my' cards, and I know they have my back, and they won't let me down, and I believe in them! I draw!" He declared as he drew, [Graceful Charity]

He smiled.

"I PLAY GRACEFUL CHARITY! Now I draw 3 cards and ditch two!"

[Monster Reborn, Dragonmaid Tidying, United we Stand]

"I discard two cards, and keep the rest, so I'm ditching Dragonmaid Tidying, and Masked Dragon. Next, I'll play, Monster Reborn, come back to me House Dragonmaid!"

In a powerful display of draconic flame, House once again reappeared, with a proud smile as she stood before her master against the Black Luster Soldier.

[House Dragonmaid, lvl 9, Light Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 3000 Atk / 2000 Def]

"Next, I play Return of the Dragon Lords, I can use this to bring back a level 7 or 8 Dragon monster from my grave, and I bring back Nudyarl!"

Nudyarl rose in a pillar of flame now, smiling proudly as she stood beside the House maid.

[Dragonmaid Nudyarl, lvl 7, Water Attribute, Dragon Type, Effect Monster, 2600 Atk / 1600 Def]

"Now I activate the effect of Dragonmaid Tidying, by banishing it from my grave, I can bring a Dragonmaid from my grave to the field in defense mode, and I choose Nurse! Next her effect will activate, allowing me to revive 'another' maid, and I choose Chamber!"

From the field two pillars of flame erupted, one after the other, and Nurse and Chamber rose to the field in defense mode.

[Nurse Dragonmaid, lvl 2, Earth Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1600 Def]

[Chamber Dragonmaid, lvl 4, Dark Attribute, Dragon Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 500 Atk / 1800 Def]

"Now I normal summon, Parlor Dragonmaid!"

Finally, Parlor Maid appeared in a plume of her emerald flame, smiling proudly as she stood with her family.

"Now I activate my final magic card, United we Stand! This magic card grants the monster equipped to it, 800 attack and defense points for 'each' monster face up on my side of the field… and I count '5', and I equip it to House Dragonmaid!"

House smiled as her wings flared and she radiated power.

"And don't forget, Welcome is still in play, so she gets even 'more' power!"

[House Dragonmaid 3000 Atk / 2000 Def – 3500 Atk / 2500 Def – 7500 Atk / 6500 Def]

"No, seven thousand five hundred attack point?!" Dimitri screamed in horror.

All of his Dragonmaids added their power to House Dragonmaid's attack as she readied it, a mixture of Parlor, Chamber, Nudyarl's and Nurse's power combined with House's formed a multicolored ball of draconic flame that grew in size with each passing second.

"House Dragonmaid, attaaaaaack!"

House nodded as she launched the attack, and Black Luster Soldier was 'powerless' against the combined might of his entire deck.

"Noooooooo!"

[Yugi Moto? – 0 / Joseph Takara – 600]

Joseph breathed a sigh of relief as the holograms began to vanish, he'd won. Suddenly he began hearing a round of applause, much louder than what his 4 friends could manage alone and turned around to see not only were his friends applauding him, but it looked like the entire student body and even Doctor Crowler from up above. All of them were applauding the duel's outcome. Even 'Sheou' managed to walk through the crowd to smile proudly at him while clapping her hands together in celebration.

"Well played!"

"Good duel!"

"That was so exciting!"

"How did you handle those spell casters Dimitri?"

"You gatta tell us how you played that well!"

Joseph however looked over to see Dimitri with his hands on his knees, looking depressed.

"I lost… even with my… with 'Yugi's deck, with his legendary cards." Dimitri said, switching from his 'Yugi' voice to his real voice. "I don't get it, why can't I ever win!?"

"That's rather Obvious." Zane called out as he slowly climbed down with Doctor Crowler behind him.

"Zane?"

"What are you doing here bro?" Syrus asked.

"What else, to see the deck, a lot of us snuck out to try and get a quick glimpse before tomorrow, but we noticed the display case was smashed. Crowler organized us into a search party to help look for the thief… we found you a while ago but… we didn't want to interrupt the duel. As you can see, your duel attracted quite a lot of attention."

"I can see that… uh… hi everyone." Joseph muttered.

Sheou slowly walked down to stand by Joseph's side, smiling proudly as she congratulated him on the duel's outcome.

"So, what happens now?" Dimitri asked.

"Well as you know, the punishment at Duel Academy has been the same for stealing, immediate expulsion." Crowler said with a frown, before his frown lightened up. "However, Sheou here talked to me, thinking that perhaps it was 'Joseph' who stole the cards, and I think I agree with her and everyone else here that… it was truly a spectacular duel from both of you. I think also that everyone here, myself included… preferred seeing the deck of the King of Games in a duel, rather than just a measly old display case. So I'll let you all off on punishment with exception to Dimitri."

Crowler smiled proudly as he stepped forward and shook his hand. "Joseph, in recognition of what you have done, I'm going to speak 'personally' to Yugi Moto himself to tell him of the miraculous duel you played today and see if I can't get a reward for you for your accomplishment today. Not many can boast they defeated the King of Game's deck in a duel, even 'if' he wasn't using it himself."

Joseph was more tired than he was astonished to feel proud, as he just smiled and nodded in gratitude.

"As for you Dimitri, I think everyone here agrees that stealing is wrong, but you dueled admirably, practically like that of the King of Games himself, for a moment I actually forgot who you were. So, instead of expulsion for stealing, I'm going to instead give you three weeks mandatory after class lessons as 'detention' and confiscate your entire dueling cards collection until you've served your time. If you need to duel, you'll be given an academy issued loaner deck. You'll also be 'barred' from obtaining new cards until your time is done."

"Bu… yes sir…" Dimitri said sadly. "I guess that's what I get for trying to steal, and what good did all of that do me, I still lost."

"Of course, you lost Dimitri." Joseph said with a frown. "You were trying to copy someone else; you can copy all of the duelists in the world, but at the end of the day your still Dimitri, not Yugi, Crowler, Zane, nobody else. You can copy any duelist and play exactly like them, but deep down your still going to be you!"

"Huh?"

"What Joseph is saying, is that even if you 'did' try to copy Yugi's dueling style, you aren't Yugi, there's no way to completely replicate how he duels and how he thinks. He may play moves similar to what you did, but he also might think of some entirely different strategy that he never played before, and then how would you see it coming if you were studying everything about him?" Zane said. "Until you learn to put yourself in the duel, and not try to copy what others have done, you'll never learn how to properly duel."

Dimitri sighed as he nodded in understanding.

"Yes well, now that 'that' is settled, how about we return that deck to its proper place, everyone else back to your dorms! I don't want to have to explain why the entire student body is up in the middle of the night to Shepard." Crowler said.

With that, everyone began making their way back to their dorms, the Ras to yellow, Obelisks to blue, Slifers to red, with Crowler taking back Yugi's deck and heading to the main building.

When Joseph returned to his room, he didn't even think to change, he just flopped onto his bed, and went straight to sleep, surprising Sheou who was about to ask if he wanted a change of clothes.

"I guess that can wait until tomorrow…" Sheou muttered as everyone fell straight to sleep.

She chuckled slightly as she flicked the lights off and tucked Joseph in, before smiling lovingly at him and kissing him on the forehead.

"Well done, my young master." She whispered, before leaving them for the night.

As she left, she frowned as she glanced back at the room.

"It won't be much longer… I pray you grow stronger, but not that strong yet…" She whispered sadly. "I truly do enjoy serving as your maid." She looked at her hand before her body flashed and she assumed her 'maid' form, her draconic tail curled around her hand and resting in its palm. "I was not lying my young master, nothing puts a smile on my face, like serving you as your maid. The only thing that surpasses that joy, is seeing the others smile as they enjoy every day being with you, I just want this life we now have to keep going for… a little while longer."

She sighed as a burst of draconic fire erupted around her, and she resumed her disguise, once more, becoming Sheou the Maid as she headed off to the café to prepare for tomorrow.

The next day Joseph and company, along with every other student, had the day off to check out the exhibit featuring the deck of the King of Games. Of course, everyone who knew of the duel last night were giving him thumbs up, slaps on the back, or even some of the Obelisk Blue girls' cases winking at him and asking if he wanted to hang out with them at lunch.

They stopped when he smiled awkwardly and made up an excuse to leave, timed well since he saw Kite and the others calling him and his friends over to sample their new deserts.

Though he didn't notice when Kite, Lora, Sun, and Luna all glared with malicious intent at the girls who tried hitting on him, with this draconic aura emanating from them and scaring them off. When he turned to look at them, they were just smiling and pretending nothing happened.

When they got their turn to check out the exhibit, he saw all of the cards on display, seeing so many of the legendary cards that he'd dueled against, their effects, special moments where they were used in famous duels and other facts about them.

Doctor Crowler walked over to him with a smile and an envelope in hand.

"Here, this came for you just now, it's a present from Yugi Moto himself." He declared. "As I promised, a reward for your efforts last night."

"What is it?" He asked as he took the envelope and looked at the letter.

"Congratulations. Wait that's it?" He said in confusion before looking at the card.

Chumley and Syrus looked at it now. "Are you serious, why would you use that card, its effect is totally lame? Why would Yugi give you that card?"

"Iuno, but never look a gift in the mouth, and hey, it's a gift from Yugi himself." Joseph said as he placed the card in his duel box.

"Hey Joseph!"

He looked over to see Dimitri with his Ra Yellow blazer and looking more 'natural' as he had no other words to describe it. His hair was cut shorter, he didn't have this 'air' of copying someone, and he just seemed different.

"Listen, I just want to say thanks last night man, you really opened up my eyes, I was trying so hard to copy everyone else and win but… nothing I did was working." Dimitri said warmly. "So starting today I'm turning over a new leaf, I'm going to try and find my own dueling style and dueling technique, no more copying!"

"Great to hear… but also don't be ashamed of trying to copy the greats, we all have done it before. Even I tried to copy Yugi or Kaiba at one point. I would pretend to by Kaiba while dueling my friends at the café!"

"Really?"

"Got that right, we still have the video proof of it!" Kite giggled as she sauntered over with the other girls.

"Wh-wha, you told me you deleted it!"

"Like we'd get rid of our favorite memories of you bro!" Lora said with a laugh.

"Where is it, where is it, I need to find it and get rid of it!"

"Catch us if you caaaaan~!" Sun shouted as they all ran out of the exhibit as Jospeh ran after them.

"COME BACK HEEEEERE!"

Everyone else just watched what went down and started laughing, Sheou included. "I'd better go after them; he may need my help~." She said warmly. "Also, those five are supposed to be working… sigh… whatever will I do with them?"

And so Sheou walked after her master, who was chasing after his adopted sisters from the café, who were all running around and laughing as they enjoyed having fun with him, something they haven't been able to do very much of since coming to Duel Academy.

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This… duel… was… exhausting… that was my longest duel ever, over 13k words. I also hope I got every effect right…

I hope you all enjoyed it, I had to look up 'every' card Yugi/Atem played to figure out how his cards work, how to make them into a good duel, and how to make it a competitive duel etc.

Please please 'please' review away~! I want to know how I did and if I could improve my writing, even if you're a guest review away~! I do read every review.

Even the ones who tell me my character is the 'shittiest dragonmaid player to ever have existed'