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.

15. Chapter 14

"She once told me, long ago... one dark night... a night like many other nights, when I heard the sound of the rain drops upon my window... what it means to have a 'hole in one's heart'. She said, 'To have a hole in your heart, means to be missing something that once was there, something so deeply precious that you can't imagine living without it, but no longer is there'. I asked because... she once said something that, I couldn't hear... but I thought I heard her say, she had 'a hole in her heart'."

"She just told me... on that dark night I asked, that she did have a hole her in heart, for a time. But then she smiled at me and said, 'but now I have you to fill that hole up'. After that, I never asked again what it means to 'have a hole in your heart'."

"I wish I did... because now I think I have one... and I don't know how to fill it... on this darkest of nights..."

= Chapter 14 Prologue =

Inside a room with the blinds closed off, with the door locked and all the lights turned off, say for a single cupboard that was opened to reveal a tiny shelf with several lit candles in a ritualistic manner, all surrounding a tiny dais where a card was propped up using a cushion. In front of this cupboard was a tiny vial of an acidic compound that was 'borrowed' from Duel Academy's Science Club, as well as a pair of scissors, also 'borrowed', but from the Art Club, and both of them propped on top of a towel. Next to the vial, a gloved hand, with a golden wristband adorning it, planted a Duel Monster's card on the floor.

The card revealed in the cupboard that sat upon the dais was a monster card, called [Erebus the Underworld Monarch], while the card that sat between the vial of acid and scissors was another monster called [Dragonmaid Tinkhec].

"My lord Erebus... I offer you this latest tribute, as you have demanded of me. I present you now with this most beautiful offering, one of the rarest cards in the world, of which only 'one' copy exists!" The girl's voice said in a quiet chant as she 'bowed' to the card. "Please, grace me with your power, let me gaze upon your form with my humble eyes and witness as you accept this tribute! Taken from the hands of one who follows the pathetic ways of the Special Summoning mechanic!"

As she finished her chanting request, the wristband glowed a golden light, causing her to scrunch her face in pain as it burned her arm, but it was a pain she endured because as the world faded around her, she opened her eyes and gazed upon the form of her master, Lord Erebus, the Underworld Monarch.

He sat upon his massive throne, gazing upon her with a bored expression upon his face as he beheld her tiny form, his chin resting on his knuckles as they resided in his domain, this strange world that only 'he' could create.

"You did well, bringing her here to me..." He said, a small 'smile' appearing on his face.

Next to her she heard the sound of chains clanging, causing her to turn and see a large reptilian-like Dragon with red upper scales, a peach color underbelly, azure-colored spikes and horns, and crimson red wings. The dragon was snarling as it breathed crimson plumes of smoke from its nostrils and struggled to escape its bindings.

"What is the meaning of this... I wasn't part of the game's bet!" She growled, feebly attempting to break out. "Release me, let me return to my master! He needs me!"

"Hmhmahahaha... 'I' make the rules here!" He declared as he pointed a hand at her and unleashed a torrent of dark energy, causing her to scream in anguish and pain.

If she had any feeling of regret for bringing her master this dragon, she would have felt 'pity' for its suffering... but she didn't, all of these monsters that 'special summon' themselves for no cost deserve to be removed from the game!

After a while he stopped, having grown bored, and Tinkhec panted heavily, now looking terrified as she lay there.

"Are you going to take her power like the others?" She asked her lord.

"Do not ask what you already know I intend to do!" He growled. "You are 'my' vassal, not my inquisitor... do not speak unless I ask something of you!"

"Forgive me..." She instantly said, becoming humbled and staying silent.

Erebus nodded as he glanced down upon Tinkhec, and once more pointed a finger at her, even as she tried to snarl and bare her fangs in defiance, she still felt the full force of his powers. In a blast of dark energy Tinkech screamed in pain and agony as he began to drain her strength as he did all of the 'previous' tributes the girl provided for him. The difference between those tributes and this one however, was the sheer 'quality' of the energy she possessed, collected from so many years being so closely bonded to a duelist.

As a Duel Spirit, she was like the richest source of nectar that a honey bee could not resist dreaming about, and the volume she possessed flowed into his form and gave him unimaginable power... he could just feel his power growing with every drop he pulled from her...

Until suddenly a burst of white energy erupted from Tinkhec's form, wrapped her in a draconic image, and cut him off from the source.

"What the?" The girl shouted in confusion, while Tinkhec collapsed with a desperate gasp for breath, but even as her eyelids became heavy from exhaustion, a loving smile appeared on her face as the white 'draconic aura' continued to wrap around her body, shielding her...

Erebus frowned as he pointed at her once more, and blasted her again with his power, attempting to drain her as before, but the white aura once more blocked his blast and shielded the dragoness from further harm.

"It will take... more than that... to separate me from... my master." She panted, even as she all but fainted from exhaustion.

"Hmhmmhm... so amusing..." He chuckled. "So, you still have a bond with him, so strong that even at this distance, in a completely different dimension... weakened as he was from the Shadow Game... he 'still' protects you?"

"I don't understand my lord, how is she still here, why aren't you ridding the world of this filth?" The girl asked.

"I can't... it seems that... she's not entirely here, she is in 'two' places it seems... and somehow because of that, she is being protected." He explained while closing his eyes in thought. "Hmmm, how... how is this possible... hmmm... I wonder... ah... now it makes sense... your 'other' form!" He opened his eyes and grinned. "I cannot destroy you... not while 'he' possesses your other form, you are one entity with two bodies, you can be either, but not both... 'that' is how. He still carries her 'maid' form, while her true form is here her maid form remains with him, and as long as he has that she is 'still' protected by his soul."

"So, we just have to take her 'other' card from that duelist, I can go find him again and finish the job." She said eagerly. "Along with the 'other' cards... maybe I should send him to the Shadow Realm next time, instead of just taking a card from him... it will make things easier that way!"

"Wh-what?" Tinkhec asked feebly, a fearful look on her face.

The girl turned and smiled as she looked at the dragon. "That's right, up until now I've been avoiding sending duelists to the Shadow Realm, the 'original' purpose of the Shadow Games. Pays to study 'history'... something Joseph keeps struggling to do in class. I've avoided it because... when people go missing for unexplained reasons... questions start arising. But, if the only way to rid the world of your filth is to get rid of a few duelists..."

"No... NO!" Tinkech whispered in desperation, struggling to lift her head as she looked at her with a pleading look. "Leave him alone, he's suffered enough in life... don't hurt my master anymore!"

"Oh, don't worry, he won't suffer... too much... before he's sent to the Shadow Realm at least... as for you, while we can't destroy you completely, I can still get rid of your card and rid the world of 'you'!"

"NO!" A voice suddenly rang out, causing both the girl and Tinkhec to look up at Erebus who glared down at her. "You will 'not'! Touch. Her. Card..."

"But..."

"I want her to serve as bait, as long as her card still exists, he will seek her out... I still have 'plans'... and I cannot carry them out, if her card is destroyed... so you will 'not' lay any harm upon her." He declared as the wristband on her began to glow and she closed her eyes in pain once more. "Do as I have commanded!"

She opened her eyes when the pain passed, and once more she was back in her room, glancing at the nearby clock she saw it was just four hours before her first class that day. The candles had all melted away in their little stubs, resulting in her blowing them out to extinguish their flames. She looked down at the card before her, still sitting between the scissors and acid, and she sneered at it when she reached down to grab the vial.

'I can pick another vassal to grace with my power... obey me... or your wish will not be granted!'

She growled to herself as her hand twitched ever closer to the vial... before she took the card and the other card, stashing both in her deck before closing the cupboard and hiding the acid and scissors in her desk. Then she shoved her disguise robes under the mattress and climbed into bed. She had to get to bed anyway, four hours of sleep isn't much, but she's gone with less and still passed her exams.

She could crush that Joseph again tomorrow night and claim the other cards after she was rested.

= Chapter 14, ? Vs Mystery Duelist =

= Reclaiming Tinkhec, The Truth of the Shadow Games =

Joseph was lying in the infirmary, being watched over by Sheou, who sat on a small stool looking solemnly at her charge as he breathed heavily beneath a blanket with a wet towel on his forehead. This was by far the most serious case of a student being injured following a duel, the mystery assailant still all but a mystery.

Sheou sighed as she checked his forehead, seeing if he had a fever, felt his neck, and frowned as she changed the towel for a fresh cold one. He'd suffered multiple cuts, bruises and burns, a result of the horrible Shadow Game he participated in. He'd been caught completely off guard by their opponent's strategy, and the tactics they employed resulted in his defeat. That alone would not have been a big concern to her, as even though he lost a Shadow Duel, the price of defeat was not serious as per 'both' duelists decision. However, the rule was broken... instead of the item offered, Tinkhec was stolen.

"Forgive me for failing you master..." She whispered solemnly. "I had to choose between you and her... and I cannot choose if that is the case. A maid must 'never' put her own wishes before the safety and especially the life, of her master!"

Joseph breathed heavily in his sleep, and she knew that his soul was being tormented now. The loss of Tinkhec was having more of an effect then what she had expected, his soul was being hurt because just before the duel, he'd promised that he'd let nothing bad happen to them, only to have one close to him ripped away without being able to stop it.

Quietly, she heard the door to the infirmary open and without even looking, asked "How are the others faring?"

"They are severely weakened, the energy sapped from them when they absorbed the damage to protect our master when his life points reached zero, was almost too much for them." Chamber declared. "Even combined, it took all they had to protect his soul 'and' life from being consumed by the shadows. It will take them some time to recover, how fast depends on his recovery. If not for our master's duelist spirit, and our... connection... they would have been consumed in his stead."

Sheou nodded, having figured that. "At least our master is protecting us, even if he made a... foolish decision."

"Foolish, I will grant you that his decision to face this Shadow Duelist was most 'unwise', but we 'all' accepted the risk without reservation when he declared his inten-"

She turned and 'glared' at Chamber, her draconic aura erupting and shoving the Chamber Dragonmaid back, causing her to shudder and cover her eyes in fear. The presence and power of her aura was fearsome and destructive, it roared silently with a thousand cries of anger that would break even the mightiest of spirits and send them running to the hills. It only lasted for a few seconds, as Sheou did not desire to waste any more of her precious power on telling Chamber to know her place, but it was enough to get the message across. When it ended... she closed her eyes and sighed.

"I know it was 'unwise'... and regardless of his decision I too accepted and followed his wishes... but he still acted foolishly..." She whispered sadly, turning to look apologetically on her master's weakened form, gently rubbing his head with a sad but still loving expression on her face. "I just wish he had chosen to investigate 'more', before rushing in as he did... noble as his intentions were... he is still in school... he should be studying, achieving his dream... not... partaking in these 'horrible' games..."

After she recovered, Chamber walked over and patted her shoulder. "You aren't thinking of..."

"No... no I've not thought about... but..." She whispered with a shake of her head, looking sadly at her master's sleeping form. "If he cannot protect us, and he cannot reclaim his courage... I worry I may have no choice Chamber... and nothing would break all of their hearts more then that."

"I think you mean it would break all of OUR hearts... ma'am."

She glanced over and saw that Chamber had vanished from the room. She sighed and pulled a random cup from the nearby table, looked over it, before shaking her head and breathing draconic flame upon it, causing lukewarm tea to appear in its confines. She didn't like using her powers for such mundane actions, but seeing as the others, with exception to Chamber, were not in a position to carry out their tasks...

"This is my twelfth cup this night..." She muttered quietly.

As the night went on the next morning came, and... as all the previous days, classes at Duel Academy were cancelled due to 'another attack'. Many students were starting to talk about conspiracies and getting fearful of leaving their dorms. All of the Slifers suddenly found a reason to double lock their dorm room doors, and if any had to leave, they knocked on various rooms to try and form 'groups' for their safety. The Ra Yellow students were no less wary, they all either remained in their own rooms or traveled around in groups of three or four for safety. Even Obelisk Blue students were finding excuses to walk in pairs, but they at least pretended not to be afraid.

By now word had spread that Joseph, the hero of Slifer Red, Duel Academy's top ranked Freshman, and hero of the School Duel had been attacked as the latest victim in the string of assaults. Everyone thought that whoever took him down was very strong, but what they weren't aware of was that his precious Dragonmaid card had been taken from him.

However, Joseph's friends were outside of the infirmary, watching as Syrus and Chumley walked out after checking up on their friend, knowing full well what had happened since they were there to see the aftermath.

"Nothing?" Alexis asked worriedly.

"He's still weak, Ms. Fontaine only let us talk to him for a few minutes while he was up." Syrus explained while shaking his head.

"He can't remember the duelist's face, or anything else about them, only that they played a Monarch Deck." Chumley said sadly. "He got beat bad guys... I didn't know that many burns or cuts could be found on someone..."

"But the question is how, how did he get so hurt, even if someone said that they got hurt from the duel... they're just holograms, they can't hurt anyone." Alexis muttered. "If only Joseph could recall 'something' else... anything else, a name a face, something... we're back to square one!"

"We do have 'one' clue... Joseph managed to get it during his duel remember?" Chazz exclaimed.

"So, our only clue is this?" Bastion said as he held up the card that was lying by Joseph after the duel's conclusion.

It was the only card that didn't fit his deck at all, [Lucius the Shadow Vassal].

"At least Joseph was able to get us a clue, not the best but it's something... I just wish it didn't come at the cost of Tinkhec being taken from him, or him landing a bed in the infirmary." Alexis whispered. "Bastion, can you tell us anything about these 'Monarchs', I think I remember reading about them but I might have forgotten a few details."

"Certainly... they're a group of monsters that mostly specialized in the Tribute Summoning mechanic. Normally that's nothing special, but it's the way they combine it with the Special Summoning mechanic that makes them difficult to deal with." Bastion explained as he looked at the card. "When tribute summoned, these Monarchs unleash devastating effects upon the opponent, from destruction, to burn damage, to banishing, you name it. But what is truly terrifying... is how they completely shut down other cards, even entire decks."

"Oh really, how do they do that smarty pants?" Chazz asked with a frown.

"Well, they don't do it with names Chazz for a start..." Bastion replied politely. "The deck possesses a few cards that essentially prevent the opponent from carrying out actions, from activating monster effects, from destroying the Monarchs themselves, to even being able to stop the summoning of Fusion monsters."

"Now we know 'how' all of those special summoning duelists are getting destroyed, but the question is how are they getting hurt?" Alexis added. "It's no wonder Joseph got creamed, his entire deck is special summon focused... without Joseph's dragons, he probably wouldn't have lasted long, especially if he couldn't bring out his House Dragonmaid, she's his ultimate ace, she always hits the field."

"And since Joseph is one hundred percent predictable in his gameplan, it wouldn't be that hard to break him for this mystery duelist..." Chazz concluded with a frown.

Everyone exchanged looks of worry, before Chazz 'harumphed' and began walking away.

"Where are you headed Chazz?" Syrus asked.

"What do you think, to find our Mystery Duelist!" He shouted. "You all remember that test in Crowler's class, only seven percent of the students here at Duel Academy picked the 'Tribute Summon' deck. This guy has a grudge against Special Summoning, and uses a deck focused around Tribute Summoning, it doesn't take two brain cells to figure out that ONE of those duelists is behind this! And when I find them, THE CHAZZ is going to give them a Princeton sized beat down!" He said fiercely as he turned to them, fire in his eyes and passion in his voice. "NOBODY takes down my rival and gets away with it, I'm the only one allowed to do that to him, ESPECIALLY if they do it without me seeing them!"

With that Chazz resumed walking away.

"Wait up, Joseph is my friend too, and I'm his BEST friend, if anyone is going to help find them it's going to be me!" Syrus yelled as he ran after Chazz.

"I better go after them too... you know, they may need some motivational support!" Chumley said while trotting after them.

Alexis chuckled a little at that before she turned to Bastion. "So, what about you?"

"I think Chazz is on the right track, but I think a better use of our time will be found in researching 'who' is doing these attacks by finding an exact list of duelists here that use these cards in official duels. I'm going to check the test records to see which duelists used what cards in the Promotional Exams, that's our best bet to begin a search and find our culprit."

"In that case I'll stay here and see if maybe I can talk to Joseph and see if I can learn anything from him."

"Keep in touch!" Bastion said as he walked away to head off to the library.

Meanwhile Alexis sighed and stood at the door for a few more minutes before Fonda Fontaine opened the door and closed it behind her. "Oh, you're still here Alexis?" She asked warmly.

"Yea, I was hoping I could see Joseph for a few minutes?"

"Hmm, well he 'should' be getting rest, but since you're a friend of his as well, I guess it's okay you can visit for a few minutes, but only a few please, he needs his rest." She said sweetly. "His maid is with him as well taking care of him, so there's not much for me to do besides checking his condition and making sure he's alright."

"Oh, Sheou visited before us?" Alexis asked as Fontaine began walking away.

"She hasn't left his side since he was brought here..." Fonda replied looking back at her. "In fact, I don't think she's slept a wink or left to eat seat since she sat down next to his bed..."

"Wait... she's been awake in there for twelve hours, why didn't you tell her to leave or...?"

"Let's just say... we reached an... understanding." Fonda Fontaine muttered with a nervous smile. "I asked her to leave and... well she insisted that..."

=Flashback=

"As his maid my duty is to remain by his side and tend to his needs while he recovers, while I trust you to ensure he is on the road to recovery, I entrust none but myself with the task of seeing to it that he eats properly and is properly hydrated while he is bedridden." Sheou said with a smile.

"I understand that ma'am but this is an infirmary, all you'd be doing here is just sitting in a chair for most of the time and..." Fonda Fontaine said politely.

"Rest assured I will not be bothered in the slightest, my place is at his side regardless of what I may or may not be doing throughout the day, especially as he is bedridden and needs someone to watch over him. Please do not concern yourself with my comforts or needs, all that I care about are those of my young master's." Sheou declared with a slightly sterner tone but still wearing that warm smile.

"I get that, but I'm about to close the infirmary for the night and I really can't let anyone stay in here who isn't a qualified nurse." Fontaine now said, getting slightly annoyed with Sheou's insistence.

"I am more than qualified to tend to his medical needs if they need be done while you are away, I have a complete understanding of cardiology, dermatology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology, oncology and many other studies. I am also well practiced in first aid treatments of all types of injuries and have seventeen licenses to perform it across as many countries." Sheou stated with a cheery smile.

"That is quite the resume you have there, Miss Sheou... but still this is only a school infirmary and I really must insist that you le-"

The instant she tried to say that a fierce draconic-like 'aura' flared and rose to encompass her, and a terrifying roar could be heard in the back of her mind as Sheou's eyes almost gave a 'Yandere look' to her face. She still smiled, still looked friendly and welcoming, but she gained this indescribable... 'thing' that just screamed 'don't argue with me'.

"I'm staying..."

"O-okay... uhm... I'll see you in the... morning... yea!"

With that the... 'thing'... and everything else vanished, and Sheou just humbly bowed and declared, "Thank you for being so understanding Madame Fontaine and for being such a gracious host!" in that friendly and warm voice of hers.

=Flashback Ends=

"She insisted that she stay, and well... she's been in there since." Fonda said as she turned and left.

Alexis tilted her head in confusion, not seeing what was wrong with Sheou wanting to stay by Joseph's side. She was not only his maid, but also the closest thing he had to a mom after his real mother died and his father all but pretended that he didn't even exist. Well, she just chose to ignore it and walked into the infirmary.

Inside she looked around and saw Joseph on the bed in the farthest corner from the door with a curtain rolled back and Joseph being given a small cup of water from Sheou, who sat in the chair next to him helping serve him. Despite what Fontaine said, Sheou did not seem to look the tired in the slightest, despite being up for what probably was not only all day and night and now that morning, she looked well rested and just as loving as she always did.

Upon her entry Sheou and Joseph looked over at her, Joseph trying to give a friendly smile and a wave, but flinching as he did, while Sheou nodded warmly at her entry before tending to Joseph again.

"Hey Sheou, Fontaine gave me permission to visit Joseph for a few, mind if I take a seat?"

Sheou nodded and slowly got off, straightening her dress and placing her hands before her while Alexis sat down and looked over Joseph. He had a few bandages to cover his more serious scrapes and cuts, and the parts of his skin that were burned were wrapped up as well. He looked extremely tired and very fatigued, but other than that he still looked like himself.

"Hey Alexis, how's it hanging?" He asked wearily.

"Could be better, could be worse, how are 'you' doing?" She said.

He frowned as he flexed his hands and wrists, wincing as they caused him minor pain. "Could be better... did you guys find anything that can help..."

"Everyone's doing their own little search Joseph, Bastion's checking the school database to see if he can track down any duelists with the cards based on what you gave us, and Chazz and Syrus are... well they're doing their own thing when it comes to searching." Alexis said. "Don't worry, we'll find whoever took your card from you and get it back for you."

"No... you don't understand... I need to get her back myself... she's my responsibility... I promised her... all of them that... I promised I'd never let anything bad happen to them..." He whispered feebly. "I failed... I failed them... I let myself get overconfident and... now look, Tinkhec's gone and... and I'm stuck here and..."

Alexis smiled sadly as she held his hand in understanding, "Don't worry, we'll find whoever her and get her back."

"NO, YOU DON'T GET IT!" He yelled but started coughing. "It's not just Tinkhec... you can't fight them... it's... I don't know why but... it's like my mind is drawing a blank, I try to remember... but I can't remember it... all I know is you 'can't' duel them, you'll get hurt bad, really bad... like SUPER bad... I don't remember but... I do remember thinking everything was fine... but then it's... that bubble appeared and something happened and... then I was terrified, scared... the longer it went on the harder it got and... you have to let ME duel, Tinkhec is my responsibility and I don't want anyone else to get hurt!"

"Joseph, I understand, you don't want anyone to get hurt but you're in no shape to duel, you can barely stand right now let alone duel, and your one card short of a full deck." Alexis said with a stern tone. "We'll find whoever is doing this, you got us a clue and that's more than what anyone else had before you dueled. Trust your friends we'll get to the bottom of this, and who knows, maybe if we're lucky we can get them expelled without needing to duel them."

He took a deep breath as he looked away and nodded, muttering something about 'being tired' and leaning back into the bed. Sheou then stepped forward and lightly tapped her shoulder, signaling her to get up. "I'm sorry to say but, for the next few days the Café will be closed temporarily." Sheou said with a sad smile.

"What, but why?"

"You see, 'most' of the girls who work there, my co-workers, are each taking a short trip overseas to visit family. I am afraid only Amber remains, and my place is here by my master's side, meaning the only available staff at this time is Amber and we cannot run the café with only one maid to entertain our guests. So, for now, the Café will be closed. Amber will continue to perform her duties at Obelisk Blue dorms, but I am afraid that as far as the café is concerned, it will be temporarily closed."

She sighed in understanding and nodded, saying take care of Joseph while she left to see if the others could use her help, and Sheou simply replied that 'she intends to do nothing less'.

After she left Alexis decided to go and head over to the Obelisk Blue girl's dorm, not knowing what else she could do besides investigate on her own. After a long walk she reached the girl's dorm. Despite being called the 'Queen of Obelisk Blue', there were now a 'few' girls that really didn't like being around her or even being in the same room as her. So, when she wandered through the front door, those few girls in the lounge area either looked up and waved hello, or conveniently found a reason to look away.

She didn't care though, as she walked up the stairs to chat with her friends and see if she could ask a few questions.

"I'm starting to get worried about you, you know it's a bad idea to go off on your own, there've been three attacks and the only ones left untouched are the Obelisk Blue 'Girls'. It's not safe for us to leave the dorm alone!" A voice said as a pair of girls from the second year walked down the stairs.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me, worry about yourself!" A grouchy voice declared.

Alexis glanced to see who they were and saw they were Elizabeth and Tanya, second year Obelisk Blue students. One of them was looking disgruntled as they walked down the steps, and she noticed they also had a pair of bags under their eyes, like they were tired. She knew these two girls quite well, having a 'pleasant' conversation with them along with many other girls about Joseph's authenticity as the true owner of his cards. She never got into a shouting match with them like the more 'vocal' girls, but they weren't exactly on good terms.

As they passed, she also could hear one of the girls taking quick deep breaths. They both were wearing the standard uniform of Obelisk Blue for girls, but she also noticed they both had little gold bracelets around their wrists, but she couldn't make out the finer details because of the angle.

"I'm your friend, it's my 'job' to be worried about you girl, we haven't talked or spent any time together the last few days, I'm starting to get worried that something's wrong." Her friend said. "Come on speak to me Tanya, you're starting to scare me, this isn't like you."

"I said 'leave me alone' I'm just 'busy', I'm going for a walk and I want to be alone, after that I am going to the gymnasium for a quick jog and then I'm going to get something to eat, happy with my schedule now?" She growled as she stomped away.

"Hey girls, I have a question, if uh you can spare a few minutes?"

Both girls looked at her and while Elizabeth nodded at her, Tanya was glaring at her with bags under her eyes. She could tell she was 'tired', heck she's had that look in her before when she studied for long nights with little sleep to compensate.

"Lot of studying Tanya?"

"Yea now what do you want?" She said rudely.

"Tanya..." Elizabeth whispered, before turning to Alexis and saying "I'm sorry Alexis, my friend is studying super late, we were scheduled to take a big test and... well it's been put off for several days now and our professors keep giving us homework and one of them keeps reminding us to study for our test because he's going to add more stuff to it due to the delay."

"No problem I understand, anyway, I was wondering if either of you happen to know of any duelists who use a series of cards called 'Monarchs'?"

Tanya raised her eyebrow at that question, however Elizabeth's eyes shifted ever so slightly.

"Yea, we 'both' use them, why do you want to know?" Tanya muttered.

"Tanya!" Elizabeth whispered.

"What, it's no big secret that we use Monarchs, only idiots who can't live without their endless horde of special summoning monsters don't respect their power and capabilities!" Tanya growled before shaking her head, taking a deep breath and looking at Alexis and bowing in apology to her. "Sorry, I haven't been sleeping... I'm a bit grouchy, all of this studying and constant homework is getting to me, on top of the fact that now someone is attacking students... you get it right?"

"Oh uh... 'sure' right." Alexis muttered, just seeing how badly she needed sleep.

"Anyway, you talk to her Elizabeth, I am going to do what I said I'd do... I'll be back a bit later." Tanya said before walking down the stairs and out the door.

With that Alexis looked at Elizabeth and asked her the question, "So do you know of any duelists with Monarchs?"

"I know 'of' them and I know a 'few' of them in passing, but I don't know them personally, is there a reason for that?"

Alexis frowned as she heard that, Elizabeth was far from sweet and innocent when her friend wasn't around. "Only that we know 'someone' using them is probably behind the attacks, and since my friend was the latest attack and one of his cards was stolen..."

"You mean the thief?"

"He's not a thief!" Alexis snapped.

"As far as I'm concerned, he is, if he won't tell us how he 'really' found them, then he's still a thief in my books." Elizabeth declared. "Before you say anything else, I asked those 'maids', the ones who work at the café and who call themselves his 'adopted sisters', to see if they gave him the cards without him realizing, and each one of them said they never owned a single card or have any time to even 'think' of dueling. So, if 'they' didn't slip his cards into those weird places he 'miraculously' found them... how did he get them?"

"Let's drop the Joseph topic, and get back to my question..." Alexis growled.

"Yea, when you actually 'have' a question I'm willing to answer..." Elizabeth said as she walked down the stairs. "As far as I'm concerned, whoever took his card is more their true owner than he is, at least 'THEY' are honest about where they got it!"

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" Alexis yelled angrily as she stormed after her, and suddenly a lot of faces in the girl's dorm were watching the fight between them. "He did NOT deserve what happened to him!"

"Forgive me for not being 'friends' with a student who CHEATED his way to the top of the class because of his 'oh so rare, one of a kind' deck that he just so HAPPENS to have found! Some of us actually value HARD WORK, using the same cards everyone else can get if they are so inclined to get, and not just relying on a bunch of, rare and impossible to get cards, THAT NOBODY ELSE CAN HAVE, AND LET THEM DO THE WORK FOR HIM!" She screamed back angrily before storming to the door and opening it, "Maybe if I had all his cards and actually was inclined to use those DUMB THINGS, I'D BE TOP OF THE CLASS MYSELF!"

With that she slammed the door shut.

"What are you all looking at?" Alexis asked everyone else who was watching her.

At that everyone either returned to what they were doing before, or quickly went about their business.

Meanwhile with Chazz, Syrus and Chumley they were just leaving the dueling hall where a few students were having practice duels, with Chazz having done a 'thorough' investigation.

"Well at least we know 'those' guys didn't do it." Chazz said confidently.

"Chazz was it really necessary to interrogate them like that, a simple question would have done the same job, I think you scared them more than you realize." Syrus muttered.

"Look we got the answers, didn't we?" Chazz declared. "They didn't know anyone who uses Monarchs."

"But don't you think we should be more... iuno subtle?" Chumley muttered. "What if that Monarch Player looks for us because we're trying to look for him?"

"What do you think the whole 'point' of that was?" Chazz snapped. "That's why I went to the duel hall, that's where most of the students who 'aren't' hiding in their dorms would go, and once they start spreading word that 'The Chazz' is looking for them to take revenge on what they did to Joseph and bring them down, they'll start quaking in their boots if their cowards, and if not, they'll try to take me on themselves!"

"Y'know that isn't a half bad idea." Chumley agreed. "At least they'll go after you instead of me, I like that plan now that you mention it."

"Hmpf, of course it's a good idea, I came up with it!" Chazz declared proudly.

'That's why you're the boss boss, nobody's smarter than you!' Ojama Yellow said as he floated out of nowhere. 'That guy doesn't stand a chance against you!'

"Grrrg will you get 'lost'?" Chazz growled under his breath as he punched the annoying little gremlin. "Seriously, where are 'they' when I need you to get lost..."

"Huh, did you say something Chazz?" Syrus asked.

"Nothing, let's get going already, see what Bastion is up to! Knowing him... he's probably in the library or something." Chazz muttered as he walked on.

As they walked, he glanced over his shoulder to check if anyone was following them, but so far nothing. Yet he wasn't too concerned, if their opponent wanted to hide like a coward, they'll just sniff them out sooner or later.

"Do me a favor, watch our backs." He whispered to his 'partner', even if he hated the little creep.

'Got it boss, I'll watch your back for ya, just like I always do for ya!' Ojama Yellow said proudly.

As annoying as he is, at least he was good for 'one' thing, being able to look behind yourself without needing to turn around is a good trick to have up one's sleeve.

Down in the library despite what Chazz was saying, Bastion was indeed hard at work combing through the school's dueling database, and he'd turned up a list of students that fit the profile of who they suspect to be their culprit.

"Based on my research, I found that the 'seven percent' of duelists who used 'tribute summon' focused decks consist of a total of twenty-two students, and only about 'five' of them used Monarchs during the promotional exam." Bastion said to the group as they found him. "The rest were using different cards, none of them being monarchs, so I guess our first course of actions is to try and narrow down which of those five duelists would have a gripe against Special Summoning focused duelists, and who would want to pick a bone with Joseph especially."

"Well, that makes it all the easier then." Chazz declared. "So, who are we looking at?"

"Four Obelisk Blue students, two of them being girls, and a Ra Yellow." Bastion said as he pulled up their duelist profile pictures. "The Ra Yellow duelist happens to be a former first year Obelisk but lost in his promotion exam and didn't do too well in his written exam, and so was demoted. The two girls on the list here are second year Obelisks and have very high marks, despite their recent losses they're still among the top twenty percent in their year, though they are at the lower end of that group. Finally, the two Obelisk Blue boys are third years, and while they are 'average' skill levels in terms of Obelisks, that's all I can find about them."

"Well, it's obvious who we should start talking to, you go and ask that Ra Yellow and I'll see if I can go track down those two Obelisk Blues." Chazz declared.

"Uh Chazz, aren't you forgetting, now that you're a Slifer Red, you can't just walk up to the Obelisk Blue dorms like you did before, they won't even let you near the front door." Syrus muttered.

"Gha... ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Chazz stammered. "Well, what about you guys, didn't you say you checked out the Obelisk Blue dorms with Joseph when I was gone?"

"Yea but, that's cause Joseph was with us... and we weren't let inside, they just allowed us to chill and hang out there, and only because of 'Joseph' and the respect he's got around there." Chumley said. "I really wish we coulda gone in there, they must have good food..."

"Well, I can at least rule out our Ra Yellow friend, you see he's actually in the room across from me, and he actually is switching his deck over to a different one. He said something about how 'This doesn't do enough so I'm using a different deck'. I believe he's going to focus on a different type of Tribute Summon deck, since he still likes using that old summoning technique. Something about 'we can't forget where the game came from' and how he wants to become a top-class duelist using traditional methods."

"So, it's probably an Obelisk Blue student huh? Well, that only leaves 'four' to check out, that isn't too hard." Syrus asked now.

"It is when you realize that after what I just told you, perhaps 'other' students decided to switch decks for various reasons. It's been over two months since the Promotional exams, they probably have decided to switch decks... so we still have to consider that to our theories."

"Guuuuh..." Chazz growled in frustration.

However, far off to the side, a figure watched the group in the shadows behind a bookcase, staying out of sight and simply observing them.

With Alexis, she was still doing her own investigations well after mid-day had passed, looking around the database she had access to from her room's computer and frowning. She'd gone ahead and done her homework and submitted it to her professors, no doubt some of her answers were wrong because of how she rushed through it, but she didn't mind a few bad marks. She can make it up with a little extra studying, right now she had to put the puzzle pieces together.

"Two girls in Obelisk Blue dorms huh?" She asked as she spoke to Bastion on her Duel Academy issued communicator.

{Yep, we've hit a brick wall on our end, Syrus is pulling in a favor with his brother Zane to talk to our two Obelisk Blue students and see what he can turn up, but we need you to talk with those girls.} Bastion said over the communicator.

"Well, I already spoke to them, not the most 'pleasant' of conversations, they aren't in the camp of 'Joseph Fans'. One of them even says he deserves what happened to him..." She stated. "I'll see if I can find out anything else."

With that she turned it off and leaned back in her chair and thought.

"Hmmm..." She hummed to herself as she got up and walked out.

As she walked out, she turned and headed upstairs, deciding to try and 'talk' to Elizabeth, as much as she knew she'd get nowhere, she promised to give it a try. One flight of stairs later and she was on the next floor of living rooms for the girl's dorm, nearly all of the girls were either downstairs enjoying dinner or lounging around somewhere because it was almost curfew. Yet as she turned down a corridor, she spotted Tanya walking out of her dorm with a laundry bag in her arms, dark bags under her eyes.

"Laundry day?" She asked as warmly as possible.

"Yea, and since the Laundry Maid hasn't come by yet, I have to take it over to the cleaners before curfew." She grunted, shoving past her.

"Someone needs a good night's sleep." Alexis muttered as she continued on.

Seconds later she saw Elizabeth exiting her room, walking as quickly as she could.

"Hey Elizabeth, I want to talk to you for a moment." She said.

"Get lost Alexis, go talk to your precious boyfriend if you're so desperate!" Elizabeth snarled.

At that she lost her patience, she stepped in front of the girl and blocked her path with a glare. "Listen I don't care if you don't like Joseph or if you just hate him for having the cards he does, but even 'you' can't just ignore that students are getting hurt here! Students are getting hurt, 'fellow' students, not just from one dorm but all three, if whoever is doing this isn't discovered and stopped, they may very well close the school down! So, if you know 'anything' that can help me stop them, you better spill it!"

Elizabeth glared back at her and they both just stood there for a few minutes just silently glaring daggers at each other, before Elizabeth took a deep breath, closed her eyes and said, with every hint of distaste she could give, "I don't know anything about who is doing this, but if you say someone is using 'Monarchs' to do this, then I can at least say this..." She said. "They probably are one of the 'few' Monarch players here at Duel Academy who joined a little worldwide group that I also happen to be a part of."

"What's that?"

Elizabeth fidgeted a bit, like she wasn't too keen on continuing this conversation with her. "We're a small group of duelists dedicated to keeping the tradition of 'Tribute Summoning' alive in the world of Duel Monsters. Even you must see that our mechanic is becoming all but outdated! That's all I need to explain, now get out of my way!"

She shoved her way past and walked on, leaving Alexis to glare at her.

"Well, if that doesn't raise my suspicions then nothing will." She told herself as she glanced back at the room. "Hmmm..."

Syrus and Chazz were visiting Joseph in the infirmary again, telling him about what they found and Chazz bragging about how he was going to bring down whoever was behind this attack. "Don't you worry Jo, The Chazz is going to get to the bottom of this and get you back your precious Dragonmaid card."

"Yea, we'll figure out who's behind it and then we'll get Tinkhec back, just you wait." Syrus said in agreement.

Joseph however was not looking cheerful; he was looking worried and disheveled. "I'm sorry I got us all into this... If I wasn't acting so confident and thinking I could..."

"Oh, will you stop with the 'it's all my fault' attitude!" Chazz told him with a frown. "Look, you did what you did because you thought it was right. There was nothing wrong with that, there isn't anything wrong with that, the only mistake you made was in 'losing'! The only one who gets to beat you is me, you got that Jo, I'm the one who gets the privilege of kicking your keester around and proving once and for all that I'M the best at Duel Academy!"

Joseph chuckled a little at that before he looked gloomily at them. "Look you guys, just promise you won't duel them, I know it's tempting but no matter what do not duel them."

"Why's that Joseph, does it have something to do with that giant purple bubble thing?" Syrus asked. "You never told us what it was like inside of it."

"That's cause I can't remember much... all I remember is that, I figured something out about them, then the bubble appeared around us... and after that... it's just a blur." He told his buddy. "I only remember feeling afraid, like I was out of my element... like I made a huge mistake and... all I wanted was to win the duel just so nothing bad happened to me and... well obviously I didn't win. I thought for a moment I was turning things around but then..."

"You got beat that bad huh?" Syrus asked. "I've never seen you get thrashed so hard before; you've been beaten down but you always were able to mount a comeback. Sure, you got creamed by Kaiba but... it's Seto Kaiba what else could you do?"

At that he chuckled a little bit.

"Well, is there anything you 'do' remember about the duel Joseph, like cards they played, their strategy or something?"

"Only that... well... it was like I had zero control throughout the duel, that's all I remember feeling like when I think about their strategy. Every time I tried something... they had my number... and the more afraid I got..."

"The more mistakes you made; we get it." Chazz called out. "Look, iuno what happened in that bubble, but you need to stop getting yourself worked up over something that happened in the past." Chazz looked down on his rival with his usual 'trying to look cool' look. "You got beat, big deal, you've been beat before, heck I've lost to you multiple times, imagine how I felt until the third time? Sure, this time you actually got 'hurt', but that just means you aren't finished, whatever doesn't make you quit only makes you stronger... you want to get her back don't you?"

"Tinkhec... yea of course I want to get her back... I have to... I 'need' to..."

"Then man up, stop slouching, stop thinking your weak and acting afraid... get up and duel again." Chazz proclaimed as he stood up. "You think I just sat in my room and cried after you beat me not once, twice, but three times? No, I didn't, I pulled myself up, pulled myself together, and came right back at you again, and again, and again! It doesn't matter how many times I lose to you; I don't care if it feels like I'm a rat running on a wheel, I'm going to keep chasing you down to beat you, cause sooner or later I'll win, and when I win..." He grinned as he said that, "Then you'll be the one running on the wheel chasing after 'me', cause I don't intend on losing to you ever again after that happens."

After that little speech Chazz raised his fist to Joseph who nodded with a small smile and fist bumped with him.

"Hey what about me? Don't I get a chance to give a motivational speech to my best bud? I am his first friend you know!" Syrus exclaimed.

"Yea go ahead, Ima step outside for a moment, I need some fresh air." Chazz declared as he walked out with his hands in his pocket.

Outside the infirmary he was heading for the stairs when he saw Fonda Fontaine walking up the staircase toward him, a letter in her hand. She paused in her walk as she spotted him and waved him to stop. "Mr. Princeton, I'm sorry for troubling you but, are you heading anywhere important?"

"Not really, I was just leaving Joseph to get some fresh air for a moment."

"Good, do you think before you go, you could give him this letter?" She asked as she handed it to him. "A girl asked me to deliver it to the boy in the infirmary, but I have to get to an important teacher's conference and I'm already going to be late as is."

"Yea sure, I can take it to him." He said as he accepted the letter. "Who's it from if I may ask."

"I didn't catch her name, she just waved me down, asked me to give it to him, and then ran off."

He nodded as Fonda Fontaine quickly walked back down the stairs while Chazz turned around and started walking back to the infirmary. Then he took the letter and opened it up to read it.

'Hey boss isn't that a bad idea, I mean that's for Joseph, isn't it?' Ojama Yellow asked as he floated out.

"Yea... that's the point... whoever sent it didn't put a name on it." He said as he read it. "Well would you look at that... it's a threatening letter for Joseph, meet me near the waterfalls north of the Obelisk Blue Girl's dorm after curfew... if you want your Dragonmaid back. Come alone, bring your deck... be there before midnight or else."

With that Chazz went to go back to Slifer Red to get his deck and duel disk.

While Chazz went off on his own, Alexis was watching as Amber the maid opened Elizabeth's door, much to her distaste of the situation, not liking the idea of letting a student into another student's room when they weren't allowed inside.

"If the head maid finds out she'll have me scrubbing floors for weeks..." Amber muttered to herself as she opened the door.

"I just need to look around it for a few moments." Alexis said. "Besides, I said it was for Joseph's sake, I have my suspicions about this girl, and I want to make sure they're right or wrong!"

"I know, that's the only reason why I'm even risking my neck doing this ma'am." Amber declared as she quickly closed the door and locked it again. "Nothing is scarier than her when she gets mad, believe me..."

"Scary, but she's so nice and welcoming, I get maybe she's strict but 'scary'?"

"I uuuuuuh can't say anymore, let's just leave it at that!" Amber whispered nervously as she sweat dropped.

Alexis nodded as she started looking around the room for clues. She checked the drawers, the closet, and even the book case but didn't find much besides the usual girl stuff. The only thing out of place was that there was a small box with dvds in it, all of them science documentaries, stuff Bastion would probably know about but she didn't understand. After she peaked under the bed however, she saw her first major sign of something being off... a Ra Yellow jacket, and a pair of Slifer Red Pants. Suspicious, she pulled them out and saw that they were both matching sizes for a student.

"I don't remember anything about a girl coming to Duel Academy and being placed in Slifer Red or Ra Yellow." She muttered to herself. "All girls are placed in Obelisk Blue by default because the other two dorms lack girl facilities."

"Those don't belong in here, now why would a girl keep a 'boy's' uniforms... unless... hooooooh..." Amber said as a glint in her eyes appeared with huge blushes to match. "Unless she's secretly dating two boys from different dorms and they're having a forbidden relationship!"

Alexis did a comedic 'collapse on the floor' motion before she got up and shook her head. "That's 'not' what it means..." She groaned while stashing the clothes back under the bed after taking a picture with her phone. "Let's see..."

She did some more looking around and checked inside the desk, and found, exactly what she was looking for...

"Bingo..." She whispered, pulling out a collection of tiny vials that looked like something from the chemistry club, a pair of scissors, and more importantly, torn up cards. They were sliced up into such tiny pieces that they were unrecognizable. She prayed that it wasn't Tinkhec, she couldn't imagine Joseph's expression if he found out one of his precious Dragonmaids had been destroyed.

"Alright I've got all the evidence I need." She declared as she took a picture. "Now... how does she slip out and back in, if she tries to sneak out of her room, she'd be spotted..." Then she noticed the room's window and saw several trees nearby. "Hmm, well it's not 'too' hard to conceive that she may be slipping in and out of the room via the window, that 'would' cover her escape and entry."

"Alright I think I have enough..."

With that she walked out and thanked Amber for letting her in, promising not to tell Sheou what happened there. Amber nodded gratefully and said she had to do some minor cleaning and would lock up when she did. As she dusted a few things, she frowned as she slowly opened the desk and tentatively felt the torn pieces of cardboard.

She sighed in relief...

"It's not her... thank our master she's still safe..." She whispered happily.

Meanwhile Syrus and Joseph were still chatting it up while Sheou quietly poured a cup of water for him, with Syrus trying to give Joseph his 'epic best friend motivational speech'. "And so that's why you need to feel more confident in yourself! So how was that?"

"Well, I'm feeling a bit more motivated!" Joseph chuckled as his friend did his best to cheer him up. "So how is the homework treating you and Chumley?"

"Eh... we kind of... forgot to do ours today." Syrus muttered.

"Syrus... me not being able to do my homework because I'm in the infirmary isn't the same as 'you' not being able to do yours." He chided him, but he couldn't blame his best friend for being that way, he was probably the most worried about him besides maybe Alexis. "You can visit me whenever you want, I'm not exactly going anywhere."

"Yea but, Joseph you got hurt in a duel, a duel to try and find whoever is attacking students... it's the least I can do after pretending to be 'bait' half the night!"

As Sheou walked over she lowered a tray of food, consisting of a bowl of rice, a slice of toasted bread with a small spread of butter, and a small cup of tea for him. A light meal so he could have something in his stomach while recovering.

"Mister Syrus, while I understand your desire to continue visiting Young Master Joseph, it is nearly past curfew, you should be returning to Slifer Red for bed rest." Sheou told him.

"What about you, aren't you tired, you've been up all day today and yesterday... you've gone like two whole days without sleep!" Syrus said nervously.

"Yea, Sheou you must be like 'super' tired..." Joseph commented, as he never knew her to stay awake for so long.

Though he had to admit, she did not seem to be showing any signs of tiredness. She didn't show any slowness in her steps, she was always smiling warmly at him, and her eyes didn't reveal a single wrinkle. Not even one hair was out of place on her head, and her clothes were still well kept.

"I thank you for your concern Young Master, but please, do not concern yourself with me, all that matters to me is you getting better."

"Maybe but honestly, you need sleep to... why don't you go off to bed? I'll be fine until tomorrow, I'm worried about you getting sick staying up for such a long period of time."

"Young Master, really my place is by your side, you forget I never left your side even when you were sick while you stayed at the café." Sheou tried to counter.

"Yea, but you also left me alone when I was sleeping at night, really, I'm not going anywhere, I think I can handle sleeping on my own."

Sheou looked at him sadly before sighing and nodding in acceptance. "Well, I am but a humble maid, and a maid must never turn down her master's wishes..." She whispered in defeat. "Very well master, I shall return tomorrow morning, have pleasant dreams."

And so Sheou walked out the door with a short bow, closing the door behind her.

"Y'know I got a question Jo, what's the infirmary food taste like?" Syrus asked as Joseph ate his bowl of rice.

"I mean... mmnch it's not perfection but... mmmnh it aint half bad!" He said as he swallowed. "Wish I could ask for seconds, that's one thing I really miss about being at the café."

"Yea, how long do you think your sisters will be gone visiting family?"

"Oh... uh... I don't know... I honestly didn't know they had family to visit." He muttered quietly. "They've never talked about their 'families' before... I never knew they had them... I should have guessed that they did... I mean... everyone does, right?"

"I'm... sorry I brought it up, I guess it's a touchy subject still, right?"

"It happens." He replied as he finished eating and put the tray on the nearby table.

"Alrighty, well I guess I'll head on back to Slifer Red, see you tomorrow, Joseph!"

"Say hi to Chumley for me!"

As Syrus prepared to open the door, he saw an envelope on the floor, with Joseph's name written on it. He opened the door after picking it up to see if anyone was outside, but the hallway was empty. "Hey Jo, there's a letter for you I think."

"Oh really, who's it from?" Joseph asked as he took it and opened it.

He took the letter out and found that a small picture was also inside of it, and as he looked his eyes snapped wide open as he saw that it was Tinkhec's card, with a pair of scissors next to it. Alongside it was another picture, this one with a barely recognizable pair of cards, Revival Jam and Marauding Captain, the pictures on the cards melted and the cards cut up. Reading the letter, he saw that the handwriting had been rushed, scribbled sloppily, but the words were still legible.

'Dear Joseph... you have until ten tonight to meet me down by the pier. If you don't show up, the card in the picture will be coated in battery acid and sliced into pieces, just like the other two I've included as 'proof'. Either you duel me, or you lose your precious, one of a kind, Dragonmaid! The choice is yours...'

"Tinkhec..." He whispered as he saw her card in the picture.

"No... what do we do Joseph?" Syrus asked.

He didn't hesitate to respond as he glanced at the clock and saw the time, he pulled the blankets off of him and slowly stumbled out of the bed, slowly grabbing his Duel Disk and deck which was still inserted into its deck slot. "I'm going to get her... what else?"

"But Jo, you can't, in your condition you won't last five minutes!" Syrus exclaimed.

"I don't care... nngh... I have to save my Dragonmaid, I need to get her back... I can't run from them." Joseph said as he struggled to move quickly. "Help me out Sy, please... I need to get there fast; it's getting close to the deadline!"

"But Jo..." Syrus muttered nervously.

"Please Sy, I need your help..." He all but screamed.

Syrus looked between him and the door before nodding and helping him out of the infirmary.

Minutes after they hobbled out, Fontaine walked in with a clipboard in hand. "Alright time for your last checkup for toda-" She started saying before noticing the room was empty. "Did he go to the bathroom? Ugh, I warned him to let me know 'before' doing something like that."

Down by the pier a robed figure stood watching the waves crashing and thrashing against the rocks. She couldn't think of a more dramatic place to duel Joseph once again. What better place to drown one of those sad excuse for duelists in their tears then by the ocean?

"That's what they get for relying on being able to special summon their entire deck without suffering any costs." She muttered.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see her opponent... only it wasn't a boy standing in front of her, it was a girl wearing various dorm-colored clothes.

"Why are 'you' here... and what's with the outfit?" She demanded.

"I should be asking the same thing, you'll find that your opponent won't be coming, I gave him a letter myself and sent him to the other side of the island, by the time he realizes it we'll be long gone... but I need to know why are you doing this, I didn't want to believe that you could be capable of doing this, but it's obvious I was wrong!" She countered. "I get it, you hate special summoning, I'm not a fan of it either, but this ISN'T what our group is about, this is going too far! Hurting other duelists, taking their cards and ripping them up, how does this do 'anything' positive for us?"

"Oh, go stuff a cake in your mouth, don't you get that I'm doing this for EVERYONE!" She shouted angrily. "You see it as well as I do, Tribute summoning is becoming a thing of the past, a relic... soon our method of dueling will be nothing but pages in a history book. We need to stop Special Summoning from running rampant everywhere NOW before it's too late. Even Ritual Summoning is starting to lose its luster."

"But that's not our group's goal, we're supposed to be 'preserving' Tribute Summoning, and showing its just as viable as Special Summoning." She tried to argue back.

"Why don't you just skip the talk of how you're trying to convince me I'm wrong, and tell me what you're doing in that getup... last I checked 'you' haven't hurt a single duelist, so why are you trying to impersonate me?"

"I did it because I know neither of us deserves to be kicked out of Duel Academy for a mistake... look if you give back the card, tell me why you're acting this way, maybe we can work something out and they won't expel you. And... if the worst happens 'I'll' take the fall for you."

She was caught off guard, she'd take the fall for 'her'? "And you'd do that why?"

"Because you're my friend, and that's what friends are for, they look out for one another. I know you don't like Joseph especially because of his cards but... this is going too far... please just..."

"NO!" She screamed furiously, lowering her hood so that she could face her friend face to face. "I have power now, I have a way to achieve my goal... you don't get it, I can do this, I can end Special Summoning, this card... this 'Dragonmaid' I took is just one step in that direction, once my Lord has the power of the others... he'll fulfill my wish, he'll rid the world of special summoning once and for all, we can go back to 'better days'!"

The waves crashed and rolled, but her friend looked shocked at those words. "You're crazy... you're speaking nonsense... look just please, give me the card and I'll take the fall for you, just stop what you're doing!"

"You want this card back?" She asked, holding up the Dragonmaid in question, before sliding it into her deck and activating her duel disk. "Then take it from me!"

She frowned as she shook her head, before steeling her resolve and activating her own duel disk. "You leave me no choice... as one Monarch Player to another... don't expect any mercy from me, just because you're my friend!"

"Mmhmhmh... oh that isn't going to be a problem 'girlfriend'." She said as she grinned. "When this duel's over, I'll have 'another' tribute for my lord!"

As the night was going on however, Joseph and Syrus were quickly walking out of the main building and began making their way to the pier. Joseph growing more nervous with each step he took, as he knew what he was walking into now. Or at least partially... he wasn't entirely sure 'why' he couldn't remember everything from the duel, only that he didn't like dueling in that strange foggy bubble, and that his opponent used Monarchs and basically didn't give him a chance to fight back half the time.

"Jo you really shouldn't be doing this..." Syrus muttered as they walked past Ra Yellow's dorms. "You can't duel like this, you're in no condition to duel bro!"

"I know but I have to... I need to get Tinkhec back... so just please, help me out Sy?" He replied.

They continued to walk down the dirt path leading from the dorm until they reached the intersection leading to Slifer Red and the pier. From there they turned to the pier and began the walk to where they were supposed to go. It was almost the cut off time, they had no time to spare as Joseph tried to run faster, but his various burns and bandaged cuts slowed him down considerably.

'At least the cool air is soothing.' He thought to himself.

Five minutes later they saw several flashing lights and holographic explosions, indicating someone was having a duel. Picking up their pace, they walked onto the pier and saw what appeared to be the aftermath of a duel, as the holograms had finished vanishing, with one duelist standing while the other was kneeling in defeat.

"Hahahaha, you thought you could beat me, with my Lord Erebus aiding me?" The one standing said. "You never were the better duelist between us 'BEFORE', what makes you think you can match me 'now'?"

The other duelist looked up in frustration before hanging their head in defeat.

Both of them were wearing mismatching outfits consisting of uniforms from the three different dorms of Slifer, Ra and Obelisk, but one was wearing a robe of sewed together clothes and was standing over the opponent victorious. 'She' looked over at their new visitors and smirked.

"Well look who showed up, almost with no time left... looks like my friend didn't chase you away from me."

The other girl looked up and stared in disbelief. "What are you doing here, I thought you got my letter from Fontaine!"

"Letter, she didn't give me a letter, Syrus found a letter slid under the door to the infirmary telling me to come here... now where is my Dragonmaid!" He hollered before he winced again.

"Your Dragonmaid... right here." The first girl declared, smirking as she pulled a card out of her deck and revealed it.

[Dragonmaid Tinkhec]

"My card... give her back to me!" He demanded.

'Master... is that you?' A weakened voice called out, and over the girl's shoulder a very exhausted looking Tinkhec appeared, wings limp and barely able to lift her head to look at him. 'I'm sorry master... I can barely talk... or hear you... I'm completely drained... we're too weak to manifest ourselves... you're on your own... forgive us...'

"Thinkhec..." He whispered as she vanished, before his expression became set and he stepped forward and away from Syrus. "Alright whoever you are, I'm here, so I'll duel you to reclaim my Dragonmaid!"

"Hehehe... my name is Tanya... and fine, but just so you know... this time we won't be putting up a card on the line!" She snickered as she replaced Tinkhec in her deck and walked forward. "This time... we'll be playing for far higher stakes!"

"H-higher stakes?" He muttered as a sudden wave of fear hit him.

"That's right... but let's cut the chase I INITIATE A SHADOW GAME!" She yelled as she raised her arm that had a golden wristband on it and snapped her finger.

Suddenly a ring of fire erupted around them, cutting off those within the circle from those who were outside, meaning only Joseph, the mystery girl and Syrus...

"Wait Syrus?" Joseph hollered as he saw his friend jump into the ring, right as a purple foggy bubble began to encompass them all.

"What the... what's going on?" The other girl screamed as she watched this weird shadow bubble appear.

Alexis however had been out and about and was on her way out when Chazz texted her to say he was off to take on the 'Mystery Duelist' at the waterfalls north of Obelisk Blue girl's dorm, when she saw a massive 'purple bubble' appear off in the distance at the pier.

"Chazz, Chazz are you still there?"

{Yea, why what's up?}

"I think you got the wrong location, because that purple bubble thing is down by the pier!"

{WHAT? THEY OUTSMARTED MY OUTSMARTING?}

"Get in touch with Bastion, I'll meet you both there!" She said as she turned it off and started running. "I just hope that's not Joseph dueling."

Inside the Shadow Game sphere, Syrus and Joseph were looking around their new surroundings while Joseph was suddenly remembering 'why' he didn't want to duel or his friends to duel. There was something about this sphere, something about this place that made everything feel 'real'.

"Syrus what are you doing in here?" He muttered to his friend. "You have to get out, whoever you are let my friend out!"

"No Joseph I'm staying to help; you're not doing this alone this time!" Syrus stated proudly.

"You don't understand you can't be in here; this isn't safe at all..."

"You're right... this isn't safe, but it's too late, I'm the only one who can end this Shadow Game prematurely, and if you want out, you're going to have to duel me... but this time Joseph... I want your 'soul' as an ante!"

"H-hi-his soul?" Syrus exclaimed.

"That's right... last time we dueled, he got away with only some burns, cuts... and of course his card being taken from him, not the card he 'risked' losing but... let's skim the details." Their opponent said with a malicious grin. "This time Joseph, we duel for 'higher' stakes... you want your card back, well my Lord Erebus wants to keep her, and the others you have... and for that I need to get rid of you! So... if you dare accept my challenge, you have to put your 'soul' on the line... what's it gonna be?"

He breathed a terrified breath as he looked around the dark fog that encompassed them, giving them zero chance to escape. She beat him before... he knows full well he could lose again... but this time if he loses... and if she's serious about... but Tinkhec he can't just... but he doesn't want to lose his soul.

"I'll tell you what it's going to be, I'LL Duel you!" Syrus yelled as he stepped forward. "If you want to duel someone it's going to be me!"

"Wait Syrus..." He tried to say, but his friend continued.

"And to reclaim Joseph's Dragonmaid, I wager... my entire dueling deck, Fusions and all!" He proclaimed. "No best friend of mine is going to be dueling you today, you want to duel someone, it's going to be me! He can't duel you because he doesn't have a full deck to qualify, but I 'do', so if you want a duel it's going to be against yours truly!"

"Syrus you can't duel... you don't understand this isn't like a normal duel, here the damage is real!" He tried to plead but Syrus looked at him with a brave expression on his face.

"I know, I can figure now 'why' you didn't want us dueling... but Joseph, listen to me, you're in NO condition to duel... you can barely hold yourself up properly, let alone duel, you aren't fully rested and you 'still' haven't fully recovered from the last duel you had in this place. Besides... if one of us was suffering like you are, you'd jump in for them in a heartbeat, so this time let 'me' take point. I'm your wingman remember, you're first bud here at Duel Academy. If anyone's going to help you out of this jam it's going to be me!"

He looked solemnly at his buddy before feeling defeated, nodding in acceptance, handing over his draconic Duel Disk after extracting all of his cards. "Just take care of yourself... don't underestimate her for a moment Syrus..."

Syrus nodded as he strapped the duel disk and activated it after she put his deck into the slot. "So, you game Mystery Duelist?"

"Why would I duel a scrub like you, you're nothing special... just Zane's little bro..." She countered. "You can barely keep up with your friend there, you're just in his shadow and you think you can do better? How do you think he found himself in his condition to begin with, by burning himself? He's the BEST of the freshman..."

She laughed almost cynically as she grinned at him. "I have beaten Obelisk Blue, Ra Yellow, and Slifer Red students... all of them using their oh so 'special' Special Summon method, and all of them better duelists than you. You... you can't even leave your friend's shadow, let alone your 'brother's'... what hope do you have against me?"

"Then you should have nothing to 'fear' from me..." Syrus countered. "The deals on the table, my deck for Joseph's card, winner take all... you aren't taking him on, so you're stuck with me. So, what's it going to be?"

At that she sneered as her duel disk activated activated. "Fine, you want to suffer, let's get our game on, your entire deck for one Dragonmaid... winner take all!"

"Let's duel!" Both duelists shouted as decks shuffled and opening hands were drawn.

[Tanya – 4000 / Syrus Truesdale – 4000]

"I'll take the opening turn, my draw!" Syrus yelled as he drew his card.

[Mixeroid, Cycroid, Yellow Luster Shield, Steamroid, Machine Duplication, Wonder Garage]

"Perfect, I play a card face down, and then I'll play a monster in defense mode!" Syrus declared as he put two cards face down, those being Wonder Garage and Mixeroid. "Then I'll play, a little card I like to play, Yellow Luster Shield! As long as this card is on my field, all of my defense monsters will gain '300' defense points."

With that, three cards appeared on the field, a face up magic card and two cards face down.

"Your turn!"

Tanya chuckled as she nodded and drew her first card. "Hmhmm... feeling 'nervous' little boy?" She asked him. "Hmmm, I think I'll start off with, Return of the Monarchs!" She declared as she played the card on the field. "As long as this continuous spell is on the field, each time I tribute summon a monster, I can add to my hand a monster with 2400 attack and 1000 defense points, or I can add a monster with 2800 attack and 1000 defense points. Next up, I special summon to the field... Escher the Frost Vassal to the field into defense mode!"

On the field a frozen warrior sitting crosslegged appeared, his body comprised of what looked to be ice while wearing white and blue armor.

[Escher the Frost Vassal, lvl 4, Water Attribute, Aqua Type, Effect Monster, 800 Atk / 1000 Def]

[Escher, the Frost Vassal, is a monster card that can be special summoned to your field from the hand if your opponent controls two or more cards in their spell and trap zone!]

"Now that I have an appropriate tribute... I tribute summon a monster!" Tanya declared proudly as she took the card and sent it to the grave, causing Escher to glow and vanish in a cascade of earth and light. "Accept my humble tribute and stand by my side, shake the earth as you rise, come forth Granmarg the Rock Monarch!"

Syrus looked up speechless as a humongous 'monster' rose from the ground, boulders falling from his mighty shoulders and his arms brimming with strength as he glared down at Syrus' field. A flowing purple cape fell behind its back as it stood behind Tanya who gleefully grinned as her first Monarch hit the field. But for Joseph, when he saw the first Monarch... he began having flashbacks...

=A titanic flaming warrior blasted his card from his hand, causing devastating fire damage and burning his body, he shielded himself from frozen shards of ice as an ice coated lord struck his monsters down=

"No... not again..."

[Granmarg the Rock Monarch, lvl 6, Earth Attribute, Rock Type, Effect Monster, 2400 Atk / 1000 Def]

"Now that my lord has appeared, I activate 'two' effects... first is my Monarch's effect, when he is tribute summoned, I can now target one 'set' card on the field... and I'm going to target your face down card in the spell and trap zone!"

Granmarg slowly raised its fist and then smashed it on the ground, causing a sharpened rock to spike up and stab the face down card Syrus had face down. The face down in question flipped over to reveal itself to be a trap card, Wonder Garage.

"Thanks for destroying it, I couldn't activate that card's effect otherwise, now that you destroyed it while it was face down and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon a Vehicroid from my deck as long as its level 4 or below! And I know who to bring out, say hello to Gyroid!"

On the field Gyroid, a helicopter looking machine appeared, pumped its fist and glared at their opponent before putting up its arms in a defensive posture.

[Gyroid, lvl 3, Wind Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 1000 Atk / 1000 Def]

[Gyroid, 1000 Atk / 1000 Def – 1000 Atk / 1300 Def]

"And before you even think about it, as long as Gyroid is on the field, it can't be destroyed in battle once per turn!"

Their opponent shook her head in disbelief as she watched the new monster appear. "Don't you think you're a little 'old' to be playing with toys, that monster looks like something I'd see in a toy chest." She declared. "But I guess what should I expect from a kid out of his element... now I activate my magic card's effect, and I choose to add a monster from my deck with 2400 attack points! And I choose to add, Zaborg the Thunder Monarch!"

She drew her card and then shouted, "Since I can't destroy your little toy, I'll target the other monster. Granmarg destroy the face down monster now!"

Granmarg raised its mighty arm and plunged it forward into Syrus' monster aiming to destroy it. When the fist was about to connect Syrus' monster appeared and blocked it with a tire arm and a defiant glare.

"What?!" She screamed as the Monarch's attack was halted.

"That's what you get for underestimating 'me', you attacked my monster, Mixeroid!" Syrus proclaimed proudly as hit monster held its ground.

Syrus' monster, a green cement truck that was glaring daggers at Granmarg held the attack at bay.

[Mixeroid, lvl 4, Wind Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 0 Atk, 2200 Def]

"With 2200 Defense points he couldn't hold his own, but thanks to my continous spell card, he gains 300 defense points, which is just more than enough to survive your attack!"

Mixeroid glowed with a golden yellow aura as he shoved off the Monarch's fist and sat in front of Syrus with confident nod.

[Mixeroid, 0 Atk / 2200 Def – 0 Atk / 2500 Def]

"Grrrrg... you'll pay for that insolence against my monarchs!"

[Tanya – 3900 / Syrus Truesdale – 4000]

"We'll see about that, now finish your move!" Syrus declared confidently.

"As you insist... I play three cards face down to end my turn!"

Outside of the shadow bubble, Elizabeth watched the weird sphere with apprehension, before trying to run into it, thinking maybe she could go in and do 'something'... but all that ended up happening was that she found herself on the other side. Thinking it was a weird fluke, she tried again, but wound up right where she was before.

"What is going on here?" She asked in confusion.

"HEY YOU!" A familiar voice called out, and she turned to see Alexis running with a Ra Yellow student. "Who's in that bubble, and why are you out here?"

"Alexis... uhm... nobody, nobody at all just... uh..." She tried muttering but, she knew there was no point in trying to protect her friend at this point, they were caught in the act. "It's my friend, Tanya, Joseph, and his friend Syrus Truesdale."

"Tanya... 'Tanya'?" Alexis asked incredulously. "But, you... your room... I thought 'you' were the Mystery Duelist?"

"You went in my room? Who gave you permission to..." She asked angrily, before giving up the 'angry at an intruder' idea when she remembered the situation. "Alright look, for a while now I've suspected that my friend was up to something. The past few days... she's been acting 'weird'."

"Considering we're standing next to a giant sphere of some weird dark energy thing that we can't enter and defies all known laws of physics, and two of our friends are in there facing 'your' friend, it would stand to reason that the word 'weird' is a drastic understatement." Bastion stated. "Why don't you explain what you define as 'weird'?"

Elizabeth sighed as she looked at her gold-plated wristband. "You see, a few days ago, my friend received a package, she never mentioned who sent it, but I noticed she had a gold wristband around her arm. I figured she was copying me, you know, besties sharing similar interests but... she started acting 'different'." She said. "After she got it, is when the attacks started, at first, I didn't think anything of it, but then she started mentioning how she was going to end all special summoning, now that she had a new card to do it."

She looked back at the weird bubble again, a worried expression on her face. "When the second attack happened, I began suspecting that she was behind it. I kept on trying to talk to her, but she always made up some stupid excuse to avoid talking with me. She'd say 'she's studying' or 'she's going to exercise' or some other excuse. So, I decided to follow her one night... and that's when I saw her running away, wrapped up in a bunch of clothes from the other dorms... and I looked at the scene where she was running 'from'. It didn't take me long to put two and two together."

"Okay so 'why' didn't you tell the teachers, the principal, 'someone'!" Alexis said angrily. "If you knew she was behind the attacks why keep it to yourself and lie? I asked if you knew anything and you said you didn't, you even had a fight with me and talked about how Joseph 'deserved' what he got!?"

Alexis was furious at this girl, if she knew who was behind the attacks, she should have told her, they could have stopped her BEFORE this duel happened. Now Joseph and Syrus were in there, and one of them was in no condition to duel!

"You put two of our friends at risk, Joseph and two others landed beds in the infirmary because of your friend's actions, and Joseph's injuries were the worst of the three!"

"I know... but... she's still my friend, I wanted to try and help her..." She whispered sadly. "That's why I had some clothes from the other dorms, I promised to date a few of the boys from the other dorms in exchange for those spare uniforms. That's why I had that shouting match with you, to make you think I was up to something, and even left evidence in my room in case a maid searched my rooms and brought it up to school officials... I figured, iuno that I could save my friend and get her to stop."

"As good a plan as that was, you failed to consider that your friend wasn't going to stop regardless of what you did..." Bastion declared.

"I know..."

Bastion nodded as he stepped forward and looked at the bubble. "Well, regardless, what's done is done... now all we can do is hope Joseph wins... in his condition though, he doesn't stand much chance, especially now that he's lost one of his best monsters. Tinkhec was one of his best ways to deal with problem monsters, without her power boost his maids lack the strength they once had." He then looked at Elizabeth. "You know 'regardless' of what happens, we're holding you responsible."

Elizabeth nodded in understanding as they all returned to the weird sphere, and could only wonder what was going on in there.

Inside the sphere the duel continued as Syrus took his turn.

"I draw!" Syrus declared as he looked at his card. [Pot of Greed]

"Perfect, first of all, I activate the magic card, Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards from my deck!"

He activated the card and then drew his two cards. [Banner of Courage, Super Charge]

He looked at his options and smiled. "Alright, first off, I play the magic card, Banner of Courage! This magic card increases my monster's attack during the battle phase. Next up, I summon out, Steamroid!"

In a cloud of steam and train sounds, Steamroid whirled onto the field from his card, fist pumped and got ready to rumble with the Monarchs. At the same time a banner was flung from nowhere and waved behind Syrus, proudly displaying its courageous symbol for all to see.

[Steamroid, lvl 4, Earth Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 1800 Atk / 1800 Def]

"But I'm not done yet, I play Mixeroid's effect!" He declared, and Mixeroid nodded as he began swirling his container in preparation. "When Mixeroid's on the field, I can tribute one of my roid monsters, and then special summon 'another' one from my deck to the field, and I choose my Gyroid, to bring out, my Submarineroid"

Gyroid nodded as he vanished and flew into Mixeroid's chamber, which rumbled and spun before tossing out giant submarine that swam under the ground while glaring at their opponent with only its parascope.

[Submarineroid, lvl 4, Water Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 800 Atk / 2000 Def]

"Now I am going to enter the battle phase! And when he attacks, he gains 500 attack points, and don't forget, he gains another 300 thanks to the Batter of Courage!"

Steamroid pumped its fists and let off a huge cloud of steam as it grinned, its attack points rising off the charts as it prepared to charge.

[Steamroid, 1800 Atk / 1800 Def – 2300 Atk / 1800 Def – 2600 Atk / 1800 Def]

"Charge Steamroid, steam in and take out Granmarg!"

Steamroid charged forward toward Granmarg who simply awaited the attack, looking down empirically at the little train it dwarfed.

"I activate my TRAP CARDS!" Tanya countered. "I activate, Escalation of the Monarchs, and then I chain to it, The First Monarch!"

On her side of the field two trap cards flipped up and stopped Steamroids attack.

"Hmhmhmh... you're so weak and predictable, your little toys don't have the 'power' to stand up to my Monarchs, so you increase their strength with that banner of courage and their defense with Yellow Luster Shield. But a 'true' duelist uses the power of their Monsters to overwhelm their opponent, let me demonstrate with the power of my Monarchs! First, The First Monarch is special summoned to my side of the field from the spell and trap zone as a 'monster'."

The card floated forward to stand before Steamroid who backed up in confusion, with Syrus starting to panic as he'd never seen a trap card acting as a monster before.

"Uhm okay... uh what does it do?"

"Syrus be careful, she's going to use that to summon another Monarch!" Joseph tried to warn him, remembering this maneuver now that he'd seen it again.

"That's right... and now that it's on the field, it becomes a monster with 2400 Defense and 1000 Attack... but I don't intend to keep it there, as I now activate Escalation of the Monarchs!" She declared as her 'monster' was wrapped up in electricity. "When this trap card's effect is activated during your main phase or your battle phase, I can immediately tribute summon a monster. Now accept my humble offering and rise to my field lord of lightning, electrify my enemy with your might, COME FORTH ZABORG THE THUNDER MONARCH!"

On her side of the field a new 'Monarch' emerged, standing tall in all of his glory as he crossed his arms, electricity striking from his body on the ground.

[Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, lvl 5, Light Attribute, Thunder Type, Effect Monster, 2400 Atk / 1000 Def]

"Uahaaaah..." Syrus screamed in fear as it stared down at him.

"And now my Lord's effect activates, now that he's tribute summoned, I can target one monster on your field and destroy it!" She declared as Zaborg lowered the palm of its hand to aim at Steamroid, who screamed out steam in panic as he was struck by lightning and destroyed.

Syrus flinched as he covered himself to protect from the shockwave, and as he did, he felt his body seize up for a moment, as if he'd been struck by electricity.

That was his first realization that Joseph wasn't lying when he said they didn't know what they were getting into. That felt 'real'... too real to be a hologram, and it was just an aftershock.

"That... that actually felt... no, stay focused..."

"Now then due to my spell card's effect, I can add another Monarch to my hand... and I pick, a monster with 2400 Attack and 1000 Defense, and I pick Kuraz the Light Monarch!" She said as she took it from her deck. "Now that your monster's been destroyed, any other attempts you want to make?"

"Uh... yea, I do, in fact here it is now... Submarineroid attack!"

Submarineroid went beneath the ground completely, and then released a torpedo.

"You think you're safe with your Monarchs, but my monster can bypass yours and launch a direct assault! And guess what, Banner of Courage is 'still' in play, so here's 1100 points of damage!"

Tanya growled as she watched the torpedo speed past her two Monarchs and then leap out to blow up in her face.

"Graaaaaah!"

[Tanya – 2800 / Syrus Truesdale – 4000]

"That... will NOT... happen again!" She screamed in fury.

"Uh... okay... now that Submarinroid's attacked he switches into defense mode... and I think I'll just have put one card face down... and end my turn." He said quietly.

Submarineroid surfaced and crossed its arms to signify being in defense.

Joseph watched his friend starting to struggle with his courage, though he was winning, his opponent was not relenting in the power plays. "Syrus! You have to get ready; she's going to lay the hurt on you now!"

"I can see that now..."

"Darn right I am... I draw!" She yelled angrily as she stared at her card, before growling to herself. "Grrr... I can't use this 'thing' at all. Why are 'you' in my hand you useless..."

Suddenly Joseph felt a spark... as he stared at the back of that card. He felt... 'something'... something at the back of his mind, it was like something was roaring... like a dragon's roar, and it sounded... 'weird', he just couldn't describe it, it wasn't an 'angry' roar it was like... more like it just 'knew' something.

"Tinkhec..." He whispered.

"Huh?" Syrus asked as he looked at Joseph next to him.

"Syrus... she just drew Tinhkech..." He whispered to him. "I don't know how, but I can tell... she's in her hand, she has Tinkhec in her hand!"

"Tinkhec, but she's useless to her, her effect only works with 'your' monsters Jo." Syrus thought, but that gave him an idea. "She's been using every card she draws, so right now, she only has '2' cards in hand, one of those is Tinkhec, and the other is Kuraz... I just need to keep my eyes on her cards for now."

"Fine, I have no choice, I tribute summon my lord Kuraz the Light Monarch by tributing Zaborg the Thunder Monarch!" Tanya declared.

Zaborg was wrapped in a golden light as he vanished, being replaced by a pillar of light.

"Come forth my lord and shine your might upon my foes, Kuraz the Light Monarch!"

A new titan-like monster appeared on the field as a Monarch in golden armor and an equally shining gold cape flowed from his back to below his legs. He stood tall and clenched his fists as he prepared to unleash his power.

"Now that he's been summoned, I activate my effects once more... when Kuraz is tribute summoned he can target two cards on the field and Destroy them! Then for each card destroyed, that player can draw '1' card, and I choose to destroy, your two monsters!"

He nodded and raised both arms, holding his hands over his two roids, before unleashing a cascade of light that bedazzled and shined upon his two machines, destroying 'both' in one fell swoop.

"Ghueeehe..."

"Unfortunately, because he used that effect, he cannot declare an attack this turn... so you get lucky, now draw your cards so we can get on with the duel!"

Syrus nodded nervously as he drew his two cards. [Decoyroid, Drillroid]

"And as for me I activate Return of the Monarchs... and this time I pick a monster with 2800 attack and 1000 Defense... and I pick... my lord and master... EREBUS THE UNDERWORLD MONARCH!"

As she drew the card Joseph suddenly felt a spark of fear, terrifying fear, he didn't need a flashback to figure out why he was scared, he remembered now WHY that card was dangerous. "Syrus, whatever you do, do NOT let her use that monster, do not let her summon it!"

"I think I have bigger concerns right now Jo!" Syrus exclaimed as Granmarg began to raise its mighty fist for battle.

"That's right, now that your field's been cleared, your wide open for attack, and I have another Monarch that can destroy you here and now, Granmarg the Rock Monarch attack with your mighty Fist of the Earth!"

Granmarg launched its assault on Syrus who tried to cover himself with his arms to shield himself from the attack, but he was still punched hard, sending him flying into the wall of fire and shadow behind him. It kept him from leaving, but dealt him a serious shock to his system to remind him that everything in this duel was real. He actually 'felt' the hit of the monster and that alone would have been enough to make him feel like he would have a concussion, but the pain, the sheer levels of 'pain' the wall he was flung into made him scream in agony. It was indescribable, there was no other way to say it, he could not describe what it felt like to be shocked...

"Gyaaaaaaaaaah!" Syrus screamed in agony while his life points fell.

[Tanya – 2800 / Syrus Truesdale – 1600]

"SYRUS!" Joseph yelled as he ran as fast as he could, ignoring the little stabs of pain from his burn injuries.

He picked his buddy up and helped him in his arms, he was looking worse for wear, but it was nothing a stay in the infirmary would fix.

"You were right..." He whispered painfully. "This is nothing... like what... I'm used to..."

"Syrus, you have to let me duel, let me take your place, if you keep this up, you'll just end up like me!"

"No... I can do this... besides I made the challenge... I have to see it through... to the end!" Syrus proclaimed as he slowly got up. "Is that the best you got... I thought you were tougher!"

"Oh please, don't even try to pretend like you're stronger than you are Zane's little bro... I can see it... you're in way over your head... but don't worry, it will all be over soon... and when you're done, I'm coming for you next Joseph... and this time I won't except anything less than your 'soul'!" Tanya declared. "I end my turn... but your suffering has only 'just' begun..."

Syrus nodded as he drew his next card [Cycroid].

'If only I had a Polymerization, I could use it and the other Cycroid I have in my hand.' He thought as he looked to his field. "I... I summon Decoyroid in attack mode!"

On the field his monster appeared as this little remote controlled red toy car that beeped its horn and wiggled its wheels.

[Decoyroid, lvl 2, Wind Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 300 Atk / 500 Def]

"Now I activate the magic card, Machine duplication!" Syrus shouted as he played a magic card. "With this card, I can target a machine monster with 500 or less attack points, and then special summon from my deck two more copies of it! So come on out, Decoyroid two and Decoyroid three!"

On the field his magic card appeared and moments later, two more Decoyroids appeared, rolling onto the field beeping their little horns and wiggling their tires as they took up defensive postures instead of the aggressive one of the first.

[Decoyroid, lvl 2, Wind Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 300 Atk / 500 Def x2]

[Decoyroid x3 – 300 Atk / 500 Def – 300 Atk / 800 Def]

"And that will do it for now!"

"I can't tell the difference between you and those little toys, you're both so small..." Tanya said with a malicious grin. "But as it's my turn, I'll start tearing them down! And it starts with this card I just drew... Mystical Space typhoon, with this magic card I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I think I'll take down that Yellow Luster Shield card you've been relying on!"

Next to Syrus a typhoon of wind erupted, blowing away his Yellow Luster Shield card, sending it to the grave and removing the defensive buff his monsters got from it.

[Decoyroid x3 – 300 Atk / 800 Def – 300 Atk / 500 Def]

"Now that it's gone... the time has come..." She declared as the field suddenly grew darker, as if they were being cast in shadow. "I can tribute summon this monster by tributing 'one' tribute summoned monster... so Granmarg, your service is done, make way for the True Lord of all Monarchs... I offer 'you' as my tribute to my Lord and Master!"

Granmarg bowed in acceptance as he was shrouded in darkness and vanished, as if sinking into the earth he came from.

"My Lord, accept this offering and join my side, grace this field with your presence and bring about the defeat of those who stand against you, now show yourself... EREBUS THE UNDERWORLD MONARCH!" She screamed.

Syrus and Joseph looked around only for a moment, before their eyes began staring upward and behind Tanya, and beheld... 'him'. He sat there, upon his mighty throne, dwarfing 'all' before him, if the Monarchs from before were towering titans, then Erebus was a Behemoth as he sat there upon his throne dwarfing even the other Monarchs from before. He sat with his dark armor glinting in the light of this Shadow Realm, his chin resting casually on his fist while it curled up and he stared down at those below him with a bored expression, as if he was unsure if he should even waste his time to leave his chair. At the same time, his other arm rested upon his throne's armrest, with his knuckles idly rapping the stone, as casually as one would while thinking about lunch. His sloth-like appearance did little to hide his sheer dominating power though, for Joseph knew firsthand, now that his memories of the duel were quickly returning, just how 'dangerous' this monster truly was.

[Erebus the Underworld Monarch, lvl 8, Dark Attribute, Zombie Type, Effect Monster, 2800 Atk / 1000 Def]

"Now that he has graced the field with his presence, I activate his special ability, by sending 'two' Monarch spell or trap cards to the grave from my hand or deck, I can send one card from your hand, field or grave back into your deck... and I choose to send Pantheism of the Monarch and The Prime Monarch to remove that Banner of Courage!"

Erebus nodded lazily as he slowly removed his chin from his hand and used it instead to point at the banner behind Syrus, blasting it with dark energy and burning it down.

"Gyaaaaah!" Syrus screamed as it disappeared from his field, knowing it was sent back to the deck, he placed it back and it was shuffled.

"At the same time, I activate Return of the Monarch's effect, and I choose to add a 2800 Atk 1000 Def monster, and I take Ehther the Heavenly Monarch!" She yelled out proudly. "Now that your two spells that you used to even give yourself a chance in this duel are gone, feel the wrath of my Monarchs... Kuraz the Light Monarch, attack that Decoyroid and end this duel!"

"You've activated my trap card, Supercharge!" Syrus said. "When you attack while I control only Machine Type 'roid' monsters, I get to draw '2' cards!"

The cards he drew were [Polymerization, Monster Reborn]

Kuraz raised its hand and began to shine a powerful beam of light upon the attack mode Decoyroid, but suddenly the Decoyroid, the one Syrus called Decoyroid Three on the right spun up its wheels, surged forward and pushed Decoyroid one out of the blast so 'it' was hit instead. It exploded in a pile of scrap parts before vanishing from the field.

"What the... why did your little toy 'block' my Monarch's attack?"

"It's Decoyroid's effect, as long as it's face up on the field, you can't attack any other monster besides Decoyroid!" Syrus explained. "And since I've got 'three' on the field, before you can get to one you have to go through the other two!"

"Grrrg... Erebus the Underworld Monarch, attack Decoyroid!" Tanya screamed.

Erebus lazily got out of its throne, took one 'average' step forward, and pointed a solitary finger, almost 'lazily', at the attack mode Decoyroid. It sent a burst of dark energy toward the little toy car, but as before, the other Decoyroid surged forward and jumped into the path of the attack, absorbing the blast and bursting apart as it was destroyed, sending parts everywhere before it vanished.

"Just like before, Decoyroid takes the hit, I'm still in this duel!"

"How dare you insult my Monarchs power with those annoying, special summoned 'toys'!" Tanya screamed as her Erebus resumed his place on his throne. "I'm ending the battle phase, and now I activate from my graveyard, Pantheism of the Monarch's graveyard effect, now by banishing it I can select 'three' Monarch spell or trap cards from my deck, and YOU pick one to add."

On the field in front of him three holographic cards appeared, but they were all the same, [Tenacity of the Monarch x3]

"But... it's the same card no matter what I pick..."

"That's the point, so let's skip the formalities, shall we?" She said with a smirk as she extracted one of the cards. "Now I activate its effects, by revealing a monster with 2400 attack and 1000 defense, or 2800 attack and 1000 defense, I can add any 'monarch' spell or trap from my deck to my hand, and I pick... Ehther the Heavenly Monarch, who has 2800 attack and 1000 Defense. Now I add to my hand the field spell... Domain of the True Monarch!"

"That card... Syrus that card!" Joseph started saying, but it was too late.

"Now I activate it, Domain of the True Monarchs... as long as this card remains on the field, as long as I have no cards in my extra deck, and as long as I control a tribute summoned monster, you cannot special summon 'any' monster from the extra deck! On top of that, when I declare an attack using a tribute summoned monster, it gains 800 attack points during the damage step. With that I end my turn..."

The field suddenly became shrouded in darkness and they were no longer standing on the weird purple foggy ground, instead it was like they were in an underground cavern with columns and pillars just barely out of visual range.

"That isn't good..." Syrus muttered. "So 'this' is the card that kept you from summoning House?"

"Yea... it devastated my ability to do anything, but that wasn't the only card... there was another. But you can't let her get both cards out Syrus, no matter what, you can't let her get the second one out!"

Syrus nodded as he drew his card,[Graceful Charity].

"I play Graceful Charity, now I draw three cards, and discard two!"

[Vehicroid Construction Zone, Emergeroid Call, Mystical Space Typhoon]

"Perfect, I was planning to use Polymerization, but this is way better... alright I send Drillroid and Polymerization to the graveyard due to Graceful Charity's effect!" He declared, keeping his two Cycroids, Monst Reborn and the newly added cards to his hand. "Now I activate MY Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy 'one' spell or trap on the field, and I'm going to destroy your field spell!"

On the field an enormous typhoon emerged and surrounded them, causing Tanya to look around in rage as her field was obliterated around her.

"Grrrrg, you think that will 'stop' me? I activate my Ehther the Heavenly Monarch's special ability... by banishing a Monarch spell or trap from my grave, I can Tribute Summon her during your turn, and by tributing one tribute summoned monster, it counts as '2'... so goodbye Kuraz, I tribute you to summon forth my Heavenly Monarch, Ehther!"

Kuraz bowed as he vanished in a pillar of light, and from above a new Monarch, almost equally as powerful as Erebus and almost just as large him descended in a pillar of light. This time the monster was clearly a 'she', as 'she' descended with a beautiful set of white and golden armor, her cape flowing in multiple directions as she landed, a golden staff in her hands as she gazed down upon him.

"When Ehther the Heavenly Monarch is tribute summoned, I can activate her effect to send 2 Monarch spell and trap cards to my grave to special summon 'another' monarch from my deck... and I pick, another Pantheism of the Monarch and Restoration of the Monarch to bring out Delg the Dark Monarch!"

Ehther nodded as she lifted her hand created a pillar of heavenly light beside her, and from that pillar walked out yet another titanic monster, wrapped in black armor and wearing a helmet-like crown. He crossed his arms and stared defiantly at Syrus.

[Delg the Dark Monarch, lvl 6, Dark Attribute, Spellcaster Type, Effect Monster, 2400 Atk / 1000 Def]

"And when he is summoned, regardless of if its tribute or special... he can banish two cards from your graveyard, and then send 'two' cards from the top of your deck to take their place... and I choose to send your trap cards!"

Delg raised his hand and slammed down on the ground, and created a portal from the spot he hit, then he raised the other hand and slammed the ground next to it, creating another portal. From the first portal came two trap cards, and after they were pulled out, they were flung into the second, with that both portals closed.

"Oh no..." Syrus muttered.

"Nhayahaha... that was so satisfying that I'll do it again, using my monster's effects on your monsters is a waste of their powers, your cards are so weak they aren't even worth banishing, destroying on the other hand is another story, but first I'm going to activate Escalation of the Monarchs, and then I'll chain Return of the Monarchs' effect to it, and I choose to add, another copy of Zaborg the Thunder Monarch!" She declared as she added Caius the Shadow Monarch to her hand. "Now because of Escalation of the Monarchs, I can tribute summon a monster, and I tribute summon Zaborg the Thunder Monarch by tributing Delg the Shadow Monarch!"

Delg vanished in a wave of shadow as he was replaced, by Zaborg who once more appeared on the field with electricity crackling from his body.

[Zaborg the Thunder Monarch, lvl 5, Light Attribute, Thunder Type, Effect Monster, 2400 Atk / 1000 Def]

"Not again!" Syrus screamed

"HAHAHAHA... now that he's been tribute summoned, Zaborg can once again destroy one monster on your side of the field... and there's only '1' for him to target..." She gleefully said with a sadistic grin.

Zaborg opened his hand and a ball of electricity gathered in the palms of it, before he launched it at the frantically beeping and squeaking Decoyroid still on Syrus' field. It beeped desperately before it was struck dead center, exploding into a pile of circuitry and wires.

He grimaced as his monster was taken from him, all 'three' of his favorite card were gone, but he focused, he had to stay focused, he couldn't give up, this was how Joseph was done in, being overwhelmed... he took the top two cards of his deck and sent them to the grave as per Delg's effect. On second thought, as he looked at the two cards, he sent... he realized he was in 'way' over his head.

[Jetroid, UFOroid]

"Eyeeeee!" Syrus moaned in fear as he looked at the towering monsters before him.

What was he thinking taking on this duelist... Joseph couldn't beat them with his powerful Dragonmaids, what hope did 'he' have with his little Vehicroids?

"Maybe if I just forfeit now..." He whispered to himself.

"SYRUS!" Joseph shouted.

Syrus looked over at Joseph who was looking at him with a strong gaze, like he had this 'determination' in him that just 'spoke' to Syrus. "You can win this Syrus... don't let them intimidate you... it's not over yet, you can still WIN!"

"But..."

"No... you can do it Syrus... you've come this far, don't let her intimidate you... you're one of the coolest guys I know here, you've got more guts than anyone I've met, even Chumley! You may not be the best, but let's be honest... who 'is' the best forever? Even 'Yugi' probably lost a duel or two... you took her on for my sake, to save Tinkhec when I was scared to, and that takes more courage than anything else... now come on Sy, prove her your not intimidated and take her down! If anyone can win this duel, it's you!"

At that he felt a 'spark' from his friend, as he just seemed to have this... weird aura around him, but his words were what spoke to him 'more'.

"You're right... you didn't know what you were getting into, and I tried to keep you safe... but you didn't hesitate to jump in for me, and it's true, if you were in my shoe's I'd do the same for you. I'd jump in to help you out of a jam, so what do you say Sy, think you can get your game on and 'win'?"

He smiled and nodded confidently. "Yea, let's win this!" He shouted as he looked at his hand again.

[Cycroid, Cycroid, Monster Reborn, Vehicroid Construction Zone, Emergeroid Call]

"Wait, I think I can do something here... yea... I CAN win this!" He muttered. "Alright first off, I play Vehicroid Construction Zone!"

He played the card on the field.

"Now this card allows me to Fusion Summon a Vehicroid monster using materials in my hand or on my field... and I have 'two' perfect cards to use... my Cycroids. With two in my hand, I can fusion summon, Pair Cycroid!"

On the field two Cycroids fist bumped and swirled together into a new monster, a Cycroid with two sets of pedals instead of one. It still had the determined eyes and the hands as handle bars that were balled up.

[Pair Cycroid, lvl 5, Earth Attribute, Machine Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 1600 Atk / 1200 Def]

"Now that I've brought him out... I activate... Monster Reborn! This lets me special summon a monster from either graveyard, and I pick... Mixeroid!

Mixeroid rose to his field again in defense mode, fist pumping and rolling its cement mixer as it did.

[Mixeroid, lvl 4, Wind Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 0 Atk, 2200 Def]

"Now that he's in defense mode, I can activate his effect... by tributing a roid on my field, I can special summon another non-wind roid to my field from my deck, so come on out... Ambulanceroid!"

Pair Cycroid nodded as it leapt into the air and jumped into Mixeroid's mixer, it turned and spun before spitting out a card that appeared on the field, and then a red/white ambulance 'roid' monster rolled out of the card, beeped its lights angrily before backing up and sitting next to Syrus.

[Ambulanceroid, lvl 3, Earth Attribute, Machine Type, Effect Monster, 300 Atk / 1200 Def]

[Ambulanceroid, is a monster card which allows you to special summon any 'roid' monsters when they are added to your hand from your graveyard.]

"Now that I have a defender, I choose 'not' to activate his special ability, instead I'm going to activate Mixeroid's other ability... by paying half of my life points, I can banish Machine type monsters from my graveyard and special summon a fusion monster from my extra deck, whose levels equal the number of monsters I banished... and I'm going to special summon my level 12 Barbaroid the Ultimate Battle Machine!"

Mixeroid nodded and started churning its cement mixer.

"Alright here we go... I pay my life points!" He said and winced as he felt himself suddenly getting weaker.

[Tanya – 2800 / Syrus Truesdale – 800]

"A-alright... now that... the price is paid... let's start mixing Mixeroid!" He said. "I add two Cycroids, one Steamroid, one Jetroid, one UFOroid, one Submarineroid, one Gyroid, three Decoyroids... and one Pair Cycroid to special summon from my extra deck... one level 12 monster!"

"Wait... level twelve... but you only sent 'eleven' monsters... you don't have enough!" She said in disbelief.

"Then it's a good thing that Mixeroid can act as another material to create the monster, he'll be number 12!"

Mixeroid actually looked like it was 'sweating' as all the monsters flew into his cement mixer, even as it bulged and expanded with each additional monster. But after the last one was added and a few more turns occurred, a blast of cement was flung out of the mixer and it landed behind Syrus, with it forming a monster card.

"All of my monsters have been banished, thanks guys... now say hello to my new monster, the level 12... Barbaroid the Ultimate Battle Machine!"

A giant robotic 'roid' monster appeared behind Syrus as Mixeroid vanished, and from the cement covered card the monster made its full display. It carried 2 red cannons, its body comprised of two large flotation pad like objects, with silver shield shoulder pads and a dragon-like head with multiple spikes. It glared at the Monarchs before it, before taking aim and readying itself for battle. While it was dwarfed by the Monarchs themselves, it's power MORE than made up for its small appearance.

[Barbaroid, the Ultimate Battle Machine, lvl 12, Earth Attribute, Machine Type, Fusion Effect Monster, 4000 Atk / 4000 Def]

"F-FOUR THOUSAND ATTACK POINTS?" She stammered in disbelief.

"That's what you 'get' for underestimating 'me'. Now here's the fun part, when Barbaroid attacks, he can initiate 'two' attacks for each battle phase... now let's get started, Barbaroid attack Zaborg the Thunder Monarch!"

It tapped its two cannons together before taking aim with one at Zaborg, charging up its plasma cannons and blasting a devastating attack against the Monarch.

Zaborg tried to counter attack, but the blast of Barbaroid was too much for his lightning to take on directly. He was blasted and a massive hole appeared in his chest, causing him to fall over and be destroyed.

"Gnyaaaaaaaaaarg!" Tanya screamed as her life points were devastated.

[Tanya – 1200 / Syrus Truesdale – 800]

"Now for attack number two, go, take out Ehther the Heavenly Monarch!"

Erebus actually 'frowned' as Ehther launched her spear to counter attack against Barbaroid who readied its second blaster before firing. Both attacks connected and while Ehther's spear pushed back, Barbaroid's attack pushed further and further toward its target. With a massive explosion an enormous cloud of dust rose to enshroud the opposing field, but Syrus sighed in relief... that was enough damage to win the duel.

"I... will not... surrender!" Tanya screeched in agony. "I will 'not' be beaten... by the likes of 'YOU'!"

He snapped his eyes open as the smoke cleared, and instead of a defeated enemy, Tanya stood, with her duel disk standing, and with her Monarch, Erebus still standing. But... Erebus was not alone as beside him, bound in chains and holding a purple light in her mouth, looking weary, was Tinkhec.

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

[Tanya – 0 – alternate loss condition active / Syrus Truesdale – 800]

"But that's impossible... her life points hit zero!" Joseph stammered. "How is she still in the duel, and how did she summon Tinkhec?"

That's when he and Syrus noticed a trap card was activated, it was the last card she'd set from the start of the duel.

[Relay Soul]

"That's right... I 'hate' this mechanic... but to achieve my dream, I will do what I must... by activating... this trap card..." She panted heavily, looking disheveled with her clothes having tears and burn marks. "When this card... is activated... I can special summon... from my hand... a monster to my field... but now, if the monster leaves the field, I lose the duel... I won't... Gnygaagh-"

Tanya coughed and coughed up some blood before collapsing to the floor.

'Pathetic excuse for a vassal... you are unworthy of my power...'

Everyone looked around before Tanya lifted her head and looked behind her at Erebus.

"But my lord... I did... everything you asked..." She panted feebly as she slowly grew weaker. "What... what did... I do... wrong?"

"Wait, 'Erebus'?" Syrus asked in confusion as he looked up.

'That is right... this little girl is nothing more than a 'puppet' for my use, a Vassal to do my bidding. But she is unworthy, unwilling to do as I demand... but she has served her purpose for 'now', so I will continue to use her as I see fit.' Erebus declared as he held a chain in his hand. 'Now you face 'me'... I will continue to duel in my Vassal's place, as both Monster and Duelist...'

"Wait, so 'you're' the one who's really been hurting all those people, 'you' made all of this damage possible." Joseph asked.

'Correct, it was needed, you see, I am a living duel spirit... but I cannot gain 'power' without taking it from other duel spirits, or the energy of duelists that are defeated in a Shadow Game, or taking it from my vassal.' Erebus declared as a duel disk appeared on his arm. 'With the aid of your dragon, I have gathered enough power to be able to take control and 'manipulate' this Vassal of mine, until she defeated you, I could only 'influence' her mind, but now I can manipulate her as I desire. Once I defeat you both, I will have gained enough power to assume physical form, and I will not need to rely on 'vassals' to do my bidding anymore...'

"We'll see about that... you hurt my friend, you took my friend's dragon, and by the sounds of it you not only hurt his 'dragon' but you plan to hurt other people too, I won't let you!" Syrus declared. "This duel continues, and I play once card face down to end my turn!"

'Then I will begin... I draw... and I activate the magic card, one day of peace, this card allows us both to draw 'one' card... but neither of us can take any damage to our life points until my next turn.'

Syrus nodded as he drew a card. [Compulsory Evacuation Notice]

'Next, I special summon 'Mithra the Thunder Vassal!', I do this by special summoning a token to your side of the field into defense mode with the same name and stats.'

Two monsters appeared on the field, one on Syrus' side and the other on Erebus' side, looking exactly the same.

[Mithra the Thunder Vassal, lvl 2, Light Attribute, Thunder Type, Effect Monster, 800 Atk / 1000 Def]

[Vassal Token, lvl 1, Light Attribute, Thunder Type, Token, 800 Atk / 1000 Def]

'Next, I activate Pantheism of the Monarch's effect... by banishing it I can...'

"I don't think so, I activate my COUNTER trap! Emergeroid Call!" Syrus declared. "I can activate this card if I have a fusion Roid monster on my field... now not only is the card you activated 'negated', but also it and every other copy in your deck are sent to the grave. And since that card's effect can only be activated 'once' per turn while in the grave... you can't activate it anymore!"

The trap card appeared and 12 different roid monsters flew out of it, the 12 Roids that were used to create Barbaroid. All of them flew toward Erebus' duel disk and plunged themselves into the graveyard and deck, destroying the card and stopping it from activating.

'Nooooooooo!' Erebus roared as he clenched his fist. 'I attack with myself, and I attack with Tinkhec, I destroy your little Ambulance and the token!'

He launched his attack and Tinkhec feebly blew out a burst of flame from her nostrils, but it was feeble, yet it was strong enough to destroy the token while Ambulanceroid was destroyed.

'Take your turn... but know this... if you attack Tinkhec, she will 'not' survive, her spirit is too weak to survive being destroyed in the Shadow Realm!'

Syrus nodded as he drew his card and looked at Tinkhec, who wept sadly as she stared at Joseph, unable to talk because of the Relay Soul she was forced to carry in her mouth. [Iron Call]

"In that case... I play one card face down and end my turn!"

He played his trap card won and ended his turn.

Erebus was quiet as he nodded and drew. 'I activate March of the Monarchs... now you cannot target tribute summoned monsters with whatever trap card you have face down. With that I activate Pantheism of the Monarch's effect!'

Syrus smirked as he declared, "I activate my trap card, Compulsory Evacuation Notice! Now I can target one monster on the field, and send it back to the hand."

'Hmhmahahahaha... you 'fool'... don't you remember, you cannot target me with your card! March of the Monarch's effect is in play, you can only target your own monster... you just wasted your card.'

"Last I checked, I can target more than 1 monster on the field, and unless my eyes are mistaken... you have another monster on the field!" Syrus said.

He gasped as he looked down at Tinkhec, who smirked at him with a grin.

"Your card only protects tribute summoned monsters, but Tinkhec was special summoned, so she is fair game... and since you told me not to destroy her or she'd go away forever... then I won't destroy her, I'll send her back to your hand! Tinkhec, leave the field!"

'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO'

Tinkhec smiled as she opened her mouth and released the 'relay soul' that she was holding in it, vanishing as she returned to her card and floated away.

"And since Relay Soul's effect is in play, now that she's gone... YOU LOSE!"

[Tanya/Erebus – Relay Soul Effect loss achieved / Syrus Truesdale – 800]

'Graaaaawahaa ghraaaaaaaaaaarw!' Erebus screamed in rage as he slowly dissolved and vanished, and on the ground a golden wristband landed heavily on the floor, breaking in two.

Syrus sighed as he ran over and quickly picked up Tinkhec's card, smiling as he slowly dusted it off. Suddenly a shadow loomed over him, and he looked up to see a red dragon that exactly resembled Tinkhec. She looked worse for wear, but she smiled gratefully to him, nodded at him, and he heard a gentle feminine voice in his mind say, 'Thank you...' to him.

Then she vanished.

Syrus, having seen a lot of weird things today, just rolled with it and took the card back to Joseph as the bubble encompassing them began to fade away.

"Here you go Joseph." Syrus said.

He took Tinkhec from his friend and smiled gratefully, adding her back into his deck with the rest of his Dragonmaids. "There, back together... safe and sound. That's a lot Syrus... I owe you big time."

"No problem, you'd do the same for me!"

Outside everyone watched as the sphere began to fade and vanish, but as they waited, they saw Joseph and Syrus were standing tall. Both duelists looking better than their opponent at least, who was lying on the ground in a crumpled heap.

"Joseph, Syrus!" Alexis, Bastion, Chumley and Chazz yelled, having arrived a few minutes ago after being called by Bastion.

"Tanya!" Elizabeth cried as she ran over to her friend.

Reunited, Joseph glanced over and waved at his friends with Syrus.

"Wait, 'you' dueled Syrus?" Alexis asked with surprised eyebrows.

"Yea... I won but... yea I dueled her in that weird Shadow Realm thing!" Syrus explained.

"Can confirm, my best friend here rescued Tinkhec when I wasn't able to duel properly."

"Well congratulations Syrus, talk about stepping up for your pal!" Chumley said.

"Indeed, I honestly didn't think you had it in you." Bastion said.

"I sure did..." Joseph exclaimed.

"I mean sure... he could win, but if that had been me, I would have smoked them easy as pie!"

"Pie... I could seriously go for some pie now..."

After everyone got over first that Joseph and Syrus were okay, second that Syrus won the duel, and that Tinkhec had been safely recovered, they all turned toward the culprit, Tayna. Tanya was unconcious and looking far worse for wear than what Joseph was. Her dark hair was a mess, her clothes had burn and cuts, and she had an unhealthy dark color surrounding her eyes.

"So, what do we do with her?" Chazz asked.

"Obviously we turn her into Chancellor Shepard and get her expelled, after what she did, she deserves nothing less!" Alexis declared.

"Wait guys, it's not her fault... she wasn't in control of herself." Joseph proclaimed. "It wasn't Tanya who hurt everyone, it was a Duel Spirit called Erebus."

At that everyone looked to him. "Uh, beg your pardon?" Bastion asked.

"It's true, we faced him... when I was about to win he had Tanya activate a 'Relay Soul Trap' to keep himself in the duel, then he used Tinkhec as a hostage to try and keep me from winning. He only used her so he could gain power by having her defeat duelists and stealing their 'duel spirit energy'... it's complicated but believe us, Tanya isn't to blame!"

There was silence until a faint voice spoke up. "It's true..."

They looked down as Elizabeth helped Tanya to a sitting position.

"It all... started when I got that... weird gold bracelet." She spoke quietly. "After I put it on... I heard a voice... and it was coming from a card I 'also' received from the package. He said... he understood my desire to make Tribute Summoning a more 'viable' method. He told me... the only way to do that, was to rid the world of 'special summoning' as a whole, and force everyone to use Tribute Summons... he said, if I helped him, he'd make my wish come true..."

She weakly tried to sit up but fell back into her friend's arms.

"Nnnhg... but he turned on me... the more I gave him... the more 'unsatisfied' he was, he kept demanding more... more duelists, more spirit energy... said what I gave him was 'paltry' for a tribute. So, I offered him... Tinkhec... I took her card from Joseph, and he was 'pleased'... but he used me, used me every second... I'm sorry."

"Okay, we get it, you were used, but that doesn't excuse what you did." Alexis stated.

Tanya shook her head in agreement. "It doesn't'… I'll go to Chancellor Shepard... explain everything... I'll turn myself in... just... leave Elizabeth out of this." She said as she struggled to stand. "She is innocent... she had nothing to do with... nnngh anything!"

"Easy girl, let's get you to the infirmary first..." She tried to say, but Tanya shook her head. "No... I'm not... putting up with this anymore... I need to do it now... or I'll run away... come on, let's go!"

Elizabeth sighed as she took her hand and slowly walked her toward the main building.

"Alright, I guess that settles that, now how about we get you to the infirmary!" Bastion said. "Shall we?"

Joseph nodded as he walked with his friends to the main building as well.

Chazz however, spotted the golden wristband that Tanya was talking about, broken in two pieces and lying on the ground. Out of curiosity, he picked it up, looked at it, before pocketing it and joining the others.

As Joseph lay in his infirmary bed an hour later, he sighed as he tried falling asleep, when he opened his eyes and saw a feminine red dragon lying on top of his chest smiling warmly at him.

'Hi master~'

"Tinkhec?" He asked. "Are you alright?"

'Could be better... I was scared for a moment...' She told him. 'I was terrified while I was separated from you...'

"Yea... I'm sorry I took that risk... I shouldn't have taken that risk... I promised you nothing bad would hap-"

'No master... never think that!' She said lovingly. 'I wasn't scared that I would never see you again... I was scared that you'd get hurt even 'more' trying to save me!' She nuzzled him happily as she snuggled closer to him. 'Master... I would 'never' want you to get hurt trying to protect me or save me... none of us do... you are 'everything' to us.'

She then smirked as her tail waved around.

'But I am happy to know you still tried to rescue you... next time though... let's not lose and run that gauntlet again, shall we?'

"Agreed!" He chuckled halfheartedly, before leaning into his pillow and starting to sleep.

"Tinkhec?"

'Yes master?'

He was quiet as he spoke to her, sleep starting to take over him. "I'm worried about the next time we duel... something tells me... we haven't seen the end of this... and I'm afraid to lose again..."

With that he finally fell asleep, with Tinkhec smiling sadly as she nodded in understanding, soon the other Dragonmaids began to appear, curling up with their master, glad to see Tinkhec back, but now they were scared to see their Master had all but lost his courage to duel.

.

.

.

.

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One's heart is where one's true power lies, in all things great and small. My master, your heart has been shaken and now lies shattered with you picking the pieces and putting them together. Your hands shake with each piece you replace, and you worry that the slightest mistake will lead to calamity. But I know you can grow stronger; you can fly higher than any I have seen before.

Like a phoenix, rise from the ashes of your defeat and burn away the dark clouds that cover your mind and hide that courage you once displayed that we follow you faithfully for having!

For we are but your maids Master... we cannot lift you, if you do not wish to lift yourself Master, our Master of the Dragonmaids!

=Next time, Sauravis vs Joseph=

=The Best Medicine, The Laughing Valley of the Ancient One=

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=Author's Notes=

I am going to be honest... this was hard to do, I picked Syrus because I felt 'Chazz has had 3 duels and Syrus hasn't really dueled outside of his 'Jetroid magic cylinder trick' duel, so I figured I'd have Syrus save the day, sorry for everyone who said to Chazz it Up... but Chazz has chazzed it up 3x, give others a shot at glory~

Roids... I did not realize just how 'hard' they have it, they have so few good cards... but I hope the duel was good. I really believe this was my worst duel so far, but I hope you guys enjoyed it at least enough to not say 'this duel sucks, you suck, learn to script a duel better'.

Anyway please review away... I've got to write for other stories for now... I am tired...

=edit, made some typos, fixed some of them=